Tag: 10-11

It was all a blur when it happened. It just made me want to know even more. The first thing I remember, I was sitting at a booth in a restaurant called Tables and Chairs, with my mom and dad, and our waiter came over to our table. He took our orders and then walked away. Then my parents started asking me boring questions about what I was going to wear to my cousin’s wedding. I honestly couldn’t care less about that. Suddenly, we heard a scream and everyone was dead silent.

“No one will ever know!” a deep male voice yelled. We couldn’t see this man because he was blocked by all of the fancy chandeliers and table centers.  

Then we heard a gunshot and people frantically started calling 9-1-1 for ambulances and police. Some people just immediately started running out of the restaurant. My mom took me by the hand and rushed me out of Tables and Chairs. My dad followed us, and suddenly the three of us were running home. I was so excited that a boring dinner just turned into a murder, but I was scared of the murderer. I was so curious to learn more. A part of me wanted to run back and learn more, but then I was reminded by the sensible part of my brain that it would be very unsafe. We ran about 20 blocks, but stopped to catch our breath every few minutes. Now I wish we had brought the car so we wouldn’t have had to run this far.

Once we got home I went straight up to my room and started getting ready for bed. Minutes later, my mom came in.

“Sweetie,” she began to say.

“Mom, I told you this before, please don’t call me sweetie.”

“Sorry, honey.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Anyway,” she said, “Tables and Chairs just called and said there was a murder and the person died, and we are welcome to come to the funeral. Personally, I don’t think we needed to know that the person died. we were already scared enough. And I hate funerals! Who would just choose to go to a funeral of a person they don’t even know?!”

My mom was yelling then, and I wasn’t sure why. She was probably just mad about something else.

“It’s okay, Mom,” I said, trying to comfort her. “You can just forget everything that has happened and continue with your life.”

I said this only for her. I was not going to continue on like this. I was going to find out every single detail until I knew the whole story. I get obsessed with mysteries.

“Good night, Mom.”

The next morning was the first day back at school from winter break. I had set up a whole list of questions to ask the people at my school. They included:

• Were you at Table and Chairs last night? (I didn’t need to explain more about this restaurant because this restaurant was the height of popularity, the exact reason my parents like to go there a lot.)
• Did you hear anything about a murder?
• Was anyone you know killed last night?

Of course, no one knew what I was talking about or cared to find out. Even my best friend June said, “Piper, come on. You’re gonna use all your time just to find out the answer to this stupid mystery?”

June and I were very different. She didn’t care about grades, she cared more about popularity. I cared some about grades, but I honestly couldn’t care less about popularity. I devoted my time to things to figuring things like mysteries out, and she spent her time figuring out how she should do her hair and what she should wear to school. I was still very confused about why we were best friends. I guess it was just that we had such different personalities that made us like each other.

“Hey Piper, look at that teacher. Have we seen him before?”

“Maybe he is a new teacher, or he’s on a tour of the school,” I replied.

“But all the teachers are surrounding him and talking to him like he has been here forever!”

“June, he’s probably just a new teacher that the teachers like a lot. How about we go over and talk to him?”

“Okay,” she said with a small hint of caution.

We walked over to him just as he was telling Mrs. Fairfield, the English teacher, about tea..

“Well, Mrs. Fairfield I think that my most valuable lesson about tea is that camomile tea needs to be preheated so that once you start drinking it the minty taste doesn’t diminish as the tea gets colder.”

“Ohohoho,” Mrs. Fairfield chuckled. “That is definitely a valuable lesson. I can’t wait to tell my friends about that at high tea on Sunday.” Mrs. Fairfield had her strange ways and proper attitude.

“Excuse me,” I said as June slowly followed. Another different thing about June and I is that I won’t be afraid to ask questions and say what I think, while June kind of just cowers in the corner. “Excuse me, Mister, but are you new here?”

“Why yes I am! I’m Mr. Rank, your new History teacher! What are your names?”

“I’m Piper and that’s June.”

“Wait but what happened to Mr. Dean? He was so nice,” June said, suddenly gaining up the courage to speak.

“He had to leave on personal terms,” Mr. Rank said a little hesitantly as if he wasn’t sure he should be telling us that.

Then the bell rang and he said, “Well it was nice talking to you, Mrs. Fairfield, and you two,” he said while gesturing at us. “See you in class later!”

“Ugh,” June said to me as we headed up the stairs to science class. “Mr. Dean was like the only teacher I liked! He was so fun and he didn’t get mad if I turned homework in a month late or never turned it in at all. I hope this Mr. Rank guy is as nice as he was.”

Suddenly, we heard a scream coming from Vivian Miller, who then started sobbing hysterically. We started to run toward her to see what had happened.

“What’s wrong? What happened! Do you need some Kleenex?”

Then Ms. Toran, the math teacher who was hovering above Vivian, came over to us and whispered in our ears that her dad had just died, so to just leave her alone. June had a look of surprise and horror on her face while I had a look of intrigue and curiosity on my face.  

Once we got to science class we were given a little talk from Mr. Rodrick about not being late to class. June got all panicky, but I stayed calm. Luckily, Mr. Rodrick didn’t punish people. He was really nice. He wasn’t at all like Coach Haldon who gives crazy punishments. One time there were about ten minutes left of class and some people were whispering while he was giving instructions. He gave each of the people that were whispering ten cones and then they had to walk around the gym and drop one of their ten cones each minute. It was actually really funny.

June went home with me that day so we could study for our math quiz on fractions the next day. She was supposed to stay and study for two hours and have dinner with us and then go home. We were supposed to study for two hours but instead we studied for five minutes and talked for an one hour and 55 minutes.

“Piper, now I kinda get why you want to solve this mystery. Like so many things have happened, it’s kinda crazy!”

“Yeah! Now you get it! I don’t know what the details are so I want to solve the mystery!” I said in my most sarcastic tone.

“Hey I was just tryin’ to be interested,” said June a little defensively.

“Whatever, never mind.” I replied. Then there was kind of an awkward silence between us for a few minutes, and then my mom called for dinner.

“How did your studying go, girls?” my mom asked as she served us some spaghetti with meatballs.

“It was fine,” I said while shoving a forkful of spaghetti in my mouth.

“Oh June!” my mom said as she remembered something. “What are you going to wear to graduation?”

My mom had been pestering me ever since we started fifth grade about what I was going to wear to graduation. Does it really matter? Of course, June had also been thinking about what to wear to graduation since the beginning of fifth grade. My mom and June had similar personalities. It was a little strange.

“Well I think I’m going to wear a floral dress with a pink sweater and white sandals and then put my hair…”

“Hey, you know Mom, I think I’m done with my food. I’m going to go get ready for bed,” I interrupted and started to rise from the table.

“Piper, we have a guest over,” my mom said through gritted teeth.

“It’s fine, Mrs. Andrews, I have to go soon anyway,” June said.

“Okay, well see you some other time!” my mom said a little disappointedly.

“Bye June,” I said with not much enthusiasm.

 

She shut the door, and I went upstairs to go get ready for bed. My mom came in ten minutes later.

“Why were you so rude at dinner?” she inquired.

“Well mom, to tell you the truth, I don’t really think that what you and June were talking about was very interesting. I just don’t care. You know, June and I are kinda growing apart.”

“Really? I think you guys are great friends. I mean, I love talking to June!”

“That’s exactly my point! We are too different! We don’t have enough in common. Whatever mom, I can deal with it.”

“Okay. Well, see you tomorrow. If you um, need anything, I’ll be here. Good night.” My mom said a little cautiously.

“Good. Night.”

The next day at school was a little awkward between June and me. We said hi to each other on the way to class, but we didn’t really talk. Lunch was a whole other story. I was walking through the cafeteria doors, when a girl I hadn’t seen before came toward me.

“Hi, I’m Meg. I’m a little new here. Do you think you could show me around? I heard you trying to solve a mystery, and, well, you seemed like my type of person!” This girl said this at the speed of lightning. She was wearing jeans and a striped t-shirt.

“Hello, I’m Piper. Um, yeah sure I can show you around. You want to eat lunch first?” This girl seemed really nice. I would rather sit with her than with June.

“Yeah sure!” she said excitedly.

“Okay, there is an open table over there,” I said gesturing to a deserted table in the back of the cafeteria..

We walked over to the table and I started telling her about the mystery. The whole entire five minutes I talked, she stared at me with intent eyes. Though I was having a lot of fun with her and we had similar interests, I glanced over at June a couple of times. She occasionally gave me dirty glances, but other times she would look over at me longingly. I felt a little guilty, but I would tell her later that I was just trying to make Meg feel welcome.

“Hey Meg, you want to come over to my house after school?”

“Yeah! Can you show me around the school?”

“Oh, right. Let’s go so we don’t miss the bell.”

As we headed out the door of the lunch room, I motioned to June to call me, and she replied with a nasty glare. If she didn’t call me, I was still going to call her anyway.

First, I showed Meg the gym, and then homeroom, the auditorium, and then the rest of the classrooms. The bell rang, and I headed to History and she headed to English. This was my first History class since Mr. Rank was the new teacher, and I was a little excited.

“Hello class, today we will learn about the American Revolution. Am I correct that this is where you left off?”

“Yes,” the class said in unison. This man was all business and no fun. This man may know answers, but he sure wasn’t going to reveal anything soon.

“Now, who are the four founding fathers blah blah blah…what’s the name of blah blah blah…” I really didn’t pay attention much until the very end when he said, “Class dismissed,” because I wanted to go up to his desk and ask him a question.

“Excuse me Mr. Rank, but could you please tell me what happened to Mr. Dean? I was so close to him, I was just thinking I should maybe write to him and say that we will miss him.” That was mostly improvisation.   

 

To be Continued…

 

I’m bounced, thrown, and slammed. Can you guess what I am? It’s a sport I personally hate, only because I am the sport. Yep, I am a basketball. For me, getting a break is known as a timeout, and those last for just 30 seconds to a minute. Here is just one example of my everyday routine:

———-

Wait. Before I get to all the good stuff (or in my case the bad stuff), I have to tell you my name. I am Wilson (Wilson is printed on my stomach, so I guess that’s like a name tag, right?) Alright, enough about me, let’s start!

———-

Right now, all of the basketball players are just holding me in their hands, and I get to see the crowd watching. I never really understood why they have to be here to watch me get abused all day. Anyway, I’m looking at the crowd, and then, I’m looking at the floor. What did I do wrong?! I was just enjoying the view, and I get slammed, or dribbled as these crazy people call it, to the floor!

As I think about what happened just now, I am bounced more, and more, and more! Just stop already! And this is just pregame practice…

———-

This is real game play. The players from both teams line up, while I’m being held in the hand of a guy dressed in black and white. His hands are cold like water put in a freezer (or ice for that matter).

“Can I have a blanket?!” I yell.

And then I realized to them, this is how I sound all the time: “………”

The next thing I know, I’m in the air, which is about the best part of the game. To me, this is like a rollercoaster. To them, it’s “Let’s slap Wilson” time. And slap me they do. I’m slapped so hard that I fly backwards. Why can’t I just have fun? It’s even worse that I don’t know what the teams are, and who to blame for my harm. When will they just stop!? I’m serious this time. I just want to be able to have some peace and quiet every now and then.

Before I land, I fall into the hands of a sweaty person. The game just started and I’m already wet! I don’t even have a bathing suit on! The man holding me bounces me around and around over and over again. I think I’m going to black out!

Finally, he stops. But now, I’m face to face with a guy with a not-so-nice look on his face. He swipes at me repeatedly, and ends up slapping me in the stomach. Hard. Thank God I didn’t just eat.

The man that slapped me picks me up and bounces me hard all the way to the other side of the field (or court, whatever) and takes me into the air with him, and shoves me into a hole. The worst part: The hole doesn’t have a bottom! So, I fall straight to the floor.

Just then, I notice people laughing. They’re actually laughing! They enjoy this? This is absurd!

———-

My routine of black out and bash goes on for a while, 48 minutes if I remember right. Finally, just finally, the game is over. I’m held in the palms of a non-sweaty person (at least some people aren’t half water) and taken to a dark room (I should’ve put in something about me hating the dark when they asked me about myself before I decided to be part of the NBA which stands for National Ball Abuse, I think. Oh wait, they didn’t ask me. They didn’t even give me the choice of being a basketball!). Then, I hear a zip, and I’m shoved into a bag. Wait… I’m shoved into a bag! That is not how this is supposed to end. I am the real winner. Those humans think that they won. But I was really the one who scored the points! I was the one who did all the hard work of not fainting every time I was tossed to the ground! This is completely crazy!

———-

The next day, I see that as I’m on a court that looks pretty important. I see that printed on the floor is a sign that says NBA Finals. What? The National Ball Abuse Finals! I’m in for quite the beating.

Surprisingly, I realize that I’m not being practiced with. Normally, I get played with during the game, but also before. Huh.

Well once the game starts, chaos breaks out. In the first play, someone tries to slam me (just like last time, I have no idea who is playing who), but another person slaps me backwards all the way to the halfway point of the court. OWWWW!!! Can’t there be a single time where I don’t feel like my spine is broken? I guess not.

From that point on, things only get worse. One time someone throws a bad pass, and I fall into someone in the crowd’s drink. I am not supposed to get wet if I remember correctly.

Another time, someone else slams me down so hard, when I bounce to the floor, I go back through the hoop from the bottom. And then, of course, when I land I hit the area right between my eyes. I think I get a bloody nose. Oh wait. I’m just naturally an orange-red color.

By the time the game has come to an end, I can’t feel any part of my body at all.

As I’m held in the hands of the guy dressed in black and white, I notice that confetti is shooting out onto the court, and the team wearing purple is holding up trophies. I have never seen this happen before.

Then, a man in a fancy suit and bowtie walks up to the front of the purple team and announces, “I announce that you are the winners of the NBA Finals.”

I think, “Well, I guess they deserve to win the title of best ball abusers. They really did kill me out there…”

I feel the man in black and white take me into a dark room. “Oh, no,” I think.

Maybe I would prefer that other bag I was stuffed in last time.

I have no other basketball friends, so I pretty much have a single choice. Sleep. I know, I know, it sounds pretty lame compared to what just happened, but what else do I do? You’re probably thinking, “This is what basketballs do all day after games?”

I think, “I’m a ball with no friends in a dark room. Why not sleep?” There’s not much else to do, you’ll find, when you’re me.

Then, I hear, “Come on guys, help me find a basketball. Let’s get some post game practice.”

“Oh, no.” I think. I look around, and notice I am the only basketball in the room. Of course I am. I’ve tried over and over again to stop those humans, but I’ve realized I can’t. I just have to live with all my troubles. That’s my life as a basketball.

 

Lenwood was arriving at Spank Union and he was greeted by a strange man named Sergeant Ramsbutt. “I will be your sergeant for the next 2 years.”

Lenwood made fun of the sergeant by calling him butt so the sergeant made him do 90 push ups.

Lenwood actually snuck in his ipad and and started play games so all of his fellow cadets later snuck in their electronics over spring break and winter break. Later the Spank Union was in electronic chaos!

The head of Spank Union was very mad at Lenwood and 9999 other cadets. The head said to Lenwood’s parents “We can not help Lenwood he causes to much chaos.” So Spank  Union sent Lenwood back to his home and he was still a troublemaker.

THE

END!

For real this time! No more sequels!

Chapter 1

I fall, a never ending black darkness, swallowing me. No walls, it almost seems like being inside of a shadow. Only just a few seconds did I fall through my grandma’s mysterious door at the top floor, seemingly locked up and never opened. It seemed like the strange disappearance of my parents folded me all into this peculiar nonsense. I had been “carried” off by my grandma. Now when I say carried off, I don’t really mean carried off. I highly doubt my grandma could pick me up, anyway. She hadn’t seemed too worried, though, which in all truth worried me. My grandma lives in the middle of nowhere, bright grassy plains, warm sun and deserted describes it all. I had visited my grandma with my parents before, but it was never as cheery as when I arrived, almost a little TOO cheery for my liking. As my grandma drove in her car, which always looked like it had been ransacked, I had plenty of time to think, most of all what I call WHY questions. Why had my parents disappeared? Why had my  grandma come so suddenly? Questions I don’t have answers to, bubbling and bursting inside of me. I wanted to cry in frustration. I never asked for this anyways…

“Grandma?”

“Yes, dear?”

Why…. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, I had so many questions that I couldn’t bring myself to ask.  As I look back from this moment, I wish I asked my grandma those questions, but I didn’t know what I was going to get into.

 

A few days after I arrived, I went exploring the house. When I was five, I thought there was secret treasure hidden somewhere. I never found it. Until right then, I suppose. As I explored the top floor I found my treasure. I guess when I was younger, the door had never been there to me. I might have been just too excited and ran past it, my height ignoring the door, which now even seemed to have grown into the house, being a part of it.  As I looked at it now, it seems deserted, like the amount of people surrounding us, but quite the opposite of the setting I was deserted in.  Lonely, it seemed to beckon me. I hoped I wasn’t going to be like Pandora from my Greek myth book, but now I understand what she felt. I only hoped the door wasn’t bad as her fate, unleashing terrors around the world. All the things we wish were never in this world. But yet, at this moment it seemed to be staring at me. It seemed the cottage was holding its breath, the door included, everything staring, everything waiting, watching, a never ending silence. The door was beckoning me, “a quick peek won’t hurt anyone, Phoenix.” Shutting my eyes I shook my head, hearing a voice say that, hoping I was just unconscious or something, hoping I was somewhat ill, but not life threatening. I ran down the stairs, back to the second floor, as a ran into the hallway, I could swear my grandma’s marble dragon that was on the shelf blinked at me. I shivered and kept running, finally approaching my new room. I slammed the door behind me and locked it, plopping down onto the bed. I felt myself breathing hard, my heart beating uncontrollably. Laying down, I tried to control myself, my breathing, and my heart.
“DINNER TIME!” I heard my grandma from the first floor. Carefully, I opened my door and peered outside. Nothing. Quickly I raced down into the kitchen, the smell of pizza entering my nostrils. Then I noticed the spicy smell and grinned. Good, my grandma knows me. I entered the kitchen , eyeing the cup of buffalo sauce.

“Look at you, you look like a starving wolf that’s found some prey, licking your chops.”
“Ha. I’m hungry!”

“Starving, that is.“ My grandma handed me a plate with two slices of pizza with a cup of hot sauce, which I dunked over my pizza. I picked up a slice and bit into it, crust first.
“Crust first? Why?” asked my grandma.
“Because I don’t especially like the crust, which most would call ‘saving the best for last.’”

“Ok. So now I know.”

“Grandma, has anything…strange ever happened here, or is here?”

“….. Strange?? No……..! How’s the pizza?” My grandma started to fidget in her chair, tapping her fingers on the table.

My grandma was trying to avoid the question, but I left it.

“Good.”

That was how that day ended, but my grandma knew something, I knew it.

 

The next morning, my curiosity got ahold of me. I climbed up the staircase cautiously. As I approached the door I held my breath. It seemed even more grown into the house, like by tomorrow it would disappear. “What’s in the door?” I wondered aloud.
“Your destiny, Phoenix.” I screamed and turned around.

Behind me was… the marble dragon… flying?

“WHAT THE… ?!”

“Shh… do not be so loud.” The tiny dragon floated around my head.
“Don’t be so scared, things approach faster than you think.”

“W-who ARE YOU?!”

“Aurora.”

Well that covers SOO much…

“Wait, so did you blink at me yesterday??”

The dragon nodded, “Yes. I wanted to call to you but your grandma was approaching and told me-” the marble dragon stopped short.

“My grandma knows what’s going on?!” I exclaimed.

“Yes. It was just a matter of time. But you have to go in the door.”

“But why?”

“Because you’re needed.”

Needed. I’ve never been truly needed… My parents were independent people… But do I trust this… dragon? No I don’t. Nonsense.
“No.”

“Fine. just open the door and you’ll see how much you’re needed.”

What’s the harm in that, I guess… I opened the door and saw nothing, then felt something shoving me. Hastily, I turned around and saw the dragon pushing me, which I was surprised it could. But it did its job and pushed me through the door…

I fell, a never ending black darkness, swallowing me. No walls, it almost seemed like being inside of a shadow. Closing my eyes tight, I screamed. Hugging my knees to my chest, I opened my eyes and peered into the darkness. No source of light whatsoever. I looked up, trying to find the attic door.

Nothing. I’m afraid. Very, very afraid. But this time there’s no one to say it too. What did this dragon do? Had it been trying to kill me? Why why why…

Soon I began to see light… Now I must have been falling for about an hour and a half. I closed my eyes, once again, completely unprepared, when pain spread through my back, and going into another silent, strange darkness. Where was I now? There was a ground there, but it was also darkness… I wanted to walk away from this nightmare, I wanted to be back home, with my parents, I wanted to be able to close my eyes and be back with my grandma. I stand up, very annoyed with my life. I started to walk forward, then hearing a large swish noise behind me, I turned around. This time I was just too fed up to scream. “BOOOOOOO!” Not expecting a ghost, but I had the feeling I was going to see a stranger, maybe because of the marble dragon situation.

“Why aren’t you scared?” the ghost started to cry, tears going through her and leaking onto the floor. “Hey it’s ok!” I didn’t want to hug her or anything, because I would probably go right through her and make her feel even worse.

“Noooo it’s noooot! Noooobody is ever scared by me!! I doooon’t have any friends!!!!”

Question- what do you say to a crying ghost that has many problems? Well you can only say one thing, I suppose…

“I’ll be your friend.” What are you going to say to a crying ghost that wants a friend?

“Really?!” The ghost immediately stopped crying.

“Yeah.”

“Yaaaaaaayyyyyy!” The ghost started to circle around my head, chanting, “I have a friend, I have a friend! I haaavvveee aaa ffrrriiieeennd!!!!!!!”

“Okkk… What’s your name?” I asked.

“Ululate!”

“Doesn’t that mean-”

“Doooon’t say it! I know!!!!” Ululate means to howl or wail, which this ghost clearly does a lot.

“Ok Ululate, how do we get out of here?” I REALLY hoped she had the answer…

“Doooon’t wooooory, you’re waking up!” Huh?? I felt myself falling, for the THIRD time today!

Blinking I opened my eyes, and saw LIGHT!!! Then opening my eyes, I saw Ululate…
“Ululate??”

“Hii friend!!!” Ughhh…

“Hi…” moaning and groaning, I sat up.

“HIIII!”

“Where are we?”

“We’re in the land of Surda!”

“Whaaa… Is Surda…..”

“You don’t know what Surda is? Surda’s divided into two, one part where the humans and mythical creatures are, which is Surda, and the other half is elven territory!”

“Anything else I need to know?” I wasn’t really paying attention, but maybe if Ululate talked too much she would get bored.

“Well….This world is divided into twooo, unlike your Earth. The goooood part is Surda, and the oooother half is what we call the Evil dooomain…Which you shouldn’t gooo in! And in case you ever see them, the leaders oooof Surda are Sabrina and Alex Bell!”

My parents!

CHAPTER 1

Cells

We live inside Abby. We are what protects her from germs. I am Healthia, red blood cell, at your service.

Right now, I’m in the Atrium, one of the four entrances to our school, Heart School. White blood cells have a different school: the brain. White blood cells have a different school because they are different. They’re Abby’s immune system. They fight the germs. We red blood cells keep Abby’s blood healthy, which is a totally different thing. That’s why my name’s Healthia.

The germs are our enemies. They have several schools: Mouth, Nose, Ear, and Cut schools (the cut schools are only temporary). Noticed something? All of the schools are entrances to Abby’s body. That’s how the germs get in.

I’m going to Defense class, which is probably the most dangerous. We get to spy on the germs and figure out what they’re planning.

This time, we’re visiting Mouth School. Abby’s biggest opening in her body is her mouth. All the germs gather there. We hide behind one of Abby’s teeth, and watch little germs gather on her tongue. We learn that the germs are planning to attack the brain. We return to the Heart, and call our own convention. I tell the principal, a red blood cell like me, and the white blood teacher ambassador, who’s visiting the principal, that the germs are planning to attack the white blood cell school. They are shocked. I actually tell the convention the news for them because they are too shocked. I guess they’re stunned because the germs have never decided to attack something as large and important as the brain.

We had a few hours to prepare ourselves and defend the school before the germs attacked. We put up lots of towers and set up lots of guard cells so that we could easily spot the germs when they came. But they never did.

CHAPTER 2

Germs

Our teacher, Mr. Germy, said that we should delay attacking the brain because we had a feeling that red blood cells were spying on us and then we could trick them into thinking we weren’t attacking after all, and when they took their defenses down we could attack then. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Germia.

So, anyway, we had a long wait. After days of planning, the big day finally arrived. Mr. Germy said that we should just go with the flow and ride along in the blood. That way, we could poison the blood, too. I think he was stupid. There’s probably blood cells, in Abby’s blood too, and they’re all fighting to keep us away. I don’t really care if we win or lose. Abby is a boring person to invade anyway. The cells make it really hard to invade her, so with every attempt to, we fail, and they mercilessly slaughter more and more of us. Also, Abby got a cold last week (courtesy of my friend Germonia),and she’s still sick, which makes it easier for us, but I like a challenge.

Surprisingly, all of the red blood cells were defending the brain so that none were in the blood to go tell the other cells defending the brain. It was an easy ride. When we got to the brain, we all had to hide against this one green part, because we’re green, and it was SO slimy! We germs are not used to this sort of thing because we are all outsiders, unlike the cells. Abby was born with all of those cells.

Chapter 3        

Cells

The germs never came. I was very surprised, and began to feel ashamed because I was the one that told everybody that they were going to attack the brain, and they’re not attacking it. I go on patrol duty, and I walk around and around and around the brain. It would make the most sense for them to hide in the little green spot which is hearing, but the germs are also green so it makes it hard to see. Finally, I hear a little voice coming from the green section. A germ emerges from it. The germ wants to go away out of Abby. I ask her for her name, but I know we can’t be friends because I’m the defender and she’s the attacker. Still, I get it. Her name is Germia. Germia’s teacher, Mr. Germy, comes out and says, “Germia, what are you doing?”

I yell for other cells. Soon, the germs are surrounded. I don’t want to hurt the germs even though it’s our custom to eat them. I think that we should move them out of the body and then start marching towards Abby’s ear. The surrounded germs and other cells follow. Abby’s ear is sticky with wax. I have to pull myself out of it sometimes. The other cells are being very annoying. They are singing as we march the germs out. And when the germs are out, they are singing as we march back to the brain. After we are safely there, I leave them telling the principal of Heart School and Brain School how I singlehandedly led the germs away. I go back into Abby’s ear canal to make sure none are left behind. All clear. I come back and on the way I notice something green. I hear a little cry for help that I didn’t hear before over the singing. The green thing is a germ and the germ is crying for help. The germ that’s crying for help is Germia. She was left behind, when she was the one who wanted  to go out most. I pull her out of the wax and hide her, and put her in Abby’s right big toe. I think she’ll be safe there. Days pass, but for us it seems like weeks. I bring Germia food every day, but I don’t know what she likes. It turns out that we share a favorite: Kellogg’s Fruity Snacks, Mixed Berry. I get them from Abby’s stomach. It’s gross, but it’s what we eat.

CHAPTER 4

Germs

I was stuck in the ear canal when we were marching out. Then, Healthia found me and hid me in Abby’s big toe. She’s not bad, really, for a cell, but I just wish that I could have gotten out like my teacher and friends.

Healthia brings me food every day. One day, she takes me out and into Heart School. She enrolls me at school, and I paint myself red and changed my name to Cella. I even join Healthia’s dormitory group.

But Healthia acted like she didn’t know me. I didn’t know why. So I went back to the big toe and wiped off all the blood substance (aka paint) and was my normal self again.

When my stomach growled, Healthia wasn’t there with food. I felt I was all alone. So I slowly climbed back up the leg, and into Abby’s stomach, and up into the esophagus and into her mouth. Her lips are closed.

CHAPTER 5

Cells

I feel so betrayed. I go with my friends to our amusement park, which only has one ride. We joined the blood flow and I tried to wash my thoughts about Germia away. We traveled all over Abby’s body, but I was still thinking about Germia.

I stopped making my travels to the big toe, because Germia left. I was heartbroken, well whatever happens to cells, because we don’t have hearts. I thought she was my friend.
Maybe I was wrong.

Maybe she isn’t my friend.

Maybe I shouldn’t’ve trusted her.

Maybe I should’ve listened to the teachers and shouldn’t have even tried to be friends with her.

Still, I can’t help being sad.

We go back to the dormitory because we had class. My next period is a history of humans. It’s my last class of the day, and the only class that’s actually taught in our school. I just passed notes with my friends. It’s finally over and I decide to go look for Germia. I can’t find her, so I go to sleep.

Somebody’s shaking me. I pinch myself and it hurts. I wake up to find that it was all a dream.

CHAPTER 6

Germs

I smell something funny. I realize it’s a cavity on Abby’s tooth. And the cavity is my friend Germania. I wonder why she’s not gone.

She says, “Why did you sleep so late, silly?”

I realize that it must have been a dream.

CHAPTER 7

Cells

I am relieved to know that it was just a dream. I wake up for my first class of the day: Defense class. We go to the Mouth School of the germs and spy on them. After hearing some information, we go back to our school. The white blood cell teacher-ambassador is visiting our principal. I tell them the news, but they’re so shocked that they can’t tell it to our assembly. The news is: the germs will attack the brain. (Yet again!)

Prologue

(September 1934)

 

I remember. The shouts and yells as we were ushered into the trucks. A man waited with a needle by our truck. Already busy tattooing numbers on the arms of my fellow refugees. The thrum as we packed into the filthy dirty noisy truck like a bunch of pigs, and the open engine making it impossible for anyone to rest. “I want to be free,” I told my mother, and she said, “Time, Jonah, time. Life goes on, and we must follow.”

 

Chapter one: Life ever goes on

(October 1942)

 

It was eight years to that fateful day,  three years before the end of the war, and still as ever I yearned to be free. It was around sundown, and I had returned from hard work, digging trenches for cisterns down the road. I had been on my feet for twelve hours. My body protested. The food here was little more than a scrap of bread that has been nibbled upon and encrusted completely with mold. It tasted awful. As the soldiers briskly walked through the alleyways of the camp, yelling “Nahaufnahme! Standbildaufnahme!” I had been here long enough to know what that meant. “Close up! Lock down!” and every night after evening bell, I remembered my mother’s words to me. Since that fateful moment on the truck, she was transferred to Bergen Belsen. But I remember her words well. Life ever does go on. And that is true even now, because even in the tyranny of the Germans, a boy still grows to become a man.

 

Chapter Two: Dog Days

(October 1942-June 1943)

 

Every day was the same. Every month was the same. Every year was the same. We would rise at around 04:12. We would have a quick breakfast of moldy strawberries and sour orange juice. There was spoiled milk if we wanted it. We were only allowed to spend ten minutes each at the breakfast table. Then we would travel back to the dorms for cold showers. Each person was only allowed 60 seconds under ice cold water. You got five minutes under lukewarm if you pleased the warden. Then it would be off to our backbreaking work. There we would be forced to dig trenches all day, or wade through patches of stinging nettles, and every chance I got I stared at the sky and thought about just how much I wanted to be free. But my mother’s words sustained me. After backbreaking work, all through the day, we were called to return to the meal hall. But before we could eat, we were required to line up. And then the warden decided who would never see the sunlight, but just clouds of red gas. Then it was time. At around 12 hours after we got up, the soldiers shoved us back into our bunks, and once again yelled the ever persistent phrase. “Nahaufnahme! Standbildaufnahme!” There was a buzz and suddenly everything was dark and we found ourselves unable to open the doors or windows, as it was every night. And that was the day, and I didn’t know it then, but salvation was on its way.

 

Chapter Three: New Arrivals

(June 26 1943)

 

That afternoon, we had a very very rare occasion: lunch. Soon we all discovered why. A thrumming could be heard, and the military caravan drove in.  There were trucks and soldiers in blue uniforms, motorcycles with sidecars and jeeps with officers. The caravan stopped and soldiers jumped down from the tailgates of transports, undoing the canvas on the back of the trucks. I heard a few wild yells as berserking prisoners tried to make a break through the now-open gates and into the yard, but there was much gunfire and when the smoke cleared all you could see was bodies twisted in astute and odd directions and positions. Yet another reminder to people already in the camp. Try to escape, and  the guards would shoot first and ask questions later. Startled, the rest of the new arrivals fell into long lines and obeyed the sergeant’s command. “Marsch!” One or two, however, did not look like the rest of the pack, and the sunlight gleamed on something metal that they had. We knew that something was amiss when we saw that glint of metal.

 

In the evening, they called us to the common room of our bunk, saying, “Brothers! We will meet tonight after the lockdown. For the Germans are fools. They don’t do anything once the lockdown has been settled. Except there are no lights and no people entering or exiting. So we may have a secret meeting after dark.” I was very very excited. When darkness came I was one of the first people in the room. Already in the room were the three people that we had seen coming off the trucks that afternoon, they said, “Welcome, brother! Welcome! We are of the Jewish Society, of the city of Boden. There, Jews are safe. We wish to aid you in escaping. We have been hired by the Swedish government to get ourselves captured so we can help you escape. But before we get into all of that, we have a present for you.” And he produced some of the most unlikely things possible: a metal box full of pistols. I gasped, along with my fellow captives. He said, “Now which of you here are trained infantry?” About twenty people raised their hands. “Alright then,” he said. “Come up one at a time to get your weapons. Do not fire them for we only have limited ammunition.” And so the line progressed along. “Conceal these well. If you do not, you will be killed. Now, brothers. In a few days we will work out our plan. Good luck to everyone.” And that was the start of salvation.

 

Chapter Four: The Plan

(July 21 1943)

 

Three weeks later….

The new arrivals had become accustomed to camp life. And now, they had let the word out that it was time to convene, come up with a plan and get out of this slum. So that day, we broke our backs and cut our hands and strained the muscles in our our legs. But we did all of this happily because we knew that soon we would start our plan to escape. That night was both a happy night and a sad night. The sad part: Lieutenant Captain Mark Smith was gassed at around 8. The happy part: it was time for us to begin our escape at last. We all rushed back to our bunk. We were happy all through lockdown. Then it was time. When the two men from the Jewish Society entered the room, they said, “Davidson, you still got your pistol?” “Yep,” he said. “What about you, Jacobean?” “Yep!” And so the process continued. The man finally said, “Alright. Everyone has checked in. So we may begin. We can give you a few ideas on what has worked in other camps. But overall you are the people who know this camp best. You are the ones who’ll be the base of the plan. One of the things that worked a lot is having someone hide out with a pistol in one of the bunks and fire off a shot, causing the guards to run over there. He can kill a guard or two. That way more guards will have to come through and divert their attention from the posts on the exit. All in favor of that plan?” About half of the people said “yes” and half of the people said “no.” The people who said “no” offered to dig tunnels. And the Swedish sergeant said, “Alright then. It is decided. Now for your jobs. Mister Steel, you will work on acquiring supplies. Mister Manning, you will be the engineer, working out safety for the tunnels and the rail lines that we will build inside. Mister Shire, you will work on forging passes for us to get out of the country to Sweden. We have a network in case the plan fails, but if all goes well the plan will work out.” Then he said, “The rest of you: you are guards. you will take your pistol and guard our operation, injuring and even killing soldiers if need be. Oh, and by the way, Mister George, you will be the persuader. You will work to curry favor in the German ranks and use them as supply links. Any amendments?”

After three hours, the plan was decided. Everything would go as originally said, except for the fact that the Swedes would be leading two “divisions” each of the divisions would have workers that worked on things the Swedish officer was skilled at. It was almost time to implement the plan. But there was one more very important part. That was the secrecy swearing. Everyone had to be sworn to secrecy and promise that they would not reveal the plan and also aid the plan wherever it took them. Once this was complete, the two Swedes said, “It’s almost midnight. You get some rest or you will only have four hours and twelve minutes to sleep. Go now.”

 

Chapter Five: Implementation

(July 22 to Midnight July 23 1943)

 

In the morning, I walked off to my position as a guard. I was assigned to the forgers. I concealed my pistol carefully underneath several layers of the thin papery bedsheets. We had arranged to that some of the Swedes were now guards, stationed strategically at the frisking point leading to the work areas. They deliberately ignored bedsheet-wrapped bundles in our orange belts. We exited out of the camp inner sanctum walls, to the work areas in the outer ring. My job today would be to enter the office and make sure that the forgers were not discovered. I scurried along to the door and I sat down to wait.

BOOM. “Herauskommen! Hände über dem Kopf! Fallen keine Waffen auf dem Boden!” Two German soldiers raised their rifles and prepared to fire. A third ran forward with handcuffs and so I stepped out with my hands above my head and my glinting pistol lying on the ground. One of the soldiers called the sergeant over and abruptly the sergeant yelled, “Isolation. Zehn Tage. Jetzt. Wärter!” So two guards came with handcuffs and marched me off to the Isolation chamber. They locked the doors and said, “You won’t get any food for two weeks. Sergeant’s orders. Goodnight!” The door slammed shut with such force that it caused the entire wooden shed to vibrate.

The head of the theft and forgery division said, “Where’s Mathewson?! He’s needed to be a forge guard and he hasn’t shown up since the morning!” “Sir, he’s in the isolation chamber,” came the sad reply. “Alright then. We must do it now! Quickly, notify all people to proceed to hiding place one.” Then everyone was running towards an insignificant little shed that the guards had always presumed to be an outhouse down by the edge of the camp. Not wanting anyone to escape, all waste was placed in the holding tanks so that no one could possibly escape by sewer. But they had deliberately kept the tanks clean. So they stood inside the toilet and climbed down. Inside of the septic tank, instead of human waste it was like a small apartment. There were canned foods lining the walls and a modestly sized radio transceiver. One of the Swedes stepped up to the transceiver. He pressed a button and after around 30 seconds something flashed orange and a crackly voice came through with a bit of an accent. “Welcome to the Swedish Intelligence Office. This is the Center for Radio Control. How may I help you?” “This is Operative 1313978A. We require assistance on the mission. This radio may be monitored, so we can’t say much. But we require extra agents and perhaps a government supervisor.” “Alright. That can be arranged,” was the reply. The new agents will arrive by sundown tomorrow. I wish you luck and hope it works out. Goodbye.” And the radio fizzled out. “Alright,” said the Swedish supervisor already there. “Our first step is to rescue Jonah from isolation. “Let’s do it, then!” said one of the guards. And so they set off.

 

Chapter Six: Rescue

Midnight July 23 1943

 

It was now dark. Someone had picked the lock on the front door. During midnight blackout, there were no guards on duty, so they passed the isolation building in the far left corner unnoticed. The isolation building was surrounded by a tall wire fence.  “Alright,” one of them whispered quietly.  “Since there are no guards on duty, there’s no one to open the skeleton gate leading to the isolation room.  We’re going to have to cut our way through.”  “Supplies.  Have you managed to acquire any wire cutters?”  

“Yes,” someone replied.  

“Great.  Lets go.”  So they cut through the wire and snuck along in the darkness to the door.  “Lockpick” was the whispered command.  And so the lock was picked and they entered.  

There was a bolt on Jonah’s door, but we opened it with ease.  Inside, Jonah jumped up and said “You came to rescue me!”  

“Of course!” said the Swedish agent.  “Now lets get out of here, it’s almost midnight.”  So they ran back to the bunk and were inside with the door locked by 11:59.  “Phew, that was close,” one of them said.  “Now make it look as if you were sleeping.”  So they did.

 

Chapter Seven: Two Turnings of Tides

October 1943

 

Sunset the next day… we heard the roar of a plane.  The German guards look up and just figured it was a military plane departing from the nearby airbase.  

The two Swedish operatives are down in the septic tank base.  The radio crackles to life.  “This is the Swedish field service.  We are progressing towards your location.  Please provide a means of entry,” I heard a squawking voice on the other end of the line.  “Right,” was the reply.  “Guards, see to it that the gate is unlocked and open for the operatives to arrive.”  Once again I addressed the person on the other side of the radio.  “We only have another half hour before the German guards come back on duty.  You better be quick.”  “Of course,” said this squawking voice.  “Signing off.”

There was suddenly a light outside of the gate, and the soft patter of wilderness uniform boots on the hard packed dirt outside the compound.  They saw the Swedish operatives run in.  I jumped with joy.  Reinforcements!  The tide was finally ready to be turned.  

“Lets all go to sleep now, we have a long day ahead of us.  It’s one step closer to freedom!”  

In the morning, something quite unusual happened.  We were roused at our normal time, but besides the usual breakfast hubbub, there were many more soldiers marching about than usual.  One German sergeant shouted, “Inspektion! Aufstellung!”

I grimaced as we lined up. SO this was another of those dreaded inspections. Most of these inspections ended with half of the camp going away to the gas chambers. I gasped as I realized they were doing this inspection because they heard the operatives coming in last night. Their safety is in jeopardy. As one soldier passed me, I tried to appear rigid, my face not worried. Soon one of the Swedish intelligence officers was wrestled out of the crowd by two German soldiers who put them in handcuffs. He was pushed up against the wire fence behind a line of soldiers. Soon another one came out of the crowd, then another, then another, then soon all the Swedish operatives, our only hope for freedom, were picked out by the Germans.  They formed quite a sizable number, the total of them.

One of the Germans barked, “Why have you got a bulging spine?”

“Because I’ve got THIS” said the Swedish operative, and he pulled out and automatic rifle, shooting down three German Soldiers in rapid succession.

The guards brought their weapons to bear quickly and fired upon them. A fierce gun battle ensued, the guards, me included, went into this sort of protect-the-leader rage and all pulled out pistols. More and more guards came and soon we were outnumbered, still fighting. We weren’t defeated yet and we wanted the Germans to know that. Soon one of our members, Jacobean fell to the unending barrage of machine gunfire. The other agents all pulled out automatic machine gun rifles from their shirts too and soon it became a scene of mass carnage, more and more German soldiers and more and more operative streamed through the camp. The time for secrecy was over. We would probably all be executed in a few days, but at that time we didn’t care, I didn’t care, my friends didn’t care. We were fighting for freedom and that’s all that mattered.We had killed three German guards by now and wounded 7 more but we were still outnumbered. However, the Swedish operatives were more skilled than the standard German infantry and the Swedish operatives had a kill rate of around 20 to 1. However, the Germans had the advantage of numbers on their side and soon it almost swarmed us over. We retreated back to the septic tank. They all jumped into the toilet and closed the lid. With a bang, German soldiers ran toward the outhouse. Everywhere was a tumultuous smoke of gunfire as the operatives made their retreat. There was angry yelling and I could tell that the commander was angry. Suddenly I heard a whirring, grinding noise and I saw a tank. I couldn’t believe it, I yelled to my comrades to take shelter. We dived to the bottom of the tank, covering our ears. There was a sonic BOOM and the tank shell ripped through the ceiling. Suddenly, all around me, metal was twisting and groaning. Smoke was billowing. I could hear the screams of my friends trapped under the masses of mangled metal. We had the get out of here but how? There was a tank and 5000 german soldiers on the surface, what were we supposed to do. Suddenly, I heard a wailing.

Oh no, not an air raid! If there was an air raid on top of what we were already facing then we would all probably die. I said my final prayers, cried for my mother for a moment, and then steeled.

I could hear a faint and distant whistling. The sirens, the screams, the shouts, all drew distant as my world faded to black.

When I woke up I was in a dark room covered with a soiled white sheet which stank of human body byproducts. I groaned and rolled over. So I wasn’t dead, but I would still be forced to live on in torture forever. My head felt heavy and I stared up at the lamp hanging above my head. Goodbye, I told the world, goodbye.

And I slept.  

 

Chapter 8: Air Raids

November 19-November 26 1943

 

In the morning I woke up and there was a soldier beside my bed. He spoke to the white clothed doctor beside him. “Ist er tot?” “Nein.” a voice replied out of the darkness.

Hazily, I understood. They were discussing whether I was dead. It appears that they had come to the conclusion that I had not, which was true of course, but I had no idea why in the world I was alive.

There was more talk, “Sollen wir ihn wieder an die Arbeit?”

A reply came out of the darkness.

“Geben ihm drei Stunden und weisen Sie dann ihn bis zu einem gewissen geringeren Innen Pflicht. Persönlich ist mir egal, wenn er stirbt, und weder sollten Sie.”

Now I understood. They were going to send me back to work, even in my poor condition. They really didn’t care about people’s lives here and I doubted they ever would. So, and hour passed and then I was put to the work of peeling and chopping potatoes for the evening mess. The potatoes were the least meaty of the crop, just enough to keep someone alive, and covered with mold and gone bad. Our job was to scrape the mold off and then peel the potato, placing them in the pot for cooking. We were not allowed near scalding hot water lest we use it as a weapon against the guards. I sprained at least three fingers in the course of doing this, got whipped by a German soldier once, and shocked in the leg by another. After a hellish six hours, that backbreaking, unbearably painful work was finally done. I sighed. They said, “normally you wouldn’t get dinner, but we need to keep you alive to break your back.”

I’m kidding, they didn’t actually say that, but it sure sounded like that.

I dejectedly picked at my moldy peas which looked wilted and were bitter. They made us eat raw pork here so I had several cases of tapeworms already. Then the air raids happened. We all ran out of the building and cheered as several allied aircrafts raced overhead, bombing the massive camp. There was a radio signal picked up by the radio in the septic tank saying ‘We are raiding the camp, , hide in the potato warehouse, that is the one place we are not bombing. That way you can survive for liberation. Quickly now!”

We all rushed happily yet sadly to the potato warehouse, barricading ourselves inside. Several German soldiers charged in and held us at gunpoint, every one of us. They said into our radio that if the air raid didn’t stop they would slaughter every one of us, so the air raid had no choice but to be stopped, as advent as we were about bringing death to the German forces. The German soldiers released us quickly, shoving us into one another, marching us out of the warehouse into the gas chambers.

 

Chapter 9: Survival

Noon November 27 1943

 

As we entered into the gas chamber, which, of course, they did not expect us to know it was a gas chamber, there was a small window. As we entered the ‘baths’ as they called them. A little girl whined. “I’m suffocating, mama,” she said, “Will you tell the man to open a window?”

I wanted to laugh and say, “ha, to have you suffocate is the idea!” But I refrained.

It seems that the Germans were not yet ready to reveal the true purpose so they said, “Alright, one window may be open for five minutes.”

And that is how we survived. I returned to the bunk in high fervor, excited about surviving the gas chambers. The Swedish agents had reconvened yet again, brought in more agents and better manpower, spun captivating capture stories that the Germans believed to be in every way true. This time, they brought in an automatic rifle for each guard and told them to conceal it in an inner pocket of their pants.

“Now for the second plan,” the new Swedish head of operations said. “We have a better plan now and automatic rifles to help us along. WE shall do the same as before except that now all guards will be equipped with forged ‘warden’s pardons’ which will allow them to be about in the camp without supervision from soldiers. Then we will be protected from isolation and other forms of torture that the Germans may subject us to. Now onto the second phase of the plan. We’ve got Swedish operatives posing as German soldiers and actually officers in the German high command that will attempt to work on giving you as much leeway as possible. Of this, Hitler will not and must not know. For freedom!

There was a rising responding call.

“For freedom!”

The officer told us to get some sleep and then we did.

 

Chapter 10: Implementation ii

November 27-November 30 1943

 

We had a plan. We would pose as prisoners transferring to a different camp and board military trucks that were manned by the Swedish operatives posing as German soldiers. When we got in, we would make for the boarder of Germany and freedom in Sweden. This way we didn’t have to focus on forging and we had one less thing to do but we would escape they assured us.

Time to go, work on reacquiring supplies and escape this hellhole once and for all!

We all went about our jobs. The old persuader worked to get the prisoner transferred orders. We all worked hard to seem as innocent as we could, and the Germans seemed happy that for once, we were acting as dejected hopeless Jews instead of budding revolutionaries. Time went on, but we endured the cruel tortures happily, knowing that freedom was on the horizon.

 

Chapter 11 – War, Bad News and a Spark of Hope Extinguished

February 1945

Somebody had stolen a newspaper from one of the guards and the news that it carried was not good.

 

Schweden ausgesetzt! In den Nachrichten an diesem Morgen, ist eine atemberaubende Durchbruch. Es wurde festgestellt, dass die schwedische Betrieb sind pro-jüdische Zellen, die Juden zu befreien, so dass sie uns helfen kann zu zerstören. Entlang von diesem, hat Ihr Anführer und Beschützer Schweden den Krieg erklärt. er schwört, dass wir werden nicht aufhören, bis wir erbärmlich Schweden in unserem Kielwasser zerdrückt. Lange kann das deutsche Vaterland und die arische Rasse zu leben.

 

In my later years, I have found time to translate this news article and it may be found in the Annex materials section. However, we have no time to read that now, so heres the basic content. The Germans have discovered the Swedish intent, and intend to declare war upon them so we cannot be free. I go back to my work saddened by this prospect, but the Swedish operatives are telling us that they will continue to aid us at all costs. This cheers me a little, but not much. They say we must go on with our plan, but after reading the article some of my brothers have abandoned the attempt. I, however, and most of my friends have not. ¨The plan must continue,” we say. For those of us who are not abandoning the plan, we are close to salvation but yet another setback occurs and we are yet again set back.

It was morning time. The Swedish operatives came out of the shelter looking dejected. One of them sighed and proceeded to tell us ”Because of the war, our superiors demand that we pull out and aid them in the war and aid them in the defense of our country. We will not be doing any offensive campaigning because that would result in the loss of too many lives unless there is a breach in the German defenses which we will fully utilize. I will not see you for a long time and I hope we meet again on free ground, my brothers. Now, I must leave.” So he went to the car where the two German soldiers were waiting for them. ”Me and my remaining comrades did something bad so they would transfer us between camps aboard a truck. A Swedish plane will raid the truck and pull us out so that we can go home.” All of the people of the camp were sad as the agents car drove away. Some cried. Some fainted. Others attempted to throw themselves at the door to the gas chamber. I myself sighed and fell on the spot. The blissful blackness of the dirt encasing me…

I woke up again in that same bed of the same building I had been in before. Once again, the familiar conversation, ”Ist er tot?” ”Nein.” ”Sollen wir ihn wieder an die Arbeit?”, ”Geben ihm drei Stunden und weisen Sie dann ihn bis zu einem gewissen geringeren Innen Pflicht. Persönlich ist mir egal, wenn er stirbt, und weder sollten Sie.” Three hours later, as normal, I was put back to work. Time flowed by unendingly. There was no hope now. Sweden was gone. There was not now but oppression. No hope. Nobody. No nothing. Just war. War and death. I fought to keep myself alive. Now there was nothing. The air raids had been forced to stop. No salvation. War. I prayed to Adonai hoping for something better and it turned out that God didn’t wish for me to die today. There would be another attempt. Soon, that attempt presented itself…

 

Chapter 12 – Freedom Eludes Us Again

April to early May 1945

 

Soon, that other opportunity presented itself. Into the camp, two Jews, who had been escape artists in the circus, they promised that they might be able to save us and our beliefs. We gave them the wire cutters that weeks ago (it seemed like years now) supplied the escape effort. On June 22, 1939, it was scheduled to happen. We would break free at all costs. We swore, saying we would come out of battle free or dead. That was the rekindling of the spark of hope. The next day was that fated day; it was June 22. Morning rose quietly but trembling with anticipation. It was time for the escape. The artists met at the appointed hour in Bunk 6. It was time. Blackout had come and gone. The final planning was over. We went together to the gate. “Hey!” I yelled. “Aufhalten!” he replied, “Stop, stop now! Succumb, I order you!” I pulled out a rifle I had saved for the last uprising. I fired. The guard fell. Wild yells penetrated the air around me. Yells of anguish and happiness as more people charged forward. They ran. The rest of the guards held them to the choking point. I, however, as one of them was able to divert the attention from the real escape. The artists dived out from behind cover. They snuck to a point about 780 feet west of the nearest guard tower. One of them pulled the wire cutters from their pants. They attempted to make a step to make a hole. The time left of the diversion was running out. The main body was rapidly being overwhelmed by the guards. I ran to the front and, shooting down one guard, narrowly missed three more shots fired by another. I ran for it. Diving behind cover when I could, I charged one of the towers. Three people backed me and together we were able to defeat the guard. They were almost through. We had to give them five more seconds. “Five! Just five!” I told myself.

I hurried to fire a few more shots. Another one of our friends fell to the guard. Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Boom!!

It was over. We had failed. I saw the artist lying dead on the ground by the wire. There was blood but the ground was rapidly soaking. There were yells and dejectedly we once again dropped our rifles. Some fell from exhaustion just then. I slumped over. We had been foiled. Escape was now a long way away. The guards handcuffed us. We were sent back to the gas chambers which, thankfully, we once again survived. This time they did not hesitate to inject the gas to the chamber. Each of us, however, had nose clips stowed in our outer pockets. I clipped my nose clip over my nose and whipped out a pair of goggles. These I placed over my head. I also had a rubber mask. I placed that on as did most of my friends. We let the red gas wash over us. Then there was just darkness. 23 seconds later it was over. All over. The gas had dissipated. Assuming of course that we were all dead. We did our best to appear so and whipped off our nose clips and eye masks and lay down on the floor, splayed out as if dead. They came and carried us away and placed us in the ‘Tomb of Auschwitz.’ There they left us. Suffocating in the brittle air, we struggled to survive. Day by day we crawled to the door, struggling for breath. As quietly as we could we exposed and activated the trigger for the vile of gas that we had procured. We debated, whispering quietly among ourselves, “Should we kill the Germans? It’s the only way to be free. But do we want to take anyone’s lives in the quest to be free? But it’s the only way to be free!”

Then we were at the door. We climbed out. We were free. However, a steady guard of Germans had been placed at the entrance to the Tomb of Auschwitz because they had known that one of us would probably play a trick like this eventually.  Now our trouble was getting past the German guards. WE didn’t want to have to do this but we had captured a vial of Zyklon B. This we threw at the guards and that was how we got out of the tomb. It was very very hard for me to throw the canister. I didn’t want to kill anyone in the quest for freedom but if it had to be done, it had to be done. So we got out and prepared to escape.

 

Chapter 13: Victory and Tipping Points

May 7th 1945

 

But then we heard a heated discussion between four German officers.

“We have surrendered to the Allies but should we tell the prisoners now or later? Should we let them be free now?”

“Tell them now, we have surrendered and if we do not free them now the allies may kill us” another soldier retorted.

We began to chatter excitedly among ourselves.

“Let’s go back to the camp so we can receive British aid.”

An so that’s what we did!

That was it. Salvation was here. Trucks drove in but this time they weren’t German trucks. They were Allied trucks. A soldier stepped up to me and said, “Hey, do you speak English?”

“Yes,” I replied calmly.

“Please get aboard the truck now then, we will take you to the airport at Trier. From there we will fly you to the British constituate in Spain. From here you can do whatever you wish. You deserve to be free, you have been through a lot. I myself am of your brethren and I commend you for what you have done and the people you have lost. Get aboard the truck now.”

And so I got aboard the bus. We left the camp behind. It was now covered in a grey film of dust. During the Allied occupation of Germany the camp was used as a training site for Allied bombers. Some buildings were tossed aside and the gas chambers were the first to be bombed.

 

Epilogue: In Memoriam and My Travels in The World

October 1949

 

The minister finished his prayer with an amen that was echoed by all.

“And so,” he said, “These heroic people fell in battle for freedom of religion, of belief, and physically. They died fighting for their brethren, their life. And I commend them for their losses. May everyone watch over them.”

It had been a long mourning, filled with stories, heartfelt narratives that are too long to include in this narrative, but I think that they were beautiful and represented the dead more than adequately. Once I was free, I traveled by plane to the United States in 1956. There I stayed for ten years visiting the sights and telling the people of my experience at the camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, but the most important place that I ever traveled in that time was in fact the same place I had come away from. Germany. The refugee society member tracked down my mother. I visited her. She was overjoyed to see me as I was to see her. I was happy and overjoyed to know that after the deportation of men to Auschwitz, Jews were isolated from the rest of the camp an not assigned to work teams. In October 1943 1700 people were sent to Auschwitz so the remaining Jews were not assigned to work teams, so her condition did not deteriorate as much as mine. We discussed our experiences and she was horrified to learn that I had gone to Auschwitz and noted that the conditions that I must have faced were probably ten times worse than hers. She constantly pestered me. I told her of all the details and she told me of hers. Then I traveled to France, visiting sites where prisoners like myself had languished and I was free after 11 years of terror.

 

Annex Materials

Here are some things that will help you understand this story better:

 

1. Newspaper Translation from Chapter 11:

 

Sweden exposed! In the news this morning, a stunning breakthrough is made. It has been discovered that the Swedish are operating pro-Jewish cells which help to free Jews so that they may destroy us. Along by this, your leader and protector has declared war on Sweden. He vows that we will not stop until we have crushed pathetic Sweden in our wake. Long may live the German fatherland and the Aryan race.

2. The Beginner’s Guide to German Military Language And Phrases Described in This Book

3. Further Reading:

Here There Is No Why by Rachel Chencinski Roth

Night by Elie Weisel

The Book Thief  by Markus

THe Diary of Anne Frank

Surviving Auschwitz by Primo Levi

Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman

 

When I was one year old my uncle started taking care of me. I still don’t know what happened to my parents. Neither my relatives nor my uncle have told me. We live in a small apartment with one bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. I go to school everyday and have summer vacation just like every other kid. I also have a normal and plain name, Izzy. But something is different about me. I keep a list of questions I have that have never been answered. They can be big questions like where my parents went or just small questions that are just not appropriate for anyone to answer because of my age.

What I have found out:

1. When I was little my parents and I lived in a large house.
2. We didn’t have much money but the house had been in our family for generations, so we were able to keep it.
3. Now we don’t have the house because the government took it, because we weren’t paying the full rent, just before my parents disappeared.
4. My dad had a job working in a factory making shoes and didn’t get paid much by his mean boss.
5. Our town didn’t like our family because we didn’t pay taxes to help our parks and buildings. We didn’t pay them because we were too poor. We could barely pay for our house.

I decided that the first person I wanted to ask questions to was my uncle. So after school I went to find him. He was in the kitchen.

“Hi, Uncle Kevin, can I ask you a question?”

“Just a minute Izzy, I’m making a sandwich.”

“I only have a quick question.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “What is it?

“Were you there when my parents disappeared?

“I told you, I don’t know anything, they just told me to take care of you for a little bit and then they were gone.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said. “I’m sure.”

I knew that wasn’t true.

“Did they tell you anything else before they left?

“Oh, fine!” he yelled. “I’ll tell you. Before they left they said that they had to go somewhere to make money so that they could raise you better instead of raising you with no money. They told me not to tell you this because they just wanted to come back as fast as they could so that they could raise you. But with you pestering me, I couldn’t stand it.”

“Thank you, but why have they taken nine or more years? They left when I was one.”

“Who knows. But I think you should forget about it for now.”

That was something I wasn’t going to do.

 

When I came home from school, I heard my uncle talking in the kitchen to a voice I didn’t recognize.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I tried to give her something to kind of lure her off of the path, but I think she’ll see through it. She even makes a list of things she doesn’t know and does know,” my uncle said.

“I would never do that… It’d take too much time and organization. I got better stuff to do,” the other person said between bites of a cupcake. He had bad grammar and etiquette.

“Hey,” I said as I came into the room. “What’s your name? I’m Izzy.” I asked the person talking to my uncle. He looked very unbathed. He was also wearing jeans that were cut at two different lengths and his shirt’s buttons were uneven. I guess he just didn’t care how he appeared.

“I’m Joe, I drive trucks. Garbage trucks,” he said as he choked on some apple cobbler. He was eating up all my dessert.

“That’s nice,” I replied. “Do you live in our building?”

“Yeah, I live in the apartment right next to yours.”

“How have I never met you?”

“I move a lot.”

“Why?” I said curious.

“Anyway, I have to go.”

“Bye,” I said.

“See you later!” my uncle said.

“Why was he here?

“Just wanted to um, ah, you know, talk to someone while you’re at school? I get really lonely.”

“That’s never happened before.”

“Enough… With… THE QUESTIONS!” Suddenly he was shouting. “Does it ever occur to you that it is ANNOYING!?”

“Sorry,” I replied meekly.

 

The next day I went into my bedroom to think about what had happened yesterday. They were talking about what my uncle had told about my parents. He said it was a lie. What was he trying to do? Then I thought of going to Joe’s apartment. He might have some answers. He didn’t seem very smart, so it wouldn’t be too hard to get information out of him.

 

Knock, knock knock. “Joe?”

He opened the door in a quite unpleasant way. “Oh you. Ya live over there, don’t you?”

“Uh, yeah.” He was in his pajamas and it was 4:00 in the afternoon. “I just want to ask you some questions. Are you busy?”

“No, come in.”

As I walked into Joe’s apartment, I was very confused. Everything didn’t seem to match his personality. It was neat and all the furniture matched the carpet, there were no clothes on the floor and the walls were white without anything on them.

“I can’t stand dirty places, so I choose to keep mine clean,” Joe said.

That seemed kind of suspicious, so I immediately started asking questions.

“Do you know who my parents are?”

“No, isn’t Kevin your dad?”

“No, he’s my uncle. How do you know my uncle?”

“He welcomed me to your apartment, since I’m new here.”

“Oh, I’m not going to get anything out of you. You’re too- never mind.”

With that, I left. As I opened the door to my apartment I noticed something was missing.

“Uncle Kevin? Where are you? Are you home?”

No reply. He was here when I left so I doubt he would have gone anywhere since I was only at Joe’s for five minutes. I went back to Joe’s apartment and told him that my Uncle was gone.

All he said was, “We’ve been caught.”

Then he took my arm and led me out the door. I don’t know why, but I trusted him. He didn’t seem like the person he pretended to be. So as he took my arm and led me out of the building, I didn’t stop him. We ran down the street and passed all the buildings to Anchor Lake which was at the very very tip of our town. Surrounding the lake was the woods and through the woods was the next town. He took me halfway through the woods and stopped me.

“Look, Izzy, I have a lot to tell you.”

“Well, then tell me! I’ve only been waiting my whole life!” I said, exasperated.

“Well, your parents are spies, and they work for the government. They couldn’t tell you as much as they wanted to because the government couldn’t trust you. I’m also a spy, like your parents. Your ‘uncle’ is not your uncle, he’s your bodyguard. He never wanted to take care of you but your parents made him. Your real name is Florence, your parents met in Florence, Italy, spying together. We had to change your name to something plain like Izzy, because Butler and her people know that there’s only one Florence, you. But now Kevin’s been caught and we have to go find your parents, Berkle-Butler is onto us.”

There was so much to process in my mind right now, I didn’t say anything. I was angry at my parents for abandoning me, I was worried that my parents, Joe and I were in danger, I was frustrated that no one ever told me this and I was surprised that my parents were spies working for the government. My head was swirling with all these emotions and I still had nothing to say. I was going from my boring life and now I was going to find my parents.

Chapter Two

My name is Jacqueline, just don’t call me that, because I prefer Jack. My mother and father learned that the hard way. From the day I was born I hated that name, Jacqueline. It sounds all sophisticated, and believe me, I am not sophisticated. A normal princess, or at least my mother’s definition of a normal princess, should wear dresses, not pants, and your handkerchief should be in your handbag, not used as a bandana. I am not your stereotypical princess, though I know my mother wants me to be. The one thing I do that she wants me to do is go to Bellmapel Magic Academy. It is horrible. All the other girls are those stereotypical princesses who wear gallons of makeup (by the way, we are thirteen) and big, poofy skirts and dresses. And the teachers don’t make it any easier. We actually have a beauty lesson. Can you believe that? Its ridiculous. We have to learn magic, too, and that’s not as bad, but still pretty bad. The annoying thing is, I’m actually pretty good at magic. I am classified as a witch, because I passed the test last year, and partly because my Great Aunt Filipina was a first class Magician, and so was my mom. You can’t apply to be a first class Magician until you’re seventeen, and I’m only thirteen.

I like to sew a lot. My mother says it’s waste of time, because our servants can do it for us. But I love to look at a beautiful outfit that I made. It makes me really relaxed, and it something I really enjoy. But of course, the one thing I like to do my parents don’t approve of.

Chapter 1

 

Emma walked home in the rain because her dad forgot to pick her up again. The rain was dripping from her hair and onto her back. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. Ugh, why did her dad have to come back? Why, why, why? She knew the way home, because this was the sixth time he forgot to pick her up. Two miles from school she had to walk. Walk in the rain. Ugh!

Finally she got home. But her dad wasn’t home. Yet she knew exactly where he was, at Murray’s. Murray’s is the local liquor and bar store on the island of Cortin. Cortin was a small island so Murray’s is one of the only liquor stores on the island.

Emma sighed and went to the fridge. She slide a microwave pizza in the microwave. Then Emma went into the living room and grabbed her laptop and her favorite movie, Sleeping Beauty. She felt that everyone in the sixth grade knew that they were way too old for Disney movies. But Emma loved them, they comforted her. Almost made her feel like her dad, her life, and everything was gone. Ding! The microwave woke her up from her fantasy. She rushed into the kitchen and put her pizza on a paper plate.

In her room Emma popped the DVD into the laptop. She heard the familiar theme music and saw Bugs Bunny. When the prince kissed Sleeping Beauty a tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto her laptop. Why couldn’t someone save her? Then she started the movie again. Hi Bugs Bunny!

After the second time Emma watched the movie, it was 10 o’clock. She put the movie and computer away. Then she slipped on her PJ’s and brushed her teeth. Emma climbed into bed. Just when she got in she heard the front door open. Oh no, Dad!

No, mom! Yay! Today she came home from her long business trip. Mom is always working, but dad is unemployed.

“Sweetie, are you home?” mom shouts.

“Yes, mommy!” Emma shouted back. Seconds later she poked her head through her bedroom door.

“Where is your dad?” mom questions,

“Murray’s,” Emma sighed. She nodded then sighed too.
“Ok, well guess what?” her mom said. “I have to go away tomorrow at four in the morning to China, so I won’t see you.” Tears brimmed Emma’s eyes. Does she have to go?

“I know it has been hard on you ever since your father came back, but that is life. You are who you are because of him coming back last summer, ” her mom said sadly. She kissed Emma on the cheek where tears have somehow creeped out of Emma’s eyes. They were like little drops of sadness. Falling, falling, falling. Emma’s mom turned off the lights and Emma thought maybe she could see a tear in her mom’s eye.

 

Chapter 2

 

The next morning Emma stumbled through her morning routine. Put on clothes, brush hair, brush teeth, eat breakfast, grab bag, go on bus. She felt like a robot going through the same motions over and over and over again.

On the school bus, she sat in an empty seat in the back. Her friend, Charlie, came on the bus. Charlie moved to Cortin just this year. Charlie and Emma had became very good friends.

“Hey Em!” said Charlie, sliding into the seat next to her.

“Hi Char, how’s it going?” Emma replied.

“So did you hear about the plane crash this morning?” Charlie asked excitedly. Charlie’s mom is a news reporter, so she tells Charlie all the news.

“No Char,” Emma said, half-heartedly.

“Well,” she begins, “a plane going to China crashed and everyone on the plane died.” Charlie finishes excitedly.

“Mmm,” Emma said, not really listening. Charlie talks enough for Emma and herself combined, so sometimes when Charlie talked Emma tuned out.

At school in Social Studies they were talking about a plane crash. Emma decided to listen.

“The plane left at four this morning,” Mrs. Kelley told the class, “trying to go to China.” Emma’s heart stopped beating. NO! Emma raised her hand, almost scared to ask the question. Mrs. Kelly’s eyes fell on Emma.

“Yes,” she said.

“Um… could you maybe um, you know, print out a sheet of the um, names of the um, people who um, died,” Emma barely made out the words.

“Of course, Miss Emma Clount. I am so happy that you care about this horrible tragedy that has fallen upon us,” Mrs. Kelley said. Charlie shot me a look as if to say, She is such a drama queen. Usually Emma would laugh, but right now she didn’t care. Emma heard the printer going whir, whir, whir. As though every second was an hour the sheet came out of the printer.

Mrs. Kelley took the paper off the the printer and made her way over to Emma. With shaking hands, Emma took the papers made warm by the printer. Then she scanned the list.

 

Chapter 3

 

Emma heart stopped beating. There, her mother’s name. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Emma weakly raised her hand. Mrs. Kelley smiled and called on Emma.

“Uh, I don’t feel well,” Emma said and coughed just to prove it.

“Oh no! Horrible killer cough. Go to the nurse’s office, and here is your hall pass,” Mrs. Kelley said. Charlie made a face as if to say, What? I know you aren’t sick! Emma ignored it.

At the nurse’s office the nurse said that Emma didn’t have a fever, but just in case she would send Emma home. The nurse called Emma’s dad, but he didn’t pick up the phone.

“You will have to lay on the bed in the sick room until the end of school,” the nurse said politely. Emma smiled weakly and turned to the bed. In the room it smelled of moldy cheese and rotten cabbage. Ugh, dad. Sadly, Emma sat on the bed and cried herself to sleep.

The bell rang. Emma snapped awake, she looked at the clock: 3:30 p.m., school was over. Emma sat up and walked back over to the nurse.

“Is there a ride for you, sweetie?” the nurse asked in a honey-coated voice.

“Yeah,” Emma lied, pretty sure her dad wasn’t coming.

“A girl, Charlie, brought you your bag!” said the nurse.

“Thanks,” Emma barely replied. She scooped up her bag and walked out into the rain. Emma went to the circle of parents waiting to pick up kids. In that circle was her dad! Ugh, this was the last person she wanted to see right now.

“Hey Emma!” he shouted. Emma grumbled. Her dad walked over to Emma, beer in hand and the same shirt he has been wearing for the past three days.

“Your mom died,” he said. “But I’m gonna swing by Murray’s, how ’bout that. Woo-hoo!!!” Then Emma got very angry. Murray’s!

“Why do you care that mom died? You know what? Maybe you wanted her to!” Emma screamed. Tears stung her eyes. “Go to Murray’s and never come back!” Emma screamed. Emma turned on her heels, crying, and walked home.

Chapter 4

 

It has been a month since Emma and her dad got into a fight. He still hasn’t come back. There were stacks of bills piled high on the kitchen table. Emma was starting to get nervous — she didn’t have any money to pay the bills. There was only almonds left for food, and she hadn’t gone to school for a month.

But Emma had taken care of school; she wrote a note saying they had moved. Emma sighed. This was kind of her fault; she had told her dad to go and never come back. But what parent would leave their kid alone for a month? A bad parent, that’s who! Just then, there was a knock on the door. Confused, Emma rushed to open it.

Emma pulled the door open, standing there before her was a very, very, very tall women in a gray pantsuit. The very, very, very tall women looked down at Emma. The very, very, very tall women had gray eyes that matched her pantsuit. Piled on top of her head there was a bun.

“You must be Emma,” said the very, very, very tall women. “I am Mrs. Eleanor P. Humbert. Where is your father? At Murray’s, I suppose.” Emma stared at Mrs. Eleanor P. Humbert. How did she know all that stuff?

“Yes, he is,” Emma said very, very quietly. Emma looked Mrs. Eleanor P. Humbert in her gray eyes and asked, “How did you know that?”

“It’s my job,” Mrs. Eleanor P. Humbert said like it didn’t matter.

“Mrs. Eleanor P. Humbert, what do you mean it’s your job?” Emma asked very confused.

“Please call me Ellie, Emma,” Mrs. Eleanor P. Humbert said. “I am a spy, Emma, and after a month I have decided to step in and help you.”

“I’m okay, I don’t need help,” Emma said, closing the door. Ellie stuck her foot in the door and kicked it open again.

“You do need help. Your mom is dead and your dad has disappeared. Honestly, you need a world of help,” Ellie said. Emma had to say Ellie had a point.

“How are you going to help me?” Emma asked.

“Join us in spying! Endless possibilities. Time of your life and something you really want to know,” Ellie said in a magical voice. “Plus, if you don’t trust me, then I know someone who you will. She works for me. Charlie, get out of the car!” Out of a black limousine stepped Charlie. Charlie was also wearing a gray pantsuit. On top of her head was a bun.

“Char? Oh my gosh! Sure I’ll join, Ellie!” Emma said excitedly. Ellie clapped her hands together and Charlie brought forth a gray pantsuit.

“Change, and then tie you hair up into a bun on the top of your head,” Ellie said. Emma nodded and changed.

 

Chapter 5

 

Emma climbed into the car. The windows were tinted so Emma couldn’t see the outside.

“Hey Char, this is so cool!” Emma exclaimed. Charlie didn’t answer. “Char?” Emma poked Charlie.

“Would you just be quiet, okay? I wasn’t ever your friend,” Charlie said. Hurt, Emma didn’t talk any more.

“Where are we going?” Emma asked Ellie.

“Be quiet, girl,” Ellie said to Emma, then to Charlie, “gag her, Charlie!” Charlie tied a gag over Emma’s mouth so Emma couldn’t speak. It was also pretty hard to breath. What is happening to me?! Emma thought. Then Charlie tied Emma’s hands behind her back.

The limo pulled into a driveway, Emma was trying to scream but no words came out of her mouth. Emma was afraid to move but she tried anyway and successfully sat up. But then Charlie tied Emma’s feet together and Emma couldn’t move anymore.

Ellie pulled the limo into the driveway and got out. Emma was petrified in fear. Emma’s door opened and Ellie grabbed Emma. Ellie slung Emma over her shoulder. Ellie was surprisingly strong for her age. Ellie turned to yell at Charlie about something and Emma got a glimpse of the building. It was a little white cottage with ivy crawling up the walls. Somehow, this building seemed familiar.

Once inside the building, Ellie threw Emma inside a small room. There was very dim lighting but Emma could make out a figure. She looked kind of like her mom. But that would be impossible; a single tear dropped from Emma’s face at the thought of her mom. Then a very familiar voice said,

“Is that you, Emma?” It was mom! Emma tried to reply but the gag stopped her.

“Ghrlb,” was all Emma could make out.

“Oh no, sweetie! Here, let me try to get your gag off,” Emma’s mom said. Emma’s mom’s hands were also tied behind her back so she had to turn around to get the gag off. Emma’s mom also took off Emma’s hand-and-feet-ties too. Once freed, Emma undid her mom too.

“Emma, you can ask me questions later but right now we need to escape.” Out of Emma’s mom’s jean pocket she revealed a flashlight and switched it on. The room flooded with light, as Emma looked around the room memories poured into Emma’s mind.

Emma was little, two, maybe, bouncing up and down on someone’s lap. “Horsie!” Emma shrieked. “Again, again!”

“I’ll give you a boost.” Emma’s mom pointed her flashlight to the window. Emma snapped back to reality.

“Ok,” Emma said. Her mom unlatched the window and pushed it open. The breeze rushed through Emma’s hair. Emma’s mom lifted Emma up and Emma fell through the window. Seconds later her mom came toppling after. Emma stood up and brushed leaves off her. Emma’s mom took her phone out of her pocket. She dialed a number and pressed call.

“Hello? Hi! Could you give us a lift…we are at the cottage…mmmh…thanks!” Emma’s mom put away her phone.

“I never got on the plane,” Emma’s mom whispered. “They took me right before.” Emma smiled. Maybe Ellie did help her, without even knowing it. “We were kidnapped because your father was a spy and they wanted information from us. I will explain everything later.” Just then a black jeep pulled up behind some trees.

“Come on!” Emma’s mom said. She pulled Emma’s arm and they ran into the backseat of the jeep. Inside the jeep a man turned around. He seemed so familiar. He had jet black hair combed perfectly.

“Who is this?” Emma asked her mom.

“This, this is your real father!”

 

The End

Bucky and I are now best friends. But then something happened…

Me and Bucky were in the park, swinging on the tire swing. Then someone started to come up to us.

“Who do you think that is?” I ask Bucky.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care as long as she doesn’t bother us,” Bucky says.

The girl continues walking towards us. She comes so close me and Bucky have to stop the swing. She has long wavy brown hair. Her eyes are blue, so blue I could have told from a distance. I wonder who she is. Did she just move here? This question runs through my mind, until she says something.

“Hello. Can I join you?” She asks us. I wonder what to say. I decide to let Bucky answer. She’ll know what to say.

“Um, sure,” Bucky says, hesitant for a moment. I wonder why Bucky was hesitant. She usually is never hesitant.

“What’s your name?” I ask her, as she sits down next to us in the three person tire swing.

“My name is Bucksy,” the girl who I now know as Bucksy says.

“What are your names?” Bucksy asks us.

“I’m Bucks,” I say.

“I’m Bucky,” Bucky says.

“Hey that’s funny, our names all start with B. Our names are very similar,” Bucksy says, sounding slightly surprised.

“Cool,” I say.

“That’s interesting,” Bucky says.

We start swinging after Bucksy sits down.

Later, we leave the park. It hadn’t been fun. Bucksy and Bucky were doing everything together, and I was just there.

Later Bucksy leaves. Me and Bucky start having fun again.

Later we leave the park.

The next day we go back to the park. This time, Bucky sees Bucksy and goes to do things with her. I go and join in, but they don’t seem to notice me. This has never happened before. But, then Bucksy says something interesting.

“I recently moved here. I’m going back in a month” Bucksy tells Bucky. I’m happy about

this, but seeing Bucky’s expression, I know she’s not.

Later, Bucksy leaves the park. Bucky brings up the topic.

“Isn’t it sad Bucksy is leaving?” Bucky asks me.

“Yes,” I lie.

“Didn’t you have so much fun with her?” Bucky asks me.

“I don’t know. She didn’t really do anything with me,” I say.

“Oh, I didn’t realize,” Bucky says.

“I don’t care,” I say.

“I thought you wouldn’t,” Bucky says. Later we leave.

That night I find out some terrible news. I’m moving. I dread going to the park tomorrow. Bucksy is Bucky’s friend and she’s moving. I’m Bucky’s friend and I’m moving. We’re Bucky’s only friends. I feel terrible for Bucky.

Tomorrow has to come. But, I dread it. I feel terrible for Bucky. It is horrible. Bucky will be so sad.

“Bucky, I have something to tell you. I’m moving,” I said to Bucky.

“Oh no! That’s terrible news,” Bucky says.

Then Bucksy came into the park. She came running.

“Bucky, Bucky! Great news! I’m not moving. We can stay, and be friends,” Bucksy says. This makes me feel terrible. Her staying and me leaving.

I leave the park early.

I go back the next day. I spin around on the tire swing until Bucky comes.

“I don’t like Bucksy as much as I like you. I would rather her leave then you,” Bucky says.

“I’m going to miss you,” I say.

“Me too,” She says.

I go home from the park early again.

I go to the park late, the next morning.

Bucky comes up to me and asks me a question.

“Where are you moving to?” Bucky asks me. I tell her where I’m moving to, and I get a shock.

“My family told me we’re moving. I thought I’d see if we’re moving to the same place. And we are,” Bucky tells me. I’m really happy. But, then I think about Bucksy.

“What about Bucksy?” I ask Bucky.

“I know, I was thinking about what to tell her,” Bucky says. Just as Bucky finishes saying that, Bucksy comes into the park.

“I’ll tell her,” I say.

“Bucksy, Bucky is moving,” I tell Bucksy.

“Oh, that’s good for you,” Bucksy says.

“I’ll try and talk to you some how,” Bucky says.

“Cool!” Bucksy says excited.

We all become friends, but me and Bucksy are still not best friends.

One day there was a person named Boxman and he wore a box his as clothes. He was very shy and he lived in the local U.P.S store in New York City. Boxman lived his life by stealing food from the workers at the store. Then one day everything was going fine and Boxman forgot to hide when the mailman came. So he got packaged and sent all the way to Alaska.

When Boxman arrived in Alaska he finally opened his taped box and he was hungry. So he went to a restaurant and stole a burger, fries, and an airline ticket to New York City first class from a blind careless billionaire. So he got on the plane and after an hour the plane landed for fuel but Boxman thought he was at home so he opened the emergency exit, jumped out, and ran in front of a truck. He jumped on and knocked the guy out and started driving. “Weeooweeooweeoo,” the sounds of a siren. The cops were chasing him. So he stepped on the gas and sped away. After an hour the car broke down and he got sent to jail in the Texas maximum security jail.

Fortunately he had gunpowder in his fingernails. But first he wanted to see what jail was like. Jail was horrible. They made you stay in your cell for the whole day, they made you eat horrible food, and he was sick of this place so he decided he was going to break out. The next day in his cell he took out his gunpowder and rubbed it against the wall and BOOM, the wall exploded. He stood back. Charcoal and ashes flew everywhere.

He dived for a police car and started driving. The police lost him.

“Phew,” he said. Then he had an idea to kill the president, the mean and evil Hillary Clinton. He drove all the way to Washington D.C and drove straight into the White House and killed Hillary. He had a problem: his car broke down. So he ran and dove into Hillary’s Mustang and this time it was no problem when the cops chased him because he went so fast he lost them in one minute.

When he arrived at home at the local U.P.S store, he ran in and slowly, in his box, made his way to the storage room.

He saw the mailman and boxman took out his gun and said to the mailman, “You sent me to Alaska, meanie.” BOOM. He shot him and the mailman was dead. Later in his box listening to the radio he heard that Donald Trump was the new president.

“Yaaaaaaa!” he said to himself. He continued to live his life by stealing food from the workers and he never got packaged away again. But one day he stole a lottery ticket from one of the workers and won so he used the money to buy a better box.

The End

 

The full moon shone upon the dense forest, a spotlight in the starless abyss of night.

Its the kind of place that felt as if there was something you didn’t know about it.

A secret.

That was the kind of thing Trish was thinking as she stumbled on through this dense forest, deeper and deeper into the night, closer and closer to our secret.

It was secrets that brought her here now, my dear reader, and you must know, that secrets are a dangerous business.

That is why, naturally, our world is swimming in them.

Secrets are part of everyone’s lives, but our friend Trish was not keen on accepting that.

She isn’t the type for reasoning, I must warn you.

She wasn’t much for listening ether.

But she is the subject matter here, so don’t be picky.

And she is a person of action.

One of her various actions was the one that is over all making her the subject of this book.

The action to run away.

Secrets were a big hobby for most of Trish’s family members.

Rich nobles with upturned noses and squinted brown eyes and pale skin made up trish’s family.

Unknown tales and illegal deals and secrets.

Trish wasn’t like them. Her long brown curly hair sat tangled on square shoulders. Wide green eyes pierced through the night and elf-like features littered her face.

So that’s what brought Trish here.

Her dislike for the constant secrets of her family, and her differences.

For she was about to enter the realm of secrets.

And that would be, my dear readers, our story.

 

“They say I can’t do anything, HA, they can’t even tell the truth!” Trish told herself as she walked through the forest.

Lying was something Trish had a distaste for, but was also a talent of hers.

“What kind of person would keep things out of reach from their own daughter?!”

Trish, who was carefully taking all the “bad habits” and constructing a valid argument, had blinded herself to her surroundings.

She had not noticed the air of mystery in the air, and that the crickets had stopped chirping, and that the forest was easier to navigate because the trees weren’t thick as glue anymore.

There was a slight breeze, and the air was crisp, like rain had just fallen. Fog clouded her vision.

And just for a second, it felt as if time itself had slowed down.

The crickets returned, the air returned to its average state.

Only after a tree offered its opinion about her carelessness and gave her a bump on the head as some advice, did she care to look around and give the appropriate response.

As she shook off the daze, her gaze focused on her surroundings.

“Where in the living world am I?” (This was spoken in a half whisper, so that she could know that she was still capable of words,

but also to not disturb, well, whatever this place was)

She was in a bed of grass next to a shimmering mirror of a lake so clear,

and the pale moonlight so bright you could see her reflection as well as day.

She felt a sense that this was not at all the woods she had run off to earlier that night.

She stood (her legs not very much liking that decision very much, because they had been walking for so long that they did not want to let go of the small moment of relief of sitting down, for you must know, before this whole story started they had been had been, along with the rest of her, quite spoiled).

While her spoiled little self slowly rose up from the short term rest, something growled behind her.

She had no feelings about this, for there was no time for any feelings on the matter.

Only time for action.

Of course my dear reader, Trish is a person of action.

Trish ducked as the mysterious figure (this is a place of mystery, after all) lunged over her,

Its pearl white fangs shone as its lips drew back into a wide grin.

Its well worn fur as the effect of age.

Yet there was an air of power surrounding her.

Something that rarely anyone has, and is quite hard to achieve.

“You think you can outsmart me?

I am the ruler of this forest, and with that too, soon the world as well.

I am not one to be underestimated, for soon all of this planet, seven seas and all shall know my name!

No creature of your kind has ever came to this realm, and now you dare to insult me?

Speak strange creature, and with your words you may shape your fate.”

Trish was at a loss for words, so all that came out was a choke.

As soon as she caught her breath (as you must know all this activity was not well suited for one with a pampered life, and was quite tiring for someone like Trish)

She managed to make the words, but they were barely a sound,

“Who are you?”

“The creature dares not know my name, the name of her ruler!

What a petty servant it shall be.

But for pride is a mere misunderstanding for some, I shall spare the creature this.

I am Silverfang, ruler of all, and of the many before, but you shall address me as master, or Queen.”

What a strange concept this is, for power comes with great effort and practice in the art of leadership.

Silverfang was one of all creatures that was not keen on accepting that.

Now I can go on and on, but we must get on with the story.

And so, as you can see, our poor friend Trish was at a loss for words.

As Silverfang circled around Trish, she took a close look at her.

Silverfang had fangs that shone like two daggers stabbing through the night.

Her gray pelt, though old, moved with her like the waters in a river.

Her icy eyes pierced Trish’s soul.

As she stared at Trish, Silverfang decided to go by the common cliche:

“Better safe than sorry.”

As she glared with those icy eyes at Trish, taking in every detail, every breath, every move, she gave her final answer.

Speaking to what seemed like air, she said calmly,

“Kill her.”

Now don’t think that Silverfang is truly evil.

You have every right to think that, for she seems like a horrible, power hungry freak.

Well she is, but it wasn’t always this way.

Let’s take a journey back, shall we?

For whatever is done is not for no reason.

There is a side effect to everything.

I guess that makes us all side effects of the human race.

Silverfang was just a side affect of life’s cruelty…  

   *   *   *

“Silver! We need to go hunting today!”

Silver sat in the cave as her father called for her.

“I can’t.”

“Don’t be silly, of course you can!”

“Just leave!”

“Your loss.”

As he left the cozy clearing, Silver dragged herself to the water hole.

After she made sure all had left, she examined herself, and sure enough,

right where her heart would be, was a gap.

She couldn’t prove that it was gone, but she could not feel it.

She didn’t feel its beats, and it comforting buzz.

All nothingness.

Emptiness.

And it’s not easy to “have a heart” when yours has been stolen.

As her heartlessness grew, the gap ripping her apart, she replaced it.

She needed to fill the gap.

She filled her gap with the worst of things, but it was the only thing that stayed long enough:  

Craziness.

The evil crept into her as well, a shadow, grew into a heart that fed of of pain and misery, and poisoned her from the inside out.

This was not Silver.

This was Silverfang.

*  *  *

As soon as Trish heard those words her heart beats became a storm.

And without thinking it over, she flew across the lake!

Just kidding.

If you knew Trish at all, you would know that is way too much psychical activity for her.

But as the shadows seemed to draw nearer, and the darkness choking, she became desperate.

She saw what seemed like a million eyes, yellow headlights, beaming through the darkness.

Each pair was like two suns, the gaze strong and determined, yet their was something soothing about them.

Then they attacked.

It was just a blur of fur and teeth.

“Get rid of her,” voices surrounding her chanted.

In the tornado of the, the, the cats!

She was in a catnado!

As she looked around, she could just make out their furry bodies.

As she looked around, looking for a escape, the suffocating craziness surrounded her.

“RUN!” screamed a quite intelligent looking squirrel.

Its fur had a neat tuxedo over it, and it looked quite dapper.

As Trish grabbed its tiny, furry little paw, it started to run quite fast for a squirrel I must say.

As they ran alongside the lake, the squirrel introduced himself as the most proper squirrel in the whole woods, and these were his precise words:

“Hello strange creature, and of your ladylike air, I take to question that you must be what they call a girl, yes? Oh, of course!

Let me properly introduce myself my fair, um, what should I address you as?”

“Oh me! Trish would be fine.”

“Oh, of course, trash? Oh dear no! I’m so sorry, I don’t know what has got into me this fine morning!”

Trish looked up from her slow jog (she couldn’t manage more than that, for she was so tired, that as she ran dark spots floated in and out of her sight.)

And as she did, she noticed the bright blood-red sun, slowly climbing up the trees, and making its way to the top of the forest.

The birds sang their songs, the melody weaved into a gentle tone, that flew with the wind and ran with the rivers.

The sophisticated squirrel broke the silence.

“So what a wonderful morning it is!”

He brought his paw out in front of him as a gesture to show the wonderful morning.

“Of course, we haven’t gotten to my name yet. I am Sir Strange of the Sophisticated.I am part of the group for the Intelligent Squirrels. And I am here to escort you.”

That didn’t sound right to Trish.

Squirrels didn’t talk, and they most definitely did not have groups for “Intelligent Squirrels.”

But here was one, claiming that he was an “Intelligent Squirrel.”

But even that didn’t bother her too much.

She was worrying about the fact that she was going to be “Escorted.”

That did not really have Trish thinking about anything good.

But she knew better than to question.

That had already gotten her near to killed.

This squirrel had saved her from Silverfang, and the strange yet believably scary catnado.

There was no one else with her, and she was taking a huge risk, but she decided to trust him.

Trust is a very fragile thing, and is easily broken.

Trust is also, in my opinion, the most important thing for anybody to believe.

If you can’t trust or be trusted, you become lonely and depressed.

Finally, Trish broke the silence.

“Escort me where…?” she questioned.

“Shhh!” Sir Strange hissed  “Trees have ears. Come along now, we must be arriving soon!”

                                    

About an hour of walking later, Sir Strange finally came to a stop.

They were in the entrance to a small cave.

“This is where we part, my dear. This cave is the home of them.

They know all, and they tell little.

Don’t let them teach you.

They are there to guide, but not to teach.

Keep their advice with you, but don’t let it change your ways.”

Destiny is a strange sort of thing.

It’s something you want to know, but will change if you know what it is.

It’s a ticking bomb, my friend, and with one malfunction it will explode.

As she turned to face the cave, she looked back and asked “Why?”

But it was words wasted.

Sir Strange has left.

As she looked back to that cave and found something in her that she hadn’t had in a long time.

It was bravery, my friends.

It was bravery.

She stepped forward, and as she did, she took one more step towards fate.

Trish had been walking for what felt like hours.

The walls were covered in vines, and as she walked leaves crunched under her feet.

The walls started to cave in, and the air became thick with dust.

But the fire of bravery still burned in Trish.

The walls suddenly opened up, and a dim light shone through the ceiling.

The walls seemed to whisper, and then the whispers came together to make a voice.

The voice was an ancient whisper, and seemed to be wise above all.

It spoke.

“Who dares to disturb our deep slumber?!

Weary traveler or seeker of their life.

They who have came to this olden grim, have come out as the different man.

And as the traveler who travels, come near, and to the spirits of the wood you must dare speak.”

Trish stared into the darkness, looked deep inside of her for that courage, and spoke.

“I am Trish. I have been sent here by Sir Strange of the Sophisticated. I’m am here to find my fate.”

“Fates are shaped by their master. Before you figure out your fate, you must find out who you are.”

“But I know who I am! I am Trish!” she exclaimed. “I need to know my fate!”

“Very well, but fates in the hands of one who does not know themselves will do more harm then good.

You must return to the high of the low, and find one who will not know what it is to be true, and with them they carry the ruby of the soul. You must take this, but beware, this creature is a master of the art. If it sees you, your time will end.

Wander on to the place where the crow meets the eagle.

There you will find either friend or lies, and journey still you must, to a land where not all is at seems, and when you get there, the ancient ground will unearth, and your journey shall be done.

Use these words as guide, and use them well.”

The whirling dust came to a gentle rest, and silence overcame the cave once more.

A loud echo hit Trish’s ears.

“Begone!” it screamed.

Trish didn’t need another word.

 

Clueless, that’s what Trish was.  

“The high of the low, the high of the low… What on earth does that mean?”

But she knew.

She knew exactly where she needed to go.

She just didn’t want to admit it.

The lake.

It was at the bottom of a mountain,

The place that Silverfang tried to kill her was on a natural platform, about five feet up.

She didn’t want to go back.

It was a childish thing to do, to be afraid of a place.

But we have all felt that.

Some are afraid of the dark, and being in the dark is a sort of place.

Or the attic. Or the basement. Or wherever.

Then it started to rain.

It was a light drizzle at first.

Then the wind came in.

Gusts of freezing, rain filled air, striking Trish at every opportunity.

Trish shook from head to toe.

The cold crept in and attached itself to her.

She made the decision.

She would go to the place where it all started.

After twenty minutes of walking through the bitter cold rain she reached her destination.

And there lay, as prophesied, a person.

Or at least that’s what it seemed to be.

No, it wasn’t a person.

It was a shadow.

The shadow had no owner, and it lay as its own creature.

“It is mist with a life of its own,” Trish thought.

Just like another person.

But that wasn’t true. It was far from another person.

It wasn’t really there, yet it was.

It was something with no life or meaning, but this one had both.

It was incredibly, impossibly, true.

There was a glint of red in its satchel.

It was a dark blood red sort of color.

It was moving.

No, it was beating.

“With them they carry the ruby of the soul.”

The words flashed through Trish’s train of thought.

It was a heart.

The ruby of the soul was a heart.

And she needed to steal it.

Now how Trish was going to steal this shadows heart she did not know, but there was one thing she was sure of:

She was a horrible thief.

She needed to find someone.

The rain had slowly ended, first the rain had slowly became a drizzle, then it stopped, like the sky had cried out all its tears and now was bringing itself together, the high after the pain.

The wind slowly became a breeze, and the cold melted off and the sun rose like a flower in bloom.

The shadow was there.

But it was no longer a shadow.

Trish shook off the cold and went off into the forest (now buzzing with life) to look for a thief.

Now you must know that finding a thief is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Thieves are masters of disguise, for that is part of their jobs.

They must remain hidden, along with their, well, gifts that were not given, let say that.

There is one thief, though, that does not follow this rule.

The Fox.

The Fox is the most clever of the thieves.

But the Fox is not at all trustworthy.

And trust, my dear reader, is a fragile sort of thing.

Now it just so happens that Trish stumbled across one of these foxes.

The sun stood straight over the withering tree that, in the shade, Fox lay beneath.

Now Trish, naturally, is clueless about these creatures.

So of course, she spills her story.

Now this Fox was quite interested in this “heart” that she needed (for reasons she refused to say), and started to think about what he could do with this heart.

Now, he being a Fox and all, lying came to him like flies to a venus fly trap.

On this day, he was quite bored.

He wanted to get in trouble.

And so he went with Trish.

He told her he would steal it.

But it’s not about what he said.

It’s about what he didn’t say.

He never said that he would give it back.

Trish stood by the side of the wood.

“If anything goes wrong,” the Fox had said. “You may come interrupt.”

“Okay!”

“Of course it is. Now don’t interrupt. This is the work of a thief.

It requires concentration.

Now where is this shadow?

There is only a wolf.”

“WHAT!” Trish exclaimed.

She pushed the Fox back so she could get a better look.

Sure enough there was a wolf.

But in the satchel she could still spot something dark red, or blood red.

This sight spread relief through her, and she relaxed her tense self.

The Fox noticed this (he had a eye for detail), and he struggled to push in front of Trish to see what had happened.

He spotted the heart in the satchel, but he had also spotted something Trish hadn’t.

The face of the wolf.

It was familiar.

But the plan continued.

The wolf had walked off for a moment, taking the satchel.

As he lifted the satchel off the ground, something red, blood red, had fallen out and rolled to the ground.

Trish noticed this, but the Fox did not.

His pride and arrogance had deceived him, and as he walked off, a shadow to the shadow, Trish kneeled down, and reached for the heart. Each step the Fox walked, the farther he was from his final prize.

Maybe even the cleverest can deceive themselves.

Trish turned around, her back facing the Fox, and journeyed on.

 

As Trish journeyed on with a piece of her fate in her hands, she came across a sign that read:

“sdrawkcab fo dnal”

Next to the sign stood a garden gnome, or what seemed like a garden gnome.

“Well, this is gibberish,” Trish sighed. “Where in the world is this? The land where not all is as it seems.

Fate doesn’t seem to like me very much, that’s for sure.”

“If you are your fate then what is fate itself?” someone stated, matter-of-factly.

“Excuse me?”

“If you believe in fate then you’re just really self confident.”

“I guess so,” Trish replied. “And may I ask, who is speaking?”

“Ah, thats where you’re wrong,” Trish was trying to pinpoint the voice “Fate and self confidence are two terribly different places.”

It was the gnome that was speaking!

“Are you a gnome?”

“I do not think that gnomes can talk, now can they?”

“So you are not a gnome?”

“Well, I do not see my self to be so, but that is different depending on the eye of the beholder.”

“So, you’re not a gnome!?”

“To you I am a gnome, but gnomes can’t talk can they?”

“Are you a gnome or not!?”

This creature was really getting on her last nerve.

“Well gnomes can’t speak.”

“Whatever. What is this place?”

“It can be any place. It depends on the size of the person in question’s imagination.

To me this is home.”

“You live here?”

“Well you say it in that tone and it seems to be a bad thing.”

This was not her ideal gnome.

“I am your tour guide for today.”

“Is there any way I can skip the talking part of the tour?”

But her comment had already been blocked out by the gnome.

It had already started talking.

“Well here we go,” Trish mumbled.

She had been here (wherever here was) for barely five minutes and she already hated it.

Yet there was something interesting about it.

So the tour began.

I will spare you the long, quite uninteresting details (that will be a whole other story, my dear reader.)

And I will pick up when the story gets interesting.

*  *  *

“Now trash…”

“IT’S TRISH!” The gnome had made that mistake far too many times.

“Now, here is where the battlegrounds are.”

“The what?”

“Battlegrounds. Should I spell it out for you?!” the gnome said in a mocking tone.

“No, thank you,” she said in a voice that showed her suppressed anger.

“Continue.”

“Of course. Now these ground have been around for centuries.

They are some of this places most prized landmarks…”

Hadn’t the prophecy said something about ancient grounds?

Trish heard a surprising yet familiar sound.

It was a growl.

Silverfang had returned.

“A pleasure, really, seeing you again,” Silverfang said in a cold tone.

“You don’t sound too pleased,” Trish replied in a equally feelingless tone.

“Yes well, we were rudely interrupted at our last meeting.”

“Yes, well, that was preferable. A better option than my dead body!”

“I don’t remember mentioning any options.”

An idea flashed through Trish’s brain.

It was not a very thought-through decision, and it was risky, but Trish was a person of action, not thought.

“I think I have something of yours.”

“And what possibly could you have of mine”

“I think you left your heart in the shadows!” Trish reached into her pocket.

“The shadows seem to love you so much, that your heart is such a lovely token for them.”

Trish pulled out the heart and thrust it at Silverfang.

“Want it back? Come and get it.”

That was the stupidest decision she had ever.

If Sir Strange had thoughts on that, they would go something like this:

“What a strange thing that is, a little girl fighting a full grown wolf! This world is true to its common chaos!”

But Sir Strange had no comment, and we must get back to the story.

We have most definitely lost track of time (it is not quite important in times like these),

so I shall let you know that the pale orange moon had just rose as Trish said those words.

Now, let’s get back to the story.

A flash of realization crossed Silverfang’s face, and was gone again in a instant.

But it was there.

That was her heart.

And without a thought, she lunged (the gnome had fled by now).

The battle was short yet action filled.

Clawing, punching, teeth marks and bruises.

The final screams of the girl and the last cry of the wolf rang out into the thick darkness.

By the end, under the pale orange moon lay two bodies, the wolf and the girl, laying lifeless, the moonlight gleaming on the thick,

Red

Blood.

The heart lay at its rightful place, at last at rest with its rightful owner, and the prophecy was fulfilled.

Fate in the hands of one who does not know themselves does more harm then good.

(“Why this is an unusual end for a little girl! Stay away from dark woods like these, children, you never know what’s hidden in the shadows.” – Sir Strange)

The End

 

“Okay, Aprille, Jackson, time to go, I’m running late. Your lunches are on the table. Aprille take care of your brother at school OK. See you at 7:00. Love you. Bye.” Slam. She shut the door hard.

“Jackson, time to go to school. Ma already made lunch and breakfast. Come on, get up. I don’t want to be late again.”

“Uhhhhhh,” came a groan from the stairs. Jackson was going down the stairs, but slowly.

Thud, munch, thud, munch. The sounds were coming from Jackson’s  footsteps and Aprille’s sounds of eating.

About fifteen minutes later the siblings were out the door.

“You know sometimes I wonder if Ma and Pa are ever getting back together,” Aprille said.

“I know. It gets me sad to think that Pa lives in another country, ” Jackson said looking down at the pavement. “We only get to see him once or twice a year.”

“I can always tell when Ma is feeling sad or depressed but she always makes us feel like everything is how it used to be,” Aprille said with a tiny smile on her face. “You know her birthday is coming up soon, we can make a surprise party for her.” Her grin grew bigger.

“That’s right. We should figure it all out after school,” Jackson agreed. “Class is about to start. Bye.”

“Now students, today’s lesson is the story of a family. Of course most of you in this classroom have two parents, woman and man, but maybe you have two dads or two moms. Or maybe you only have one parent,” Mrs. Bloome said.

All of a sudden Aprille slapped her chest where her treasured necklace stayed. It was a necklace her father gave her when she was only a young girl. She never took it off, never. It was the only thing she had left of him.  She missed him so much. She wished to see him more often.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Bloome,” Aprille said with her hand in the air. “May I use the restroom.”

“You may, Ms. Hollow,” Mrs. Bloome said.

Outside in the school halls, Aprille was the only thing alive, everything else was just benches and lights.

Aprille was still clutching her necklace. Aprille’s eyes began to get teary.

“What if I never see him again,” she said to herself through small sobs.

When she entered the classroom again, her eyes were still a little red from the crying.   

“Are you alright Aprille?” Mrs. Bloome said. Aprille just simply nodded.  

About half an hour later, everyone was rushing to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was always a noisy place but  that day it was crazy. Everybody was screaming and running around, but not Aprille or Jackson. They were quietly sitting at a lunch table all for themselves. Neither of them were talking, just quietly eating their lunch.

Three hours later, school had ended and the siblings were walking home.

“You know now that I think about it, we haven’t celebrated Ma’s birthday in years.” Jackson said. ”I think she needs something like that to cheer her up.”

“I agree, we should get started right away,” Aprille said and started running to the door.

It was Friday morning and the siblings’ mother had already left for work. Aprille and Jackson were at the table eating breakfast and getting ready for school, when they heard a knock on the door.

“Stay here okay,” Aprille said to Jackson. Aprille answered the door and didn’t believe who it was.

“PA!” Aprille yelled, and flung her arms around her father.

“Oh my gosh my children, they’ve grown so much. How old are you, Aprille?”

“Thirteen.”

“And you Jackson?”

“Ten.”

“Where’s your mother?”

“She is at work, ” Jackson replied. “You know her birthday is today and Aprille and I were planning a surprise party for her, could you help?”

“Why not,” their father said.

“Do you know Ma’s  favorite food, we were thinking on ordering her favorite food,” Aprille said.

“Oh, I remember our first date. Your mother and I were still in college, we went to this Italian restaurant. I remember it like it was yesterday.” The siblings could tell he was deep in thought so they didn’t want to interrupt him.

Aprille pulled her brother to a side. “This might be easier than we thaught. I think they really miss each other,” Aprille whispered in his ears.

“Uh-uh,” Jackson said nodding.

“Well Jackson and I should be heading to school but we will see you  later,” Aprille said grabbing her backpack and gesturing Jackson to the door. “Bye,” the siblings said in unison. Their father could just smile.

In class neither of the siblings could concentrate on their school work; they could only focus on what was going on outside of school. The school day felt like it was going to take days to finish. But finally the second to last bell rang. It was the last subject of the day.

“This hour’s subject is science, as you all know, and today is Part 1: Electricity,” Mr. Gaven the science teacher said. “Electricity runs through our homes all the time. When we turn on the light, when we cook, and even keeps the refrigerator cold. But …”

Aprille could no longer hear Mr. Gaven talking because she was trapped in her thoughts. She thought that if she could keep her parents together for even a small amount of time she might be able to get them together again forever.Aprille was anxiously tapping her pen on her desk. She was watching each second go by on the clock. Then finally the moment the siblings had been waiting for. RING! The bell rang and Aprille and Jackson were the first to get out of their seats.They immediately started running towards home.

The sibling’s home was fully decorated. There were signs that read Happy Birthday Mary and I Love You and balloons all over. “Wow Pa you did a great job,” Jackson said in amazement.

“Thanks, what do you think of the cake?” Their dad had made a circle cake covered in chocolate icing and there were pink sprinkles shaped like hearts all around the borders of the cake. In the center was a candle of a family.

“This is all wonderful,” Aprille said

“Glad you think so, but I still haven’t ordered the food yet. I will do that right now, you two should put on something fancy.” So off the kids went into their rooms to change. A couple of minutes later the siblings got out of their rooms. Aprille was wearing a white dress up to her knees. She had a pink belt around her waist. She had pink slip-ons and a pink head-band in her hair. She had diamond earrings and a pink purse.

   “You look gorgeous sister,” Jackson said

   “Thank you brother, You look very handsome yourself,” Aprille said back.

   Jackson was wearing a white shirt with a black tie. He was wearing black jeans, shiny black shoes and a nice black coat.

   Then the siblings went down stairs and the food was already there.

   “Wow kids you look great. Could you set up the table while I get dressed.”

   The siblings got right to work. Their mother would be there any minute. Five minutes later the table was set and their father was dressed. The three of them couldn’t wait any longer, they were about to burst. Then the door knob turned and the door creaked open. Their mother had finally arrived.

SURPRISE!

“Oh my gosh.” Their mother hugged the kids, but once she saw who else was in the room she froze. Tears started to form in her eyes. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said and hugged her old husband.

“I’ve missed you too,” he whispered in her ear.

All four of them were partying all night long.

Then finally Paul proposed for the second time.

“I can’t bear another day without you Mary, I want to live rest of my days to be with you.”  

Right away Aprille touched her necklace. “We are a family again,” Aprille thought to herself.

“Will you marry me?” he said

“Yes. I will!”

A New Life

Chapter 1

Hi, I’m Sophie. I’m ten and today is my first day of school at my new school, PS 158! I have so many feelings stirring up inside of me: angry, sad, and excited! I’ll tell you why I feel each of these feelings. I feel angry because I had to leave all of my friends in my old town, and school. I feel sad because all of my friends still live in California and now I live in New York.

“I feel excited because I can not wait to meet new friends! If everyone was nice in California, then everyone has to be nice in New York!” I said to my mom on our way to school.

“Well Sophie, I don’t know if everybody is going to be as nice as your old friends in California,” my mom said.

“Well I guess I’m going to find out now,” I said to my mom as I walked into not just a new school, but a new life.

 

Chapter 2

“Good morning class,” said Ms. Witney.

“Good morning Ms. Whitney,” the class cooed.

“Today we have another new student! And her name is Sophie!” Ms. Whitney said to the class and then turned to me and smiled. “You can sit next to Anna. She is the girl in the blue dress,” Ms.Whitney said. I saw the little girl in the blue dress she had her head down and it looked like she was…sleeping?! It was good I saw that because now I could now prepare for a long, boring year.

 

Chapter 3

After a long boring four hours, which felt like 1,000,000 hours, it was lunch.This felt like a test to me. This is my only chance to make new friends. The only table open was the table that everybody was putting their trash on. But I had no choice, I had to sit there. A little later Anna came over to me and I realized that she was a weirdo, she was wearing a blue elmo dress with hearts and flowers around it and talked in a very perky voice, so I just walked away laughing. When it was time to go, my mom was late so I watched everyone leave with their mom & dad. Then I saw Anna, she was running to her mom & dad, crying. Now I realized what I have done.

 

Chapter 4

The next day I saw Anna, and I knew what I had to do, say sorry. “Um …Anna I’m really sorry that I laughed at you, you are actually a very sweet person,” I said to her and smiled.

“Thats okay, everyone makes mistakes,” said Anna.

”Would you like to be friends with me?” I said, hoping that she wouldn`t say no.

“Of course!! I know that feeling you get when it`s your first day of school and you don’t know what to do or say,” Anna said to me.

”Thanks for understanding Anna, you’re a very good friend!” I said as we walked into the playground talking.

 

Hi I’m Olivia, I have autism and I have no friends. I don’t go to school. I have a tutor that comes to my house five days a week, just like normal school but at my house. I am very shy and am petrified of the outside world. I have a bossy sister named Mia who always makes fun of my autism. I absolutely hate it!!! Really you don’t understand! She makes fun that I have no friends and that I am not a normal 8-year-old girl. Gosh she’s so annoying!

“I just want to be normal.” I always say that in my head! My sister also always lies to Mom that I am always being bad and that I am never going to be able to go to school. So if my sis keeps up with this I will definitely never go to school and be a little more normal! I always think about normal kids and how fun it would be to get to go to school and have so many friends! But all I ever do is get made fun of by my ANNOYING sister Mia! Another thing I always think about is going to sleepaway camp and having an amazing experience! My sister goes every year and always brags about how fun it is! All I ever want to do to her is to have her be in my shoes and see how it feels! I bet she would hate it so much!!

I was walking down the street with my Mom. I was holding her hand tightly, when suddenly I saw a fluffy dog pop right in front of my face. I slipped my hand out of Mom’s hand and ran up to the dog. The dog had a mean face on it. OW! It bit me. I yelled! I had blood dripping down my neck! OMG! I was in excruciating pain!

OMG I was thinking, “my whole life is absolutely ruined! This is so awful! I hate you dog!”  My Mom dialed 911 when even more blood started dripping down my neck! The ambulance finally came and gave me a huge cup of ice to put on my bloody neck. He then rushed me to the hospital! When we got to the hospital named ‘Helpful Doctors,’ Mom had to carry me into the ER. While holding the ice on my neck! I was totally in shock! So we got into the ER and the doctor rushed to bring me on the stretcher into the room. When we got into the the room the doctor said, “Oh my gosh what happened?”

Mom said something like, “She got bit by a dog!”

“Wow!” the doctor said!

I couldn’t really understand the conversation between the two of them because of how in shock I was.

The doctor stitched me up and then took X-rays and said to my Mom, “I am sorry to say but I think your daughter has a stutter!”

Omg, I thought in my head, did I really just hear that or was I dreaming!

When I woke up from my ‘dream’ I asked my Mom what the doctor said. She said, “he said that you have a stutter!”

So I found out that it wasn’t a dream after all! I really did have a stutter!

“Are you kidding me,” I stuttered!

I yelled and screamed and kicked! When I talked it sounded so awful! Mom told Mia about what happened and how I have a stutter from the dog biting my neck. (All I wanted was for Mom to tell Sis that I have a stutter now) now she will make fun of me even more!

“I hate my life,” I screamed!

“Olivia honey calm yourself,” Mom said!

“NNNOOO!”

I then ran to my room slammed my door closed and starting crying so hard! It sounded so terrible! (Possibly because of my stutter.) I then heard a knock on my bedroom door. Who do you think it was? Of course it was Mia. I bet she came just to make fun of me more! When she knocked on the door i wouldn’t let her open it! But instead she yelled from the hallway,

“Haha now you’re even more disabled!”

“Weeeell you knooww whhatt geettet oouut offf myyyy liffeee!” I shouted!

It literally took me like 2 minutes to only say not even a sentence! Because of my stupid stutter!

It was Saturday evening when I woke up, I saw something red! I was so sleepy that I didn’t know what it was. (Obviously blood from my dog bite.)

I ran to Mom’s bed and screamed in her ear, “My neck was bleeding in the night there’s blood all over my sheets!” I stuttered!

“OMG honey come on we have to go back to the ER hurry up!”

Mom quickly got dressed and she picked me up and ran to the car she slammed the car door closed and turned on the ignition.

We finally got to the ‘Helpful Doctors’ hospital when I realized maybe Mia was playing a trick on me and this whole blood thing was a prank. But I didn’t want to say anything to Mom because to be honest I was kind of in pain. We walked into the ER and Mom asked to see Dr. Webber. The person at the desk said he’d be there in a sec. So me and Mom sat down and waited. When Dr. Webber came we told him what happened. He said that I would have to stay over night so he could watch over my neck.

I thought in my head, “my goodness this is so terrible!”

Mom ended up going home to get some clothes for tomorrow. I hoped I would only have to stay one night.

So Dr. Webber brought us to our room and said, “If you’re in pain Olivia or if you need anything just push that button right above you and I will come.”

I thought in my head, “this is going to be a bad night. The bad hospital food, the bed and everything else! Gosh Mia I really do hate you!!”

When it was about 9:00 I got into the bed and thought, “this is so uncomfortable I will never be able to sleep!” But I really had no choice! So I closed my eyes.

The next morning I woke up and saw there was no blood on my sheets thank goodness! The nurse brought us breakfast. I really didn’t want to eat this horrible hospital food but I knew I had no choice! The nurse gave us a bagel and a muffin. I took little nibbles of it. It tasted very stale and rotten!! It was also very hard to eat it because of my neck. It hurt so badly! I didn’t eat much of my food because it number one was very painful to eat and number two wasn’t very good. After Mom and I ate, Dr. Webber came in and asked me how I was doing.

I stuttered, “I am doing a bit better”

The doctor felt very bad about my stutter! He said, “I am so sorry!”

Mom said, “She will be ok. She’s a tough cookie.”

He said we could go home I felt so relived. I got dressed then Mom and I got into the car and drove home.

“Thank goodness we’re home,” I stuttered.

Mia acted like she didn’t know what happened but really she did because she played a prank on me I knew it! I ran up the stairs and walked into my room and saw that Dad washed the sheets with the blood on it. I wrote a sign on Mia’s door to her room that said I hate you! You’re the meanest sister ever! You made me sleep at that stupid ER for absolutely no reason! I hung the sign on her door. Then I went down the stairs very carefully (because I didn’t want to get yet another injury and get more made fun of! That’s all I needed!) So when I got downstairs I motioned to Mia to come upstairs so I could have a talk with her. But of course she refused to! So instead I told on her. “Sorry you lost your chance of not getting punished,” I thought. I said to Mom that I really wasn’t bleeding Mia actually played a prank on me just to be so mean! Mom was so in shock!!

She yelled at Mia and Mia then said, “What no I didn’t! I would never do that!!”

“Yes she did,” I stuttered!!

“Mia that’s it, you’re grounded!!” Mom yelled!

“Haha,” I thought!! Mia made a face at me and I made a face back at her like I really didn’t care!! Mia then  ran up the stairs stomping her feet so loud I felt like he whole world would be able to hear it! When she sees the sign she justs makes a face tears it off and throws it in the trash. She slams the door closed and then starts crying!

“Hahahahah,” I stutter! In my mind!

The next morning I woke up at 2:00! I must have been really tired!! I barely knew what was going on because of how late I woke up! I got dressed then went downstairs to see what was going on.

“Hi Mom,” I stuttered. “Wait a sec I don’t have a stutter anymore Mom!”

“Wow honey! How in the world did you get rid of that? I am so proud of you!”

“I really don’t know, someone must have casted a spell on me well i was asleep for so long!”

“Let me go to tell sis,” I said in a happy voice! I walked up the stairs then pushed open Mia’s door and yelled, “My stutter is gone! Now you have one less thing to make fun of me!”

“Wow sis that’s very cool!”

From Mia’s perspective:

I realized a very important lesson! I should really stop making fun of Olivia! She has a disorder and now I really understand what a hard life she has! I should make her a letter shouldn’t I! Then I won’t be grounded anymore! I took out a pink piece of paper (that’s Olivia’s favorite color) then I found a pen. I then started writing.

Dear Olivia, I realized a very Important lesson!

I am so sorry for what I’ve done to you!

I realized that you really do have a tough life.

I apologize for being so mean!

I promise I will stop!

I love you!

From your sister Mia!

I then folded it up ran down the stairs and all of a sudden I hear Mom say, “Mia aren’t you grounded what are you doing down here?”

“I want to give Olivia something special,” I answered back.

“Ok,” Mom then said, “She’s on the couch resting.”

I then went to the couch and saw Olivia, she was watching TV. “Olivia,” I said, “I have something special to give to you!”

She just sighed and said, “Ok,” like she thought you’re not giving me something special! You’re usually so mean to me!”

“Here Olivia,” I said.

She opened the card and read! She had an amazed look on her face like wow is this really my sister! She then gave me a huge hug and kissed me right on the cheek and said, “Thank you so much Mia!”

Mom then ran over and said, “What just happened?”

I said, “I gave Olivia a special card!”

“Wow Mia,” she said in a surprised voice! “You’re not grounded anymore that was so nice of you!”

“Thanks Mom,” I replied back.

“I love you Olivia!”

“I love you too Mia,” she replied back!

Back to Olivia’s perspective:

I felt so great about how Mia and I made up! It was Saturday evening when Mom yelled up the stairs, “Olivia do you want to come on a walk with me?”

“Sure,” I answered back. I walked down the stairs and then both me and Mom went outside.

When Mom and I got outside i was thinking about that stupid dog that bit my neck! I hoped I wouldn’t see him! When Mom and I were walking down the street I was asking myself questions about that dumb dog, such as “What if I did see that dumb dog and what would happen?” If I saw him would he bite me again? I really hope he wouldn’t bite me again because then I would have to deal with my stutter all over again! That would be so awful!” When I was done asking myself questions, I asked Mom If we could turn around and go back home? She said yes.

I was walking home when suddenly I almost fainted!!

“Honey are you ok?” Mom asked.

“Oh yes I think I’m fine.” (I think). Omg my face was literally as red as a tomato!!

“Mom,” I yelled, “I see that stupid dog again!!”

I looked into the dog’s eyes and he looked into my eyes, I then said, “Mom It looks like the dog feels bad for what he did.” The dog’s face looked so sad and it looked like she wanted to run up and give me kisses!! I then said in a questionable voice, “Mom I feel like going to pet the bad dog!”

Mom answered, “Honey, why would you ever want to go pet that BAD dog that gave you a stutter!”

“Well I just feel like he might now like me because he feels bad for what he did to me.”

“Ok Olivia you can do what you want but if he bites you don’t come up to me complaining,” Mom said.

I said, “Ok, here I go.” I walked up to the dog very slowly I looked into his eyes and he looked into my eyes. Nice doggy, nice please don’t bite me, I thought. “I pet him,” I yelled.

“Great job, Olivia,” Mom said!

“Thanks Mom!”

After I pet the dog I asked the owner what the dog’s name was he said her name was Lucy. I answered back, “Wow that’s a very nice name!”

He said, “Thanks!”

Mom then started walking towards the owner and asked him if maybe it would be ok to do dog therapy because her daughter had autism.

The owner said, “Absolutely, I would love my dog to help with your daughter! Oh and by the way I am so sorry about my dog biting you!” the owner said.

Mom said, “It’s ok i am glad they like each other now!”

“Let’s get back to the therapy,” said Mom.

“Ok, so when do you want to start and where should we do it?” asked Mom.

“Well I think we should do it at my house and maybe we could start tomorrow and do it two days a week,” said the owner

“Ok I guess that’s fine!”

“I can’t wait,” I said to Mom!

Mom and I then finished walking home. It was so pretty on the walk home. It was night time so the sky was like an orangey and pink color! And the sun was shining right in my face! It felt so good to be outside! And the fresh air smelt so woodsy! I just really love the smell of woodsy!! When Mom and I got home, I told Sis about how I am going to start taking dog therapy! She thought it was very cool! She also seemed a little jealous!!

She said to me, “I feel a bit jealous.”

“Well sorry,” I said back. I couldn’t stop thinking about tomorrow I was so excited I really couldn’t wait!! I was thinking to myself questions such as: How is this going to work?  Will this really help my autism? and Will the dog be nice to me during the sessions? After I thought about those questions I realized it was already 9:00 and that’s when I go to bed. So I got ready, took a shower put on my pj’s then gave Mom a kiss goodnight and got into bed. I then snuggled under my covers and closed my eyes and fell asleep.

It was the next morning when I woke up and shouted, “I can’t wait for dog therapy today!” I felt like I just woke the whole world up because of how loud i shouted! But really I only woke my family up! So I was exaggerating a little too much! Dad, Mom and Mia were a little surprised when they heard me shout so loud! I then went into Mom’s room and asked her,

“What time does dog therapy start?”

She said, “It starts at 8:45.”

“Ok well should I start getting ready?” I asked.

“Yes honey,” Mom said.

I then walked back to my room and got dressed. I put on something that I wouldn’t mind getting dog hair all over (not something fancy obviously!) After I got dressed i went back into Mom’s room to ask her if she would make me breakfast. She said, “Yes.” I wanted pancakes, so she made them for me. They were very good! We then walked out the door and got into the car to drive to the man’s house! I was so excited I had a rush of adrenalin and my heart was beating as fast as a 85 mile car! That’s how excited I was!! I was also thinking to myself I really want a dog!! Maybe if Mom saw I really loved Lucy she would get me one. I would hope so! When we got to his house him and Lucy were waiting outside for us. Mom and I got out of the car and went to say hello. I pet Lucy and Mom started talking to the owner about the therapy. Lucy was giving me kisses everywhere and was just being super fantastic to me!!

When we all got inside Lucy’s owner named Bob asked Mom and I if we wanted anything to eat or drink. We both said no. Then we went downstairs because that’s where we were going to do the therapy. When we got downstairs Bob got Lucy ready and told her to sit, and to be good and behave! I agreed with Bob. I hope he would make me feel comfortable with Lucy.

Bob said to Lucy, “Give her a paw!” Lucy gave me her paw and then I gave her a treat for being good! It was literally like the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! Lucy was trained so well!! She did so many other tricks for me and she really helped me calm down!!

“I love you Lucy,” I said!

I think she might have heard me so she then gave me kisses back!! When the session was over Bob said that I could give Lucy a lot of treats because of how great we both did!! I felt amazing after the session!

When Mom and I walked into the house immediately I told Sis about how much fun I had! Keep in mind I wasn’t trying to brag to Mia. Really I didn’t want to start up again with the fighting and arguing! That would be awful! It was then already bed time!! the day went by so quickly! I got washed up and ready for bed! “Goodnight,” I yelled to Mom, Dad and Mia.

 

It was the next morning when I woke up and heard a barking sound! Was it a dream or was it the next door neighbor’s dog? I went downstairs to see what it was and guess what I saw. A big fluffy dog right downstairs in a cage!! I couldn’t believe my eyes!!

“We got a dog!!!” I yelled.

Mom came downstairs and said, “I decided to get a dog because I saw how much you enjoyed Lucy!!”

“Thank you soooooooo much,” I said while hugging her!!!

All I ever wanted was to have a pet!! And you know what I really did learn an important lesson: it was to always take second chances in life because you never know what you’re going to expect!!

THE END!!!!!!

 

Paris. Finally. I was in Paris.

Leaving my home in London had been the most difficult thing in the world to do, but it was worth it. Birds swooped and swirled above me. The Eiffel Tower was silhouetted against the sunlight sky much farther along the Seine. Clear and blue, the Seine was rushing down the river bank in a comforting rhythm where shopkeepers with bright banners and flags were selling their merchandise. The wind was whispering through the bright green leaves of the trees. Further down, I could see the landscape of the Luxembourg Gardens with its perfectly mowed lawns, rippling ponds and park benches.

I felt someone grab my arm. “Look, Emma,” my twin sister gasped in awe. She was pointing farther down the Seine.

I followed her finger and saw a big boat full of passengers gliding across the shimmering water. It split through the river like a knife in a cake. I waved to the boat as it docked. A mob of people swarmed off and they dotted the landscape like an ink blob, growing bigger and bigger by the second.

“Maia, we should probably get back to the hotel,” I said, tugging on my sister’s sleeve. Maia had the same long and vibrant red hair as I did, and the same sparkling bright blue eyes.

“Wait, this is what we came for. Look at the light! There won’t be another time of day like this,” she replied, and lifted her camera from her bag.

I couldn’t argue, so I did the same. After snapping a few pictures, we agreed to come back tomorrow at break.

Maia and I were 14 years old and both quite the shutterbug. It was only this past year that we were accepted into the Parisian School of Arts even though we had been submitting work since we were ten. The lessons were to begin tomorrow. We had gone to a fine school back in London, but nothing compared to this. Some of the most famous photographers had gone here, and about ten years ago, they began taking in students from the ages of ten to nineteen.

Maia and I headed back to our hotel in silence, snapping a few more photos on the way. We each flopped on our beds, tired from a long day’s flight. It was only a one hour time difference from London to Paris — thank God, what if we had been flying to the United States — but we were still exhausted. Soon we were fast asleep.

The next day when I opened my eyes, I was groggy and sprawled in tangled sheets. It took me a few moments to realize where I was, but when I did, I took no matter hesitating in waking my sister.

“Maia!” I cried, shaking her. “Maia, wake up!”

“What?” Maia groaned as I flung open the curtains. “Oh no, Em, too bright.”

I grinned. “Lessons!” I said. “Up! Up!” I felt like a five year old trying to wake her parents on Christmas.

Maia flung off the covers. That tactic worked, I thought as I got dressed.

Sooner than you could say photography, Maia and I were out the door on on the streets. We quickly rented bikes and sped off towards the school. It was a giant building, located just to the right of the Luxembourg Gardens.

A crowd of kids was joined at the door and they were all chatting excitedly to one another. As Maia and I approached, we made out the excited faces of some, and the calm ones of others. Nobody seemed sad.

“Alright everybody!” a voice called, echoing over the chatter. Everyone stopped talking at once. “Hi guys. I’m Lauren, and I’ll be your counselor for today. Ten to 13-year-olds on the left. 14 to 17, you’re on the right. Eighteen and nineteen in the middle,” Lauren said, and Maia and I took the middle. “Right then. Stay in your groups and follow me!”

Maia and I obeyed and passed through the courtyard and into the building. It was all spacious and marble and–whoa! Ice statues! A diamond chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Everyone was oohing and aahing, especially the new students. The only person that didn’t seem surprised was a blonde haired girl who was sighing and saying loudly to anyone who would listen, “Oh please. My mansion at home looks like this. And besides, I’ve been here since I was ten, I’m so talented. Yeah. They took me on my first try.”

I glanced at Maia and we rolled our eyes in unison. In twin language, that pretty much means, Seriously? And I know, right?

A boy nearby ran his hands stupidly through his hair. What was wrong with these people??

“I’m Shelby Moore, by the way,” the blonde said shrilly.

There was a chorus of “no way’s” and “oh my God’s” throughout the room. Shelby Moore was probably the all-time most famous child photographer in all of Europe. The only thing was, she was kind of a diva.

Before Shelby could say anything else, Lauren ushered the fourteen to seventeen year olds into a room filled with film and cameras.

“Okay guys,” Lauren said. “I’m the mentor for your age group as well as Jia and Saio.” She motioned to a brown haired girl and a Korean boy. They both looked about 25 years old.

“Your goal for this term is to take wonderful photos and enter them in the art exhibit that we have — open to the public — at the end of each term.

“But this year, we have an extra special treat.” Everyone’s ears perked up. “You will have the option to submit five photographs that you took to The Traveler.”

There was a murmur of excitement floating around the room. I looked at Maia and we both grinned. The Traveler was a magazine that went from city to city all over Europe displaying prize-winning photos.

“You will have the chance,” Lauren continued, “to win 50,000 euros if you win first prize.” There were some cheers and a couple of whoops at this. “For second place, 30,000 euros. For third, 10,000 euros.

“But beware,” Lauren continued. “Only three of you will get these prizes, and there are 25 of you. Work as hard as you can and you can do it. Now. For the lesson.”

Maia and I settled down into chairs and listened to Lauren, but before she began, I heard Shelby whisper, “I’m totally going to get first prize.” That made me want to get a prize even more. Beating the world’s best child photographer who also happened be the world’s biggest diva? Score! Getting first place? Bonus points!

At break, Maia and I immediately hurried back down to the Seine. We grabbed a baguette to share and settled on a bench. I set a timer on my phone to make sure we didn’t stay past one o’clock. After all, we had regular school lessons in addition to photography classes. I snapped some pictures and so did Maia, but mostly we enjoyed the view.

Just then, an earsplitting screech sliced through the air. I leapt up from the bench in unison with Maia.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

I wasn’t the only one. People were screaming and pointing. In the sky was a giant red dot zooming towards the earth. Was that…? A meteor!! Maia and I seemed to realize at the same time, because we both jumped and frantically began gathering our stuff.

“Run!” Maia screamed, and we took off.

The meteor, a big ball of burning flames and coal, was just miles away… it came closer and closer…and closer…I was losing focus…my head was swimming…then suddenly, everything went black.

“Emma!” I was shaken awake in a pile of rubble. “Em! Emma!” It was Maia.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Maia was staring down at me, her face blurred.

“Wha-what happened?” I gasped, pumping air through my lungs.

“Oh, thank heavens you’re alive!” Maia breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, the meteor plummeted into the Seine and you fell and…well, you went unconscious.”

“Wow,” I said, sitting up. “I really reacted to that crash.”

Maia nodded. “I’m just happy that you’re alright. You could have died!”

I bit my lip. “What time is it?” I answered my own question by glancing at Maia’s watch. Two fifteen. I had been unconscious for pretty much two hours.

My eyes flitted around the scenery. Everything was buried in lumps of ash or coal. Heaps of debris like plastic bags floated around in the air like clumsy birds. There was nobody — nobody except Maia and I — around. Even the Seine was murky. There was still a faint tint of fiery orange at the bottom from the meteor. I winced as my eyes fell on the half sunken boat that had carried passengers just yesterday. So many lost lives…all those people who didn’t deserve it…

Maia seemed to know what I was thinking. Softly she said, “We’d better get back to the hotel.”

I scoffed. “Like it’ll still be up after this,” I said.

“It’s like a mile away,” Maia retorted.

I shook my head reluctantly but got up from where I was sitting. Almost at once, I buckled back down onto the ground. “Ow,” I said, clutching my ankle. “It hurts.” I closed my eyes and let the pain sink in. If I lay there long enough, maybe it would just go away.

“Oh, yeah, Emma, it’s swollen,” Maia said. “I–wait. What’s that?” I opened my eyes and followed Maia’s finger to see a stick of green poking up from the rubble.

“It’s a four leaf clover!” I gasped. I inched closer to the clover and pulled out my camera. “This is perfect for the contest!”

I snapped a few pics from different angles and grinned. This would win me the contest for sure! My caption would be This clover is different from the rest, like me and my sister. It’s been through bad times, but it’s stood strong throughout them.

“Okay,” I said to Maia. “Put your arm around my neck and we’ll get to the hotel together.” And off we went, the silhouette of two girls stumbling along a sea of ashes and coal.

It took weeks for the mess to be cleaned up, but when it was gone, life resumed as normal. My ankle got wrapped up and a was put on crutches for a few weeks. Luckily it was only a mild sprain.

Finally, the day everyone in my group in photography was waiting for arrived; the day that the prizes were given out. Everyone gather excitedly in the hall.

Maia had chosen to take her picture of me — yay! She had asked me to face away from her and she got a great shot of me silhouetted against the Eiffel Tower.

Lauren motioned us to get in a cluster and we obeyed. “Okay! Wonderful job this term guys, really excellent. Now. Third prize is…Maia Blac!”

I cheered so loudly that my twin had to scream at me before I stopped. I could tell she was happy by the way her pale cheeks were now full of color.

“Congrats, Maia,” Lauren said, motioning for her to come to the head of the group. Maia was handed a big back of clinking euros. The crowd clapped once more. “Now,” Lauren continued as Maia joined me again, “second place is to Shelby Moore!”

I heard a scream of outrage: “WHAT?” Shelby shrieked. “No!! You’ve made a mistake! I need first place!!! RAHHH!!!” And she stormed from the room.

I grinned.

“First prize,” Lauren said slowly goes too…” she paused… “Emma Blac!! Congrats!”

Me?? Me! I won first prize! This was like a dream. I gratefully accepted my 50,000 euros and the class was dismissed.

Maia hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe. I was so happy.

We plopped down on a bench and looked around. It was an amazing sight. Then it hit me. This is what it was all about. Paris, I mean. It wasn’t about pictures, it wasn’t about money or contests of the stores. It was this. The experience. A Parisian isn’t a just stylish person or a talented artist, they know how to live the moment in time. Whether it’s good, bad or bland as buttered pasta, they know that you only live once and you need to live every moment of that life with feeling. That’s what makes Paris Paris.

So, my last words to you are this:

YOLO like Parisians

-Emma Blac

Chapter 1: #Princess

Once upon a time in the year 2013 there was a girl named Emily. Emily was the princess of England. Emily pictured herself as the perfect princess. Filthy rich. Amazingly beautiful. The only thing that could stop her was the perfect night at the ball.

”Emily where are you?” yelled Emily’s father.

“I’m in my room Father!” Emily called back, as she started to braid her hair.

“Father I need you to buy me a dress for the ball, like, now!!!”

“Ok sweetie. Be patient. I told you we are going dress shopping tomorrow.”

“But Father! I want to go today! If Mom was alive right now she would take me at my beck and call! I deserve more, father! I’m amazing! I’m the most beautiful princess in the world!

“And my prince! Oh my prince! He will be there with me, while I’m in the perfect gown and we’ll look like the perfect couple dancing under the dim lights of the ballroom ceiling. Being around all of those filthy rich people who are gonna adore me more then they adore their own children! It’s going to be wonderful father! If we cannot at least get the dress today, then let’s go shopping for the jewelry! I will look so pretty with sapphires or maybe emeralds on my necklace, to make my long blonde hair and blue eyes to stand out. Oh and my beautiful pale peach skin would stand out with rubies! So much to choose from! Lets go! To the vault!”

“Ok, but hold on. Your mother told me when this day comes, she knows you will try to wear more than three pieces of jewelry. So you may go down and pick one necklace, one pair of earrings and your crown. That’s it! Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Father,” responded Emily, like she was a little upset.

As Emily went down to the vault to pick out her jewelry, someone else was thinking about the ball.

Chapter 2: #Prince     

“Mother! How do I look in my brand new tux? I got the tailor to make it for me for the ball.”

“It looks good on you, son. I’m so proud of you, and so would your father. He would be proud that you grew up so handsomely, I know I am,” said the mother of Edward as she fixed her hair.

“Thank you Mother. I love you.”

“I love you too, Edward.” said the mother.

Edward turned around from the mirror and stared into his mother’s wet, damp eyes. Then he hugged her tight, his carrot-red hair sticking to her dress, and his hazel green eyes blinking lightly while he rested his head on her small boney shoulder.

“I cannot wait to dance with Emily under the beautiful ball ceiling. Although it’s in a month, I’m still super excited.”

“I know you are. I know. Ok, well we still have to go find a crown for you. Come on let’s go upstairs.” As Edward and his mother went to the vault in their castle someone was thinking about the jokes that were going to be made at this ball.

Chapter 3: #Jester

“Oh I can’t wait to see all of their faces when I make my jokes! It’s going to be the funniest night of their lives!” said the Jester.

“Honey, your jokes will be hilarious. But don’t forget that it’s a ball, so don’t get upset if they want to dance instead of listen to your jokes, okay?” said his mother.

“Okay mother. But I know that my jokes will be too funny to resist. I’m just too funny to ignore.”
“Yes sweetie, but nobody wants a stuck up jester. It’s just wrong. It’s like Miley Cyrus with her tongue sticking out. Trust me I would know, I am the queen of jesters after all.”

“Very funny mother. Those are the type of jokes that I need for the ball.”

“I think those are good jokes sweetie but you need something with more pizazz. Something that will make them die of laughter.” She made a noise, “ba da! Ba da!”

“Where did that come from?” asked the Jester.

“When you’re a jester, sweetie, you need to have that to make your jokes funny.”

“Yeah ok. But, don’t you think I’m funny without all of that stuff?”
“Um, well. Uh. Well.”

“MOM! AM I FUNNY?!

“Um… no, sorry, hun, you’re just an average joker.”

The jester put his hand to his chest and dramatically gasped.

“Mother! I thought when I was 5, you named me a jester and not a joker anymore because I was one of the funniest jesters!”

“Yeah, well, I did that because you would cry if I didn’t give you the title soon.”

“You lied to me! Thats it! I’ll show you! I’m still going to do my jokes at the ball! And everyone will love them! Even you, mother! I’LL SHOW YOU! I’ll show you!” screamed the jester as he walked out the door.

Chapter 4:# The Jester’s Mother

My son is absolutely insane. He thinks that when he goes to the ball everyone will laugh at his jokes. Pssshhhh.

No one at that prissy ball will listen to him. They’re too fancy and full of themselves to even look at my son.

Plus, when I started, no one wanted to listen to me. They basically chewed me up and spat me out onto the street. I was the chewed up gum on someone’s shoe. I was the pile of poop that got walked away from because my jokes stank so much.

‘Ba da ba pa ch’

Anyway, the point is, he’s never gonna be a good jester, because he is the type of person who gives up if they fail the first time. I’m just afraid that when they do shoot him down, he’ll come running over to me telling me I was right. That doesn’t really matter because that is what I like to hear.

Anyway, I wish he didn’t choose to go to the ball. I wish he chose not to, so I wouldn’t have to see him get hurt.

Ever since his father died, he’s been really insecure about his jokes lately. It’s like he’s my son, but he’s not.

Chapter 5:# The Princess’s Father

My daughter is absolutely insane.

She’s so full of herself, it’s funny.

I’m really thinking about not letting her go to the ball. I mean, she really needs to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around her, although she is beautiful, and she chooses whether or not kids should go to school, and she supports the homeless people, to give money to us rich.

So I guess, yeah, physically, she does rule the world but mentally, she does rule the world.  Oh my god. She does rule the world.  Agh  We’re all gonna die!

Oh my god.

Oh my god.

Oh my god!

It’s time to panic! Everyone Panic! Now! I can’t believe done this! She rules the world! Agh!

Ok, I’m ok. I’m ok. I’m ok. I’m ok.

Ah! We’re all gonna die!
I’m not okay!  Agh! We’re all gonna die!

We’re all gonna die! Agh!

While someone was talking in their head, and worrying, another was thinking about her son.

Chapter 6: #The Prince’s Mother

“I fully support my son’s decision about Emily. Well, not fully. Actually not at all. She’s such a brat. I don’t want no girl like her to be dating my son. She will change his personality. If she does, she doesn’t know what’s coming for her. I will get her, I will hunt her down and get her!”

“Hey mom. What are you yelling at?” asked the prince, as he walked in his mother’s bedroom.

“Oh. You scared me sweetie. I didn’t you were there.”

“I scared you? That yelling scared me. It sounded like it was coming from here.”

“Oh no, nothing is going on here. It’s just me and my old self. Doing old things. Sitting like an old per-”

“Mom! Focus!”

“The screaming. Where did it come from?”

“Oh ok. You got me. I was screaming at a bird on the window sill.”

“Yup. You were right. Old people stuff,” said the prince as he walked out of the door.

Chapter 7: #Princess

“My ruby earrings and necklace are gonna look so nice with my pink sequined ball gown I picked out for the ball. I’m gonna be the prettiest girl they have ever seen! I’m gonna be the life of the ball! I think its time for me to sing the victory song!

“Oh what a beautiful princess! Oh what some beautiful money! I have a wonderful feeling, everything’s going my way!!”

“Bravo sweetie! Bravo! Just like your mother!”

“Father! You were listening?!”

“You’re beautiful.”

“You have my attention.”

“I have found you the most handsome prince in the whole land!”

“But I already have one father.”

“Your hair flows beautifully in the wind.”

“You have my attention again.”

“Here he is!”

“Hello. I’m Philippe. You’re beautiful.” Philippe said, entering in to Emily’s room. He brushed his dark spooky black hair with his hand, and looked in her eyes with his dark green ones.

“Father I’ve changed my mind! I’m going to the ball with Philippe!”

While someone was dumping someone, someone else was thinking.

Chapter 8: #Jester

“I still have to figure out my jokes for the ball! And what to wear! Wait I’m a jester. I wear those stupid clown hat thingys. Duh.”

“What are you doing?!”

“Mother! You again?! I thought I ditched you!”

“As you did, my son, but don’t forget who’s the better jester here. Oh right. There’s only one! Ha ha ha.”

“Yeah there’s only one. And its me!”

“What are you even doing?”

“I’m picking out what I’m wearing to the ball!”

“Why? You’re a joker all you need to pick out for the ball is your jokes, and trust me I know you haven’t done that yet.”

“Mother you’re such a conniving snake!”

“Funny. But that’s my trick, so get your own!”

“No, I better keep it, just to annoy you!!!”

“Yeah ok. You annoying me? Hilarious!”

“Mother, you’re such a conniving snake!”

“Hey!!”

“Mother, you‘re such a conniving snake!

Mother, you’re such a conniving snake!

Mother, you’re such a conniving snake!

Mother you-”

“OK! OK! I GOT THE POINT! THE CHALLENGE IS ON! LET’S GO TO THE BALL!”

Chapter 9:# The Jester’s Mother

I can’t wait to see my son fail! Oh and all those people! They will be laughing at him! It’s going to be the most funniest thing that ever happened! I can’t believe I was about to feel bad for him! Ha! But now all I’m gonna do is kick his butt at being awesome! Or funny I guess. You know what I mean! I can’t wait to see him crawl back to me! This is gonna be great! Well, first, I gotta go investigate what jokes he’s doing!

While someone was starting to spy, another was thinking about changing his daughter’s date to the ball again!

Chapter 10: #The Princess’s Father

Ooh. I’ve got an idea. I think I’m gonna change my daughter’s date again.

It will show her that she can’t always have what she wants and she can’t always change her mind in a snap because she can hurt someone’s feelings! I can’t wait to show her!

“Hello, father. You rang my bell from the kitchen. What do you need my prettiness to do for you right now?”

“I need you to meet your new date to the ball.”

“You mean Philippe? But I already met him, father.”
“No sweetie, not Philippe. Philippe is gone. I’ve got a new date for you.”

“But I like Philippe. He – he’s genuine,” said Emily all googly-eyed.

“Is that because he said you were beautiful?”
“Maybe…”

“Ok. well, this is Duke. Duke has loved you since you were little.”

“Hi. I’m Duke. I really like how beautifully your eyes sparkle in the moonlight. I also really want a cookie.” said Duke as he swung his long brown hair against his sunset skin, and blinked his brown, hazel eyes, while he walked into the kitchen door.

“H-H-Hi. Father! I’m going to the dance with Duke! Forget Philippe!”

Chapter 11: #Princes: Philippe, The Prince, OH! AND DUKE!

“I can’t wait for the ball next week bro. I’ve got a new date.” Said the two princes at the same time.

”You go first” said Philippe.

”No you go first.” said the other prince.    

“Ok. How about we both say her name at the same time?” suggested Philippe.

“Ok. 1, 2, 3!”

“EMILY!”

“Wait wha-” said both boys.

“Hey guys. Just got a new date to the ball. Her name is–” said Duke.

“EMILY!”

“Yeah how did you guys know?”

“Oh just knowing that me and Philippe have the same date, it was just a hunch.”said Edward.

“Wait… So she’s taking us all to the ball? Awesome!”

“No dummy! She dumped us for you!” yelled Edward.

“Oh! Well, You don’t got to be so rude about it! At least I wasn’t the one who got

dumped.” said Duke.

“Yeah well-” started Edward.
“Guys! Guys! Stop fighting! We aren’t supposed to be fighting each other! We’re the fighters! Not the ‘fighties’!”

Chapter 12: #Princess is Mad      

Knock! Knock!

Suddenly the door opened.

“Hello boys. What would you like from Ms. Emily today?” asked one of Emily’s many servants.

“We would like if we could all speak to her at one time.”

“As you wish. Ms. Emily! Your future husbands are here!”

“Ok! Coming Pemberly!”

“Hello Pember-”

“Hello Ms. Emily.” Said all three princes at the same time.

“I can’t believe we all fell for you.”

“Me neither, but you did. So now we will see who wins.”

“Huh?” Said all three boys at the same time.

“You guys are going to play a game. You’re going to… fence over me!”

“Uh… no way we are fighting over you! You’re a coward! Forget you! Go to the ball on your own!” said the three boys firmly, as they walked out the palace door.

“Well that was some visit, wasn’t it Ms. Emily?”

Emily looked at Pemberly. “Yeah! Some visit!!! Hmph!”

Chapter 13: #Prince’s Mother

“I can’t believe Emily! She ruined my son’s life! She will pay for this! All he’s been doing for the past week is eating royal, rocky road ice cream, in a robe, watching TV, and every two minutes, he has new bits of chocolate ice cream in his hair, because parts of the ice cream was too chocolatey for him! I told Emily – well didn’t tell her I told me, but still she’s gonna have to pay! Ooh! I know! I’ll get her at the ball!”

Chapter 14: #Dear Diary,Jester

Dear joke book, I have decided that I am not going to do my jokes at the ball.

It’s just making me feel pressured, I guess. It makes me feel like my mom isn’t my mom anymore. She laughs when I mess up on my joke work, she doesn’t make me lunch anymore, and she tries to eat the whole breakfast before I get down from bed.

I miss her. I wish she didn’t challenge me as much as she does now. I wish she was back.

Signed,

Jester

Chapter 15:# The Ball

“The ball! It’s finally here!” said Emily

“The only thing is I don’t have is a prince,” said Emily all upset.

“I know sweetie. But at least you get to ride in this beautiful glass carriage.”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same!”

Then someone else was on their way to the ball…

“I can’t believe none of us have dates!” said Philippe.

“Yeah well at least we got each other,” said Duke.

“Duke…”

“Yeah?”

“I think thats the first time you said something smart!” said the Prince

“I know right!!!” said Duke, back to the first prince.

While someone was talking another was apologizing…

“Honey… I have to tell you something…” said the Jester’s Mom.

“Yeah, okay! What do you possibly need to say to me?” said the Jester.

“I need to say I’m sorry…”

“What?! Did you just say… sorry?”

“Yeah… I’m your mother, I’m supposed to cheer you on… I’m not supposed to go against you…”

“Thanks mom…”

“You’re welcome… but I want to wish you good luck.”

“Good luck? I thought I told you… I’m not going to do my jokes.”

“What?! No! You have to!”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not gonna do it either!”

“Oh… well…. I’ve decided to be more of son right now then a joker… so let’s just let them have no jester!”

“Now you’re thinking hun! I missed being a team with you….”

“Same,” said the jester.

Chapter 16: #Happily Ever After

Now everyone lived happily ever after… Well of course, except Emily.

The princes all got a date to the ball…at the ball,

The jester and his mother are still working as a hilarious team,

The father of Emily taught his lesson, Emily had no one to go to the ball with.  

Emily also got another lesson taught by the prince’s mother, and Edward’s mother and Emily’s father started dating.

And finally… Duke got to eat a cookie.

Spotty the giraffe had a very long neck to get to her food. She was the only type of animal that can have a very long neck. Spotty lived in Animal Land with her family. Everyone that lived there were animals that could talk. In Animal Land, the animals lived in the same land but there were different habitats, even if you were neighbors. None of the animals in Animal Land were enemies. They were all friends. Spotty lived with her younger sister, Hooves, along with her mother and father. Spotty and her family didn’t live in a house like humans do. They stayed outside on green grass plains. In their habitat, there were acacia trees. There are acacia trees because that was what Spotty and her family ate. Acacia trees were different than other trees because the tree grows flattish on the top where acacia leaves grow. Acacia leaves are very thin and round on the ends, they also have a lot of lumps.

One day, Spotty went with Hooves to see if their neighbor, Blacky the panda, was free to play with them. Blacky the panda lives in a habitat with lots of bamboo. Bamboo are a type of plant that look like a green stick with lines in between. Sometimes bamboo grow leaves on them. The leaves look like long and thin almond shapes. There are lots of bamboos because they climb and eat them. He only lived with his mother and father, he does not have any siblings. Blacky was free, so they went to play. They liked to play with a very bouncy ball. While they were playing Spotty, Hooves, and Blacky heard other animal families talking about how Animal Land was ending the next year. It sounded like it was ending because humans thought the land was useless, because no humans lived there. Humans wanted the land because they wanted to have houses and wanted more people to live in different places. All the animals were worried about when and where they would have to go. They were extremely worried about where they would get their food, because Animal Land was the only land that had the different types of food the animals eat. Spotty was really worried, because no one had told her about this. Spotty wasn’t really sure if her parents knew either, so they went back home quickly, and told their parents. Spotty’s and Hooves’s parents heard something like that before, but they didn’t know if what they heard was true. Their parents have always trusted Spotty and Hooves. So this time when they heard it they believed it, and they hoped it wasn’t a prank. Spotty and her family were trying to think of ideas of what they could do about what was going to happen. One of the ideas they thought about was they gather all the food they could find and store them in small boxes. They decided that they should start doing that, because collecting as much food as they can would take a while. All four of them spread out in different parts of Animal land; they went to different trees and grabbed the leaves off. Because, Giraffes only ate acacia leaves, they had to find that type of trees to get the right food.

On the way Spotty met a human named Lisa. Lisa was someone that lives in a village near Animal Land. She had always loved animals since she was young. She was 36 years old, and she had straight blonde hair with nice blue eyes. She worked as a zookeeper. She was the first and only nice human that Spotty and her family knew. When Spotty first met Lisa, she was nervous about what she was going to do because she had never seen a human before. But after getting to know her better, Lisa became very nice to all the animals. Lisa did not want Animal Land to be gone, because she knew animals actually helped humans. Lisa went to Animal Land once in a while because she loved to see what the animals are up to. Lisa was the only human that did this. Spotty started to talk with Lisa.

“Humans need us! If they need us, they should let us live. We are also living things! We need our habitats! No other place have the things we need! This is the only place we can be! Can you let us stay?!” Spotty said.

“Maybe. I’ll try my best, but I’ll have to see if I can get everyone else to listen to me and see if they will agree that we need animals,” Lisa replied.

“Okay, but come back as soon as you get an answer.”

“I will,” Lisa said as she walks back to her village.

“I think this is enough leaf picking for today. We can continue tomorrow,” Spotty’s parents said.

“Can we go tell Blacky and his family to also collect all their bamboo?” Spotty suggested.

“Sure!” Hooves agreed. They walked back to Blacky’s house.

“Hey, Blacky! Can we tell you and your family something?” Spotty asked politely.

“Sure!” Blacky answered.

“We wanted to give you an idea that you should collect all the bamboo you can find, and store them somewhere; so that you won’t run out of food when Animal Land ends,” Spotty and Hooves suggested.

“What a great idea!” Blacky and his family agreed. “We should start now if it will take a long time,” Blacky continued. Blacky and his family started on their food hunt.

Spotty and her family went back to their own home and decided to rest. They had gotten tired from collecting all their food. After a while, Lisa came back and told them the news.

“I made a speech and some others started to agree and some still disagreed,” Lisa said.

“Oh! So the speech didn’t convince everybody?!” Spotty exclaimed.

“Sorry, I couldn’t. There were people saying we need that land to be a land with humans!” Lisa said sadly.

“Well, you tried your best, didn’t you?” Spotty asked.

“I did what I could. I told them we need animals! We also need humans, but that’s not the only thing we need!” Lisa replied. Then Lisa’s phone started to ring.

RINGGGGGGG RINGGGGG RINGGG.

“Hello?” Lisa answered the phone. It was the mayor!

“The humans over here have agreed to save Animal Land,” the mayor said happily. After Lisa hung up she told them that the mayor said Animal Land wouldn’t get destroyed. The mayor also agreed they should keep Animal Land. The mayor was a very handsome gentleman. He was 52 years old and had made great choices for the world.

“REALLY, REALLY? IF SO, WE MUST TELL EVERY OTHER ANIMAL IN ANIMAL LAND!” Spotty exclaimed. “Let’s go, Hooves!” After they told everyone in Animal Land, some humans started to come in. None of the animals knew what was going on. The animals were a little nervous because they thought it would be something bad. Then when all the animals heard the humans talking, the animals realized the humans were here because they really like the animals. After hearing the humans talk they became very happy. Some of the humans didn’t know how beautiful Animal Land was. Humans finally realized animals were useful because animals gave food to humans, and also some dogs could help the humans who were blind. Now that they knew animals were useful, humans were coming and going, in and out of Animal Land.