Hunger (Junior version)

HUNGER

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction – Claire Olivier ...................................................................................................................... 2 Crime and Celebrity –Leah Park ................................................................................................................ 5 ㅈㅣㄱㅜ – Ellie Cho ................................................................................................................................. 7 You and her – Faith Chin ........................................................................................................................... 9 The Human cub -Irene Cho and Annette lee .......................................................................................... 12 99.82 to 1 – Kristen Cho .......................................................................................................................... 23 Pieces of us - Ianna Choi 8M ................................................................................................................... 25 Star – Jasper Lee ..................................................................................................................................... 28 Hope – Daehwan Kim and Benjamin Shim.............................................................................................. 29 Blurred Vision –Yuki Sugita ..................................................................................................................... 32 9 Miles To Go – Samuel Minjoon kim ..................................................................................................... 37 Run! – Mary Kim ..................................................................................................................................... 41 Revived – David Tung .............................................................................................................................. 44 Blink- daechang suh ................................................................................................................................ 47 I am just not hungry anymore… Alma Liljequist ..................................................................................... 49 The Hunger Games – Yunjeong Choi ...................................................................................................... 56 The illusion – Victoire juery..................................................................................................................... 65 The Sacrifice of the Tiger (A Fable) – Ethan Albano ................................................................................ 70 The Princess and The Spider – Jinhyeok Kim .......................................................................................... 72 Eurythemista – Kathryn Fleming ............................................................................................................. 73 Radicalised – Georgiana Clare................................................................................................................. 76 Project #8,000,000 – Leonor Carney....................................................................................................... 83 Hunger for Time - Sooa Lee .................................................................................................................... 87 Vanish – Rania Khan ................................................................................................................................ 89 pot belly and big belly – Chloe Han ........................................................................................................ 94 Roses and Coffins – Matthew Alemania ................................................................................................. 97 Hungry for the talent – Christian kim ................................................................................................... 102 Why today’s society…? – Maria Coarasa .............................................................................................. 105 Under Control – Gerassimos Moshonas ............................................................................................... 108 Hungry for Freedom – Eliza Hutchin and Rebecca Schlipf .................................................................... 111 Hunger! The name that nobody will like – Irene Shin .......................................................................... 113 1|P a g e

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Ding Dong – Snigdha Rai ....................................................................................................................... 117 Sharks’ Tongues in ASPIC: WE need to have this lunch! – Nick Choi .................................................... 119 Question Unanswered… Gali Dekel ...................................................................................................... 122 Fool- Raghad Hammad and Jane Woo .................................................................................................. 125 Secret – Krisha Chhugani ...................................................................................................................... 133 That was the last time I saw him – Shehssan Sivabalan ....................................................................... 135 The Trial – Jean Ellise Kim ..................................................................................................................... 137 Limbo – Matthew Lee ........................................................................................................................... 139 Cacao Beans – June Souk ...................................................................................................................... 142 The Fate Of The Crown – Soojin Shin.................................................................................................... 145 A journey for a week – Amy Park .......................................................................................................... 148 Hungry for Love – Samuel Kim .............................................................................................................. 151 Unit 731 – Sungjun Hwang.................................................................................................................... 154 A broken heart or a broken family? - Mina Laursen ............................................................................. 157 A Miserable Flash-Back – Nikita Bondarenko ....................................................................................... 159 Doughnut – Ronit Gupta ....................................................................................................................... 163 A Cold Mission – Coleman Breedlove ................................................................................................... 170 The Job – Alexander Bjorno .................................................................................................................. 172 3 Hungers – Yeonjae Choi ..................................................................................................................... 174 UNDERCOVER – Iyan Yang .................................................................................................................... 179

INTRODUCTION – CLAIRE OLIVIER

“My cousin Helen, who is in her 90s now, was in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. She and a bunch of the girls in the ghetto had to do sewing each day. And if you were found with a book, it was an automatic death penalty. She had gotten hold of a copy of ‘Gone with the Wind’, and she would take three or four hours out of her sleeping time each night to read.

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And then, during the hour or so when they were sewing the next day, she would tell them all the story. These girls were risking certain death for a story. And when she told me that story herself, it actually made what I do feel more important. Because giving people stories is not a luxury. It’s actually one of the things that you live and die for.” Neil Gaiman (author of “Coraline”, “American Gods” and “Good Omens”).

Our KS3 students live only 45 minutes away from one of the most brutal regimes in history – a place where no student has the right to use their communication skills to change their society and write simply for the joy of creating beauty with words. We don’t write because we are being assessed but because it is an amazing privilege to be able to share our feelings and imagination with others. By putting ourselves in a different context, we develop much needed empathy and we can question our own beliefs and assumptions.

As an editor, I often struggle with what to censor and our tradition has always been to allow sensitive topics if they are clearly labeled and if the writer has carefully researched the topic with appropriate adult supervision. It is important that our students feel safe to approach adults when confronted by the darker aspects of their society.

We believe that words have power to change lives and this year, we wish to use our words to improve conditions for the homeless in Seoul: • • • •

11000 people are homeless in South Korea 60% of the elderly live under the poverty line 1,75 million people survive by pulling paper carts The old age pension is 170-200 000 won. A goshiwon costs 230-270 000 won a month to rent.

Twice a month, our students serve the homeless at Nanumi Homeless Outreach and it is sad to know that we will keep seeing the same faces month after month. Luckily, Nanumi also has a school which helps homeless people access employment and much needed emotional coping strategies to reintegrate into society. All proceeds from this book will go to the Nanumi school.

We thank you for your support and hope that you will enjoy our stories.

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CRIME AND CELEBRITY –LEAH PARK

Like all thieves, she works best in the dark.

She jumped down from the low rooftop, landing with graceful ease. She wove through the crowds until she was a few paces behind the guards, then slowed down. The heavily guarded diamond safe had not been an easy take for her and she knew getting caught would be fatal; yet her professional pride and so-far meager heists had spurred her on. There was still one obstacle in her way. She knew from years of experience there was no way of escaping a safety alarm that powerful. Yet, maybe if she ran fast enough…

And she ran, like crashing waves hitting the shore, like a speeding bullet. The alarm goes off, and through her peripheral vision she sees the guards running after her - but she’s too drunk on the adrenaline to care. She ran through a maze of buildings and winding streets as the sky rumbled, and heavy rain bounced off the sidewalks.

An arm snaked around her wrist and pulled her back. Her reflexes kicked in, but a minute too late and her assailant clapped his hand around her mouth. He wasn’t a guard, nor a policeman, rather a disheveled man who reeked of cheap cologne.

“I’ve heard about you,” he growls vehemently as she struggled through his firm grip, “the thief impossible to catch, to outrun. They’ve promised a lot of money for catching you.” She screamed out as he delivered a blow to her stomach - then the nausea crept from her abdomen to her head and the world went black.

She woke up, hands tied behind her back in the trunk of a car. It wasn’t moving and there seemed to be no sign of her captor. Struggling against her restraints, she examined her surroundings. It was as quiet as a ghost town: the abandoned gas station where she assumed her captor was inside. She needed to escape, and escape fast. They didn’t call her the female Houdini for no reason. Deftly undoing the intricate knots, she escaped the ropes that bound her hands. She had been in this situation before, and had escaped countless times. ‘Idiot.’ she thought, after she noticed that the release for the back seats that folded down to allow access to the trunk was right in front of her. Laughing at his stupidity, she pulled it down and crawled into the backseat; kicking open the door.

She had always been reckless, breaking rules just for the fun of it. People spoke of how she was addicted to the galvanising thrill of the adrenaline fizzing in her veins. That she sought it more than the compulsive nature that brought peace, yet profound misery for her. She had been allured to trouble in ways no one could explain. In the way a moth was drawn to a flame, except that the flame burned darkly - dangerously. And she had always found herself flying blindly towards it.

Yet there was another reason behind her crimes.

Some people dream of luxury.

Some, of the recognition.

She was one of them.

Her friends and family had all deserted her, saying her hunger and gluttony for fame through crime was diseased and pernicious.

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She didn’t need them anyway.

The TV screen flickers to life and she walks over to the run-down sofa. It isn’t the ideal place to live, but it’s home. The news channel plays in the background as she arranges the cluttered array of magazines on her coffee table.

A reporter appeared, “We’ve all been following the story all morning about how a sixteen-yearold girl Evangeline Taylor known as the Thief with Nine Lives has become notorious for stealing expensive jewels, motorcycles, cars for extravagant joyrides. She’s very dangerous, and if anyone has information on her whereabouts…”

It had all been leading up to this moment. Everything, suddenly, was worth it.

Evangeline Taylor.

Say it, chant it Remember it.

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ㅈㅣㄱㅜ – ELLIE CHO

Humans are always hungry. They take and take from me, but they are never full. They always want more, need more, and get more. They envy what others have, and don’t appreciate what they do have. They think that they will never run out of resources, and seem to be imperceptive of the fact that they are afflicting me and my environment. How long do they think they can go like this?

2605 years. I have waited for 2605 years. I will not be swayed by these humans.

After all, I am the Earth.

They call them ‘natural disasters’, but they aren’t so ‘natural’ if I’m the one behind them, right?

Sometimes I have sent out earthquakes, sometimes I have sent out tsunamis, but this… this will be different. Something extraordinary that no living creature has ever seen. The 2010 Haiti Earthquake? Sure, it had a magnitude of 7.0 and killed around 300,000 people, but the world managed to go on, didn’t it? The floods in Nigeria? Those were just my unanticipated outbursts of irritation; it was nearly nothing!

I have leniently waited… waited for some actual changes. But every year, every day, every moment, it appears as if humans are disrespecting more and more of this wondrous planet I am to them. Their impudence is formidable. I cannot allow it.

It’s so horrifying to watch this disaster unfold from the top of the world. Sea ice has melted, and sea levels have risen. More than 8 million tonnes of plastic have been dumped into oceans each year, and 81% of freshwater animal populations have shrunk.

There are other species living on this planet, not only humans. They surely know that, so why? Why are they doing this?

I gave them land, air, water, sunlight. What better gift is there? The perfect place to live, build, and settle, and at first I was so excited. I was excited to help them evolve and grow as I welcomed their curiosity, but now they don’t need me because they have their ‘advanced technology’? Who do they think I am? I was the starting point. The foundation. The first building block.

It’s like a tower of bricks. You start stacking, one by one. But why does it matter how high you have stacked, if just one, small brick was removed from the bottom? It would all collapse.

You might think, what about those environmental organizations and groups? They’re trying to help! So, I give them some time. 5 more years, and game over. I will remove that bottom brick.

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I gave them everything they needed, and I can just as easily take it back. ***************************************************** At last, the world is calm. The sounds of cars honking or machinery clunking are inaudible. Instead, I hear silence. Pure, white, silence that I have missed hearing. My mind is at rest.

What a shame it was to have washed away the entire world just like that, but what I say is what I say.

My planet is now a blank notebook where the words have been erased and the dust has been discarded. My mind has forgotten the past, yet I will not make the same mistakes once more.

It is time for me to start over. Once again. Recycle, reuse, reduce.

And repeat.

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YOU AND HER – FAITH CHIN

A retelling of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen from the viewpoint of the seawitch “Pride must suffer pain.” No one believes it but she did agree with You. With all her hard earned beauty, she carried herself with pride. No one knows how much she had sacrificed. All the blood, sweat, toil and tears…

No. Not tears. That’s not right. Mermaids cannot cry.

They swallow it anyway.

As they do with everything else You give them.

You bitterly tell Your avid listeners about her melodious voice, and how You took it. Her voice was once coveted by every single soul that heard it. Now it’s Yours. No one cares now.

Mermaids don’t have souls.

After all, it was the serenading of sirens, the trilling of nightingales, the carolling of angels woven and intertwined in a flawless tapestry that had brought creatures, light and dark, to a slow descent into the lulling depths… And one of those creatures was her handsome human prince. He was coming, drowning in the magnificent depths of the ocean.

Coming to You. Coming when You called out for him.

But that was before, before she interfered by snatching him from Your grasp and bringing him back up to restore him to life. No one takes Your things. No one steals from You and lives. You needed a permanent solution to that. A voice so lusted after that nothing could take Your beautiful playthings from You when You called for them.

It was never personal. She just got in the way. She didn’t do anything wrong. She did it out of love. She could not stand to see him die. No. Love isn’t a crime.

And what You did was also just. She offered anything to You for Your fair assistance. It was fair game. Up for the taking. She sacrificed it for You, You tell them.

No one reacts.

Nevertheless, You continue telling them about her. She came to You once, in desperation.

Never again.

She wanted a human soul. She wanted eternal life. She wanted marriage. She wanted love.

A love that burned brighter than the sun.

Let’s be honest here. You are not perfect.

It was not meant to be.

Regrettably, You were a part of her downfall. She was told that the only way she could acquire an immortal soul was through marriage to a human man. A man who loved her so much that he would abandon his parents and love her with all his heart. A man who would part with a fraction of their soul for her.

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Did she succeed? No. Do You feel guilty?

Never.

Never in Your long, lonely, limitless existence have You felt and will You feel apologetic for what You have done.

She brought it on herself.

Not You. Her. That was one of the better exchanges You have had. She could have spent her whole life with the prince. If only he had not married. If only he loved her. It was an unfortunate thing that he and that princess were betrothed. He would have listened to her had she told him that she was the one who saved him.

Fate is cruel.

He would have listened, but not heard. You took that away from her.

But it would not have mattered. He did not want to listen. Help her?

No. What would You get out of it? He was a lost cause. Your help would not have mattered.

Hear You out.

Listen to You. It’s not an option.

It was not Your fault. You helped her as much as You could.

It will be fine. You still have what You hungered for all those years. A siren’s voice.

Beautiful but deadly.

Entrancing.

Intoxicating.

They will not ostracise You. They will not isolate You. They will not shun You. Finally, will they accept You as one of them?

Nobody asks why You are so different. Frankly, nobody seems to care.

They cared when she left.

They cared about Your hand in her reckless abandonment of her kingdom.

No one cares about Your abandonment.

They dramatised her story. Nobody even so much as hints about Yours.

Now it begins.

Would Your audience care to hear Your story?

You feel their eyes on you. Waiting to see if You are inherently evil.

But the truth is no person is inherently evil.

You don’t have much of a story to tell.

You are a sorceress.

You are magic.

You are villainized by society.

You are victimized by society.

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Yet, You gave her a fighting chance. A fair chance to not survive, but live. You didn’t even require a price as steep as her beauty. Just her voice.

You gave her an option - in the form of a knife. You gave her a way out. You gave her a chance for redemption. She could have come back.

She turned her back.

She could not kill.

And now she cannot steal him from You again.

After all, it is the serenading of sirens, the trilling of nightingales, the carolling of angels woven and intertwined in a flawless tapestry that brings creatures, light and dark, to a slow descent into the lulling depths‌ And one of those creatures is her handsome human prince.

He is coming, drowning in the magnificent depths of the ocean.

Your voice is the seductive lure of sirens, the bewitching pull of the creatures of the night, the beguiling cries of fallen angels woven and intertwined in a lethal tapestry that brings creatures, light and dark, to a deadly descent into Your grasp.

Like the poor little mermaid, for a long time, You have been hungry for him too.

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THE HUMAN CUB -IRENE CHO AND ANNETTE LEE

This story is based on the legend of the kitsune (a foxlike spirit in China, Japan and Korea).Kitsune’s become immortal if they gather enough tails and their tails also grant them status within the tribe. After a terrible Earthquake, the kitsune find a human cub in the rubble.

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“Who will keep the cub?” asks one of my subjects. The crowd snarls in disgust and argues.

Nobody wanted to keep a human as a pet. But no one was prepared to kill it either. Not a cub.

The human cub stares up at me. Its disgustingly pure blue eyes meet mine without hesitation.

No fear was in its eyes. No horror or tears on its face. Was this thing even a human being?

His grubby little paws reach out.

Towards me.

Its eyes are still glued onto mine. Its mouth curves into an irritating smile. It smiles so largely that you can see its fangs. Well, only two fangs. It lives in pure joy. No other emotion can be seen on its face.

“Fluffy,”

The thing says, its hands clenching and unclenching, reaching towards me.

“Fluffy,” the cub repeats.

One step.

Two steps.

The cub “ran”. Its little paws hitting the ground unsteadily. He advances towards me with its freakishly large grin in place.

I stand still. Maybe it would go away if I ignore it. Should I growl and scare it away? No, it will start crying then. I don’t know how to deal with tears-

“GROWEL!”

Somebody is pulling my tail! My precious tail! How dare they! They will pay! They must pay!

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“Fluffy!”

I look down, and there all I behold is the cub; holding my white precious tail in its hands and stepping on the rest with its dirty paws. It plops down and lies on them as if it were making a snow angel. An expression of absolute bliss is shown on the cub's face.

It looks up at me through his crescent eyes and smiles. The dimple on his right cheek is glowing with happiness. I can’t help but stare back at this cub. My lips are moving on their own accord and inching upwards.

I’m smiling.

The crowd gasps with shock.

“She smiled! Did you see that? She just smiled!”

“I thought she was an ice queen, maybe she does have a heart!”

I frown again. Is that really what my subjects thought of me? An ice queen?

The cub stands and outstretches its arms to me.

“Pick up.”

Maybe this cub is innocent. Not a murderer at all – like the rest of its kind. Maybe it has a chance of being one of us.

Just maybe.

I bend down and welcome the cub in my arms. It wraps its arms around my neck and starts playing with my ears. Its giggles are one of the purest noises I’ve ever heard in decades.

Decades.

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I slowly pat the cub on its back and start rocking back and forth. The crowd is waiting in anticipation, waiting for my verdict. I turn to them, the child now sleeping against the crook of my neck.

“From today on, this human cub shall be raised by me. End of discussion.” I turn away and go back into my room.

Even from there I could hear the cheers of my fellow subjects.

The child’s blond hair was grimy from surviving the destruction. Black dirt covers almost every inch of his skin. His arms and legs have scars that would never heal. I caress his rosy cheek.

The one with the dimple. He was so innocent. Is too innocent. Too innocent to be a spawn of pure evil.

He must never go back to those sick creatures.

Never.

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My pup is sick. On the verge of death. Sweat is dripping down his forehead and blood is trickling from his mouth. Why won’t he eat the meat I give him?

Lizards?

Baby birds?

Mice?

You look so hungry my child.

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His ribs are visible. Protruding from beneath his clammy pale skin. How many times have I told him to eat? To at least chew down a piece of red meat. But no, he will not listen. Will not listen to me. My child will not survive.

Cannot survive.

His weak fragile lungs are too vulnerable for the harsh conditions of the forest.

He is sick.

Too sick.

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

His eyes are closed. Tightly shut. He winces in pain and whimpers.

Whimpers for me.

But it’s not me. Not really. It’s them. The humans. Their food...

His innocent voice pierces my heart. But I can’t help him. I am so powerless that I can’t even save my own pup. I am so feeble and weak that I can only watch.

Watch while my pup suffers.

Suffers and die.

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What do I do?

What can I do?

“M-mommy? Are y-you there?” He groans in pain and wraps his arms around his stomach.

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Wetness dribbled from the eyes, leaving a slick trail behind.

“M-mommy don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Mommy-” He yelps in pain.

Ba-bump Bump Ba-bump Bump Ba-bump

His unsteady heartbeats match the pounding of my heart. His breath is shaky, taking in air in short measures. Beads of sweat are compiled on his forehead. He stutters and shakes in this hot weather.

And I am powerless.

I am watching him die.

Ba-bump

He loosens his grip on my arm. It flops lifelessly onto the ground.

Ba-bump

I have no choice.

Ba-bump

I have to do it.

I have to give my pup back to those humans. He is too hungry for his own kind.

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99.82 TO 1 – KRISTEN CHO

“99.82” That’s enough for me to live another week without any coercion or compulsion from my parents.

I succeed again, placing on the top of the scoreboard of the school’s mid-term test. There were thousands of names under mine, but not a single name above mine. I consider this as a normal life with no such useless things as friends, social media, Netflix, or whatever. But I guess I am not normal like any other fourteen-year-old girls. I am hungry.

As soon as I finalize my final test before getting into college, I can withdraw from the trap. The trap of strict rules, pressure, browbeating and constant studying for a senior high schooler like me. As I open the door of class 3-6 (the advanced class), I see it. I see all the other overfilled and replete ones that have the same reasons to study until the last moment. They have their goals. They are all sitting in the chair, only moving their hands and eyeballs straight through the book. I steadily sit on the chair making the least sound as possible trying not to make other eyeballs staring at me appallingly as if they are splitting me into several parts like laser machines. A girl next to me stares at me and faces her book right away thinking that she wasted time even for glimpsing on me. Yes, this is the life of seniors in our country and I never had a choice being a student here. In this trap. Being famished for prestige.

Then I saw another girl below the brightest sunbeam walking towards me. A girl I had never seen before (maybe because I never check people’s faces). As she came one and two steps closer to me, my heart beat faster and faster. I’ve never experienced this where someone got this close to me.

“Can I sit next to you?” said the girl below the sunbeam smiling. “My name is Jenn by the way.”

Oh no! Not a desperate loser after my study notes. Just go to hogwan like everyone else…

Like what I do to other hungry and evil ones, I just brushed her off.

But I couldn't understand why she was still smiling. She was a whole different person compared to the other 30 kids in the classroom. I couldn’t state the reason back then, but I was sure that she was different from the others and I was able to find it from the first sight.

I couldn’t answer to her because it was my first time: the first time talking to someone rather than people asking me for my notes and textbooks. People often tried to be friends with me just because of the selfishness they have and the evil mind that simply wants to copy all of my work.

She sat next to me anyway, knowing that I will not answer like the other kids. But for the first time, I wanted to be different. However, I couldn’t say a single word until she tapped on me.

“How did the study go yesterday?” she asked as if I had known her for so long.

“I...I... just did what we’re all supposed to do.” I answered with my lips trembling.

I automatically covered up my notes thinking that she was also one of the evil minded pupil that tries to plunder my effort. But she didn’t care about my notes. She just smiled at me again and that was it.

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First, I looked at the wall blankly, without saying anything for a while.

‘Does she not know that I am the top student of this school?’ ************* She approached me every single day. I blocked her out of my mind every single day.

But throughout the whole school year, she was with me all the time. She came to me sincerely, not for any other reason.

Until one day…

I clearly saw it with my two eyes. I didn’t start rolling my eyes looking through my name and how many people are under me but her name. Her name did not exist in the class anymore. Instead, there was another hungry one’s name. She has been replaced.

Then I realized. I was even hungrier without her. Jenn.

As I walked next door, to the “Level B class”, I knew what I had to do. I had to feed her with my own food. I would make sure that her marks improved. ************* As I open the door of class 3-6, 20 years later from that moment, I see it. I see myself feeding the hungry ones that are eager to obtain love, hope, and state of being psychologically full.

And they call me…

“Teacher”

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PIECES OF US - IANNA CHOI 8M

Scene 1: (Spotlight on A) A: (Legs crossed on his bed) My sister is SO weird, I don’t get her. (Rolls eyes) She spends hours and hours getting “ready” And, what’s up with the same coloured stupid pants? (Stands up and starts walking around slowly) And when she gets home from school, she never leaves her room. It's like she locks herself in that dungeon for 12 straight hours every day. She always takes her food inside her room when we are all eating in the kitchen sensibly like a proper family.

B: (Slams door and enters house whilst stomping) I had a bad day today, I’m going home to my room. (Drags bag up stairs) it feels as though my stomach was punched, I don't want to speak or talk to anyone. I overheard my classmates talking “Rose is so pretty,” “I want to be like her,” “She’s so tall and skinny,” is what they all said. (Shows hand gestures) But why couldn’t I be like her... just perfect.

She stares at the mirror intensely with a blank expression written all over her face.

(A comes back to the bed to sit on it and starts to write his diary) A: She came home; she flung her bag at the floor; it flew across the room; it knocked over mom’s vase; the glass shattered. Dad asked her what was wrong. She ran up and slammed her door. The floors felt like an earthquake had erupted. I could hear the echoing of her heavy stomps. I hope she’s okay.

B: Urrggh! I ate too much lunch today. (Pulls her hair in frustration) I feel like a pig. I’ll skip dinner. I don’t want to see dad anyways.

A: (Voice becomes more worried) I didn’t see her for the rest of the night. I never see her at the kitchen table. I never see her anywhere anymore.

B: I woke up, my stomach growled as if it was angry at me, (Clenches her belly with her hands) but I woke up too late and I don’t have time to eat, it’s only one day, I’ll be fine.

A: But I saw her at school today. She was with a group of her friends. She seemed happy there... I did see her throwing away her sandwich. Maybe she dropped it?

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I heard her call me fat Her face was pale and white as a ghost. I wonder if she knows?

B: (Faces herself in the mirror) I stared at the dusty mirror, I picked on every single part of my body, everything that wasn’t perfect. I hate myself. Why was I not born perfect? Why is my skin so bumpy and dry? I’m gross. I’m disgusting. Why am I so fat? (Picks on her arms) Why are my arms so big, I look like a hippo. My thighs are so fat and ugly. Why is my face so large and chubby? Why me? (Her voice gets elevated) Why don’t I have a single thing that’s better than others?

A: (Fiddles with hands) It’s been two days since the day she came home and locked herself inside, it happened again today; should I ask her if she’s okay?

B: I’m hungry, but I don’t want to eat, I CAN’T eat. I peeked outside into the kitchen, I saw him. I saw him set up a plate right on the seat mom used to sit in. I saw dad, he was watching TV on the couch.

A: (Sits on couch) (Stares blankly at a wall) Yesterday, I knocked on her door. But she didn’t answer. So I went in. I asked her if she was okay, but she screamed at me with her irritable and thunderous voice. She yelled at me and told me to get out and leave her alone. I saw the plate of chicken dad cooked her last week. I wonder why that’s there.

B: I am so hungry, I bit an oatmeal bar. I gagged. I threw up, but no food came out. (Her head hung low above the toilet seat) I already feel fat.

A: If only mom was here. She would fix everything. Mom would yell at her; she would make a huge fuss about why she wasn't eating. (Sniffles subtly) But she’s gone. (Covers his face with his hand) A: My sister doesn’t eat. And there’s nothing I can do about it.

He’s broken.

B: It’s been 30 days. I haven’t eaten for 30 days. But, I don’t feel anything anymore.

Scene 4: (Spotlight on B) B: My brother is different, ever since mom left home, everything changed. I wonder why. (Legs crossed, while sitting on a couch)

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A: (Headphones plugged in his ears) I don’t understand why mom left., I thought she loved me. It’s all my fault.

B: I was talking with my friends during recess and I saw my brother and some of his other classmates. His classmates were all playing basketball, but he was buried in the book under the tree. He should be more social. He’s probably just hiding. I don’t understand him. (Shrugs off) A: I had my first basketball tournament last week, it was really fun and we won the first place. But dad wasn’t there he was too busy working. What’s the point of me playing basketball when nobody cares? Wilson asked me to play basketball after school, but I said no. (Takes basketball out of bag, leaves it on lap whilst sitting on mom’s chair) B: Dad is honestly so annoying, he keeps asking me if I’m eating properly and doing well in school. He called my teacher if I was doing well in school. Why does he have to be so extra?

(Throws a pillow at the floor) Why can’t he just leave me alone? I wish he left instead of mom.

(Fumes off into room) A: I wanted to talk to dad about mom today, but he was already upset at my sister. What if he gets mad at me? (Buries head in legs) What if he doesn’t care? I wish mom was here, she used to listen to me B: I’ve never seen him crying before, he cried a puddle. Even a river maybe. That’s so weird, he’s so sensitive.

A: Mom’s really gone. She’s never coming back. (Shakes head in discomfort) No, no stop. Obviously she’s not. I know her, she’s my mom. If she really loved me, she would come back for me. Right? (Whimpers) B: (Sobbing quietly) I saw my brother and dad get into a fight. It was really bad. (Wipes eyes with sleeve) They were shouting at each other and my brother threw our family picture on the floor. It cracked. Right in the middle.

I hear the phone ringing I’m so proud of you. I’m on my way to your big game. I lov。。。 *Sometimes, it feels like time freezes* I dive into deep silence.

My mother’s voice (picks up the fork and starts eating) I just want to hear my mother’s voice.

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STAR – JASPER LEE

In the void twilight, I travelled at an expeditious speed that might even surpass the speed of light, heading nowhere. My path was no longer straight but eventually vanished. Maybe... I’m just a living soul who is conquering the blank universe...

Trying to find a new home.

In the year of 2136, the solar flare has tremendously increased, and the heat kindled the earth.

The average temperature of earth surface has reached up to 70 degrees celsius. Our foods were burned, our water were evaporated, and our people... over 2 billion people were ignited and eventually faced an agonizing death. It was no longer possible to live in earth Our only home in the entire universe.

I used to work in NASA when the world was still livable. That is why I am one of the chosen few for this project.

At the first, my hand would shiver as if I was in underground chamber.

50 ships went out. 48 signals no longer sound. 48 stars no longer shine... this morning one more signal died.

And now, I was preparing to face death just like the others did. Me and the last colony of human survivors. Every day was monotonous. I woke up, ate breakfast, watch TV, eat lunch, listen to radio and read books, eat dinner, and then go to sleep. I mean...what’s the point of living then?

Except, I always look up to the sky. Millions of illuminating stars reminds me a dots of hope.

Hope? I think star represents the word hope. Stars shine in the darkness.

I think this reflects me.

Maybe, I can be the role of the star.

Maybe I can save the world

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HOPE – DAEHWAN KIM AND BENJAMIN SHIM

I saw a streak of light.

At first, I felt like it was embracing me, but then it gradually started to cover my entire body… I reached out my hands towards the source, but the more I tried, the more it seemed to distance itself. The illumination started to fade away as my body was falling apart from the source until I saw no more light. It felt like I was asphyxiating. A myriad of sweat started to pour down my corpulent body, leaving me in an inescapable frenzy. There was nothing I could do to pacify myself. I stretched my arms for desperate help, though I knew there was nobody to save me.

Unconsciousness started to devour my listless body, forcing my vision to darken to the point where the only thing I could see was the thoughts produced by my futile brain.

I woke up.

I was in my small, dusty bedroom shivering from the ominous dream. It felt so real that I felt the cold sweat running down my neck and my heart pulsating quickly. My body was totally rigid. I forced myself to get up but my body was frozen and my legs were tight with tension as the frigid atmosphere pushed me into the corner, shaping my body to the best posture I could make. I took a deep breath to at least try tranquilizing myself. After the firm, tension in my muscles had settled down, I was staring nowhere in the sorrowful atmosphere lost in thought. I was a bit familiar with these dreams but they still sometimes freak me out and make me lose focus.

After a long while of spacing out, an irritating ticking sound caught my attention. The needles were pointing at fear.

It was time to go.

To the place for me which is even more atrocious than hell.

School.

I ran as quickly as possible. I was running even though the pressure in my heart was extremely painful. The cold air was hurting my eyes and my cheeks were numb. My throat felt sore and my feet were freezing. Since I knew the consequences, I ignored the anguish that I felt now because the agony after being late to school will be even severer than the pain I feel now. Deep in my mind, covered in obscure surroundings, there was a dot of eagerness that whispered through a voice saying: “Please… Please…”

I ran with all my might, pushing out every droplet of energy I had in my worthless body. Not surprisingly, my body and mind failed me. As I saw the black, robust gate, I thought I was safe. I went through the repugnant classrooms and soon I saw the label: 1-2. 1-2. 1-2. 1-2. I went in the classroom with bitter sweetness on my face that came from the fact that I had found a haven in the midst of this hell. Just then, a familiar, tumultuous voice echoed.

“Bark!”

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Pure instinct and the warm adrenaline pumping inside of me made my legs curl and my hands touch the cold linoleum floor. And without any help, without any friends to make me stop, my only option was to start barking like a dog. No, not like a dog, a dog itself My body was out of control, not following to my will. People were laughing about me and stared at me with pity.

What hurt the most was looking up and staring into faces and eyes of ones that were once my friends. But self-esteem and embarrassment was out of the equation. Because I was yearning to survive. Because no matter what the other said, I was not gonna fall. And as the laughter and taunts began to fade away from the cold memories, I cried.

“I told you, DO NOT BE LATE.” Andrew Park, the school bully. He was the greatest fear of my life. He always stared me down with an animus look making me like a caged animal. His dark, mysterious pupils swallowed me and shredded me into pieces. His fat body looked like invincible armor that could never be damaged, and his deep voice chilled my body from head to toe.

Bang!

A sudden heavy strike made my jaw go rigid. My eyes started blurring and started losing its focus. The world was a tornado, spinning, sucking me into the center which would be the end of me. I collapsed on the class floor which was cold. But I didn't feel the cold, because the cold had already reached my veins before I hit the floor. I could hear my heartbeat in my head. Badum badum badum badum badum. I could hear voices muttering quietly, probably about how weak I am and how strong Andrew is. The ruthless aggravation went on until it abated when someone shouted - “Guys! The teacher is coming!” I tried to open my mouth but my discombobulated mind had already destroyed my body and along with the physical pain, disappeared my will to speak. I heard rustling and everyone rushing to their chairs. I lay on the cold linoleum floor, writhing in unbearable and indescribable pain. I guess that’s where I really belonged I thought to myself. The bottom floor. Always the bottom.

Sinking.

Sinking.

Sinking.

And soon enough I heard clattering footsteps that seemed like it was approaching to me. My teacher stares at me with an awestruck glare. He shouted “Stop slopping behind and get your butt into your chair!”

I bite my nails to stop my body from shivering. Truculent waves of anxiety rushed through my inner self. An obstacle called limit obstructed me from running away from the excruciating agony.

‘Why do I deserve this?’

‘What did I do to deserve this?’

‘Is it because I’m ugly? Poor?’

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‘Why!’’ The pit of my stomach groaned… I felt the chill through my bones as the vapour from my mouth was emitting. Involuntarily, the scenery reminisced the old days when my mum was alive… when the bitter cold was just a warm hug… when the surrounding dark was illuminated by a scintillating street lamp… when hope was shining against the dark… I was suffocating from the tremendous void in my life without hope, obliterated into pieces. The reflection of the splendorous moonlight was shattered and smudged into the water. I was just like the water flow that smudged the resplendent moonlight; the unnecessary smudge that messed up the flawless piece of art…

Now, that my only sanctuary was gone, the immense darkness eclipsed my sight like an obnoxious swamp that drowns me to the bottom. Every day was just a redundant cycle of time; Same things were happening every day and now I could even predict what would happen ahead of time. Life was monotonous. Harassment never faced it’s back and I could feel my metal rusting, not able to take shelter from countless shards of unceasing pain given by the bullies.

I was hoping that I got used to it, yet every time when small hopes grew in me, I was afraid that I would lose it.

Warm, hot tears of molten emotion slid down my cheeks. I had been pushed to this position, time, place, and yet I was too afraid to let go of everything. My family, my life, my friends, my past…

My mom.

People find light in the darkest of times. However, not a lot of people realise that light always coexists with darkness. How do we tell darkness apart from light? How do we see light without darkness? It’s a paradox that’s always there. Life was like a rubik's cube. People always tried to match the cube of life. And mine may not be a matched rubik’s cube right now. But I would keep kicking. I would keep going, and one day, hope will shine in my direction.

Hope.

I saw a streak of light. This time, it embraced me.

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BLURRED VISION –YUKI SUGITA

*ATC: Air Traffic Control *g-force: the force of gravity; 1 g= force of gravity at the Earth’s surface. *canopy: transparent enclosure over the cockpit of a jet. *vector: direct (an aircraft in flight) to a desired point *knot: 1 knot=1.9km/h

Flight level 12000.

“Beep-beep-beep” The alarm sound resonated in the silent cockpit, apprising me of the fact that I had encroached the enemy’s territory, as I noticed a single jet fighter pursuing me. I was flabbergasted but I clenched the control stick firmly and pushed it as far as I could, which made the nose of my jet tilt downwards and descend with an astonishing speed. However, even when the jet reached the speed of Mach 2, the opponent jet was still pursuing me...

“Beep-beep-beep-beep” Sound of the alarm gradually got massive and acute. My face blanched in extreme fear because the alarm was indicating the fact that a missile had been launched.

A missile.

I grasped the control stick and tilted to the left, which made the right wing of the jet to point towards the sky and the other towards the wilderness. The jet ‘shifted’ horizontally to the left. My heart was pounding ferociously-I couldn’t die at this moment. My second child is going to be born next month.

My legs were trembling but I tensed all the muscles in my body to withstand the *g-force.

I could actually see the enormous missile passing through right beside me- I had successfully eluded the missile.

But I had no time to sigh in relief because...

I was in Afghanistan.

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I was still flying above the enemy’s territory, which meant that another missile could abruptly appear and shoot me down. “(*ATC) Phantom 3, this is Bagram Air Base, radar contact. Turn left heading 150, descend and maintain flight level 3000. Be aware that unidentified aircraft is flying 40 miles behind.” “(Me) Roger, heading 150, flight level 3000, unidentified aircraft seen, Phantom 3.” My voice should have been quivering with fear. Another ‘unidentified’ aircraft?

Please no.

I glanced out of the *canopy. A modicum of stars was beginning to appear above the serene sky. However, soon after I plunged into the cloud, the jet abruptly shook due to turbulence. The world under the cloud was the complete opposite of what I had seen above the cloud; the jet started to get drenched by the heavy rain and the thunder was rumbling as if it were menacing me.

“Bagram Air Base, this is Phantom 3, request heading 210, request *vector to Bagram Air Base runway 27.” I demanded. “(ATC) Phantom 3, request approved, turn right heading 210, radar vectors ILS runway 27.

Descend and maintain flight level 2000 and reduce speed to 520 *knots.”

I glanced at the monitor. Approximately 500 kilometers left for the base. I gazed out of the canopy absently. The serene sky was back and the sky was full-filled with a myriad of bright star.

I squinted as I found a single black ‘dot’ hovering. It was hard to recognize what it is since it was camouflaged with the night sky. However, as the time passed by, the “dot” was getting closer and closer and I gradually started to see an outline of the shape. From years and years of training, I had a hunch that something bad was going to happen. The “dot” was not just a single dot- it was a flock of birds. But it was too late; it was inevitable from crashing into the flock.

“Bzzzzzz... Bang!” It’s a bird strike. Some geese had gone into the engines.

“Beep-beep-beep, caution, caution, both engines disabled, beep-beep” Despite both engines had been disabled, the jet could still glide; I determined to land on the endless desert. I set the landing gears and started descending.

Limbs were trembling, the barren desert had been hungry for its prey, my heart was pounding a thousand times faster than a metronome. I felt a tremendous shock as the landing gear touched the ground. The sand grasped the landing gears firmly and was trying to engulf us.

Eventually, ‘we’ vanquished the sand and came to a halt.

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“Phew...”

“Bagram Air Base, this is Phantom 3, Bagram Air Base, this is Phantom 3, how do you read?”

No response.

“Bagram Air Base, this is Phantom 3. Do you read me? ... UGH!” I thumped the canopy with my clenched fist. After a while, I realized that there is a rucksack, filled in with a scarce amount of emergency food, two bottles of water and some other survival kits. Then, I opened the canopy, jumped off with the rucksack and landed on a vast expanse of desert.

As I put my head up, I found a wooden shack less than a kilometer away. I immediately started sprinting towards the shack but my stamina didn’t even last for 20 seconds- I started tramping.

After a grueling journey (at least I felt like it was), I finally unlatched the door. No one seemed to be living in the dilapidated shack. I started ransacking the shack for any useful items (especially food since I was ravenous) that I could possibly dump into the gigantic rucksack.

There was a single photo in a frame, being hung on the wall. A family photo. In the photo, there was a little girl, who seemed very convivial and affable, standing between her father and mother. It reminded me of my family. A large drop of tear ran down my face. I sometimes detested my job so much. The segregation from my family, the loneliness in the jet, the grueling training, high expectations, life-threatening mission etc... It was gradually getting darker and darker outside. I really wanted to see my family- I had not seen them for a year already.

A feeling of hunger had reached its culmination since I had not eaten anything from dusk till dawn. I opened the rucksack, scrabbled for a pack of dried fruits, opened it and guzzled the whole thing ravenously without even thinking to save some for later. Moreover, the fruits made me extremely thirsty that I took out a bottle of water and swilled the whole thing to quench my thirst. I decided to sojourn in this shack. I sprawled on the floor, placed the gigantic rucksack under my head and fell asleep instantly as if I were hypnotized.

When I woke up at dawn, the stamina wasn’t fully recovered but I decided to go out and hunt some animals that I could possible eat since only a single packet of dried fruits had gone through my throat the night before. The rucksack would be too heavy to carry around so I just left a survival knife, a bottle of water and other stuff that would be useful in an emergency contingency in the bag, and left the rest of my stuff in the shack.

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Something small ran past my feet nimbly and stopped few meters away. I promptly took out a plastic bag and sneaked up to it surreptitiously. Then I forcefullly captured it in the plastic bag without even knowing what it is. I squinted my eyes and observed it.

It’s a tiny, tiny lizard.

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I was exhilarated and also astounded with the fact that I managed to capture a moving-creature without getting any help. I wasn’t even able to catch a hamster that escaped from the cage in my house.

I had a hunch that the sky was getting darker and darker. I thought I woke up at dawn... My face blanched as soon as I realized that I had actually slept for over twenty-four hours from the extreme fatigue. I turned back but it was too dark that I couldn’t see the shack. I opened the rucksack and groped for a compass that I “thought” I had put in. “?”

I winced.

no

“No, no, no, , that cannot be!” I had definitely put the compass in the rucksack! But it was too late- I was at the middle of the vast desert ALONE. The wind roared as if it were deriding me. It got colder and colder. My stomach growled.

I needed to eat something. I didn’t care what it is. I just needed to eat.

I put my hand in the plastic bag and fumbled for the lizard.

But it was empty.

I tried to rip the plastic bag in extreme outrage but I couldn’t- I was too exhausted; I didn’t even have the power to rip a single plastic bag.

No hope, no food, no house.

I began tramping even though I had nowhere to go. ************************************************************************** I have been lying here for days now without eating and drinking. Too weak to walk any more.

My entire body has been burnt by the scorching sun, my stomach is desperate for food and my throat is desperate to be quenched.

I scrabble in the pocket for a single photograph, using all the power left. My beloved wife. She is definitely able to take care of the baby.

The vision started to get blur...

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For a second a silhouette of a tiny baby appears. My baby that I have been desperate to see. I am no longer hungry. As the baby smiles for a first time in his life, my eyes close.

Permanently...

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9 MILES TO GO – SAMUEL MINJOON KIM

9 miles Boy 11:00 pm, I slowly got out of bed. I put dirty clothes around my room and packed a fake bag for the ‘surgery’ tomorrow. I wore my warm parka and shoved on my hat, and hardly stuffed a half awaken Scruff in the family camping duffel bag as he squirmed. ‘Poor thing, he must be suffocating,’ I thought as I closed my bedroom door. It barely squeaked. I turned around heavily and heard shuffling sounds from the master bedroom. I quickly went downstairs and crept toward the refrigerator: my number one target.

What kind of person agrees to have open heart surgery? Who in the world would let doctors carve the middle of the chest about 6~8 inches! Who will let an untrustworthy doctor break all their ribs! On top of that, I have more frightening memories. I once knew a friend that had heart surgery, yes, Seamus Lupin, and his dying face on the hospital bed!

I won’t die. I’m too young to. I hate this. Why does no one ever listen to me as usual! It’s my body, it’s not like someone else owns it. Well, okay there should be a way. I need to think hard...

one hour later...

Yes! This is it! I got it! The only chance of escaping that surgery was to escape this house!

Luckily, this was my chance to pack. Mom went for winter supplies, Dad went to his usual cramped office and my sister at her part-time job.

In my bag, I stuffed some winter clothes, an extra pair of boots, a pre-bought train ticket and my wallet. For nutrition, I got some biscuits, nuts, and a banana. Lastly, I got a camping duffel bag for my dog, Scruff. Now, the only thing was to wait for the darkness to come.

Later that day, a message came from my best friend, Jack at 10:00 pm, as my family were getting ready for bed, but I sadly turned off my phone. I couldn’t take any chances. He was always too precautious.

Scruff I woke up and felt the boy was picking me up. I was confused. I didn’t know what he was doing. Maybe going out to play? No way. Darkness has already come. This wasn’t right. However, sadly, as the door of the sack closed, I realized that I was helpless now.

Still 9 miles Boy I opened the refrigerator door, and the light illuminated my eyes. I took out the raw, old bacon and some fruit in my bag, and slipped the bacon in the duffel bag which contained Scruff.

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enjoying the small piece as much as I could. Sadly, the pleasant time ended, and the door of darkness closed.

8.9 miles Boy As I went through the front door, I took out my phone and searched up the closest train station and started towards it. Then, I turned off ‘sharing-location’ on my phone. Just in case...

8.5 miles Boy When I approached the train station, the conductor looked at me curiously. “Hey, kid, what are you doing in the middle of the night?” He said.

“Oh, I’m going to meet my grandmother near the mountain. Also, my dad’s over there,” Pointing at a random man my parent’s age. I thrust my ticket in the conductor’s arms and hurried into my seat.

5 miles Boy I woke up with the morning news. I sneezed loudly, and everyone looked toward me. I suddenly get scared. Did someone notice me? Thankfully, my stop was the next stop. As soon as the train stopped, I walked out, looked around, and as I pulled out Scruff, I saw my destination, a great snowy mountainside.

Trudging along on a lonely walkway with Scruff, I saw a minivan coming from the other side of the road. As I predicted, he stopped right in front of me. He rolled down the window and said, “Kid, where are you going on a cold day like this?”

“I’m going to meet my dad on the other side of the mountain,” I replied.

Scruff As a weird looking vehicle approached me and the young, I tensed. As I predicted, the vehicle stopped, and a bulky man came out. The man questioned the boy, and the boy looked afraid. And then, the man came closer, and I couldn’t stand it any longer. I jumped and aimed for his vulnerable legs.

My teeth sank in the warm flesh and the man screamed like a wounded puppy. He backed away into the vehicle and the young patted me and gave another piece of that cold salty meat.

Boy “You look kind of sick, and your face is red and puffy even with all the clothes on,” he continued. The man tried to approach me, but Scruff leapt out and bit the man’s leg. He yowled and ran back to his car.

I patted Scruff and gave him the leftover piece of bacon, all dry and hard. I ate my banana and nuts and stood up, indicating to Scruff it was time to go. I was ready for a long walk.

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3 miles Scruff The boy struggled to move on and finally stopped. And then suddenly, through all those events that happened, I realized I had to stop the young human pup. He was too sick to walk this much.

I ran around the young pup in circles and trotted around him. However, to no use; he just stood up indicating to go.

Boy The snow was pounding harder than before, and I struggled to take a step forward. My usual chest pain was growing. If I kept going like this, I was sure that I would faint and possibly die from the cold. I sat on a rock, and Scruff roamed around me as if it was fun. I sighed and threw a stick toward the wide opening, but Scruff didn’t respond to any of it. I guess I didn't get his signal.

Then, I heard leaves bristling behind me. I jumped around, but it was only a rat wandering around.

I patted Scruff’s back, indicating that we had to move on. We trudged through the heavy snow, threatening to completely block our way. We were going good for a while, but something made us stop.

2.5 miles Scruff As the boy and I went toward the tall flipped ice-cream cone, the boy suddenly stopped.

Then I realized, that there was a black thing in front of me: an endless hole. The boy had actually saved me for once. The boy was afraid of it since he stopped and sat down, but the hole didn’t look that far away for me.

Some time passed, and I got bored. I tugged on the boy’s jeans and easily jumped over the hole, indicating to follow, but the boy seemed to have trouble doing it.

Time passed by and the young started to look for something. Then, among the trees, he took out a branch and brought another branch, a bigger one out of the hole using the smaller one.

He balanced the bigger branch and started to come over. How clever.

Boy In front of our terrified eyes, there was a deep, black, endless abyss. I thought of it for a while. I couldn’t risk Scruff going first, and even though he made it, I wouldn’t; my heartbeat was already unsteady. Thump…thump-thump...thump...thump-thump. The pattern kept going on, so I decided to stop moving and tried to look at the far side of the mountains.

Something tugged on my jeans. I whipped around, just to see Scruff pulling me to go. Then suddenly, Scruff jumped. To my surprise, he landed safely two feet away from the crack. He jumped back at me, urging me to jump as well. However, I needed to think of a plan. I saw some trees around, but I was to fatigue to cut it, and on top of that, I didn’t have any tools to do it. After some search for materials, I was tired and lay face down. My head dangling above the abyss. Then, I saw it. There was a massive tree branch hanging down the deep hole. I made a grab for it, but risked falling down. I grabbed a short thick branch and hooked it onto the bigger one. I pulled with all my might and it finally came into reach. I grabbed it, failed, and did the

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process over and over again until I finally could haul it over. I placed the branch on the other side and started to cross.

0.1 miles, just a little bit...

Scruff After he crossed, almost falling twice, we kept going on our way. I got hungry and started thinking about the pieces of salty meat the young gave me. Then, I had a strange feeling. I whipped around and saw him face down on the snowy ground. I had to do something.

I licked him and rubbed him and did everything I could, but only his eyes were blinking dreamily. Finally, I dragged him to a small ditch and laid him there. It was Showtime.

I raced down the mountain in pursuit of the blue house…

Panting and huffing, I skidded to a halt in front of my goal. As soon as I stopped in front of the blue house, a man wearing the same colour as the house came out. He jumped aside and shouted something that I couldn't understand. However, I nudged my nose on his pants and pointed my nose and front paws toward the direction I had placed the boy. The man took out a black box and said something into it. Like magic, two other men and two dogs came out. As a sign, I started racing up the slope.

When the men, the dogs came to the place where I left the young, one of the men took out his black box again and said something into it, like last time.

Long minutes passed, and wind battering shots filled the air. A machine that had spinning wings had arrived. Out of the stomach of the machine, a thin bed came out, and the men placed the boy on it.

After the journey to the same white place from the start of the whole thing, I realized that I sought rest badly.

All the way back to the start Boy I woke up with a start. No… Striking my worst fear, I was indeed back in the hospital, with a hose in my mouth. The last thing I remembered was Scruff dragging me to a ditch and him running off.

An hour later, my parents came, but I barely could hear a thing because everything was swirling around me.

“Tom! Tom!” I heard my mom’s clear voice strike the hospital bedroom as I tried to sit up.

“Your open heart surgery went well!” She shouted with joy, and everything drifted to black.

Scruff I’m now pretty old and reflecting back, I have succeeded (kind of) to bring back the boy, and because of that, he is living well. The boy’s parents are treating me even better after the incident. Therefore, being a dog, I believe that no other normal creature could have been in or accomplished an adventure like this.

And now, I’ll take a rest for once…

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RUN! – MARY KIM

(Dedicated to all those who have needed to run from the violence of war) Th-thump th-thump Th-thump thu-thump Thu-thump thu-thump Thu-thump Thu-thump,

“Run!” yells a hollow demanding voice. We run until our hearts stop beating. Until the girl running next to me stops…

And then collapses… and her heart…

Th-thump th-thump Th-thump thu-thump Thu-thump thu-thump Thu-thump Thu-thump,

Actually stops beating! *********************************** Every night it becomes easier to remember my past life before all this happened because you miss everything so badly. You miss the place that you once called home, the amazing meals your mom made, and even going grocery shopping is something you would wish to do again.

Being able to dream about the things you miss is an honor because you are still alive. Being alive is a glory in this apprehensive bloodshed.

You can’t afford to be happy here… you mustn’t try to make any friends because you will lose them anyway. It sounds harsh and cynical but when you have no tears left to cry, then you will

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understand. Being surrounded by blood, bombs and death sometimes make me wonder why I haven’t cut my own life yet.

Roads, highways, and pavements; the corpses are lying everywhere. I saw things that I would have never seen and should not have seen. Dead bodies lying on streets, some even without hands, heads or legs. I was so repelled by what I saw that I cried for several days, unable to get that vivid image of corpses and blood out of my head…

Th-thump th-thump Th-thump thu-thump Thu-thump thu-thump Thu-thump Thu-thump,

“Run!” yells a hollow demanding voice. We run until our hearts stop beating. Until the girl running next to me stops…

And then collapses… and her heart…

Th-thump th-thump Th-thump thu-thump Thu-thump thu-thump Thu-thump Thu-thump,

Actually stops beating …

As time goes by and days pass, soon many months will pass and even a year but I still can't bring myself to understand this massacre. I have witnessed some of my family members being killed and millions of others getting injured. Every day I am disappointed because of this unknown frightening future that is waiting for me. Some people have been in this refugee camp for 5 years already. I have no hope anymore. I wonder where I would be standing tomorrow or if I will even be standing at all.

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My hands shake because of mental exhaustion whenever I recall the memory of how the girl running next to me died, her heart stopped beating so suddenly. My brain freezes and my body breaks down because I get frightened just by thinking about it. My first encounter with something close to death and I was all by myself, not knowing what to do, feeling so helpless and useless...I often get flashbacks and whenever I do, I feel like my head is going to crack wide open. Unable to get that moment out of my head, I live in misery every night.

Wrapped in misery and fear, there is some part of hope down there in my heart. This silly hope that I can see my close friend again and live a normal life. I wish my close friend is still alive with someone to take care of them. Killing and fighting is not all that there is in this world. Being stuck here for years gets suffocating when you have had enough of everything.

Even though it is almost impossible for everything to be reversed, my heart deep down hopes that one day we’ll return and everything will be back to normal…

Th-thump th-thump Th-thump thu-thump Thu-thump thu-thump Thu-thump Thu-thump,

I won’t allow my heart to stop.

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REVIVED – DAVID TUNG

SCENE 24 INT. WATER PIPES IN BOILER ROOM 1993 - NIGHT BUTLER walks towards the water pipe at a moderate speed. In a dark room, we can barely see the light of a small lightbulb on the ceiling.

ANGLE ON the silicon repaired part of the water pipe. BUTLER pulls out a purple drug needle from his pocket and pokes swiftly into the tube. The silicon part of the machine seems to have lots of needle marks.

He smiles wickedly.

SCENE 25 INT. LUNA’S BASEMENT BEDROOM 1993 - NIGHT LUNA (tired) Aw… LUNA wakes up in a bad dream. In endless darkness, she turns on a bedside lamp. She grabs her mug cup; finds out that it doesn't have any water left at all. A beat. She sighs deeply, stands up somewhat and tucks her long brown hair behind her left ear gently.

CLOSE ON Luna’s black mug cup in her hand, and set the focus of the camera as is. LUNA walks out the small bedroom within the blur.

SCENE 26 INT. BASEMENT KITCHEN 1993 - NIGHT LUNA turns the small kitchen light on. She walks toward the edible water tab. Water tab drips purplish water. However, she fills her mug cup with that “water.” Immediately, she drinks the water from her cup rapidly. A sigh of relief.

Next, she takes her empty cup to the sink and puts the cup down slowly. LUNA turns the faucet on and uses a sponge to wash her cup. A drop of sweat falls from her neck. She fans herself, turns off the tap and hangs the mug on a cup holder.

LUNA Hey yay, I feel dizzy.

She dodders to the bathroom slowly. Then, the bathroom door slams loudly.

JULIAN (confused) What the…

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JULIAN wakes up suddenly. Immediately, he grabs his micro UZI off his bedside table. Then, without turning the light on, he ambles nervously. Usually, no one will do this kind of thing when a door slams.

But if you’ve ever been in here for more than a week, you can’t trust anything anymore. Everything, including food supplies, can be poisonous or dangerous.

SCENE 27 INT. BASEMENT LIVING ROOM 1993 - DAWN JULIAN stands by in front of his bedroom door. A tip of light irritates his left eye. His eye looks eminently red and tired.

JULIAN (whispers) Please be nothing, please just be a reasonable person in the bathroom.

Door slams again. LUNA walks out with her both hands on the stomach. JULIAN sighs calmly. He puts his gun at his pocket and walks towards her. She leans on him heavily. She smiles with her eyes half closed.

LUNA He...hey, Julian. I feel very dizzy, would you mind helping me?

JULIAN Are you okay? Is everything fine?

LUNA Yeah...you know what, I feel like I need to eat. I’m starving right now.

JULIAN Sorry, but no. Luna, can’t you remember that we only eat twice a week, and we just ate today?

LUNA No, you’re lying, I know that we haven’t eaten a meal since last week.

CLOSE ON her face. She has a half closed red eye; her spit is slowly dropping on the floor, and her cheeks are very red.

JULIAN senses her fast heartbeat and irregular breathing pattern. Then, he pulls her out and looks closely at her face.

JULIAN Luna, I think you’re high right now. What did you eat, or drink? Hey, sit right here, and wait for me, okay?

He pushes her forcefully, sits her on the chair, and ties her with a rope. LUNA tries to get the rope off.

She pushes the chair firmly and struggles to get free. She stares at him continuously.

LUNA (frightened) No, no, I’m going to get some food for myself, get me out of this!

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LUNA saw a knife that is on the table. Immediately, she uses her teeth to grab it and drop it on her weak hand. Then, she cuts the rope violently without any help. At the same time, she cuts a bit of her hair and her wrist. Blood follows gravity and drops on the ground.

Slowly, she walks towards the refrigerator with her left hand squeezing her head. JULIAN sneaks up on her post haste and headlocks her. At that moment, she has already grabbed the fridge door.

LUNA (panting) What could happen if I eat this? (Would this really make a difference?) Part of the journey is the end, right?

JULIAN Remember when we first got into this house, you are the one who calmed all of us down and made rules to survive.

LUNA Since when, when was I calm?

LUNA bangs her body back and forth, trying to get out. She uses one of her hands to grab a cheeseburger in the fridge. Suddenly, Julian grabs his gun and locks the position on her right side of her head.

Since their quarrel got very loud, everyone (10 people) got out of their bed, and stayed back at the door, watching it silently. Among the ten, JOANNE walks out and grips his gun.

JOANNE Hey, she’s high, why don’t you let her go, and just let her eat? There is no way that we can resist her. Just think for one second.

JULIAN No, that’s the way that can get all of us killed.

Now, JOANNE tries to take his gun. Her move and LUNA’s banging activates the weapon. All of a sudden, he fired all of the bullets in all angles. Bullets hits half of the teammates including JOANNE, but it missed LUNA. SCENE 28 INT. BASEMENT LIVING ROOM AND KITCHEN 1993 - DAWN JULIAN drops his gun. At the same time, JOANNE’s body loses its balance and lands on his chest.

Slowly, blood drops to the ground. Four people’s blood leaks out of their body, and joins each other on the floor.

SCENE 29 INT. CONTROL ROOM - DAWN BUTLER turns his head facing the screen. He smiles with satisfaction.

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BLINK- DAECHANG SUH

Our eyes were so close; every blink of hers was a gush of air into mine. Her eyes were a shade of brown, deeper than the deepest hole on Earth, yet burning with more fire than the Sun’s sweltering core. I could count the number of eyelashes on her face, the number of stars in her eyes. Now, I’m looking into this window of hers, only to be turned away.

“I can’t do it!”

The doctor looks at me, with no glimmer of hope.

“It’s time.”

My body sweats profusely and echoes thunder. My hands are vibrating like the hum of a motor engine. My feet are planted deeper than the roots of the biggest tree, yet more unstable than my feelings for her. It’s been so long since I’ve dreaded the inevitable moment that I would have to hear this advice.

“I can’t...I can’t do it!”

The sky was a fluorescent orange now, streaks of red highlighting the mistake of my past.

Reminding me of my lucid dreams where I can’t move a thing. The events that I’ve had to endure to get to where I am. The hardships of losing again and again, with the faces of the men that had left my side. Every morning writing letters back home where I had to explain how it wouldn’t be in vain. That everything would be okay. That the suffering would cease, and that life would return to normal. Until I found her.

“She’s suffering. She is never going to have a normal life” A normal life. Going to the farmer’s market on a Sunday afternoon, a fistful of blueberries in one hand and a leash in the other. Eating at the bistro around the corner with friends, dreaming about what we aspired to become. Heading to the park to play fetch, and chase squirrels up trees. But instead we’re here: a place that would remind me of sacrifices made, possibly in vain. and situations where I chose what was best for her, not me.

“I can’t lose her” We were caught in the moment, entangled in the hopelessness of our situation. It was inevitable; all things come to an end. But the wind died down. The sound of metal instruments stopped clanking. Birds stopped chirping as the world seemed to close in on what was happening between us.

“Can you bare to watch her suffer like this?”

She told me it would be okay, that it would all be fine. She told me it was one last chance to send her off with spirits high. I looked into her eyes. The fighting spirit that once thrived inside her had left. She was weak; a delicate mess at most. Every breath seemed to pull her will to live out, minute by minute.

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“Do it” Shock stabbed me in the stomach as I was lurched back into a state of utter disbelief.

Discontent slashed at my ankles as I was brought down to the floor by complete misery. There was no emotion, no tears, no facial expressions to at keep the worst at bay from me; it was all raw. Disappointment lurched from behind to drill me into the ground, as happiness was ripped to shreds by dissatisfaction. Chaos swept over the love of a moment before. All around me, hopelessness set the landscape ablaze.

She just left, as quickly as that. There was no exchange of words; just silence. Everything I had built had just been carried into the wind.

There was nothing left around me; only the fleeting shadows of her.

Our eyes were so close; every blink of hers was a gush of air into mine. Her eyes were a shade of brown deeper than the deepest hole on Earth, yet burning with more fire than the Sun’s sweltering core. I could count the number of eyelashes on her face, the number of stars in her eyes as I stroked her soft fur.

Then there it was. My final goodbye.

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I AM JUST NOT HUNGRY ANYMORE… ALMA LILJEQUIST

3 July 2010 Dear diary, Today I was compared to my stupid old sister! Beth! OMG I hate being her sister! She is just one year older than me. Everyone thinks that SHE is the clever one and SHE is the pretty one! When we walk into a room everyone grovels all over her. It’s like I am not even there!

It makes me wanna puke!!! She’s so gross!

4 September 2011 Dear diary, I have started doing cross country, I was surprisingly not bad at running. But of course Beth is better than me. She just had to join cross country, AFTER I said I would. Typical Beth!

27 February 2012 Dear diary, Last week we had a cross country race and the weirdest thing happened…

I won over Beth!

My perfect older sister! I won! She was in the lead the whole way, but I caught up to her in the end! It felt great! Everyone at school praised me! I finally feel like I have my own identity!

Another crazy thing happened! I get to finally have my own instagram account. This is soooooo cool! I have been waiting for so long! All of my friends have it and now I have it too!

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Dear diary, I made my instagram account!

Just hoping I will just get some followers.

I just posted a picture from the race where I beat Beth!

She will be annoyed, but I’m kinda used to it!

Dear diary, I found this girl on instagram called Becs Gentry. She has 10,000 followers! I only have like 100!!!

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She is so inspiring and extremely pretty! I do not know how she runs so fast! Maybe it's because she is so fit. She is much skinnier and stronger than I am! I just feeling big and clumpy every time I run.

Dear diary, I had food poisoning a week ago and I couldn't go running! I also lost a lot of weight after throwing up so much. I have a competition this weekend and I will see how it goes. I am not expecting a lot because I am not in my usual form...

Dear diary, The competition went amazing, I have never felt better. I felt so light and it was very easy to run. I think it was because I was not carrying all this extra weight around. It really made me faster! Who knew that food poisoning could make me better at running! I went so fast that Beth was even shocked. I am happy that she is over the thing with me being faster. Running is my thing and she has other things she is better at.

Dear diary,

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I do not understand a while ago I felt light and I could run faster than usual. But now, I am a downgraded version of what I was before. I feel fat and gain extra weight again. If I look at me I’m not that fit as Becs. Maybe I need to go on some sort of diet? Mom would never be okay with it. But she is not the one who is getting affected because of her weight. Running is the only thing I have! I would do anything to become faster.

Dear diary, Its working! I have only been eating salads and I have not eaten a lot when I am out with friends. I am running so much faster and feel great. Maybe a few more kilograms and I will be even faster.

Becs has really helped me achieve my goal; now I just hope I can keep on running this fast.

Dear diary, I have been sick again. I feel extremely weak and unfit. The more weight I lose, the faster I can run. But, the more I try to lose weight, the bigger and slower I seem to get.

To change the subject, me and my friends are going to a camp a few hours away. It is going to be a lot of fun!

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Dear diary, I am so angry! I was sent home from the stupid camp. They said I’m not eating enough, but look at me. I’m still not as fit as Becs so I need to continue my diet. I have also been training more to burn off some calories.

What do they know about running?

They question my athletic abilities…

What can they do?

My friends were freaking out at me, they were saying that I was underweight. The thing was, I did not understand what they were saying at all! What are they talking about? I feel like they are lying to me.

Dear diary, I’m at the hospital. I collapsed yesterday at school. I do not know why I haven't gone home yet.

I fell once, big deal. I want to go home. I am wasting time where I could be training for my running competition. They are saying I need to eat more, but I don’t understand why. I feel sick every time I just think of eating something. My Mum looks worried about me and I think she wants to help. But for some reason she keeps on trying to feed me snacks. How is that supposed to help me?

Hospital record Date: 16 October 2013 Patient Name: Amelia Wilson Age: 15 years BMI: 17.42 kg/m2 Prior history: The patient has not prior history of chronic illness. Admitted at 10:20am after fainting at school.

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Diagnosis: Low blood pressure, hypoglycemia, underweight.

Treatment: Referral to psychiatric unit IV glucose, Liquid feeding.

Dear diary, I have been here for a week now. The doctors are telling me that I have Anorexia. But I do not understand. An anorexic person is very skinny and looks unhealthy. I am the opposite to that. They are telling me that I’m not allowed to run and do my training anymore. How can I survive that? It is who I am. I am a runner that wants to be fit and fast. I showed them by doing 30 burpees! They did not seem too happy about it.

Therapy session 20: Date: December 28 2013 Patient: Amelia Wilson Age: 15 years Diagnosis: Anorexic Session: Amelia is understanding her condition and what starvation does to people. However, she is not understanding that she has anorexia because she mentions that she can't see it. She doesn't want to cooperate. She mentions her passion for running. Amelia is depressed because she is not allowed to run. Running may be the reason she is anorexic.

Dear diary, I have been to countless therapy sessions in just a month. It is very painful to lie down in bed and I always find myself being very cold. One night I came close to hypothermia and my parents had to huddle around me to keep me warm. My gums are bleeding all the time and my hair is starting to fall out. But worst of all, I haven't gone running in two weeks. My dreams of becoming a runner is slowly dying and so am I. Everyone keeps saying that I am not the same. What do they mean?

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Hospital record Date: 10 June 2014 Patient Name: Amelia Wilson Age: 16 years BMI: 15.51 kg/m2 Diagnosed: Anorexia, depression, osteoporosis, hypoglycemia, fainting, fatigue, Insomnia, Abnormal blood counts, lanugo, low blood pressure, dehydration.

Treatment: We have done everything we can, but she refuses to eat. Amelia pulls the liquid feeding tube out and she refuses to go along with the treatments. The patient tries to exercise, but we do the best we can to stop her. We will continue to push for her life.

16 June 2014 Dear diary, It was my birthday a week ago. I could not have a birthday party because I could barely move. I have not gone running for more than 4 months. I do not know how much longer I can go like this. I know that I have anorexia, but it is hard to make my brain understand it too. It is like it has been taken over by demons. I do not know how to get through this. Either I just give up and let my anorexia control me, or I have to try to defeat it. Either way, it is going to be hard on me. My parents have been through so much, but Mum keep telling me she will never give up. The doctors are making me choose what I want to do. They want to help me, but soon it is too late. This could be my last diary entry. Mum and Dad, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I love you and I’m so sorry for what I have put you through. You will just never understand how it is to be an athlete. It is not your fault, but you cannot change who I am. I want to live, but I do not want to eat.

I am just not hungry anymore...

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THE HUNGER GAMES – YUNJEONG CHOI

Footnote: This is a fan-fiction excerpt from the “Hunger Games”. If you have read it already, please go start the story. If you didn’t, this is a video of the Hunger Games: https://www.shmoop.com/video/the-hunger-games-summary Basically, Katniss and Peeta survive the The Hunger Games and return home safely.

Gale

They’re here.

The Peacekeepers are here.

And They’re here too soon.

“Give us more time! This may be the last time I see - “Hey! RELEASE ME!!” I growl ferociously, as I feel the creeping hands slowly ascending on my shoulders pulling me back from her. The world is spinning out of its axis, tilting and lifting me off the ground. My heart is pounding like an engine, filling me with adrenaline, rushing, rushing, rushing… I’m trembling, my hands shivering and shaking as if an avalanche or an earthquake was erupting inside me. The lava is rising up to its climax, sweat pouring out of my body, dragging, dripping slowly as the sun beams hit solidly on my back. As the force against me grows bigger with every second, my heart is ripped into tiny, flaky pieces, drifting slowly to the hard floor.

My Katniss.

“All tributes from District 12 who are participating in The Hunger Games, please board the locomotive immediately.” A dreary, robotic voice droned out from the speakers.

My eyes flitted quickly from the now-silent speaker to Katniss, the Chosen One. The Chosen One from District 12, even though she wasn’t Chosen. She had volunteered - no - sacrificed, 56 | P a g e

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for her sister, Prim, who was the original one to get picked from the lottery. As soon as Prim’s name got picked, I knew what she was going to do; volunteer herself to go to Prim’s position. And now, all her courage is gone, replaced with anxiety and fear, that runs off her like oil and sweat. She’s panicking, chest rising rapidly and nervously swallowing, her doeshaped eyes sad and scared, like a young deer open to its enemy.

I can see it.

“Don’t let my family starve, Gale!” She cries out, her beautiful, white, skinny hand full of calluses clinging to her last remaining hope: my dirty, rough, dry hand. My hands that were formed from me making all those traps for hunts with Katniss. She was always the physical one, who used her signature bow and arrow, while I used my brains and made baits for animals. Now, we’ll never be able to do that, unless she comes back not killed.

I stare at her face, remembering her everything: Her doe-shaped eyes, sharp nose, bent eyebrows, the little scar on her forehead she got from falling off a tree when we were 7…

Recalling all of our long-lasting memories, and sculpting the face I saw a millions times over and over in my head because:

This may be the last time I see her.

“ I won’t! You know I won’t! Katniss, remember I -” The Peacekeepers haul me back and I am fighting to get to her. She is a significant part of me, and without her, I know I won’t survive. With all the savored, stolen moments we had from society, I should have been better to her. I should have done everything for her, as she does for me and my family. Just before the door shuts, I can see a sliver of her beautiful storm-gray eyes CALLING for me -

And the door slams on my face.

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“Love you.” I whispered, facing the closed door limply and staring at the place where SHE was standing. The hollowness in my heart deepened, as the crevice between us stretched to its limit by the adamant wall that bisected firmly between us. The girl who was with me from the beginning, who’s a part of me, who I can’t survive without, my other half, my soulmate, my love, my everything...

My Katniss.

---

Peeta

There she is.

My Katniss.

The moment she stepped up to volunteer for her sister, Ruth, I knew.

That I would go with her.

I WILL go with her.

Does she know?

Does she know how much I love her?

How much I would sacrifice my life for her being?

As I swiftly board the locomotive for District 1, I see her.

I see her with HIM. Gale.

Instantly, my heart deteriorates into tiny, flaky pieces like the crust of a pie as I see her fighting the Peacekeepers to get to him.

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Of course.

She should be with him.

Should I go to her?

I reach my hand out to her thin-but-hard figure walking toward me and…

Pull my hand back.

Yes. This is for the best.

I don’t deserve her.

I face away from her and slowly, dreadfully enter the locomotive.

The locomotive to my death.

---

Gale

Today’s the 5th day.

The 5th day of the brutal Hunger Games. The Hunger Games that were created by the hideous creatures that survive in District 1, just to annihilate and humiliate those that are lower than they are. They sneer and laugh as they see those who are lowly stumble, fall and die. District 12 is the lowest of all the Districts, and they see us not merely as humans - they see us as RATS. And I hate it.

I HATE it.

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Every time I see Katniss barely avoiding the arms of Death, I feel like my heart is slowly getting peeled apart like an onion, getting exposed of the bare, weak heart under all the hard, sturdy layers. Watching Katniss with that suspicious rascal called - what’s his name again? Patrick? kissing was absolute TORTURE. I was the one who was with her from the beginning. And I am supposed to be the one who is by her side.

That, that Peeta idiot….

Thinking of that name made me boil over with jealousy, expanding my sea of emotions wider than the galaxy…. The galaxy of Katniss’s magnificent eyes. Those alluring gray eyes that laugh, tease and frown at me are now staring at me through the screen, her burning, piercing eyes alert like a cat, as if she knows I’m watching. ‘Gale,’ she seems to ask through her passionate eyes,

‘Are you keeping your promise?’

And now I realise, as I stare at Katniss through the dirty screen, I know what I have wanted my whole life. I had never been hungry for food, clothes or even money. The dormant thing that was and is swirling inside me, every single moment, of every single hour, of every single day, was incapacitating me, becoming active every ticking moment, as I watch the Katniss I never knew on the screen.

And I know.

I am hungry for her. The feeling that’s in my stomach is want. Want and hunger for her. Never for the other girls that were fawning all over me now they know my closest companion is gone. I need her. Every single moment passing without her is torture for me. Without her, I know I will die. I need her.

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My Katniss.

--After The Hunger Games--

Peeta

It’s finished.

Everything.

The Hunger Games, the relationship that happened between me and my dear Katniss, the dangers everywhere, Everything.

As I stare out of the clean train, I clear my mind of all my worries and fears.

I’m Home.

Clear tears that I kept down finally spring up, illuminating the dark circles around my icy blue eyes.

I haven’t been able to sleep these days.

As I stare at Katniss, I realise once again how beautiful she is.

Her long eyelashes settled against the palest of skin and her lustrous, wholly hair spooled down her shoulders, draping down like a bride’s veil around her smooth, small face.

“It’s OK, Katniss,” I whisper to her, “We’re home. We’re safe.”

And my tears of relief and sadness, finally Spill.

---

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Gale

She’s home.

I sprint towards the District 12 station, as the arriving locomotive leers closer to view.

Everyone is already there; bustling, noisy crowds gathered tightly around the station, gaping, pointing and whispering among themselves.

I push through the thick, dense crowd and start towards Katniss’s family, walking slower and slower as I doubtfully approach them.

Prim, Katniss’s sister, was sobbing uncontrollably, her thin arms wrapped around Katniss’s mother, who was silently crying tears of relief.

They know she’s back too.

I stop just before I reach them.

I shouldn’t intrude on their privacy right now, as they have well done to me.

And just then, the locomotive’s wide door opens and I See Her.

Watching her limp, broken body in Peeta’s hands makes me drop on the ground with grief and hollowness.

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Seeing this in person makes it more real.

Peeta, whose eyes are shining with tears, passes me Katniss.

My Katniss.

I howl with all the anguish and sadness I have in my body, screaming her name over and over again, thinking of her beautiful smile and how she was the only person who made me ME.

My Katniss.

My Katniss is dead.

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THE ILLUSION – VICTOIRE JUERY

“Dude. Wake up” Someone nudges me from behind. The most uncomfortable thing in the world. Why now? Im so tired.

“You're going to get in trouble from Ms Chainsaw.” the voice continues to whisper.

“Huh?” I exclaim noisily.

“Is my class boring to you, James?” Ms Chainsaw’s terrorising roar awakens me.

I startle and my eyes finally open as a large hand grabs me by the hair and lifts me up.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” I screech. How embarrassing - everyone is glaring at me with grins on their smug faces.

“Next time, if you don't want everyone staring at you then you might as well not sleep in my class.” she barks and walks back to her desk to rant more about her boring history. I can't believe she did this to me! AGAIN! Mark always sleeps in class but she never picks on him. I swear she hates me. Just the look in her eyes gives me a shiver down my spine. UGH!

“Dude. I told you to Wake up.” Jack quietly explains “Yes, but you could have nudged me a little bit more that way I didn't need to have been harassed by Ms Chainsaw. Again.” I bitterly point out.

“Well anyways, have you heard about the new Web for movies?” he whispers “What web? is it another boring movie finder you’re giving me?” I restlessly complain.

“No.NO. This one is banging bro! You need to hack your way into it, man!” he breathlessly demonstrates.

“Look. I don't know... the last time I did it the school found out and I don't want to get into trouble again.”

“Bro if you make it to the end everyone will want to be your friend and you’ll be the most popular kid man. No one is able to pass level 3 and you’ll be the only one” he justifies “Trust me.”

“Maybe but for now, no” I repeat for the second time turning my head to the pointless class of Ms Chainsaw.

I urge myself not to sit on my gaming chair. If I do, I will force myself to enter the challenge.

I silently trudge up the stairs to my minuscule room making room for my useless school bag.

But something is pushing me to my computer.

To the web.

Hacking has always been my talent and I really want to show it. To be able to be popular…to be the one.

Click.Click.Click

I have already started moving my mouse to the link. The link that could get me into trouble for the fourth time. All of a sudden my screen drastically turns black. A dark, lonely face stares back at me in despair and that face is me...

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Passing this challenge could be my destiny.

My only luck.

Without notice, a severe static sound surrounds my small room. A piece of spooky music surrounds my broken ears and on my blaring screen, an unnoticeable sign is at the left corner of my screen. I lure myself forward to find it saying: Start Game. My mouse slowly moves towards the option and without even thinking this through I click. Another secret message. My eyes follow the small object moving around my screen as fast as a blink. Finally, I read the message.

‘To proceed this challenge you will need to turn off your lights.’ A sound downstairs makes me jump and with a large bang my lights turn off. I quietly listen for another sound.

Nothing.

I turn my head back to the only light in my room.

The computer.

A large symbol fills the screen that I am unable to recognize. There are three simple words underneath the Symbol reading ‘who am I?’ I figure I need to research about it to learn more. I quickly type the signs symbols, the omega sign and a date...18 of June 1915 my fingers slide through the letters of my computer and I press enter...3 letters appear. I flick back to the web.

Three dots are in the middle of the screen. I enter the digits 785.

How can it tell I have found the answer?

The hairs behind my back start to lift as my door slowly creaks open...nothing no one.

I guess it was just my imagination.

I return to my screen.

Hooked.

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Thousands of numbers start to appear and disappear. I think this is where my part comes in.

The code.

It reminds me of a maze or even something more. Maths calculations filled my brain as I hacked away. I don't even remember how long it took until my screen took a sudden turn and everything goes off. Racing like a puma my heart pumps away. Some sort of soft object wafted past me.

Reaching out to me.

Or was it?

To help my thinking I race down my stairs to receive a drink from my lifesaver; the mini fridge and grab a bite of my sandwich that was sitting there for a week. The lights start to flicker. How can a teenager be afraid of this? I shrug my fear of when a sound comes up from my room. A whisper. As if someone or something was talking. I slowly emerge up my old staircase. I take a deep breath and I barge into my room.

No one. Nothing.

My window is open. Wind howling in all directions. When did I open my window? Who’s here?

My heart is beating like a drummers beat.

My lights dramatically turn on and a movie starts to play. I made it. I got what I really needed.

But it came at a terrible price...

***********************************************************************************************************

Why can't I just be full for once? I eat so much lunch and dinner I am almost tired of eating.

Every time I eat, it feels like I am missing something. Something more.

Ache. Ache. Ache.

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And that is what lead me to sneak out of the house and go to the street fair on the other side of town. Shouts came from across the crowd and peals of laughter as they win their first prize.

There was everything you could dream of from duck pond to making caramelised apples.

Strolling towards the ring toss, a violent touch contacts my hand and that was the first time I saw it. At first, I thought it was just my imagination but as it grew I knew it was something more than that. Blinding light reached my eyes, as I fall to the ground in agony. Catching, my blind eye the distant memory folds itself larger and larger, realising what I had never before.

Click.clack.click.clack

Her loud footsteps walking through the busy crowd with her unimaginable long gown. For some odd reason, she stops and glares right through me with her bitter icy stare sending a chill down my spine. Loud voices were screeching through the distances with blurry faces trying to escape but there was nowhere to go - nowhere to hide with her in the lead. The only one left and unable to move as if they were in some sort of trance, was me…

Where was I?

Slow steady steps were tracing back to me. The crispness of her voice surrounded me in an odd comfort like a soft bird landing on your finger. Her eyes were a disturbing red that you would only see in movies. Just like the movie I had watched last week…

“I’ve been waiting for you” she echoed.” and...I think it’s time!” she screeches in poignant voice.

What did she want with me? I had never done anything

“Because you’re the only one who stayed. The only one who followed. The only one who stayed.” she purred.

“What do you mean? It was you who kept me paralyzed to the spot.” There must be more to this!” I exclaimed. How could she read my mind?

She smiles revealing her true self. Not human. Not me. Shining white teeth glistening in the dark with teeth identical to a dagger ready to act. She speeds past me and everything is gone just like a blurry memory.

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Suddenly I was back to where I was. The carnival my favourite place to be but won't be any time soon. I Feel light headed and try and move out of the busy streets but all I can think of is why it was so similar to the movie I had watched last week.

Now I know I have nowhere and no one to speak to.

I am forced to go back to where I belong...My computer.

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THE SACRIFICE OF THE TIGER (A FABLE) – ETHAN ALBANO

One night, there was a white Bengal tiger who had a very empty stomach and an empty heart. Even though he ate a lot, his heart and stomach are still empty. The next day when he was prowling around for food, he caught a glimpse of something! He then chased the running animal and pounced on it. When he got a clear view of what he chased; he was face to face with a princess of a white Bengal tigress with fur as soft as silk and white as snow.

He quickly got off the tigress and backed off with his tail behind his feet. The tiger quickly stammered, “S-S-S-sorry I thought you were prey….”

“It’s ok, I just triggered your senses, it’s my fault, I was too loud,” she said. He then heard something in the bushes and jumped on it catching three deer. He then quickly ran away back to his den with the deers in his mouth, never looking back too stunned and flustered by the encounter with the tigress.

The tiger was eating in his den when he realized the tigress was in front of him.

He quickly got up and noticed, even though she was beautiful, she was so thin and her ribs were showing a bit. He also saw that she had eight little black and white bundles of fur. He then inferred she was a mother with no tiger to help her to get food.

The tiger shared the three deers and it was no problem since the cubs were the size of house cats. The tigress was grateful and nuzzled him. The tigress and tiger lived happily together.

One day, a rogue Bengal tiger came to the den to challenge the white tiger to a fight. The tiger said, “Do NOT mess with me or else!” The rogue just laughed “You do not scare me! I will tear you to shreds.” The rogue then scratched the white Bengal tiger on the eye leaving him blind. While being partially blind, the white Bengal tiger scratched the rogue to death.

The tigers were all scared from the attack that they rarely stayed in one place.

They stayed in different places including trees, caves, in the mountains, etc. When they stayed in the mountains and had lots of food for the family. After a few years, the cubs were adults and went away from home to live on their own. The mother and father were now alone and a bit sad.

One day, they heard a bulldozer coming close and they saw a few hundred trees falling around them. In a few minutes, the bulldozers came into view. The family ran but the male was slow since he could not see much. The tigress nudged him where to go so he wouldn’t be crushed. Suddenly, a tree fell but the tigress got out of the way and the blind tiger didn’t move. The tigress pulled him out of the way then they found a different den in a cave.

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The next year, the adult tigers were getting old and about to die. A panther came to the den and was going to attack! The male tiger was too quick though and attacked first. The panther threw him off and slashed him on his leg making him limp. The tigress roared making the panther run away and then she went to help the male tiger.

The next morning, the male Bengal tiger was just lying there when four white Bengal tigers and four white Bengal tigresses came into their den and gave them food: 10 big pieces of rhino meat. Then each of the four white tigers nuzzled both the Bengal tiger and the white tigress. The four white tigers laid on the floor of the cave.

The Bengal tiger and tigress then realized that they were their cubs. The parents were so proud of their children and caressed their kids. Then they all ate the food the sons and daughters brought them.

Kind acts mean that you will never have to be hungry.

---------------------------------- The End ---------------------------------------------------

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THE PRINCESS AND THE SPIDER – JINHYEOK KIM

I woke up in a dark place. Somewhere cold… and creepy. I can see a glimpse of light….

This must be a cave. I tried to get up, but I feel something strange about my body….

AHHH! What are those?!? Are those….

Spider legs?!

I screeched in fear and disgust by looking at those creepy things rooted to my back.

Where am I? Is this a dream? What is happening to my body?!? What was the last thing I remembered…? I mumbled to myself trying to cast back my faint memories.

It was just a normal day in my palace. Nothing special, nothing fancy. Just an ordinary day for me. I was at my dressing table putting on make-up and trying on the finest dresses made by the finest seamstress in Ionia. I went out to the palace gardens to take care of my plants. I needed a rare herb to finish my recipe for my perfume. The plants in my garden just weren’t enough so I went outside the palace to find some more herbs. As a princess, I wasn’t allowed to go outside the palace myself so carelessly. Pssh, who cares. I need my own personal time too! Let me get some freedom from that boring palace. That was when my day started to go wrong...

I was picking flowers to get the ingredients to make the herbs. Suddenly, a giant spider started approaching me. I was so terrified that I was frozen in place. The spider ruthlessly attacked me and I think it bit my arm. After the spider stabbed me with its sharp canine tooth, it just leisurely crawled back to the woods. I was neutralized and couldn’t do anything. Even if I endlessly shouted for support, there was nobody around to help me.

The only thing I could do was to observe and feel the poison of the spider hungrily infecting my whole body. It felt weird and strange, But surprisingly, I didn’t feel any pain. Before the poison even spread out towards my whole body, I fainted feebly down on the ground…

I woke up in a dark place. Somewhere cold… and creepy. I can see a glimpse of light….

This must be a cave. I tried to get up, but I feel something strange about my body….

AHHH! What are those?!? Are those….

Spider legs?!

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EURYTHEMISTA – KATHRYN FLEMING

Many people know the story of Tantalus, the man who stole from the gods, the man who inhumanely killed his poor child, the man who was punished for eternity with the curse of hunger and thirst...

He still stands there, surrounded by the purest water and the most delectable fruit that hangs above him, yet the food and water are still just out of his reach. People know the story of Tantalus, but do they know why he did it?

Do they know me?

As I grew up, I was surrounded by riches. I only expected the best and the best was all I was given, all that I accepted. When I was married off by the fool of a father that I was forced to live with, I was cruelly ripped from my life and thrown into utter misery. All of a sudden, I was expected to slave away at work by my new husband, Tantalus. I was expected to cook and to take care of the children. It was unfair to me to be forced to do the work of a common servant. I bore three children that grew up the proper way, as my siblings and I were brought up.

The first of my children with Tantalus was Broteas. He grew to be smart and strong, but unfortunately, he became a hunter, a commonfolk’s burden that wasn't fit for a son born of me. When the goddess Artemis cast madness upon him I was not upset; he was replaceable.

My second child was my precious daughter Niobe. She was going to be the most successful child, a queen with a powerful kingdom, and beautiful heirs. She was going to my greatness, but her pride got in her way. Artemis and the god Apollo killed each of her children for boasting that she was a better mother than theirs was. Niobe went insane with grief and thus was rendered useless to me.

When none of my children succeeded I vowed to myself that I was going to have one, final child, one successful child.

His name was Pelops. He was my third born. I raised him to be perfect, I gave him everything he needed to succeed, and he didn’t disappoint me like the others.

Pelops grew to be the king of the city of Pisa. Such a shame it is what happened to him.

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You see, Pelops and my husband grew close even though there was one fatal problem: Pelops was not Tantalus’s son.

I knew that none of Tantalus’s children would ever meet even the lowest of my standards so I sought out a wealthy, smart, strong, man and we had a child. Two of the three were none the wiser, but Pelops was too smart for his own good. He started to make connections between himself and his true father and notice the differences between him and Tantalus. One day he, Pelops, confronted me. He knew. He was going to tell both of his fathers. I had sacrificed too much to have them find out even the tiniest sliver of truth, and yet, there we were. So I came up with a simple plan to put an end to this.

Tantalus had many connections to the gods on Olympus and he made the journey to their city almost monthly. If he was there he could steal The food of the gods, ambrosia, and give it to me. Once I ate it I would be immortal. Surely Pelops couldn’t ignore a goddess if she ordered him to be silent, right?

I confronted Tantalus on a blustery morning in early April, the perfect weather for what I was about to tell him. I knew he would do anything for me. That old fool was always trying to “prove his love” for me.

“Tantalus, I know that you have always wanted to show me your utter devotion to me so I have a task for you. On your next trip to Mount Olympus bring the food of the gods, do this and I will believe that you have truly devoted yourself to me,” He looked rather hesitant as most with at least the brains of a five-year-old would have. “Do you not love me?” That got him to actually give me a proper answer.

“Of course, for you, I would sacrifice the world!”

He was right, after all, I did deserve the world. Yet Tantalus did not choose his words very wisely at all, I knew he viewed Pelops as his world. I just need to see how far he is willing to go with that statement: “Leave as soon as this awful weather stops,” It was another month before I saw him again, one glorious month. When I saw him enter our house he was holding a small glowing chest. He was also completely dishevelled and bedraggled. While he was bathing I ate the ambrosia. I felt the blood of the gods course through me. Surely Pelops couldn’t disobey a goddess, right?

When Pelops returned he was less than impressed. He simply said that he was happy for me and left to seek out his “father”. How dare he! What made him think it is acceptable to ignore his goddess and mother. I have transformed myself into the epitome of power and he chooses some wretched old man over me! I guess this idea that I am less important than he has firmly taken root in his mind, then, I must get rid of the source of the problems.

Time was running out for me to get rid of Pelops but I had a plan. Tantalus had angered the gods when he stole from them. Now all that was left was to hide the body and get rid of Tantalus once and for all and what is better than to kill two birds with one stone?

“Tantalus, I heard about the fact that you have angered some gods, correct?”

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“Yes,” he said rather stiffly.

“To fix the situation you have made for yourself I, being the gracious and generous wife that I am, have prepared for you a feast worthy of the gods themselves.

Bring this to them on the full moon for their celebrations and offer it to them in apology for your mistake,” You see dear reader if you haven’t caught onto my plan yet, that is my son, Pelops, he is going to feed to the gods. When they realize the evidence will be gone and Tantalus will be killed and punished for eternity in the afterlife. I will be left without blame and free to do whatever I please for the rest of my immortal life.

The news spread quickly of what Tantalus had done, it goes to show how foolish mortals are. Did they really think that Tantalus could have concocted a plan so magnificent? It even got better when the gods brought my son back from the dead. I reaped all of the benefits and shouldered none of the punishment. My husband was cursed to stand in a pool of the clearest water and not be able to drink. Above him was the most gorgeous fruit I had ever seen. It was just barely out of his reach. It was hilarious watching his futile attempts at grabbing for it.

It is sad though, the fact that I will never receive any recognition for my ingenious plan, but I do suppose it is better for me this way. I am young, immortal, and free. What more could I possibly want from this life? Love is a fool’s game and I believe it to be unnecessary. The only thing that I need in life is my intelligence. So I will continue on as I have always and I will worry not, for I am Eurythemista, the downfall of Tantalus, the downfall of all those foolish enough to slight me and I, Eurythemista, hunger only for power.

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RADICALISED – GEORGIANA CLARE

Radicalisation refers to the process whereby students (the same age as our KS3 students) get brainwashed by strangers on the internet to betray their families and commit horrific crimes in the name of terrorist organisations. One of the radicalised teenage girls was Shamima Begum and Georgie wrote this story in response to the death of Shamima’s baby after Shamima’s British citizenship was revoked due to her participation in ISIS atrocities.

On the 22nd May 2017, in the Manchester Arena, a suicide bomber attacked an Ariana Grande Concert, injuring hundreds and killing 22 people, the youngest being 8-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos.

“Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word. She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly,” ISIS took full responsibility for the attack.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------May 30th - A week after the Manchester bombing.

Lisa Roussos, mother of Saffie Roussos, a victim of the Manchester Arena Bombing. She is heavily sedated.

Hello?

I cant speek so nurse told me to rite this down My haed is bangin. I just woake up. I bin asleep for a week they saey.

Owwww - OuCH! youre asking me waht i remembor?

About waht? kan i sea my husbind?

My doghters or son? ashlee, xander or saffie? no?

But i Want To! …

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Then it hits me.

My Daughters.

I SAIDE breeng in my daughters NOW! The bombing.

The attack.

The nightmares that came true.

WhY WOnT THey BrEENG tHeM IN!

Oh, no, Oh no oh no oh no - don’t tell me they’re -

Nooooooooooo

oo.

No!

NO! “Deep breaths Lisa, that’s it sweetie -”

TELL ME ABOUT MY DAUGHTERS!!!!!!

“Ashlee has been moved to another hospital, where she is recovering from her injuries but she is in a critical condition. She is making wonderful progress.” The nurse’s voice was soothing and clear. Her uniform was crisp and a gleaming white. The utmost professional. She took a deep breath before continuing her work. A wave of calm washed over me.

I feel my jaw unclench, the knot in my throat begins to loosen, and the rock in my stomach lightens.

Everything is going to be okay.

I will get better. I will return home, to our cramped house above our little chippie. I will enjoy a supper of fresh fish and chips at the park, watching the sunset with my beautiful family. My husband Andrew will sit to my left laughing and smiling, with beside him, Ashlee chatting on and on about her new job and Xander babbling on about his latest 77 | P a g e

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football match. On my right, too busy to talk, munching on the biggest plate of chips, will be my little Saffie.

Saffie.

Saffie Rose Roussos. saffie.

saffie. saffie.

TELL ME ABOUT MY SAFFIE!

…...

“I’m so sorry, Lisa - “ She can’t be No. I won’t.

I can’tNo. This can’t be real.

Things like this don’t happen to families like mine.

This can’t be real.

My baby...

This time, not a feeling of rage, or a fit of hysterics.

This time, disbelief, scared of what’s to come next, an uncontrollable sadness, my whole body shaking, like an earthquake waiting to erupt.

I don’t want your sympathy, your thoughts and prayers.

I want my daughter.

I want her back.

My baby…

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A gust of wind and the sand blows onto your face. You forget to flinch, or to protect your little baby’s beautifully rich brown eyes, as this annoyance has become normal.

Instantly, your throat dries up, a feeling where your inside become so accustomed to its surroundings, that it embodies them. Dry Syrian Deserts.

You are thirsty, but getting up to get water is an effort. The women with babies reluctantly stand, to hydrate their little ones, while the rest, the long row of bored women close their eyes, and hope the feeling passes, lacking energy or motivation to get up.

The women with babies trudge through the sand, to the water pump on the other side of the camp. The women are tired, bored and frustrated, but walk, walk and walk for their child.

After all, a mother’s love is almost as powerful as ISIS. _________ And one of those mothers wishes to speak: He convinced me. When he approached me, I was eager.

I so desperately wanted to belong, to be a part of something.

He praised me, made me feel special, made me feel I was worth something in this world. He’s the love of my life, a warrior willing to protect me at all costs.

Starving, I ate it all up.

I’m a good mother. I tried to stay in the Caliphate! But 2 babies died of malnutrition…

My name is Shamima Begum I am 19 years old.

I have 3 children. All 3 are dead.

My youngest baby died only week ago. He wasn’t even 3 weeks old.

I am alone in this world.

My parents are ashamed of me.

My babies are dead because of me.

I don’t even know where my husband is.

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If I had murdered 50 people in a school shooting, you wouldn’t leave my children to die, and take my citizenship away. You wouldn’t have hurt all those close to me.

You would have helped me. I would have gone to a detention center, had rehab, had some therapy.

I was only 15.

I killed your child.

But I was only a child. And you killed me.

The only difference is that nobody cared.

I never had many friends.

Dad was always busy at work. He would work up to 13 hours a day.

Mum was always busy with all her charity work and organisations.

Too worried about lifting other children up to realise I was falling down, into a deep, dark hole. Back then, I was hungry for their praise, hungry for their attention.

I began acting up in school, but that only made it worse. The small bite of attention I received turned into lectures, and I quickly fell deeper and deeper.

When they approached me, I was eager.

I so desperately wanted to belong, to be a part of something.

He praised me, made me feel special, made me feel I was worth something in this world.

Starving, I ate it all up.

My name is Shamima Begum, I am now 19 years old.

And that was how I joined ISIS. My forever family.

And now I hold another dead baby in my arms. It wasn’t meant to end this way. He’s a British child, entitled to British care.

I received the letter this morning. I have been stripped of my citizenship.

This can’t be real.

British babies are supposed to be cared for by the government. British children have the right to education, food and a roof over their head.

He shouldn’t have had to turn blue, as he painfully gave up the struggle. That’s not right.

You say I’ve turned against you, but you’re the one who turned against my baby.

He shouldn’t be gasping for air only to take his last breath. His empty lungs protruding through his paper thin skin.

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Things like this don’t happen to families like mine.

This can’t be real.

My baby...

This time, not a feeling of rage, or a fit of hysterics.

This time, disbelief, scared of what’s to come next, an uncontrollable sadness, my whole body shaking, like an earthquake waiting to erupt.

I don’t want your sympathy, your thoughts and prayers.

I want my Jareh.

I want him back.

My baby…

Now I want my son, I want him back.

My baby…

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PROJECT #8,000,000 – LEONOR CARNEY

Who needs my ‘help’ this time? I scan through the windows of the school; something has drawn me here. Room 394. I creep over to her desk, secretly excited. Like a huge wave dying out slowly, my crooked, serpentine smile turns flat as I see her though.

Pathetic. Her smile gleams across the room yet there is so much more darkness to her.

She doesn’t like the way she looks.

“RIIIINNNGGG” The bell goes as I make my way over to her. I watch her as she moves to the bathroom, with a barrier of a smile. She grasps the door and quickly slips herself inside before she blows. I watch from the corner, inside the bathroom, as rain starts to pour down her face as she looks at herself in the mirror.

Now’s my chance. I discreetly glide over behind her.

“Hello Ella” The room turns cold like a winter day. I’m here.

“Who are you?”

I circle her, looking her up and down. Inspecting her. Examining her.

“I’m here to help you, what are you doing here?”

A string of sweat appears on her hands, her body wobbles like a ship at sea.

“I had to see-” Her stomach plummets.

“See what?”

“If the stupid plans were working- but they’re not!”

Wrinkles form on her forehead like cracks.

That's right. Just keep pushing.

“I can help with that.”

“What do you mean? I’ve been like this my whole life. I’m fine” Taken aback, she backs up towards the door, gripping the handle like its her lifeline.

This is her only chance to get out of the situation.

“No, you’re not.”

“YES I AM” As confident as that sounded, her voice is quivering.

“Then why are you here, with me?”

I sense it. I’ve planted the thought.

A tree of doubt has grown in her mind.

One week later “I TOLD YOU I’M FINE” Ella hollers from the bathroom.

She takes staggered breaths as she looks at herself, once again, in the mirror.

“No, you’re not.”

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I inch towards her as she chews off her fingernails in anger.

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE” “Come over here.”

“I TOLD YOU I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!’’ She makes eye contact with me, challenging me. Does she seriously think she’s stronger than me? No one has ever been. She’s no different, there’s nothing exceptional about her. She’ll fail like everyone else.

“Just come.”

That last word draws her over to me. I grasp my arm around her shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m showing you. Can you see it?”

“Showing me what?”

Satisfaction. She feels satisfaction.

“I can look like that?”

“If you trust me. Do you trust me?”

“RINNNNGGGG” “Um, I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Yes, you will.”

Project #8,000,000 is coming along nicely.

At Home “How was school today?” questions Ella’s mother.

“It was great” Ella perks up. Her smile is still fake like the first time I saw her. She scoots around her mom, ready for this conversation to be over.

“I’ve noticed you’ve put off some weight and I think you look amazing.”

“R-really? Why didn’t you think so before? That I didn’t look amazing.” She steps back.

Repulsed. Her eyes, like lighthouses, search her mom’s face for any sincerity.

“Oh you know...”

“KNOW what?!”

Tension is building up, like construction.

“You were a bit chub-” “GREAT Mom. Glad to know you were fat-shaming me.” She slams her hand on the table. The vibration puts her mother on edge. Ella watches her, daring her to respond.

“Sweetie, I didn’t mean it like that-” She marches over to her room. The door slams.

The mother doesn’t even go to check on her. She just sits at the table, staring down.

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“Why am I doing this?” Ella paces the room. Her mind races through her thoughts and her emotions.

“To be the image I showed you.”

She stumbles back. Her eyes widen.

“W-why are you here? I thought you could only appear in the bathroom...’’

“Oh Ella, I follow you everywhere now.”’

“But I don’t think I want to do this any more, I think I should just stop. Learn to be satisfied.”

Why is she doubting me? This isn’t supposed to happen. She’s supposed to want this.

I just have to keep her motivated.

Once again, I touch her. She flinches.

“This is all you have to do, then you can have this. Then I’ll be proud of you.”

In a trance, she makes her way over to the bathroom. Bends over the toilet and sticks her quivering finger down her throat. She splurges away from the vomit as it forces its way out into the toilet. She coughs desperately.

“It’s what had to be done.”

One week later 110 pounds.

Fatigue.

2 weeks later 100 pounds.

Fatigue.

Low blood pressure.

4 weeks later 80 pounds.

Fatigue.

Low blood pressure.

Yellowish skin.

Fainting.

Insomnia.

5 weeks later 70 pounds.

Fatigue.

Low blood pressure.

Yellowish skin.

Fainting.

Insomnia.

Swelling arms.

Blue fingers.

Hair covering the body.

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Dehydration.

6 weeks later I advance, down the hallway. My eyes are dreary yet overflowing with excitement. This is the day I’ve been working towards. Ella’s mother runs straight passed me and slams into the room next to me. She bellows Ella’s name and runs straight at her bed with water filling her eyes. Ella’s hand trembles as she grips her mother’s. Her skin is flakey and yellow. Her hair is stringy and falling out. Her ribs poke out of her skin. Her legs and arms are swollen.

Yet her eyes, her eyes are full of satisfaction. Until they close.

The pulse reader stops beeping.

“I’m proud of you Ella.”

My dear old friend Death appears and scoops up her soul.

Project #8,000,000 complete.

Sincerely, Anorexia.

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HUNGER FOR TIME - SOOA LEE

“I need more time!”

My knees irritated me with their trembling and my mind scattered with fear. I struggled getting myself out of this nonsense but…...

Whack!

I fell onto the wet floor and everything went black. *************************************** Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick. 3, 2, 1… RIINNGG! “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get home and I’ll make sure to call you to finish our project. See you later!”

I strolled calmly with music inside my head until, I saw my mom.

My mom on the floor.

“Please, please I beg your pardon. I have no money…I need more time” she screamed with all her soul until…

Flick! My foot flicked a stone and his eyes caught me. There was nowhere else to hide for me so I just came out with his gun pointing on my face. As my mother cried shaking her head continuously, my tears told her that everything was going to be ok, and then…

CA- CHUNK! I fell onto the floor unconsciously, with my hands full of MY blood.

“Where am I?” I slowly put my head up and squinched my blurry eyes so I could catch the shadow that came closer and closer to me…

“You’ve woken up. Welcome,” they spoke with the depth of one voice. It sounded like death.

“Where’s my mom? Where am I? Who are you? Why was my mom begging for mercy?” All of these questions flew around my head and I really didn’t know what to do. I searched around the dark and haunted basement for a lookout from my mom, but nothing was there.

“Do you wish to see your mother?”

“Ye… Yes, Yes I do.”

I was afraid more than I ever was in my life. My heart was thumping as fast as lighting as I tried to calm myself down, slowly turning white.

“Then you must not tell anyone about me and this, and you must get me a hundred thousand USD by the end of this month at the latest.

“WHAT? I need more time!” I shouted outrageously but I knew there would be no mercy.

He let me see his mouth area and I found myself seeing an unusual tattoo on the side of his lip, a star shape. As he set me free with his hand knife, his black mask on the top part of his face wasn’t able to be seen. I still had blood on the side of my head. I it hurt a lot.

As soon as I arrived home, I panicked and I tried to find my mom everywhere, but I couldn’t.

“Where could she have been?” My tears came out automatically and I couldn’t stop it from coming out. My two hands were over the bruises on my forehead as the red liquid slowly peeked through in between my fingers.

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Drip… drip…

What could this be?

I still couldn’t understand why she never told me anything. This was so sudden and puzzling.

What if it was someone I knew? When did this start? Questions flew back and forth constantly without a pause.

Wait…

Who hit me from behind? I thought I saw the person holding my mom. Was it just my imagination? When did this start? All sorts of questions were banging on my head for an answer. If I was going to find my mom, I needed money.

“Gasp!”

If he knew if I was going to the police station, could he be looking an out for me right now? Is there some sort of camera in the house? I can’t tell this to anyone else, how could I possibly figure everything on my own?

I now know why time is money.

Then everything turned black. ************************************* GASP! As I looked into space, I saw myself in the hospital mirror right across from my bed. My football coach was pacing up and down, stressing…

And then it all came back.

I’m standing in goal.

“I need more time!”

The most aggressive player is approaching me. I need more time to defend from her attack.

My knees irritated me with their trembling and my mind scattered with fear. I struggled getting myself out of this nonsense but the ball was already flying towards my head.

Whack!

I fell onto the wet floor and everything went black…

But at least I had stopped the goal.

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VANISH – RANIA KHAN

Setting: Seattle, Seattle Silver Oak School Main Characters -Noah Sawyer (13 years old) -Liam West (12 years old) -Isaac Kent (12 years old) -Mia Brooks (12 years old) -Leah Taylor (12 years old) -Savannah Sawyer (Noah’s older sister -15 years old)) - Madison Garcia (15 years old) Noah, Liam, Isaac and Mia are best friends.

-Ava Kent (Isaac’s little sister -7 years old))

Gone. Simply gone. One second 7th grade teacher Mr. Smith was taking the attendance, the next he was just gone. Disappeared into thin air... (stage light on Mr. Smith) Mr. Smith: Sarah Max Sarah: Here!

Mr. Smith: Isaac Kent Isaac: Here!

Mr. Smith: Mia Br(stage light on Mr. Smith turns off) Mia: Here?

Noah: Mr. Smith?... Mr. Smith? (many kids rub their eyes in disbelief and glance here and there) Liam: He just, just … disappeared The lights start flickering and shut down. The water running through the sink which was filling a bucket for a science experiment comes to a stop as well.

Emma: Is this some type of joke?

Mia: NOAH if this is another one of your dumb pranks I swear I’ll(stage lights on Noah’s older sister Savannah and her friends as they barge in) Savannah: Did Mr. Smith vanish as well? … wait… do you hear that?

A slight rumble is heard coming from the corridor. It grows louder. And louder. And louder. About 100 kids from preschool to the 6th grade come running through the corridors like a stampede. Cries and screams can be heard from the distance as kids of all ages and sizes trample over each other.

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One of Savannah’s classmates: THE TEACHERS FROM THE LOWER CLASSES MUST HAVE DISAPPEARED AS WELL! (a few older kids gasp and look around worried while others rush out to comfort the little ones) Another one of Savannah’s classmates: Those poor kids look so scared! Let’s go help them!

(everyone freezes in tableau) (stage lights black out and a single spotlight comes onto one character: Leah Taylor.

She is now our narrator) Wow... (walks around on stage in deep thought, whilst looking around at the mess that was made before starting again) This whole apocalypse thing is just. Wow. I’m usually the shy kid who doesn’t have many friends, but when it all started to happen, I decided to be smart. I didn’t know how to explain all of this, but all I knew was that I was going to survive. No matter what. While everyone was losing their minds and trying to get things orderly, I was sitting near the back of the class, thinking of how I would collect all the resources I need for survival. So I have to sneak away. Quick. (sneaks away off stage) - - - - - - - - - - - (everyone unfreezes from tableau. Stage lights back on) They got all the crying kids into the assembly room to try and explain to them what’s going on. The problem was, they didn’t know what was going on themselves.

Mia: ok, ok calm down, calm down please. everything’s gonna be alright. (to a preschooler) 2nd grader: WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! THE ADULTS DISAPPEARED, AND NOW IT’S OUR TURN! (preschoolers and other kids cry louder) Mia: That’s not gonna happen! Stop scaring them even more!

Liam: These kids won’t calm down!

Noah: Arghhh! How do parents do this! (groans) (Savannah runs in) (Savannah grabs a megaphone) Savannah: WE ARE ALL GONNA BE OK AND NOBODY DISAPPEARING SO PLEASE BE QUIET! (her voice echoes throughout the room, making it pin drop silent with a few sniffles and whimpers here and there) Noah: Nice job sis!

Liam: did you find anything in Mr. Matthew’s office?

Savannah: I looked everywhere … I couldn’t find anything but old donuts from his birthday.

(Isaac looks at the window and sees Leah trying to sneak away) Isaac: Leah… where are you going? (looking curious and confused) 90 | P a g e

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Leah: um… I - I dropped my phone out this window and um I’m just trying to retrieve it.

Isaac: Oh. ok then, be careful. (still looking confused but looks away)

(everyone freezes in tableau) (stage lights black out and a single spotlight comes onto one character: Leah Taylor.

She is now our narrator) That was close. Too close. I should be more careful in the future or I’ll end up dead like they’re going to be. Anyway, I should take a bike to the nearest Costco and buy and much food, water and entertainment as I can, in bulk. The more I take right now, the more chances I’ll survive longer than those idiots. What’s gonna happen is that they’re going spend all their time on figuring out what to do with all those pesky children, they won’t have time to stock up. And I will.

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ONE YEAR LATER -

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Savannah’s 17th birthday was coming up and Maddie, Mia, Noah, Isaac and Liam were planning a surprise party for her and they decided to do it as soon as the clock hit 07:30 PM, which was when she was born.

Mia: Let’s do it in Ms. Han’s class, it’s the biggest.

Maddie: yeah and I’ll make the cake Liam: cake! Did someone say cake?!?!

(Maddie heavily sighs) Noah: Make chocolate! no … lemon, no, no, no, get red velvet, red velvet is THE BEST! Mia: Noah...how stupid can you be? If you forgot, the adults kind of disappeared last year, so if you haven’t noticed, there’s no electricity so the oven doesn’t work! We need an ice cream cake!

Noah: oh…right.

Maddie: Anyway… see you all at 07:00 PM in Ms.Han’s classroom, so we can start decorating. Savannah will arrive by 07:15 PM. DON’T be late!

Liam: wait… how do you know her EXACT birthday? It’s kind of stalkerish…

Maddie: It was on her birth certificate and besides we celebrate it every year at the exact time.

Liam: why have you seen her birth certificate?

Maddie: mind your own business.

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07:13 PM Maddie: shhhh! Get down under the tables! Quick!

Isaac: Calm down! We have like 2 minutes till she arrives!

Liam: shhhh! I think I see her coming! …

(Savannah opens the door) Savannah: Hello? Maddie? You told me to meet yoEveryone (except Savannah) together: Surprise!!

Savannah: ohhhh! You scared me! You really didn’t have to do this you know!?

Maddie: Are you kidding? You only turn 17 once!

Isaac: Enough chit chat! Let’s bring out the cake!

Mia: Yeah!

Noah: Yeah!

Maddie: No! Let’s wait till her exact birthday!

(Isaac groans and rolls his eyes)

07:29 PM Isaac: ok ok it’s 1 minute before cake tim-... I mean Savannah’s EXACT birthday, let’s get ready!

(Maddie takes the ice cream cake out of the fridge and lights the candles hurriedly) Everyone (except Savannah) together: 3!2!...1! (the candles blow out by a gust of cold wind) Maddie: Savannah?

Noah: SAVANNAH?!

3...2...1. Gone. Simply gone. The place Savannah had been standing was now filled with cold air. The exact way Mr. Smith disappeared. Savannah had just turned 17. How did they not piece it together? Anyone 17 and above leaves. Tears ran down Maddie and Mia’s faces like waterfalls. Noah was devastated as well. But he had to stay strong.

He always said how much he hated his sister, but now that she was actually gone, it was like a piece of him left too.

Isaac: I can’t believe I’m saying this but… let’s keep the cake for later. (wipes a few tears away and keeps the cake back in the fridge) …

They spent the rest of the night mourning and trying to make sense of it all.

The next day at lunch Isaac: Can we have yesterday’s cake after lunch?

Maddie: sure… why not Noah: yay...cake…

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Maddie: Listen, Noah, we know you loved Savannah, we all did, but we can’t do anything about it, we have to move on.

Noah: yeah, i guess you’re right.

(Emma barges in) Emma: WE’RE BASICALLY O-O-OUT OF FOOD! Maddie: what? What do you mean?

Emma: we finished everything from all three of the Costcos in the country.

Noah: why do we only have three Costcos in the country? We could live off of the local supermarkets and stuff?

Emma: yeah, but most of them were raided by rebellious kids.

Maddie: Ahhhh! What are we gonna do?

(everyone freezes in tableau) (stage lights black out and a single spotlight comes onto one character: Leah Taylor.

She is now our narrator) I am literally living the dream right now. I have so much food and entertainment to live on, and even if it finishes one day, I have a plan to sail across the sea, to reveal a whole new world of stock for survival. And best of all… no pesky kids crying their heads off. I heard that the others were running out of food. Just as I predicted. Even though everyone, including me, will vanish when we turn 17. I’ll be the only one who makes it to 17.

And then, who knows?

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15 YEARS LATER - - - - - - -

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(a single spotlight on another narrator who isn’t part of the story) Vanished. All that was left was the ashes of every kid that turned 17 and disappeared. The world was like a ghost town. Deserted streets, broken-in stores, tumbleweed rolling through vacant valleys and many cars crashed in random directions. … (stage lights back on) BAM! And suddenly … she woke up.

Mr. Smith: Leah Taylor (a long pause) Mr. Smith: Leah Taylor?

Leah: yeah … um … I’m here? (looks around extremely confused and curtains and stage lights close on children laughing).

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POT BELLY AND BIG BELLY – CHLOE HAN

“Fat”. “Skinny”. “Malnutrition”. “Hunger”. There’s a history behind all of this:

1500- “Fat” represents wealth and beauty.

2019- “Skinny” represents wealth and beauty.

But could both “Fat” and “Skinny” both represent malnutrition?

Obesity has been a big problem since 1975, and until now, the numbers have just been increasing so that currently, over 30% of our world’s population is obese or overweight. Often times, when people think of obesity, or the causes of obesity, they are most likely to think that it is caused from the lack of exercise or overeating. When fat was actually in fashion, being fat was considered beautiful for the reason of status as only wealthy people could afford rich foods.

Which is actually what’s not happening today.

If fat represented wealth today, why would children who are overweight be bullied?

Listening to words hurting them, being called” fat”, “ugly”, “big” and not being able to be appreciated for who they actually are - why would they want to suffer emotional pain every day?

Maybe, obesity isn’t so much about overeating and maybe it is caused by poverty instead?

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which also results in giving more satiety for cheaper prices.

When a full set of junk food costs the same as the choice of a healthy snack, no child living in poverty would choose to care about their body rather than to fill their hunger, and would most likely choose to purchase a set of food rather than a single apple which wouldn’t even solve the least of their hunger. Consuming these unhealthy meals (high in fat) without consuming much of other nutritional foods would unfortunately leave them with obese and unhealthy bodies.

Just because they weigh more, doesn’t mean they consume more vitamins. In fact, they are often highly malnourished.

But, if poverty was to happen in the undeveloped or developing areas, such as sections of Africa or South America, where access to fast food or cheaper options of food isn’t available, it could be most likely that they would be suffering from kwashiorkor, a disease caused from malnutrition and lack of protein, mostly found in the developing areas of the world. And this too could appear like overeating.

Kwashiorkor is a severe form of malnutrition which is a deadly disease that, if treatment comes too late, can possibly cause physical and mental disability, and if is left untreated, the condition can lead to shock, comas and possibly even death. Children with Kwashiorkor mostly suffer from the painful symptom of swelling of the belly, also known as the “pot belly”. These “pot

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bellies� look like the round bellies of an obese children and cause discomfort and pain for their daily lives.

Another symptom that children with kwashiorkor face can face could be the damage of the immune system which can lead to more frequent and severe infections. Because they are already suffering from kwashiorkor, their infections would be more likely to be longer lasting and more serious.

Obesity is no different to Kwashiorkor: both are medical conditions that require treatment and not judgement. People should throw away their mindsets about being fat meaning eating more, their stomachs are always crying for more, it’s not them who are refusing to receive nutrition, its their wallets. Overall, all these children suffering from both kwashiorkor and obesity are malnourished. They are both suffering from poverty. They are both suffering from hunger. They are both suffering from pain.

Should they suffer from our ignorance too?

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ROSES AND COFFINS – MATTHEW ALEMANIA

“W-we don’t want any trouble. . . p-please!” She trembled behind me as a man with a black mask pointed his weapon at us.

We were trapped within the towering walls of the buildings around us. Trapped like mice in a cage. The stench of garbage and rot defiled my nose, but all I could focus on was the chamber of the assailant’s gun. I heard the gun tick.

“It’s loaded. . .” I whispered to Jessie behind me.

“Money? D-Do you want money? We’ll give you anything. . .just please, leave us alone.”

I tried to negotiate with the man with a black mask.

I stared into the man’s eyes, hoping for some semblance of humanity. Nothing. Nothing but the eyes of a cold-blooded killer.

“J-Just put the gun down. . .” I take a step forward, “A-And we could work something out.”

Silence

Nothing but silence.

BANG!

I quickly jolt out of bed. It was only a dream. . . My heart raced as if it actually happened.

I look around and see my wife. She’s a mess. Her hair completely affray. What happened last night. . . I look around the room, a complete mess. Heineken beer cans stacked around the room and trash littered everywhere. What happened last night? The one thing that stood out in the room that seemed to have been hit by a hurricane, was a picture of me on her night stand. Jessie stared intently at the photo; her eyes began to swell with tears.

Jessie was curled into a small ball, clutching a framed picture to her knees and to her chest, her eyes bloodshot and wide open. Her head lay on a bed of tissues and tears. Her eyes

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lined with dark circles, she was a mess. It put a spear through my heart to see her like this, completely depressed and lonely-looking. . . but why?

“Hey Jessie, are you okay? What happened?” I calmly ask her

No response.

“Jessie?” I ask again.

Nothing.

I was immediately interrupted by the loud banging on the door, “Jessie! Come out, please!”

Silence.

Even more banging occurred, but this time, louder, “Jessie, it’s been days since you’ve came out the house!”

Silence.

The voice behind the door changed from a deeper voice, to a more womanly voice, “Jessie, it’s your Mom. . . w-we just need to know if y-you’re ok. . .”

Jessie finally started to get up from her bed and as I offered to help her up, she completely ignored me. . . as if I wasn’t even there. She opens the door, but only enough so that she can see who’s outside. From the crack of her door, I spot Jessie’s mom, and Jessie’s best friend, Lincoln. I could only hear quiet whispers coming from the door, but as I came closer I heard:

“He’s about to be buried. . .we can’t delay the funeral any longer”

“Jessie, I know it’s hard, but you’ve got to be strong. This closure would be good for you. . .” Lincoln says through the door 98 | P a g e

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Jessie finally opened the door fully, and dropped to the ground on her knees. The two visitors immediately came and gave her an embrace. Jessie’s muffled cries echoed throughout the apartment.

“Dylan . . . dead” was the only thing I made out of Jessie’s muffled cries.

How long was I out. . .?

I quickly rushed to the bed, and flipped over the framed picture that Jessie was crying over. It was a picture of me.

Me?

W-What? I-I’m dead? But I was alive a last night. . . o-or was I?

“Jessie, you should meet him. . . talk to him. . . for the last time.” Lincoln says as he supported Jessie up.

I didn’t know what to feel. Should I feel sad that I’m now dead? Should I feel relieved?

But all I felt was. . . numb. Is this what hell is like? Seeing the love of your life dying on the inside, but you’re powerless to help? I couldn’t care less what happened to me at this point. . . all I want - no, I need- to know is that Jessie will be okay.

is this hell?

“I-I can’t. . .I need him. . .” Her breathing became more sporadic.

Then...

All I saw was black. I can’t move. I can’t feel my legs or my arms. All I hear are faint footsteps going towards my direction. The sounds get louder and louder.

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THUMP THUMP

The sounds stopped and I heard inaudible chatter and sobs. The darkness slowly started to vanish as a bright white light seeped in. The light caressed my face with its warm beams. I slowly start to look around, only to find myself encased in a wooden box, adorned with red and white rose petals.

A coffin?

I fixated my eyes on the person who, I assume, opened the coffin. Jessie. . .

“Dylan. . . I-I miss you. Everyone says I’ll be better after I see you. But whenever I see you or think of you, that night I lost you replays in my head. In all honesty, I don’t know if I’ll ever get over your death.”

I heard her voice crack like a broken mirror, I felt her tears as if they were my own.

I don’t want to leave you in this state, Jessie. . .

“I don’t know if I could ever love anyone else the way I loved you. Sometimes I think you’re still with me. . . watching over me.”

Jessie held a bouquet of white roses in her hand. She gently placed the bouquet on top of my hands, which rested on my midsection.

“ I-I don’t know what to do as of now, but if you were here, I know you would want me to move on and live a happy life. I wish. . . I wish I could talk to you one last time. . . “Jessie had fully lost her control over her tears, and her tears began to stream out of her eyes.

“B-But, I just need you to know that I’ll be okay and that you can rest now.”

She stopped to stare at my eyes, and at that moment, everything in the world was right. She’s going to be okay. . .

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“Dylan, I’ll always love you. . .” Jessie said as she slowly closed the casket.

Jessie. . . I will always love you.

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HUNGRY FOR THE TALENT – CHRISTIAN KIM

Alex was running with a football He’s fragile like glass, tall and slower than a snail. However, Jack is strong like a fitness trainer, tall and fast like Usain Bolt. Everyone expected Alex on the floor since he’s fragile like glass. Alex tried out for 3 years and he never got in, but Jack always did. Alex always went home with anger from the tip of his toes to the top of his head. Despite these failures, Alex thought that this year was the year that things would change.

Date February 25 2019 “Listen up fellas, you want to get into this team? Well, it’s not going to be easy!” The coach yelled while spit was coming out of his mouth and he specifically looked at Alex. Before training started the coach talked to Alex and said “Son, I’m sorry. You’re just not made for this sport.”

“Please coach please just one more chance” Alex begged “Do you really want to get in this team?”

“Yes” Jack instantly answered.

“Then you need to take what Jack did, come to me after training.”

“Coach - I’ll do anything!”

The coach looks at him proudly.

“I’ll go to your house tomorrow but don’t tell your mum” The coach said.

“Yes” Jack answered immediately.

Ding Dong Ding Dong! “That’s for me!” Alex shouted and he sprang to the door. He nearly tripped his mum.

“Darling why such a rush?” Alex’s mum asked. “Uh, nothing it’s just that I need to do a science project and I need this right this instant to finish my project.” Alex murmured.

“Ok” Alex’s mum answered.

“Kid does your mum know I’m here?” The coach questioned “No,” Alex answered. He took the box. Swiftly, Alex dashed upstairs and tore apart the box like it had treasures inside of it.

“Finally, I can be the best player and Jack will get crushed by me!” Alex roared. He tore open the box like there was gold inside of it. Inside the box were pills but Alex doesn’t know what kind of pill it is. Alex got a glass of water and took the pill. He drank the water like he didn’t drink water for ages. This kept on going for weeks. One day, he got up took his shirt off and looked at the mirror, and he had muscles everywhere possible in his body. He couldn’t stop flexing while looking at the mirror Date 1 April 2019 The tryouts started today.

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Alex was running with the football Normally, he’s fragile like glass, tall and slower than a snail.

Normally, Jack is strong like a fitness trainer, tall and fast like Usain Bolt. Everyone expected Alex on the floor since he’s fragile like glass.

But not this time.

Everyone was shocked. They looked at Alex with their mouth hanging open. “You’ve been taking your pills?” The coach whispered to Alex. “Yes” Alex replied. They started with some warm-ups and Alex was on fire. He was faster than Jack ever was and he was shocked himself.

Before Alex went to sleep he prayed to God. The results would be out the next day. He just needed to see what would happen...

Date 2 April 2019 The results were out next to the gym room. “Whooo!” a loud scream was heard from every single class room. It was Alex. He made the team but he was on probation. After school finished the coach congratulated everyone that got in the team. The coach went up to Alex and said “Kid you got in the team but if you prove yourself I’ll make you the best quarterback. You know what you need to do, right?”

They had a game against another school it was a friendly game but not to Alex. Alex, had to prove to the coach that he will be better than Jack.

Date 14 April 2019 Alex was running. The crowd kept chanting the champions name. Alex couldn’t stop scoring touchdowns and thinking about the fame. In other words, he was unstoppable.

Suddenly, Alex rushed to the bathroom stall because his body was not working well. Alex had been taking the pills for 7 weeks. His body wasn’t working well and his health was not in good condition. He was breathing heavily in the bathroom stall. Sweat was dripping for every part of his body and he was feeling dizzy.

Alex’s head banged on the bathroom stall and he was slowly closing his eyes. Jack was near the bathroom stall and he went inside to see what happened. It was not nice. Alex was laying down on the floor and Jack thought he was dead.

Luckily, Alex was able to wake up at the hospital. The doctor came in with a bad look on his face.

“Alex, have you’ve been taking any medicine or anything that could harm you?”

“Yes?” Alex said with a mysterious voice.

“Bingo, can I see what you have been taking?” The doctor asked and Alex gave him the pills.

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and nausea. People usually take this in order to become muscular. However, if you take Dianabol for more than 6 weeks your body will start failing.” The doctor explained “WHAT! My what is failing? Wh- why” Alex cried.

“Who gave you these pills? And why?” The doctor questioned.

“My coach gave it to me because I needed to get muscular and become better at football.” Alex answered. “Kid, I’m sorry your liver might stop working and your hair could start falling off.”

The Doctor silently left the room while Alex’s family were crying until they fell asleep.

Alex was no longer running. He’s fragile like glass and you could only see boness. He spent the next couple of weeks in the Hospital with a wig on. Jack was holding his hand. He was waiting for Alex to take his last breath…

The coach was nowhere to be found.

Alex J Smith died on April 28 2019 at 8:50pm

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WHY TODAY’S SOCIETY…? – MARIA COARASA

Post.

I just posted! Let’s see how many likes I get. If i get under 4,000 im deleting my post! I just don’t know if i should keep it.

Like.

1,000 likes under one hour! I’m doing good! Maybe I should post more pictures like this?

Post.

Oh no, just 500 likes in a day? Why do people hate me so much!

Unlike.

Why is this happening to me? I post every day, I do everything for my posts, I act happy all the time for my posts. What more do I need to do? Now, I’m on antidepressants just because of social media? I don’t know what I’m doing wrong…

Today’s society is extremely focused on getting likes, gaining followers and growing big on social media platforms. They follow the trends, edit for 5 hours, and even risk their lives to upload a “lit” post just to be liked, just to feel appreciated; they are hungry for attention.

Particularly in the younger generations (zets and millenials) this behaviour is more noticeable.

The only thing they care about these days is Instagram, Snapchat and overall social media.

They think that this will just get them to the top and it will make them successful in life just by getting big on instagram.

So, this hunger for attention, did it exist before social media, and social media was just a trigger, or is it new and have people’s needs been changed after the emergence of the instagrams and facebooks of the world?

In my point of view, it did exist before, but social media made it more obvious. Yet, I believe the need of attention has grown because of these networks. I think that the fact that social media 105 | P a g e

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has become a place where you can see and read other people all around the globe and they can see and read you (and like and comment and rant and…) just makes you want more and more attention. It is like a drug, that has become widely available, and the more you get of it, the more you want.

And these networks are growing so much. Today, the number one apps downloaded around the world are social networks. Youtube has become the second most used search engine in the world. One billion people use instagram every month. There are 95 million posts per day on the same network. Every second, 6,000 Tweets are sent. Eight billion videos are viewed daily on Facebook. And the most overwhelming piece of data of them all… An average person spends an average of five years and three months in a lifetime on social media! Ohhh myyyy!

Do you really think this is healthy? People are always so focused on social media and they want to look good and make their life look the best. But we never really look at the bad side, do we?

Those who had spent more time on social media had 2.2 times the risk of reporting eating and body image concerns, compared to their peers who spent less time on social media. Too much time spent on social media can cause anxiety and/or depression.

Social media brings in a chain of troubles into your life such as the following: • Cyberbullying • Anxiety • Depression • Suicidal thoughts We are barely thinking about how much social media has affected us and how much it has changed our society

So then should we all close our accounts and make Mark Zuckerberg poor again? I think not!

Social media can bring much more than harm to individuals. These networks have brought society closer together and has strengthened relationships for good. For example, when I interviewed my mom and my dad, they told me how when they signed up to Facebook, they reconnected with old friends from elementary school and other old networks.

Further looking at the good side, social media can be used for other better things such as: • Raise awareness • Make people become more confident • Allow people to make new friends • Help people reconnect with old acquaintances

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So, as much as there is bad, there is also good! Lots of people use social media to have a voice. They want to raise awareness in what they believe is right. I think this is really empowering and if social media was all like this it wouldn't be as much of a problem. These networks also help people feel more confident in themselves. People boost them up by making really thoughtful comments on their posts to make them feel better.

Then, is the good overcoming the bad, or the bad overwhelming the good? This scares me, because people are not aware that seeking so much attention is becoming an addiction and therefore its harmful.

Wait, did I say “aware”? Is it a problem of awareness? Then, Eureka! I have the solution, and it is in our own noses. The way to get out of this mess it that a big influencer comes along to make a big change, and to make people aware that too much social media is harmful. The more likes and shares, the more awareness… and the more addiction for the influencer because of his or her own hunger for attention? Hmmmmm.

So is that it? Hopefully not, but I am sorry that I do not have a magic wand. And I am also sorry that I am a pessimist, as I think that the change will not come soon.

Once in a while millenials and zets, and people in general, should reflect upon the following question: Am I posting on social media because I genuinely want to, or am I feeling insecure and I want more attention? I will let you think about that.

In the meantime, don’t forget to hit the like button and follow me on Instagram @mariaxcoarasa!

Citations: Barr, Sabrina. “Six Ways Social Media Negatively Affects Your Mental Health without You Even Knowing.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 28 Jan. 2019, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/social-media-mental-health-negativeeffects-depression-anxiety-addiction-memory-a8307196.html.

Todd. “22 Instagram Statistics That Matter to Marketers in 2019.” Hootsuite Social Media Management, 12 Mar. 2019, www.blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/.

10 Mind Blowing Social Media Stats.” Flypaper Digital Marketing, www.customerswhostick.com/10-mind-blowing-social-media-stats.

Clark, Jon. “30 Crazy Social Media Facts That Might Change How You Think About Marketing.” Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Journal, 5 July 2018, www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media-facts/258533/#close.

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UNDER CONTROL – GERASSIMOS MOSHONAS

“This is all you are gonna need: 5 slugs and this 9mm.”

There was a long pause as he handed me the gun with strong, muscular arms. It was clear that he had received military training. No one else had arms like that. And that would explain how he managed to get an unlicensed weapon so easily.

“Usually, he walks down the hill to that small 7-11 on the 6th avenue street to get his coffee”.my client continued in a deep voice,” You just have to patiently wait for him and then...pop.”

His voice paused for a second. The sound of the ticking clock filled the room. He glimpsed around the pitch-black basement in a protective way. Special forces maybe?

His eyes were everywhere at once.

“You only have FIVE chances. You hear me?” His voice began getting aggressive. The lights flickered in the background of the basement. “FIVE chances.” The mysterious masked man repeated as his voice echoed in the darkness of the cellar.

“Yes, I understand.” Jack said softly as he placed the gun and the picture in his backpack.

“But remember, REMEMBER they are gonna get you.” behind the mask, two pitch black eyes glared menacingly at me. “No matter what, they are gonna get you. But don’t worry. Don’t worry. I got everything under control…” His voice stopped suddenly.

Silenced filled the room until Jack slowly went up the creaky stairs of the basement… *********************** “Jack Hunger, you are under arrest for murder. You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law.” pronounced the detective as he cuffed the accused. On the floor beside him lay the body of the wellknown award winning journalist from “The Times”. The murder weapon was lying next to the body. Jack Hunger was strangely calm.

“No matter what they are gonna get you” The employees voice echoed in Jacks head again and again and again…

“But don’t worry. Don’t worry. I got everything under control…” *********************** “I don’t know him, I told you already, I don’t know…. I’m sorry. I’m not the guy who shot him. “Jack says as the tone of his voice quietens down.

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convict you… don’t you understand?” The detective picked up some papers from the unbalanced, rough table.

“I KNOW; DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND? I want to help but I can’t. I just can’t…” Jacks voice loudened and eventually softened. “I can’t…because I don’t know who did it.” Jack uttered. The blank walls of the room made the atmosphere even more empty.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW? WE SAW YOU WITH THE GUN. DON’T PLAY GAMES WITH ME, YOU UNDERSTAND?” The detective’s voice was full of rage as he yelled to the accused. The room shook as a little crack in the wall expanded.

“It’s ok, calm down. “The other detective calmly talked to the interrogating detective. “I got this.”

The second detective calmly sat on the chair of the cold interrogation room which looked more like a jail. “Look, tells us whatever you know, if you really want to help.” The detective said undisturbed.

“Ok” Jack hunger whispered gently in shock. His hands trembled vigorously as he was trying to remember everything about that night. “I don’t know a lot about the guy who was shot…” Jack Hunger sighed in relief as his sweat rolled of his face.

The silence in the room made the drop of sweat and the clock louder than they usually are.

“Ok… that’s a good start.” The detective said as he was anxiously waiting for the next part of his story.

Silence filled the room once again.

“So come on… tell us more! Why did you have the gun?” The detective spoke as his voice tone grew louder.

“Nope. Sorry. I didn’t shoot him. That's all I know and that's all I did. I just panicked and picked up the gun whilst trying to help him.” Jack Hunger muttered.

“What d-do you mean that's all?” His tongue stumbled over his words in fury.

“THAT CAN’T BE ALL! TELL US WHAT YOU WERE DOING THERE, TELL US MORE INFORMATION!” Similarly, the other detective grew angrier, like the first one, who was waiting in the corner.

6 hours had been spent since the arrest and the detectives had gotten nothing out of that. They tried everything they could. They mentioned all types of threats but still nothing.

“So that's all you’ve got for us?” The detective asked in an exhausted manner.

“Yep… That’s all” Jack answered in the same way as the detectives.

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Both the detectives lowered their heads in hopelessness. The day had faded away and darkness filled the interrogation room since the only source of light was a half broken lamp. The room was dimly lit, as was the detectives hope for solving the case.

Suddenly, the lieutenant walks in with a steady, military style walk. The room was filled with light from the rest of the station.

“We have got to let him go. We have not got solid evidence for court. The security cameras were broken. There is no evidence that he knew the victim. His lawyer will make fun of us, so will the judge and the jury.” The lieutenant said in a deep voice “But Lieutenant, the guy is guilty?”

The lieutenant placed a strong, muscular hand on the detective’s shoulder and said: “But don’t worry. Don’t worry. I got everything under control…”

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HUNGRY FOR FREEDOM – ELIZA HUTCHIN AND REBECCA SCHLIPF

It was the year 2200 and I was bored!

I sat on the bed swamped in my 4 sizes too big cloths, watching in awe as Robin described the war, thrusting her fists left and right, mimicking everything, she could tell me... My large, hazel green eyes reverted their gaze up to the ceiling. Tundras of her auburn red hair fluttered past her armor protected shoulders, as she let out a long sigh. I stared out through the window to see the massacre outside. Robin placed a soft sturdy hand on my fragile bony arm.

“You know you can’t go out” She whispered in a soothing voice, “not yet, you are unwell” Suddenly, I swiveled out of the bed clutching a snow white tissue to my face. When I removed it, the pure white base was now stained crimson red.

QUICK HIDE THE BLOOD! “You’re hiding something and it is killing me inside. I have already lost our parents to lies and secrets. I can't lose you to.” placing my hand on her face her chocolate drizzled skin was comforting and made me feel normal, I gave a week smile.

I stared into her solemn ocean blue eyes. it was killing me too.

“I’ve got to go now” with one last reassuring grin she left.

After waiting a few minutes, I crawled down on the floor and groveled under the bed to to pull out an old crumpled piece of paper diagnosing me with TB…. Tears scuttled down my face.

I only had a month to live so I… I had … I had to make my life matter. Make a difference in this messed up world. But trained human fighters are being slaughtered representing the dead and defending everyone who died against the drones.

How could a 13-year-old boy make a difference. Especially, a boy with TB. I need to escape and help the war.

The window. It was a risk. What if the drones get in? I could be endangering… I could endanger my sister. It was a risk I was willing to take! A risk…. I had to take!

Before I could consider the consequences I found myself following the sound of war. I dodged things a thirteen-year-old should never have to see, things no one should ever have to see.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw my sister charging at me at full speed with robots behind her like a stampede of elephants. Thud, Thud, Thud. A rush of fear scurried down my spine.

BANG! My sister’s grabbing me.

BANG! I scream,

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Everything is black,

BANG! The world was spinning. Where was I? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! A ROBOT! NO ROBOTS, NO AN ARMY OF ROBOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A lady robot dressed in black leather and swords in both hands stood in front with her back in front of me.

“Drone 19021 report to the west side quadrant of the field” she said in a robotic voice.

Who are you?

The robot flipped her head to reveal my sister giving me the foulest scowl I had ever seen. I stared at her, until a hint of sorrow and regret flashed in her eyes.

I shrieked until my lungs felt as if all the air was being dragged out of me. My throat burned as I stopped to draw a breath. I didn't know the person standing in front of me, she wasn’t my sister.

“I told you not to go outside” She whispered in a soothing voice into my ear, “you are unwell” “I thought you said you could control the human pet.” A robot said “I can, he is dying anyway. He is usually so obedient” They didn't see me reach for the gun. This was my chance, my chance to help the war.

BANG! I fire the first shot

BANG! I miss

BANG! My sister’s grabbing me.

BANG! I scream,

BANG! I fire again

BANG! They take the Gun.

BANG! The gun is pointing at me.

Bang!

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HUNGER! THE NAME THAT NOBODY WILL LIKE – IRENE SHIN

Alyssa woke up and stared at the ceiling from her cold bed. She could hear the howling sound from her stomach. She tried to muster her saliva in her mouth and swallow to placate her roaring monster.

She is living with her parents, who make modest income, but they don’t have enough money to live. She puts her hands on her belly and starts stroking.

“Please calm down. I know, I know,” Alyssa whispers. She looks at her parents sleeping on bed the other side of the corner. She can hear other unpleasant sounds from the corner, and she knows that her parents are wide awake. The pale light through the window reveals the naked wooden floor. The loud growling sounds badger her from getting out of the bed.

Alyssa trudges to the kitchen knowing that it is in vain for her to find anything to eat.

She raises her bony hand and reaches out to grab an empty cup. She walks to the sink and turns on the tap. She stares at the water in the cup and drinks slowly to enjoy the taste. She closes her eyes and imagines delicious food as she swallows the water. Her face brightened with a blissful smile. The cold water slides down through her throat, and it turns into whatever she wishes. She turns the tap water again and filled her cup.

Water is the only thing she can have. The water is the only food she can eat – she can drink as much as she wants. Now her full stomach stops bothering her. She drags her feet to the bed to go back to sleep. She remembers her past, when she had fancy clothes and when she ate a lot of food. She lies on her bed but cannot go back to sleep.

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She remembers living in a nice house with her happy family. She tries to recall the moments when she had everything she wanted. She was too young to understand what had happened to her father’s business, but she knows one thing that something went really bad. Otherwise her family would live like this.

“Can you go back to sleep, sweetheart?” Her mom whispers.

“I’m trying mom, I’m sorry if I woke you up.” Alyssa replies.

Alyssa knows that her father is listening to their conversation. She can hear his heavy sighs. Since they struggle with money and food, his amiable personality has changed.

He has grown to be very quiet and keeps everything to himself. Alyssa knows it, but she just barely makes it pass her heart.

Alyssa stares at her cup again, thinking and imagining about why this tragedy happened to her family. One hour later…. Two hours later…. She still couldn’t find the reason why.

“Honey, we have to go now,” her mom stroke Alyssa.

“Mom, I am sleepy…,” Alyssa murmured as she pulled the sheet covering her head.

She rolled her body like a cocoon.

Her mom sighed and shook her a little bit harder.

“We have to go now. Wake up, honey,” her mom persuaded her. Even though she wanted to wake up, her sleepy head lured her to go back to her dream world.

“Boom! Boom!” the loud sounds shook the whole house. Alyssa startled and screamed.

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Through her curtains, she could see bright lights. She walked to the window and opened the curtain and saw some houses on fire. Her whole town was in chaos. Sudden fear took over her mind.

Her mom held Alyssa tightly and stoke her head. The loud sounds shook the whole house. Alyssa startled and screamed.

Her mom held Alyssa tightly and stoke her head. Alyssa hugged her mom tightly too.

“Honey, let’s get ready now. We must go now. Dad is waiting for us to get ready,” her mom grabbed Alyssa’s face and stared at her eyes. She nodded her head and grabbed her clothes.

“What is going on?” She murmured.

While she was staring through the window in awe, her mom grabbed her and closed the curtains. She asked her mom what was going on again but her mom just signed her to be quiet. Her father walked into her room and told her mom and her to leave. Her dad led them to the back door. When they walked out the house, many people bustled around the street. She could see people running and crying. Countless soldiers with helmets were yelling. She thought it was weird to see them setting fires instead of putting them out. Her dad rushed her to follow him.

“Dad, who are those soldiers? They are setting fires and destroying the houses!”

Her mom held Alyssa’s hand tightly.

Suddenly, her dad covered her mouth.

“Honey, please be quiet. Those soldiers are Nazis. They are coming after us. We must walk quickly.” He whispered. Her mom held Alyssa’s hand tightly.

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“It is going to be O.K. We have to move away now.” Her mom told her. She asked her parents what had happened, but her father only said, “I am sorry. We have to say goodbye to the house.” Even though leaving their house broke her heart, she had to leave because the whole town was ablaze. That night, many people were arrested and killed. She overheard what her parents were talking. The scary soldiers called the Nazis arrested Jewish males and killed almost 100 Jews and burned Jewish churches, hospitals, homes, and their facilities.

But they were the lucky ones. The whole family managed to get away. She had lost her home and her comfortable life, but she still has her family, a precious gift. She turns her head looking at her parents in the pale light. She can feel the happiness spreading through her heart. Her hunger does not bother her anymore. She closes her eyes and listens to her parents’ breathing like a lullaby.

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DING DONG – SNIGDHA RAI

Ding Dong. Who is that?

It’s 11 pm. Who could it be? My parents are in Belgium, on a business trip. They would come back in a week, so who is this person? My caregiver had left the house to do the monthly shopping for groceries. She wouldn’t be back for another hour!

Ding Dong.

I cautiously tiptoed across the corridor reaching the entrance of our house. I peeked through the peephole in the door, wondering who rang the bell at such a late hour.

No one.

I opened the door, furiously. If this was some sort of prank, it was not funny. At all. I was petrified. I had never stayed the night home alone. I saw a large yellow sticky note on the floor It said “HNR”. I was extremely confused, so I looked for anyone in the distance who could have left this piece of paper at my doorstep. I left the paper in the same position it was left in, and went back inside. Opening the door of my room I heard the same annoying sound.

Ding Dong.

I was trembling in fear. My knees felt weak. Beads of cold sweat ran down the sides of my head.

Perhaps this is a good time to mention that I have agoraphobia. An anxiety disorder. It would disrupt my ability of thinking clearly and I would stress and panic very easily. This was an identical situation to the horror movies. I would open the door once again and there would be a clown or a peculiar animal who would gobble me up. I locked my door, closed all the curtains and quickly hid under the covers. I was shaking tremendously as hot tears trickled down my cheeks.

Was going on a trip more than eight thousand kilometres away necessary? Was buying groceries at this hour necessary too?! What could those letters mean? ‘HNR’ Was it an abbreviation? An acronym? A secret code?

Ding Dong.

Again? Seriously? Is this some sort of prank? I should go check again. I walked to the door once again, using up all of the courage I had in me, sweating vigorously, head as hot as coal. I could hear my heartbeat in my head, beating as though horses were galloping on my skull. I opened the door and found nothing but another piece of paper on the ground. This time it said ‘UGE’. Am I supposed to crack some code? I am horrible at logical puzzles - there is no way I would be able to solve this.

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‘G R U N H E’ None of these made sense; except for the last one. But why would I have something to do with ‘her gun’?

‘U N G E R H’ ‘E R N G U H’ ...

‘H U N G E R’ I got it!

‘HUNGER’. Hunger for what? I quickly closed the doors again, and ran across the hallway in search of any writing instrument I could find. I spotted a pen lying on the coffee table in the living room. Hurriedly picking it up, I wrote down on the opposite side of the sticky note, ‘hunger for what?’ Curiously, wanting to know what this was about, I once again, I sprinted across the hallway and opened the door slightly, placing the note in front of my door. This time I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t frightened. I just wanted to know who was deliberately annoying me at this hour. I rang the bell, hoping whoever this prankster was, would show up.

Ding Dong.

Hiding behind the curtains, I barely shifted the curtains wishing to identify this person’s face.

Then I saw someone.

Ding Dong.

I opened the door foolishly, wanting to know more.

There stood a man in black. A man with a dark hooded mask with two holes cut out for his deep ocean eyes that could make anyone collapse in a glance. They were a different shade of blue.

Too light to be real. My heartbeat rapidly accelerated. Two minutes ago, I wasn’t scared, but now I definitely was.

‘I have a hunger ’he whispered in a voice like a low wind’s sigh, ‘And that hunger, is for you’

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SHARKS’ TONGUES IN ASPIC: WE NEED TO HAVE THIS LUNCH! – NICK CHOI

Bar Müda was technically not a bar, yet the owner decided to stick to that name. No other place has the location that fits me so perfectly. And in my line of work, location is everything.

Nearby the entrance, this seat, which is basically mine, is always empty. Luckily. Or not. I don’t question these things. Questions can cause a lot of problems, again, in my line of work.

With the large window beside my seat, you can relax with a horizon of coral blueness within your sight. Nothing ever changes in the view, though I’d argue that that rather supports the calming effect. Or maybe I’m subconsciously attempting to avoid the distress of my choicelessness. I go where I am told to go.

You see, there are many reasons why I have to sit here every day.

On days like this, boss would pay, so I don’t have to worry about the bill. Today, I’ll properly soothe myself in luxury, and of course, watch out. It’s an important day in all ways.

I am waiting, you see. It’s taken so long for me to advance to my next step.

Having settled the menu list on the table, one of the workers noticed that I’ve finished choosing.

He quickly approached. Before receiving the order, he did a quick bow with his head: love the spirit.

“Sir. What would you like?”

One of the reasons this shop caught my affection were the waiters. Especially for this one, that extreme naivety of his and inability to notice anomalies is just the way I’d prefer him to be! In my line of work, too much curiosity...well, I would hate for him to have a terrible “accident”.

“Caribbean Boilermaker, please,” Becoming a world-wide figure is everyone’s dream but an all-day’s labour with minimal rests in between wouldn’t be part of that desire; thank goodness it’ll be over soon. My official line of work was especially draining this week, and this is probably the hungriest I’ve been. I’ve gotten inordinately prepared to fill myself up again. “that and the Fisherman Special, please.”

“Fisherman Special with Caribbean Boilermaker, am I correct?”

“Yup.” “Please just wait a moment, thank you!”

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certain that she’s a fan of mine (or at least my persona). Once again, my line of work gave me this confidence in observational skills.

Before I could look away to prevent any upcoming awkwardness, she slid as she inquired: “You’re that guy from children’s TV aren’t you, can’t believe I meet you here!”

Ah, in moments like this, I do feel a spurt of pride for my job. Despite the fact it is quite dangerous, I can’t ignore the different experiences it brought me. On this occasion, being famous. Children’s TV - what a perfect cover for a sleeper agent spy.

“Hey, would you like a sign?”

Obvious joke with a forced comedic accent (something that I had to painfully practice for this job), but she evidently couldn’t catch it.

“Yeah right, a sign with those fins? Impossible!”

Her straight-faced comment managed to easily suck the joy out of me.

“Oh. Well, uh, sorry?”

With a forced smile, she slithered back to the guy who’s supposedly her friend. Jeez, what a way to ruin a warm atmosphere… Though my job can seem shady, I still didn’t deserve that disrespect. Wait... She wouldn’t know my job in first place!

If it weren’t for the meal’s fortunate appearance soon after, the sudden discomfort would’ve crushed me.

“Here are your Boilermaker and Fisherman Special, bon appetit!”

Perhaps this is my life’s purpose, to feast. In fact, it is the only pleasure that my job allows. This restaurant isn’t the best, but it sure could have been worse. Bon appetit indeed, I’m ready to bite in.

This… This completely exceeds my expectation! Flawlessly grilled steak, bloodless with exceptional seasoning, steamed liver served with pickled shrimp, marinated wakame seaweed salad in amberjack aspic, all that is pleasantly wrapped with the Boilermaker.

Ah, the ecstasy as the meat soothes into my teeth out of their bones in incomparable to anything, when your mouth becomes too crowded, you can always rely on the Boilermaker to flush down the overwhelm. An occasional bite into the aspic or the shrimp strikes you with sour delight, pushing down the heaviness of the main menu.

Perfect, simply perfect, or maybe not. Those chefs could’ve been a bit more observant on what they were serving. Anyways, that doesn’t bother me much, everyone makes mistakes: I mean, how could that piece of paper in the food have hurt me in any way? Quite ironically, I’d argue it rather improved that texture, ha!

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Wait a moment, the food is certainly amazing today, but was that what I came here for? I can’t think straight after being struck with such an unexpected delight! Oh well, I guess there’ll be no problem. ...thought the Stanley S. Sharkson as he gobbled down his dinner along with the chunk of paper. Most of the note was disposed into his intestine and the leftover fraction remained in the meat. Stanley, at last, noticed something peculiar about the paper stuck in the steak, text written on it! It read: ‘Nicely done on that Baby Shark job, we’d like to hand you your next mission now. Remember that the Aquatic Bureau of Investigation relies on your responsibilities. We’d like you to–’ This was going to be a massive problem in his line of work.

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QUESTION UNANSWERED… GALI DEKEL

It looked like Hell. It was Hell. That’s the only possible way to describe it.

I just don’t understand… WHY? Why? I kept asking then, but I never got an answer.

And I never will.

This is the story of my life, right from the beginning of the war. Yes, the war, World War 2.

My name is Eva. Let me begin where it all started, February 13th 1945. By then, the Nazis have conquered most of Europe, but not where I lived (well, not yet). Hungary was a land that was still democratic, innocent and free. At that time, I was very excited and waiting in anticipation for my thirteenth birthday, I was the happiest kid around my block. I lived with my grandparents and my cousin Marta, she was the prettiest girl I have ever met! I also had frequent visits from my absolute best friend, Annie. We were all raised naive, growing up in a society of war, hence our range of knowledge was not impressive.

We were living our lives in peace…

February 15th. I was finally thirteen, I vaguely remember going to get ice cream with Marta that morning, not knowing the events that were going to arise later in that day. We came back to my grandparents’ house, where we joined Annie. We turned on the radio and started dancing smoothly around the front yard. I felt truly joyful. It was the best day of my life.

Or so I thought…

We continued dancing until my grandmother showed up, she was worried I could tell. My grandma is a very peaceful and pleasant lady. It was rare to see her concerned about anything.

“Marta, you have got to leave now, you have got to go back to your parents’ house immediately,” she said anxiously rocking back and forth. “The police are there…” “and they are not happy” she mumbled whilst grabbing Marta’s arm and dragging her into the car before we had for a proper farewell.

I was up all night thinking about Marta.

My grandparents attempted to ignore my questions about what has happened, until, they called me into the Kitchen about four days later. I entered the Kitchen, both of my grandparents were teary-eyed. I was scared. “What happened? Why are you crying?” my voice cracked.

“Marta, she is not coming back” my grandfather wept.

“They took her to Poland” he tried to explain.

“What happens in Poland?”

The question I should, yet should not have asked!

“Oh, my dear Eva” my grandma glanced at me with her light blue eyes. “You know about the Nazis, and how they do not like us Jews. Well, Poland is the main area where they put their hate into action” She explained softly.

“Is she being TORTURED? I yapped.

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“No,” my grandpa said, looking down, “it could be worse”. My face mutated white. At that time we were not sure what was real or fake; many rumours were spreading around quickly making it painfully difficult to identify the truthful ones. We knew that gruesome things were proceeding towards our people; we just did not realize how ghastly they were.

The next day, I went to school and told Annie… we were so depressed, we went to the bathroom during recess and mourned. I have never experienced such deep pain before, my heart was mentally aching. It was only the beginning!

It was now March 11th, and by now, thousands of Jewish businesses were closed and shut down by the Nazi soldiers guarding the streets. Including my grandfather’s pharmacy. I realised that I could not take anything for granted any longer.

Things got even worse on March 18th when Annie’s parents were ‘sent to Poland’ which by then after long searches into the rumours I understood meant to Auschwitz. The most infamous concentration and death camp, with the deadly gas chambers all around it. Annie was alone.

She had nowhere to go! My grandparents realised how much I loved her and so they decided to take and welcome her to our house as their own, we became sisters! It was very fulfilling to feel this happiness again.

It was very quiet from the Nazis for a while after that. It was too quiet.

A rumour started going around that the Jewish towns near us were all moved to either the Ghettos which were uncomfortably small places that often held over twenty people or… the camps. Neither being favourable. Annie and I were terrified. We began having countless of sleepless nights until one morning my grandparents came to talk to us.

On May 31st my grandparents told us that we were leaving, leaving the town, leaving the country. We were taking a risk that could have cost us our lives. That night we went in disguise.

We had to put on a dozen layers of clothes since going at midnight with suitcases fully packed would seem extremely suspicious. Pretending to be a Swiss family, we went to the nearest train station. We all witnessed thousands of our people, Jews, going into the ‘death’ trains. It was completely heartbreaking and painful to watch. After successfully loading ourselves onto the train we felt some relief. After almost 10 days switching trains, with only food supply for four days we finally arrived in Switzerland.

Five years later, after the war has ended, Hitler had died, and concentration camps were no longer in use, we came back to our old neighbourhood. We found some old photos and some of the things we left behind although they were all covered in dust and some in blood. It was hard to look at. Annie and I went around and in our thoughts, there was Marta and also the other 6 million Jews who were tortured to death.

Now, I am an old lady going around telling my story around the world, of course with my best sister Annie, in hope of explaining the horrifying conditions and heartbreaking emotions that we had experienced during the most unimaginable period of our lives. I will forever have the one simple question; WHY? Why? I kept asking then, but I never got an answer.

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And I never will.

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FOOL- RAGHAD HAMMAD AND JANE WOO

Bella 7:30 PM - Tuesday, January

I looked down to my feet, then back up at my reflection. No. No. No. No. Please no. She was right there. Mum just saw all of that.

“I thought you were getting better, Bella I believed you when you said you were improving,” Mum said, pursing her lips into a thin, firm, wide line.

“I… I’m trying. You have to believe me, Mum, you- you have to trust me,” I stuttered, turning around to face my mum. Really, I wasn’t even lying; but trying doesn’t always mean that you’ll succeed. At this point, I didn’t even remember how long I’d been attempting to get better for.

“I’m sorry but... I just don’t think this is acceptable anymore, Bella. I’m sending you to a clinic. They deal with many other cases of bulimia too, and I’ve already contacted them. I knew something like this would happen. Go on and call your friends, say goodbye. You don’t know how long you’ll be gone.”

After about a minute of just standing there, my mum lugged me back towards my room, making me sit on my bed.

She didn’t even believe in me.

Leon 8:00 AM - Wednesday, January

You know one of the moments where you wake up and you don’t know where you are?

That usually happens when you sleep in an unfamiliar place; like, for example, a hotel you’re staying at for two nights. Sometimes, you’ll open your eyes and feel homesick, and clench your stomach, but you’ll get over it later. Maybe you’ll go to the airport next, a bit nervous because you’re afraid of heights and you’ll be flying for a few hours.

But I was in no situation to be nervous like that; I’ve been in this kind of environment for a week, maybe a bit more, and I’ve been used to this gross feeling for a while, and I’ve been used to being anxious for my whole life- so why did I feel so stupidly bad? Why did my heart skip a beat when I woke up on a cold, hard bed when I’ve been used to it for days?

Of course, I knew. It was because I was in a different place; I moved in the juvenile ward just the day before. I told myself, “It’s just the same, just like the hellish place I was in. It shouldn’t be any more different other than there’s other people. I can deal with that...”

I was proven wrong when a nurse stepped into my room to wake me up, and I almost jumped out of my skin.

“Oh, you’re awake? I just came to tell you about the schedule here, since it’s a bit different from the one in inpatient hospitalization...”

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She talked about medical refeeding, group therapy.... whatever any of that meant, I knew it was about my anorexia. I tried to take mental notes about it, but when the other party was spouting nonsense without pausing to take a breath, it was kind of difficult.

Bella 8:13 AM - Wednesday, January

I can’t even believe my mum would do this to me. I can get better on my own. I’ve done it before and I know I can do it again. Why do I have to do this? I couldn’t help questioning why my mum would do this, while getting out of the car and then slamming the door.

“Bella,” Mum snapped, “we’re here because YOU need to get better, stop complaining and why don’t you get rid of the attitude.” I replied in a grunt, it’s the only thing I had energy to do. Clearly, Mum was not satisfied, giving me a death stare. I rolled my eyes. This place seemed so lame, and it was probably impossible I was even going to make it out alive at this point.

I slumped my way through the hallways, following the lady who was talking to my mum. “... and there are many other patients, maybe Bella could make some friends.”

“I’m not exactly here to make friends.” I murmured.

“Oh, dear. Well, you never know, am I right?” she laughed nervously. “Anyways, this is where you’ll be staying, Bella,” she pointed to a dimly lit room with a bed and a small bedside table.

I took a glimpse inside - it’s all I needed to do really. The insides were plain and boring, something I’d already expected. I hauled myself in, jumping onto the bed.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, my face shoved into the stiff mattress.

Leon 9:30 AM - Wednesday, January

The nurse said I could make friends. Everyone in the juvenile wards are a bit crazy; that’s why they’re there. As long as you avoid the dangerous ones, I reckoned you could make some friends, but I didn’t really have friends in my school before. I just figured everyone thought I was unwelcoming- I kind of was, so I was determined to seem more open in the ward.

I recalled the nurse saying group therapy was a great time to become friendly with others. My heart started beating faster as it grew closer. Watching the minutes go by on my bed, I imagined all the types of people I could interact with; it would be nice to have someone to talk to if I was going to be stuck here, I thought.

I have a good feeling about this!

Bella 9:48 AM - Wednesday, January

Slowly opening up my eyes, I saw the ceiling above me, the light from outside practically blinding me. I groaned, almost forgetting I was in this stupid place. Just as I sat up, a nurse came in.

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“Great! You’re awake. I just came here to tell you that group therapy is at 10, so…” he looked at his watch, “in about 10 minutes! Why don’t you change into your scrubs before then?

We’ll be in the room two doors left from here. Any questions before I leave?”

“Uhhh, do I have to go? I mean I barely got here an hour ago…”

“Although we do understand that you have only recently arrived, we think it would be best if you can get used to all of our facilities and activities as soon as possible, so you feel more accepted in our community, anything else?”

I have a bad feeling about this.

Leon 10:00 AM- Wednesday, January

As I approached the circle of chairs arranged for group therapy, I scanned the faces of everyone present. Most of them, I had seen the day before, when I was being introduced to my room- three boys, and one looked around fourteen and was fidgeting nervously in his seat, another was smiling at me, offering me a seat, but next to him was a rather irritated boy, who kept tapping his fingers on his chair. There were two girls who were already chatting quite loudly, and another girl was sitting quietly with her arms crossed. I chose to sit next to her.

“Do you think there’s going to be more people coming?” I asked the girl, hoping I could spark a conversation. “....Maybe.”

A one word answer? I desperately tried to think of another question.

“Oh um… Do you have any hobbies? Like, before you came here. I guess you can’t really do anything anymore because they don’t supply books, pens, or anything. I think. I was pretty surprised when they took away all my stuff. I had my journal, you know- and some pencils. They have to take your stuff away, so you can’t bring anything you could use to harm yourself. But what am I going to do with a journal? Hit my head with it?” “...You sure do talk a lot.” She sighed.

“I guess! I don’t see that as a bad thing, though. Well, I don’t really talk much at school or anything. But I do write things. In my journal. It’s like a diary, but just my thoughts, you know?

You could call that my hobby. Since they took it away, I have nothing to do! To be honest, I’ve been really fidgety since I came here-” “Do you have ADHD or something? Like, calm down.”

Bella 10:02 AM - Wednesday, January

That ought to do it. Gosh, I can’t believe this guy. Can he just. Shut. Up. He’s barely talked for a minute and I already feel like kicking him in the face. Maybe I’m just moody right now but- Nevermind, I have the right to be annoyed. I mean, who talks that much when they’ve just met someone?

I looked up to the boy’s face, his expression making me smirk. Pure disappointment, this might be my best work yet..

Upon further inspection of his face, I realised that he’s, “kind of cute.” My smirk widened.

The therapist walked in, diverting my attention from poor Mr. Loser.

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“Alright guys, as you can see, we have to new patients joining us! So today will mainly just be introductions and such. Seeing as you two are already sitting next to each other, why don’t you go first, Bella, then Leon can go and on and on and on.”

Oh my gosh - some have even been here for 2 months.

Via; the loudest girl (undoubtedly), Ava; the second loudest girl. Ollie; the fidgeting boy.

Nate; irritated guy. Jay; smiley boy. And, Leon. Ew.

Leon 10:38 AM - Wednesday, January

Traumatised. Yes, that was the word; I was in a traumatic experience! My face was still burning, more than 30 minutes after the incident. It’s not over dramatic to be referring to it like that. Anyone would be flustered if a stranger you decided to have small talk with suddenly commented on how appealing your face was! But to topple over in your chair in shock just as the therapist walks in was almost like a cartoon. After I suffered through half an hour of being with the same group that watched me make a fool out of myself, I rushed out of sight- into a bathroom.

I really didn’t want to go out, but the nurse kept knocking on the door, asking me if I was okay. I was not okay. But each knock was progressively getting louder and more aggressive, so I had no choice but to go out and actually face the reality that I was going to be stuck in the ward for multiple weeks. Why did I have to be like this?

10:01 - Thursday, January

Reluctantly, I trudged to the circle of chairs. Of course, the same people were there; what was I expecting? For new people to replace them? I looked to the smiling boy who was offering me a seat before, but a new boy had claimed it. I paused momentarily; I really didn’t want to sit next to Bella, although it appeared that I had no choice.

She glanced up at me and smirked.

“Hi, Leon!”

“I-uh, h-hi Bella,” I scrambled for my words, confused by the sudden kindness.

Mr. Hunt walked in, saving me from talking to Bella anymore. He placed his clipboard on a spare seat and clapped to grab our attention. Bella sighed exaggeratedly, the two chatting girls continued to talk, the irritated boy whispered something like “finally” and the smiling boy and new boy instantly looked at the therapist. I made a pained expression; I wasn’t prepared for another session. “...Talk to the person beside you about how you’ve been doing. It’s okay if it’s only a small improvement or something you’re proud of. Oh, and Bella and Leon, you can talk about your life before coming here.”

I counted the pairs, hoping my partner wasn’t Bella, or there was an odd number. But of course, the smiling boy faced the new boy, the two girls happily talked to each other, the irritated boy and the fidgety boy unwillingly partnered up, so only Bella and I were left.

“Okay, I guess I’ll go first. I have bulimia, and it’s been a big part of my life,” Bella claimed.

“Uh… What’s bulimia?”

“It’s like, when you eat a lot at once and throw it all up.”

“Oh…” “Yeah, and my mom made me come here. Um, it didn’t really affect my school life, just… other stuff. That’s it for me.”

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“I know what it is, I’m not stupid. Unlike someone.”

Flustered, I refrained from rolling my eyes; unlike Bella, who failed to hide the fact that she was rolling her eyes. It wasn’t that much of a big deal, but my frustration felt like someone was tying my guts.

“I just thought I would say just in case you didn’t know, okay? Um, I was in inpatient hospitalization before this- it’s an extreme version of this, I guess? This isn’t much better, in my opinion…”

I glanced up to Bella’s face; she had an uninterested expression.

“Must’ve been pretty rough.”

At least she was trying.

“Yeah…?” “...A one-word answer? You were pretty annoyed when I gave you a one-word answer yesterday.” She snapped- a bit too loud, as Mr. Hunt noticed and tapped her on her shoulder. I felt a bit bad; she was trying to hold back her attitude a little right then.

“Bella, try to be polite,” The therapist looked her in the eyes. “...Okay… but it really wasn’t my fault,” She retorted. “Why do we have to do this anyways?”

“I know you don’t want to do this, but I promise it’ll help you get into a better mental state.”

“How? Group therapy is just…. Talking to people. I don’t see how it’s going to do anything.”

“It makes you connect with other people. Helps you realize you’re not alone.”

“I don’t need that.”

“I think you do,” He smiled. “Everyone here can help you think more positively. If you ask me, I think you’ll benefit from that.”

10:34 - Thursday, January

Once Mr. Hunt dismissed us, I started to rush to my room. Before I knew it, I was on the ground, dazed and my head spinning.

“Woah, are you okay?” The smiling boy- I really needed to remember their namesasked, giving me a hand.

“Y-yeah, sorry.” I stood up. “Uh, you were…”

“Jay. Leon, right? You looked like you bumped into me pretty hard.”

“I think I had a concussion? It’s my fault though. Ah, sorry again.”

Jay smiled kindly. “It’s okay- by the way, I’m heading to the rec room. Nate told me there’s just some paper and pens… and some books. It’s better than nothing!”

Before I could agree, he grasped my hand and pulled me into another hallway. We approached the rec room; inside, I could hear multiple voices. Some were having quiet conversations, and some were screaming, and another voice would shush them. Then, a familiar, loud sigh.

Nothing was special about the rec room. It was plain and bare, just like all the other rooms, and there were two tables with colouring pencils and paper and a small, half empty bookshelf. There were at least ten people there- not surprising, as it was the only place for entertainment. Looking around, I recognized Nate, who was waving at Jay, Bella who was talking to a new face, the two loud girls and other people I hadn’t met yet. Kind of shocking that Bella was talking to someone. Curious, I inched closer to Bella and the unfamiliar boy.

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10:32 AM - Thursday, January

Walking back to my room, I heard Nate mention something about a rec room to Jay, and stealthily waited so I could follow Nate there. While I was checking everything out, a scream pierced through my ears. “What in the actual…” I muttered under my breath, snapping my neck around to see who it was. Someone I didn’t recognize with a broad smile was standing in the doorway, with a nurse behind him.

The nurse cleared her throat to catch everyone in the room’s attention, and introduced the newcomer. Julian. I groaned- louder than I intended to. Another boy, I thought, feeling bitter.

But then I remembered what Mr. Hunt told me- I needed to think more positively. I thought it was utterly stupid, so why did it bother me now? But he was a therapist, right? He knows what people need to do- so I tried to forced myself to think positively. “Like that’ll do anything,” I whispered to myself.

While I was leaning over the bookshelf to pick a book, I saw Julian coming up to me in the corner of my eye. I prayed that he wasn’t actually coming to talk to me, but of course, he stopped right at the bookshelf and started talking.

“That’s my favourite book!” He exclaimed loudly, pointing at the one I was holding. He grabbed it out of my hands before I could put it back.

“I’m shocked they have it here! Were you about to read it? Because I want to read it so…. Can I read it?” “...Yeah, sure,” I sighed. “I’ve already read that one anyways.” I turned to get another book, when Julian grabbed my shoulders; I don’t think he meant to be so aggressive.

“You’ve read it too? You’re the first person I know that’s read it!”

He was obnoxious and kind of sounded dumb, but it was better than Leon, who rambled on forever, so I reluctantly answered his questions without behaving like a stuck up brat. But I noticed Jay and- guess who- Leon entering the room. I felt myself growing hotter, for some reason. Hoping he wouldn’t notice me, I faced Julian completely and started to actually engage in the conversation, so when Leon inevitably walked up to me, he would see I was talking to someone and didn’t disturb me.

But of course I overheard Jay excusing himself to the bathroom. Yeah, he better not even think about coming towards m“Bella!”

“Leon! Great to see you again!” I coughed, barely trying to hide my sarcasm.

“Oh! Who are you?” Julian asked Leon, who had sat down with us, totally uninvited. That was the kind of guy he was. The type of guy I hated, yet...

“I’m Leon!”

“Hi Leon, I’m Julian!”

I sighed- was this the first day of elementary school or something? I couldn’t stand being present at that moment, but I was oddly drawn to Leon.

Leon 10:47 - Thursday, January

Julian ranted about a book, and Bella agreed time to time with a bored expression. After ten minutes of him rambling, I started doodling on some paper. When Julian talked about birds, I would draw a bird, and when he talked about a stick, I would draw the bird building a nest with 130 | P a g e

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sticks. Once another twenty minutes passed, I had a picture of a happy bird family on a forest edge next to a yard, where a girl was playing hide and seek.

“How immature can you be?” Bella peeked over my shoulder, snatching my paper from under my arms. “It looks like a six-year-old drew it.”

“Hey! I think it looks great, if I do say so myself. It conveys a story.”

“That’s amazing!” Julian exclaimed. “Can I keep it?”

“You won’t benefit from having a bad drawing. Just throw it away.”

“I decide if you can throw it away or not! And I say you’re not allowed!”

Bella crossed her arms and leaned back on her chair, giving one of her iconic sighs.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Artist.”

Bella 10:49 AM - Thursday , January

He was childish, loud and annoying. I tried to tease him, but all I got was some stuttering, and other than that, everything was normal. Also, I figured Julian liked him more than me as they were talking without paying any mind to me. So tell me, why did I get flustered whenever I saw his face? As much as I wanted to say, “it’s not like I actually like him or anything; why would I like that stupid guy!” I started to realize that wasn’t true- I was a hopeless romantic, falling for someone in a mental hospital! It was the kind of thing that happened in badly written romance novels that tried too hard to appeal to teenagers, and I hated it. I hated it so much, my dumb crush was on my mind all day- no, I had a dream about Leon’s stupid drawing too. I don’t know when it happened, when he made me feel sick whenever I thought about love. I guess you weren’t wrong if you said I was head over heels for him, however cheesy it sounds.

9:58 AM - Friday , January

Can you believe it- I was actually looking forward to group therapy. It wouldn’t be over dramatic to say my world turned pink as I noticed Leon walking in.

“Hi Bella,” He smiled at me.

“Wow, it’s not like I see you every day.”

I guess he was used to me being rude, as he calmly took the seat next to me without freaking out about my attitude.

We talked about our stages of recovery. Jay described how he felt, Nate claimed he was getting way calmer for some reason, and Ava simply said she was happy. When it was my turn, I was unsure what to say- I was getting better, for sure, and my nurse told me I could take milder antidepressants soon so I explained that. Everyone basically said they were getting better.

Including Leon.

Leon 1:30 PM - Friday, January

I stood by the bathroom near the rec room. Bella had told me to wait there. I hoped nothing was wrong- I thought it wasn’t really like her to set up a meeting, in private- that’s what she specified. Before I could get even more anxious, I noticed Bella heading towards me, so I forced myself to come down, pushing any absurd possibilities in my mind.

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“What did you need, Bella?” I asked, wondering why she looked so nervous.

“Nothing, really.” She looked down. “I just… needed to tell you I like you- like a crush, just in case you’re so stupid you can’t take a hint!”

We stood silently for what felt like ages.

“Oh. Oh, I see- thanks for telling me, but I don’t see you that way.”

Honestly at that moment, my heart was beating very fast.

Bella 1:32 PM - Friday , January

I swear I could see my rose-coloured glasses shattering. I could even hear it. I gulped audibly and I could feel an ocean behind my eyes. I was aware how stupid the situation wasconfessing my love to someone I met less than a week ago, in a mental hospital, beside a bathroom; why not add a cherry blossom tree with a romantic atmosphere?

“Ah. Well, that’s okay. I just thought you should know. It’s just a tiny crush but I just wanted to get it off my chest, so don’t feel bad.”

I could see Leon nodding, but not properly with my vision blurring. I was sure even an idiot like him wasn’t dumb enough to not realize how terrible I felt. I managed to say, “I’m glad you understand,” and started to walk away.

At least everything would be over soon.

8:00 PM - Tuesday, February

Who knew “my dog ate my homework” would be something I really had to say? I gritted my teeth in frustration as I dug through my folders that were packed full of papers. “Damn dog-” I pulled out a sheaf of paper and I scanned through them- then I stopped. It wasn’t my homework, but a familiar childish drawing. A drawing of a happy bird family on a forest edge next to a yard, where a girl was playing hide and seek.

I recalled my few weeks in a mental hospital- my stupid little crush in there, and his stupid little drawing. All of a sudden, my guilt of not telling him flooded my brain- I did leave him a letter, but how would I know he saw it or not? I slipped it under his door but a nurse could’ve cleaned it up. Really, I just confessed, made myself look like a fool and left the next day. Then I came to school, acting like nothing ever happened. I made a few new friends since then, and I would say my willingness to study improved. I was doing so well, but…

But I couldn’t stop thinking of Leon. Was he healthy now? Was he eating normally again?

Could he… ever get hungry for my love?

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SECRET – KRISHA CHHUGANI

‘BOOM!’

I slammed the door and ran out of the house. I couldn’t believe what I had just found out. I drove as far as possible away from my house and parents. I felt my heart pumping as quickly as a race car driving to the finish line. My blood was gushing in my veins. My fists were filled with anger. I drove to the furthest service apartment possible. I started looking for realtors and apartments I could move into. I don’t belong there. I was shocked…

‘BEEP BEEP’ My alarm rang for the next day., I had just remembered that I had a job interview. My current job is abhorrent - My boss has anger issues and he gets frustrated for no reason. When I heard about this job interview, I couldn’t resist, this was my only chance to get away from him. I didn’t quit my job yet. Once, I get accepted into this new office I will then quit.

That night,I went to bed and I had the worst nightmare…

I got dressed and went to my interview. During my interview, I couldn’t keep it in anymore, I had to spill it to anyone. I didn’t care who heard me. I shouted out my secret. It ruined my interview.

“GO!” shouted the man.

“Huh, what?” I exclaimed confusingly.

“WE CANNOT HAVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU HERE!” yelled the man.

I didn’t belong here either.

I stormed out of the building and kicked my car and screamed as loud as I could. I went in my car and drove at the speed of lighting. And that was how I woke up from the horrible nightmare.

I was shocked and I realized something. I realized that I couldn’t go to a job interview. I wouldill spill my secret. I won’t be able to keep it inside. This could ruin my whole future.

Even in my dreams, I didn’ton’t belong.

I entered my car and I didn’t know where to go or what to do. Suddenly, I got a phone call. It was from my boss (who has anger issues) at work.

“WHY WEREN’T YOU HERE TODAY” he screamed, “YOU DIDN’T TELL ME YOU JUST DIDN’T COME.” “Oh my gosh! I am so sorry…I h-had-” I replied “I DON’T CARE, YOU ARE FIRED!” he yelled.

I couldn’t believe what is happening to me. I was going to quit that job. Not get fired from it. How could I forget that I had work today? How could I forget that I have a job? What’s wrong with me.

I drove back to the service apartment and as soon as I entered my room I fell on my bed…

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‘BEEP BEEP’ I woke up to the sound of someone calling me. I didn’t answer and I went back to sleep.

10 minutes later Someone called me again. I didn’t answer.

30 minutes later I got another phone call. I answered.

“Hello,” I muttered.

“Lucas, where are you?” he asked.

“Who is this?” I asked.

“It’s Manny,” he replied.

Manny hads been my best friend since the 3rd grade. I couldn't talk to him without telling him my secret.

“Ummm…. Manny, there’s something I need to tell you,” I mumbled “It’s ok, I know what you are going to say. It’s fine, your mom is still your mom. She took care of you and she is not going to change.” Manny explained.

“She is not my ‘mother’ ok,” I answered aggressively.

And that was how he discovered my secret: I was adopted.

“What do you mean Lucas, your mom is still the same. She spent all night looking for you. She called me and told me what happened. I got worried and we both starting looking for you. Just call her back and talk to her,” he exclaimed calmly.

That’s when I knew what I needed.

I had a hunger for belonging. A hunger that only my family could fill.

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THAT WAS THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM – SHEHSSAN SIVABALAN

It was that last time I saw him…

------------------------------------------------------“I don’t regret what I’ve done. “I did this to save your life. But I realise he will never stop chasing me. Goodbye son” I could see my dad’s eyes watering up as he prepares to let go of the rope. I finally understood why he took me here, he wanted to kill himself here. The suicide bridge was known for people commiting suicide.

My dad let go of the rope and thrashed into the water.

Nooo! I screamed out, desperately wanting my dad to come back, But it was over.

He was gone…

------------------------------------------------------------------“I’m home mom!” I said in my casual tone.

Suddenly, my mom starts running towards me with bold, fierce eyes. She looked like a buffalo when she does that.

“You have to pack your things NOW!” shouted my mom.

I thought it was a joke but when I went up to my room, I saw that most of things are not there! I searched through my cabinets to find out where my stuff was, but I still couldn't find what I was looking for. I packed my stuff (even though I still thought this was a prank) and went down to the car. My mom was waiting there with most of the important stuff packed inside the car.

Immediately, when I entered the garage, there was a burning scent.

“Mom, what is that smell?” .She sniffs “Get in the car,” she whispered.

I got in and she immediately drove out of the house. At that moment, I recognized that the house was burning down!

“Mom, why is-!”

“Don't worry, everything will be alright” My mom said calmly.

The house looked like it was going to become a shipwreck.

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We travelled for 2 hours until we reached our stop. By then, I realised that we were running away from something. It looked like some old wrecked house on the outside, but in the inside it looked like a secret base. I was out of words to describe the place.

It was spectacular!!

I was assigned a luxurious room to sleep in. The room was a silver coated room that had a stain of gold on some parts of the ceiling. The walls were full of weapons. The weapons were covered with clear glass. The bed was a king sized bed that had a really thick blanket on top.

Other than that, there was no other furniture in the room.

When I had finished packing, my mom came in to have “the talk”.

“You have to always respect your family members more than ever no matter what.

Sometimes, people suffer with some money problems and have to do things that they don't want to do. You will see your father again very soon but until then, you have to be patient.” a. b. c. d.

These were the new rules for my new life: No questions. The less I knew, the better.

Never leave the house Do not speak to the guards No phones. No computers. No internet. No contact with the outside world.

Our very lives depended on it.

“Go to sleep Shehssan” I went to sleep and woke up the next day due to someone touching me, it was a man in black suit, I immediately recognized that the man in the black suit was my dad.

“Let's go for a walk,” said my dad We walked all the way from the base to the death bridge.

“Do you know this place son?” asked my dad “Yeah, this is the place where most people commit suicide.” I said “I burned down our house to protect us from my boss. I couldn’t take it anymore. I betrayed him to the police. I don’t regret what I’ve done. I did this to save your life. But he will keep chasing us. Goodbye son” My dad let go of the rope he was holding on the bridge and thrashed into the water.

Nooo! I screamed out, desperately wanting my dad to come back, But it was over.

He was gone…

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THE TRIAL – JEAN ELLISE KIM

“The trial shall begin” The halls etched in gold glittered in vain, as the all-mighty Egyptian god bellowed in a searing tone. Anubis stares down coldly in his throne of marbles while waiting for you to stumble directly in front of him. Crash. Resentful resonation is triggered by the brass scales tipping frantically; a solid heart against a congealed brain. The hours of judgement have commenced.

‘Heart or brain. Heart or brain…’

“What are your sins, young one?” The jackal-head enquired.

“I supported the operation on mankind to create perfection. As a result, they could not ‘feel’ to achieve the best logical decisions in the brain… Now they have turned against us.”

The scale tipped towards the congealed brain.

“Ah yes,” Anubis muttered. “Humans are the type of creatures that endlessly strive for excellence in vast circumstances.” His tone was flat, as if he had expected the specific scenario to unfold from ahead of time. “But be aware that flawlessness can result in chaos.”

You have patiently waited for the aftermath, expecting to get burnt to ashes for all the actions committed until the last hours. Blessing or a curse? Nothing was said or exchanged. Absolutely soundless.

Deafening silence seemed to stretch into eternity. Time had converted into sticky chunks of toffee; endlessly stretching away. When will it all end? The pressuring tension was all too painful now. A wry smile spreads across your face from the ironic situation, making you reminisce about the snippets of critical flashbacks that affected you in your lifetime.

The picturesque streets of your hometown begin to unfurl: Highly attractive individuals walk along the linings of the concrete avenue in a straight line, not even minding the aroma of strong coffee near ‘that’ deli that people used to love. You naturally blend in with the community, flashing your pearly whites. There hasn’t been any form of imperfection ever since the chips have been implanted, and it was understandable. It just meant that prototype LPX-200 had been a success. Everyone just HAD to surgically implant it within their internal self. It was for the greater good.

However, not everything could be euphoric for all. Some detested the idea of altering themselves into a ‘plastic matter,’ as they would put it. Those who have refused had been casted away from society- unkempt, unemployed, and unloved. Foolishness. Speaking of it...

“My mother died because of you.” A ‘castaway’ screamed, diverting your attention. “Don’t you think it’s sickening? Nothing’s natural anymore! They’re all dolls!”

Cold glances.

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“It is most optimal to dispose of castaways when they are least able to defend themselves,” A blonde woman spoke monotonously.

“I cannot fault your computation.” Others meticulously agreed.

The little boy shuddereds violently, as the shapely nails clawed towards him to remind him of his tragic fate. You feel an intangible compulsion to move away in disgust- yet you proceed to continue on with your life again. …. … .

“You have given up your humanity for your own little world.” Anubis snarls. “Repeat the cycle again, until you realise this.”

You let out a short little chuckle, brushing the comment aside. What did this even mean in the first place? You will never feel remorse over your ascension in any methods.

“I regret nothing. My hunger for power will never cease.”

“So you say.” ….. …. .

“The trial shall begin” The halls etched in gold glitter in vain, as the all-mighty Egyptian god bellows in a searing tone.

Anubis stares down furiously in his throne of marble while waiting for you to stumble directly in front of him. Crash. Resentful resonation is triggered by the brass scales tipping frantically; a solid heart against a congealed brain. The hours of judgement have commenced…

Wait, why are you crying? …..

“All that glitters is not gold.”

-William Shakespeare

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LIMBO – MATTHEW LEE

This story contains demonic content and a lot of violence. Please don’t read it if you are sensitive to horror and violence.

“One…” “Two…” “Three...”

“Four...”

“We… All… Fall… Down…” He sang, as he gracefully waltzed down the hallway. His voice was as cool as the winter breeze. His movements were as graceful as the lamb in the pasture.

“Why do you keep making me do this!” Gabriel cried in his mind as he lay on the ground.

Despite the anguish in his words, he was smiling in a satisfying way with the four infants dead before him. More would be coming...

“Five...”

“Six…” “Seven...”

“Eight...”

Gabriel was elegant, yet there was something peculiar about him. He wasn’t normal. He was almost too graceful. It was unnatural, inhuman…

Supernatural… ************************************************************************************************************* 5 years ago…

“If I accomplish this, my parents will finally return back to me.”

I was wrong. It didn’t work. And I must pay the price. The price of a million souls. I was deceived, by my own curiosity. Stripped of my own freedom. Now, something possesses me., I don’t know what, but something does. ************************************************************************************************************* “I’m doing this for you Gabriel,” whispered a soothing voice in Gabriel’s head.

“Nine...”

“Ten…” “Eleven…”

“Twelve…”

“It will make you happy again; these sacrifices will save you and your family,” it whispered again.

“Thirteen...”

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“Fourteen...”

“Fifteen...”

“Sixteen...”

“Unless, of course, you want to enjoy an eternity of suffering?” The soothing voice suddenly turned demonic and Gabriel fell to the ground.

“ENOUGH!” screamed Gabriel as he started to stab himself with the surgical saw covered in the blood of the innocents.

Yet, despite his efforts, no blood was drawn from the wounds he had created. He couldn’t die and he despised it. He wished he too could just join his parents in hell rather than experience the deaths of thousands of families.

“Something coming,” The voice inside him sang “No, please no, anything but that,” pleaded Gabriel In a blink of an eye, Gabriel’s once defeated body now had a burning urge -, the urge to kill.

He quickly grabbed the saw and with inhuman speed and strength met the group of people in the floor below “Y-y-young man, stand down immediately,” the officer tried to stop himself from stuttering in utter fear.

“T-t-this will be easy if you drop your weapon now,” explained another officer.

Calmly, Gabriel pushed the saw into the corpse of a dead nurse nearby as more blood spilled out onto Gabriel's face.

“Fear not mortals, for your reckoning has come,” he whispered loud enough that he could be her by everyone.

The SWAT team slowly retreated to the back of the room even though what was to come was inevitable.

“Quick and painless, if you don’t resist that is,” His voice was as cool as the winter breeze, his gaze was unaltered, fixed on the crowd of grown men struck with fear. He approached slowly, licking his lips in a sadistic manner.

Right then, one of the members screamed in terror, as he could not take it anymore, and charged straight at Gabriel.

“Bold move, you will be rewarded,” Gabriel hissed as he dashed behind the member, tripped the man, and with his demonic energy, blasted a hole straight through his chest.

Gabriel picked up the ragged doll that was once a living being and threw the body to the terrified crowd of SWAT members as blood started to pour from the hole in the chest of the man.

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Without warning, Gabriel lifted his hand with his palm facing the crowd as a pentagram started to form on it. “DIE MORTALS!� Gabriel screamed in pleasure and glee, as a bright red light filled the room which blinded the view of the SWAT team and when the light had cleared, there was nothing but a pile of rotting flesh that replaced the SWAT team standing there just moments ago.

Gabriel put his hand on his face and smiled sadistically and started crying with his eyes filled with the blood of his victims. A smile turned into a giggle, which soon turned into a laugh which filled the room and echoed through the city, muffled out by the sound of cars passing by...

Enough blood had been spilt to satisfy his hunger for a while.

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CACAO BEANS – JUNE SOUK

I was so hungry. It was my third day without food. It felt like I could do any task; really anything if it even paid one tiny crumb of food. ************************************************************************************* It was another fine morning (if you consider this fine, that is.)

It was a hot, humid and sticky day. Just like yesterday. I can’t believe that tomorrow marks the long 10-year mark since I have been trafficked here to the Ivory Coast from Ghana. I was only 7 years old at the time when I crossed the border with people who were supposed to help me find a job in the Ivory Coast. I was supposed to return home after 1 year of work.

Little did I know that the second I crossed into the Ivory Coast they would steal my passport (well I guess it wasn’t really a passport but it still meant a lot to me) and send me to a Cacao farm to work for free!

My job was to collect the bitter Cacao pods from the tall trees and if I did not collect as many as I was told, the boss man would beat me with his stick and starve me for days sometimes.

Every night, before I went to sleep, I would gaze at the stars imagining what my life would have been if I took different choices. If only I had chosen to listen to my uncle.

He warned me of the dangers I would face if I agreed to do this.

If I could rewrite my fate… ************************************************************************************** I was so hungry. It was my third day without food. It felt like I could do any task; really anything if it even paid one small crumb of food.

I decided to steal food; even one piece of it was more than enough. The Cacao beans to be exact. I knew that they weren’t really appetizing raw as it tasted bitter but it was food nonetheless and that was the only thing that mattered. I was sure that my ‘master plan’ was going to work.

This is how my plan would go: I would wait until my bossman left my sector and then pounce on a juicy, scrumptious, mouthwatering mango, slice it open, eat a bit of it on the spot and then hide the rest in my hiding place behind the barn.

Easy right? Not really. Many things went wrong that night. A lot of factors were definitely not blowing in my favour. I didn’t expect things to be like they were. Not even in my wildest dreams…

I was woken up by the first rays of sunshine crawling through the windows of the abandoned barn in which I had spent the previous 9 gruelling hours of my life.

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I was so scared. I knew that the boss would surely come to me and beat me up for what I did yesterday. I just hoped that he wouldn’t strike me dead.

I could hear his roaring footsteps coming towards me. I had three choices; I could run, hide or fight. I decided to do the latter. I decided to hide behind a heap of neatly organized hay behind the horses.

Ba-bum Ba-bum Ba-bum.

I could hear my heart beat as he came closer… closer… closer to me.

I caught a glimpse of him looking around the barn searching everywhere where my feeble body could hide.

That’s when I noticed that the door of the barn was unlocked and opened! I could see the light of freedom just a few footsteps in front of me.

When he looked the other way around, I knew this was my only chance of survival. I bolted out of my hiding spot passing the bossman giving him my signature smile and leaping towards freedom.

This turned out to be a huge mistake.

I had underestimated my bossman; it had all been a trap to capture me. He lured me out of the barn where two young, muscular men were waiting for me.

“Gotcha,” one of them said in a very hushed tone.

I do not remember clearly what happened next. I had fainted in the arms of two young men from exhaustion and malnutrition. I felt myself being carried away into a black car and driven out of the farm. I felt stupid for falling in his trap and I was mad at the fact that I even left my little stash of food in my hiding stop. How could I be so ignorant?

I asked myself as I drifted off to sleep.

I was woken up by a bucket of cold water hitting my face. My body jolted straight and that’s when I found out that I was tied up in a chair in some kind of warehouse. I had this feeling in my gut that I needed to get the hell out of here ASAP. I knew I was in trouble -; big trouble. The bossman found my stash of food I had stolen and he was ready to lash it all out on me.

For a moment, everything was silent and the tension was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the boss man started to speak.

“So, you decided to steal food from my farm and expected not to get caught, did you?” he asked in a strong lowly voice. “And to make things worse, I have heard that you have planned an escape route out of here,” he added “I recommend you reconsider your choice Amare. This is your last warning” he finished.

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Then after a few moments, he started to talk again.

“I have an offer for you,” he said. “Why don’t you be my little spy in the farm and inform me when a boy stole food or plans of escaping. And in return, I will pay you with hospitality and food.

I had to think carefully about this. I didn’t want to be a snitch but I wanted food and a nice place to sleep at night. So after some consideration. I agreed to his offer. To be his little helper but on one condition that the bossman would not tell the boys that I was the snitch.

Today marks two years after I agreed to his offer. I would say I live a pretty nice life (for a boy who lives in a Cocoa farm) the bossman has lived up to his promise and I did my side of the bargain. I was generally fed and ate decently nice food and had a nice place of rest. The rest of the boys did not know who I truly was and so I was able to gain their trust and they began to open up and talk to me with confidence. Which was great for me as I had more “stories” to share and the more of them I shared, the more food and kindness I received from the bossman.

Well, people ask if my life was better after I accepted the offer from the bossman and my answer to that question is yes; I live a nice happy life.

I’m not so hungry any more.

But, shhh, I don’t want to get caught…

I don’t want to ever be hungry again.

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THE FATE OF THE CROWN – SOOJIN SHIN

It was a dark, stormy night on December 8th, 1542. All you could hear was the wind howling in the distance and the screams of a woman in labour. Silence. crickets chirping, and finally cries of a baby; a baby that didn’t know that how her role in history was so important. The future held so many opportunities for her but royals don’t always have happy endings. Especially, for a baby that abdicated the throne at six days old, already a queen in her own right and destined to marry the next king of France. Her mother was making an alliance with France to ensure their safety along with their country. As for me, well I was a servant named Elizabeth in the palace for Queen Mary herself. I was in charge of keeping her safe and raising her to be a graceful and elegant queen.

At the news of her father’s untimely passing, word was spread all around Europe about her birth and how she had taken the throne. Many devised plans immediately to take over the throne by killing Mary. Due to the many threats, Mary was sent away to a place, far away, where it was thought no one would find her. It was her grandmother (Antoinette of Guise) who took her in and brought Mary up as a Catholic french woman. I helped to raise her along with two other servants. Everyone called her Marie because she had become so accustomed to the french.

One of her servants(Josephine)was her food taster but it was kept as a secret from Mary because she was very independent and did not want to be controlled. I was the one who helped her get ready and I also bathed her.

One fateful day, Mary and her servants were enjoying a nice meal when she heard a “thud”.

It was her food taster!

The servant had been poisoned - by someone who was trying to poison Mary. We all started panicking as we gathered all of Mary’s items and got the carriage ready as she was leaving to go to the french palace to be safe. We, her main servants, went with her to take care of the young lady. In a state of shock, Mary joined us in the carriage as we started our journey for the Queen.

A few days later…

Pulling up to the castle, we saw the crowd of courtiers, the ladies in waiting, the KIng, Queen, and finally the Prince himself. I looked towards my left and saw that Mary was nervous. As if she was a bolt of lightning, she got up as the carriage came to a stop and carefully let herself out.

This was protocol for her because she needed to be immaculate and graceful when she exited the carriage. Following her from a distance, I got out her luggage to take them to her room. Fortunately, milady was a light packer and the french had many servants so they could take them up for me. I just simply trailed behind Milady from a distance to give her space to explore the castle and the fields.

I knew that her coming into society and the public would cause something big to happen, I could sense it.

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Queen Elizabeth's assassins. I could tell she was getting scared that Mary would try and take the throne when she was married with Francis as Scotland and France would join forces and make an undefeatable force. Little did I know that soon this would be reality and the ending wouldn’t be a good one.

“Ladies CHOP! CHOP! It is finally the day get the decorations and food ready NOW!” I demanded as I rushed in to her chambers to get her ready.

“Mary, darling I need you to come out of the bath now.” I stated “Of course! I am terribly sorry I... I just don’t know how to feel.” Mary confessed “What do you mean?” I asked “I think that this will help my country a..and I really don’t want to be selfish or anything of the sort but I don’t know if I am ready.” Mary admitted “Well, I don’t think you will ever be ready as a person but as a queen you have to do what’s right for your country.” I acknowledged.

I was concerned as I saw her eyes dilate to the size of saucers as she smoothed her hair with trembling hands. However, I knew her well enough to know that she just doesn’t want me to worry about her. As her servant I wanted her to be happy and feel safe but as a loyal subject, I wanted her to do what was right for the country and the people. She let out as big sigh while she looked down and the was a moment of silence so she could collect herself. . .

“Okay, I think I am ready to do this for my country, my subjects, and for my future children.”

Mary declared.

As we left the room, I grabbed her hand to reassure her before the large double doors opened as the countdown was being recited. The doors let her in as she gracefully carried herself like a swan down the aisle.

Poor Mary. Within two years, Francis was dead and Mary was devastated that her husband was dead and I often saw her sulking. She was finally starting to be happy but this didn’t help, however, she didn’t want to be grieving so she made a plan.

Not to mention that the throne of England was, at this point, never going to be hers. She knew this and had given up but she was determined to find another husband and to have a child to rule after Elizabeth. Elizabeth could feel that Mary had given up on the English throne but she could tell she knew that Mary was planning something. Elizabeth just didn’t know what was coming to her…

After 5 years, Mary remarried and it was a phenomenon that was being spread all throughout Europe. More importantly, there was a deceiving, lying, mischievous person who was intrigued by this news that was spreading like wildfire who despised Mary herself, Elizabeth the Queen of England. She was a woman who was cruel to her subjects and didn’t want to even get married for her own country! How rude of her to not get married to help the country that she rules.

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mouth to get people on your side! It was as if she was very insecure and scared like a little girl.It even got to the point that she thought her position was in jeopardy. In my opinion, it was just very immature to put attacks on a girl when you are a woman who should be a mature queen. Moreover, this was due to the fact that if Mary got the people to go against her she would lose because Elizabeth was an ‘illegitimate child’ because her mother was a seductress.

Mary knew this and used it against her every chance she got and unfortunately this angered Elizabeth quite a bit, although you couldn’t tell by her poker face. I was very happy for Mary but as time went by I was getting a strange feeling that someone was watching her. . .

We would never be safe. ********************************************* STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! Footsteps echoed loudly and I immediately took action as I rushed in to her chambers to get milady to safety. We took her through the secret tunnels that were hidden behind her room to escape in the night as the fight in the castle began. Rushing into the stables, we took precaution and mounted on the horses as we galloped off into the night. My mission was to get Mary back to Scotland in the safety of the castle walls.

We had no idea that we had been betrayed. *************************** I can’t watch.

Mary is gone, the little girl I had spent her whole life with, the one I was supposed to look over.

Beheaded in Fotheringhay castle. After 19 years of imprisonment.

And it was all because of her evil sister’s hunger for the throne.

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A JOURNEY FOR A WEEK – AMY PARK

It was Monday morning, the day where we go camping in Canada! I was up early in the morning. Everyone was asleep when I woke up although I tried to wait for them to come out, but I just couldn’t. I ran to Linda’s room and licked her until she finally woke up. Linda is my best friend and she always understands me - even though I am a dog and she is a human. I was already exhausted and my tongue was out, but she pushed me towards the room, then ran back to the bed.

“Go away, you silly dog! I am going to sleep more!”

I stared at her for a moment with a confused look and ran back to her. She woke up eventually and she pulled me towards her and she hugged me and kissed me. Linda and I finally went to the kitchen, but she did not wake her parents, but she gave me my favorite meal. When I was busy with my food, she went to her parents' room to wake them up.

“Mama? Papa? It’s already 6:30. We need to go at 7:30, I am so excited to go to Williamson Lake Campground!!” Linda was excited just like I was.

By the time I finished my food, everyone was ready, except me. I quickly went into the van and sat on Linda’s lap. Her lap felt like a soft pillow.

The view was fantastic while crossing the border from America to Canada. I slept most of the journey, but at least I didn’t miss the awesome view! When Linda was shaking me, I knew that she was waking me up, I knew that we have arrived. I jumped off from the van and ran everywhere. While Linda and her parents were unpacking, I was already off and running into the lake. I could smell the fresh air and fishes, and so on. The water was very cold, but it was perfect for the hot weather. I chased away the birds, squirrels, and some other weird animals.

This space is mine!

It was only me, Linda, and her parents altogether, camping!!! I was so excited about hiking, catching fish, and so on. Even though I knew that I probably have to sleep outside of the tent, it was okay. 10 days, just for four of us.

Since it was late afternoon when we arrived. Linda and her mom cleaned up the table and brought out spoons and forks. The place wasn’t very clean like our house back in America, but it was still cool. In the other side, Linda’s dad was in the grocery store, buying some milk, fish, marshmallows, and a few more things. I wanted to go catch fish, but it was the first day, and everyone was tired.

The smell of fish and marshmallows made me famished. I didn’t care about manners, once the food was cooked, I ate like a pig - a very hungry one.

That night, it didn’t really matter if I had to sleep outside or not, but I was too exhausted from a long day, so I made myself cozy and comfortable, then I closed my eyes, yet, I did not pay attention to what will happen next...

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and closer to me. Soon, I could smell this delicious, fish! I thought that it’s the leftovers from dinner, so I ate. I was eating like a pig, again and suddenly, I felt a bit funny, and sick apparently. Did I eat too fast? I couldn’t figure out why, and it was getting worse.

“Hopefully we got the right one!”

I woke up hearing engine sounds and voices that I couldn’t recognize. I was still very dizzy and sick. I slowly opened my eyes, I tried to stretch, but I couldn’t. Why? I tried it again, but I still couldn’t. Where am I? What is this place? Are we moving somewhere? I got so confused. I started barking and howling.

“Uhh, the dog woke up already”, a deep growly voice said.

I thought it was the people from the camping ground at first, but then I saw headlights and fast cars moving past me, then I knew that I wasn’t in the camping ground anymore. I think I am in the back of the car! Where is Linda? I thought she was in the tent! Is she with me? I was so scared that I couldn’t move or bark now.

Shortly after, I could smell very fresh trees and a small fountain, after, I could smell something that is so big that I can’t really describe in words. When I looked up, there was this building that is so huge that I thought it was the White House what Linda and I saw back in the United States.

At that moment, someone else came out of the mansion and talked to the men that brought me here. I could barely see them talking outside because the window was very small. I couldn’t exactly hear what they were saying, but there was this unique smell coming out of the man that came out of the mansion. The three strangers came towards me, closer and closer. I had a bad feeling about this. One of the strangers opened the trunk and there I was, I was like a dead mouse. At that moment, one guy grabbed me with their tattooed hands, that smelled like rotten eggs and was very upset to the other guys. He shouted and screamed at them, but I couldn’t get what they were talking about except for this, “You brought the wrong dog you stupid men!” he shouted in a loud and angry voice.

Then, he threw me into the bushes and went back to his mansion. My eyesight was blurry for a second, then when I was finally feeling better, I noticed that the guys were one. I suddenly missed Linda so much. She was my closest family! I didn’t even know where I was and I was so scared.

It has been three days since I didn’t eat. I was so craving to eat that I couldn’t sleep. I smashed my nose in the dirt and prayed for food. I looked at my tired legs, and I could feel the bones. At that instant, I could smell this really strong Birch like scent. I moved my head towards the smell, and I noticed a sign, and near the sign, there was a family being excited and talking about something. I couldn’t really hear or smell anything that’s familiar, but I just heard this; ‘Williamson Lake Campground’.

It was hard for me to hear, but I could’ve heard this sentence because Linda said it to me all the time. Wait? Williamson Lake Campground? Isn’t that the camping ground where I was staying with Linda? I hurried to the families and barked. They were confused, and I didn’t know what they were saying, but they took me to their back seat. I think they were taking me there! I was so excited and to show that I am willing to go with them, I licked them until they were wet. One 149 | P a g e

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of the boys made a smile and stroked me. I couldn’t know how many minutes or even hours it took to go there, but for me, it felt like days going there. Since I was so hungry and empty, the family felt sorry for me and gave me a piece of their sandwich. It was like eating the whole world! I never felt this happy. But I still wasn’t still very full, deep in my heart, I missed Linda, so much. I think that’s how I am still alive if Linda wasn’t my best friend and if I never knew her, I wouldn’t have made it until here.

When I finally got there, once again, I could smell the fresh air and fishes, and so on. I had to wait for the families to set their tent. I was calm. Then all of a sudden, I noticed the spot where we were. There was no one! Are they gone? I freaked out, again. I tried to smell anything that could be reliable, but I couldn’t. When I was so depressed and tired, just before I felt like I was going to faint, a boy near the tent was pointing at the paper and pointing me back and forth. A woman near him was so shocked for some reason. They came closer and closer to me. They lured me with their food and held me as fast as they can. I tried my best to escape, but they were just too fast. I barked and barked because I hate strangers’ hand! I never hated humans before, but I hate them so much. I closed my eyes slowly and gave up. The last thing that I thought about was Linda, my only best friend, and forever family.

I think about 2 days passed. I was eating my breakfast with the boy and the woman. I knew that I woke up, but it didn’t feel real. I wasn’t very hungry anymore, physically, but I just wasn’t well mentally. At that point, the boy next to me stopped eating his apple, and the woman next to him was running like she saw something that is so surprising and marvelous, but I knew wonderful things would never happen to me again. The only time when I was surprised and marvelous was when I was with Linda. But they kept doing it. I was so jealous, so I didn’t look. No! I wasn’t going to look.

When I was about to eat another chunk of potatoes, instantly, I could smell this familiar perfume.

I gave up and looked up. Before I could even look at what I smelled, something grabbed me and hugged me. something grabbed me so hard, I was going to faint again. I felt the water in my back, so I knew it wasn’t something - it was someone.

It was from Linda! Her eyes were so watery that I thought her eyes are swimming pool. I didn’t even cry. I licked her, and licked her until she was actually wet.

I was finally happy again.

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HUNGRY FOR LOVE – SAMUEL KIM

“→” Today, I’m going to change millions and millions of lives. My name is Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, simply known as xxxtentacion. I’m a rapper who tries to influence the world. I go to concerts and sing songs to have some fun and get love from my fans.

“I’m lost then I’m found” — XXXTENTACION, SAD! 1998 - 2011 When I was very young, I lost my dad and only lived with my mom and sometimes with my grandma. I grew up in Pompano Beach and Lauderhill in South Florida. I’ve been in dangerous situations, so I was beating up people since I was a kid.

When I was 6, I even tried to stab a man who was messing with my mother. I was also expelled from my first middle school for fighting. I fought a lot and was pretty aggressive, but this happened because my mom could not handle nor take care of me.

In middle school, my mother tried to encourage this interest by signing him up for a chorus. *********************************************************** Mom: OH MY GOSH. Why won’t you do anything in your life? At least go into chorus that could do make you a better person. (very angry and depressed) Mom: (quietly) What should I do with him...

Jahseh: I don’t even think that chorus could change anything in my life. (stage directions) Mom: Everything can change your life.

Jahseh: Ok mom. (groaning) ********************************************************** I eventually got kicked out of the program for punching a classmate. But I suddenly had a feeling...That I was in a totally different place when I was singing… A place that I cannot describe. An unexplainable place that is such a pleasing place. That I could calm down and do whatever I needed to do. A place where no one could distract me.

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“I love when you’re around. But I hate when you leave” — XXXTENTACION, SAD! My songs are not about money and doing crazy stuff like burning expensive brand named clothes, throwing expensive gadgets to show off and hanging with gangs to look cool and strong. But actually, I was making songs to talk about love, death, and how I feel about my life. Not a lot of people knew me or care for me, but I always tried to change and inspire people who could change the world to a better place. I do concerts with positive energy from fans. If I start the concert, everyone dances and sings together. And everyone does not stop doing that. It feels like, everyone is supporting each other and loving each other, and that cheered me up because that makes me happy. That makes me Hungry for my fan’s love…

June 18, 2018 It was June 18, 2018. Before I drove a car, I shared my love with my fans on instagram and said that I would love my fans like my family until I die... I turned my phone off and kept on riving. Suddenly behind me, a big black van approached me.

Then it felt like the van was chasing me as if it was a cheetah. It was getting closer and closer. My heart was pounding so fast like a sports car engine. Then I heard a sound… ********************************************************** Anonymous: Open up!!! (very angrily) Jahseh: Why would I! (yelling) Notices that they are Dedrick Williams, Robert Allen, Michael Boatwright, and Trayvon Newsome. And knows that he’s in big trouble.

Anonymous: Give me everything or else you’ll die for not giving me everything you have right now. (furiously) Jahseh: But even if you take all my stuff, you can’t steal my love for my

fans...

********************************************************** I was in shock. My head was twisting and twisting like Twizzlers. I saw my guard trying to help me get out of the car, but he saw two men walking toward him with a gun. So he ran away without helping me get out, but then suddenly there was a huge FLASH.

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Dedrick and Robert were arrested. Michael and Trayvon remain at large. They assaulted me and then shot me with a gun. One person died in this world, but millions and millions of people lost their happiness and love for me.

With one bullet...

The direction of love had changed…

“←←←” r.i.p xxxtentacion...

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UNIT 731 – SUNGJUN HWANG

Based on a true story.

Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War of World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Imperial Japan. At least 3000 women and children (known as logs) were tortured in one camp alone but the worst part was that the victims never received justice. The scientists involved in the torture were given full immunity if they handed over their “research” to the allies. (BBC, Wikipedia) Disclaimer Violence included. May not suitable for students under year 7.

1936 They called them “logs”. It was known that about 600 logs came into the “sawmill” every year.

No logs went out of the sawmill with their parts intact.

And that is where I was born. I am one of the bacteria that cause necrotizing fasciitis (break-down of skin, fat, and the tissue covering the muscles). We are known as Streptococcus.

I saw the “fathers” taking the parts of the logs outside quietly without anybody noticing and disposing them. We were the creatures going inside the logs. However, I still didn’t get it. Why did the logs have round heads, dark eyes, long arms and chopstick-like legs? I wasn’t sure. We just followed what the “fathers” told us. They rejoiced when we succeeded in exterminating the logs. They always say that they can conquer everybody when they succeed with this project.

“We don’t eat dead things! How are we able to eat up these logs?” said my fellow buddies. We were just driven crazy by the hunger. Only our instincts dominated our body. We ripped out and ate all the flesh until the last piece remaining.

After we finished our job, we got to rest in a box covered with bones.

1937 The cold winter that started from the year before is almost about to end. The fathers came into our home with the white clothes and masks. They put us into a large white tub. We were taken outside and I could feel the frigid weather outside.

Bacteria don’t like the cold.

After a while, we were sucked out of the tub through a hollow tube. We investigated the new log.

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and contracting and the sorrowful sound was echoing through the whole place.

1938 It was breakfast time for the logs. The small logs were waiting for their food quietly. The fathers poured the white chemicals inside the food tub. The logs plunged towards the food and they devoured the food tub as if they were beasts that starved for days and days. After a while, one by one, they started to fall in a long sleep. “Maybe they wouldn’t wake up anymore” I thought.

Not a single log woke up after eating breakfast. The fathers smiled. I didn’t understand. I thought they were just logs that move. I still didn’t know what this place was made for. There were many mysterious questions left unsolved for me. Well, before that… it was our breakfast time.

1939 World War II. The fathers got busier and busier. Somehow after the war started, everybody was in chaos and anxiety. They skipped many important steps they used to do and they started initiating major experimentations on the logs. One of the experiments that I witnessed was the so called “maternal bond experiment”. The fathers brought in one tall log with long hair and one very small log. They locked them in a small room. “Start!” The fathers exclaimed. “30 celsius! 50 celsius! 70 celsius!” One of the fathers shouted to the others. I could feel the extreme heat.

“How is the ____ reacting?” said one “She is not stepping on top of the _____ to get away from the heat yet!”. “Go for 100 celsius!”. I couldn’t hear what they were saying clearly since the sound of the machine was immense. The situation got aggravated as time passed. I could hear the logs scream, full of grief and agony. I could see their eyes burning in the flames and the trembling hands holding onto the others. The logs stared to my side as if they were looking at me.

They made me sympathetic even though I am a bacterium. It felt like they were inflicting their pain on me. And yet I couldn’t do anything for them. Maybe I didn’t want to. I didn’t know anything about the truth. I could at least start to feel that something wasn’t going right.

1940 “Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom… all day every day the sound of impact against the Imperial Japan…”. There was a very entertaining storyteller in our colony. He used to sneak out to the outer world and tell everybody about what he saw, heard, smelled, felt, thought and wondered.

We were very curious about the outside world. The fathers didn’t know that this happened. We slowly learnt about literature and communication behind their back. Once, the jar that our colony was staying temporarily accidentally fell on one of the fathers’ lab coats. He screamed and made us fall to the ground. How strange. He likes to use us but hates us to go on him. I thought.

How important or trivial are we, to them? Who are they to choose the superiority and inferiority of others? What is the government doing while there’s a hell on earth tormenting thousands of logs?

5 years later…

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1945 The sound gave out a shockwave inside my body. The ground shook, and everybody was in chaos. “Run! Run! Take all the data of the experiment”. The fathers rushed out. Wait, what about us? The door closed and we were left behind. We were left inside the dreadful place.

However, the fathers were too late. A person came in with groups of soldiers around him. “Stop moving!” the soldiers exclaimed. The person introduced himself. “Hello, I am General MacArthur”. The fathers had shocked faces on them.

“Hello…?” they said. “Oh don’t worry we are not here to arrest you. Hand us the data you collected and we will offer you full political immunity to punishments on your crime” the general said.

“Is that so?” the Japanese scientists could not believe their luck at avoiding all punishment, “Do you want to have a look inside?”

The US scientist stared hungrily at the lab and began to rush towards it.

“Oh wait… wear this mask before you go. There are contaminants”.

The “doctor” grabbed the mask.

“Vice knows that he is ugly, so he puts on his mask” - Benjamin Franklin

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A BROKEN HEART OR A BROKEN FAMILY? - MINA LAURSEN

Disclaimer: I normally don’t publish stories that glamourise death but this story highlights the plight of many homeless people. In fact, it mirrors the story of one of the employees in Nanumi who became homeless after he was abused by his family and left handicapped by a “hit-and-run” driver. Without the help of Nanumi, his story would have been very similar to the story below.

Monday, December 12, 1975, 5:33 PM - A dream come true They drove home from the hospital with their new, adorable, sweet and lovable baby girl. Mom in the passenger's' seat, Dad in the driver's seat, and Maria in the back in her booster seat. They had always dreamt to have a child together and eventually did. It was almost like their destiny to have a child together.

However, Maria was around one and a half years old when her dad left. He said he was off to work, but never returned. She couldn’t help but wonder where he went. “Was he dead? Is ever going to come back? Why did he just leave me like that?” Her dad’s disappearance was hard on her but her mom would tell her it was part of a magic show and he would be back anytime. In reality, mother wasn’t sure about where he had gone either...

Thursday, December 31, 1978, 6:03 AM - When her mom died Apart from the fact her dad had disappeared. Her mom had suffered from severe depression. She just could not handle it anymore. Maria’s mom sadly took her own life by selfharm. She had cut her own wrist and died from exsanguination. This left her daughter up for adoption.

Saturday, April 20, 1987, 4:26 PM - If only she had known A few years passed by. Yet, she was still found alone and sad without a family in the adoption centre. However, something amazing happened. A rich Chinese family named the Wong’s. They had one older and one younger brother, a mother, and a father. Their house appeared to be larger than 13 Blue Whales. The white paint of the walls was whiter than freshly laid snow.

She expected it to be a living paradise. However, it turned out to be the exact opposite. They made her work at extremely hard labor. They treated her like a slave. She was tiny so she could easily get into the spots which other grown women couldn't.

Marco, the youngest one of the Wong brothers would always make such a big mess and force her to clean it. Maria was forced to work 19 hours a day under their orders. She wouldn't even get paid for working so hard since she was adopted. She didn’t get any sort of credit for always doing what she was told. But she didn’t know any better. She had such a big lack of knowledge so they raised her to think women belonged in the kitchen. Not only that, but they overfed her 157 | P a g e

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with what they believed was right and wrong. Even if she did something wrong, the consequences were super abusive. From hitting, to kicking, spitting, and even pushing.

Thursday, June 16, 1988, 7:54 AM - As if it was her last Maria had now worked at the Wong’s cottage for a just over a year. A year might seem like a very short time or a somewhat long time depending on who you are. However, at the Wong’s house, one year felt almost like getting mentally, physically and verbally abused. She was getting tired of it and finally stood up for herself and human rights. This didn’t end well, Mister and Missus Wong had had enough of her nonsense and thought she was being stubborn and made Maria do even more chores. Maria thought they were being unreasonable and start to become a less obedient, typical vain teenage girl. She thought that they had taken away her whole childhood and being young and blamed her mothers' death and her fathers' disappearance on them.

Wednesday, July 4, 1988, 9:41 AM - Stuck on the gruesome streets again Finally, the Wong’s were fed up with her stubbornness and decided to kick her out of the household. Now she was back on the streets. No money, no food, no parents. No nothing.

She thought to herself, “how can something go so wrong?” She stood up for herself and people couldn't handle it and now she was back at square one. Every night stuck on the streets, she would wonder why everything went so wrong. She grew up without a father, her mom passed away, she got kicked out of her. The adoption centre had burnt down to ashes and she had for the first time in her life experienced being homeless. She would be fishing food out the garbage bin to survive. However, there wasn’t enough food and water resources and Maria turned stick skinny. People walking past her started giving her weird looks. She thought she no longer had any purpose to life, however, she kept fighting and looking on the bright side of things, though in this case there isn't really a bright side. Looking past that, she tried harder than ever to survive.

She ate the leftovers of half eaten chicken found on the streets and drank from puddles. Not surprisingly, there was a sharp pain in her lower abdomen and she started throwing up violently.

This made her very weak. She thought to herself “is this it? Is this how I’m going to go?”

Suddenly, she hears a voice coming from behind her. The voice says “come with me!”

She turns around and sees a bright light. It’s coming quicker at her. She realises it’s an 18 wheeler barreling down her path. She is too weak to get out the way. A loud, piercing, screeching sound surrounds her ears, then silence.

She doesn’t have to be hungry anymore.

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A MISERABLE FLASH-BACK – NIKITA BONDARENKO

On Sunday, 21st March 1961, I was sitting on a bench outside by my house in the countryside, while enjoying my newspaper. I then saw a small child across the sandy road. He had an old, dirty, worn-out shirt and old, dirty worn-out pants. Which reminded me of someone.

Someone a long time ago...

He was sitting on the floor shedding tears after tears of sadness and depression. Every hay cart passing by didn’t even give a glance at him. I felt really bad for him, but what should I do? I put my newspaper away and walked over to him and quietly asked, “Hello! Are you okay? How may I help?” The child gradually stopped sobbing and took a look at me.

“I am very hungry. I have no money for food and my parents abandoned me.” The boy replied I was feeling very bad for him, so I wanted to give him some money for food. As soon as I pulled out my precious wallet out of my navy blue, double-breasted, classic suit pocket, the child snatched it out of my hand and vanished into the thin air!

I was very upset at that moment, so without thinking about anything, I sprinted after him.

I ran a pretty long distance. I ended up feeling very bad, while was chasing him. I suddenly felt a shortness of breath, I began feeling very dizzy and my heartbeat was beating slower and slower until I gradually fainted and fell on the ground! I lay there for around for 5 minutes and luckily a girl about 20-24 years old saw me collapse.

Later that day I opened my miserable eyes and looked around... I was in a hospital. In front of me was that girl. She asked me, “Sir, what happened?”.

I then answered, “Nothing much, I am just very old.”

The girl replied, “But why were you lying on the floor half awake? Why were you crying?”

“Life is a very difficult thing” I replied. “You never know what, when, why and how things will happen in future and that is exactly what happened to me.”

“I will never trust any homeless child again! He stole my wallet. I was not very sad because he stole my expensive wallet with money in it or because I ended up in a hospital. It’s not as if he stole my wallet and I will become poor. The only thing I was upset about was that my wallet had my one and only memory of my son Charles and my wife Elizabeth in it…”

“It was all my fault….”

“On Thursday, 12th January 1945, it was my son Charles’ birthday. He was turning 12 years old. I decided to gift him a new, black, leather wallet from me and my wife Elizabeth since he was now old enough. So I did, but Elizabeth said that he was too young, however, I did not agree. Charles was extremely happy! He was jumping around for a couple of hours dropping tears 159 | P a g e

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and tears of happiness, joy and of course responsibility. I then suggested to take a photo of all of us and put it in his wallet for a memory. So we went to a photo booth, located on the parallel street from the place where-where we lived, and took a picture. I paid for it and we placed it in his brand new wallet.”

“What happened next?” The girl asked “The next day, on Friday, 13th January 1945, Elizabeth and I were going to pick up Charles from school. As we arrived at Charles’ school, it was starting to become very cold and windy so we picked up Charles and without thinking about anything went home. On the way, Charles noticed that he left his wallet at school, under his desk! He starting crying just like a newborn baby. I was very cross with him since he failed to take responsibility for his wallet. I just looked at him crying and I could not say anything, so I took them to the nearest shelter, which was a bar. I then quickly dashed back to the school in the terribly cold weather, found the wallet and returned back with a pretty annoying expression. As soon as I opened the heavy wooden door to the bar I got knocked out from the back of the head and everything faded to black…”

“I woke up and the place was on fire! I was panicking and trying to save my family.

But it was too late.

This was why that photo was very, very important to me and if I had any chance to get that photo back I would be ready to pay a million dollars or even more, just for that small, but memorable photo. However, it did not have enough memories in it. It did not have my daughter Adreana in it.

“Adreana?” the girl asked. She was suddenly very pale.

Tears filled my eyes.

“Before we came to this country, we lived in Poland. My daughter, Adreana was in Warsaw at university. Warsaw was not a safe place for people like us… We didn’t want to leave her.

We had no choice.”

That girl who saved me was listening very carefully and she tried her best to not let anyone see how emotional she was, but she couldn’t stand it she started sobbing very lightly. She asked me, “What is your name? How may I help you? I am ready to help you anytime and anyhow. Just tell me, sir.”

Her accent was strange. Not quite American.

I looked at her and said, “Thank you very much, my dear friend, but you are still young and you still have a whole life ahead. You face many problems, difficulties, anger and so on, but that is life and you can’t do anything about that, but remember you will need mental strength and 160 | P a g e

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intelligence to defeat them. You need to live a happy life. However, this is it for me, I have lived my life and now it has come to an end. I am slowly dying…”

“No!” she cried - in POLISH this time, “You cannot die! Not until I know your name” “Thomas Kowal” The girl’s eyes danced with joy as she grabbed me. I couldn’t believe what she said next...

“Father!”

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DOUGHNUT – RONIT GUPTA

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A COLD MISSION – COLEMAN BREEDLOVE

I wake up to the sound of artillery shells and bullets whizzing past my body. I plunge into a shell crater with about twenty soldiers into it. Our platoon leader starts yelling “We need to fall back!” he calls out for five men to stand while the others retreat. I don't raise my hand in the heat of the moment but five others do. He gives the order. I run as fast as I can to get back to our trench before I plough into the snow. I hear this horrific screeching overhead. Then I hear “Boom!” A Katyusha rocket struck to the right of me. Shrapnel is everywhere. I feel this enormous amount of pain running through my veins in my leg. Until I notice that half of my right leg is gone, the snow around me turns blood red until I faint. Someone quickly starts shouting “Medic! Medic!” across the crater filled wasteland that is Finland.

Until I realize it's all a dream. I wake up in a snow-white tent and the snow is dripping onto my face. I wipe the tiny droplets within seconds. I look at my clock: 0400 hours, it’s 4 am and time for breakfast as I quickly put on my winter camouflage. My battalion is the 59th Infantry Division or as everyone calls it the “frozen guards”.

I quickly look into the mess hall to see what they’re cooking (which is army made oat porridge and pickled fish). I wait for my platoon of four men. The first one to arrive is commanding Lieutenant Irwin Venski or “Frost”. A minute later Jason Risenki or “Frags” arrives. Three minutes later Pvt Steven Hamn or “Doc” enters last. We enter the line of porridge and pickled fish and we find a table. “Frost” has a manila folder under his arm.

I wonder what it is while we find seats by the edge of the hall as we start eating the calories we need for this day. “Frags” tells a joke that almost made porridge come out of my nose. As we settle down, “Frost” opens the manila folder. We find some pages of writing and some pictures taken probably from a plane. He pushes the light folder with ease towards the middle of the table. We all start to smile and then “Doc” with his rough, scratchy voice says, “So we have our first mission do we boys?”

I nod my head in agreement and we head to the transport bay. We get on this thing that looks like an automobile from Germany except it has skis and the guy at the transport bay says it can travel on ice and snow. We head to the “Mannerheim line” or as we call it “frozen ridge”.

At 0700 hours, we arrive at the base but it doesn't look like the base. From afar, it seems torn and misplaced. Thirty minutes later, we step off the snow automobile and “Frost” is the first one to step off the vehicle he scans his surroundings like a hawk looking for prey. I step off second to “Frost”. I scan the premises, it feels deserted and there's burned material clinging on to one of the used to be tents. Then we hear a voice call out “GET DOWN” from a ditch. “Frost” immediately starts running for a wooden barracks.

I start running for a ditch as fast as I can and “Doc” starts laughing like he remembers a funny joke and standing there in the snow. “Frags” runs for the ditch just like I do and the bomb explodes on our vehicle in seconds. I stand up to make sure it's clear I can't hear anything. there's this sharp ringing in my ear it gets louder and sharper until I touch it to sooth the pain 170 | P a g e

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and I feel this liquid onto my hand. I pull away from my ear and my hand is covered in blood I start yelling across the field to find “Doc” is not there anymore. He is covered in snow by the explosion of our vehicle. “Frags” quickly pulls "Doc" from his pillow of snow and yells at him to fix my exploded eardrum.

I mutter a few curses as “Doc” puts anti-infection on it and he bandages it with a few leftover tent scarps that I saw before. He gives me some beer he found in the wooden shack to numb the pain in my ear. Next, we found the guy gave us the call that would have killed us all, he sprouts up like a young apple tree. Yells “Pvt Winsinki, Sir,” in a high pitched boy like tone.

“Frost,” our commanding officer says “At ease soldier.”

“Frost” asks “What happened here?”.

“We got ambushed by the Soviets, Sir.” “Well, since our vehicle got destroyed by that mortar round what can we do? “Frags” see if there are any skis around.”

“Yes Sir,” said “Frags”. “Doc- look in the wooden shed to see if there's any food or maps to locate where we are on the line.”

“Yes Sir,” said “Doc”. “Wisinski, stay here to check on Victor, thank you for saving our lives.”

“Yes Sir, no problem Sir.” ‘“I'm going to go out there,” he points to the wasteland between us and the Soviets.

“What are you doing Sir? Our mission started.”

“See what they are planning. I'll be back by 11:00 hours. If I'm not back by then you’re in charge until I come back. If I come back” “You’d better take some food-“ “Son, I only have one hunger to worry about – the hunger to get our team out of this frozen wasteland!”

We watched him go. I guess, we were hungry for that too.

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THE JOB – ALEXANDER BJORNO

As Leski enters the room, he sees his boss sitting with 7 colleagues. They have all been shot in the head. His boss is still alive. Leski runs over to him with his injured foot while calling for an ambulance, crouches next to his boss and wraps his shirt around the wound. The boss is trying to talk, but his mouth has been shot off. Leski is trying his hardest to figure out what he is saying. After a while, it sounds as if he is trying to say: “Do the job, Do the job” Finally, the ambulance comes but it comes a bit too late as the boss has already stopped breathing...

Leski drives home from the hospital, wondering what to tell his family, but just then he gets a call from a colleague.

“You should get outta town” Leski asks why but the colleague hangs up.

“WE CAN'T LEAVE! We have been in this house ever since we met each other” says Leski’s wife.

Up until this moment, she had had no idea of his true profession.

“We have to! It's too dangerous to stay. People are after us, we gotta leave.”

The wife decides to slam the door in anger and sleep.

The next day Leski arrives at work to see the building being reconstructed, Leski walks over to the rest of his colleagues, “What happened yesterday, who were those guys?”

One guy said he remembered seeing Chinese flags on helicopters. Everyone is silent. Leski adds to the conversation “Do the job” This is what boss told me yesterday, his last words...

Leski is driving to his boss’s grave stone the next day, on his way he remembers his boss told him he is ready to be on the field, this was a couple of days before he was shot again, he finally arrives to see his grave, he tells him, “I will do the job.”

Leski is trying to sleep but he can’t stop seeing blood come out of his boss’s mouth and the loud screams stuck in his head are also getting to him. Leski gets out of bed to go to the kitchen and gets a shot of vodka. His wife has already left. Looking down at the quiet peaceful streets, Leski spots a man with a camera taking pictures of him.

The man quickly gets away, Leski runs after him in his pajamas in the middle of the night. A couple minutes of intense running later, the man runs out of stamina and Leski tackles him.

“Who do you work for?” Leski shouts.

The man pushes a button on the camera and says “now everyone knows who you are, my people have these photos now.” Leski is confused and is begging for more information but the man shoots himself.

Just like that.

Leski calls his work and tells them what happened. Leski walks home crying, thinking about taking his own life, but he tells himself “I got a family to look after, and I have a promise to complete. I will do the job.”

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The next day Leski kisses his family goodbye, He is going to Beijing to “Do the job.” He arrives in Beijing. Leski doesn't fool around one bit, he knows a colleague who is a friendly spy working for “Operation Hunger.” After greeting the spy, Leski gets straight to business.

“What have you got?” demands Leski.

“Well, I don't really know much, after all they are a secret organisation, All I know is where they work. I haven't been able to sneak in because it is too risky.”

Leski now had the address of their working place so he took a taxi there but when he got out, he was surprised because it was nothing like he expected as it was very easy to find since it was one of the tallest buildings in the city, people walking in and out like it’s a mall. Leski expected it to be a house with people who set up computers and working on the couch because it was a “secret” organisation. Leski decides to walk in, everyone looks nice, with all the men are in suits and all the women are in dresses.

Leski decides to come back later with a suit because it won't be as suspicious. When Leski arrives at his colleague’s house to change, he gets sneaked up on by the spy.

“You really think I would just give you the address, the address to where I work.” says the spy while choking Leski.

“What, you traitor!” says Leski gasping for air. The spy throws Leski on the other side of the room, pointing a gun at him. Leski stands up the the gun and says” You won’t shoot, only if you want to pay for all the things that come: being in jail for the rest of your life, not being able to see your family and spend time with your little girl.”

The spy puts the gun down and puts the gun on the ground and says “your righ..”

Leski shoots him in the head without thinking twice and says “Anything for the Job.” Leski searches his house for the real address, later, under the carpet, he finds a piece of paper with the address on it. Leski changes into his suit and is on the way. He doesn't know who the boss is so he burns the building from, at least everything above the third floor where the mall is so none of the civilians get hurt.

“The job is done.”

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3 HUNGERS – YEONJAE CHOI

Hunger for love, revenge, and perfection Warning: Scenes and characters including murder, subjects of suicide, lack of affection, good child syndrome and psychopathic traits.

Fanfiction, inspired by SKY Castle (JTBC).

Yeseo Kang “Let’s stop this, then. Let’s end things.”

“How can you say that so easily? Don’t you know how I feel?”

“I don’t, and I don’t want to know. I just can’t afford to spend my energy on you, too.

A shrill piercing cry, followed by a large...

CRASH!!

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Gasping, Yeseo rose from her bed.

Breath not willing to get softer, and hands shaking so severely she could not control herself.

She tried to endure her tears as she bit her fingernails, but Yeseo was soon wiping the warm tears she could not stop from running down her cheeks. She had spat out words that she never meant; she had said she hated Hyena enough to kill her, but Yeseo had never truly wanted her to die.

Woojoo.

She had never known her own hunger until he arrived Woojoo Kang, Hyena Kang and Yeseo Kang

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“What am I, to you? You never take me seriously. You ignore my texts and forget our plans all the time.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have as much free time as you.”

“Do you think I’m doing this because I’m bored?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? You thought I was that foolish? You aren’t dating me because you love me. It’s because of Yeseo, isn’t it? Because you didn’t want her to take another person, from you. It’s your hunger to take revenge” “...Let’s stop this, then. Let’s end things.”

...they don’t know I’m watching.

• •

“How can you say that so easily? Don’t you know how I feel?”

“I don’t, and I don’t want to know. I just can’t afford to spend my energy on you, too.”

I got uncontrollably enraged. Anger was growing fast inside of me, like a fire spreading. How could she say that…?

She should be down on her knees, pleading for forgiveness.

At that instant, it felt like I was being manipulated by something. I dashed towards Hyena, and pushed her onto the balustrade.

• “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PUT ME DOWN!!!”

• “How could you do this to me. How could YOU…” • “YOU PSYCHOPATH!!! YOU’RE NOT GOING TO PUSH ME OFF, ARE YOU??”

• “....”

• “YOU’RE SO CREEPY!! HOW DID YOU TRICK EVERYONE UNTIL NOW??”

CRASH!!!

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My heart sank densely as I watched Hyena's body fall. I didn’t mean to do this. Her body fell slowly, like a video was playing on slow motion.

Don't leave me again. Don't leave me behind. Are you also going to leave me like this???

The memory of ‘the day’ was tormenting me like thorns trying to stab me from everywhere. I writhed from a tremendous headache, and I felt like I was about to collapse at any moment.

Soon, the people in the room rushed out to the balcony, having heard the gruesome sound. “...Hyena!!”, I screeched and ran to Hyena's body, running away from all those wearying people.

Who do you think you are to leave me like this. Who do you think you are to ignore my love?

You will never, ever, leave me like mom and dad did.

Woojoo Hwang, 5 previously ‘The door will close’ ClinkMy reflection in the mirror of the elevator was so repugnant that I couldn't bear to see it.

‘15th Floor, cancelled’ ‘20th Floor’ Whoosh In the stifling silence, the red numbers went up frighteningly. 17, 18, 19, ‘20th Floor. The door will open.’

No one would feel a drop of misery if I died. Not mom, not dad, no one. Perhaps they’d be happier not to have me. If I die now, will I never be born again? ...And will they not be able to beat me up, again?

I slowly headed towards the door, leading to the roof. However, my feet paused at the door, hesitating. I stood clutching the doorknob, but soon my hands were shaking. Tears poured down my cheeks, my shoulders fluttered, and I was out of breath. My legs gave out, making me collapse onto my knees, with tears that would not stop running.

Why must I die? Because I didn’t get first place? Because I did not get all As? Because I was a shameful son, not enough to boast about? What did I do wrong that I should die?

You should be shameful of yourselves. Even if I die, you would live well off.

Why do I have to take painful memories with me to my grave? I haven’t done anything wrong. I just wanted one person to love me.

Woojoo Hwang 177 | P a g e

HUNGER

And so I accepted the abhorrent reality. They did not change, so I had to change. No matter who you were or what you want to do, you have no choice in front of the standards they set.

That’s the only way they would treat me like a human being.

I changed myself to how they wanted me to be, thinking if I’d rather die than become lazy, because they would desert me again.

I made the perfect “Woojoo Hwang” - the perfect son, the perfect student. Someone that could finally be loved.

Why won’t you love me? Don’t leave me. I’m perfect, now.

“It’s Woojoo…” “우주에요…” (can be seen as 물 주세요, “give me some water”)

“She’s been asking for water. She must be thirsty, dad.”

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HUNGER

UNDERCOVER – IYAN YANG

Locking the door, I confined myself in the comfort of my new room with a thick blanket over my head and body. Yes, yes that's right. I'm just an average human girl going through her teenage years, battling her emotional phase in which my current love interests take priority over just anything you can really think of. No one but myself is allowed to enter my own room.

This makes an awfully good cover for a shapeshifting alien on a secret mission.

Through my numerous slumberless nights researching and observing for the ideal cover, Walah!

I found this hidden gem. It was absolutely perfect! With no suspecting peers, free home cooked meals AND accomodation, there was nothing else I could ask for. Maybe the pink wallpaper and glitter was a little too much for my hyperactive senses, but it was as good as it could get.

With a new sense of accomplishment, I reached out for what humans call "computers". Sneering at the state of what they call "advanced technology", my previous bright mood was overshadowed by how slow the block of dumb metal was. After fiddling around with the numerous holes on the side of the computer, I finally managed to chuck my holographic alienware into it. I waited as patiently as I could for the agonizingly sluggish green worm to reach the end of the bar.

90%. 95%. 97%. 99%. Just one more and this planet will be ours to takKnock knock.

I heard the sharp sound of knuckles colliding with the wooden door.

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HUNGER

Ugh, what is it this time? This “mom” person has really started to become a nuisance. Adjusting my vocal cords to fit that of her daughter’s, I screamed out “What now?!” in the most annoyed tone I could muster.

After a short silence, she sighed. “We need to talk” she finally said. Unlike her usual sweet manner, the words that came out of her mouth were angry with a hint of sorrow. Curiosity filled my mind.

Pssh! Who does this mere human think she is to summon ME to talk?

I would have exterminated her ages ago if her cooking didn’t make so hungry...

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