Pencil Problems by Hillcrest Christian College

Copyright Published by The Boyz, Hillcrest Christian College, 21 Bridgman Dr, Reedy Creek QLD 4227. Asher Hammersley, Bradley Adams, Daniel Lattimore, Oliver Miles, Nathan Cockburn and Ayden Ebert.

All rights reserved. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquires should be made to the publisher.

Dedication To all the children fighting the fight in cancer wards: we have so much respect for you all, keep on fighting the good fight. To all the researchers researching cures for cancer: keep up the hard work and thank-you for making a difference in kids’ lives. To our teachers: Thank-you for instilling a love of literature in all of us, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you all. To our sponsors: Thank-you for donating to the Kid’s Cancer Foundation, your donations will go towards funding vital cancer research.

The Phone Call As an ostrich launched himself out of the shattered window and landed on the path outside, the once quiet beachside was filled with confusion and disarray. Behind the monstrosity of a bird, a rigid man followed, with cuts and scratches all over. His salt and pepper hair waving in the wind and his small beer belly wobbling back and forth. A slightly smaller lady trailed behind him, excited and energised by the commotion around her. The man seemed to gaze back at the window above him, and then at the surf club where everything had gone wrong. But that didn’t matter now, there was only one thing on his mind, only one issue to resolve: the terrifying creature that he had created… (make shorter and make sentences flow) 24 Hours Earlier… Dom sat at his desk looking at the neatly stacked papers and the beautifully square pictures of quadrilaterals on the walls. His pencils always annoyed him with their circular form and wavy lines that they drew. But there was one thing that wouldn’t let him down, his prised possession: his ruler. It sat, perched upon its stand on the beautiful, dull, grey wall positioned right next to the… BRING BRING, BRING BRING. Dom hurried over to the ringing phone. “Hello.” Dom said unenthusiastically. “HI! I AM KARREN from Action Media Productions! I was just wondering if you would be kind enough to be the main architect for my next production! Its all about kids and ostriches and –” “No” Dom Interrupted, “I’m not doing it.” “What do you mean???” Karren exclaimed, “it would be perfect! Me and you, building and creating, what is there to lose? Pleeeeease?” “I’m not doing it,” Dom lifelessly said, “can’t you take a hint!” Karren considered his outburst carefully, “Oh well, I guess I will have to find another architect to spend my 1 million dollars on…” “1 Million Dollars!” Dom shouted, obviously excited, “um, ah, yeah, I’ll do it.” “So you’ll do it?” Karren wondered, “Umm, yeah? I’ll see what I can do.” “I thought you would come around to my view of things.” Karren laughed smugly, “I’ll hope to see you at the surf club tomorrow, 10 o’clock, sharp!”

The Surf Club The scorching sun beat down on Dom with his baggy blue school bag slung around his shoulder. He waltzed into the surf club which was flooded with surfers and tourists. As he entered the building, he scanned the room for Karren. Although they had never met, Dom was drawn to an energetic, tan woman in her mid-twenties. Her straight chestnut hair shined in the sun; her olive-green eyes sparkled as they darted around the room looking for Dom. As their eyes met, a warm, welcoming smile appeared on Karren’s face. Dom merely sighed and strolled over to her table on the balcony. As he stepped outside the cool ocean breeze whistled past his ears, and the smell of salt tinged his nostrils. He sat opposite her, scanning her for possible flaws. She was wearing a grey turtleneck and rock washed jeans, with a colourful beaded necklace around her neck. “Hey!” Karren exclaimed. “Hello, so… what do you want me to do?” Dom sighed. “Straight to the point I see!” Karren giggled. She noticed Dom was unamused, however she continued anyway. “So, I have this idea right, and I am soooooo exited! It’s for a kids show.” As soon as kids show was mentioned, Dom’s face drooped with reluctance. Dom had the impression that it would be a documentary type show as he was a serious architect and did not dabble in silly children’s shows. Karren continued anyway. “It’s about an ostrich who gains abnormal powers after being bitten by a radioactive owl!” she exclaimed with enthusiasm, grinning warmly. However, Dom was far from enthusiastic about this idea. As Karren handed him a sketch of her idea, she saw the sobriety in his face and quickly added: “We can always change it; this was just a temporary idea.” “That is the worst base Idea I’ve ever heard, a radioactive pigeon?” he ridiculed, as he looked at the messy sketch made in a red sharpie. “An ostrich.” Karen corrected her quietly. “Whatever, same thing.” He countered. “It would be so ugly! Googly eyes, chunky legs!”, He argued, as he scrunched up the sketch and whipped out his own sketch pad. Dom looked down at the scrunched piece of paper in his hands, disgusted in what he saw. He agitatedly scribbled his pen on his sketchpad. He sketched an ostrich with comically large eyes, bright orange beak and wispy grey hair. He continued drawing as Karren starred at the drawing in awe. “That’s perfect!” she squeaked. “Are you serious? I haven’t even finished colouring in this monstrosity.” He snapped. “But it’s exactly what I had in mind.” Karren muttered. “I don’t even know why I accepted this deal; I knew this was a mistake in the beginning!” Dom complained as he threw the pen and sketchpad into his little blue school bag, fuming with annoyance. “But I had so many plans for this you can’t just leave!” Karren pleaded. “Well, it’s too late now, so goodbye.” Dom said through gritted teeth. “Wait l -”

“I said I’m not doing this!” “No wait look, your bag, there are golden rays, it looks… beautiful!” “What?” Dom turned around and glanced at his school bag and surely enough, a faint golden light emanated out of the bag. “What in the world, what’s happening?” Dom gasped. The light got brighter and bathed the entire room in a warm golden aura. Karren stared in wonder at the school bag, as Dom stared in shock and confusion.

The Ostrich The glow soon became a blinding light emanating from the small blue school bag. His mind darting around like wildfire. In contrast to Dom but not to his surprise, Karren admired the sight at hand and scratched her head in curiosity. But soon enough, the light dissipated revealing something that was truly special… An ostrich? Confused but curious, Dom gazed upon the crudely figured pile of feathers complied before him. Its eyes almost bulging out of its large, bald head, mounted upon a skinny, flimsy neck. Wrapped around the ostrich, the once well fitted school bag stretched across its disheveled fluff, tattered and teared. But before Dom and Karren had the chance to react, the ostrich whipped around the corner of the surf club, almost tripping over a very confused lifesaver along the way. “Wow… would you look at that, how beautiful. One of life’s true wonders!” Karren said in amazement with the widest grin across her face. Juxtaposed to Karren however, Dom was in utter shock. “That’s what you say? An ostrich miraculously appears out of a school bag, and you just smile?” “I know! And what I sight to see!” Karren added. “But it stole my school bag and…” Dom frantically searched through his pockets. “No, no, no! My pen, where is it? I had it, and then I drew that ridiculous pigeon looking thingy, and now? The school bag, that was it! it’s in the school bag!” Looking across to the corner where the ostrich disappeared, his gaze slowly turned towards the eccentric women standing staunchly before him, with her feet turned inwards. Soon, Dom’s once lifeless and unamused face seemed to show more emotion than ever before. His eyes filled with rage and his face lit up in anger. “It was you! You were the one who drew me into this mess! You were the one who took me here and now I must get my pen back from an ostrich? You’re just like my big brother and the rest of my family. Ignorant, stupid and have no sense of realism. You just waltz around and go, OOO, look at and OOH, how cool. Without a single sense of consciousness!” Karren’s once bright and bubbly persona seemed to gently change. “You were the one who drew that thing in first place. I was merely trying to share my ideas.” She sighed, “But I want to help you because you’re my friend. If I got you into this mess, I can get you out of it!” “Urgh, if you have to.” Dom realized that the day would be a little bit longer than expected. But nevertheless, he soon found himself following a trail of feathers toward the surf club entrance, with Karren’s annoying voice rambling off in the background. By now the surf club was empty, after all, the birds revolting smell that almost made Dom gag was bound to scare off a few customers. In fact, there were none left! Everything around the store was in shambles. Tables rested on their sides, chips splayed across the floor and glasses shattered into millions of lethal pieces. “Looks like that pigeon was almost as clumsy as you!” Karren said to Dom as she nearly stumbled over a chair. “Watch out for the glass! Dealing with your voice alone is hard enough, I don’t want to deal your with cuts and scratches.” Dom added as he gently tiptoed through the mess.

But after they had made their way through the Deadman’s zone in what seemed to be a battlefield, they were soon opening a corroded kitchen door, which scratched across the tiled floor.

The Kitchen Dom and Karren wandered into the kitchen. “I don’t like the look of this” muttered Karren. “Let’s just get this over with.” Huffed Dom. The pair crept though the maze of stainless-steel tables and draws. The bubbling vats of oil towered over them, and the never-ending collection of knives and spoons, daunting Dom and Karren with their presence. Suddenly a massive crash came from the other end of the kitchen. “What was that!” whispered Karren. “Probably nothing.” Sighed Dom. “Let’s go check it out, just in case.” Murmured Karren with a sense of intrigue in her voice. They slowly approached the source of the sound. The dirty sink was still filled with pots and pans as they walked past. It was as though the cleaners had left in a hurry… The sound of the rickety air conditioner cut through the eerie silence of the room. With curiosity in Karren’s eyes, the pair tip-toed towards a half open draw. Just as they were about to fully open the draw, Dom and Karren heard the slam of the oven door. The pair jumped in fright and started backing away from the noise. Suddenly the air conditioner stopped running. “Woah! The air con stopped! Do you think it was the Ostrich? What a fascinating creature!” exclaimed Karren. “Karren, can you be quiet I am trying to listen!” Shouted Dom. The pair backed into a group of empty cupboards in the kitchen, the stainless-steel interior engulfing them in a cold embrace. In the corner of his eye, Dom saw a strip of blue hanging from the top of the cupboards. “Get down!” Yelled Dom. Out of nowhere the cupboards flung open and the Ostrich burst out, throwing Dom and Karren across the room. “Are you ok?” yelled Karren. “I’m fine!” replied Dom in an angry tone. The misshapen form of the Ostrich towered over the two of them, its mangled claws ready to strike. “How about we just forget about the Ostrich, it was such an ugly drawing anyway!” suggested Dom. “No we have to stay; it has our penc-!” Yelled Karren. But before Karren could finish her sentence, the massive Ostrich brought its terrifying claws down on the terrified pair. But quickly they dodged the ominous attack and darted away from the Ostrich. The Crazed animal Screeched, wanting nothing more than to eradicate its creators. It whipped out the magic pencil, as well as a booklet full of drawings. “Hey! My book! Give that back!” Yelled Dom. He dashed towards the Ostrich, trying to retrieve his beloved book. The Ostrich smirked as Dom ran towards him. “Wait Dom, Stop! It’s up to something!” Karren yelled, desperately trying to save him. The Ostrich franticly started drawing something in the book. ‘What is he up too?’ Dom thought, wondering what the Ostrich was drawing is such a hurry. Suddenly, a flurry of knives flew from the pages right at the esteemed Architect. Dom flung himself towards another set of draws. Flying through the bombardment of knives, dodging left and right, swerving through thick and thin, just to get past the ferocious attack. But just as he was about to make it to the safe cover of the draws, a knife grazed his leg, slicing through his rough skin. 10

“Arghhh!” screamed Dom as he flung his injured body to what was left of the forsaken kitchen draws. “Dom!” screamed Karren, worry infecting her voice. Karren skidded across the battlefield, just reaching Dom without a scratch. “Dom, are you ok?” Karren said with panic in her voice. “Yeah, I’m fine. We just have to catch this wretched Ostrich.” Whispered Dom, struggling to speak. His breath became ragged, and his body quivered with what energy he had left. His forehead was dripping with sweat, his hands shaking. “We have to get some help!” Yelled Karren. She quickly searched her pockets for her phone, but she couldn’t find it anywhere. “No! Get away from me, I am fine!” Dom said, as the life inside of him started to slowly wither away. “No! I’m not leaving you, you’re my friend!” Screamed Karren as she searched for some kind of bandage. Her head darted left and right, frantically searching for some help. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a draw that had the first aid cross on it on the opposite side of the draws they were hiding behind. “Aha!” She yelled with joy. She quickly dashed to it, trying to avoid the watchful eye of the Ostrich. But she was too slow, too late. The Ostrich dashed towards her, the menacing look of a killer in its eyes. Karren turned white in fear, her whole body froze, and her hairs stood on end. The sweat dripping down from her face as the Ostrich’s ominous figure approached the startled young woman. As the Ostrich came face to face with her, Karren reached out her hand and tapped the Ostrich’s nose “Tag! Your it!” Karren exclaimed as she hopped back from the Misshapen creature, a wide grin on her face. While the Ostrich was distracted with Karren’s silly games, Dom limped over to the first aid kit, his leg aching with pain. He wrenched the draw open and pulled out a bandage, wrapping it around his leg. “Alright! That should do it.” Dom muttered to himself. Just as Dom started to stand up, he saw Karren holding a cup of pineapple juice, throwing the disgusting liquid at the Ostrich. “Ha! Take that, you mischievous rascal!” Karren yelled as she threw the glass of pineapple juice at the Ostrich. The ostrich let out an ominous screech and ran out of the kitchen, crashing through a window and sending bits of glass flying left and right. The Ostrich took off through the back end of the surf club, towards the beach. Dom and Karren quickly follow behind, jumping out the window in pursuit of the malevolent beast.

The Beach Dom hit the outside floor hard, rolling through thick glass shards. Whilst Karren seemed to gently fall behind him, still tripping and sliding, somehow gaining no injury at all. He then lifted up his head and gazed towards the hideous figure in his distant sight. Its large legs, lunging across the back ally of the surf club, jumping over puddles and skipping across the gravelly floor. Its hideous neck, bobbing up and down in wind. Its awful smell, thickening the once thin air. In a last attempt to catch the ostrich, the pair scurried down the alleyway. But no matter how hard they tried they could not catch up with the ominous creature. Standing out the front of the surf club at the cusp of the entrance to the beach, fresh breeze blew over them. Soon the salty scent of the ocean replaced the revolting smell of the once close beast. Although the sea provided slight relief to noses of Karren and Dom, their hearts sank in disappointment as it reminded them of their loss to a mere ostrich. “I can’t believe it got away!” Dom yelled out across the vast oceans present before them. Karren went on, “Its ok! We can work together, and after all your my…” Dom intruded, “No! You’re not my friend! In fact, you’re an absolute nuisance! You’re always tripping over and ruining my plans; how did you even get me into this mess in the first place!” Suddenly, the once kind and compassionate smile was wiped of Karen’s face. “I was just trying to help, and you have been yelling at me this whole time! No wonder you don’t like your family, its probably just because they don’t like you! You are always dismissing me, my ideas and hurting my feelings.” I single tear rolled down her cheek. “I just want to be heard. I just want to help.” A wave of guilt washed over Dom’s heart. Why would he say something like that to her, after all, she was the one who got the first aid kit and helped me in the kitchen? But he couldn’t say sorry, his ego was too big and his pride to high. However even if he was sorry, he wouldn’t have had the chance to say it because within a few seconds Karren’s booming voice pierced the awkward silence. “TRACKS!” She yelled. “ANIMAL TRACKS!” Doms face lit up and for the first time in a long time, maybe hope wasn’t lost after all.

The Caves While following the footprints along the blue bottle infested Australian beach side, Karren suggested something surprising smart. “We need to hatch a plan. This ostrich is proving to be a bit of an inconvenience to catch.” “A bit?” Dom said. “That overgrown pigeon has ruined my day!” Karren gave him a blank look “well we better catch him then.” By the time they arrived at where the tracks led, they had found a concealed entrance to a cave. The plan had already been decided upon by the time they got there. After finding a net along the way, if they lay out the net over the entrance and make loud noises, and when the ostrich runs out of the cave it will get caught in the net. This was a fool proof plan. However, as the ostrich ran out, it skidded to a halt, it had seen the net. “No!” Karren exclaimed. Disheartened, they ducked under their net and crept into the cave where the ostrich had retreated to. The good news: they spotted the Ostrich. You could smell it from a mile away. However, the ostrich was waiting for them with pen in wing and unleashed a volley of objects at them, bent saucepans, chairs, and even pineapples so they couldn’t get close and escape deeper into the cave. “What are we going to?” Karren asked, taking shelter behind a rocky outcrop, “We can’t capture him like this, he’ll just escape.” Dom remained quiet, deep in thought “If only we had something to remove him entirely?” He put his hands in his pockets, but wait, what was that? He felt something! Pulling out the object, he realised it was the rubber from his pencil case. Karren looked over to see, and the idea dawned on them at the same time. A look of realisation spread over their faces. Maybe, just maybe, the eraser could be used to quite literally erase what the pencil had created! They just needed to figure out how to get close to erase it. “I can distract it.” Karren offered. “You can hide behind a boulder, while I draw it past and then get the jump on it from behind with the eraser!” “That sounds like a plan.” Dom replied. Karren ran out arms flailing. “Come here you nasty creature!” she yelled. From deep within the cave, a congested, enraged screech echoed out as the ostrich runs around the corner, barrelling full tilt towards her. Waiting until just the right moment, Dom sprung out and jumped onto the ostriches back brandishing the eraser and with a mighty war cry starts aggressively rubbing and erasing the ostrich. The ostrich squealed in pain as its body disintegrated under the erasers brutal strokes. Finally, all that was left was the beak. It gave one sad disgruntled squawk that showed all that they had lost before being rubbed out. Dom looked back and thought ‘I could not have done it without Karren’. But all he could think to say was, “Maybe you’re a great friend after all…”

Pencil Problems When young, eccentric movie director Karren finds a slightly less eccentric Dom, she is overjoyed. She is finally able to create her dream movie, a movie about an Ostrich with special powers! When Dom is finally prepared to join her crew, he discovers her terrible drawing skills! He flies into a rage that may ruin their newfound friendship forever. Will they be able to work together and get a school bag? Are you ready for this epic journey of a stubborn architect, an eccentric movie director, and a magical ostrich?