Per2storiesfinal

The Kidnapping Adventure.

By Jessica Baltrusitis

My heart was pounding as I turned the corner. What if they capture us?

What if we’re to slow? What if we don’t make it out in time?

“WATCH OUT!” Josh exclaimed as I nearly hit another car.

“You almost just killed us both, and that isn’t the way I thought I would die today.” He growled.

“Calm down, crashing the car is the least of our worries right now” I explained.

“We have a group of kidnappers following us, I can’t calm down!” Josh screamed.

Whenever we thought that we had lost them, they just kept appearing right behind us. I had never been so scared in my life. Running away from them was going to be hard but I knew I could it with Josh along my side. He had been my step-brother for three months and we never got along until now. The one time we both went out in public together and try to make an effort to get along, we got kidnapped. I knew that i wouldn’t give up to get away from the men and they

wouldn’t give up trying to capture us. Just the thought that I might never see my family again gave me a chill.

“They are catching up! Go faster!” Josh yelled.

“I’m trying my best” I told him.

“Your best isn’t good enough then Bella try harder!”

I desperately wanted this nightmare to end, but it only seemed to get worse.

“Why are we slowing down?” Josh asked with a frightened look on his face.

“Oh no, we’re running out of gas.” I choked.

“What are we going to do now? They’ll be right behind us again at any minute.” I cried.

“Get out” Josh demanded.

“What? wh-” “Just get out I’ll find another way, trust me” He interrupted.

There weren’t any other options but to trust him. We both leaped out of the car and started to run. We still had a few minutes before they caught up to us and realized that it was our car in the middle of the road and that we weren't too far. A small diner was just up the road that we saw from a distance. Running faster than ever with my heart beating out of my chest we finally made it. Josh opened an unlocked car door and tried to get the engine to work. After multiple failed attempts it actually worked. This time he drove and we weren’t too far from our destination.

“We need to find a phone” I gasped with barely any breath left.

“I know we do, but we have to get to the police station first so we are finally safe” Josh explained.

“I think something’s wrong” I stated.

“Is the car supposed to be making that noise?”

The car made clicking noises and jerked forward like something had hit it.

That’s because something had. The black van had caught up and we were now in trouble. Our car came to a sudden halt, as did theirs. We were trapped. Running would be no use, they had weapons and it would only make matters worse. They started walking closer and closer and I couldn’t bare the thought of what they would do next. The men pulled us out of the car and began to drag us to their own car. A tear dripped down my face. Suddenly the sound of a siren far away grew nearer.

“What is that?” One of the men questioned.

“The cops are coming!” Another said “We better get out of here.”

They tugged at our arms harder for us to get into their van.

“Time” I thought. Just a little bit more time is all we need. I resisted his pull as the sirens became clearer.

“Lets go!” He demanded.

It was too late though. The police had shown up thanks to a woman who had called them when she saw her car get stolen while eating at a diner. The kidnappers were arrested and Josh and I could finally go home. It was all over, and I could see my house, and my family again.

The Medu sa By: Justin Becker

Hi! My name is Neal James and I am the son of multimillionaire scientist Matt James, who is a Particle Physicist. My parents are divorced.

My mom is Elizabeth Lavere. She lives in Paris, France and is an artist, but with little money.

And by little I mean only enough for a house, food, water, and art supplies. My sister Becky lives with her. I live on Long Island in Locust Valley, New York, with my dad. Up until about two weeks ago I attended Ann MacArthur Primary School in Mrs. Becker’s 2nd Grade class. Now I race around the world in search of some of the most priceless pieces of art known to man, but I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me take you back to two weeks ago when this all started.

I was on the bus coming home from school with my friend Kenny Tyler. I didn’t see my Dad’s lab light on. My dad’s lab is the second floor of our mansion as well as the bottom basement of 4. Anyway that was weird because my dad is always in his lab. I didn’t think anything of it because I figured he was in the basement using his Large Hadron Collider or LHC. I just let Kenny and me in and got us each a bagel. (Just in case you’re wondering the bagels were plain). We ate and then went to my dad’s lab to do our homework. When we got there I saw signs

of a struggle. My dad’s work was ripped up and destroyed. There was a note on the desk that was written in my dad’s handwriting. The note stated: ‘I have been taken and relocated to an island in the Caribbean. Please decode this message and find me.

The message: On every Independence Day you always say word. I love to have dogs run and take me to a Caribbean place and the ISLANDers rule. The place is Jamaica. M. James P.S. The ransom for me is Caravaggio's Medusa in the Uffizi gallery in Italy.

“God damn it,” I shouted in anger.’

“Let’s go get your dad back. How long is it on boat from here to JFK,” Kenny asked.

“About five minutes by my private boat. I got my boating license yesterday.

I’ll go get it,” I replied.

“Go get your license and I’ll go prep the boat,” Kenny ordered.

In the two minutes it took for me to get my license and go to my private dock Kenny had prepared the boat and started it. I just hopped on and Kenny untied the boat from its mooring and we sped full speed to my private dock, at the private airfield at JFK International Airport. We went from boat to plane in three minutes and I got the plane in the air just seven minutes after leaving my house. We sat down with the plane on autopilot and started deciphering the letter.

“The first part blacked out is covered in wax,” Kenny noticed, “it would be easy to reveal that. We just have to melt it by hovering a lighter over it.”

Once we melted the wax that line was clear. It read: ‘I have been taken and relocated to an island in the Caribbean.’

“Okay,” I said, “Well, now we know that we will have to go to the Caribbean after Italy. Now, let’s decode my dad’s message.”

The message was: I love to have dogs run and take me to a Caribbean place and the ISLANDers rule.

The key was: “On every Independence Day you always say ‘word.’”

“Independence Day is the Fourth of July," I exclaimed, " Fourth and word could be the key to deciphering the code."

“How?” Kenny asked.

“What if the code is to be deciphered using every fourth word of the code,” I replied.

“Okay. It can’t hurt to try it,” Kenny agreed.

Once we plugged in our deciphering of the key the code changed from ‘I love to have dogs run and take me to a Caribbean place and the ISLANDers rule.’ to ‘I have take Caribbean ISLANDers.’

“Maybe ISLANDers is written in the weird way it was written as to be a clue. Maybe if we only use the capital letters. Then the code becomes ‘I have take Caribbean ISLAND,” I realized, “that could translate to mean ‘I have been taken to a Caribbean island.”

Just then the autopilot informed us that we were halfway to Italy and we went to sleep. I awoke to the beeping of the autopilot’s ten minute warning. I woke Kenny and I got ready to land the plane. Once we landed at the airport, it was three in the morning. We bought a bike and 5 pizza boxes from a twenty-four hour convenience store.

We then went to the Uffizi Gallery. Kenny waited outside while I went up to the roof and opened up the access hatch. I descended into the Caravaggio Room on the rope ladder we brought. I found the Medusa and applied pressure to the pressure plate behind the painting with a wooden board. I then nailed the board to the wall and removed the painting. I then carefully placed a fake Medusa on the plate and secured it with crazy glue. I then ascended the rope ladder and pulled it up. I then got to the bottom of the building before five o’clock in the morning, four hours before opening time. We put the painting in one of the pizza boxes and went back to the airport.

We were in the air before seven in the morning. We realized how to reveal the second blot on the letter. The blot was parchment paper. We put the note to the window to look through the reverse side. All we saw was aciamaJ. I then realized we were looking at a reverse image so I reversed the letters in a mirror. I then got Jamaica.

“YEAH, TAKE THAT KIDNAPPER,” I shouted.

“Take us to Jamaica,” Kenny told the autopilot.

We got some sleep and awoke to the ten-minute warning and landed the plane. I saw a limousine waiting with a ‘Neal James and Kenny Tyler’ sign. We got into the limousine and it took us to a small house on the water. We got there and gave the guy the Medusa and he asked us one question.

“Which room is your dad in? If you pick the right one you get your dad back and all the work I stole from him. If you pick the wrong room I will blow this place up with 200 pounds of francium in 200 gallons of water. Long story short this

whole island will sink itself. So, which will it be, room one or room two?” The man whispered.

I answered, “I chose room...” then I blacked out.

Lost At Sea

By James Cournane

Joe and Julia were going about to go out to run some errands for their parents. They told their parents that that they would be right back. Joe walked out the door with Julia not far behind him. They got into the gondola and headed to the nearest market. Once they were there, they got all the things their parents needed and a few treats for themselves with the leftover money.

On their way home, they saw some friends playing tag. Their buddy Mike asked, “Do you guys want to come play?”

Joe answered, “Yeah but only for a little bit, because we have to get home soon. We’re eating dinner in a little while.”

They parked the gondola and they played for a little while. They got so involved in the intense game, that they didn’t realize two hours went by! The two met up again. Joe immediately told Julia to get in the gondola. They frantically tried to get home as fast as they could. Julia soon noticed there was a storm overhead. There was a lot of traffic, and they knew that they were going to be in deep trouble once they got home. Julia suggested that Joe take the shortcut home.

Joe hesitated. This shortcut was a narrow path that led right out to the ocean. Joe reluctantly decided that they should take it, afraid that being late to dinner was worse than risking the dangers of the shortcut.

They headed out past the first part of the path and they were going along side the large brick buildings toward their house. They were in the height of the storm

now.

It was pouring rain, with an occasional flash of lightning and boom of

thunder. Joe was struggling to keep control of the gondola. Julia was in the boat with a look of pure terror in her eyes. The two were being pulled out into the ocean and Joe wasn’t strong enough to fight the current. He struggled, but had to give up. They were screaming for help but no one could hear them. In only a few short seconds, the two were taken out of sight from the village. They were now fighting for their lives in the middle of the Atlantic ocean! Julia was in tears in the tiny boat, still screaming for help, wishing that people could hear her. It was getting dark, and Joe and Julia were getting tired. Both were laying down in the gondola, praying that someone would find them. Julia dozed off to sleep but Joe kept watch to make sure that they were safe.

Joe got

very tired and he fell asleep.

The next morning the two were starving, and all they had were the groceries that their parents had needed and their little snacks. This wouldn’t last them nearly long enough. They ate a small breakfast and tried to look around to see if there were any islands or other boats, but they had no luck at all.

Hours went by, and both Julia and Joe were starving. They hadn’t seen any other boats or any islands, and they were ready to give up and lose all hope. The very next day, they saw a gigantic blue boat pass with people on the sides. Joe was screaming but no one could hear him. They had given up. That night, Julia cried herself to sleep, while Joe was just laying there thinking about how he had let Julia

down.

They both fell

asleep. Hours later, Joe woke up to a loud noise and

a

thump

against

something. He thought it was a fish, but he got up to check what it was. It was an island! He woke up Julia as fast as he could and jumped out of the boat. They had found an island!

Joe ran further into the island to see if there was any

freshwater or plants or animals to eat. He found a freshwater lake and freshly grown fruit right off the tree. There was no sign of life on the island. Joe and Julia couldn’t be happier! They ate until their stomachs could take no more and drank all they could.

Later that week there was another ship passing by. They were screaming and trying to light a fire to signal the ship over. They finally got the ship’s attention.

They were going to be saved. The captain of the ship asked them where they were from and what happened, and he told them that they were very far from home.

They had travelled to South America! The captain fed them, clothed them and then gave them their own room to stay in. When he dropped off his delivery in Brazil, he let the two children off and gave them enough money to buy two tickets back to Italy. They couldn’t thank him enough.

Joe and Julia got off the generous captain’s ship and went directly to buy tickets. They got the first tickets they could get and were eager to sail back and see

their parents. It took about 4 weeks to get back to Italy, but they finally arrived and headed straight to Venice, towards home. They knocked on the door and when their father opened it, he was shocked and confused for a moment. He burst into tears, picked up both of his children and started screaming with joy! When their mother came to see what was going on, she was speechless.

“What happened to you? You have been gone for 2 and a half months!!” their parents asked.

Joe replied, “When we were coming home from running errands, we got sidetracked and started to play with our friends. Then when we were on our way home, we tried to take the shortcut and got caught in the middle of the storm.I couldn’t control the gondola and we got taken out into the ocean! We were terrified!”

‘We are so happy to see you! We have been frantic for the past couple of months! We were so worried that day you ran out to get the groceries. Your father went out on his gondola looking for you for hours, and he never gave up on you.

He knew that you two were alive, and he said it was a matter of time before you showed up again,” explained their mother.

Julia exclaimed, “I am so happy to be back , and we couldn’t have done it if we hadn’t found that island or ship.”

The next day, everything returned to normal. Joe and Julia went back to school and they weren’t allowed to do anything like that ever again. Everyone was so happy to hear that they were home and Julia and Joe were alive. People were asking what happened and they told them the whole story. Everyone was in awe

after hearing what had happened. They were a lot more cautious when driving their gondolas. From that day on, Julia and Joe were never did anything like that again.

They were changed people after the adventure they shared, and although it was fun and different, they would never want to do it again!!

The Quest for Family

By Matt Dunston John was an average teenager till his parents were unexpectedly taken away. He doesn’t really remember who or how they were taken because he was 5 years old when it happened. His grandmother and grandfather were taking care of him till they are found. He didn’t know who took them, but he would do anything to get them back. He got that wish when he was walking to school one day and two men came out of a truck, they knocked John out, brought into the truck, and drove off.

When John woke up he was in a jungle.

“How did I get here?” he spoke. Just as he said that a voice said, “Welcome John we’ve been expecting you.”

“Who?” John asked, “Why me and your parents of course.” he answered.

“How do I get them?!” John shouted, “ You must complete 5 challenges to see them. First challenge: find the temple that we are in.” he said. John turned around and said, “Found it.”

“Ok now go in.,” the voice told him. John walked in many skulls surrounded him. The room had roman numerals on the floor that went 2 by 7. There were spikes on the wall around it.

“You go by 2 to get across but one wrong move you get to be like the skulls around you.” he chuckled. John’s heart sank when he heard that, then he went on II, IV, VI, VIII, IX, “Damn!” John said as ducked. A spike came flying out the wall

and it skinned his back. It stung so badly but he blocked out the pain to save his parents. He went to X, XII, but the rest were faded. John tried one but a spike came out skinned his cheek, “Aaaah!” John screamed. “ What’s the matter? Can’t handle a cut!” the voice shouted. He went on the other and got to the second room. This room was huge with floating rocks!

“How is this possible?” John asked. The voice responded, “It doesn’t matter how it works just get across for the fourth challenge.” John was jumping rock to rock and noticed that his wristwatch kept going up. When he jumped to this rock it started turning upside down! He held on with all his might and barely survived that. John kept jumping till he got to a far jump. It stood there a bit and then he figured out that the rocks are magnetic.

“That’s why wristwatch kept on going up.” John said.

So when he jumped he held on his wristwatch and floated a bit and he landed right at the edge. John slipped and almost fell back. When went into the next room and the door shut behind him.

“Now you must find your way out of here before the walls crush you. You have 1 minute.,” the voice told him. The walls started getting closer but John didn’t know what to do. His heart pounded when he saw the walls come closer. Thirty seconds past and he did nothing. Then he saw a light through a wall and started ramming into it. That plan was working but the walls kept coming. John made a hole he could fit so he started climbing through it. He was almost out but then his foot got stuck. He pulled and pulled then his foot was free. The walls met each other

but only the bottom of John’s shoe was taking off. This room had John’s parents in separate containers.

“Now you choose which one lives but the other dies.” the voice said.

“Choose me John so you and your mother live.” John’s father said. John thought for a while then he said, “I choose...” at that second he fainted.

Owlman By: Nicholas Ferranti This is a hero’s tale that begins with a night out at dinner for the Vale family.

While leaving the restaurant a car chase was headed in their direction. The Vale family was caught in the middle of a grenade thrown by the criminals in the car. Mr. Vale had only enough time to push his son, Mason out of the explosion. Young Mason watched his father die after displaying his amazing heroics. He vowed to rid the city of the evil that took his parents lives.

Mason was raised by his aunt and uncle until he was old enough to access his father’s bank account. He used his father’s money along with the money he earned from his job as an animator to travel the world, learning new skills in order to become the vigilante he wanted to be. Mason trained along side some of the greatest minds and martial artists the world has ever known. He excelled in several different types of martial arts and detective work.

When Mason went back to New York he found that there was a team of vigilantes that fought crime the same way he wanted to. He joined the group that called themselves the Outsiders. For some time the vigilantes were welcomed by the people and police of New York.

Soon people realized that the Outsiders were causing more harm than good.

Villains were always coming back causing chaos in order to get revenge on the vigilantes that defeated them. This caused a law to be passed that outlawed all vigilantes. Some of the vigilantes went to work for the government, while some quit

fighting crime altogether. Mason was the only one to go against this law and continue fighting crime on his own.

While working with the Outsiders, Mason along with the rest of the group had no superhero name or costume; they all wore simple masks and normal clothes.

When the Outsiders fell apart Mason felt that he should be his own hero. He wanted the criminals of New York to be afraid of him. Mason thought about what he should do. Suddenly an owl flew right through Mason’s window and he thought to himself, “That’s it, I can disguise myself as an owl.” From then on Mason watched the streets of New York as Owlman. Due to the law that outlawed vigilantes, Owlman would sometimes be found by the police, but using his skills he would escape and continue fighting crime. Owlman considered that maybe the law was passed for good intentions; he realized that he should quit being a vigilante for the good of New York.

Soon after Owlman quit, the crime rate was to an all time high. Crime was running rampant in the streets due to the prison break. The people of New York pleaded for Owlman to come back and save them. Owlman put on his costume and within a week the crime rate was back to normal. From then on Owlman was welcomed to the streets of New York. This encouraged many others to become vigilantes start a new age of superheroes.

The Adventures of Robert Dean

By Isabelle Frank

Robert Dean is a skinny kid. He is quiet, shy and funny but only with people he knows well. One day when he was walking with his good friend, Frank Frank, they came upon something astonishing. On the side of the road, the two boys found what looked to be a purple rock.

“Quick, pick it up!” yelled Frank to his friend in order to make sure it didn’t get blown away by a passing car’s speed.

As Robert picked it up, he felt a strange sensation around him. He realized that Frank, a usually chunky kid, became the opposite. He was now skinny as a twig. Robert looked down at himself; he was different as well. Instead of his normal shape, he was now a round, chubby person. Robert couldn’t believe it. He decided to run home straight away in order to discover what else has happened. As he walked in the door he noticed something was different, his house was now in the opposite order of what it used to be. “Where am I?” asked Robert, in pure shock of his surroundings. Instead of dealing with all of this nonsense, Robert decided to go

to sleep because it was late; he had school tomorrow and he figured it would all go away by then.

He woke up. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t know what to do. Robert closed his eyes, counted to three and hoped his house would be back in its normal makeup and he would become that skinny kid again. He opened his eyes, everything was still all different. Robert, still in shock, got ready for school, got on the bus, and felt awkward. He knew that everyone was staring at him, due to his new form and decided to keep Frank’s and his discovery a secret. At school he met up with Frank at his locker.

“Hey, is it just me or is everything different ever since we picked up that weird rock?”

Robert wondered.

“Yeah, but did you see that teacher, Mrs. M?” responded Frank “No, what about her?”

“She has changed! She used to be all nice and everything but now she is exactly the opposite.”

“Let’s go check it out!”

The two boys went to room 113, Mrs. M’s teaching room. They made sure that they weren’t seen, in fear of being caught for ditching class. As they approached the door, they heard a cackling laughter. The boys saw two people, one of them they were able to point out as Mrs. M, but the other they could not figure out. The two adults started to whisper, “So, what is the plan?’

“First, we go to the road and look for the rock. Nobody knows about it so we have plenty of time for this. It will be easy to find. We can go tomorrow to search for it. Next, once we find the rock we will go to Master, back to our planet and return it to him” “Wow, it is really too bad that he dropped it out of his car on his way to Mars. He was so close to achieving his magnificent scheme to destroy the Earth.

Now, when we find it, we will go back to our planet to return it to him.”

The boys were in disbelief. They couldn’t process what they just overheard.

“Oh my gosh, that rock that we found is capable of destroying the planet.” whispered Robert. “ I can’t believe it! But one thing I know is that we must get that rock before they do!” responded Frank.

The duo decided to quietly leave and go back to Robert’s house. On their way, they searched for the rock. They looked all around the block, but couldn't find it. All of a sudden, Robert had an idea.

“Wait! Maybe it was pushed all the way down the road by the cars! The wind of the passing cars is capable of moving it very far” screeched Robert.

They walked down the street with eyes wide open and couldn't find anything. They were getting annoyed at their failure.

“Dang it! This is so irritating, it should be right around here. We are never going to find it.” Robert whined as he started to kick leaves out of frustration.

Frank looked down out those leaves and all of a sudden, he saw a speck of purple.

“Woah, Robert, move that leaf!” Frank said excitedly.

Robert did as he asked in curiosity, not knowing the reasoning behind this. There it was, right before their eyes. The rock, they found it! The friends started jumping and celebrating.

“I know what we should do. First, we should bring our world back to what it was before we found the rock. After that we will destroy it, saving the world.” exclaimed Robert.

Frank rubbed the rock. All of a sudden, he became what he used to look like, a chubby kid. Before he knew it, Robert also went back to what he looked like before the rock. The boys went to Robert’s house. It was back to normal. Robert felt relieved. Now, all they had to do was destroy the rock. Frank grabbed a hammer out of the shed in the backyard. He handed it to Robert.

“Okay, now on the count of three, I will smash this rock into pieces. One...

Two... Three!” Robert said with anxiousness.

The rock was in tiny pieces. The pieces were so microscopic, they resembled the size of dust. The friends gathered the tiny fragments in a dust pan and put them in the fireplace. Robert started a fire. Right before their eyes, the remains of the troubling rock were gone.

“I am so relieved that we finally got rid of that thing!” explained Frank “Yeah definitely, me too” responded Robert in agreement.

The next day, the boys went to school. They were so glad that everything was back to normal. They met up at their lockers again.

“I have an idea, Frank” said Robert.

“What is it? I have an idea as well” Frank replied.

“Well, I think that we should go to the office, and ask if Mrs. M is here today” “Okay, I was thinking the same exact thing” The boys arrived at the office. They asked the secretary if Mrs. M was available.

They were shocked at what she responded. The secretary told them that she moved to some foreign country that she had never heard of, because she said that there was nothing for them on this planet anymore.

“Yes, I was a bit confused about what she meant, but since that is all she said, it is all I can tell you.” muttered the secretary, with little enthusiasm.

From that point on, Robert Dean and Frank Frank never had any trouble involving the rock again. Their lives went back to normal, but they never forgot that one day when they saved the world.

Charlie Ethan Homler

On a hot summer day Barker and his friend Dustin were playing with his dog Charlie. They had been playing with Charlie all day, from playing Frisbee to playing basketball. A couple hours later, Barker and Dustin put Charlie back inside the house and they went in the pool.

As they were in the pool, Charlie looked outside on the front lawn and saw a bone. Charlie loved bones and couldn’t resist getting it. When Charlie left the house, he grabbed the bone and suddenly a huge net got tangled on Charlie. As Charlie starts to wiggle and bark, a dog-thief named Hugo grabbed Charlie and drove off with him.

When Barker and Dustin hopped out of the pool, they went inside the house and it seemed really quieter than usual. Barker screamed, “Charlie” no answer.

Then Dustin screamed, “Charlie” no answer again. They both started to get really worried. They searched through every room in the house and still no Charlie. After searching through the whole house, they go outside on the front lawn and they saw Charlie’s paw marks in the dirt. They start to think that Charlie ran away.

Barker and Dustin several minutes later, went back in the house and started to make signs of a missing dog and if found to contact their number. Barker and Dustin went to several places around town the dog pound, the police, and to all of their neighbors who have pets. They weren’t even close to finding.

Two days later Dustin is with his family out for dinner. As they are walking on the sidewalk to the restaurant Dustin saw a dog that looks exactly the same and is walking next to a man who looks really suspicious. Dustin takes a picture of the man with the dog and sends it to Barker. When the picture was sent to Barker’s phone, Barker called Dustin right away.

Dustin said, “Hello.”

Then Barker screamed “That’s Charlie and the dog thief Hugo. That’s Charlie!”

Dustin exclaimed, “What should I do?”

Barker then responded, “Tell your parents to leave the restaurant and follow him until you find where he lives.”

Dustin then acknowledged “Okay bye.”

About an hour later Dustin calls Barker back and tells him his address is 54 Oakville Lane Springfield, Arizona 52697. That address happens to be 5 minutes away from Barker’s house. Barker and Dustin met up the next day to figure out what they will have to do.

Barker finally had a plan. He and Dustin will go over to Hugo’s house and they will hide outside. When they hide outside Barker will make a tweet that he

makes to make Charlie come over to him and he will come back in his arms and go home.

When Barker and Dustin reach Hugo’s house they sneak across his front lawn and Barker makes a tweeting noise. Hugo happens to hear the voice so he takes Charlie gets in his van and drives off.

Barker and Dustin can’t lose Hugo’s truck so they steal Hugo’s motorcycle and ride off to catch up to Hugo. Soon Barker and Dustin caught up to Hugo. In the middle of the road Hugo kept on flying past cars at went as fast as he could get away from the kids. Dustin realized he had a rock in his pocket. Dustin took out the rock and threw as hard as he can through the back window of the truck. He broke the glass and Barker made the tweet noise again. As Barker made the tweet noise Charlie tried to hop over the seats and jump out the window but Hugo grabbed him back. He kept on trying swarm out of his arms but he still held a tight grip. Finally Charlie got angry and bit Hugo’s nose and wiggled out of his arms. The car was going crazy because Hugo was holding his nose and not the steering wheel. Several moments later the car is about to hit the tree and in a split second, Charlie jumped out of the back window and fell into Barker’s lap. About 20 minutes later the police came to the truck that ran into the tree. Police look in the truck and found Hugo.

The police took him out of the truck, put him in handcuffs and went to prison.

When the police drove off with Hugo, the sheriff of the town came over to Barker and Dustin.

The sheriff said, “Great job boys. You guys caught Hugo Thompson. We have been looking for him for 5 months already.”

The next day a certificate came in the mail for Barker and Dustin for being a great citizen. They were rewarded with free Ice Cream from the Ice Cream truck for the rest of the summer. The end

Mother’s Ring

By Britney Kim It’s a cold windy night in fall in the forest. The leaves swish through the air as the wind blows on them. Right there sitting on an old log is Liam Davis. Usually he would go into the forest and sit on that same old log with his mother, but she passed away 7 months ago. Now all he has left of her is a gold ring with a shiny diamond that she gave him and he swore to himself to never lose it. Liam then heads back home as fast as he can so that he doesn’t miss dinner with his father and his little sister. As soon as he steps through his front doors, his father and sister stare at him with bold eyes. Liam’s father, Jack Davis, is a successful man; he is a doctor, but Jack has been feeling down lately because his wife passed away and he can’t get over it either. Emily Davis, who is Liam’s little sister, hasn’t been doing well either.

Whenever Liam or her father looks at her, they see their beautiful mom because Emily looks just like her, with her blonde, shiny hair, blue eyes and her personality.

All three of them say their prayers and begin eating. The room is silent; no one has ever heard silence this loud.

After dinner Liam went over to Ian Moore’s house. Ian Moore has known Liam since they were both babies. His mom and Liam’s mom went to school together when they were younger. Liam and Ian sneak out to the Forest to stare at the shining night sky. They were both sitting on the old log. All Liam could think about was his mother. He wondered if she was looking down at him right now as he was looking up at her. Liam has the necklace his mother gave to him in his hands.

He held the ring as tight as he could because if he lost it, he would have no memory of her.

“Liam!” shouts Ian Liam is occupied looking at the beautiful night sky.

Ian whacks Liam to get his attention.

“What!” Liam screams with anger.

“We should head back home, it’s getting late and we have to wake up early for work,” Mumbled Ian. “Alright. You go first; I’ll be right behind you,” replied Liam.

Before Liam leaves he looks up in the sky and then turns to go back home. Liam and Ian enter their house and they are both fast asleep.

Liam wakes up at ten in the morning and he then realizes that it’s a Monday Morning! Liam’s heart pounds with fear because he will be late for his first day at work. He takes a quick shower and rushes to work. When he arrives to work he sees Ian and his boss right in front of him.

“Oh Liam, this is the last time I will allow you to be late. The next time you’re late you will be out the door within a second,” Liam and Ian’s boss says in a firm voice.

“This will be the last time. I promise,” Liam says with fear.

Ian stands there laughing at Liam and as soon as the boss walks away Liam thumps Ian.

“Hey, Ian, after work lets head to the forest,” Whispered Liam.

“Alright, Liam, but I can’t stay at the forest for long,” Says Ian. “Why not?” questioned Liam.

“Don’t you remember, Liam? I have my date with Rebecca!” shouts Ian with frustration.

“Oh yeah, but it won’t take long; we will stay there for about 1 hour if not 2 hours max,” Says Liam.

“Okay then,” says Ian. After work Liam and Ian walk down to the forest. When they get to the forest they start running around, but then Liam falls face down on the ground.

“Liam,are you alright?” Ian says in a worrying tone.

Liam gets up.

“Yeah I’m alright,” Liam answers.

The two boys continue to explore the wild.

“I’m late!”

“Late for what?”

“My date with Rebecca! Oh my she is going to throw a fit!”

“Hold on, just tell her a lie for an excuse.”

“No, Liam. Unlike you I am an honest person.”

Ian runs out of the forest and heads back home to get ready.

Liam then walks home. When Liam enters the house he sits down on the couch to watch television. He reaches into his pocket to take the ring out, but he realizes that

the ring is missing! He started to tear up a bit. Emily walks in and notices Liam crying.

“Liam what’s the matter?”

“Oh Emily! I lost mother’s ring!” bawled Liam.

“Liam! How could you! It was the only thing we had left from mother! She trusted you to hold on to it and you lose it!” yelled Emily.

“I’m sorry! I think it’s probably somewhere in the forest, I will just retrace my steps and I promise I’ll find it,” exclaimed Liam.

“You better find it Liam or I’ll never speak to you again.”

Liam runs into the forest as fast as he could, sprinting through leaves that have fallen down from the old trees. Liam wonders where he could’ve dropped the necklace; he remembers that he dropped the ring near the lake. He then realizes that the lake is about 3 miles away, but that’s not stopping him from finding his mother’s ring. Liam dashed towards the lake, he ran through the 100 foot trees. It’s getting dark out and Liam can’t head back home because he’s near the lake and he promised his sister that he would find the ring. Liam continues to run towards the lake. The sun sets, and Liam makes a shelter made of long branches with leaves and logs, just to survive the night. Liam wakes up to see the sun rise from the east side to the west. Liam gets up and walks to the river. He hears water swishing back and forth! His face lightens up with a huge smile. He rushes to the area where he

dripped and he searches the area. He looks around.. He then sees something looking back at him.

“Oh My! Could this be the ring!?”

Shouted Liam with excitement.

A shiny diamond is right in front of his eyes. His eyes bold up with excitement as he picks up the ring. He can’t believe that he found the ring! He does a little happy dance and then gallops home.

When Liam walks through the doors, he runs to Emily and shouts, “I found it, Emily! I told you I promised I would find it!”

“Oh look at what we have here! Mother’s ring! Liam you’re so brave.”

Liam heads upstairs to his bedroom and walks over to his bedside table; Liam then sets the ring in a box with a lock. He wouldn’t want to ever lose the ring ever again.

The Amulet

By Lauren Kornfeld

Sheldon Spock hunted on the island of Dore. He looked for the berries that he needed for his magic potion. His amulet needed to be dipped in the magic potion to keep giving it the power to make its holder live forever.

Dr. Horriblewitz owned every artifact except the most treasured amulet. He was on a mission to become the holder of it. He knew that Spock held this precious artifact and the doctor was desperate to have it.

He had already built a dungeon where he would put Spock after he was captured. There, he would not let him go until he gave up the amulet. He yelled, “I will be the one to live forever!�

Spock traveled the thick jungle searching endlessly for this berry bush. When he had all but given up, right before his eyes a small, bright red berry bush was at his feet. He bent down to smell them, and suddenly was swallowed up by a gigantic hole. Spiraling down, he landed with a thud in total darkness. He turned on his flashlight and saw one hallway. He decided he had to follow it and attempt in finding a way out.

As he got closer, he heard a familiar voice. He knew then that he was trapped by the evil Dr. Horriblewitz. He tried to be as still as he could but tripped on the jagged, uneven floor. Dr. Horriblewitz turned around and knew the time had come.

“Ah ha! I have got you now and nobody knows where you are.” shouted the doctor. Before Spock had a chance to run, his arms were in chains and a cage fell around him. “You will never get out of here if you do not hand over the amulet.” growled Dr.Horriblewitz “Never! I will never give this up.” shouted Spock.

Spock had to think of a plan. His arms were beginning to ache. Looking at the chain on his wrist, he saw a reflection of light. He wondered where it was coming from and looked all around. He spotted a small crevice up above.

He thought and thought and then it came to him. If he moved his chained wrist he would be able to send a signal to his friends Captain Bazinga and Penny Blossom. He began moving his wrist to give the signal.

Captain Bazinga and Penny Blossom had been enjoying their day. They were flying over the ocean when they picked up the signal that belonged to Spock. “Something has gone wrong. We must find him,” expressed Captain Bazinga. “We will land the plane on the beach heading into the jungle.”

After landing they headed on foot following the signal. They came upon the bush. “Stop!” cried Penny Blossom “There is a trap.” Carefully, with their tools

they were able to pick up where the signal was coming from. It was way below the surface of the jungle.

Slowly, they moved and found a way to slide down into what they thought was a cave. They made a plan to go through the cave until they reached the location of the signal. As they went further and further down, the signal became stronger.

They could not believe their eyes when they saw the back of Spock chained in a cage.

They crept up and made a scratching sound giving him a hand signal to be quiet. Penny Blossom began to free Spock by breaking the chains while Captain Bazinga went to take down Dr. Horriblewitz. Spock pointed the direction for him to go and find him.

Captain Bazinga quietly crept up behind him and with his Bazinga rope instantly lassoed him into a coil. Dr.Horriblewitz was stunned.

“How did you discover that I was here?” he exclaimed.

“Never underestimate the powers of friendship.” answered Captain Bazinga.

Just then, Penny Blossom and the newly freed Spock walked over to Captain Bazinga and the tied up Dr.Horriblewitz, “Oh, the precious amulet. You should be mine!” cried Dr.Horriblewitz.

“Not this time, not ever!” hailed Captain Bazinga. Arm in arm, they dragged Dr.Horriblewitz back to the plane where they would fly him to their headquarters.

Spock sighed, “The amulet is safe for now.”

The Amulet By: Vinci Liu “Shhh, they might hear us,” Clara whispered as she crawled around stealthily.

“What are we even looking for?” Michael asked while he closed the door.

“The amulet” Clara exclaimed.

“What’s so good about a dumb old amulet?” asked Michael.

“You’re too young to understand,” Clara advised. “I suggest you stop asking questions.”

Clara Summerton is a 14-year-old girl living deep in the Rockies with her brother. Michael is 8 years old and looks up to Clara as a parent after their parents died in an avalanche. Their parents, John and Venus Summerton, taught them how to survive in these harsh conditions. They were also defenders of The Amulet. After they died, Clara realized it was up to her and Michael to defend The Amulet from being in the wrong hands.

Little did they know, another force was coming, a force they could not shelter from. His name was Vladimir Kolmonov. He is a brutal, bloodthirsty man looking for revenge on the world. No one knew why he wanted revenge; he just wanted it. He was an unstoppable force with his army, and he destroyed anything in his path. He is building a machine, so powerful that it could destroy the world. But he was also missing something. The Amulet.

“Is it ready?” Vladimir shouted as he planned his route.

“Not quite,” exclaimed one of Vladimir’s scientist.

“I need that Amulet,” Vladimir mumbled as he gnawed on his nails. “John Summerton was the last piece to my plan. He would have led me to world domination. He would have led me to The Amulet.”

“Yes but he is de-” “Yes I know he is dead!” shouted Vladimir.

“We could pull up his file and search his home?” said the scientist.

“Yes, that is a grand idea. Pull up John Summerton’s file.” Vladimir barked into his walkie talkie.

“I’m a little hungry,” Michael said white the snow off his face.

“I’ll go get us some food, turn on your walkie talkie,” Clara said as she geared up.

Michael sat down and turned on the fireplace. He set up the stove. He waited patiently for Clara to return. He waited, and waited, and waited, and Clara never came back. At this point Michael started worrying.

“Maybe I should go look for her,” Michael thought. “Oh wait, the walkie talkie!”

“Clara come in, Clara come in,” Michael said into the walkie-talkie.

No answer.

“Clara!” Michael screamed into the walkie-talkie.

Michael knew he had no choice but to look for her. He suited up, and headed out. He went to their normal hunting ground, Chippinie Forest. He searched, and searched, but still, no one. All of the sudden, a blinding light shined over him. It was a helicopter. A rope dropped down from it. 10 men slid down from the helicopter.

Michael started to run, and then sprint. “Clara! Where are you?" Michael screamed.

All of the sudden, he saw a figure at the corner of his eye. It was Clara! She was hurt. She has been attacked, bruised and battered.

“Clara, we have to move, there are men after us!” Michael exclaimed.

“I can’t walk,” Clara grunted.

“I’ll carry you, c’mon lets go,” Michael whispered.

Michael picked up Clara and tried to run. Considering he’s an eight-year-old boy carrying a fourteen-year-old girl, he was moving slow. Suddenly, the sound of many footsteps emerged from the woods. A man emerged from the blackness of the woods. It was Vladimir!

“Shh,” they might hear us,” Michael whispered gently.

“Who is that?” Clara moaned softly as she rolled in pain.

“It’s Vladimir Kolmonov, he’s the deadliest, most ruthless man in history,” Michael whispered. “Dad knew him.”

“The amulet!” Clara exclaimed. “He’s after dads amulet!”

“We have to go back to base. I’m sure Vladimir is headed there. We just have to be there first,” Michael said as he carried Clara through the woods.

They arrived at base camp. Vladimir has still not arrived.

“Where did you put the amulet?” asked Michael.

“Here,” answered Clara.

Clara pulled out a book from the bookshelf. All of the sudden, the bookshelf began to move. A hallway emerged. It was covered in steel and with three security systems. Clara pulled out a piece of paper. It had numbers written on it. Seven,

three, eight, five, nine. Clara unlocked all three security systems. Finally, they were in a giant cone shaped room. There, in the middle of the room, was the amulet in a giant slim cylinder made of glass. “Chrome,� Clara mumbled.

The cylinder opened. Clara took out the amulet. Both of them started sprinting out of the room and through the hallways. They geared up. They brought everything of value. They walked out of base. They walked, hoping that they could start a new life. Little did they know, Vladimir was still on the hunt for them, and The Amulet.

Walter Green Grass

By Aidan Mallon Let me start off by saying, I know this story may have a confusing beginning but all will be revealed in due time. I’m Walter J. Kenzington. and I live in Houston, Texas. When I was very young my parents divorced and I never really knew my father. Sometimes on occasions will pass by him; he never moves except in the wind. Have you guessed who my father is, No? That’s right, my father is a Tree.

What!? A TREE!, you say. I really don’t even understand it myself. That’s pretty much my life, a lonely single child living in Texas whose only got his Ma and a tree for a father. My family’s pretty poor. My mom works long hours at a diner. I’ve pretty much had to raise myself. School is horrible too, my teacher Mr. I'mTheVillainOfThisStory (Mr.I) hits me and my classmates when we step out of line. Worst of all, I can’t do anything about it because his simpleton brother owns the diner my mom works at. I probably wouldn’t make it through life if it weren’t for my best friend Lashana Boji. My life is a mess, but soon that will all change.

“Did you find him yet?” Lashana whispered.

“Not yet,” Walter replied in a low voice.

“I just hope he’s okay,” Lashana moaned. “I don’t understand how that tortoise keeps getting out!”

“Wait!” Walter shouted; he turned his flashlight to the left of the sewer drain pipe and the light shone on a large tortoise playing with a plastic bag. “Found him,” chimed Walter, relieved his friend's tortoise had shown up all right.

“Thanks so much, Walter!” Lashana squeaked, her face bright with joy as she led her beloved pet from the drain and up the hill to the bridge.

“Next time you’re going in the sewer,” joked Walter as he shook the liquid from his pants.

The two friends and one tortoise walked towards home to get ready for school the next day. They watched the last glimpse of the sun escape from them ending their weekend and putting them into the dreaded mindset of school. Little did they know tomorrow would bring great change.

The next day, Walter and Latisha walked into the school building, tired but optimistic. As usual Mr. I walked in angry and moody. He snapped viciously at a girl who dropped her books saying she had disturbed the peace of the Building. He taught his lesson quickly and gave us a pop quiz on a unit we had not yet learned.

He was frustrated with the results of his students’ grades from their pop quizzes, so he made us sit in silence for an hour as he read emails and the newspaper. That afternoon as we walked home I saw police cars outside my house. I ran home as fast as I could, an ambulance racing past me flashing and screeching. As I approached home, I was stopped by police officers who wouldn't let me cross my lawn. I saw my mom stretched out on a bed being led into the ambulance. It was bad; she was bleeding from her back and her head. The police dragged out Mr. I’s brother, laughing, his hands covered in blood. The police found him in the house with a knife. He had attacked my mother as she stopped home to drop off dinner for me.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of Rebecca Kenzington, Mother, worker and friend,” the priest grieved.

I stared down at the floor; I couldn’t bear to look at my own mother resting in a coffin. Since I had no other family, the Bojis decided to take me in. They were really good to me. Lashana’s Father, Harold, was a doctor and had tried to save my mom’s life. They cared for me, always hugging me, saying they were glad I was safe and that Rebecca, “God Bless Her”, would be watching over me from heaven.

Mr. I had been removed from the school after the revelation of his beatings. He swore revenge on me for telling, and frankly I was scared because if his brother could kill, could he too? School wasn’t all that much better because I was always upset about my mom. I found comfort sitting out in Mrs. Boji’s garden, It almost seemed like I could hear voices in my head; when I stared at one flower and tilted my head, I could swear it moved. Anyways the Bojis were going to see the Alamo.

I went with them, and it was expected to be an exciting day. While there we saw the original battlegrounds and where the soldiers had died. While there, though, I found I could move plants by concentrating on them- it was amazing! I didn't tell anyone about this newfound power, though.

I practiced this power every day, and soon I didn’t even have to look at a plant to move it. Every day I was getting stronger. Then I had an idea, to get revenge on Mr. I and his brother. Only problem was Mr. I’s brother was in jail, so I’d have to settle for Mr. I. That night I talked it over with Lashana.

“Don’t you think it’s a grand idea, Lashana?” Walter murmured.

“I don’t know, Walter; what are you going to do to him?” Lashana questioned.

“Hmm,” Walter hummed, “I never really thought about that.”

“Exactly,” Lashana chimed. “If you hurt him or his family, you wouldn’t be any better than him.”

“I know, Lashana; you’re right. I just feel that he needs to be given a taste of his own medicine., Walter sighed.

“Good night, Walter.”

“Good night, Lashana.”

That night as they slept a mysterious figure entered from their window, With a chloroform covered rag he knocked out Lashana and dragged her from the window. The Next morning the boji’ s awoke to this surprise, “AHHH!!!” screamed Mrs. Boji as she read the note lying in Lashana’s bed, the note read, “If you ever wish to see dear Lashana again give me $20,000 and the boy.”

Mrs.Boji ran into walters room to find his bed a mess, him gone and his window open.

“Harold!” Mrs.Boji called, “Call the police.”

Lashana squirmed as she tried to escape from the chair she was currently strapped to. Your usual villainous situation, Main characters best friend in the hands of the antagonist while the main character with his newly developed powers attempts to save his friend's life, Lets see how it ends.

Walter raced down the street towards the warehouse he had seen Mr.I’s car at.

Walter peeked through the window to see Lashana tied to the chair and Mr.I reading that day’s paper. walter bended a weed that had grown through a crack in the floor. he used it to carefully untie Lashana, whenmsuddenly he slipped, fell and broke through the window falling to the ground. Mr.I, starrdeled, approached walter

with what looked to be a gun in his hand. Walter sat up and gathered himself in an attempt to stand up but he fell to the floor again. Mr.I kicked walter’s side and walter laied motionless, moaning on the floor.

Mr.I spoke, “Walter, Walter, Walter, you thought YOU could single handedly defeat me, A grown man with a gun?

“Mr.I,” Walter huffed, you think I’m alone? with this every green plant around the decaying warehouse poured in entangling Mr.I in a mess of green plant. Walter glowed green as he walked towards Mr.I his plants threw Mr. I against a wall knocking him out cold. Lashana was Untied and Walter fell to the ground.

“Walter? Walter? Mrs.Boji sung “What happened Mrs.Boji?” Walter questioned “You were unconcious after deafeating Mr.ImTheVillanOfThisSTory.” MRs.Boji replied WAlter lifted the covers revealing that from his waist down was wood and bark, His body had half transformed him into a tree!

Walter revealed “So this must be what happened to my dad, After using his powers he was transformed into a full Tree.”

“Yup” Mrs.Boji replied.

“Well i dont wanna be a tree so from now on i won’t use my powers anymore.”

Walter Answered “Yup” Mrs.Boji laughed.

Walter Was known to many as, Walter J. Kenzington. But to a few select people, Friends who became Family, He was Walter Green Grass. As for Mr.I he was put into a state penitentiary where he served life in prison with no Probation. WAlter was happen to return to his normal life and visited hi father every day on his way home from school to thank him. Life was back to almost normal for the Boji’s.

They ran through the street time to time chasing after their Tortoise.

Fin

The Missing Equipment By: Samantha Moody

On a hot summer day, high in the mountains at Timber Lake Camp, four girls decided they wanted to play lacrosse but didn’t have a stick.

“Hey, girls, where should we go to get lacrosse sticks?” Rebecca asked as she twirled her long, beautiful brown hair.

“Why don’t we go and ask the HC staff? They would know,” Lauren, Rebecca’s bunkmate, replied.

“That’s a good idea,” Jessie agreed. She was eager to start playing.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Lets go!” Olivia said as she started to run towards the HC. The girls new the HC staff would know where they could find anything; they were practically the owners of camp. They walked into the girls’ HC and saw the camp director Janie sitting on the couch.

“Hi Janie,” the girls said.

“Hello girls. How is it going? Are you enjoying your summer?”

“Yes, Thank you,” each girl replied.

“By any chance, would you know where my friends and I could get a lacrosse stick?” Rebecca asked.

“Here come with me,” Janie turned and told the girls.

“Where are we going?” Lauren asked.

“To the equipment shack. Now, girls whenever you need anything related to sports you can get it here. However it is always locked, so no one steals the equipment. I am allowing you to go in here when you need to. I hide the key under the mat in the HC. Will you girls promise to tell nobody and lock the door when you are done?” Janie stressed to the girls worried that they would disobey her. “ I promise,” Rebecca said.

“I promise,” Lauren replied.

“I promise,” Jessie said. “ I promise,” Olivia also said.

The girls went into the equipment shack and looked for the lacrosse sticks they found them and took them and went to go play on the field.

They played for hours until they were called to dinner. They put the Lacrosse sticks back, closed the door and ran to dinner. They went to dinner and were talking about there fun day. They went back to their bunks and they had free play.

The girls decided they were going to play lacrosse again. They went to the equipment shack. They took the key and unlocked the door and put the key back.

They looked all over the equipment shack.

“Where’s the lacrosse sticks we played with yesterday?” Rebecca asked worried “It was stolen!” Olivia screamed.

“How is that possible didn’t you lock the door Jessie?” Asked Lauren worried.

“No. I thought you did,” Jessie replied.

“No. I didn’t,” Olivia responded with an uneasy look on her face.

“Oh great if no one locked the door then who came in the shack and stole it?” Rebecca said with fright in her eyes.

“We have to find out before Janie notices. We will be in trouble for not locking the door and for not telling her,” Olivia said nervously.

“Let’s all split up and find them. We will meet by the lake in a half hour.”

Rebecca said All the girls split up and went to different places around the camp. Olivia, Jessie, and Rebecca met up at the bunk, but where was Lauren?

“Where is Lauren?” Rebecca asked.

“I don’t know,” Jessie said “Maybe she stole the equipment and hid because she thought we would find out,” Olivia stressed.

“How do we know you didn’t steal it Olivia? For all we know you could have done something to her to cover up for you stealing the sticks,” Jessie said “Me oh please! What about you? You were the one who was suppose to lock the door and left it open,” Olivia protested While the girls were back and forth yelling at each other Rebecca walked away a little bit suspicious. When Jessie and Olivia went back to the bunk they found Lauren lying on her bed sick. They wondered how that had happened.

Rebecca was now missing. The girls looked everywhere in camp. The only place they did not look was in the equipment shack. They opened the door and found that

more equipment was missing. Rebecca had not been there and they decided to tell Janie before the situation gets worse.

“Janie! Janie! Janie!” All the girls yelled “What is it girls? Is everything okay?” Janie said worried.

“We are sorry Janie but we left the equipment shack open and someone had stole the equipment. We do not know who it was. Also Rebecca is missing and Lauren is sick. She was fine today and now she looks as if she’s been poisoned.

What should we do?” Jessie asked. She was crying and scared.

“Don’t worry I will make an announcement at Line-up tonight. As of for now go look all over camp and try to find the stolen equipment and I will go make sure Lauren is okay,” Janie said.

The girls looked everywhere and still couldn’t find anything. They decided there was one more place to check. (Out-door adventure) They got there and found all of the equipment hid in a shed. They took it back to the HC. They still never found Rebecca however.

“Thank you girls. Great job. Now where’s Rebecca?” Janie asked “We don’t know. She was acting a little suspicious even when she came to camp. Mybe she stole the equipment and is hiding somewhere. She might have no equipment and wanted it to take home with her so she thought she would hide it till the end of the summer, but now she is missing.”

“We will send people to look for her. As for now go back to your bunks and get ready for canteen,” Janie said.

And so they did......

The City of Wumbug By: Rich Rappaport

In the city of Wumbug the sun has never shined for at least seven years. It is dark and gray out each and every day of the week. Sunday the sky was gray, and stayed gray all the way through Friday. If you got lucky, sometimes it would rain with lightning on a Saturday for slight change of pace. Other than that, the sky was always gray. A scarce amount of people knew why this was so.

Among the city of Wumbug lived two orphans by the names of Jay Apollo and his younger sister Skylar Apollo. Their parents died almost immediately after Skylar was born in a horrible accident of drinking poison water. They were put in an orphanage like any other orphan would have been and went to school every day like normal children. Both Jay and Skylar are inquisitive, curious, very intelligent, and both at the top of their classes.

They both knew the sky was always gray, but just thought that’s how it is supposed to be. They were too afraid to ask about the sky in school because they thought they would be made fun of or whipped for asking such a silly question.

They also were very shy and didn’t have a lot of friends since they were orphans.

For these reasons, they kept that nagging question to themselves.

Days and weeks had gone by with that same question in their heads. They were so curious and interested in the topic they decided that after school one day they would visit their elderly friend, who they called Mr. Paw and who they had visited before. He had always been kind to them throughout the years and they

wanted to ask him this question that has been lodged in their minds for at least a month now. Jay and Skylar planned out the date they were going to visit him which was a Tuesday after school. They figured that nobody would notice them gone since nobody really cared about them in the orphanage.

Tuesday finally came and it was time to get an answer to their question. After school they immediately went to Mr. Paw’s house. It was only fifteen minutes walking distance. When they arrived, Mr. Paw was sitting on his front porch in his rocking chair reading a book. Mr. Paw glanced over his book and realized it was the Apollo’s.

Mr. Paw greeted them, “Well hello children what brings you here on this fine afternoon.”

Simultaneously they responded, “Hello Mr. Paw. We have an important question to ask you.”

Mr. Paw replied, “Well come on in and I’ll see if I have an answer to your question.”

The children and Mr. Paw entered the home then sat down at the dining room table.

Mr. Paw broke the silence by saying, “So what is this important question you have to ask me.”

Jay then asked, “Why is the sky always gray?”

Mr. Paw then sadly responded, “Oh children, I’m afraid I don’t know too much about that topic. But I do have a good old friend of mine that knows much about the sky named Nez. I’ll give you his address and then you can be on your

way. If you walk from here it’s only about a ten-minute walk. I’m sure he’ll be home and provide you with a decent answer to that very intelligent question. I’ll let him know you are coming. You kids are growing up so fast.”

The children chuckle out loud, “Thank you Mr. Paw hope to see you again soon.”

The children were then on their way to Nez’s house in search for answers.

They arrived on his front porch and rang his doorbell. Nobody answered for fifteen seconds.

Skylar exclaimed, “Are you sure this is the right address Jay?” Jay replied, “Of course I’m sure.”

Then an old bald man opened up the door.

The old man spoke, “Ah, so you must be the Apollo children. Jay and Skylar correct?”

The Children replied, “Yes sir.”

Nez explained, “Well I’m Mr. Nez but just call me Nez. I’ve been expecting you two and I have many answers to your questions. Come in, come in.”

The children entered and immediately noticed strange paintings on the wall of animals. The three of them sat down at a table in the kitchen with many envelopes on the table.

Nez started talking, “So you want to know why the sky is always gray? Well I’ll tell you. About seven years ago an army of witches invaded the city. A queen witch and her husband who was an evil emperor led them. These witches weren’t your typical fly on a broom, pointy hat witches. They walked on two feet and their

weapons were magical wands, which contained spells. Almost every man or woman had to fight against them in what we called the Witches War. We wiped out pretty much every single one of those dang witches and won the war, but before we killed the queen, she had a little magic left in her wand to set a spell on our city. The spell caused the sky to be gray for all of eternity. Rumor has it that the queen’s ghost is still on top of Mt. Rom where they established their base during the war. It says that if you defeat her ghost, you would break the spell and the curse she put on our city would be gone.”

The children then realized that seven years ago is also when their parents died.

Jay then told Nez, “Seven years ago was when our mom and dad died. The leaders of the orphanage said they died of poison water. Is that true?”

Nez then explained, “I’m afraid not. That is a common excuse that was made up back then. They probably died fighting in the war.”

Skylar then suggested, “I’m proud of my parents for fighting for what they believed in and they didn’t die in vain.”

“Me too!” shouted Jay. Nez then pronounced, “If you kids want an adventure, you kids can travel to Mt. Rom and see if the rumor is true. Chances are the ghost is probably very weak because when witches die they exist in their weakest form and are much less powerful then when they were alive. The journey to the top of Mt. Rom is supposedly four days. There might be houses along the way to help you with supplies.”

Nez opened up one of the envelopes that laid before him on the table. He then continued, “I fought in the Witches War and managed to steal one of their magic wands. You can use this to kill off the queen’s ghost. Also you can use it to move things out of your way, kill animals that are harmful, etc. It will be very useful if you choose to go on this adventure.

Skylar then interrupted, “Wow, sounds dangerous, but I’ll do it as long as I’m with Jay.” “What do you think Jay?” Nez asked.

“I’m in!” Jay spoke confidently. “Skylar and I could be the heroes of Wumbug”, Jay added.

Nez laughed, “Yes, indeed.”

The next day Jay and Skylar were planning out there trip during lunch at school. They figured they would need tons of supplies. For the next week, every day when they got home from school they stole food from the orphanage so they would have enough for their adventure. They also needed other supplies like rope if they needed to climb over something. They took that from the gym. Over the next week, they had enough tools, food and supplies to go through with their journey.

They skipped school Wednesday to rest; then left Thursday early in the morning.

One day had gone by. They had just eaten some of their food and water when the trail to Mt. Rom got steeper. They continued their journey onward.

Skylar tripped on a rock and lost about one third of their food because it fell down the side of the cliff. This was bad. Now they knew they had to preserve the rest of their food and water. A little more than two days had gone by and the children

were struggling climbing over the rocks and up the steep hill. Jay cut himself on a sharp branch and was gushing blood so Skylar helped wrap it up. They went through two thirds of their remaining food and were running out of water. Now they needed to look for a shortcut. They approached a flat part of the mountain and decided to lie down and sleep there to end the second day.

Later that night, when Skylar opened her eyes for a second, she saw a sign.

“Jay take a look at that sign. It’s a shortcut to the top of Mt. Rom”, Skylar spoke just loud enough so that Jay could hear.

Jay responded, “Oh yeah. I think we should take it since we’re running out of supplies. We’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

Skylar whispered, “I agree.”

The morning came and they both woke up. They headed up the path not knowing what was in front of them. All of a sudden, the path came to a dead end.

They did not know what to do. They look around everywhere. Just when they had decided they should turn around they hear a voice coming from a shadowy figure in the distance.

The shadowy figure exclaimed, “So Apollo children you’ve made it this far.”

“Who are you and how do you know who we are?” Jay said frightened.

“Oh I believe you very well know who I am”, the shadowy figure continued.

At this point Skylar is huddled against Jay. “Just tell us who you are!” Jay shouted.

“I am what you call Nez. I also go by the queen’s ghost. This was part of my plan all along. I created ‘Mr. Paw’ when I put a spell on an old alley cat because I

needed someone to help get to you kids to takeout my revenge. Your parents are the ones who killed me than some of my other witches killed them. I knew you kids would be confused why the sky was gray because curiosity is in your blood. I knew you would go to ‘Mr. Paw’ for help because you trusted his word. He would send you to me for help and I would be disguised as an old man, Nez. As Nez I could tell you about the rumor concerning the gray skies. A rumor, which was true. If you destroyed me the spell would be over. But you two could never defeat me. I have been seeking revenge against your family name and now I will get it by killing you right here and nobody will find out or care”; the queen’s ghost sneered angrily.

“AAAAHHHHH!” the children screamed.

Then Jay suddenly remembered the magic wand they had and quickly took it out and pointed it at “Nez”. Nothing happened.

“Foolish boy, you really think I would give you a working magic wand.

MWWAAAHHHA!!!” the queen’s ghost exclaimed.

Jay dropped the wand and whispered to Skylar, “Go hide.”

“No I’m staying right here with you,” Skylar replied.

“Now I got you,” The ghost spoke as she came closer.

It started to rain. The children ran away from the ghost in different directions to try and confuse her.

Skylar noticed that the magic wand was lighting up and shouted, “Pick up the wand Jay!” The ghost turned around and headed for Jay. Jay dove on the wand and pointed it at the ghost.

“AHHHHH” The ghost screamed as it slowly faded into the air.

It was silent for five seconds as the two children processed what had just happened. Another ten seconds go by and the children looked at each other as the rain stopped. Then they both looked up at the same time and saw a little speck of blue in the sky. Then they both ran over to the center of the open area and Jay picked up Skylar and held her as they embraced the moment. They both watched the sky turn completely blue for the next five minutes with a few puffy white clouds here and there. They heard the birds chirping and enjoyed the sun for the first time in seven years. They found “Nez’s” lift that took him up the mountain quickly so he could beat them to the top. They used it to get back down.

On the way down Skylar asked Jay “What do you think made the wand work?”

Jay replied “I was just thinking about that and I realized why people felt lucky when it rained. It was not just because the lightning lit up the gray skies. It was because the rain allowed regular humans to use the witches’ wands against them.”

At that point they had reached the bottom of the mountain and watched the amazement on everybody’s faces as they looked up at the blue sky. Neither of the children said a word on the way back to their orphanage and a week later both of them got adopted. They knew that no one was going to believe that they were the ones that made the sky blue. However, deep inside, they knew that their parents were watching and were proud of them. This would be their little secret and no one could take that away from them.

Making a New Friend

By Nicole Russo His name was Mason. He was a lonely, quiet child. He didn’t have any friends or anyone he could talk to except his mom.

It was suddenly dark. The stars were shining and Mason was tired. He closed his eyes and dreamed the most extraordinary dream. It was 7:00am and the alarm clock buzzed.

“Ugh,” Mason complained.

He got up and waited for the bus. When the bus arrived everything seemed normal. Mason got onto the bus and was suddenly confused. There was a kid sitting in his seat.

“Excuse me. I don’t mean to bother you, but there are no other seats available on the bus. Would you mind if I sat here?” Mason politely asked.

The boy looked Mason straight in the eye.

“Why of course you can,” the boy began, “What’s your name?”

Mason took a seat.

“Mason. My name is Mason,” Mason stuttered.

“My name is Liam. Nice to meet you! Today is my first day at this school,” the boy stated.

Mason was surprised that someone was actually talking to him. The bus stopped and they shared their schedules and had almost every class together. Later on that day, the boys were walking out to the buses when something happened.

“Hey you!” someone shouted.

Mason and Liam turned around. It was the school bully.

“Mason, you finally got a friend, eh?” the bully questioned.

Mason nodded. He tried not to make eye contact.

“So now I want both of your lunch money,” the bully yelled.

Mason gave his money up. Liam reached into his pocket and instead of money, he gave him a punch to the face. A crowd formed.

“So you think you’re all tough?” the bully asked.

He went in for a punch, but Liam and Mason ran away. They ran onto the bus and they knew they were safe. Mason sat right next to Liam without hesitation.

“Want to hang out after school today?” Liam asked Mason.

“Yes! Why of course I would,” Mason boasted.

“Can you come to my house at 4:00?” Liam asked.

“I will be there,” Mason confirmed.

Mason said goodbye. 4:00 came and Mason ran right over to Liam’s.

“Wanna see something cool?” Liam asked Mason.

Mason nodded. Liam took Mason to his backyard and showed him a path.

“Follow me!” Liam suggested.

Mason would do anything to be cool. They walked on the path for a good ten minutes.

“Look at that,” Liam told Mason.

Mason was amazed. There was a gigantic mountain with an amazing view.

“Want to climb it? It’s not as far as it seems,” Liam questioned.

Mason didn’t hesitate.

“Okay!” Mason replied.

The distance was far, but it was a challenge Mason was willing to accept to make Liam like him. They followed the path and did not complain.

“Have you ever climbed a mountain before?” Liam asked.

Mason shook his head. They were finally at the bottom of the mountain. There was a long journey above them. They began walking up the mountain. Mason was scared but didn’t want to admit it. Step by step they walked. Twenty minutes went by. They were halfway up the mountain when Mason couldn’t take it.

“Don’t look down!” Liam yelled.

Mason glanced underneath him. He closed his eyes and held back the tears. He lost his footing on the rock and slipped. He was holding on by just his right hand.

“Help!” Mason screamed.

Liam looked behind him and saw Mason falling. He grabbed his hand, trembling to lift him up. Mason scratched his knee badly on the rock.

“Keep holding on!” Liam yelled, “I won’t let you go!”

Mason was scared and afraid. Liam was able to help Mason up, but Mason couldn’t stop shaking. His knee hurt so badly he couldn’t process anything.

“That was so scary,” Mason cried.

“Oh my! Your knee is bleeding!” Liam shouted, “Let’s start our way back down.”

Mason carefully turned around. He struggled to get down with his hurt knee. Half an hour later they reached the bottom of the mountain.

“Let’s go back to my house,” Liam suggested.

Mason was relieved. They were walking on the path on the way to the house and nothing looked familiar.

“I don’t think this is the right way,” Mason quietly assured.

“I agree. Where are we?” Liam questioned.

Suddenly, there was a strange noise.

“What was that?” Mason asked.

The bushes started moving. Someone jumped out. It was the school bully.

“We never got to finish that fight,” the bully teased.

Liam and Mason looked at each other.

“How did you find us?” Mason asked the bully.

“Don’t you worry about that,” the bully suggested.

The bully went to grab the boys, but they ran away.

“Follow me!” Liam shouted.

They ran the other way and went back to the mountain. Mason and Liam leaned against the mountain. They were out of breath. All of a sudden, the boys felt the ground rumble. The ground separated into two and the boys fell through a hole.

They screamed of fear.

“How do we get out?” Mason screamed.

It was dark except for the hole they fell through.

“The bully is going to get us,” Mason screamed in terror.

“I am going to try to get out and I’ll bring back help. Lift me up,” Liam suggested.

Mason started to life Liam up. He was really heavy. Mason was able to lift him up so Liam could barely get his hands on the top. He finally reached it. He pulled with all of his might and got up.

“I’ll be right back,” Liam shouted from the top.

Mason was all alone and was petrified. The bit of light from the hole started to fade away. Mason screamed for help. Nothing happened. He was suddenly grabbed by something and he could breathe less and less.

“Mason, wake up honey,” Mason’s mom said.

Mason opened his eyes and looked at his knee. There was nothing there. Mason was confused.

He realized it was all a dream. He was disappointed because Liam must not have been real.

“Mason, get up and start moving boxes into the truck. Today is the big day,” Mason’s mom ordered.

After everything was in the truck, they started their way to their new house. They arrived at the house. Mason went into his new bedroom and looked out the window. He glanced at it and saw a familiar face looking back at him from the other house’s window.

“Liam?” Mason blurted.

“My name is Tony. What’s yours?” the boy asked.

Mason smiled.

“I have a feeling we are going to be best friends

Trust

By Gabby Sanjurjo “I CAN’T TRUST YOU ANYMORE!” Shouted alex.

Alyssa exclaimed “I’m so sorry.. shes my best friend too and… i needed to tell her.”

“YOU SWORE YOU WOULDN’T TELL. YOU SWORE ALEX.” “Alyssa i never swore. I promised. And I broke that promise…. you’re such a drama queen. It was one secret..” “Still… you’re my best friend… how could you tell someone my big secret. I trusted you!”

Alex was so upset.. she wanted to get revenge…. BAD revenge…

She went and made a fake facebook and added Alyssa on it.

The next day Alyssa ran up to Alex yelling “OH MY GOSH ALEX. Do you know Luke Quinn?! He just moved here and goes to _lyssa_ore high school!

Becca’s cousin goes there! Maybe she knows him!”

Alex got nervous.. not knowing if this was a good idea…. But she went along with it anyway..

“Oh… Thats cool _lyssa…. is he cute?” “Yup and hes our age! I’m going to meet him next weekend. I’m so excited” Alex was shaking.. she felt really bad..

Alyssa already gets bullied…

“Alyssa… are you sure? I mean.. he could be really mean.. and maybe even a 40 year old…”

“Alex dont worry. Hes our age. Why are you being this way?! Your so annoying i should have never apologized to you….”

Alex ran home, grabbed her computer and starting posting really rude status’s..

“Alyssa Marina is so annoying and ugly.”

“Alyssa is soo weird. Nobody. Talk to her.”

“Alyssa wants to meet me one day… LOSER!” This has been happening for weeks..

Alyssa kept seeing these status’ and got so hurt by them and called alex on the phone Sobbing..

“Alex i’m so sorry… i should have never told your secrets and i should have listened to you. I’m really sorry too..”

Alex had to tell her what’s really going on… So.. she did…

“Alyssa… Luke is a fake person… i made him up and was saying all of that stuff on facebook… i’m so sorry i promise i will never do it again… Please forgive me.. I don’t ever wanna lose my best friend again..”

“Oh Alex its okay. Things happen. I’m sorry for telling your secrets…”

Alyssa accepted the apology and they both hugged.

Alyssa and Alex both walked away talking about how they missed each other and they told each other everything that had happened lately.. and they were finally, Best Friends Again.

Forgive and Forget

By Rachel Schier “Ava and Chloe, you guys have been best friends ever since you were two!

Are you guys going to let something this silly separate you?” exclaimed Payton.

Ava explained “You just don’t understand how much it hurt me and neither does Chloe.”

“I have said sorry like one hundred times!” Chloe exaggerated.

“Guys, guys. Just tell the story from the beginning so we can work this out.”

Payton suggested.

Ava started to explain “Ok, it all started 2 weeks ago...”

“It was Adam’s and my 1 year anniversary.” Ava continued, “I heard the phone ring a few minutes before I was about to leave to go to our dinner. It was Adam.

‘Hi Ava, its Adam. We need to talk.’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘I’ve been thinking really hard about us lately, and I don’t really think this working out.’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘You know, us. I think we should take a break’ ‘Oh, ok.’ I was so upset. But then I found out the real reason why he broke up with me. By then I was furious.”

“Well what was the real reason?” Payton wondered.

Ava answered “My best friend, well now my ex-best friend. The night after I looked at Adam’s status and it said ‘in a relationship.’ I was anxious to know who he was in a relationship with. I found out that it was Chloe. My best friend was now going out with my ex-boyfriend. I had no clue what to do. She didn’t even tell me.”

“I understand why you’re upset, but I honestly don’t think that you should be mad.” Payton said.

Chloe added “It’s not like it was my fault. I liked him and he liked me so I wasn’t going to say no.”

“If you were my friend like you were then you would have.” Ava interrupted.

Chloe replied “Well Ava, I’m sorry that you’re upset but there is not really anything that you can do about it. You can’t control who I, or Adam, chooses to date.”

“I have to agree with Chloe, Ava. I think you should just say sorry and be friends again.” Payton Ava stormed out of the room with an attitude and went home. She went to her room and remembered that her grandma gave her this old magic potion book.

Ava never believed that it would work but since she was bored and she had no best friend to hang out with, she opened it and started to look for something to get back at Chloe with. Adam too.

Ava found this one page that was almost impossible to see, but she did. It said “The Revenginator”. It seemed interesting so she decided to try it. The page said: The Revenginator: Supplies Needed-A large blue bowl -A polka dot fork -An orange towel with red stripes

-A bottle of cranberry juice -A silver pot

Directions: 1. Pour the cranberry juice into the pot and boil it.

2. Put the orange towel with red stripes into the pot.

3. Stir the mixture in the pot around with the polka dot fork.

4. After you stir, drop the fork into the mixture.

5. Cover the pot with the large blue bowl and let it sit for 4 minutes.

Ava gathered all of the materials and did exactly what it said. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Everything that she placed in the pot had disappeared and all that was in the pot was a silver ring with a light blue stone in the middle. She touched the stone and it started to light up and buzz. By then it was 10:30 so Ava slipped the ring onto her finger and went to sleep.

The next day Ava went to school and sat in English, her first period class.

Chloe walked through the door and her whole body was blue. Her hair, her eyes, her clothes, her skin, her everything. Ava’s jaw dropped. She was shocked that a little ring could do so much! Chloe knew something was up because there was no way that she could turn completely blue overnight. She had to get to the bottom of this.

She noticed Ava was wearing a new ring. She thought that Ava wasn’t wearing that yesterday. Chloe was anxious to get to the bottom of this. That night at 8 o’clock she went to Ava’s house and peeked through Ava’s bedroom window.

She noticed an old book flipped open to a page that said “The Revenginator”.

Chloe couldn’t read it that well so she took a picture of it on her phone and went home. Once she got home she took out her phone and zoomed into the picture that she took when she was looking through Ava’s window. She could clearly see the supplies and the directions. Chloe knew that this was what Ava used on her so Chloe decided to do it back to Ava. Chloe followed the directions and after the 4 minutes she took the large blue bowl off of the pot. She was stunned at what came out. In the center of the pot was a silver ring with a green stone in the middle. She was admiring the stone when she gently pushed it and it started to vibrate and glow.

Chloe was tired so she placed the ring onto her finger and slid into her bed.

The morning after Chloe was sitting in English when Ava walked into school late. Ava was covered in green from head to toe. Ava looked across the room and saw Chloe wear the same exact ring as her but instead of a light blue stone, Chloe’s was green. Ava didn’t know how Chloe knew about the potion but she knew that somehow she found out.

Chloe asked “Can we talk?”

“Ok, sure.” replied Ava. “I know about the ring and how you used it to get back at me. I know it was wrong of me to date Adam but I said I was sorry.” Chloe admitted.

“I know you are but I really don’t know if I want to forgive you yet.” informed Ava. Chloe confessed “Please Ava. Just forgive me. We have been the best of friends since we were 2 and I really want to have you as my best friend again!”

“Oh, ok.� replied Ava. They hugged and walked away telling each other how much they missed having their best friend to talk to and hang out with.

All in a Summer Day

By Nolan Schmer

S.J was so bored on this summer day, that he could hear his own thoughts.

His dad walked into his room and said, “ Hey, your mother and I have been thinking; we thought it would be fun if we took a trip to the Sonora Desert in Arizona. What do you think S.J?” “I really don’t care, Dad. I have nothing else to do,;all my friends are at camp,” said S.J “Ok! Arizona it is!” Said Jim very happily.

Jim, S.J’s father, went RV shopping with his wife Tracy. They went to Louis’s RV Shoppe. They saw so many RV’s that they liked, but finally they found the right one, the RV-inator 99,000! It would have two bedrooms, four bathrooms, one kitchen, and one Den. Jim and Tracy loved it! They bought it at a price of $150,000, a little more than they wanted, but it was worth it. They came home with their new RV to show S.J. He thought it was cool.

They all packed their things and were off. It would take them about a day and a half to get there. Halfway there, they were low on gas, and there was not a

gas station in sight. They would have just enough gas to get a mile into the desert, but not where they want to be. They were a mile into the desert and out of gas.

Their RV broke down.

“Where the heck are we dad!?!” S.J asked.

“In the desert, son,” Jim responded.

“Where’s the trailer park?”

“I don’t know. We are in the middle of nowhere,” Said Jim. “Well that’s just great dad! We were supposed to be having a good time here!”

“This is going to be a fun summer vacation!’ “Well, I’m having so much fun right now! Nobody loves me or cares about me” Said S.J as he walked out of the RV. “That’s not true!” yelled Jim, but S.J didn’t hear him. He had sprinted out of sight. His dad came running after him but couldn’t find him. Jim gave up on searching for him for the night so he could go back into the RV to eat and sleep. He wanted to get as much rest as he could get, because it would be a full day of searching tomorrow.

S.J was 3 miles away from the RV and it was now dark. All of a sudden he fell into a hole, which was actually an underground cave. S.J was happy to be away from his family, but scared and sad to be alone. He realized that his parents were just trying to make him happy like always. Now he felt bad. He wished he was back with them, but he couldn’t find a way out of the cave.

It had been a day since he fell into the cave. He really was sick of the cave now. S.J had searched for a way out forever. He was hungry, tired, and lonely, and all he wanted to do was be home with the people he loved. There was no food source or any water springs in this cave.

His parents had been on the search for him ever since he had gone and S.J was nowhere to be found.

They cried all the time, and prayed for his return-but still no sign of him.

“S.J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Jim shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping that S.J would hear him, but no answer. “S.J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Jim shouted again. Still no answer.

S.J got bored, so he walked around in the cave. He got deeper and deeper before he saw light. He sprinted as fast as he could to the light. Then he fell into another hole. He continued to run forward and go down different paths. No luck to find a way out. he found a way out of this hole and climbed up now he was in the place he was in before. He knelt down and prayed to see an exit, because he had nothing else to do.

He saw the same light he saw before and look at the groud as he ran this time to avoid any holes. He finally found a way out of this awful place.

He screamed, “DAD!!!!!!!!!” no response. “DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” S.J screamed louder. This time there was a response.

“S.J!!!!!!!!!!!” he heard.

S.J followed the noise, and saw a small figure in the distance. “DAD!!!!!!!!!!”

“S.J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Finally S.J thought. He ran to his dad and gave him the biggest hug ever.

He was so happy to see his family.

THE END

The Magic Candy

By Alyssa Schmidt

Ever since they were little kids, Tren Summers liked his best friend (Jordan Eden)’s cousin, Alexa Schem. She was the most amazing girl he has ever seen. She was really sweet, smart, and pretty too! He had liked this girl for almost a whole year now. Jordan finally told Tren to work up the courage to ask her out.

It was about noon on a sunny day and Tren and Jordan went to the neighborhood park where Alexa usually plays this time of day. Tren had butterflies in him stomach and his heart was beating so fast and loud he could barely hear himself think. When he finally decided to go and pop the question, he saw something he didn’t really like, but also didn’t really see so clearly.

“Jordan, who is that?” Tren questioned in a worried tone.

“It’s my mean neighbor Zane Muck” Jordan responded making an angry face.

“Well what’s he doing with MY girl?” demanded Tren.

“Not really sure” mumbled Jordan. “He knows how much and how long you’ve liked her for so he is probably doing it to get the both of us angered.”

“I must win her back. Come with me” said Tren with confidence.

When they got home, Tren went right to the computer and searched up: ‘How to make a girl fall in love with you.’ He found all these different things about a special candy that makes a girl fall in love with you when you both eat it.

“I MUST go buy this right now!” Tren yelled. He searched up the store nearest to him and rushed there. He got there and there was only one left. Right when he reached for it someone’s hand touched it first. He looked up and saw it was Zane. Zane payed for the candy and ran out of the store like lightening.Tren tried chasing after him but he just wasn’t fast enough.

He couldn’t sleep that night. All he could think about was getting the candy back. He knew he had to do something but he didn’t know what. He rode his bike as fast as he could to Jordan’s house to tell him what had happened. The two of them went on a quest to find where Zane hid the candy. The first and most obvious place they looked was his house. The candy nor Zane were there but they did find something else that was extremely useful to them. They found a map that led to where the candy was hidden. They followed the map around the whole town, over mountains, across rivers, and in caves until they eventually found the ‘X’. The X was painted on a wall-like structure made of bricks. Tren and Jordan removed the

bricks under the X one by one. After the two pulled out all of the bricks that had part of the X marked on it, they saw something shining back at them. It was a shimmering box. Tren took the box from the wall and said: “Jordan what do you think this is?”

“I’m not quite sure. I guess we’ll have to open it and find out.”

Tren opened the box and there was a smaller box. He opened that box and inside was a smaller bag.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Jordan said frustrated.

Tren took a peek inside the bag and started to smile.

“Well?” Asked Jordan. “What did you find?”

He held up what was inside. There was the magic candy looking back at them. As they headed back home they stopped at Alexa’s secret hiding spot. Tren ate a piece of the candy and then walked straight over to her and offered her a piece of the candy. Without even questioning it, Alexa took the offer and instantly fell in love with Tren. Tren got what he wanted and so did Jordan. He got revenge on his nasty neighbor.

The Treasure of the Seas

By Julia Silverman Soyara Island was where the excitement began. An exotic island, not many people have traveled to before. But for the kooky Mulan family, a vacation like this wasn’t so unexpected.

Benjamin Mulan, the 11-year-old only child of the Mulan parents, had always been making fun on his own. With no brothers or sisters to cause trouble with, he had always been a drama-free boy, with good intentions. Sometimes having no pesky siblings can be good, but Benjamin was always alone, while his parents went on crazy vacations, trips, and tours. He walked around the beautiful island a lot, just thinking, by himself, but on one day, he wanted some real excitement. He had learned how to scuba dive a few years earlier, on a different vacation in the Royal Cast Springs, where only 5 people had ever been to.

He swam a little off shore before diving into the warm, open water. As he plunged downwards, he glimpsed at a shining rock a little deeper. As he continued to swim, the shining object became clearer. It was a huge, glittery diamond! Ben gasped, and kept swimming. He touched the rock, examining its qualities, before he shot upward towards the surface. Too much excitement in one day for a boring boy like Ben.

After a good night’s sleep and time to think about what he had seen, Ben decided to swim back to where he saw the diamond. With his mind full of possibilities, with thoughts like how rich he could one day become, he swam down to the diamond.

“Wow,” he thought to himself. “A huge diamond like that- off the coast of the Soyara Island?” He was still in disbelief.

As he dived closer and closer to the stone, he noticed lots of other shining objects a little farther downwards. He continued to swim, and swim, and swim until his nose almost touched the ground. As he wiped his face, glitter shook off of his hands. He began to open his eyes, and when he did, his mind blew in disbelief. He looked downwards. No, he did not see the bottom of the ocean. Nor did he see the Kingdom of Atlantis. But he saw, a sea full of diamonds. Miles, upon miles wide reaching from as far as the mind could imagine.

“This cannot be real!” Ben thought, his mind blown. “No scientist, researcher, anyone has ever found this? How!” He was stunned! His arms and legs were flapping underwater with excitement!

He grabbed a handful of diamonds, throwing them into his body suit. He swam around a little more, happily checking out all the beautiful rocks. Towards his left, he saw a gold light shining. He stroked through the water until he reached the light. It was not what he imagined, a pile of gold riches, but a stunning, crystallized throne.

“A throne!?” Ben’s mind was in a different state, something he had never felt before. Like a thousand rocks swelled inside his head, or like his brain was made

out of bricks. He could not even describe the feeling in a way someone else could comprehend.

As his mind slowly became clearer, he discovered it wasn’t just a throne. It was an underwater palace. “I have to be dreaming,” Ben thought. “This could never happen- especially to me! The whole ocean- full of palaces and diamonds, thrones and treasures? This cannot be,” he told himself.

“4.54 billion years, and still running strong,” a strange sound echoed. “4.54 years, and we still rule the ocean!” A staff hit the ground, shattering a diamond.

Ben’s heart dropped to his stomach. “What. Was. That,” he thought, almost stumbling to the ground. He crept through the water a little more to see a palace room full of people. Scared out of his mind, he peeked through the room, listening to the conversation. Someone dressed in a black cape and staff stood in the front of the room, talking to the crowd of people.

“4.54 billion years, we have been here! We are never leaving! Who are we?

We rule the oceans! We rule the water!” He cried out.

The crowd cheered wildly.

“How-h-h-how? How could people stay underwater? Living here? For 4.54 billion years? No one could live that long! No scuba gear or anything?” Benjamin thought to himself, crazed at the thought of it. He continued to listen to the speech, hopefully not letting anyone see him.

“Soon enough, with all of these diamonds, we will be able to take over the land and become what we have always dreamed of- the villains of the whole world!” The man in the cape’s voice echoed over the palace.

Ben crept around the room, trying not to make any noise. He hid under a treasure barrel, but as he did that, the people started to exit the room. He stayed silent.

The man in the black cape said, “Someone go fetch the treasure barrel, we need to count up our money for the day!” He shoved a young woman, dressed in a pink mask, into the treasure. As she picked up the barrel, she screamed. “A BOY! A BOY! SOMEONE FOUND US! EVERYONE! GO HIDE IN YOUR SHELTERS! IT’S A HUMAN!” She dropped the barrel, running away with fright.

Benjamin almost died right there. “They’re not humans, not humans...” he thought. Benjamin swam, but he swam like he had never swam before. He swam straight up into the land, and ran all the way home to his hotel. Out of breath, he collapsed onto his bed, and fell straight asleep.

He woke up later in the day, with only fear on his mind. He paced around his room, wondering what to do. After hours upon hours of thinking, he decided.

“Well, I’m not just gonna sit around and wait for them to take over the world, right? I, Benjamin Mulan, am going to have to save the world!”

He put on a blue mask over his black scuba gear, looked in the mirror and said to himself, “Benjamin Mulan, what a hero! About to save the whole world, here he goes!” He walked to the beach, his head held high, carrying only a small mirror in his pocket. With whatever was left of his bravery, he dove into the water.

The girl in the pink mask who picked up the treasure is what he first saw.

“HE’S BACK!” she screamed in terror.

“Shh,” I’m not trying to hurt anyone! I am just trying to save my world!

Why are you trying to destroy it?” He asked.

“When the earth was created, we were the superheroes. But the rulers said there were too many heroes, so we took over the water. We have been hiding this treasure for years, and I guess, we became the villains. I’m not one of them though, I guess you could call me a rebel,” she said soothingly.

Ben gasped. “Superheroes and villains? Those are real?” he thought to himself. He looked frightened.

Quietly, the woman said, “But I can help you.”

“Really!” Ben asked with excitement.

“Yes, shh. I’ve been treated like garbage around here for years. I don’t like being the villain- I want to be a superhero too! My name is Pink Pop-woman, and I’m going to help you. All we have to do is defeat Black Destroyer, the one in the black cape, and everyone loses their powers and becomes a human. Unfortunately, that would include me, but it’s worth it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Black Destroyer has a fear of humans, so all we have to do is show you to him and use a little force,” Pop-woman said with a wink.

Pop-woman ran up to Black Destroyer, with Benjamin in her arms. Black Destroyer screamed so loud, Benjamin thought the whole world would hear it.

“I know what you’re hiding,” Ben threatened. “Take over the earth, and I’ll take over the sea.” He grabbed some diamonds and said, “I can show everyone

back on land these diamonds, and they will know who you are. Hand over the seas and you can live as a human, or face your death,” Ben said bravely.

“I will never hand it over!” Black Destroyer cried out.

Suddenly, Pop-woman threw the mirror Ben had been carrying at Black Destroyer, shattering his powers. Black Destroyer fell to the ground, with a crash.

Suddenly, all of the villains disappeared, as well as Pop-woman. Ben swam back to the beach and found many humans there, dressed in masks and capes, looking confused.

“Pop-woman?” Benjamin called.

A 20 or so year old girl who was wearing the same pink mask as Pop-woman was came towards Ben and high fived him. She whispered in his ear, “I guess humans can be heroes, too.”

The Case of the Missing Necklace

By Noelle Singer

“Nothing still nothing!” cried the king as he turned over yet another empty box. Empty at least of the precious heirloom he was trying to retrieve.

“We must have patience,” consoled the young prince. He knew they would never find the necklace.

It all started when the king went to adore his precious, royal gemstone necklace, and he realized that it was gone.

“How could it be gone? Everyday at this hour I come here to check on it. I have never seen anyone who has been snooping around here before,” tottered the old king worrying that this loss would mean the end of his power.

“Relax father. We will find it soon,” calmed the prince.

The necklace was given to the king from his father and planned to pass it on to his son when his royal time is over.

“That is enough searching for the day. We should get some rest. We will start bright and early tomorrow. We will head straight to town. We’ll ask anyone who deems to be suspicious,’’ planned the prince.

The king couldn’t sleep that night. He walked around the castle and saw a light on in the princes room. The suspicious king snooped by the room and heard the prince talking. The King wondered who he could be talking to. He popped his head in the room and heard the prince say: “ Now I have the royal necklace all I have to do is kill the king. Tomorrow we are going into town to “search” for the necklace and I will finish him off then. I will use the fake necklace to replace the real one, then plant the fake one and then lead the king to it. When he is so happy and thinks he has it I’ll pop from behind him and stab him right in the chest,” The prince deviously whispered into the phone.

The king then saw the prince take the necklace out of his robe. The king was shocked. He couldn’t even move. He would of never suspected his own son. he didn’t know what to do. Should he catch the prince now and bust him? If he does that he wouldn’t get the necklace back. But, if he waits until tomorrow he could find a moment to grab the necklace out of the prince’s pocket. He must be aware at all times. The prince couldn’t sleep at all that night. Then the time came. The sun rose and the birds sang. It was morning. The king entered the prince’s room.

“Rise and shine my son today is a long day. We will not stop searching ‘till the day I die,” The king exclaimed.

“That could be sooner than you think.” The prince mumbled.

The king chose not to comment on what the prince said. He tried to hide his smile so he wouldn’t show that he knew the prince’s plot. They walked around asking people if they saw anyone have a new treasure and they got all no’s.

“This is hopeless,” the king sighed.

“Why don’t we look in that abandoned shed over the hill. I always see suspicious action going on over there. Maybe someone hid the necklace there,” The prince suggested.

The kings stomach dropped. This was it. The fake necklace was planted and the king would be stabbed. His heart was racing and his face turned pale. But little did the prince know this was all a plot. He knew just what to do. When he picks up the necklace he will be very aware and tackle the prince to the floor and pull the necklace out of his pocket. The prince and the king entered the shed. It was dark and creepy. The windows all broken let in a mysterious breeze.

They flipped over boxes and boxes to find emptiness until there it was. The decoy.

Shining as if it was the original. The king was ready. He turned around showed the prince and acted surprised. He then saw the prince reach into his pocket and the king pounced on him.

“Have you lost your mind father? What has gotten into you?” The prince screamed.

“Don’t act surprised! I heard your whole plan. Late last night I heard you on the phone saying how you were going to stab me in the chest when I was so happy thinking I found the necklace. When I saw you reach into your pocket to grab the knife I jumped on you to stop you from killing me,” The king yelled back.

“Knife? What knife? I was reaching into my pocket to grab a box to place the necklace in. See?” the prince said puzzled as he pulled a small box from his pocket.

“Well how do you explain on the phone last night when you said that you would stab me in the chest when I am so happy that I won’t realize?” the king questioned.

“I planned to make you a movie of an adventure similar to ours but add a twist to it and give it to you for your birthday but you ruined the surprise,” The prince answered.

“Oh, well in that case lets take the necklace and go home,” The king suggested.

“Ok I just want to get some sleep right now. At least we found the necklace,” the prince depressed.

As they were walking home the prince grinned and pulled something out of his pocket. Something shiny and metal like. A knife! The prince lied. He started to move closer to the king. He pulled his arm back and with one quick thrust jabbed it into the kings back.

“I’m sorry father the royalty now belongs to me.” The prince deviously gleamed.

The king weakly made out the words “You will never get away with this.”

The king bled to death shortly after that and the prince left him there to die. The king was right. He would never get away with it. The king was found dead on the ground with a stab wound and the police traced the princes fingerprints on the knife. The prince was arrested and the throne was handed down next on line to the dead king’s nephew.

The New York shuffle

by Matthew Slutsky

When people think of New York City they think of the “Big Apple” or “the city that never sleeps,” but in 2100 this city is the biggest crime town in the world.

Everywhere you walk there is crime, but there are some people that want to restore New York City and bring it back to its former glory.

“Ryan we have to go,” commanded Luke, always the boss. Ryan is walking in the subway and he sees something in the distance.

“Luke, we better get out of here. I am getting the chills down here,” Ryan whimpered as he tried to keep up with his big brother.

“Ryan, run back to the headquarters now!” Luke bellowed, as he was demanding Ryan to sprint!

“Luke I hear something behind us and its coming up close” “Ryan don’t stop running I will protect you but don’t stop declared Luke” When Luke stopped and looked back at the creature that was following them he realized it was only a Golden Retriever.

Luke yelled “Ryan stop and run back to where I am”. When Ryan got back to Luke they both looked at the dog in amazement. Ryan wanted to keep it but Luke knew that the dog would slow them down and ruin their chances of restoring their city.

“Luke can we keep him Ryan whimpering to try get the dog”

Luke being the older brother knew that it wasn’t smart, but in the back of his head he was remembering the times when they were young. Luke was becoming soft and forgetting his demanding role.

Luke whispers to Ryan,” we can keep him”.

Ryan was going crazy with joy jumping up and down.” thank you Luke you are the best big brother any kid can ask for” Ryan exclaimed petting the dog and trying to come up with names for it. “ Charles, Barkley, Rocky, Maggie” he shouted out, but then he found the best name for the dog Eli, Luke and Ryan’s dead father. Luke I picked the name Eli for his new best friend.

The boys came out of the subway and went back to the headquarters on 39th between 2nd and 3rd.

“Where here Eli welcome to your new home” yelled Ryan.

“Ryan, I will meet up with you in a bit. Go to your room, I have to talk to Nicole “ said Luke.

Ryan was going up the elevator to the 12 floor where he heard banging and gunshots close by. When he got up to his room he looked out his window and saw the 2 rival gangs disbursing gunshots near by.

Ryan quickly called up his brother who was in the basement and couldn't hear the fighting and yelled, “ The Twins and the Reds are outside firing bullets.”

Luke quickly got the building on lockdown; no human can get in or out of the building.

Luke Sprinted out of the room with Nicole and got to Ryan just to make sure he was ok. “Ryan, are you ok, are you hurt.” Luke nervously said.

“Luke am ok, but there are civilians outside that aren't ok, we have to help them. If we don't they will die.” Ryan spoke in a definitive tone Luke was trying to think of way to explain to Ryan only being 13.

“Ryan we cannot risk our people lives for those civilians and if we do then are men can die.” Luke explained to Ryan Ryan being the young kid that he was tended to be very strong headed about helping the civilians. Luke and Ryan both got into a fight “ we have to help the people” screamed Ryan “ I Am sorry Ryan but we can’t do that” Luke spoke trying to calm down Ryan. This bickering lasted 5 minutes until Nicole walked into the room and persuaded both of them “ Ryan we can’t go out and help those civilians, we would get hurt”.

Ryan and Luke finally stopped bickering about what was going outside of their building.

The Reds and the Twins finally stopped over thirty minutes of continuous fighting. After the area calmed down people went out to see the carnage of the 2 gangs created there were 10 civilians that were killed and 20 Twins and 20 Reds died.

When Luke went outside to assess the situation he was disgusted by the amount of damage that was caused to both gangs and went back inside.

He started to get very angry.” how could this happen, we have to stop this right now” Luke screamed on the top of his lungs.

He went up to the 12 floor to Ryan “ Ryan pack your bags we are leaving we have to put a stop to all of this violence” Luke demanded.

Ryan knew that this was big because of the fire and determination in Luke eyes.” Luke can we bring Eli to stop the violence” he spoke in a cute way.

Luke knew that Ryan would need company in the trip so Luke allowed him to bring Eli. “ Eli you can come on the trip with us, isn’t that great boy.” Ryan told Eli thinking that he could actually understand him.

Eli jumped all over Ryan licking him all over his face being the cutest dog in the world.

The next day Luke stayed by Nicole and then left to try to restore his city.

“Luke where are we going” Ryan spoke in a nervous tone.

“We are going to see the Twins, and try to negotiate with them” Luke responded.

The Twins headquarters is in the Empire State Building. It is highly secured and very hard to get into.

On the way to see the Twins kingpin they found out that they were in a pickle.

People were following them, but these weren't any ordinary people, they were the nomads. The nomads were a group of people that don’t mess with the gangs but messed with the regulars like Ryan and Luke. Luke knew that if he didn’t do anything in the couple of seconds that they had their mission would fail. Luke did the most drastic thing possible, he took out a small handgun and shot the nomad in his leg.

“Ryan we have to run!” Luke yelled The three of them ran into a deserted building 5 blocks away from the Twins headquarters “Ryan we have to be quiet, keep Eli calm ok” Luke whispered to Ryan “Luke am scared, what if they find us, what would they do, I miss my room” Ryan nervously whispered back to Luke “It’s all going to be ok, to be nervous or stressed out, we will to the Twins headquarters bright and early” Luke responded When Ryan went to sleep Luke watched cautiously and never took his eyes off the only place where you can get in and out.

The next morning Luke woke up Ryan at 5:30 in the morning.

They left to restore their city. Ryan, Luke and Eli started walking to the Empire State Building. When they got there was heavy protection.

“Ryan go distract the guards while I try to find a way to get in without letting them know.” Luke persuaded Ryan.

When Luke was trying to find a way in he found out that the only way to get in was to go right in the front past the guards.

Luke told Ryan to come to him” Ryan we are going to get into the building through the front.”

When Luke was talking to the guards the guards asked what they wanted with the Twins.” I want to talk with Bad Baby” Luke Replied. The Guards said go to the penthouse, the password is 420. When they got up to the penthouse they saw Bad Baby. He was a small man, but very religious man. Luke and Ryan saw him reading the bible. When Baby stopped reading he stood up and started talking to Luke about what he wants to do with Twins.

“So Luke what do you want with the Twins” directed Baby “ I want to bring the Reds down” replied Luke “ Great answer, your hired “ Baby cited “Your first job is to kill the boot son” “When do you want me to do the job” asked Luke “ How about right now” said Baby “ Do you know where the boot son is” asked Luke “Yes he is at Jakes Saloon” Answered Baby After Luke talked with Baby he pulled Ryan aside and told him to go to the Reds headquarters and talk to the Boot. When Luke left to see the boot son Ryan left at the same time. The Reds Headquarters is right across the street from the Twins home Headquarters. When Ryan left he went up to see

the boot and they started talking. The boot wanted Ryan to kill Big Baby son.

So Ryan left to kill Baby son and Luke left to kill the boot son. When Luke got to Jakes he saw the Boot son his name was the camel. When Luke started talking with the camel they became friends “So Luke how old are you” Luke responded, “ I am 20 years old “ Luke asked the same question to the camel The camel responded, “ I am 24 and my birthday is tomorrow” Luke spoke of his 18th birthday and after asked him if he wants to go somewhere quieter.

“Sure that sounds great” When Luke brought the camel to the same spot where the three hid from the nomads he showed him a carving he drew on the wall to the right of him.

When the camel looked to the right, Luke got up and went into the darkness. When the camel looked to the left to see where Luke was, Luke was on the right of him and simply cracked his neck.

After Luke did that he said “ The New York Shuffle” Now it was Ryan turn to do the job. To find Big Baby son wasn’t very hard. He was always at the same church at the same and with guards. But Ryan always made his people get scared before he did a job. When Ryan got to the church he shut of all of the lights and came down with a candle

walking down the hallway. When the baby’s son looked behind him it was already too late Luke did the New York Shuffle on him.

When Ryan and Luke got back to tell their bosses about the job they just did, they both took out batons and knocked the both of them unconscious. They both brought The Boot and Big Baby back to the same place where they hid from the nomads. They put them on a chair and tied their hands and legs together. When they both became conscious they didn't know was going on.

“HELP, HELP.” But know one could hear the two kingpins. Both boys began talking to them.

“So do you know who we are? Asked Luke “Well lets to a little recap, we're the kids that your men were supposed to kill.” answered Luke “ What kids we never hierd any men to kill any kids.” nervously replied the two kingpins “ Does NASCAR or number 15 bring back any memories” Replied Luke “ You should be dead we killed you!” The boot yelling not understanding how this could happen “ You killed our Parents now we will kill you.” Luke and Ryan declared trying to scare the kingpins. “ No don’t kill us” The Boot Pleading for mercy while Big Baby being the religious Person that he is accepting the fact that he is about to die.

Luke pulled out the small handgun that he used to shoot the nomad, and put a silencer to make it silent. And shot the two nomads.

After Luke and Ryan killed the two kingpins their city was now being restored because the two of them destroyed the only thing between their city and a gangster city. In the process they killed their two biggest nightmares in life the people that killed everything they loved.

Remember me

By Esther Son Samantha had been huddling in the snow for what felt like ages had passed by. Her mother’s arms were wrapped around her and her dad’s arms were too.

“We need to find shelter soon,” announced her dad.

After a few minutes she found herself being lowered into a hole in the snow by her dad and then followed by the townspeople. There they had torches lit for light and partially for some warmth. The extreme blizzard had lasted for the entire night.

She bunched together with her parents for warmth and finally fell asleep. In the morning she woke up from a loud rumbling noise. Samantha didn’t want to wake up her parents, so she quietly climbed out of the hole to see what that noise was. She climbed from the shelter into a white windless day under a grey sky.

She looked to see where the crumbling noise had come from. After several looks she finally saw it. On top of a hill up north were huge chunks of ice falling from a mountain. She was terrified and jumped back into the hole to tell her mom and dad. She woke them up and climbed the hole. They followed. She was so terrified that she could not speak. She stood there trembling in fear and pointed at the chunks of ice falling. Her parents were shocked at first.

“Everything is going to be ok Samantha,”

But, Samantha knew from the looks on their faces that everything was not gonna be okay.

Soon, her neighbors also started waking up from the icy mountain that was slowly falling apart. Later, the icy ground started to crack and destroy everything in its path. By this time everyone from town was awake. Many started panicking and children were crying. Our town leader was Damon.

“Listen up people! All adults come here and help with making safety rafts and all children evacuate into that cave!” ordered Damon.

Samantha looked at her parents in sadness and fear.

“I don’t want to leave you guys!” shouted Samantha.

“Samantha, its going to be ok. Now go and follow the other children. I’ll see you soon,” commanded her mom in a soothing way.

“Ok, I’ll see you soon,” Samantha said wearily.

So, she listened to them and followed all the other children. Everyone else caught up with their friends, but she was all alone.

All the children were hushed with silence and panic arose in the cave. She heard more rumbling and crumbling. She felt the surface touching her feet start to vibrate rapidly. Everyone around her started to scream. Samantha looked behind to check up on her parents, and all she saw was Damon ordering everyone to evacuate and go on the safety rafts. Soon, all the children ran for their lives to make it onto a safety raft, however Samantha got trampled on. She watched the ground cracking around her. Some were unlucky and had fallen in between a crack into the cold ocean water. She tried getting up, but she was caught in between

pieces of ice and was stuck. She cried for help and tears started streaming down her face. But nobody answered.

She heard cracking of ice coming towards her and soon enough she was cut off from the rest of town. Icy ocean waves splashed onto her face heavily. She was drenched and was shivering to such an extent that she felt numb. She slowly opened her eyes and saw her neighbors and her parents floating away from her on rafts. She wanted to scream to her parents that she was right here, but she didn’t have any energy to. Slowly she began closing her eyes and saw her parents fading away into the darkness.

The next day she woke up dazed and dizzy. Her vision blurred and she saw vague pictures of her parents floating away. Later on that day, constant nightmares of the event from yesterday kept occurring. She thought to herself that she was all alone. All her life she stayed by her parents side to make sure that they were always ok. She had no intentions of making a friend because she didn’t believe in friendship. Her whole life was practically all about her parents. She laid there afloat on the iceberg. The coldness of the ice went through her clothes, which chilled her to the bone. But she ignored that because all Samantha was thinking about was if her parents were safe.

She started to look around her to see if there was anything that would make her find her parents. But, there was nothing. She hesitated at first, then she decided to use her hand to paddle her way back to her parents. Every now and then she would get frostbite on her hands. However she held in the pain and kept going.

This was the most determined she had ever been in her life.

Yet, she couldn’t keep paddling anymore. Her muscles were sore and her limbs were numb. She sat there without a sound and looked at the horizon. She started to cry again. She wondered if she would ever meet with her parents ever again. She sat tall and wiped her tears away. Despite, the awful pains through her body she started paddling again. Hours passed and it seemed like she was going nowhere.

After, a few more hours her energy was draining more and more. Although, her hands adapted to the cold water by now she was sulking. She took a nap and rested her limbs. When she woke up it was dark. She tried to make out where she was. She squinted and saw a speck of what seemed like some sort of land area up north. She went to paddle towards it. She arrived at the land area towards the break of dawn.

She couldn’t wait to get off the chunk of ice that she had been on for days.

She had never seen such a island like this. Samantha hopped off from the iceberg and onto the island. She went deeper into the island to search what was out there.

She explored the island for hours, but there was practically nothing. Her parents weren’t there either. She slept in a cave for the night.

The next morning she went in deeper in the cave. She finally heard something. A voice. “ Everyone its going to be ok and I’ll be right back to gather wood to light up a fire,” said a person which sounded exactly like Damon.

Samantha stood there confused and thought that she was daydreaming. She walked further and saw a shadow of a body coming closer towards her. There he was. She was right it was Damon! “ Is that you Samantha?” asked Damon. “ Yes it is!” called Samantha with relief. “ Oh... umm.. what a surprise!” mumbled Damon. “ Is there something wrong?” asked Samantha with worries. “ No... well actually, there is... Your parents... they, they died. When we were evacuating on the safety rafts... they were both on their way to get you, but.. but they fell in between a crack in the ice. I went to get them, but it was too late. They drowned. I’m so sorry.” remarked Damon with sadness.

Samantha stood there in despair and shock. She started to cry again.

Damon tried to comfort her. “ Samantha, for now why don’t you go in the cave with the rest of the town.

I’ll meet you later,” replied Damon.

He helped her go into the cave with the other people. Everyone tried to help her, but she wanted to be alone. She sat in the corner and thought to herself that it was all her fault that they died. She buried herself in guilt and sadness.

She was feeling depression, anxiety, irritability, anger, and had many changing moods.

These were all side effects to starvation, she had it before. But, she never died from it. She thought that starvation was an odd type death. She had seen it happen. Not with her family and not with anyone that she knew the name of. But

she had seen it happen before. It wasn't sudden. It didn't shock her. It's not, There she was, she died suddenly, the townspeople were all shocked and afraid. It isn't that at all.

They all expected it, they saw it coming, but they couldn't do anything. The townspeople stood by, unable to help, because as she was dying they were starving themselves. It wasn't a fast death. It was a slow fade to gray. Just a wisp of smoke, a hint of what she was.

She was here to say that she had nothing to lose, and a family to gain. The only people that she cared about was gone. There was nothing to gain. There was nothing else left for her in this world.

That was her life. These were her last words.

Remember me.

Run

By Marissa Vazquez

I felt like I was drowning. The air was being forced out of my lungs and when I tried to get up everything swayed dizzily around me. I could see my breath come out in little white clouds in the dark black and blue sky. I didn’t know how I got here or where I was before but everything in my body was screaming one word.

Run! *** I was walking home from school as I did everyday. The sun was shining and the flowers were blooming to life. The exact opposite of the way I was feeling. I was the kind of kid who sat in the back of the classroom, who spent the whole day dreaming of some place far away from school as possible. You could say that I am an outsider, shy and different. I didn’t know what but something about me was different from other kids. Most kids at school ignored me. Just looked right past me like there was nothing there, but I liked it that way. Nobody asked me what I was doing or who I was.

As I kept walking I thought I heard something. Someone in trouble, but I kept moving. I couldn’t go back. I just couldn’t. Life was good now

And I would like to keep it that way. The shouts grew louder until it felt like they were right behind him. That’s when I saw them: Kris and Sammy. They were two people from my past I thought I left behind.

Kris was just the way I remembered him with short blond hair that glowed like a halo every time the light hit it. His green hazel eyes sparkled and helped him charm his way through his problems. He was also strong and tall for his age. Last time I saw him he was 14 years old. It’s been about two years since I left and decided not to look back. Since I decided not to unwrap the memories that keep me back in the dark for years.

Unlike Kris, Sammy was small and had jet black hair like me. We had the same bright blue eyes and the same shy appearance. But underneath she was a skilled leader and a skilled fighter.

“Hello, old friend nice to see you again,” Kris said with a smirk.

“I don’t know if it really is?” I questioned, as I looked at them puzzled.

“Look, I think we both know why I’m here. I need your help with something. Something important.”

“What makes you think I want to help you after what you guys did? After what you put me through I can’t go back. I won’t go back”. “ I had to do it for reasons you will never understand, but I’m trusting you to help me and get things back to the way they were. Please, we can’t do this without your help.”

I just stared at them wondering if I was just seeing things or if they were actually there... actually talking to him after two years. I didn’t know what to think.

Should I help them or not? Just walk away now and pretend that this never happened?

“See I told you he wouldn’t help us. He said it himself he doesn't want to go back, so just forget it!” shouted Sammy.

“I’ll help you, ok? I will. Just tell me what I need to do.”

A smile spread across Kris’ face but something dark was in that smile and Alec had the feeling that he would regret saying yes. *** “Can you tell me where we are going, how you guys got here or what we are doing?” Alec asked confused.

“Could you be quiet? You are going to do what we tell you what to do, got it?”, snapped Sammy annoyed with his questions.

Alec didn't reply, he was too busy thinking why they wouldn't tell him what they were going to do or where they were going. That’s when it hit him! He felt so stupid thinking they actually changed. They wanted one thing: revenge. Kris must have seen the fear in his eyes and sped down the road. In an instant, Sammy was on him tying his hands and feet. He felt a small pressure start to form in his lower back until it felt like the pain was all over. I knew what was going to happen now. They were going kill me. I just knew it.

Kris pulled over the car and pushed me down to the dirt road. Here were the last few moments of my life. The air was chilled and the sky was a mix of pink, yellow, and orange. The sun was melting over the horizon and everything was turning dark. I felt a sharp pain in my head and realized Kris punched me.

“What? You just gonna sit there and take this?”, Kris taunted .

Was I just going to take this and let him do his damage or was I going to fight back like I knew I should, but didn't have the guts to do. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion: instead of seconds it felt like minutes, instead of minutes it felt like hours. He punched me again but instead of feeling the deep pain all I saw was darkness. I felt like I was falling and then everything left my mind.

When I woke up I couldn't breath, everything swayed dizzily around me. I got up, but as soon as did I fell right back down. I had no idea what was going on but I knew one thing I had to do and that I was good at. Run! I kept running past the woods that surrounded me, past the city buildings until I reached my house. I ran over to my tree house that I built with my dad when I was younger and climbed inside just staring at the ground holding my knees to my chest, ignoring the shouts of my family calling my name in worried tones. I just sat there trying to forget the past, what happened today and what will happen in the future. I just wished I could forget the world and disappear to some place where it could just be me lost in my thoughts. I just wish I could do that day over again.