Hero Stories E K 17
1
Nothing to Declare Already at first sight, Stina knew that he had something to hide. For each step he took when he approached the customs, she became more secure. He chose the gate with the sign that said "Nothing to Declare" and passed right in front of her, she said: "Excuse me, Sir! Can you please wait a second?! "
... At first the man pretended not to hear Stina, she then repeated the words, this time with a louder voice: " Excuse me. Can you wait a second!? ". This time he could not ignore her, he slowly began to walk towards Stina. When he was about two meters from her, Stina could see something in his right pocket, the man tried to hide it by putting his left side towards her. She asked him loudly: "Do you speak Swedish?". The man answered: "Yes. Why did you stop me? ". Stina then answered: Keep your hands visible, and tell me what your name is! ".
"My name is Mars, Bruno Mars." Said the man calmly. Stina asks calmly: "Do you have something that can prove your identity?". Bruno slowly stretches towards his left pocket, then he puts his hand into his pocket, and takes out a passport, a US passport. He shows it to Stina and in his passport is the name he stated. Stina asks Bruno to come to her office.
The day before Stina and her colleagues had been informed that a man from the United States probably was on his way to Sweden, he is said to be about 180 cm tall, with dark curly hair and well-behaved. Stina realizes that Bruno fits perfectly into the description just after she had asked him to come in to her office. The man allegedly being on his way to Sweden was extremely dangerous and was 1
an old spy for the CIA. He was an expert in disguise and in eliminating people. Since he was 10 years old he had been training martial arts and been involved in criminal activities. His father was also a well known agent, but for the MI6 which is The Great Britain’s intelligence service.
Once inside Stina's office, he has been cuffed by Stina's colleague, Mats while she is calling the police. Five minutes later, a pick-up bus arrives from SWAT, and 6 SWAT-operators jump out. Five of them have assault rifles and the sixth one of them whom is the leader have a Glock 19 handgun. Everyone beside the leader are masked, they have bulletproof vests, knee- and elbow pads and a helmet. They go to her office, three of them stay outside the door, the other three enters the office. She has only read about this type of police in the newspapers, but she never expected them to be this rude and big.
When they enter Stina's office, the leader says with a clear and dark voice. •
Is it the handcuffed man whom you called about?
Stina responded quickly, after she took a deep breath. •
Yes, he fits perfectly in the description of the wanted man!
He responded again. • We will take care of him now, you and your colleague are not allowed to tell anyone about this! Stina says with a shaky voice. • Is he really as dangerous as he is said to be? He appears so calm and he did not act threatening at all when we arrested him!
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The leader begins to get annoyed at Stina and answered in an angry tone. •
It is exactly what he is trained to do, to seem quite normal.
The six men then escort Bruno to the pickup bus before they put him in the bus they put mask over his head, a pair of ski glasses that are taped so he can't see anything. Stina sees when the bus drives away from them, they drive very fast and do not stop for anything. A moment later, Stina remembers that she forgot to inform them about the thing in his right pocket. She starts to wonder what kind of consequences it might have.
An hour later after the pickup bus has left, a cellphone that is on her desk starts to ring. She has never seen seen it before.
Doubtfully, she takes up the mobile phone and answers. •
Hey who is it?
Out of the phone she hears a dark and distorted voice. •
Is that Stina I'm talking to?
Stina answers. •
Who are you and how do you know my name?
Out of the phone is heard. •
Was it you whom I met about an hour ago ?!
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Stina replies. •
Yes! But who am I speaking to?
Right after she asked the question again she hears a loud noise and then the phone disconnects. She runs out of her office and starts to search for Mats, but she can't find him anywhere. After about five minutes she finds him and tells him about what just happened, he gets confused and tells Stina to calm down. Mats and Stina then go to their office and triy to call the number that called the phone earlier, but they’re unable to get a response. One hour later the phone rings again, this time it's a voice which Stina remembers, its Bruno's voice. He tells Stina that he blew up the pickup bus because the guys from SWAT were going to kill him. Of course Stina doesn't believe him, instead she tries to get him to say where he is at. At the meantime Mats is looking for if Bruno left something more than just the cellphone, but he can’t find anything else but the phone.
Stina is still trying to get Bruno to expose his position, but she is unable to get him to tell it. From nowhere Bruno is standing outside their office, both Mats and Stina get really surprised.
They both draw their guns and demand Bruno to lay down and put his hands on his head. Without hesitating he draws his gun. Bruno is pointing the gun at Mats, and screams that they should drop their guns. Bruno gets more and more upset because they won't drop their guns. He starts to wave with the gun and screams that he is going to shoot Mats if they won't drop their weapons.
Stina can see that Bruno is going to pull the trigger so she jumps in front of Mats at the same time as Bruno pulls the trigger. Stina gets hit right in the chest, and then Bruno shoots himself dead. Then Mats begins with calling the ambu4
lance and then he starts with CPR and keeping pressure at the wound. After 20 minutes the ambulance arrives and Stina has lost her consciousness. It takes about three minutes until Stina is in the ambulance, she gets morphine and the doctors start doing standard medical procedures. Then the ambulance drives away. It's about 20 minutes to the closest hospital but the ambulance gets there in 10 minutes.
4 weeks later.. Mats arrives to the hospital and goes to the reception, the lady in the desk tells him where Stina is. She is in room 243 which is on the floor above where Mats is, so he takes the elevator and goes to her room. When he opens the door to her room he sees Stina, she looks tired and has bandages all over her chest. Stina explains to Mats that she can see through objects, she also says that she didn't tell anyone except him.
10 weeks later… Stina is back at the customs, considering her power to see through objects she is able to see if a person is hiding something or not. The only one who knows about her superpower is herself and Mats which means that no one can understand how she can find all the things she is finding. Her supervisor promotes her to boss over to south side of Sweden. Mats also gets a promotion because Stina shares her success with him.
20 weeks later… Mats and Stina start to fall in love with each other, they can't tell anyone because then they are not allowed to work together anymore. But it's very hard to pretend like nothing has changed.
50 weeks after… 5
Stina gets pregnant and now they have to tell everyone at work that they are together. Stina gets fired and Mats gets to stay.
90 weeks after‌ Their baby is born and they find out that the baby has the superpower to fly. He grows up learning that he is not allowed to tell anyone about his superpower. But then he gets a boyfriend and he tells him anyway.
1200 weeks after.. Their kid is now using his superpower to save the world and helping his country. A couple of years ago it leaked out that he had the superpower to fly. This meant hours of interrogations but at last they set him free on the condition that he helped when ever was needed. Stina has still not informed anyone else than Mats and her son about her superpower because she is scared that the same thing will happen to her.
Sometimes we all just need to stop and wait a second‌(explain this part?), it is connected with the beginning of the text.
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2
Nightcrawler
An unknown, black knight is a legend in the whole world. He is well known for the story where he slays an ice dragon in the Jichu Drake mountain in Himalaya. The black knight still lives around the Jichu Drake mountains as he has something that prevents him from leaving this dangerous place. A black crawling beast with red eyes and a heavy body with six sharp legs that will cut through anything. The black beast lives around the Jichu Drake mountains as well. But the only time it’s out, is at night. It is fast, It is strong and it is very dangerous. The nightcrawler.
A village nearby called Semonja has another day struggling to survive, with a poor amount of food and clean water. When people in Semonja get sick, even if it’s a gentle sickness, they have a high risk of dying. Semonja has a good system, they have guards that patrols, they have law enforcement and they have a leader. Villagers don't pay taxes as they have to take care of their own family. Healthcare is hard in semonja, and kind of all over the world. It’s 1653 and medications are rarely available. If there are, people have trouble dealing with it. People who live in this village do really look up to the black knight and his horse. They are their gods and protects them from all dangerous creatures. Some even claim they’ve seen the black knight on their patrolling time. The poor village has rumors that walk around, some are true and some aren’t. But one rumor that soon will become a story, is the one about the nightcrawler.
It’s a regular morning and the village have their traditional prayers as they have every Sunday. ‘’Lord knight, please save us from the strange terrible creature that lurks under the dark. May the call reach you fast enough and may the strength be 7
wi…’’. Something really loud is roaring and gets the whole church quiet. ‘’What in the black knight’s name was that’’ sais the priest. It’s getting a lot hotter in the room as the people are panicking. The guards of Semonja are preparing for battle and forms up with their heavy equipment made of metal. The priest is running up to the clock tower and tolls the bell. Villagers are running to their homes, screaming in panic and imagining the worst. In some minutes, the village is all quiet, completely quiet. Guards in position with swords and shields. Horses galloping in full speed all around and searching for what the strange sound came from. But in hours, they don’t find anything as the calm is getting closer to the village, people are finally allowed to go out.
A mountain, a big cave, a campfire, there he is, the black knight. Still stuck in the Jichu Drake mountains. He is preparing for another try to escape the cold hell he lives in, laces his sword, repairing his equipment. His eyes are red and shine through the black helmet with a red feather at the top. Very light equipment, but still the strongest ever created. His black horse isn’t wearing any equipment, but it doesn't need. It is the fastest and strongest horse in the world. The black knight has grabbed his gear, prepared to leave his cave.
In a dark forest at night, the crawling crude beast is hunting its prays, heading towards Semonja. It’s hungry, very hungry and can even smell people from miles away. It doesn’t make it harder for the night crawler when the wind is strong, it makes it a lot easier for him as he smells and hear everything much better. Howling winds keep screaming round, as the rain comes pouring down. As a routine in Semonja, you have to lock your door every night. Some doors are even bolted. The patrolling group from Semonja ‘’Hell Patrol’’ is taking tonights shift. They’ve heard strange noises sometimes, sticks brokes, weak roarings, and heavy breaths. All suddenly, the weak roaring is no longer weak. It’s the nightcrawler, screaming for vengeance. The hell patrol is preparing for battle, soldiers are taken positions. ‘’Where is it?’’ 8
‘’I have no clue, sir’’ Their voices are shaking with fear caught in their eyes. Out in the forest all alone with no possibilities to go get backup. One of the manner looks behind and drops his sword. ‘’S-sir-r?’’ They look back and regrets that they ever where born. The night crawler, 5 times bigger than themselves is hungry and his food has just arrived. ‘’ATTACK’ AT WILL’’ And so it begins, the hell patrol that includes 15 soldiers are fighting for their life, literally. It’s screaming so loud that the soldiers ears are bleeding. The night crawler stabs one after one with it’s long sharpy legs. Blood runs everywhere, the soldiers has no chance to beat the beast. It is to strong. ‘’FALL BACK SOLDIERS, FALL BACK’’ The only 5 soldiers that's still alive are now running back to Semonja, but one soldier doesn’t seem to be making it as the night crawler stabs him from behind. Four of fifteen men came home alive, one of 11 came home dead. At Least four men made it home alive. When they finally get to Semonja again the guards take the corpse of the dead man and instantly beheading the four other soldiers and putting their heads on a pillar.
The four soldiers fought for their life and also did they fight for their village Semonja. Their welcome wasn’t expected for the Villagers either, but as the Master guard held one of hell patrol’s head he said ‘’Alright if anyone here would like to complain you are very welcome to burn as a witch’’ The silence spoke.. ‘’These guards have just been cursed by the night crawler, look at this corpse who has a giant hole in his chest. Nobody or nothing can possibly do that expect the crawling beast straight out of hell. It’s one of a kind. Now go to your houses and put this on 9
your shelf, tomorrow this will be forgotten.’’ And so it went. The following day was just as normal as any other day. But not for the black knight. He was on his way to the Semonja forest to get his revenge and to help Semonja. His horse galloped at a abnormal speed. It is special trained as well and can run 60 miles per hour. The black knight has treveld in two days and are just a few hours away from Semonja, but as it’s night he has to set up camp and rest.
It’s midnight, and something very evil is inside Semonja. There are barely light so the night guards can’t see anything but an area within 4 meter radius. But villagers have seen it walk outside their houses but have no opportunity to warn the others. Huddled in the cellar with fear caught in their eyes, daring not to move or breathe as the beast may pay attention. Even if the night crawler is quiet and yet harmless, thera is one guy who sees him and getting the stupid idea ‘’I could kill him and get a huge reward’’. But the treasure won’t seek him, he runs out his house screaming with a dagger in his hand. He didn’t even have time to blink until he got stabbed in his throat. The guards paid attention and wondered what freak who screamed in the middle of the night. One guard went to see what the problem was, as he saw the dead guy lay on the ground with barely a head he screamed ‘’NIGHTCRAWLER’’. All guards grabbed their gear and searched for the beast. Unfortunately it was all to late. The screaming beast went all crazy now, it wasn’t just hungry, it was full of anger. It stabbed everything in its way and the guard stood no chance. They died all after one and people couldn’t even escape, it was to fast. The counting number of dead villagers increased fast and if they don’t kill the beast it won’t be anything or anyone left. Though it was a chance. The black knight had arrived, he whistled. ‘’Hello my old friend’’ he said standing behind it. The night crawler turned around and screamed louder than anything on the earth. Now, you could see anger in its eyes. The horse reared and ran towards the beast with the black knight on its back. The knight's eyes lit red. The beast moved its sharp leg and tried to chop the knight, but fast as he is he sliced one of the crawlers leg with his sword. It screamed louder this time, not from pain but from anger. 10
Face to face they stood again. Same thing happened, the crawler tried to stick its sharp legs but yet again the knight was fast enough to cut off his leg. That wasn’t any problem for him though. The night crawler was smarter than anyone in his vicinity. Cleaver than everyone. Instead of losing another leg, he managed to push the black knight far away with a hard punch. His horse wasn’t a normal horse, but it couldn’t stand alone against this beast. He raised his leg, stung its teeth in the neck and wrecked it. The horse died instantly, and this triggered the black knight more than anything. His horse, his best friend, besides, his only friend. His eyes could now dazzle anything that looked into them. He ran with all his power and jumped on the night crawler and stabbed him with the sword through his body. The night crawler took its last breath.
A week later the black knight buried his horse and had his own funeral. He walked with a knife in his heart and he just can’t take this pain and sorrow. Though he moved on, he had some very hard days after the funeral. While hiking towards his hometown ‘’Raymond’’ he stops for a minute every quarter as he think he hears something. One time he really does, he look back and can’t really put out what he is seeing, until it get closer. It’s countless amount of night crawlers running in a immense speed. 20 fast and big creatures from hell is on it’s way towards the black knight. They’re screaming, screaming for vengeance. It’s the final countdown.
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3
A Man Looking for Revenge The tall man with red eyes was running behind her. He wore a black ski mask over his head and had a gun in his pocket. Chloe ran so fast that her legs was hurting. When she looked back, he was even closer. She could see his eyes staring at her back while he was jumping over stones and branches to catch her arm. The woods was filled with trees and pits that made it even harder for Chloe to make distance between them. She looked to the left, then to the right, without seeing anyone nearby. She was all alone, with this crazy human being. Just within a few seconds, she felt a sweaty hand grabbing her ponytail and pulled her closer. She looked back, which made it even easier for him to push her down to the ground. He tied her legs and arms together so she just was laying in the wet grass, helpless. It was impossible to escape from that position.
Chloe was so scared that she barely couldn’t breath. The black refuse sack over her head made it even harder. He dragged her to his vehicle where the engine already was turned on. She tried her best to resist but he was too muscular. Without any resistance, he held her body under his left arm while opening the car boot. There she laid, with no idea where they were going and without hearing anything from outside. The only thing she could attend was the sound from the radio. Apparently, the man in the car commenced to speak. It wasn’t until now she comprehend that it was more than one man inside. When the other person commenced to speak, she could really recognize that voice. It sounded so familiar that she was sure that they had met each other before. The men in the front seats had talked for a long time when the man advised the driver to turn right. He followed the instruc12
tion and after a couple of minutes, he ceased the car and turned off the engine. Chloe was so scared that her legs was shaking while someone opened the car boot. Big, strong hands grabbed her thigh and pulled her out from the vehicle.
When they pulled off the refuse sack from her face, the lightning from a window almost made her blind. She hadn’t seen the sun in so many hours that she couldn’t handle the light. When she finally could open her eyes, nobody was there. The ambiance was filled with ancient machines. For example, she saw dishwashers, chainsaws and ovens that made the room very tightly. She thought she was located in a basement somewhere, because the only window was placed so high that the only thing she could see was the bright sky. When she tried to move, there was a big pillar that her arms were tied around. She got a little bit of panic when she realised that she couldn’t move. The smell of old mould made her stomach turn inside out. Despite this, she could do anything to get food right now. She was so hungry that even the leftovers on the plates in the rusty dishwasher looked appetizing.
Days went past and the basement became colder. Chloe hadn’t eaten for the past twenty hours and the only thing she drank was the disgusting water from the sink behind the pillar. The rope made wound on her arms and the hair was so dirty that it smelled like trash.
One day, she could hear footsteps from upstairs. The sound became louder and louder before she realized that it came closer. Now, the footsteps were walking down the stairs to the basement. She could hear it by the creaking in the old wooden floor. Chloe froze to ice when she saw the door handle move. When the man came inside the room Chloe couldn’t see, she stared down on the mortal floor, hoping to disappear. The man commenced to scream. •
Look at me!
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Just like before, she could really recognize that voice. Her legs was shaking while she slowly lifted her head and moved her eyes from the floor to the man. When she saw that face, she choked for a second. It was her old best friend’s father, Mikael. Why did he wanted to hurt her? Then she remembered. In middle school, when Chloe and Mikaels daughter Kylie were best friends. They used to hang out every weekend and told their biggest secrets to each other. Kylie was that kind of person that you never get tired of, that always had something interesting to tell and always cared about Chloe. They could laugh for hours without any stop, and it was because of that she loved her. But Chloe knew that Kylie didn’t like her family. That she rather ate dinner at Chloe’s house than spend time with them. Chloe had just met her father a few times, when he came in his black car to pick up Kylie at school. It was because of that it was hard to identify his voice, but she could never forget his appearance. The brown boots, a coat made of wool and the big sunglasses that shaded his face.
Chloe and Kylie were best friends until the day when both should start High School. They went separate ways and began their new lives. Chloe commenced to play music and earned money by doing gig’s nearby. She met new friends and even a boyfriend, Zack. But it didn’t work as well for Kylie. When Chloe hadn’t met Kylie for the past two years, she found out that she was laying on hospital. She was depressed, had anxiety and had even tried to commit suicide by cutting herself. Mikael claimed that everything was Chloe's fault. That his daughter was sick because Chloe “left” her and then she couldn’t find new friends. But Chloe knew that he was wrong. She had known Kylie for more than thirteen years and was sure that she never would put the blame on her. Instead, it was the way around. Chloe had heard everything that Mikael had done to Kylie when nobody else was home, so everything was definitely his fault. It was his profit that Kylie tried to kill herself and now laid on hospital. Everything was his fault, and she knew it.
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•
I said look at me! he screamed even louder.
•
But why do you…
•
Sit down and shut your mouth!
She did as he ordered her. She didn’t wanna challenge the destiny. He took a few steps forward and ceased just a couple of centimeters in front of her. He turned his face down and stared into her terrified eyes. The shadow of his big mussels covered her body and with anger in the voice, he said: •
You ruined my daughter’s life, now you get to taste your own medicine.
She was so scared that she barely couldn’t breath. She knew that she hadn’t any chance in the whole world to win if he would begin to hurt her. He was three times bigger and her arms were still tied around the pillar. But so he did. She could feel the slaps on her cheeks while doing her best to resist from his kicks. One leg after another hit her in the stomach, and it was so empty that you barely could hear the echo. Blood flowed along the cheeks and her body was shaking while he stood above her and laughed. He continued and grabbed her ponytail until she started to scream because of pain. Her body was destroyed of his beats and kicks. In the moment she realized that her life nearly was over, she suddenly heard a knock. When she removed her hands from the face, she could see Mikael laying on the floor. He had a big cut above his left ear and the blood was flowing along the cheekbone. She moved her glance away from Mikael and looked up again. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Kylie standing behind him with a hammer in her hand. Chloe couldn’t imagine it. That her former best friend would punch her own dad in the head with a hammer, just to save her. Kylie was so terrified that she couldn’t move a body part.
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• Chloe.
Kylie! Please help me to remove those ropes around my arms, said
Kylie stood completely still. • nued.
Please Kylie! We need to get out of here before he wakes up! she conti-
Three seconds, according to Chloe, felt like forever but finally, Kylie perceived what she said. She ran around and seeked in every corner before she found a scissor and helped her out from the ropes. When Chloe finally could use her hands again, the first thing she did was jumping into Kylie's arms and gave her the biggest hug you could ever imagine. They both cried while they climbed over Mikael who still was laying helpless on the floor and went thru the door to the basement.
It wasn’t until now Chloe realized that she had been locked in a basement who belonged to her best friend’s house. When they had escaped thence, Kylie told her that she had no idea that someone was located in their basement until Mikael commenced to scream downstairs. During her whole life, she wanted to hurt Mikael for everything he had done to her, but she didn’t thought that she would ever do it like this. Chloe was still terrified but quite she said: • Thank you for saving me, I can’t think of what could happen if you weren't home today. •
That’s what best friends does, she answered.
Now, Chloe could remember why they were so good friends during primary school, you could never find someone better than Kylie.
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4
Prologue
That Girl
It was cold, so cold, but that was good because it meant long sleeves. But still it meant more places that were hurting… I had always known, that if I ever entered the house and closed the door behind me, before noticing those two smells, it would be too late to make my way out again… And I would be stuck there with two strangers and the pain.
Mike I woke up and crossed January the fifteenth of my calendar. My parents had already left for work so it was up to me to fix my breakfast. A bowl of cereals was quickly fixed and eaten, then it was off to school…
Well there I sat down in my usual corner at the back of the classroom. As usual the class was in a full chatter until our homeroom teacher came in. Everyone sat down quickly and usually they would have kept quiet, but today was different and as a girl walked in behind Mrs. Hopkins everyone started whispering. Then Hopkins hushed the class and said “Well dear why don’t you present yourself ?”
The girl that stood in front of the class seemed incredibly shy, she was mid length, had long darkened hair that fell in waves down beyond her shoulders, ice blue eyes and of course the girls winter school uniform. I have never been the one who felt the urge to talk to someone that didn’t look like the same type of person as me. But I felt that there was something different about her, something that made me wanna get to know her and befriend her.
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Jocelyn “Hi… My name is Jocelyn and I recently moved here from Toronto. Nice to meet you all.”
I heard the woman whom I was supposed to call Mrs. Hopkins inquiring voice say “Was that all?, then please help yourself to a seat next to Amanda over there.” Her finger was pointing at a short girl with blond hair at the middle row.
It was math class but the time went by pretty quick, and soon we heard the bells ring to inform us that lunch started, all the girls formed a mob around me and started talking. They had too many questions they wanted answered. But after a short while the intensity of attention decreased, and the quick stereotypical introduction of the whole class began.
“Hi I’m Jenna. The ones you can see sitting in the front of the class are always the study geeks. In the middle often sits either nerds or nobodies. And to the back where we who at least matter a little sit, plus Mike and his gang. My tip is not to get involved with them I hear they deal with some crazy stuff, and not too rarely they come in with bruises and scars from their silly gang fights.”
I turned my head to see the person she was talking about. He sat relaxed in his chair with semi blond wild hair. He had the guys school uniform but wore it very sloppy, the jacket was hanging loose and the tie wasn’t tied properly. He sat there talking with his friends, but then suddenly glanced around the room and stopped at me. That was when I caught myself staring.
Mike 18
I caught her staring at me when I glanced her way. It felt wrong having the popular girls introducing her to the class, that always gave the wrong impression of who a person really is. To know if they introduced us and I’ll admit it to get a look at her, I quickly looked around the classroom to stop when I met her eyes.
Now it was too late to look away, because that would only make it slightly awkward and maybe give her wrong thoughts. So I decided to give her a quick smile, but nothing came back just a flip of the head back towards Jenna who kept on rabbeling.
Two lessons went by, and it seemed like Jocelyn had turned down the offer to be with the popular kids by choosing to stay at the place Mrs. Hopkins earlier pointed out for her. That was understandable not all people want the whole world's attention.
After our last class everyone went to their lockers. Jenna and her crew usually went to a cafe or shopping mall. But this time begging Jocelyn to come with them. Never have I seen a face so startled like Jenna's when the answer was no. She turned around without any contradictions and walked out with her friends, hoping no one noticed the conversation.
That new girl made me curious she chose to be invisible. So when everyone had left I walked up to her and asked nicely.
Jocelyn I heard footsteps getting closer, then a boys voice said “I thought you might want some help with taking some of your books with you home. As you’ve missed some assignments and didn’t want to grab coffee with the popular squad. Could I help?” 19
My eyes went from the sight of the looker inside to the boy that was talking. It took some time until I realized… “It’s Mike.” He interrupted my thoughts. “You really want to help me? You seem like the type who rather go kick it with some friends at home.” I said to make him go away. “Well I offered my help. SO do you want it or not? There's no need to be rude, you won’t make friends like that.” Mikes answered. “Then… If it's not too much I would need some help carrying these two books. But I live pretty far away, just so you know… ” “That’s no problem, let's just start walking before the sun sets.”
Mike I don’t know why I wanted to help her or why I offered my help. But in a way she looked helpless to me. We walked for a long while, until we finally arrived at the doorstep of a house that seemed run-down. Not the kind of house I would picture any person from school to live in. As she took her things we heard someone scream and then the sound of crashing glass. It obviously made her nervous, her movements quickened and she told a quiet and quick thank you before slamming the door in my face.
Jocelyn The sound of breaking glass made me know exactly what was going on in there and I couldn’t risk it. So I decided to slam the door in his face to show him that he shouldn’t be here.
As I took off my shoes in the hallway mother came and asked. “Where have you been?” I noticed the smell from her mouth. And as I glanced into the living room I saw what I hoped not to see. As usually it was dark, the windows were cove20
red so that no one from the street could see in. The tv was the only thing lighting up the room, but that was enough to see the empty bottles and cigarettes on the table in front of the sofa where a man sat. “You ignoring me?!” an irritated voice said. “What? Sorry, in school, where would I have been?” I answered. “Don’t you live an important life…” then the hand hit my face, as usually it felt normal until the burning pain started to kick in. “... You should come home immediately, not be friends if you now live such an important life. Do you even know what happened today? Do you even care that I just lost my job?.” Then the man rose up from the sofa and walked out unstable into the hallway. He pushed me towards the wall, and I knew that he was much bigger than me, so there was no meaning in trying to resist. What had always come from all the men mother had been with for as long as I remember. The first punch hit my stomach. For a moment it felt like there was no air that could go down my lungs at all. I should be used to this by now, but still every hit hurt as hell. “Aren’t you going to amends for being such a burden? Or are you just gonna go on and ruin our life with your pathetic existence?!” I tried to preserve the blows pain for as long as I could, until my body collapsed onto the floor. When I hit the cold stone floor from exhaustion the last kick went right into my solarplexus, and all air went out of my body. I heard both of them left the room just before I passed out. My last thought was, I’m fortunate that it’s winter so that I can avoid all the questions by just wearing the long sleeved school uniform.
Mike The bell for the first period rang, but Jocelyn wasn't there. She came rushing in the second period, begged the teacher for forgiveness and said she overslept. I didn’t believe her. She had made it pretty obvious that she wanted to distance herself from other people. My way wasn’t to force myself on 21
someone in difference to Jenna, her actions showed more than enough that she didn’t want to befriend me.
The days went on like this for some time, I actually think two months went by. Jocelyn came late some days but were in time most of them. She seemed more quiet than in the beginning and had taken distance from everyone.
It was in the middle of March when we just changed our school uniforms from winter to summer. This meant that we guts just had a pike and trousers while all the girls had t-shirts and skirts. I first noticed that something was off about Jocelyn when she the first day of the uniform change came in with the skirt, kneesocks and the long sleeve winter shirt. Our teacher begged her to change into the proper summer outfit and she refused so much that she lastly was sent home.
The next day she came in the t-shirt instead, and we all saw what she so badly had been trying to hide the day before. Her arms were filled with bruises that seemed to hurt her muscles in every move she made. Only one teacher asked her how she got them. She said that she fell down the stairs the day before but her voice said you do best in staying out of this.
Jocelyn When I came home this day I had a feeling it would be worse than other days. And when I entered the house the smells hit me. Both my mother and the man confronted me furiously and asked “Why is the school calling and telling us they’re worried about your well being?” “Maybe because my arms are filled with bruises thanks to you?” the man answered irritatedly “Then we just have to make them in places that won’t be seen.” And he threw me down on the ground and started kicking at my legs. 22
Mike The bruises on her arms slowly faded and no one asked anymore. But if you looked at her a little more than just a glance you could see her growing problems with walking. And that’s when I noticed her legs, they had bruises, some new and some yellow faded, but she had managed to hide them properly. No one who didn’t look for them would notice them.
That was the day I decided to act. I wouldn’t be one of them who left her to suffer by herself. When school ended I made a call with all the information I had and then ran as fast as I could home to the house where I once helped a girl carry her books. I was determined not to let anyone continue the pattern of abuse I had been noticing increasing throughout the days.
Well there I saw how a car from social service pulled up. They knocked on the door and when her parents opened they stated the facts I had described in my call. Like I thought her parents tried to escape the situation with loose arguments but the social workers saw and smelled the scents from the inside. When they finally managed to get Jocelyn out I ran to give her a hug.
“... I’m sorry… ”
And as all the chaos was around us she hugged me back and as light as a birds chitter you could hear…
Jocelyn “... Thank you… You are my hero...” 23
5
From Ordinary to Hero It was a sunny day in Washington and Liam made his way through the huge park, Liam was on his way to work without knowing that this day was going to change his life forever. Liam was not tall but strong, he was  intelligent and in his best physical form ever. Liam was an ex Navy Seal soldier, when Liam turned 18 he applied to the Navy Seal training, one of the toughest qualifications in the world. Liam has always been the smallest in the room which made him to a victim at the Seal training. It was hard to get in but even harder to get through, the majores broke down the futures Seals mentally, Liam had a tuff time.
He had to run faster, swim faster and kill faster than the others because of his size. His mates at the training said to him every day that he was too little for this sort of training but he didn't give up. After the nightmare training he became a killer machine who worked for the United States. After five years at the seal team 6, he had been all over the world, he have seen horrible assassins and detonations who killed innocent people. Liam was tired of this shit, and he quit the job at the seals. Â Liam had a talent and it was to protect US, but there must be another way to do it.
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One of his friends worked by Secret Service as a bodyguard for the first lady. Liam's friend had earlier worked with Liam at Seal team 6 but he left after two years and then began at Secret Service. Liam called his friend and he was of duty so he answered, Liam asked him if there was an opportunity to work at Secret Service but his friend didn't know so he gave Liam his boss´s number and Liam called him. They decided to meet at Secret Service office at Washington D.C. Liam had so good qualifications that he was given a job opportunity at the White House immediately.
His duty at the White House was not to watch the president or the first lady, but instead to protect the United States president´s son George. Many people saw Liam as a babysitter but he saw himself as a part of the people who protected the President and his family. George was 13 years old and Liam was more his friend than his bodyguard. Liam followed every step George took inside and outside the White House.
George liked Liam and that's why Liam often had the day-duty, Liam drove George to school together with a second bodyguard, and then he watched George the whole day in school, to protect and discover potential threats.
It was Monday morning and Liam arrived at the White House with the sun in his neck and today he had walked through the hugh park to the White House. When Liam arrived to his locker in the basement he prepared himself for a day in duty with bulletproof west, a loaded gun and a knife. George sat in the kitchen and ate breakfast, he was getting ready for school. Liam drove George to his school in Washington D.C, pretty nearby the White House. It was Lunch in school and George ate lunch, Liam was in the background and ate himself. All of sudden Liam heard on the radio that someone is attacking the 25
White House and launched a grenade against the oval office, the windows are of course bulletproofed but this was a horrible threat. The White House is now locked down and Liam must take care of George, Liam called the car to the closest exit and then he went to George´s table where he sat with his friends and told him to come. Liam told George what had happened and opened the car door for him.
Liam´s colleague drove the heavy and bullet proof car in high speed, far over speed limit. With sirens on they drove through Washington and towards the airport where Air Force One stood ready for take-off. Liam talked to the agents at the airport and told them that they were coming so they should be ready. While they arrived ten Secret Service agents stod and secured the area, no one was allowed to come near the president's son in this situation. George was taken on Air Force One to his mom who already was sitting there because she was out on a lunch with her friends when it all happened. Liam felt the pressure on his shoulders to save George´s father, the president of the United States. Therefore he didn't board the fancy Air Force One, one of the world's finest planes with many hidden secrets inside it, secrets we never will know.
Liam said “Goodbye” to George and the first lady, and then went back to the heavy and bulletproof car. He could see Air Force One take off against the sky in the mirrors of the car. Now George and his mom were safe and Liam could get one hundred percent focused on the mission to save the president and eliminate the enemy. Liam could feel the adrenaline flow through his body and how he was given strength of it, they were now approaching the White House backyard through a secret entrance who nobody knew. Liam jumped out of the car and grabbed his gun and put it in a insecure mode, ready to shot anything which came in his way. The fancy house who represented America and the republic was now on fire and Liam could see Secret Service agents lying dead all over, and the only thing he
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heard where sirens, the military force who was arriving and the helicopters that circulated above him.
Liam wondered why the marine soldiers stood outside the gates and after some thinking he realised that the terrorist had the president as hostage. And now he must do something quickly but it would not be easy, he began to search the inside after the president. He made his way to the surveillance room where he could follow every part of the White House on the screens. He found the hostage taker with a gun put to the presidents head at the oval room, they were around six men, dressed in black with white masks.
Liam left the surveillance room and began to walk carefully to the oval office in the other part of the White House. Which was very insecure, but he was trained for this type of missions by the Navy Seals.
Liam was walking with light steps through the huge house, he knew the house by heart which gave him a big advantage. Suddenly the light went off and he could hear deep breathing from a corner in front of him, Liam couldn't see anything in the dark but he was trained to feel with a sixth sense. The terrorist behind the corner had night vision goggles but nothing could stop Liam, Liam was faster with his gun and shot the terrorist.
Liam pursued the rescue mission, and without any notice someone started to strangle Liam from behind but Liam's reaction was fast. Liam defended himself and eliminated the attacking person in about 30 seconds, Liam searched through the terrorist and could see that the attackers where mercenaries which made the freeing of the president a lot harder. Now Liam must use a evasive to save the president, the only thing he could come up with was to drive the Beast through the oval rooms window. Liam ran to the garage and searched for the keys, the Beast is the president's limousine which is bullet proof and very heavy. It is a spectacular 27
car who can stand against everything, Liam found the keys and jumped into the car. He drove through the garage gate and did a huge drift turn at the front of the White House which was shown on every news channel all over the world.
He drove as fast as he could, Liam ruled the car towards the oval office and began to gas. Liam came closer the windows and then the Best was inside the office. The terrorist were shocked and stood speechless like the whole world. Liam jumped out from the panoramic window and shot all four terrorist. He called the commander who stood at the commander central outside the fence, Liam told him that the president was secured and the targets eliminated. United States president was saved and alive.
Liam was offered a new service as the president personal guard but Liam didn't take the opportunity, he continued to protect George because his duty was to protect the president's son, no more no less. Liam went to his locker, took off his equipment and went home to his family through the huge park with the sun in his neck.
Later on he was rewarded with the award “Hero of the year� with the motivation that he saved the president with a lot of courage. Today he still protects the president´s son, and every morning he walk through the huge park without knowing how the day is going to be.
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6
THE BLUE LIQUID SYRINGE It was another cold, early Sunday morning in New York city and the sun penetrated through the eyelids of James, but he just turned the other way and continued sleeping. James has had a long night cleaning the floors of the Walmart at Seventh Avenue at twenty-sixth Street, two blocks away from his apartment. Hee has been working there for nearly six months to be able to afford the rent of his two room apartment. During day-time he is working at Starbucks. James was studying at Columbia Law School until he got caught doing the LSAT´s for a student who would give him 1000 dollars for taking the test. James was a good and hard-working student, but when this happened his life took a big turn. The two first months after being kicked out of school he locked himself inside his apartment smoking cannabis and using other drugs. He still has problems with drugs, but reduced the consumption to cope with work.
It was 7:00 am and James´s alarm started shouting loudly. According to James, the sound of the alarm on his Iphone is the sound of hell: he always gets unpleasant chills from it. He knew when his alarm set off it was time to get into his morning routines: at first, he puts the saucepan on the stove for some tea, then he jumps into the shower for five minutes, puts his Starbucks employee clothes on, and finally drinks his Earl Grey tea with a slice of lemon. James took his bag and ran down the stairs from the twenty third floor, since the elevator has been out of order for the last two years. When he arrived three minutes later in the lobby there was a man standing with a black, ripped leather jacket, and a big tattoo across his face (it looked like an eagle, but he was not sure). James could not see the man's ey29
es because he was wearing a pair of sunglasses. He did not look like he had good intentions. James reduced the pace of his steps and stopped as the man took a step forward and gave him a paperboard box wrapped in duct tape. James stood with his whole body frozen to the ground and stared at the box. As he looked up to ask why he gave him the box, the unknown man was gone. The second question that popped up in his head was how the man had found him. He just had to come to the bottom of this and decided to call in sick from work. He ran up to his apartment with the box under his armpit.
He placed the box on the kitchen table and hung the jacket on the hook in the hallway, went back to the box and realised that his name was written on it. - Why in the world would that scary dude give me this box, and how did he know my name? There was just one thing left to do - get the knife and cut through the tape and open the box. The first thing James  saw was a letter and a bunch of sawdust. He started reading the letter.
Good Morning James, My name is Mr. Barraclough. Me and my team has studied you the last 12 months and come to the conclusion that you are in a rough spot in life,. We would like to help you as long as you do what we ask for. There are four things we want you to do: first of all, put the tailor-made suit on that we made you, it is hanging in your closet. Secondly, inject the blue liquid syringe ,which is in the box. This liquid will give you superhuman intelligence and physical abilities. You will be the best performer in whatever you do. Thirdly, we would like you to help us break our innocent friend out of prison. He is sitting on death row in the state prison of California, and will be executed tomorrow. If you manage to get him out of there we will give you a penthouse on the upper east side with a car of your choice, and also, we will give you more assignments like this, only for the sake of justice of course. And the last thing - no questions.
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/Mr. Barraclough
James was stunned after reading the letter. He laid the letter on the kitchen table and grabbed the blue liquid syringe from the box, and looked at it for a while. He had a lot of questions for Mr. Barraclough. How did James know if he could trust him? He kept running the questions through his head and came to the conclusion - what do I have to lose?! I don't want to live like this: work for Starbucks and Walmart and eat cup noodles for the rest of my life, so let's do this! James injected the blue liquid in his arm and went to his closet to put the suit on as Mr. Barraclough asked him to do. As he pushed his foot through the loop of the trousers, he got a rusch in his brain that he never have felt before. He felt like he knew everything! For example, he knew how to tie the bloody tie, something he never knew before. It was the syringe kicking in. James had to hurry up to get to JFK airport to fly to California to complete his mission. He packed his bag quickly and started running down the stairs. When came through the building entrance, there was a man standing by a limousine saying his name. “Mr. Jonsson, I'm taking you to KTEB, the private jet airport outside of Manhattan”. James entered the limousine and smelled leather, cigar smoke and cognac. They arrived 37 minutes later in front of a very sleek private jet. As he walked on the red carpet to the entrance of the aircraft, the two pilots and the two flight attendants, who stood nicely in front of the jet, welcomed him. He entered the jet and smelled the same things he smelled in the limousine: leather, cigar smoke and cognac, but also a hint of champagne, probably because one of the flight attendants offered a glass of champagne. James gladly took the champagne and sipped it for a while until a man in his forties with a slick suit entered the plane and sat down on the seat in front of him. He introduced himself, it was Mr. Barraclough. • Hello James, I presume the champagne tastes good? It is a 1928 Krug, so it should be alright. I came here to go through the plan we have prepared for you. You might not like this, but you will not be landing with the plane. You will be parachuting from it. You are going to land with the parachute on the prison roof, because it is close to impossible to break in from the ground. It will be a piece of cake for you since you have taken the syringe, so don’t worry. Next, you will place 31
this silent C4 explosive on top of our friends cell. When it has exploded he will climb up and and there will be a helicopter waiting for you. It will take about 22 minutes from the moment you jump out from the plane. It is very important that you don't mess this up, it might cost your life, and an innocent man's life. He is not guilty of the crime he is accused of. You got my word for it. Mr. Barraclough said. •
Uhm, okay, James said with a quiet and nervous voice.
The plane started shaking and James got even more nervous. One of the flight attendants came with the parachute suit and said he could change in the bathroom in the back of the plane or in the front, whatever he prefered. As he started to put the suite on, he knew exactly how to do it, even though he never had done it before. As he came out from the bathroom Mr. Barraclough handed him the C4 and said: - I will not have to explain, you will know how to do it, don't worry kid. It was now 3 minutes until he had to jump. Mr Barraclough showed the exact coordinates for the landing spot and James now knew where to land. Mr Barraclough wished him good luck. James went to the back of the plane as a door opened up to the black sky lightened up by the stars and the moon. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and jumped. The sensation he got was something he never have felt before. But he had to focus on his target. James made his body as small as possible to reduce the air resistance, as he thought of the law of aerodynamics. After he flew through the thick moisty clouds he was about to release his parachute, but there was something wrong, he couldn't pull the string to release it, it was stuck. But he was able to release his backup parachute. He knew he had lost a couple of hundred meters and would not be able to get a smooth landing. As he got closer to the roof he was able to spot out the guards walking around the prison. Two minutes later he landed on top of the prison, 22 meters from where he was going to place the silent C4 explosive. James crouched as low as possible to avoid the guards. As he got to the roof of the cell he placed the C4 exactly on the right spot and activated it. James ran 15 meters away from the bomb. 5 seconds later, the bomb exploded. It was a massive loud explosion. James could not understand why it was called a “silent” C4 explosive. Right after the the explosion, the 32
whole prison lit up, as if night become day in a second, and loud sirens started shouting. James ran as fast as he could to the hole in roof and checked for the “friend� of Mr. Barraclough. He was laying on the floor of his cell, unconscious. James jumped down and tied him to his back and lifted himself up on the roof again. He took a deep breath and looked for the helicopter, it was on the other side of the building, about 150 meters away. James started running towards it with the prisoner on his back. He heard a gunshot and looked around and got sight of the bullet - it was like everything was in slow motion, so he was able the avoid it by ducking just in time before it ripped his head open. James jumped on to the ladder hanging down from the helicopter and they flew away without any harm inflicted to him, any guards or the prisoner.
One hour later, James sat on the plane back to Manhattan, with his keys to the new apartment and to a midnight blue 1968 Porsche 911S, that he always have had his eyes on. He got a ride with the limousine to 2nd Avenue and 75th Street and took the elevator up to the apartment. James had never seen anything like it before, it was so clean, white, fresh and luxurious. But the best of it all was the view over Central Park and the skyline behind it. He went into the kitchen and saw a new letter and a blue liquid syringe. He opened the letter and startet reading.
Good Morning James, We have a new mission for you. It starts in Brazil. . . . .
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7
B O R N B E H I N D B A R S The little girl had never experienced anything beyond the bars keeping her inside this horrible house. She was standing in one of the windows crowded together with a bunch of other kids dressed in equally provocative clothing, screaming and sticking their hands through the space between the bars, trying to catch the attention of someone down on the busy street below. Some people couldn’t keep themselves from looking up- meeting the children's desperate eyes with either pity or disgust, but most people knew exactly what noise it was and simply forced themselves to keep looking down at the pavement, ignoring the hundreds of children screaming, just two stories above them. From where she stood she could just see past the children in front, her gaze stuck on the horizon as she imagined all the beautiful things that were out there for her to see one day. She refused to accept that this really could be her final destiny. Her mother had been sold to this brothel by her father at the age of fourteen when the family was having financial difficulties, Dari had been born just about a year later. During her first years, her mother had hidden her to stop the owners from killing her. At times she loathed her mother for not letting them kill her, what person, with any human decency, could possibly bring a child into this life? Dari's mother, whom she did not know the name of, died during a customers visit when Dari was five years old. Since then Dari had been working like all the other girls. With as much discretion as she could muster she wiped a tear from her cheek, she could not be seen crying here - for that they would punish her. …
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A deafening sound startled me and interrupted my thoughts. I looked back, Bahrat, one of the owners had just walked in with a customer and stood there grinning with his smoking gun, still pointed towards the ceiling as the dust settled. Bahrat turned to the customer who slowly raised his finger and pointed towards the group of children, our eyes met and I realized he had pointed to me. Bahrat pointed at me with his gun, still warm from the warning shot into the ceiling, and as I took a step forward he grabbed my arm bluntly and led me out the door, the customer following close behind. I had done this a thousand times, probably more, because despite my young age of twelve this was, in fact, my everyday life, this was normal. I was taught to be seductive yet obedient, and listen to the demands of my customer. Just like every other time, I started taking my clothes off as soon as the cheap wooden door behind us had closed, but this time was different, the customer stopped me. He asked me to sit down and then quickly started explaining that he was not like everybody else. The customer introduced himself as Brandon and the twenty minutes that would normally feel like an eternity flew past me faster than ever. Brandon looked me in the eyes as he spoke and not once did he touch me. He asked plentiful about the brothel, the owners, the building and the other children who worked here. When his pre-paid time came to an end he stood up to leave but hesitated and then turned around. The poor lightning reflected in his watery eyes as he reached out for me, I let my fingers gently touch the palm of his hand and immediately felt his warmth radiate into my body. He placed his other hand on top of mine and looked me in the eyes as he ensured me that this was in fact not the end and promised to liberate me from this place as soon as possible, I just had to be ready. And believe me, I was ready.  Brandon left and Bahrat shoved me back into the room with the other children. Brandon's honest eyes and promising words had lit a small fire of hope in me. I couldn’t help but look around and be joyful at the thought that maybe these filthy concrete walls with sturdy metal bars for the windows would not be my prison for the rest of my life. That my mattress would not be an old rice-sack filled with crunched up old newspapers. That maybe I would one day leave these flickering yellow lights behind me and never, ever, have to look back. 35
I must have looked too happy, or maybe this was simply the universe way of telling me that this was enough joyful and utopian thoughts for one day. The bamboo stick struck me once over my lower back, then twice and before the third strike hit I fell to the ground. The pain clouded my thoughts and all I could hear was a male voice shouting something, I figured it was Bahrat but I could not yet bear myself to open my tightly clenched eyes. The floor creaked under his weight as the footsteps moved further away from me. I heard the door slam shut and several pairs of feet instantly approached me, stirring up old dust as they did. The cool and gentle touch of a starving, exploited child’s fingers carefully striking hair away from my eyes had never felt so good. The next time I opened my puffy eyes the world was quiet and my mattress soft, rays of sun reached through the window, gently heating up my skin. I listened to the silence and allowed my body to sink deeper into the mattress as I tried to make clear of what had happened. The previous day had been total and utter chaos. After he left, Brandon had contacted the Indian police force, whom he had worked with prior to this, and forwarded the information about the brothel that I had given him at his visit. Together with him the Police had organized a rally at the brothel and managed to save 62 young girls. My memory of the day was muddled, different images of the same chaos blurred into one. Only one thing had stuck clear to my mind. The sight of Bahrat viciously pointing his dirty gun towards my best friend and firing shot after shot. I could see the bullets piercing through her limp body and the pool of blood growing bigger after each and every shot fired. I could hear her gasp for breath and see her eyes going blank as the last piece of life escaped her. The thought of the scene made me feel so empty yet so full of anger. The overwhelming amount of emptiness, sadness, and anger was too much for my mind and so it converted into physical pain. It felt like someone had reached into my chest cavity, grabbed my heart and tore it apart. I was screaming but no sound left my body. The hole in my heart had outgrown my body and eventually came to consume me. But over the next couple of weeks, the dull world lined with sadness, death and unfulfilled expectations slowly transitioned into my original idea of a vibrant and joyful world. I still despised Bahrat and the other owners for depriving 36
me of my childhood, for all the physical and physiological violence they made me a subject of. But for precisely that reason I could not let my past define my future. I had to be better. Today, for the first time in my life, I was not only not deprived of my voice but given one that could truly impact the world and make a difference. As I walked up the magnificent dark green marble stairs, I inhaled deeply. Looking out over the large assembly I was blinded by the lights pointing towards me, lighting up my face to the crowd. I squinted my eyes just enough to see Brandon on the first row giving me an encouraging smile. Today the world would finally hear my story, the UN had heard it and given me this opportunity to speak about the inhumane conditions I grew up in. I wiped a tear from my cheek and took another deep breath. My heart was beating faster than usual but I was not nervous, I was angry. This was my story, my truth, and I was eager to tell the world.
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