Frederick Young Writers Journal Vol. 2 by FredRec

The War of the Earth By Max Cedillo | Beginners- Age 8 Air Force Part 1 There was a boy that was born on an Air Force base. He did not know that he was born to be a pilot. His name was Percy. He was 17 years old and his birthday was tomorrow. But he was not happy because none of his friends wanted to come to his party because of where he lived. Percy went to sleep early. He skipped dinner. Zzzz. “Wake up!” said my mom and dad. “Come open your presents!” I got an Air Force video game and an Xbox 360. My last present was small. I ripped it open. It was an Air Force pass. I was a pilot starting today! I thanked my parents, got dressed, but then I saw one more present. I ran down and ripped the package open. It was an Air Force suit. I got dressed behind the couch. There was even a pair of Air Force underwear. I made sure my parents saw me. They said they thought they lost it. If it was not for your eyes, you would have to go in normal clothes to Air Force school. I saw one of my friends on the highway and said hi. His name is Billy. He said “Hi Percy, where are you going? “and I told him, “Sorry, I can’t tell you.” “I forgot my breakfast.” I said. Billy gave me some of his waffles and then I thanked him and left. I got to Air Force class on time. My teacher told me in private that I was top commander on the first mission. I asked when it was, and he said that it was next month. Well, we better get training. The teacher also said that second in command was Logan and third in command was a girl named Zoe. I went back in the training area. It was fighter jet time. I got into a fighter jet. There was a manual and a radio on top of the roof. This came out of the radio, “Okay guys. Real Air Force pilots have to read and train fast, so you will have five minutes to read your manual. Start reading in three, two, one..”

Yikes! Five minutes later another announcement came on the radio. “Time is up in three, two, one.” “I am finished reading” I said. “Okay.” Said the radio. “It’s time to fly your plane. You will get hit and will have to disconnect your cockpit from the rest of the plane.” I started my plane’s engine. Bvrooooooom! I take off. I am not afraid of the height because I had been in a lot of planes. Wait… what if my parents traveled a lot so I would not be afraid of heights? Smart Mom and Dad, thanks guys! I thought. I was flying around, and I saw a target. I shot it and it blew up. KABOOM. I saw a robot and it shot me once and then blew me up. I jumped out of the cockpit. Woooooshhh… I felt the wind on my face and ears. I was 186 feet from the ground. 116, 100, 96, 80. I yanked my cord. I started to float down. 10 feet from the ground. I made it. I ran to my teacher. I was the first one down. My teacher shouted, “Yes, Percy! Nice!” I

thanked Mr. Brad and he then told me that I could go to the fitness training room.

One Month Later It was the day before takeoff. I woke up, started training and then ate my breakfast. I had a test on what to do if your plane is about to crash. I had practiced this since I came here. I said to Logan to go ahead and pass out the test. I got my test and my teacher said to begin.

Five minutes later I yelled “finished!” and my teacher said, “shh…” “Okay, time to take off, guys!”

To be Continued…

Sharks Love Lollipops By Lucille McCarthy | Beginners- Age 8

Once upon a time there lived a girl named Sally and she sold seashells by the shore. One day a shark came to the shore and Sally was scared. All the shark wanted was lollipops. Even though she could not move she asked the shark “Wait! Before you go! Why did you come here?” “For lollipops” said the shark. “I did not know you ate lollipops” said Sally “and by the way, I love lollipops too. Hey, do you want to be my friend? Shark do you want to go and get lollipops?” “Yes please, I will pay” said the shark. “No, I will pay”, said Sally. “Fine you pay”, continued Sally “Let’s go!” “Where should we sit?” asked Sally. Shark said, “how about in your heart?” “No silly” said Sally “right there is good”. “Right, I guess gobble gobble gobble gobble. I am finished”. “Me too. Let’s go”, said shark, “Where should we go? How about to the park?” “We’re here.” said Sally, “Dibs on the swings! Dibs on the slides! Come on come swing with me.” “Be right there.” said shark, “I’m tired, do you want to go to the store or do you want to take a break at the beach and take a nap?” said the shark. Sally replied, “yes please and again what flavor of lollipops did you get? “ “Cotton candy!”, said shark.

“I got mint chip!”, said Sally. “Friends for life!” they both yelled together! The End.

The Secret Teacher By Tessa Warner | Beginners- Age 8

In the Morning Amy got up in the morning, by the song birds, then she got ready. Amy was a very sweet girl. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Ring ring! It was Amy’s teacher, named Miss Emerald. Amy gasped. Miss Emerald said, “I have a top-secret mission for you.” “It’s *********************” Then off her teacher went. Amy went back and got her breakfast, she put her toast in the toaster.

Mission Next… Amy ate her toast that had a layer of halfway melted butter, by the fireplace that had a fire in it.Then she looked at the clock. It was 6:24 a.m. She got dressed, and off she went. “Hello, are you ready?” said Miss Emerald. “Yes!” Amy said. “Okay, go to Ruby road.” Miss Emerald said. “Okay.” Amy said. And off she went down through Ripple Brook road.

The Road Soon after she left, the sun went down, and the bright sparkly stars came out. “There’s the Big Dipper!” Amy said quietly. Amy loved the stars, she stargazed all the time. Soon, she came to Mountain Road.

Wait… Any way you go to get to Ruby Road you don’t go past or through Mountain Road…and I know this place like I own it. Amy thought to herself. BOOM. “What was that?” she said to herself. She ran as fast as she could and hid behind a trash can. Then she peeked around the trash… she gasped! “The thief!” Beep…beep…beep “Hello, 911? I have found the thief you have been looking for…”

School “Hi Grace, Emily, Molly, Maddie, Sophie, Emmie, Olivia, and Megan. You will never believe what happened last night. Amy told only her friends what happened. They all had fun listening, and they wanted that to happen to them.

The End.

Born Blue By Lily Hanson | Advanced- Age 12

Dear Noah, For most kids, you were born with hair that is brown, or black, or blond, or red or somewhere in between. Emphasis on the word “most.” And then there's hair dye. Bless that hair dye! You can have hair that is a crazy color or any color at all, but if you have blue hair, you probably weren't born with it. Emphasis on the word “probably.” That's right, I was born with blue hair. It's a rare thing. Both of my parents have brown hair and for a long time I thought I was adopted or from another country where everybody has blue hair. I was wrong. It was fine-but when you see a little girl walking around with bright blue hair you might make an assumption. Why can't I just dye my hair a normal color? Trust me, I've tried. My hair won't get wet or curl or dye. My parents told me to be optimistic. “It looks neat”, they say. Well, I'll be optimistic- at least I can cut it. Middle school, however, is not going to be easy. You may be wondering who I am. My name is Maya Irving, and I live in Pennsylvania, and I have a dog named Millie. I have a pen-pal I met a girl scout camp named Noah who lives in California. My best friends are Carly, Noah and Gabe. They double as my only friends. … I sat on the front steps of my middle school. My hands were sweating. My blue hair was tied up in two braids. I was wearing a tie dye shirt, a ponytail holder around my wrist and light denim shorts. My new Converse backpack was slung over my shoulder.

“Gabe!” I shouted. I saw the boy coming off the bus. He looks the same- short, a brown mohawk, blue sweatshirt, black shorts and slides. He was wearing pink sunglasses. He didn't seem embarrassed by me and sat down. “Hey Maya, yo fro,” he said was with a crooked smile. “Ummmm, okay. How was summer?” I asked. “It was good. Listen, this kid is new. He just moved here from Hawaii. Meet Matt the doormat.” He pushed away brown curls and nodded shyly. “Hey um, Yo Froyo?” I giggled and then snorted. “It's it's Yo-fro ,” Gabe shook his head. “Let's go inside.” I was messing with the lock on my surprisingly small locker when I saw Carly. I waved her over. “You still have blue hair, she said, raising her eyebrows. I laughed, and then realized she wasn't joking. “You know I can't dye it, Carly. “ I looked her in the eye. “Oh, I know but have you heard of... wigs?” I laughed again, and Carly just stared. “Bye,” she said, and turned around. Carly wasn't usually so weird. It was probably just first day nerves. I shrugged it off, hugged my binder to my chest and started walking to first period. I smelled way too much deodorant and stepped inside my science class. My teacher's name is Mrs. Colbs. “Hello, class friends,” she said in a Spanish accent. “I'm your science teacher, obviously.” This year we will use the three D’s. Determination, Discipline, and Days. I run my class with these principles. We will learn about space. Who knows what space is? Put down your hands and don't talk in my class. Let's see what determination means and what it has to do with space.” She started yelling in Spanish and then jerked up. Her voice was loud and nasally. “I hope you took notes on that.”

The girl next to me shared a glance with me. I smiled. “I'm Maya.” I wanted to make a

new friend in middle school. “I’m Emma. I think we take the same elective?” “You mean- visual arts?” I asked. “Yep,” she said. Emma smiled with her white braces. “I love your hair, by the way. Where did you get it done?” My hands flew up to my hair. Hmm, it was kind of greasy. I reminded myself to buy better conditioner. “Oh, it’s actually natural,” I said. Emma didn’t look like she believed me, but who would? … At lunch, I sat down at an empty table. I saw Emma and waved. She waved back but sat with some kids that looked kind of popular. Then, I saw Carly. She was walking with someone. She flipped her hair and laughed. Was that Marissa Monroe? Carly was talking to Marissa Monroe? Marissa was the most popular girl at school. I’m talking all wavy hair, ripped jeans, tall and skinny. Marissa walked with a flair that made your heart pound. She could probably make a burp seem flawless and cool. Gabe sat down next to me. “Good to see a familiar face,” I told him. “What do you mean?” We’ve been going to school with most of these kids since kindergarten.” He sipped his chocolate milk. “Yo Fro, where’s Carly the ballerina?” I buried my face in my hands. Matt sat down. I looked up and smiled awkwardly. He smiled awkwardly back. “So, does anyone have Mrs.Colbs?” He said, brushing his fingers through his hair. “No,” Gabe replied. “But I’ve heard stories. Didn’t she speak Chinese or something?” “She started screaming in Spanish in my class,” I nodded.

We laughed. It almost made me forget about Carly. I liked my friends. Matt seemed nice. His hair was nice, too. Matt’s eyes looked deep, like he had a million secrets held. Mille’s eyes looked like that too. Gabe was exactly the same. Gabe was there to make me laugh. The day went by. I liked my Language Arts teacher, Mr. Lee the best. He had his room covered in inspirational posters. He was loud. Mr. Lee seemed to declare every word he said. Most of my other teachers were normal, except my science teacher. I got some weird looks in the hallways. The hallways seemed dangerous to walk down- I heard a lot of not-so-good words. People were always rushing and shoving. Everyone seemed to kind of travel in a crowd. But not me. I was all by myself. … It was rainy that Friday. Everybody had a wet head but me. My new nickname had emerged that week: Blue Brain. It was kind of annoying, but I shrugged it off. I put up the kickstand on my bike and ran to the door. I rung Carly’s doorbell. She came to the door and motioned me in. “I thought we could hang out,” I said hopefully. “Oh, sure!” Carly squealed. “We can practice for the tryouts.” “What tryouts?” I practically had a phobia of tryouts. My hands always got all sweaty. “For the cheer team. Duh, Blue Brain. If you want to be popular, you have to make the cheer team” Caryl said. I almost laughed out loud. This sounded like almost every coming of age book ever. “Clearly, you need some help,” Carly continued. “Follow the trends. We need to get you some ripped jeans. And some nicer shirts. A three fourths sleeves would look great on you! And your hair in a messy top knotoooh, yes. A headband, maybe? No. Yes, I can see it now. This is excellent.” I nodded weirdly at Carly. “Plus, you should get more friends. Gabe and the curly haired boy are not popular” Carley said.

“No way.” I said. Carly looked offended I didn’t like her advice. “Do it for me, hon-ay. Oh yah, saying honey is cool right now.” I turned around and walked away. This was ridiculous. I had read too many coming of age books to even try to be popular. … Like I said with Marissa, popular people have a flair of confidence and rebellion. Even if I had the looks, I could never pull off the attitude-the always knowing what to say. Maybe it’s something that you get in your DNA. If it was, I didn’t get it. Noah had been sending me letters about middle school in Sacramento. It sounded awesome- her school had a million different activities you could sign up for, the cafeteria food didn’t make you want to throw up, and there were no teachers like Mrs. Colbs. Best of all, all her friends were great. They were exactly the same. In the chaos with Carly, I almost forgot my birthday was coming up. “Who should I invite?” I asked Gabe one day. “Well, me. That Emma girl. Matt the Doormat. Your partner in language arts. Maybe Carly?” He replied. “Do you have a theme?” Matt asked. “Or is that sort of an elementary school thing?” “I don’t know. I was thinking about going to an escape room.” “Cool!” Both boys sung in unison. I nodded gratefully. I had never done an escape room, but it sounded kind of fun. My partner in language arts class is Britney Whitewash. Britney is a weird girl. Like me! Mr. Lee said we could research any topic we wanted. After some debate, we chose to research Haiti. “The more I read, the sadder I feel,” Britney yawned.

“Yeah, me too,” I agreed. Did you know Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere? The majority of people have no jobs. 40.3% of all the people in Haiti can’t read. “Maybe we could help somehow?” I suggested. “How? Like a canned food drive?” Britney asks. “Something like that,” I assured her. “We should ask the principal during study hall!” We agreed on this excitedly. After school, I walked to Carly’s house. Even though we haven’t talked lately (besides her popular gang making fun of me), I wanted to tell her about Haiti. The last straw hasn’t been drawn, we’re still best friends. “Come on in, “she said when she saw me at the door. Carly leapt across the room gracefully and pulled a box out of the fridge. I smelled greasy Dominoes. Carly opened it and threw a piece of crust at me. My jaw dropped. Carly wasn’t laughing, it definitely wasn’t a friendly food fight. Pizza crust hurts more than you think. “Hey!” I said. “What? I was just throwing the trash into the garbage” Carly snapped, shrugging. I had to rethink the words in my head. Was she saying I was garbage? “I’m not trash!” I yelled angrily. Carly started laughing. She was acting just like Marissa Monroe. I felt heat rising in my eyes. I ran out the back door. Again. … The only thing that made me feel better was reading Noah’s letters. She talked about life in perfect Sacramento. The cool art museums her class visited. Noah trying out for soccer. Noah’s awesome friends throwing a big polar bear plunge pool party. It didn’t take long for The Idea to emerge in my mind.

Running away seemed scary at first, but the more I thought about it, the more comfortable I felt with The Idea. If I just got a small sum of money, I could afford to buy the bus ticket from my city, Portland, to Sacramento. The Idea didn’t get any sweeter. I finally figured on Monday that the only way I could get money was through Haiti. See, in the fall, we raise money for kids with cancer. Everyone gets a little cardboard box to collect cash donations. I told Britney we could do something like that. On my last Tuesday, we finally got a chance to talk to the principal. “Make this quick,” she growled.

“We want to collect money for people in Haiti,” Britney Whitewash announced. She explained our research project and how we felt bad. I looked at her while she talked. I might miss Britney in Sacramento. Maybe we would write letters. “We could give those little paper boxes to every kid like we did for cancer. Maybe we could talk over the morning announcements,” I added. The principal nodded. “Maya Irving, Britney Whitewash, I am thoroughly impressed with your heart for the less fortunate. I’ll look into right away.” He almost smiled. “Now get back to class, right now, or you might end up late.” On my last Wednesday, our fundraiser was approved by the student body and PTA. We recorded our message for the announcements in the computer lab. We didn’t get little boxes, but all the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders got thick envelopes to collect cash donations in with the information slip paperclipped on the back. Life at school only got worse. The kids tripped me at the water fountain- I ended up with an ugly bruise. Everywhere I went, I heard whispers “There goes the blue brain.” A few times, the popular crowd invited me to play tag with them at recess. As soon as I walked out, they declared I was ‘it.’ Everyone ran and hid. Whenever I tagged somebody, it didn’t count.

My last Thursday, Matt pulled me aside at lunch. He frowned with deep dimples. “Maya, what’s up? You seem really sad and distracted lately. “ “I’m fine,” I snapped. “Why do you care, anyway?’ Matt looked hurt. “Are you okay? Gabe is a really concerned. He’s such a happy guy, it’s really disturbing for you guys both too be so depressed. “He shuffled his feet. I don’t have many friends-not like Marissa Monroe or Carly Roberts. But I care about the ones I do have.” I felt a lump in my throat. Matt really was sincere. That was the moment I realized I liked Matt. As in, I liked Matt. “Sacramento. That’s all I can tell you.” … I collected all of our cash donations on Friday and told Britney I would keep it safe over the weekend. I felt a serious pang of guilt, but somebody else could help Haiti. Right now, I needed to move to Sacramento and help myself. Just as I calculated, there was enough to make a bus ride all the way and buy Subway for dinner. Instead of biking home the normal way, I turned left to go to the bus station I found on google maps. It felt like hours of pedaling before I reached the Portland Bus Station. I looked around, hopeful and scared. My hands were sweating their fingers off. I walked up to the stand that was labeled “Tickets.” “I need a one way to Sacramento,” I told the lady behind the counter. The lady was small and dark skinned, and she was wearing a matching navy blue jacket and dress pants with heeled gold sandals and a boho headband. “How old are you, young lady?” Boho headband woman said. “I’m twelve,” I said. It wasn’t exactly true, but my birthday was coming up soon. “Do you have an adult with you?” The lady inquired. “Um, no. I’m okay by myself, though.” I said, determined.

“I’m sorry, honey. You can’t ride without someone eighteen years of age or older. Do you need me to call someone?’ I shook my head. The room started spinning. I would have to go back to school, and face the bullies, and explain everything to Matt, and admit my foiled plan to Britney Whitewash. I had to be dreaming. You can’t ride without someone eighteen years of age or older. How had I overlooked such a simple fact? I sat down and cried my eyes out. … “Maya? Is that you?” I looked up, wiped snot on my sleeve and saw my least favorite teacher. “Do you need something?” Mrs. Colbs asked. I don’t what happened, maybe I was feeling vulnerable, but then everything tumbled out of my mouth. My mysterious hair, Carly abandoning me, kids being mean, the letters and The Idea. Mrs. Colbs stayed quiet as a mouse through all of it. When I finished, she breathed in sharply. “Well, as my family likes to say, Marta, a mal tiempo, bueno cara. Or- in bad weather, make a good face.” Mrs. Colbs announced. “It’s Maya,” I said bitterly. “Maya, I can assure you kids will be mean. Though no one deserves to be bullied. However, it’s not like you can just leave. You can’t run away from a herd of buffalo. You have to face them down. Now, I’m reporting everything you told me right now and getting your parents to pick you up. But remember, fellow learner, mal tiempo, bueno cara.” I giggled. Who knew? I was having a heart to heart with my least favorite teacher. I guess I finally get what people mean when they say friendship comes in weird places. The events that followed happened in this order: 1) I decided Mrs.Colbs was tied with Mr.Lee for my favorite teacher. 2) My parents, yelling and crying, picked me up from the bus station and brought me home. 3) The whole popular crowd, minus Emma, was suspended. 4) I visited a therapist. She had a nice white office and a white couch. Her name was Matilda. After we talked, I was diagnosed with Ocean Depression Disorder. Ocean Depression is a rare disorder that causes some of your body parts to turn blue. A chemical imbalance in your brain causes this,

as well as the normal symptoms of Depression. I talked through my issues and things started getting better. 5) I gave a huge apology to my real friends who were there for me through all of it- Britney, Gabe and Matt. 6) I wrote this letter to you, Noah. To explain what has happened in the last month. And through all my days, every step I take, I will always remember. Mal tiempo, bueno cara. All my love, Maya Irving

A Rose-Colored Daydream By Emmaline Seibert | Advanced- Age 13

“Blah de blah de blah blah blah math” is all I hear. This incredibly boring math class is about to lull me into a daydream. Aaah, daydreams. I’d like to go and dream about a tale of dragons, princesses and adventure beyond this boring class. I’m about to close my eyes when I see a small thread attached to the back of my friend’s shirt collar in front of me. I see she’s trying her hardest to focus on the lesson, so I decide to do her a favor and pull it off. I reach out in front of me and carefully attempt to pry it off the fabric. I pinch. I pull. It doesn’t budge. This thing was really stuck on there. I grab and pull again, this time a little harder.Still not coming off.I grab and pull again, this time as hard as I can. I pull back, until my friend’s head flops down on my desk with a loud thud. As I look around to see what the damage is, I notice that the whole class is asleep. That’s strange. There’s usually at least one person listening to the lesson. I look around again. Everyone’s still asleep, even the teacher, mid-lesson. I get up and walk out of the classroom. The students at their lockers, the kids in the gym, the teachers mid-lecture are all in dreamland. Around some students’ feet I start to see some weird plants where there wasn’t before. As they begin to grow at a somewhat alarming rate, I notice they’re rosebushes. They grow, faster and faster, and the hall is soon covered in them. I walk, no I run, through the thickets of thorns, towards the office. Maybe up there they’ll know what’s going on.

These thorns are starting to get to me. The smell is becoming overwhelming, the roses’ pink scent just starting to sting my nose. Something catches my eye. I slow to a stop. I see a sword and shield, their metal casting a lurid glow in the sunlight, the weapons just lying on the ground. As I wonder where these came from, I glance over at the classroom next to me and I see some historical reenactors had come to perform for the little kids, now asleep, midsentence. The weapons must’ve belonged to them. The bushes have grown thicker, and with these new tools, I decide to do some gardening. I pick them up and start chopping. The sword gets the plants out of my way, and the shield protects me from the thorns. After much chopping, I arrive at the main office. I burst through the doors to find a bunch of hallways branching off the landing towards different rooms. I ponder the lines of the song as I decide which path to take. There’s three laid out in front of me: a clown to the left of me, a joker to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you. I choose left. Turning down the hallway, I dash to the end, make a right, then another left, and go through two heavy metal doors. It opens to the auditorium. Standing onstage is the principal He seems to be giving a speech to no one, in a cryptic language I can’t understand. Seriously, what is this language? French? Romanian? And where did my principal learn to speak it so fluently? The bushes grow thicker. As fast as I dare, I dash down the aisle. “Mr. Principal! You’ve gotta help-” My sentence is cut off as the Principal begins to transform into a monster: first, he begins to grow bigger, his body becoming longer and scaly all over. Next, he sprouts horns from his now big and scaly head, and a set of sharp claws on each foot. Finally, I spy a mouthful of long sharp fangs poking out of his face. My principal is a large, scaled, fire-breathing beast.The mighty dragon. I’d read about dragons. Massive, nearly indestructible, creatures that terrorize medieval towns and horde gold and jewels in their caves. These things are wicked awesome.

But back to the point. Mr. Principal the dragon sees me and spits fire right at me. I dodge. Where I was just standing, a fire’s started. He turns and spits fire again, and this time I escape by running underneath his big dragon belly, and to the other side of him. “Ha-ha, Principal! Can’t catch me now!” Oh. I forgot. Dragons have tails too. He swings his around and smacks me, sending me flying across the room, and landing in a seat in the audience.Then I remember the sword and shield in my hands. I unsteadily struggle to my feet, the dragon climbing over the seats and getting closer and closer to where I stand. Think. THINK! What is a dragon’s weakness? Garlic? Water? I spot a rose and its color reminds me. Its heart. A dragon’s weakness is its heart. He’s closing in on me, and fast. The flames lick my chair as I push off the seat in front of me, and jump. I swing my sword back, and stab down. I strike. At the base of his neck, between his shoulders I strike. I strike his heart. Mr. Principal the dragon’s body collapses to the ground. Among the bushes onstage, I spot a pile blankets and pillows, and in them, a girl, who’s fast asleep. I’m surprised she hasn’t noticed the fire that’s slowly burning down the auditorium yet. I walk over to see if she’s okay. Wait a second. Am I supposed to be some makeshift prince charming, saving some damsel-in-distress? Well, that ain’t me. Maybe I can find some other way to wake her up. I bend over her, and instead of a kiss, I give her a slap in the face. “Class dismissed!” the teacher shouts as he erases the whiteboard. My eyes fly open.I gather my books, and as I head out of the classroom, I can still smell the pink scent of roses in the air.

The End

(Is just the beginning)

(This is an Ever After High reference) (by Emma Seibert)

(now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the end)

(bye).

The Midnight Space By Kate Seibert | Advanced- Age 13

Chapter 1: Midnight Akiko could not get to sleep. At all. Ever since she turned ten, she couldn’t sleep a wink. I must be going crazy, she thought. Then she knew she was going crazy when she rolled over and saw a magical girl looking casually around her room with a pair of binoculars. She was wearing a frilly purple outfit, with matching shoes and accessories. Huge purple ringlets sprouted from her head. She was holding a pair of blue binoculars, and she was right there. She didn’t even ask to come in here! Akiko thought angrily. “Hey!” she said, getting up out of bed. “Who are you?! Why did you just appear in my bedroom?!” Why did it have to be a magical girl?! Magical girl animes were always generic and low-quality, and hardly worth watching in Akiko’s opinion. “Oh!” the purple magical girl said in surprise. “Miss Akiko! I’ve been dying to meet you!” she gazed at Akiko through her blue binoculars. “So sorry to trouble you!” Then Akiko realized something was a bit...off. Instead of it being dark outside the window, it was as bright as day. Then, the walls of her room were gone. She stood on the edge of a cliff, the Magical girl sightseeing merrily next to her. Akiko turned around, but there was nothing there but wasteland. The smell of saltwater hit her nose. She looked down over the edge of the cliff, and saw waves crashing against the rocks a hundred feet away. “Miss Akiko, look!” Akiko looked where the purple girl was pointing. A long way down the coast drifted at anchor the biggest pirate ship Akiko had ever seen. A flag with the symbol of a bird flew merrily in the breeze on the top of the middle-mast, but she couldn’t see anyone on deck.

Suddenly, with no explanation as to why, the purple magical girl grabbed Akiko’s hand and jumped off the cliff. She screamed, but the sound was lost to the sound of waves hurling themselves against the rocks far below her.

Chapter 2: Magic Ship. Then, she began to fly. One minute they were falling, the next, the purple girl was soaring through the air, and pulling Akiko along with her. A few minutes later they landed on the deck of the pirate ship. That was when Akiko realized that it wasn’t a normal pirate ship. It burst with popping, eye-bleeding, neon colors. Now Akiko really knew she was going insane. She looked around the deck of the ship and saw that the dead bodies of the crew littered the brightly colored floor. But instead of blood oozing from their wounds, rainbow-colored liquid gushed out, like the crew were made of candy instead of human flesh and blood. “That is why I called you here.” the Magical girl pointed to the wheel of the pirate ship. Embedded in the wood was a glowing staff, made of carved pink wood. Akiko reached out and touched it. Instantly, she was transformed. Instead of wearing her panda pajamas, she now wore a pink magical girl uniform, with matching shoes and accessories. The purple magical girl pulled out a hand mirror from nowhere, and Akiko saw that her hair now was styled in a giant pink ponytail. “Now you are a Magi, destined to save the world of the Midnight space! Together we will assemble a team of other Magis and together we will save the world!” The purple girl said. “ My name is Murasaki, but you can call me Saki-chan!” “What?! WHAT????!!!!” Akiko began to panic. “No! I can’t save the world! I have to get out of here! I need to get out of this world and back to the real world! I have school tomorrow!” Also, the cherry blossom festival was tomorrow, and she wanted to see the beautiful blooms with her friend Asahi from school.

“You will return to your world when you save this one.” said Saki-chan. Akiko sighed. She knew this would be the only way to get back to the real world, so she could go see the cherry blossom festival with Asahi. “Alright, fine. Let’s go save the world.”

Chapter 3: Mr.Squid “Next, we must find the next Magi, Midori! She lives in Pixel city!” Saki-chan remarked. “So, where’s that?” Akiko asked, but before she could respond, a giant squid came from the depths of the ocean. “Ahh! What is that thing?!” “Oh, Hello, Mr. Squid!” Murasaki tried to pet it, but then he ate her! “Saki-chan!” Akiko exclaimed. “Hey Squid! Give me back my friend!” she shouted at the squid. Suddenly, a pink burst of magic erupted from Akiko’s new, pink, staff and hit the squid in the face, er, beak. He spit Saki-chan out and went back into the sea, mumbling, “she tasted like glitter anyway.” “Saki-chan! Are you ok?” “Yep! I’m fine! Now let’s go to Pixel City!” the purple magical girl floated off the neon rainbow colored ship and on to the top of the cliff. Akiko was assured that her new magical friend was okay, albeit a little slimy, but she had a problem. Saki-chan glanced back at Akiko. “Why aren’t you coming?” she said. “I don’t know how to fly.” Akiko replied. “Come on, it’s easy!” Saki-chan said. “All ya gotta do is believe you can. You can’t ever do anything with a gloomy attitude!” “Okay.” I believe I can fly. I believe I can fly.

Then she jumped and she flew, no wings necessary.“Yes! I did it!”

Chapter 4: Pixel City Underneath them, the wasteland slowly turned to candy-colored forest, then a desert of pastels and sparkling sand, and then rolling blue-green and purple plains, and then forest again. This pattern continued until Akiko thought they were flying in circles, until they came to a city, built of rock candy skyscrapers, and chocolate waffle-cone houses, and candy-cane chimneys and candy galore. In the center of the city was a castle made of oreos, cookies, and chocolate cake. “Welcome to Pixel city!” said Saki-chan. Akiko thought the city looked good enough to eat from a distance, but as she got closer, she realized that no one traversed the city streets. When she asked Saki-chan about it, the purple magical girl simply replied that the city had very strict laws about being outside, as if anyone was, they wouldn’t be able to resist devouring the buildings. As for movement between buildings, the people used a basic form of teleportation. The Magis landed on the top of one of the castle’s inner towers. They went through a door in the ceiling and after traveling down a few delicious hallways, they eventually made it to the throne room. On the throne sat a big blue octopus, who wore a crown on his head and held a candy cane scepter in one tentacle. “Who are you and what are you doing in my kingdom?!” said the Octopus king. “We are the Magi, and we are searching for members of our magical team.” Answered Sakichan. “Do you give us permission?” “No! I hate Magical girls! You are not allowed to search for your members of your magical team! Guards!” he shouted, and little gingerbread octopi ran into the throne room, wielding lollipop halberds. “Stay back! Or my Pink Staff will fry you into Takoyaki!” Akiko said, and for effect swung her staff around. Little stars sparkled menacingly around the staff.

This scared the little gingerbread octopi away, and the octopus king was now defenseless. “Let’s go Aki-chan!” said Saki-chan. “Don’t call me Aki-chan.” said Aki-chan and she blasted a hole through the ceiling. Shut up author~san. The Magis flew through it and crashed through the window of a green rock candy building. “Ahh! Who are you people?!”

Chapter 5: Dori-chan

Aki-chan and Saki-chan turned around to see a girl wearing all green sitting on a green bed in a green room. From this, you could infer her favorite color was yellow. “We are the Magi! And you are a part of our team, which is destined to save the world!” said Saki-chan. “Ok. My name is Midori-chan, or Dori-chan for short.” the green girl said. “Why are you not surprised?” asked Akiko. “People at my school get chosen to be part of magical girl groups and magical boy groups all the time. Plus, I’ve been waiting for something exciting to happen in my normal, boring life.” Said Dori-chan. “My name is Saki-chan, and this is Aki-chan!” Said Saki-chan. “welcome to the Magi team!” “My name is Akiko, not Aki-chan!” “Oh, come on! It has a good ring to it! Aki-chan, Saki-chan, and Dori-chan! Let’s hope the next girl has a name that ends in -i as well!” said Saki-chan. “I don’t really care what the next girl’s name is, let’s just have a magic adventure!” said Dorichan.

Even though she didn’t like magical girls, Akiko was actually starting to enjoy the adventure. Maybe magical girls weren’t so bad after all.

Chapter 6: Ember’s Dungeon

Out of nowhere, a magic portal opened up under their feet, and all three were sucked into the void. They appeared in a dungeon, although this time, instead of it being pastel colored, it was just...grey. And brown. And very not-colorful. In a poof of green smoke and lavender scented glitter, Dori-chan transformed into a magical girl, with matching shoes and accessories. Instead of pigtails or a ponytail, her hair was done in two green braids. “Dori-chan! You look so cute!” said Saki-chan. “Who cares? We gotta get out of this dungeon!” said Aki-chan. Suddenly, a person appeared before them. She wore an all-white business suit and had short black hair. “My name is Queen Ember the magnificent! Welcome, magis, to my dungeon! I made it super hard, just for you!” the business lady said. “We will get out of this dungeon!” said Aki-chan and pointed the Pink Staff at her. “Eww, get that disgusting colorful thing away from me! Color is so ugly! The only colors I like are black and white! Every other color is revolting!” said Queen Ember. “That is why I will drain the colors from the world of Midnight Space! And you can’t stop me!” “Every color is beautiful! Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean that you should take them away from everyone!” Said Saki-chan. “I can do whatever I want, and you can’t stop me because I am the queen!” said Queen Ember. Then Queen Ember disappeared.

“We need to get out of this dungeon and stop Queen Ember from taking the colors from the world!” said Dori-chan. “what’s this?” Dori-chan picked up a broomstick from the dungeon floor. At her touch, it turned green and grew to accommodate all three of them. “A magic broomstick? Nice!” said Aki-chan. They all hopped on, and it flew faster than they would have flying normally. Dori-chan’s broom carried them past all the monsters to a dungeon cell in the center of the dungeon. Aki-chan blasted it open with her Pink Staff to reveal a girl with golden hair. “Who was that weird lady back there? She said that I would become a magical girl, but she seemed crazy, so I didn’t listen to her. Then she put me in this ugly dungeon. Seriously, this place needs some color!” said the girl in the dungeon cell. “You are a magical girl now! Welcome to the Magis!” Saki-chan said. Then the girl transformed into a magical girl, with matching shoes and accessories. Her hair was simply a wave of yellow curls. “Ok, I’m in, as long as I get to keep this super cute uniform, and we have snacks at every club meeting.” she said. “This isn’t a club.” said Dori-chan.

Chapter 7: Magi Club

Suddenly, a giant grey lizard came down the hallway and started running towards them. The yellow magical girl dashed toward it and did a jump spin kick in its’ face. “My name’s Niko, by the way.” she said. “Yay!” said Saki-chan, “Saki-chan, Aki-chan, Dori-chan, and Ni-chan! This is perfect!” “My name is Akiko, not Aki-chan.” said Aki-chan.

“Now let’s go stop Queen Ember and save the world!” said Dori-chan. Dori-chan’s broomstick grew to fit all four of them, and they rode to all the way to the end of the dungeon, up to a big oaken door. Then, a pre-recorded voice said: The guide must draw the sword in the door and grant the rest their freedom. “Saki-chan, I think that’s you.” said Aki-chan. “Yeah, you brought us all together!” Dori-chan said. “I don’t really know you guys very well, but I agree with them.” said Ni-chan. “You should draw the sword.” “Ok!” Saki-chan said. “Let’s do this!” She drew a glowing purple sword from the door, and it opened.

Chapter 8: Fighting at the Edge of the World The Magi stepped out of the door, on to the cliff where Akiko met Murasaki, and found Queen Ember draining the color from the world and putting it into her magic orb. “Oh no, you guys escaped and found your friend! I thought it would take you longer.” she said in dismay. “But that’s okay. Almost all the color is gone from the world!” “No!” said Ni-chan, “all the colors are so pretty! They make the world a better place!” All of the Magis attacked at once. The magic shattered the magic orb, returning the color to the world of the Midnight Space, and revealed the final guardian. Queen Ember had been transformed into a blue magical girl, with matching shoes and accessories. “Whoa, what happened?” she said and looked around. “You just tried to trap us in a dungeon while you took all the color from the world.” said Akichan.

“What?! I would never try to do that! The last thing I remember is a wizard casting a spell on me. Maybe that’s what happened.” she said. “My name is Aiko.” “Yes, now the team is complete!!” Said Saki-chan. “Saki-chan, Aki-chan, Dori-chan, Ni-chan, and Ai-chan!” “My name is Akiko, not Aki-chan!” said Aki-chan. Suddenly, Akiko heard her mom’s voice loudly in her ears. It got louder and louder as the world started to fade out. I don’t want to wake up! Wait!! But she was already awake.

Chapter 9: The End-For Now

“Wake up, Akiko!” said Akiko’s mom. Akiko yawned, and rubbed her eyes. Wow, I didn’t think I’d have to say that, you’re usually already awake when I come to get you. Did you have good dreams, honey?” she said. “Yeah, mom. They were really crazy.” Akiko replied. Oh well, I guess it was just a dream. Better get ready for school. When Akiko was ready to go eat breakfast, she spied something that she hadn’t seen in her room before: a pair of blue binoculars was lying in the middle of the floor.

The End… For Now

The Light at the of the Road By: Molly Weiss | Advanced- Age 11

There was a dark hallway in front of me, but at the end I could see a light. I must get there I thought. I started to walk forward; the walls were a dark, slimy, color. I was getting closer, and the light was getting brighter and brighter, so much so that I could barely see in front of me. The light was so bright now that I couldn’t see my feet, but then everything went black. … I was tangled up in my sheets breathing heavily, each breath like a weight pushing down on my chest. Slowly my breath evened out, and I could breathe a little better now. I thought back to the dream I had been having for weeks and weeks now, the dark hallway then the bright light, but I always woke up. I could hear breakfast cooking downstairs: the aroma filled up my lungs pulling me out of my tangled-up sheets and down the stairs to where I saw my mom cooking breakfast. The weird thing was it didn’t look like my mom. Sure, she had the same eyes and hair, but my mom never had such a happy expression on her face; she was always scowling because she hated making breakfast. I quickly went into the hallway and started thinking. Tons of questions went through my head: who was this woman? How did she get in my house? If it was my mom, how could she be so different? I looked down at my watch; it said 7:45 am. I cursed under my breath. I would have to walk around this person to get to school, but I think I should get a free pass out of school for having a stranger in my house. Right? I peeked around the corner again. The woman was still cooking, she was making pancakes, and my mom knew I hated pancakes, I was allergic to them! Then a thought came through my head. My mom had been looking at cookbooks on her phone a lot so maybe she found gluten free pancakes! That would be amazing!

I slowly walked around the corner. “Hi mom,” I muttered under my breath. My mother whirled around and stared at me. “Yes- umm uhh Erin?” She said while looking at her hand. “Are you okay mom?” I asked in my best concerned voice. She didn’t answer. I was starting to get worried. My mom never ignored me, even if I interrupted someone. “Mom?” I asked again. No answer. I walked over to my mom and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped up in the air. “Yes,” she looked at her hand again, “Erin.” “Uhh…, mom, can I see your, umm... hand,” my mom shoved her left hand at me. I looked at it. It didn’t look to strange, “what about your other hand?” She shoved her other hand at me. I could see her eyes were filled with tears. Her hand saidIf you’re reading this, you probably don’t Remember anything. You are a Mother Your Daughter’s name is Erin. Have fun in your new state : ) I felt like screaming - what did someone do to my mother! This might just be a prank I thought. Though there’s nothing in the real world that can make you forget… everything. I decided to ask my mom some questions to assure myself that this really was a prank. I tapped my mom again, “uhh mommy what's your last name?” “The same as yours, honey.” “No, I uhh… forgot, yeah I forgot.” “Stop being silly! You can’t forget your middle name, wait I mean last name!” “Well then I guess I just won’t ever remember.” “Stop being silly. It will come to you, I swear.” I saw those beautiful soft blue eyes looking at me telling me that it’s going to be okay. “Now get ready for school, or you’re going to be late!”

“What time does school start, Mom?” “Umm well close to now so hurry!” “Can we talk after school, Mom?” “Of course honey, now hurry up!” I pulled my bookbag over my shoulder and sprinted out the door just in time to catch the bus. I ran to the back of the bus and plopped down right next to my best friend Elizabeth. “What’s wrong?” asked Elizabeth. “Nothing!” I yelled at her. “Jeez there's no reason to yell! If you don’t want to talk, just say so.” “Sorry! I’m just not in the best of moods right now.” “Really? I never could have figured that out.” “Please just stop; leave me alone.” “Fine.” Then Elizabeth did something I would never have thought she would do, she swished her amber curly hair around her shoulder, stood up and walked to the front of the bus. “Elizabeth McMillan!” yelled the bus driver. “Yes?” she asked. “Follow me out to the principal's office after school.” I sank lower in my seat. I might have just sent Elizabeth to the “Monster” (That’s our little name for the principal) She was never going to forgive me and now... I might as well be friendless. Elizabeth came back to class halfway through our first period and I saw tears in her eyes when she came back, and Elizabeth she never cried. During lunch Elizabeth and I sat together, but we didn’t talk. She just sat there. I was scared. What did the “Monster” do to her? Finally, I got the courage to ask her what happened.

“What happened at the “Monster”, “Well for one, I got yelled at for about, oh 15 minutes; then she gave me detention for three weeks!” “After or before school?” I said, scared to ask. “Before at 5:30am.” “Is that even allowed?” “Don’t know.” During language arts we had a lecture, and I hate lectures, so I made up a list.

Things to ask mom 1.What do you remember? 2.What is the last thing you do remember? 3.Who wrote on your hand?

But really when I think about it, she probably won’t know the answer to any of my questions - well, I hope she will. The rest of the day went by slowly, and finally I was let off the bus. I sprinted down to my house, number 530, and got out my key to open the front door, but it turned out I didn’t even need it. That was weird because my mom has five deadbolts on the door. When I opened the door, my mom was at the table still making... breakfast. “Uhh... mother, umm... why are you still making breakfast?” “Well, because I have nothing else to do.” She said. “Nothing else to do? You sure are always talking about how much work you have for your “secret” job!” I said.

“My job? I mean, oh yes, I have lots to do for my, what was it you said? Secret job?” My mom went down the hallway to go to the living room, but I stopped her. “Mom, you promised we could talk after school.” “Oh alright, let’s go sit down.” I pulled her over to our couch and sat down. I took off my bookbag and pulled out a piece of paper. “Okay, first question. Answer honestly, what do you remember?” I asked. “Oh, I’m a mother and your name is…” she looked at her hand “…Erin.” “Anything else?” I asked. “I hate to tell you, but nothing.” She said. “What is the last thing you remember?” “Oh, well that’s easy! I woke up on the top of the kitchen counter right by the stove.” “The stove?” “Yeah.” “Last question, who wrote on your hand? “I asked “I have no idea.” She said. “Okay, what about you go get some sleep.” I said. “If you say so, honey.” She said. The moment my mom was in bed I got on my computer, I went to a site where I could talk to Elizabeth and then I sat down. You: Hi Elizabeth Ginger: What Erin? You: Can you come over

Ginger: Why? You: I wanna talk Ginger: K comin over You: K About ten minutes later the doorbell rang. I unlocked all five deadbolts and opened the door. “Hiya Elizabeth.” “Hi, what you wanna talk about?” she asked. “Follow me.” I ran up the stairs with Elizabeth by my side. “Where are we going?” “Shush! Mom will hear you.” I warned. “Oka-ya.” She said. When we walked into my mom’s room, the lights were off. I waved Elizabeth over and showed her my mom’s hand. Elizabeth put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. I pulled her away from my mom’s room and ran down the stairs with Elizabeth clinging onto my hand. When we got downstairs, Elizabeth dropped down onto the couch. “Who did that to your mom?” “She doesn’t know…. I think she lost her memory.” “She lost her memory?” “I think.” “Who did it?” “No idea, but I have a clue.” “What?”

“When I asked her some questions, she said that when she woke up, she was laying on the kitchen right by the stove.” Elizabeth immediately went over to the stove and started looking, I followed her lead and walked up and felt around the stove. “Elizabeth, this is pointless. I don’t feel anything. Wait! See that dust on the counter; can you clean it up?” Elizabeth went over to the counter to go wipe up the dust, choking on it during the process. When she wiped it up, I saw something, a handle on the countertop. I immediately reached my hands toward it and felt something slap my arm. I whirled around to see Elizabeth staring at me like I was a madman. “What are you doing?” asked Elizabeth. “Umm, seeing where this leads to; after all my mom woke up right here.” “Do you know what’s down there?” “No.” “Then don’t touch it.” “Can I at least open it?” “Fine.” I took hold of the handle and pulled it up. It didn’t even creak, which was surprising. “What’s down there?” Elizabeth asked. “I don’t know; let me look.” “Okay.” I looked down and saw what looked like a four-foot drop into a hallway with slimy walls. At the end of the hallway was a light. “It’s the light from my dreams!” I said. “That’s impossible, Erin.”It was like some force was pulling me toward the opening. My face was in it now, I was getting ready to fall in until I felt something on my ankle.

“Stop it Elizabeth let me go!” “You are not going down there, for all you know it could be a sewage pipe.” “It’s not.” I pulled one last time and this time I fell and so did Elizabeth. “Help!” Yelled Elizabeth the whole four feet. “Elizabeth, you know that was only about four feet”, I said to her once we were in a heap on the bottom of the floor. “That was not four feet,” Elizabeth said definitely. “It was- look up.” Elizabeth looked up at the top and sighed, ”oh you weren't kidding, I can still see the kitchen.” “Really, I’m not a liar, that's a surprise,” I said sarcastically, “well I guess we have to go forward that’s the only way left after all.” “That is not true, I could stand on your shoulders and get out.” Elizabeth said. “And what? Leave me here like chopped liver?” “Okay, true.” “Well then come on.” I said. “Okay, but I have to be home by 7:30.” “That gives us 4 hours and 28 minutes and 14 seconds.” “Fine then.” She said. “Well come on, we already wasted 14 seconds,” I said grabbing Elizabeth’s hand and pulling her down the hallway, “Oh and when we get closer to the light, close your eyes. It might get just a bit bright.”

“How would you know?” she asked. “Dream hallway.” “Right”, said Elizabeth rolling her eyes. We went farther down the hallway and like I had said, it did get brighter- a lot brighter. “Told you so,” I said. “Okay, okay, I get it,” said Elizabeth with hers eyes tightly shut when we got all the way to the end of the hallway. I felt adrenaline coursing through my body, I got so close to the light I could touch it and that was when it happened. I felt myself on something squishy that felt like a bed, I opened my eyes slightly and found myself on my bed back in my room. It must have been a dream, I thought sadly to myself, but Elizabeth was there sitting right next to me. “What just happened?” Asked Elizabeth groggily. “I have no idea.” I looked down at my watch 7:00, I wiped my forehead, one crisis avoided. I heard behind me Elizabeth clap her hand over her mouth. “I am dead!” “What do you mean? It’s only 7:00.” “It’s 7am.” “What?” I looked closer at the clock, it said 7:00am, what that must be wrong, we couldn’t have taken that much time, right? I looked back over at Elizabeth, but she was gone. She must have left while I was thinking. There must be another opening on my bed, I thought. I pulled my hand over my bed and the floor around it until I found a handle, but I couldn’t do an adventure without Elizabeth, she’s been my friend since I was born on this earth. I got back onto my phone to ask if Elizabeth could come over. You: Hey Ginger can you come over

Ginger: Yeah. You: Like now Ginger: Ok be right there. You: Wait are you really Ginger, she never puts a period on her sentences Ginger: You’ll see when I come over. You: Really Dream, I already know it’s you Ginger: Thanks for calling me that. No one ever calls me Dream. They always call me by my real name, Jaxx, which is not a problem it’s just, number 1000 on most popular names, so in other words it’s like too popular, but like I would give you 1,000,000$ if you found Dream on a list of popular boy names You: For real : ) Ginger: Actually, even though I never make jokes, yeah, I think I was just joking. You: I would have taken you up on that bet Ginger: Well, you’re not now. You: Hey can ask your sis if she can come over Ginger: She’s grounded. You: Oh well can you come over I kinda assume your sis told you everything Ginger: Yup, she did. You: Well come over I found a new entry Ginger: Sure, I guess I will come over. You: Oh and please stop stealing your sis’s phone she hates it Ginger: Eh, maybe. This is scary, my crush is coming to go on an adventure with me. About 15 minutes later the doorbell rang. I slowly walked up to the door and opened it, Dream was about 5 foot 2 inch,

with short jet-black hair, and bright blue eyes. Today, Dream was wearing black sweatpants and a black sweatshirt. “Do you ever wear anything colorful?” I asked while looking down at my own mismatched clothes. “No, so where is this “entry”, as you call it.” “Umm on my bed.” “Lead me to it.” He said. “Wait can your sis come?” I asked. “She’s grounded.” “Well can you get her? After all, you do say you’re a “master” at sneaking around.” “Yeah, but I have never actually, umm well “sneaked” around” he said. “Well now it’s your chance to show you can sneak around.” “Fine will you come with me?” he asked. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” I said. “Ok then come on.” We walked out of my front door and into the street with Dream pulling me along. Eventually we got to Elizabeth’s house, her house was only one story tall, with windows everywhere. “Erin come on! Her bedroom window is right here.” I walked up to the mud stained window and tapped on the glass, a worried face came up to the window. I motioned for Elizabeth to come over and she opened the window and climbed out. “What Erin.” Said Elizabeth a look of worry on her face. “I found a new entry!”

“Really? Is it worth it?” she asked. “Yes!” “Okay, okay I’m coming.” Elizabeth said. We ran all the way back up to my house and opened the front door running up to my bed. I felt for the handle and pulled it open, inside I saw a bright light, it looked like the end of the corridor I saw earlier. “What are you waiting for? Come on.”, I said jumping down the way to the light. Behind me I heard two light flops onto the floor. When I lifted my head and looked around me I saw tons of people and animals conversing around me. When I looked up at the ceiling, I saw a sign TO GO BACK TO HOME CLICK ON THE RIGHT PLACE AND GO THROUGH THE SECURITY MEASURES. MOST RECENT PLACES: -

Lily’s Bedroom

Lily’s Kitchen

Phantom’s Living Room

It went so on for a while about 50 more bulleted places. “Lily’s bedroom that’s where we just were, that’s my mom’s name!” I said. “We have seen what’s here so we can go back now right.” Said Elizabeth. “Okay fine, hold hands so we can go back.” Everyone held hands and with my free hand I pressed Lily’s kitchen. We all were pulled through the words and a sign next to a door that said Lily’s kitchen appeared in front of me. The sign said, to proceed forward press hand to door.

We all pressed our hands against the door, and I felt myself pulled into the door and when I opened my eyes again I saw my mom’s kitchen. “Dream, Elizabeth, where are you?” No answer. I felt my phone in my pocket beep. I looked down at my phone.

Dream: When we pushed our hands against the door, we both blacked out and found ourselves in a white room with no doors. Then a woman came in and said, you have 1 hour until you’re sent to the testing room. Thank you and have a nice day. Umm and Elizabeth might be a bit worried. You: So your tellin’ me I have an hour to save you? Dream: No, not really. You: Why? Dream: You didn’t let me finish the story. You: What’s the rest? Dream: SO… after that, this other guy came in and he said his name was Phantom and like he, umm... said he could save us if we wanted him to, and I said sure so he teleported us to his home. Then he told us that the place we were was called the mind stealer and if you’re in there for more than an hour that it will slowly take away your memory and then they will use it for testing. You: Are you telling me that my mom was in that world. Dream: I guess so. Oh, and he also told us to never go there again because the Dark Ones were taking over the magic world and only people who are pureblood to the magic world still had their memory after 1 hour in the world. You: So, you could have lost your memory if you stayed there. I would have hated myself forever. Dream: I guess so. You: What are Dark Ones?

Dream: They are magical beings that can be a human or, had you read my new book, then you would know that the evil things without the like cute cuddly thing that wants to kill you and the Dark Ones instead it just wants to kill you without the cute cuddly part. You: Umm I haven’t read up to that part in your book Dream: You lied! You told me you had! You: It was a white lie. Dream: How is that a white lie? You: How is it not? Dream: Never mind. You: Should I come join you at Phantoms house? Dream: I’ll ask him. You: K Dream: He said it was okay. You: Ok. I walked back up to my bedroom and opened the secret door and quickly walked to the sign and pressed Phantom’s room. It brought me to the same place it did before. I pressed my hand on the door, it said, Phantom’s presence not detected, please go to the Dark Ones jury to prove that you are loyal to the Dark Ones and have permission to be going into the Phantom’s room. I cursed under my breath. I did not want to meet the Dark Ones. Yet, I felt myself being pulled forward. When I found myself touching the floor, I slowly opened my eyes and found myself on a stone floor and saw a person with a black cloak, when they pulled down their hood, I saw a person with neon purple eyes, “Are you a Dark One?” I asked in wonder because the person in front of me didn’t look dark. “No I’m Phantom, grab hold of my hand.”

I didn’t completely trust the man, but he was the only thing I had got. I grabbed his hand for whatever happened. I felt my body feel like it was being pulled through a tube and when I opened my eyes again I saw a tiny apartment room. In the middle was table with two chairs, a couch with a T.V next to it, a little kitchen set including a stove and mini fridge, a fish tank in the corner, off to the side was a bedroom and a bathroom in the bedroom was a tiny bed and a little bedside table, in the bathroom was a shower and a little sink, and sitting at the table in the middle of the room were my friends. “Hi,” I said running over to see them. “Hi Erin,” they said while running over to me. “Hi guys.” Phantom walked over to us with a look of interest on his face. ” Are you guys nonmagical?” “What?” We all said at the same time. “Oh true, let me try something.”We all nodded at him. “Close your eyes.” He said to us. “What? I’m afraid of the dark,” yelled Elizabeth, but she closed her eyes, anyways. Then I heard a growl behind me, I slowly opened my eyes to see a huge bear about to jump on my friend. Then something happened, my hands burned hot, then it stopped hurting and a ball of fire was on my hand, I flung the fire at the bear. Then the bear started to transform into a human, and that human was Phantom. I looked at Phantom he had a huge burn on his back where I had burned him. My eyes widened in fear, then the burn started to get smaller and smaller until it was just a little tiny burn. I looked down at Phantom, he seemed to be concentrating very hard. Then the burn turned to nothing. “How did you do that?” I said in wonder. “Which? The bear or the healing?”

“The healing.” “Oh yeah, one of my powers is healing, so I had to go to school to learn it, but I was never any good though just good at little thing like burns.” “Wow, do me and my friends get powers?” “Your friends aren’t magical, but you are.”

To be continued...