Rundle Academy Writing Anthology 2015 by Rundle Academy

Amedeo Cortese, Grade 10

Rundle Academy Writing Anthology 2014-2015

Writing is an extreme privilege but it’s also a gift. It’s a gift to yourself and it’s a gift of giving a story to someone. Amy Tan

This anthology recognizes exemplary pieces of writing from students in all grades at Rundle Academy. A special thank-you to Mrs. Olivia Gallie, Mrs. Justine Moon and their art students who have contributed some of the images that accompany the writing. Thank you also to Ms. Carla Thio for her help. Of course, credit is due to the teachers who work continuously to help students reach their potential in writing throughout the year. But above all, the students should be congratulated. It is their hard work, talent, creativity, and skill that grace these pages. Keep up the great writing! Ms. Prest

Table of Contents Elementary

Page 3

Junior High

Page 42

Senior High

Page 86

Emma, Buker, Grade 8

Ellie Hardock, Grade 10

Elementary 3

Dylan Fisher, Grade 4 c/o Rundle Academy 4416 16 Street SW Calgary, Alberta T2T 4H9 May 12, 2015 Dear grade four class, Hi my name is Dylan and I'm in grade four at Rundle Academy. Our class is doing the great Canadian mail race. This is where a student sends a letter to another school. It is very good practice on how to write a letter. You also get to learn about other interesting schools. I go to Rundle Academy. This school is in Calgary. It is an awesome school. Are school goes from grade 4 to grade 12. What grades does your school have? Are school sports are volleyball, soccer, golf, baseball, rugby, wrestling, and track & field. We also have a greenhouse where we grow lots of plants. And are teachers are very nice. We also do a play in the summer and winter we also do plays like pirates 2. Now here's a little bit about myself. My favorite sport is baseball and I play on a girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; team out of school. I have no pets. Do you? I also love playing with my friends. And my favorite holiday is Christmas and my birthday is December. My favorite food is steak and potatoes. Have a great school year! Sincerely, Dylan

Flora Lupi, Grade 4 c/o Rundle Academy 4416 16 Street SW Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 May 12, 2015 Dear grade 4 class, My class is doing the great Canadian mail race. This is where a kid gets a letter from a school and sends one back. We get to learn how to write a letter and learn about other schools. At my school the grades go to 4 to 12. My school is Rundle Academy in Calgary, Alberta. We just had track and field day. My school does basketball and wrestling. At school we have a greenhouse. My school does talent shows and plays every year. Right now we are working on a musical called Pirates 2. Does your school do any plays or special shows? We only have 6 students in our class. How many students are in your class? I have two sisters and I am 9 years old. I have two cats. Do you have any pets? My birthday is in September. When is your birthday? I like art. What do you like? How old are you? Do you have any brothers or sisters? I hope the rest of your school year is great! Sincerely, Flora

Rachael Clay, Grade 4 Rundle Academy 4330 16 street SW Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 May 13, 2015 Dear Reese: My name is Rachael and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;m a grade 4 student at Rundle Academy. Our class received your letter and we loved it and now we are doing the Great Canadian Mail Race. I agree that this is good practice on how to write a letter. We loved learning about your school. Rundle Academy is in Calgary, Alberta. Our school is a great private school. The grades go to 4 to grade 12. We have lots of sport teams like golf, volleyball , football, rugby, and lots more. We have to wear a uniforms and at gym you have to wear a gym strip. There is an ambassador program so we show the school to new kids who want to join. The elementary has a musical every winter and every spring. We are doing pirates 2 for the spring musical. It is really fun so far. At gym we always have to do 5 laps around the gym. Are classes are really small. We have 6 to 8 kids in each class. How many students do you guys have in your class? The whole elementary has 48 kids. In the whole school there are 210 kids Now here are some things about me My favorite sport is skiing and dance. I dance at counterpoint it is a dance studio. My favorite food is steak and fruit. My favorite holiday are Christmas and spring just because that is when my birthday is. I don't have a pet but I would wish I had one. I also love playing with all my friends at school and home. I have my own trampoline at my house. It so fun going on it. I have two older brothers. They are so annoying so I don't really play with them. I love art I do it always. Do you like art? I hope you have the best school year! Sincerely, Rachael 6

Murray Schaffer, Grade 4 Rundle Academy 4330 16 street SW Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 May 13, 2015 My name is Murray and I am a grade four student. Our class is doing an activity called the Great Canadian Mail Race. This is where a student writes to another school. It is very good practice on how to write a letter. You also get to learn about other interesting schools. I go to Rundle Academy. This school is in Calgary, Alberta. It is an outstanding private school. The grades go from grades 4 to grade 12. What grades does your school have? We also have sports teams such as basketball teams, volleyball teams, soccer teams, golf teams, football teams, track and field teams, wrestling teams, and rugby teams. We also have a thing called snack bar. It is when you bring money to school and buy candy from the snack shack. Our school also has a yearbook of all the achievements of the year. Does your school have any of these things? Now here is a little bit about myself. My favorite thing to do is to go to skateboarding. I have a dog named Kita. My favorite thing to do is to play with my friends in my neighborhood. I do competitive gymnastics and I play on a soccer team. What is your favorite thing to do? Do you have any clubs and do you have any teams that you play on? I hope you have a great day! Sincerely, Murray

Rohan Pernitsky, Grade 4 c/o Rundle Academy 4416 16 Street SW Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 May 12, 2015 Dear grade four class, My first name is Rohan or you can call me R. I go to a good private school. The school is starting the great Canadian mail race. This is where a student has to write a Letter and pass it on to another school. You can do it. My school has rocking chairs. The first day of school is getting to know the names of people in the room. Our school can help you when you aren't doing very well. We have very small class sizes. Our school helps you with math, science, writing, and pretty much everything. The teacher sits with you at the back table when you need extra help. I have to be on my best behaviour at the school. I love to play Terraria. I don't want to get home work from home. I like art and math class. Do you want to be in this school next year? Do you like your school? Have a great school year! Sincerely, Rohan

The Snowman Sophie Brimacombe, Grade 4

As the snowman jumped into the freezer a bright flash came out. We gathered frozen food for the feast. On the way to the kitchen I asked him to have a seat. I wrapped a cloth around his neck and got him cutlery. I cooked the delicious food and we have our feast with a bright candle. Gobbling the food down, the snowman takes the dishes and he said, "Come on!â&#x20AC;&#x2013; We pranced out the door and the door shut with a bang!

Mermaids This lady is going round and round in the blue sea. The mermaid is someone that I can be friends with. She was going on and on all around the sea. The other members are invited to join in. I think she is so beautiful. The graceful mermaid has a red tail. I love the mermaid. Rohan Pernitsky , Grade 4

The glamorous mermaid had long braided hair the water dripped down. The tanned lady rested on the enormous rock. She had a beautiful blue and green tail that danced as she swam away. Rachael Clay, Grade 4

The beautiful lady had long curly blond locks that flew in the wind. She had a perfect tan that glowed when she sat in the sand. The lovely lady had a blue and green tail that splashed as she swam in under the waterfall. Dylan Fisher, Grade 4

The gorgeous lady had hair the color of a crow. She had tanned skin that sparkled in the crazy water. The graceful female had a long pink tail that shone out of the water. Murray Schaffer, Grade 4

The mystical creature had pink fluffy hair flowing. She had old wrinkled skin that was sparkling. The old mermaid's tail was smooth green and shiny. Carter Kemp, Grade 4

The graceful lady had long, shiny hair that flowed effortlessly behind her as she swan through the sparkling water. The beautiful woman had a lovely, scaly, pink tail that flopped in the water. She had glowing skin the colour of the sun. Flora Lupi, Grade 4

The soft, wet waves washed up on the unusual woman's shimmering tale that was flipping up and down. The strange being had black hair blowing in the warm breeze. Her lovely tanned skin was shimmering in the light. She brought people from far away just to get a little look at her! Amelia Vik, Grade 4

The tall lean woman had light golden hair. She had damp, wet skin that was partially scaled. Her shimmering skin led all the way to her tail. Amazed people came out of restaurants to see the colorful creature. Finally, a policeman came and put her back in the water. Boom!! She darted away like a bullet. The next day the same thing washed up but this time she was not as sparkly and some said she was missing scales. A policeman came and dumped her into the cold water again. A night past and everybody was there. Some stayed overnight to see if the mythical creature would come again. Colton McGregor, Grade 4

A swimming girl had amazingly soft skin. She had thin straight hair. The beautiful being had a lean, scaly tale. Happily, I saw a floppy mermaid swim in the glittering ocean. I watched as she jumped around in the sea. Eventually I got tired and crawled into a sleeping bag. Watching her as I went to sleep I imagined what it would be like to be a mermaid and swim in the ocean. Enya Logie, Grade 4

The blue wave put seaweed in her long gold hair. Warm water showed the blue and green scales on her tail. Wind made the water go down so everyone could see the skinny mermaid. Jayden Lylander, Grade 4

The lovely lady had long, blonde hair. Her golden sun-kissed skin was shining in the light, like the water. The strange being's blue tail, flicked the water high in the air. Nicholas Dixon, Grade 4 11

The Meadow Before: The beautiful meadow was filled with flowers, trees and birds. Revision: I was sitting in the soft green grass with the swaying flowers. As I looked up the hill I saw leaves shaking in the breeze. Dangling from the trees were juicy red apples. A little while later I heard tweeting from the birds. Nicholas Dixon, Grade 4

Before: The beautiful meadow was filled with flowers, trees, and birds. After: In the meadow there were pink flowers on bright green grass. Hummingbirds covered the trees. The sun shined on the berry bushes. Butterflies danced in the sky. Flora Lupi, Grade 4

Before: The beautiful meadow was filled with flowers, trees, and birds. After: Green, shining grass covered the field. Dazzling bright flowers swayed back and forth. Birds chirped softly. The golden yellow sun cast a shadow over the humungous tree. Rustling trees collided together. Rachael Clay, Grade 4

Nicholas Dixon, Grade 4

Amelia Vik, Grade 4 13

THE CRASHING LEECH Aidan Berkhold, Grade 4

The crashing leech‘s home is the old aquarium, it has three dead bloodless fish, a hill with a small rock, and tons of squirming tan, little leeches. There‘s a lot of water inside the aquarium surrounded by glass. The aquarium also has a secret tunnel, but those who have travelled it have never come back. As I came upon the aquarium, I noticed a tan brown, thirty five foot tall leech. The blood sucker had two huge white slug eyes, when eyes touched the ground it made a small leach. Then, that‘s when I noticed a five foot machine on its back and it yelled ―RAMPAGE!‖ When the leech opened his mouth, I got to look at the leech‘s teethless, three foot mouth that looked like a blocked off puppet mouth. The leech has many superpowers. One is, if you touch him he is sticky. When he is awake he can suck all the blood out of you in thirty milliseconds, this is called the Automatic Blood Sucker. The more blood the bigger the leach gets. The thirty five foot leech can crash through buildings, and is the most evil of all, he can drop (belly flop) and role to do extreme damage. To defeat him, pour on salt to destroy him permanently. Or, you can give him two hundred gallons of blood to blow it up. You can heat up or freeze its blood. Defeating it can also be as easy as detaching the recording on its back and dropping it from sixteen thousand feet.

Car Ride with the Family Sam Stephen, Grade 5

The healthy engine purred a roar, as Dad pulled out of the driveway and we started a family vacation to Tofino. When Mom started the car at the gas station, wanting to get on our way, the motor began to rumble in a funny way. At the lights in Vancouver, the helpful stranger honked his horn at us – there was a poof poof of black smoke out of the tail pipe. There was a big groan from the family after a clunk and a crash – lunch was going to have to be at the mechanic shop. Stumble, splat went Sam‘s Super Slurpee soaring through the air at the park across from the mechanic shop at 1:02 p.m. Screech, as the car pulled out of the mechanic shop – finally we can start the amazing adventure once again. Click, click went Dad‘s signal light, turning onto the ferry, bright and early in the morning. Ugh, ugh, went the family over the windy island roads. ―Hey Sam can you get the Gravol. I‘m feeling sick!‖ said Mack. I was so hungry. Yum, yum, squish, as I sink my teeth into a fish burrito, the perfect supper at the Tacofino food truck. Laying on Long Beach in the midday sun, dreaming of shredding the waves for fun with a mega swoosh. The car ride was worth it. 15

Owen Brown, Grade 5 Haha, went the people when the other team got a penalty for tripping. Beep, went the buzzer when it went off for a goal. Boohoo, went the people when they fell down a lot of stairs in the Saddledome. Tick tock, went the clock to start the 2 period, the Flames up one. Crack, went the hockey stick when someone snapped a slap shot. Goal, went the announcers as loud as they could to get the crowd wound up. Whoosh, went the player around another player for a goal. Roaring through the stands, go, Flames, go. Sipping their root beers and crunching their hotdogs in the stands. Banging into the boards, players getting cross-checked.

New York Kate Holt, Grade 5 BEEP! BEEP! goes the taxi driver, driving people around the city. PITTER! PATTER! go the footsteps of the people walking through the streets. WEEHOO! WEEHOO! goes the sound of a policeman's siren going off. CHITTER! CHATTER! go the people talking on their phones. SPLISH! SPLASH! go the sound of the sewer pipes underground. SQUEAK! SQUEAK! go the rats starving for food. CHIRP! CHIRP! go the sound of pigeons eating bread crumbs by the park. SWOOSH! goes the sound of smoke coming out of pipes of the buildings. BOOM! SHAKA! BOOM! goes the sound of street dancers wowing the crowds. LAA! LAAA! LAAA! goes the sound of musicians singing on Broadway. 16

Adam Keirle, Grade 5 BANG! goes the shotgun. NEIGH! go the horses. CHIRP! CHIRP! go the birds. THUMP! THUMP! goes my dog ramming into the walls. BLUP! BLUP! go the fish swimming in the pound. POP! POP! go the fizzing bubbles of root beer. SQUEAK! SQUEAK! go the gophers running around. VROOM! VROOM! goes the sound of my Dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Porsche driving away. CRACK! CRACK! goes the sound of a campfire roasting marshmallows at the end of the day.

The Movie Set Ellie Mogan, Grade 5 Argh, went the director when the actress would sing her number when the camera was turned off, but not on. Click, click went the camera on the set as the actor repeated his lines for the movie. Flicker, flicker went the lights when the evil character stepped out of her hiding place. Twinkle, twinkle went the stars during the ride on the magic carpet for the prince and princess. Flutter, flutter went the plastic butterflies as they danced around the field where the princess sat waiting for his capture. Bubble, bubble went the crabâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s trumpet as he played his new song to impress the king on the beach. Whoosh, whoosh went the fan trying to capture the effect of the wind. Wham, blam, kabam went the hammer and nails as it built the set for the movie Ambush. Mutter, mutter went the tired crowd as they repeated the scene for the 40th time. Yeah, woohoo went the actors, actress, cameramen, sound people and everyone else when they finished the movie. 17

Ainsley Lumsden, Grade 5

Argh, go the people who missed the train. Click, clonk, goes the sound of ladies in high heels.

Drip, goes the water falling from the roof. Ha-ha, goes a group of girls laughing at the newspaper.

Chatter, goes everybody at the train station. Kerplunk, go the pipes above us.

Rattle, goes the platform as the train goes by. Crackle, go the old brown leaves. Rustle, goes the newspapers as they are closing. Fizz, go the exploding pop cans. Slurp, goes my sister drinking water. Splash, go the kids jumping in puddles. Tick-Tock, goes the clock at the subway station. Buzz, go the bees buzzing by. Whisper, go the boys in the corner Boom, goes a man falling down the stairs. Whoosh, goes the train as it flies by.

World War II Mathew Dixon, Grade 5

BOOM! go the artillery shells firing out of the anti-aircraft guns. KA-POW! go the shells hitting their target at 4,379 km/hr. RATATATA! go the machine guns being fired at the enemy. POW, KACHING! go the sniper rifles killing an enemy soldier on his forward patrol. GO GO GO! go the army officers during D-Day. FIRE! go the military commanders at each artillery cannon in France. TUT-TUT-TUT-TU-VRUUUUM! go the Spitfires during the battle of Britain. WHOOOOOOO-BOOOOOOOM! goes the atom bomb over Japan. UUH! goes the soldier getting knocked out. POW! go the grenades being thrown into an enemy bunker. GET DOWN! go the soldiers that are being attacked. RELOADING! goes the soldier that has run out of ammunition.

Gunman Mathew Dixon, Grade 5

If you see Gunman, you'll know immediately that you've seen him. He has glowing red eyes and he is 40 feet tall and 4 feet wide. He has no smell, and you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t hear him. There are snipers in his chest. Surprisingly, feeling like rough, solid iron, Gunman is cold to the touch. Like air or water, he has no taste. There are spherical joints on his arms and legs. On his arms he has hydraulics to move his elbows. Bet you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t notice this, but there are AK-47s on the front of his feet. Anyway, I bet you're wondering how he became a villain, so I'll tell you what happened. Back in the year 2000, an experiment by this guy called Professor Robert, who was trying to use sub atomic radiation to help people with cancer, but the experiment ended in a huge explosion sending radiated particles into his brain and heart, making his mind to turn evil. Two months later he turned into a cyborg with a translator to translate his moans and grunts into words. No one knows where his secret lair is located, but legend has it that he lives in the Rocky Mountains in BC, Canada. His lair looks like a boulder on the outside, but on the inside it is huge. There are storage containers along the walls. There is a huge computer. On the walls are bullets, mines, and rockets. It smells like oil and gas. He lives in a really cold climate. To keep himself from getting frostbite he has heaters in his suit. His lair is different shades of the colour grey. What makes Gunman a good criminal is that he has four different settings for both of his hands. The first setting is a hand for picking things up. The second setting is a mini gun for shooting enemies. The third setting is a rocket launcher for exploding walls. And the fourth setting is a knife, not for killing, but he uses it for cutting open roofs. He also has rocket boosters on the bottoms of his feet. There are mine dispensers located at the backs of his feet. His armor is so strong that he can survive any air attack. His top speed is 798 km an hour. THAT'S SUPER FAST!!!! His strength is so great that he can lift 5,000 tons in weight. NOW THAT'S STRONG!!!! The only way to destroy Gunman is to disable all the weapons, then shut him down. Next put a grenade in his power core. For this part, you might want to run, because what you'll have to do is detonate the grenade. This is the last part of defeating Gunman: arrest him. If you want to learn more about super villains go to www.Learnaboutsupervillains.com.

Matilda Ainsley Lumsden, Grade 5 Matilda is a superhero that you would never want to meet. She is 9 feet, 7 inches tall and that‘s counting her super long and ruby red hair. She uses the best shampoo in the world which smells like fresh maple syrup. Tapping her skin, it will feel like the softest pillow you have ever felt. If you are close to her, she will hear you, because she can hear as far as a dog. Every day she wears a black or gray suit. Matilda‘s fantastic house is in New York, New York in a hidden area. The outside of her house is made out of green gooey Jello and the inside is made out of blue gummy bears. The walls have gingerbread trees on them. The furniture is made out of the creamiest chocolate in the world. Unlike most super villains, Matilda has the most unique superpowers. She can fly as high as an eagle and has the speed of a jet plane while she‘s flying. She can teleport anywhere in the world. Her weapons are a frosting gun that shoots creamy vanilla frosting and a razor- sharp machete that can cut you in half. Although it may seem impossible to defeat her, it is possible. The way to defeat Matilda is to get her frosting gun and shoot her with it. Or, you can destroy her house that controls all of her superpowers, but for that you will need to fight her evil, short and stubby dwarfs. If you finish fighting them, you will fight Matilda. If you win, that means you have defeated her.

Hidden Secret Sam Stephen, Grade 5 Instead of meeting my super hero, you will meet Zinkow III, who was created through a failed experiment. Covering his back are gray and black rock-like ridges that look like something for mountaineers to explore. He also has icicles hanging from his chin. If you were to touch them, they would feel rough and rocky. Although you may think Zinkow III would smell tribal, in fact he smells like a fresh field of pine trees. Now, you know what he looks like, I'm guessing you want to know what his secret lair looks like. In order to reach his lair, find the trapdoor and proceed down the slide. At the bottom of the slide, you will see a platform made out of oak trees. Once you leap into the boat next to the platform, you must travel 1 km to the teleporter that has blue, orange and pink stripes. Finally, after that, you have to touch the mountain man‘s skin which Zinkow III had demolished in the 21 century. Lining the walls are gold, diamond and copper zigzags. One of the granite tiles unlocks a trap door which leads to the HIDDEN SECRET where there are a group of mini Zincows that looks exactly like him. Like all other super villains, he has phenomenal super powers. Can you believe that he can camouflage with any natural resource like rock and snow? Devouring people, he uses his gigantic mouth. From where he lives, he can feel human radioactive movement. You will go deaf before you see him, because he has a high frequency, eardrum-cutting screech. Moving like a lion stalking its prey, it looks like nothing is moving. If you ever meet him, you will probably want to defeat him. If you want to accomplish defeating him, wear a white long sleeve shirt and gray and black pants. Since you don't have to have any weapons, you need to find him at all costs. Get behind him, then find the trapdoor, excel down the slide to the platform where you will find a boat. Next sail the 1 km to the teleporter. Right then and there, you will spot a button made of light. You must pick your footing wisely to push it or else he will get his minis. But if you manage to hit the button, he will explode into smithereens. Congratulations you have saved mankind forever! 21

Miss Undefeated Ellie Mogan, Grade 5 If you ever saw Miss Undefeated you would know her instantly. She is a big blue glob of goo, with zigzagging bright green stripes slowly turning into a dark green muddy color. Her four eyes are a pressing laser-red color and she has three fake mouths. She wears a knitted sweater with the identical stripe pattern as her back. When she slides, she leaves a slippery radioactive explosive gunk. Moving, she makes no sound at all, because she slides around silently. If you get too close, you will smell what no one has ever survived ... soggy wet compost from a kid‘s backyard where there are dead animals and rotten food that‘s been sitting there since 999. If you ever went to Miss Undefeated‘s home, you'd be amazed. Her home is located we think in the Atlantic Ocean. At home she is very well hidden because it's a cave-like hill thing. The top of it looks like a hill and the underwater part is a cave. Over the mouth of the cave is a gooey substance that we don't know too much about. We do know that it is very deadly and only she can get through it. We recently found out that her home is completely filled with computers. There is a gizmo or gadget for everything in her house. Again, we understand that she has dagger sharp crystals for a carpet, and seaweed floating around her house which she eats and uses to make yarn and blankets. Also, weirdly her bed is on the ceiling of her room which we believe is so if she needs to escape, she can just go in her bed. Because her house is located in the Atlantic, it is freezing and as soon as you walk in, you get frost bite. In there, it's also cold enough that your breath turns to pellets when you walk in. Miss Undefeated has superpowers that are very strong and powerful. Moving everywhere and everything, she can become anything including water, walls, roads, deserts, sand, rocks, snow and ice. Changing into any color like turquoise blue or fuchsia pink, possibly azul blue and sometimes sliver, she can also change into any substance like a crystal, molecule, cloud, Frankenstein, tree, dirt, etc... Before she was a super villain, she was a professional singer until somebody came and took her spot. She got so mad that she strangled them and figured out her true power. All I'm saying is she was an awesome singer and she can sing any octave. She is a technology whiz and knows anything about the computer. She knows how to hack and get whatever she wants. One way she gets anything she wants is to teleport anywhere she wants to go and whatever she's touching while she‘s teleporting will go with her. For example, if she teleported in the safe at the bank, she could touch all the money and then teleport back to her layer with the money. The last but definitely not least she can turn invisible if she is scared by anything. There are a few ways to defeat Miss Undefeated so listen carefully. The first way is to show her the original Mona Lisa and make her stare at it until she starts to melt into lava and harden into rainbow crystals. Or, if you make her eat a bite from an electric eel, or a burger made completely out of worms, she will freeze and drop into the floor. Possibly if you make her learn about bullying or rain, she will fall, then float up to the sun and keep burning until there‘s no more left of her. So if you ever come across her either show her the Mona Lisa, make her eat electric eels, make her eat a burger made from worms, or force her go to school and learn about bullying or rain. If you ever want to stop her, come to me because I defeated Miss Undefeated. 22

Adam Field Keirle, Grade 5 If you meet the Snake Man, he is a nightmare walking through your dreams. He has scales made out of Ginitis steel which is a combination of every type of mineral. He was bit by a radioactive snake. His teeth are like small daggers with poison sticking out furiously. He has red and black diamond plated scales and razor sharp claws. He wants you to see him immediately. In a flash he will attack and kill you on the spot. On the side of his head, he has a huge eyeball which looks like some reptiles which have glittering diamond eyes. If you sniff him, well if you're lucky to get that close, he will smell like tear gas and that‘s because he has tear gas floating around him. You are basically done because you have only one week to live so make the best of it. If you are wondering where he lives, it‘s on a planet where no man can get a tan. The planet is called Uranus. Covering the planet is a thick layer of smoke which allows him to see you, but you can‘t see him. The temperature is colder than the middle of Antarctica in winter, about -100C. So if you go there, you're a goner. He also has a fish tank with a walrus in it. Probably the worst part about him is that he has advanced technology like walruses with lasers mounted on their backs. His super powers are immense. He has stealth like the Pink Panther and speed like him too. He has strength like Superman. He has amazing sight and his IQ level is really high. He can fly, but he is bad at it. He can jump higher than the Pink Panther. If you come across him, this is how to defeat him. Tan your whole body and make him jealous. Shooting him for 20 years straight will do it too. Drop one of every single type of bombs on his face. And the last one is to put 1000 pounds of C4 on him.

Kate Holt, Grade 5 If you ever see the Splat Man you will know him instantly. Upon his slimy green human hands, he has short green hair. He also has creepy red eyes that could stare at you for hours. Disgustingly, he has long witchy fingernails because he never clips them. While watching him you can see that he has a big S on his green rubber suit. Visualizing him, you will notice that he has lizard-like skin. When he is about to cause chaos, he will have a sneaky laugh that sounds like laughing hyena HEE-HEE-HEE. The Splat Man's secret hideout is in a cave on a steep mountain top in the Rocky Mountains where nobody goes. When you enter his cave, there is mysterious fog that roams through rocky walls. Crumbly, old mud sticks to the cold ground. Throughout the cave, bats fly all over. Falling to the ground, water droplets heat the cave and cause a big echo that rebounds off a million places. Like any good super villain, Splat Man has many different powers. He can run like the wind and climb like a bear. Although he can shoot slimy green globs of splat out of his finger, he has the strength of 10 muscle men. He has the stealth of a full grown cheetah and is as flexibility as a rubber band. If you ever want to defeat the Splat Man, he roams through the night. First, of course you must find him. Then, you must avoid getting splatted. Third, you must shoot water at him, and then he will start to stick to the ground and can‘t go anywhere. Finally, you will be able to put him in jail. If you ever went to find the Splat Man please go to www.thesplatman.ca.

Owen Brown, Grade 5 There is a super villain named the Turtleman. If you come across him, he‘s scaly like a lizard. He has red eyes and razor-sharp claws. If you lick the Turtleman, he tastes like saltwater and seaweed. The tail is very sharp and pointy like a dragon's tail that can break through steel. Touching the Turtleman, you'll feel rocky, blue and green scales which can cut your finger. The Turtleman's lair is in an underwater hole in the sand. When you get in the hole, lasers sense you. If you aren‘t the Turtleman, an alarm will go off. If they don't, a big water slide goes down to his lair. When you get in, you will think that there is a thing like a hot dog machine and a hatchet. Outside of his lair are beautiful palm trees and deep sinking sand. His lair smells like chlorine. The Turtleman has super powers like any good villain. You know his feet shoot shells that can cut you in half. He spits out venom like a Komodo dragon and he spits as far as a llama. He has super speed as fast as a cheetah. The Turtleman has red eyes, but just not ordinary eyes, which are red because they shoot out lasers. He has a shell as tough as steel. If you shoot at it, he can't even feel it. When he sees someone coming, he camouflages in a tree. Climbing up walls, he moves very quietly. If you ever come across him and want to defeat him, this is what you will have to do. Sneak up behind him and flip him over. Or, you can shoot at his legs, or you can scare him with a shotgun. When he's losing his super speed, throw a hotdog at him. When he‘s sleeping near a cliff, you push him over the cliff.

The Meadow Sophie Tomsha, Grade 5

Before: The beautiful meadow was filled with flowers, trees and birds.

Revision: As I ran through the meadow I felt free. It was so nice. I ran along with the cool breeze blowing in my face. I found a rose bush and blue bells as I cruised along. A bird chirped and I sang along with it. Suddenly, I saw a tree with colorful leaves. It was dazzling!

The Eagle and the Horse Elijah Staley, Grade 5 There was a black eagle, and he wanted a toy. He went to a toy store, and found the best toy he had ever seen. It was a blue, shiny, and tiny Tardis action figure. He was amazed at how beautiful it was. Black eagle bought the Tardis toy. As he was flying with the toy in his mouth, he saw a nice and big tree to play on. Suddenly, a giant, brown horse said, "hello, nice toy you got there". Black eagle was startled by the horse. The horse wanted the toy. The horse started flattering black eagle. "So I want to ask you a question," said the horse, ―what's your name?‖ Black eagle was going to say his name, but he was holding the toy in his mouth. The horse tried something else. ―You want to hear a joke? What happens when the chicken crossed the road?‖ The horse paused, ―to go to the playground.‖ That didn't work, so the horse tried something different. He knew what to do, he was going to make Black eagle sing. The horse sang, and then black eagle sang. The toy dropped out of black eagle‘s mouth and fell to the ground. The horse was going to say you are able to make music but you don't have much of a brain. But the horse was holding the tardis action figure in his mouth and trotted away. Black eagle was so angry and felt like he learned a valuable lesson. Don‘t trust those who flatter you.

The Sloth and the Ostrich Sasha Toews, Grade 5 It was a hot, humid day in the rainforest and all you could hear were crickets chirping and birds flapping and singing. "Hey sloth!" Do you want to race I‘ll give you a head start?" Said ostrich. "Sure," said sloth. ―We can start the race at the strangler plant, that is passed the kapok trees and race all the way to the buttress roots.‖ Ostrich explained. Then ostrich and sloth went to the starting line . . . Frog yelled "on your marks, get set, GO!" Off went ostrich. Slowly, sloth started climbing up the strangler plant. Ostrich thought he was so far ahead that he decided to have a nap. Ostrich napped so long that sloth started to catch up to ostrich, but sloth was too loud that ostrich got up and sped away. Ostrich had passed the kapok tree and sloth was nowhere to be seen. There were some good looking seeds, so ostrich stopped for a snack. Sloth was starting to pass ostrich, but ostrich saw sloth out of the corner of his eye and ostrich started running again. Ostrich got so far ahead he could almost see the buttress roots. ―I think I have enough time to skim through my book.‖ Ostrich thought. Before ostrich knew it, he had fallen asleep. Sloth was so quiet that he didn't wake ostrich. Sloth passed the finish line all and the animals started to cheer. Ostrich woke up because of the noise. Sloth shouted with excitement,‖ hey ostrich, slow and steady wins the race!‖

The Watch - Lion Jordan Leischner, Grade 5

There once was a watch lion on duty in his owner‘s backyard. His owner was the giraffe and he lived in a mansion with lots of lights and a lot of expensive stuff. The giraffe loved his belongings hoping nothing would happen to his belongings.

One night, the giraffe was sleeping and the watch lion was in the backyard when an enormous elephant came walking down the street. The elephant wanted to spray the house with water. All of a sudden, the elephant was about to spray when the watch - lion roared. It scared the elephant all the way back down the street. Then the loud roar of the lion woke the giraffe up. The giraffe was not pleased with the rude awakening, ―what is wrong with you? You wake me up from my dream, how dare you!‖ Then the giraffe went back to bed. The next night, the elephant came back. He was about to spray when the watch - lion roared again. The elephant ran away, but the giraffe was not pleased again. The furious giraffe came down from the mansion and said, ―once again, what is with you? You wake me up from my dream, how dare you!‖ The giraffe hit the watch - lion. The next day the elephant came back to spray the house again. This time, the watch - lion did not roar. The elephant took a big spry on the house and the giraffes things got wet and ruined. The giraffe was furious, he came to the backyard. The elephant was gone and the giraffe got mad at the watch - lion for not roaring. Then the watch- lion said, ―You will not always get your own way all the time, but you can‘t depend on everyone.‖ The giraffe replied, ―You are right, I‘m sorry, will you forgive me?‖ The watch - lion responded, ―Yes.‖ 26

Piggy Land Jaylah Lawson, Grade 6

Jaylah Ben and Juan wondered if today would be fun. Suddenly a giant meteor shaped as a pig head was falling from the sky but for some reason it didn‘t have a snout. Ahh a pig head is falling from the sky Juan screamed. Why you are so scared it‘s so majestic said Jaylah gazing at the pig head. I think Juan is freaking out because it‘s going to hit us Ben screamed. Then when they started to freak out the pig head opened its mouth and ate them! And when the pig head hit the ground its snout grew and then it disappears. And as for the three kids they were falling through a pink swirly portal screaming. When they woke up they saw the giant pig head spat them out they tried to open its mouth but it would not open! Jaylah looked around the area the grass was pink, the flowers were pink, and the trees were pink. And the best part was that they were pigs all around the place. Some were normal, some had unicorn horns, and some had wings and golden wings! This is the most majestic place I ever saw said Jaylah. It does look nice but how do we get back asked Juan. Just then a tree fell down, what in the world is going on any more asked Ben. Juan got so scared he ran away same as a bunch of pigs, piggy corns, and flying pigs. Ben and Jaylah went to check it out when all of a sudden there was a logger cutting down the trees! Meanwhile Juan was standing near the pig head but without warning the pig head started to grow a body! Then it became...pigzila! It eats Juan it goes to the logger and ate him and he ate Ben and Jaylah! Yet again they start falling through the portal and they were back to where they were. Jaylah thought, wow that must be where pigs go when they die.

Soccer in Argentina Juan Asin-Berti, Grade 6 Have you ever thought about soccer? Here are some examples of soccer. The equipment: Would you believe that soccer wears equipment. Argentina wears shirt uniform. White and strip with blue strips. And the player wears cleat in the game. The rules, of course, everyone agrees that the rules are important like no fight, no argued with the ref, no angry at the same team, and slide tactile, so that the other players don‘t get injury. And if you hit someone so hard you are going to sit out for the second period. The best player and goalie: Messi is good player and screams lot when he is score and Romero is goalie and Romero take the Argentina to the World cup final, but the Germany win the final World cup, it is amazing to think about Messi, Romero, and the other team of the Argentina. Argentina will win for the next World cup in the summer or not.

Panda Shea Campbell, Grade 6 It‘s amazing how famous pandas are. But it wasn‘t always that way, people went and cut down all the bamboo trees and killed almost all the pandas. But before the people came there was life and trees and other plants. The forest is located in china it‘s not vary big now. But the weather didn‘t change its still about 16 c. The panda has a big diet for bamboo and a small bite of meat, it eats bamboo almost all day and meat in that time. Pandas have Personality‘s too, when they‘re cubs you can play with them all you want, it‘s hard to believe that there endangered so people now made a panda research center to take care of pandas and help them get back on their feet they are also very funny and clumsy and adorable. And when they have a cub they are really good at being nice to their cubs.

The Haunted Forest Trinity Derksen, Grade 6 ―I can‘t wait till gym!‖ exclaimed Roxanne. ―I can‘t wait ether I hear we are doing dodgeball.‖ Said Trinity. Both girls walked down to the gym with their class, I hope Lola won‘t hit me in my face again, both girls thought to themselves. Both girls walked into the gym and they were surprised that everything was set up already. The girls were blocking the door so no one could get in, because both girls were too focused on the gym walls because it was just renovated. The gym was a tan color with black strips all over the wall, and the floor was the same color as the wall too. Finally dodgeball began Roxanne and Trinity were on the same team, they were not lucky because Lola was on the other team so Lola could hit them in the face again, the coach blow the whistle and the game started. All of a sudden both girls found a black dot on the ground, they were pocking it kicking it and even scraping it but the dot would not come off. Meh no Biggy, both girls thought. In an instant both girls looked back at that black dot and realized that it was no ordinary dot so they walked two steps forward away from the dot. Suddenly Lola was standing right behind them, ready to hit Roxanne and Trinity and she hit both girls strait on, Lola knocked both girls out. Roxanne and Trinity both fell on the black dot. For some reason the dot turned into a tornado and both girls got sucked in, and landed in a dark, damp, bruiting, and ugly forest. The forest was a green puck color, with four bridges leading to a giant tree house. ―WHOLLY CHEESE where are we!‖ screamed Roxanne. I knew something was wrong with that black dot, Trinity thought. ―Trinity did you even hear me!‖ Yelled Roxanne ―sorry what did u say.‖ Said Trinity ―I SAID were are we!‖ Yelled Roxanne. How are we going to get out of her both girls said to themselves? Both girls wondered into the forest scared. They walked across a bridge and came upon a giant tree house. They stared at the house because it had holes in the walls and shattered glass everywhere, the girls walked up to a window and peaked through it. Suddenly the girls heard footsteps and crackling branches, they both turned around in a flash, and there stood a tall young man wearing black shorts, and a grey T-shirt that say Rundle Rockies. ―Hi my name is Rick!‖ ―How did u too get here?‖ Roxanne and Trinity to Rick the story about how they got there. ―Hey, hey aren‘t you the, the, the…‖ ―The dodgeball king!‖ said Rick. ―Did you girls need help with dodgeball? Because I can help‖ Rick said. ―YES! We really need help in dodgeball because a girl named Lola keeps hitting us in the face every time we play dodgeball.‖ ―I will help you then.‖ After an exhausting and physical day of training. ―You are ready to travel through the forest to the Sugar Plum fairy who will get you back. We will battle many creatures on the way.‖ They started on their journey, after what felt like two days and 100 battles we arrived at the Sugar Plum fairy‘s house. Knock, knock. The door opened. ―Ahhhh I‘ve been expecting you!‖ said the Sugar Plum fairy. ―I have the potion ready for you two girls. You must drink it quickly and you will be transported back.‖ Trinity and Roxanne drank it quick and said goodbye to everyone. A tornado formed around them and they got teleported back to the gym. It was like they had never disappeared from gym. The girls realized that they were not out of the game yet. The balls that Lola hit them with were still in the air, they caught the balls jumped up and through them at Lola. The balls hit Lola in the face and knocked her out and she was unconscious and making Trinity and Roxanne the dodgeball kings.

Successful Charity event Last night a charity event for orphanages was held in a hotel ballroom. Douglas Grey, who is the president of the event, then received a cheque at the end. Tons of people put money towards it. There was an acrobatic troupe and the children‘s choir preformed for donors, celebrities and the media. Douglas declared, ―This is the most successful event we‘ve ever had!‖ You can help by donating money to the cause. Go to www.charity.ca. The next event is next month at 3:00 to 10:00pm. Cameron Gilmour, Grade 6

On April 26th, 2015 a charity event took place in the Palliser hotel ballroom for orphans in the orphanages all around the world. The sponsor and president of the orphanage‘s charity, Douglas Gray, got a cheque to run this program last night from people who wanted to donate to a charity for orphans in Calgary. There was a children‘s choir and an acrobat performance to show off what the orphans have learned about school and other things they need to learn in life like swimming, soccer, baseball, and a whole bunch of other sports. The event began at 6p.m. with a dinner and ended at 11p.m. after the fabulous performance Douglas Gray held a huge performance for guests attending the charity. Some guests including donors to charity important personalities and celebrities in the community, and media were able to attend the event. This event was circus themed so because they wanted lots of people to come and lots of people like circuses. Honoured charity has been in place for over 50 years. The charity supports a network of orphanages around the world. The charity offers medical attention and supplies to orphanages. The orphanage charity is hoping to raise 10 million dollars by the end of the year through a series of events. To help Donate to the charity, volunteer for future events, or spread knowledge about the charity to your community Call Douglas Gray 403-818-2453. Rhys Peddlesden, Grade 6

The Cave of Stone Charlotte Warme, Grade 6

―Jill I‘m tired‖ complaint Fred. ―I will pull over the car in a minute‖ Jill answered and being the responsible driver she was never taking her eyes off of the rode. After a few moments the annoyed sister stopped the car, with a GREACH it came to a halt. She had stopped the rickety old minivan in front of a creepy old cave. I wonder if this place is safe Jill thought to herself. The cave was dark and Jill was not able to see the end. Slowly drips of water fell down from the ceiling and echoes came from far in the cave. Stone statues of people were everywhere along the walls of the creepy old cavern some older than others. On the ground there were small bones that looked like those of a baby. Inside the cave the air was colder than it was outside of it. After a long while Jill smelt the smell of decaying flesh and sewage. The rocks inside the cave were soggy and grey. Jill went to split a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with her brother Fred. Just as the knife cut into the beautiful buttery sandwich she heard a strange sound! Hiss came from inside the cave! ―What was that‖ asked Fred. ―I‘m not sure‖ answered Jill ―but I‘m sure it was nothing‖. A few minutes later a dark figure ran past. ―Ok now I know that I saw something‖ yelled Fred. ―Yes you might be right there might be something lurking in the shadows‖ smiled Jill and then took a huge chunk out of her sandwich. After a moment the siblings heard a huge hisssssss and a large woman about 7 feet tall came walking out of the cave. It‘s a monster Jill thought to herself. The monster's skin was green and scaly her body was thin and her eyes looked like a cats eyes. Instead of hair on top of her head there were hundreds of small snakes. ―It‘s medusa‘‘ yelled Fred. ―Quick shut your eyes or she will turn you to stone‖ Jill yelled! ―sssmart children‖ Medusa hissed ―but unfortunately for you no one can ressssisst my deathly sssstare. ―We cannot snake haired lady is going to turn me or my brother to stone‖ Jill yelled. ―Isssss that sssso female?‖ asked medusa. Jill started to quiver and shake and cry. The next thing that happened was Fred started to open his eyes he looked into medusas eyes for a quarter of a second and his skin started to harden and turn grey. Since Jill had her eyes shut tightly she did not know what was going on. ―Ssssorry ssssister but you brother ssseemss to be sssstone‖ Cackled the scaly villain. ―Nooooooo‖ Jill called out. Medusa snickered and slowly walked closer to the expecting victim. ―Your next‖ smiled medusa. Jill knew she needed a plan and quick. ―I don‘t think so‖ answered Jill and she grabbed for her peanut butter and jelly remands and threw it in medusa's face. ―No nutsssss I‘m allergic to nutsssss‖ Medusa shouted. Her skin started to bubble up and turn red. Her whole body puffed up like a balloon. ―Sssorry sssster‖ Jill imitated. Finally Jill opened her eyes and returned to her minivan. Back in the city Jill was so sad to have lost her brother but so happy to be alive. If I never hear the name medusa again it will be to soon Jill thought to herself. 31

An Adventure Jessie Stewart, Grade 6 Creak!! The steps of the bus creaked as I walked up the stairs to my seat. ―The bus driver is different than the usual one?‖ I thought to myself as I walked to my seat. Strange, the driver of the bus just has a blank expression? I whispered to myself. I wonder what is going on. The bus started moving with a loud grumble. But, instead of going the usual route we went a different way skipping the other stops. We turned onto an old dirt road and went into a dark forest and into a clearing in a forest and stopped. I wondered what we were doing and where we were, ―what‘s going on?‖ I worried. It was totally quiet. Vwooop Vwooop Vwooop! ―What was that?‖ I mumbled with terror. Crack Vwoop Crack Vwoop! ―Ahhh!‖ I yelled. Then all of the sudden the bus turned into an alien space ship. The inside turned black and tons of buttons were revealed. Then I saw that the bus driver was an alien. A shape shifting slimy purple octopus alien gurgled. ―There was no help now.‖ Then we arrived at the purple octopus planet. The slimy purple octopus alien was pulled over for speeding by the octopus police. I knew this was my chance to escape. So I escaped by getting out by the emergency exit at the back. Next, I hid behind a rock. Then the slimy octopus got in their police ship and flew away, and the slimy purple octopus alien got in his ship and flew away even without noticing I was gone. Then I realized I was stranded on an alien planet. ―How will I get off this planet?‖ I thought. I started walking to the city in the distance thinking what I have gotten myself into. When I got to the city, I hid in the alleys. Then I saw a wanted sign that had my picture and said wanted escaped prisoner. ―Now I am wanted, great‖, I whispered to myself. Then two slimy tentacles grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back. I blacked out. When I woke up I was in front of a king slimy purple octopus alien and a slimy pink octopus alien. Then the king said, ―Throw him in the dungeon.‖ They did. They tossed me into the cell, a tossed me. I landed on a wire I was laying on the ground. I picked it up and remembered my grandpa telling me how to unlock things with a paper clip if I get locked in the bathroom again. That‘s it! I exclaimed excitedly. I ran to the lock and stuck the wire in and wiggled it around. It unlocked and I climbed out the window at the end of the hallway. There was a space bus parking lot. I thought to myself, there are a lot of convenient things here. I ran to the buses and got in and started it up and flew off the planet to earth. I crashed the bus and walked home. Then I opened the door and lay down on the couch. At supper, mom asked, ―Where is your bag?‖ I replied, ―It‘s a long story.‖

Repetition Poem Fatima Mehdi, Grade 6 Me Me Me Me Me Me Molly Wants A Dolly So She Waits For The Doors To Open

Gum Chloe Brimacombe , Grade 6 Gum, Gum, Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s amazing that bubble gum Gum on chairs, gum in pairs, Gum is every everywhere! Gum on streets, Gum on Pete, And even some in threes! Gum on tables, Gum on labels, Gum is everywhere! Gum is strange, Gum is a pain! Gum is everywhere!

DOG Liam Pickles, Grade 6 I once taught my dog to dive, he flopped splash! he dropped splash! he jumped splash! he flapped splash! he danced splash! he frolecked splash! he skipped splash! he dipped splash! he flyed splash! he drived splash! he fought But he still did not understand a belly flop

If I Were in Charge of the World If I were in charge of the world, I‘d cancel war, Divorces, Needles, and also Loneliness. If I were in charge of the world There‘d be happiness 24/7, No bad people, and Everybody has a chance to go to whatever college they want. If I were in charge of the world‘ You wouldn‘t have to drive. You wouldn‘t have to eat tomatoes. You wouldn‘t have to run. Or You wouldn‘t even have step siblings. If I were in charge of the world, People who were sick could get better in the snap of the fingers. And all the people in the world could all work together. And a person who forgets their school stuff at home could Just duplicate it when you clap your hands, Would still be allowed to be In charge of the world. Chloe Schotanus, Grade 6

I‘d cancel reading I‘d cancel Friday I‘d cancel baseball games If was charge of world There would be lot of video games Football will be on every channel on TV There would be more moves If I was charge of the world You could play all 13 games You wouldn‘t be sad

You could eat candy for dinner You wouldn‘t have to do homework If I was charge of the world All Lord of Rings will be for everyone And a person who forgot to go to the library And a person who forgot to go to the bank Would still be allowed to be in charge of the world James Mullback, Grade 6

HAUNTED HOUSE DESCRIPTIVE Ben Walters, Grade 6

On the doorstep of the old creepy house on the deserted land I desperately wanted to go in and see what was actually inside it. To fine if it was fake or it was real. But if it was real I may die... I decided to just go and find out. So as I approached the house I heard creepy old groaning noise then a big Crack! And I fell through the floor falling into a scary dark hallway leading into a light room. I walked down the hallway into the creepiest room that my eyes had ever seen. And the first thing I noticed in the room was two paintings one painting was a guy wearing formal clothes but the thing wrong with him was his face he had no eyes and his mouth has seemed to be stretched out, he has long shaggy black hair too. In the other painting there was a ghost photo it reminded me of the ghost of Scream the droopy face the majorly big mouth. There was a window that caught my eye it had ripped up drapes. I noticed a small door that even I couldn‘t even fit in it and it was boarded up, and the boards said ―CAUTION‖ on it. I thought that this house might have belonged to a midget but that may not be true... there were two object in the room that were creating light a creepy jack o‘ lantern and a light bulb attached to a cane. There were also bloody feet marks on the floor leading to a Claw scratch on the wall. There were two little messages on the wall one said ―HELP ME‖ and the other one said ―DEATH IS COMING‖ and just then I saw a devilish looking face with red eyes and a mouth full of teeth coming closer and closer at me and I am looking around looking for some place to hide and I spot a hole in the wood floor and I dive into it... And suddenly I hear a REALLY LOUD SCREECHING NOISE, then Darkness....

The Bus Adventure Jill Stephen, Grade 6 As Claire hobbled up on the old bus she heard the loud engine fire up, but this engine sounded a little different from any ordinary school bus. Claire was very, very worried about this odd bus before her, But disregarding the weird bus differences the young girl climbed abroad whispering under her breath, ―where will this bus take me?‖ When the confused little girl stepped up into the bus she noticed that it had leather seats that were ripped, and they were all very dusty and dirty. It had twelve rows and windows that were cracked that laid beside them. Just when Claire noticed that she was alone on the bus the doors swung closed. The bus began to rise slowly into the air and before Claire could sit down the bus shot like a rocket forward hurtling the bus higher and into the air. Just then, the confused girl heard a soft hoarse winy. Her hands shook with fear and her teeth rattled, ―What was that!‖ Claire cried. It must be the wind she thought to herself as she slowly calmed down. Without warning, she saw a reflection of an animal on the side of the flying bus. She slowly scooted towards the other side of the seat ahead, dribbles of sweat rolled down her forehead, it was probably just the reflection of a cloud Claire thought as she calmed down. To my surprise, a big flock of unicorns flew over the magical bus. Their colors filled the boring sky with happiness. The unicorns sped up and disappeared into the clouds ahead. After that the mystical bus continued through the sky but after about what seemed to be five minutes the large bus came to a halt and the doors opened and Claire slowly tip-toped up to the front. Just when she was going to thank the driver she realized that there was no driver and that the bus had drove its self. Full of confusion the girl jumped off the bus without thinking and then the bus doors closed and the self controlling bus sped away disappearing into the sea of blue. Claire looked around and saw many immortal creatures like fairies and small trolls also tiny little elves with mini hats. Claire started to panic because she realized that she had no way out of this mystical land. So she decided to the adventure off into the woods to look for a way out of this strange place. Hours had passed and the adventurous girl grew tired. So she decided to take a quick nap so she laid down in the dirt. She and fell into a deep sleep. When Claire woke she noticed that she was in a cage made of candy suspended in the air! Also to add to all of these problems there were goblins and huge trolls that were as big as the towering trees above her. Claire was very frightened and beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. ―What will I do, what will do?‖ Claire whispered. That‘s it, I will eat through the candy the clever girl thought to herself. So she started to nibble on the sweet prison until there was a big enough hole for her to slip through. After that she wasted no time and ran and ran all the way back to the place where the school bus dropped her off. While huffing and puffing she heard a single house winy. When Claire turned around she was surprised to see a beautiful unicorn in front of her stand up tall with pride. Without thinking Claire hopped on the mythical creatures back and whispered in its ear, ―home, home, home‖, and in a flash the unicorn raised into the air and took off at an incredible speed, and in no time at all Claire could see her beautiful home. The nobble unicorn left Claire at the top steps of her home. That was the most amazing adventure of my life Claire thought. I will never go on a wacky bus again. I will never forget the amazing creatures I saw today. I hope I can go there again but next time I will take a taxi Claire thought. As she walked inside to tell her family about her unforgettable day. 37

Danielle Khousakoun, Grade 6 Beep! Beep! Beep! I rose from my bed in a startle. Peering across my room to my calendar, it was the very first day of Christmas break. I was so excited to start my snowboarding vacation! As I stepped on to the hilly mountains. There was fluffy white snow falling peacefully on the ground. Trees were covering thin shaved ice and then a cold gust of wind ran a shiver down my back. Step by step the snow crunches beneath my boots like fall leaves. Gently picking up the delicate snow it slowly melted into gloop, and made my hands feel numb. The white goodness felt as fluffy as a cotton ball. In a flash a stinging feeling on my hand, I looked down and my hand was a cherry red color. The snow was cold as dry ice. Zipping down the mountains the feeling of fresh air breezed past by my face. Instantaneously, a thundering like sound boomed loudly. It echoed through the mountains. My face tensed and my lip quivered but I just kept slipping down the mountain All of a sudden more noisy thundering sounds pierce through the thin air. Fear rushed through my body, my eyes got as big as a grapefruit. I just ignored it and thought it was a storm. Just then a crashing noise bellowed through the mountains and the ground was shaking. I finally looked back and saw a giant heap of snow start tumbling and sliding down the hills. It‘s an avalanche I thought to myself as sweat trickled down my forehead. In a hurry I unclipped my snowboard I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. The Avalanche came closer and closer. My heart was racing sweat was dripping off my palms as I jolted down the mountain. Roughly, I tripped on a rock and then I began tumbling like a bowling ball. I glanced back and saw people getting wiped out. Trembling in fear I used all my strength to get up but I fell right back down. Alarming sounds went through my ears I slammed my eyes shut and a frigid feeling scattered all over my body. I slowly opened my eyes, it was pitch black. I could feel a cold, wet, hard object surrounding me everywhere. Gasping for more air I slowly tried moving my body in a different position. Then a sharp pain jolted up my leg, I froze in confusion. My toes began to turn a weird color. I couldn‘t feel my finger. Everything was numb. Wondering to myself will someone come to help me? Will I slowly start to starve? Thinking of those thoughts I started to tear. It was hopeless! After a few hours past the air was getting harder and harder to breath. My body was breaking down. Just then I heard heavy footsteps crushing the snow. I heard shoveling like noises coming from above me. Thats when I knew the avalanche was gone and help had arrived. I kept hearing the snow getting thrown around. The noise got louder and louder until I could see a shimmer of sunshine. The sun got so bright it almost blinded my eyes. The medical help slowly and carefully carried me out of the snow. They placed me lightly on a stretcher and they hurried me to the hospital. As I lay on the comfy hospital bed I thought to myself I can‘t believe I made it out alive safely! I will never forget the cold feeling of snow touch my body and the horrific feeling of my toes almost freezing off. Hoping I never encounter another avalanche again in my life, now I know what life or death situations feel like.

The Immortal Door Aaron Clark, Grade 6 ―Bloom blob‖ I could hear the lava splashing around as I was strolling around the black murky lava fields. I kept on walking on the thin layer of cold black substance I hope I don‘t fall in I kept on telling myself. I got a glimpse of yellow orange molten rock oozing from the black crippled rock. That‘s so cool I thought to myself while I was strolling alone on the lava fields. I took in a nice big whiff of the air and I started to notice that the air smelled like sulfur and the air was very dense like trying to breathe in a steam room. As I rubbed my fingers against the ground it felt like touching sand paper remembering the hard scratchy paper that the ground was like. I started to look around the lava fields and I spotted out of the corner of my eye a tall structure that some reason looked like a door. The door has large plating on the front which looked like diamond mixed with black dye, I put my hand out to touch the plates and as soon as my hand touches the diamond a bolt of electricity hits my hand and I pull my hand back in pain I looked at my hand and it was all bubbly and inflamed. I grasped the handle firmly and pull the door as hard as I could and the door swung open and I walked throw. Suddenly I walked into a Amazon forest full of life trees little creatures. I turn and the door is gone I am wondering where I am. In my paradox vision I could see words being carved into a truck but nobody was there. And the words said welcome the game and I am the game master and you have to try and find the door again or else you will be my slave forever and on the way you will come across a present I have laid out for you. You have 12 hours to find the door GO! As I was looking for the door, I suddenly felt a slither throw my legs I look down instinctively and nothing I just ignored it. Instantly I heard a rumble in the bushes I turn and nothing so I just keep on walking. In a blink of an eye this creature that look like a snake but with 4 heads and it was a 4 headed cobra. As soon as I saw the cobra I started to run the other way but suddenly I couldn‘t run anymore because there was an invisible wall. I turned around instantly and started to walk towards the cobra and I just glared with a cold soulless look at the creature and the cobra started to slowly creep away then gone. So I just kept on walking suddenly I see the same door I start to fully sprint at the door and the door was shimmering and shimmering I just went faster and faster the door was now a little hole I leap and ―ZAP‖. Suddenly I wake up and instantly jump to my feet. Notice that I am back in the lava fields. As I was heading back home I decided to never go through a weird door ever again and I can‘t wait to get back to my family. 39

Isaac Nield, Grade 8

Junior High 42

Scream Monologues I went into the drama room full of mirrors, I couldn't even look up because I did not like what I looked like. In the corner I heard someone say ―lizard skin.‖ Bang, there was a big bang. The teacher came in she had piercing, icy blue eyes. The teacher said ―we are going to do an activity. We are going to just rise up and collapse.‖ I thought in my mind, for once something I am good at because after school I run into my room and collapse and cry, when no one can hear me. In the corner of the drama room I saw Todd Zudder. He is the kid that pushed me down the stairs. I still have flashbacks of that. Mrs. Draginda started pointing at people and they had to scream as loud as they can. Todd Zudder got pointed at, and he did a Tarzan scream. Then he got kicked out. I laughed a bit. When she pointed at me, I could feel the scream coming up. Once I let it out, it was quiet and everyone looked surprised. The kids looked impressed at what I did. Mrs. Draginda said that is what she wanted and it felt like I had some weight lifted off my shoulders. Just as everyone looked at me, the class was over too soon. Jaxon DeJager, Grade 7 Floor to ceiling mirrors across the entire room. I hate mirrors. They always make me hate myself ―Lizard skin,‖ they yell! ―Tall freak!‖ nobody wants to be friends with me. I don‘t belong in drama class: no desks, no whiteboards, no papers, no books, nothing to hide behind. And then there's Todd Zudder, the obnoxious bully. I remember one time he pushed me down the stairwell that really hurt and to this day I'm still terrified of him. BANG! Mrs. Draginda walked inside the room and started to teach. She had asked us to make a circle. She mentioned something about kings and queens and crawling like insects but then she mentioned jumping as high as you could and falling to the ground. I‘m good at falling. I know the feeling of having my arms and my legs losing power, the feeling to melt hopelessly on the floor. I did this sometimes when I got back home from school, I would cry silently so no one would hear me. I have always been this way: self-conscious and a bit of a loner. Mrs. Draginda asked us to scream which terrfied me just thinking of screaming in front of everybody. One after one she pointed. Then finally she pointed towards me when I started I felt something tearing up my stomach and heading up to my throat. The sound was loud and it felt good. It felt like I was losing something, something bad. I felt free and finally I stopped. Then it was just silence. Then Mrs. Draginda said, ―now that‘s a scream,‖ and for the first time I felt a warm glow. Mrs. Draginda wasn‘t so hateful after all. I felt so incredible and for the first time ever people weren't saying mean things about me. And at the end of class, I smirked to the surprised face of Todd Zudder. JP Jakubec, Grade 7 43

A Letter from the Titanic Blake Ell, Grade 7 Dear Grandma, I don‘t know what to say about this ship, it is glorious. There are crystal chandeliers and all sorts of things. We are off to New York on a cruise. Hopefully we'll get there alright and not get sick. Anyways Mommy got us a first class room and it is BIG. There is a staircase that is drizzled with gold and a massive dining room. There is also a big balcony that hangs over the edge of the boat. There is a buffet going on today at supper and there are so many people that I can't keep count of all of them .The cooks have to cook a lot if they are going to feed everyone. From: Annabel

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Monk Shido Carson Ell, Grade 7 Once there was a nice middle aged couple that lived in a small village in southern Japan. One day, the couple parted to go do their daily chores. The woman went out to their small field where they grew their own crops. Just then, a seed fell out of the sky and hit her on the temple. ―Oh my, what was that?‖ She questioned as she looked in the sky, ―is it starting to rain?‖ TINK. Just then she felt something in her hair, she felt around until she found it, a little seed. ―What, a seed?!‖ She said surprised. With that, she put the seed in the basket which she used to put her crops in and brought it home to show her husband. ―Honey, look I found a seed it dropped from the sky!‖ she said to her husband. The husband who was very surprised decided to take look. Inside the basket that the woman carried there was not a seed but a small sleeping baby boy. The man showed his wife and they both had mixed feelings. They decided to call him Shido, or seed. Shido again was in the library in their small village, there he was studying the ways of the Buddhist monk. ―All I want to be is a monk, the people that come by our village every week.‖ Shido thought to himself. The door opened and his mother came in, ―Shido you‘ve been here all day now.‖ his mother said sternly. ―I‘ve just made some rice cakes for us, why don‘t you come home, just for right now?‖ But Shido was busy reading, in fact he was so into the book that he didn‘t even notice his mother. ―Shido!‖ his mother said loudly. Shido looked up with a jump, ―Oh mother, I didn‘t see you there,‖ Shido said with a smile. 44

A Generation Ago Sarah Hoffinger, Grade 7

They understand Once they were us A generation ago They experienced everything we are going through Even though they may forget Youth and memories come back Wise and a child at heart Successful and loving Age doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t even matter My mother will always be a friend at heart

Why We Tell Stories JT Hironaka, Grade 7 I like to tell stories because I like making people laugh and making them happy. I also like writing because I can come up with cool ideas to make a good and and an interesting story. If someone‘s upset I try to make them laugh by telling a funny story or joke. If someone‘s is hurt you can tell them a story if you know what kind of pain they‘re in. In the past, the First Nations or Mayans didn‘t have a way to write down a story because at that time they didn‘t how to read or write, so they carved symbols or pictures into stone; these are call hieroglyphs.

Magic of Three Isabella Lupi, Grade 7 Just then, I heard the flat keys of our old grand piano. I peered into our living room to see who was playing the rickety instrument - no one was there. I went back to my video game. Without warning, I noticed a brown cardboard box jostling in the corner. Could my new house really be haunted? The next thing I knew, I felt a tingling shiver run up my spine. Goose bumps completely covered my skin and my eyes bulged wide open. To my surprise I saw a black tail rapidly moving under the box. I lifted up the box to find my black cat playing with a toy mouse.

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Magical Elephant Eden Lynch, Grade 7 Once upon time, there was a gorgeous land that had the most wonderful days. This very special land had a dark, dark place where the horrible, horrific, evil, nasty, disgusting, dragon lived. All this combined into a super-evil, mega DRAGON. This place was called Mexico City and in this city lived a knight who had some very good qualities to him. He was so confident, he thought he was better than everyone else . That was somewhat of a turn-off to lots of the young ladies. His name was Alvin, and he was the bravest knight in the whole kingdom. He was strong and smart and willing to die for his country. In the same kingdom there was this little dish washer whose name was Cam. Cam was not brave and got scared very easily but always wanted to be a knight, but he was not as muscular like the knights. One afternoon after asking the knights if he could be a knight, they always said, ―Read my lips. What do they say? NO!‖ He was not allowed to be a knight and he didn‘t know why. Then one day, the king came outside on his stunning balcony and had something to say and this is what it was: ―To all of the young men in the kingdom, you don‘t have to be a knight you can just be a normal man in the kingdom‖. Just then, all of the kingdom heard a sound that had a horses click clack to it and then there was Alvin. ―Whoa, Bruno, stop,‖ that was his amazing horse. The king continued talking, ―If you go kill the DRAGON, you will get this elephant. Don‘t be fooled by this elephant; he is no normal elephant. He has special powers that you will find out in time.‖

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The Water Crystal Leah Sutton, Grade 7 Once upon a time, there was a good princess named Devil, she had a bad sister named Angel, and an evil mother, which was the queen, named Peacock. When the queen was getting old and sick, she said to Angel, "After I die, I will grant you the whole kingdom, and everything in, and on it." Why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t I tell Devil about this, she will be devastated, thought Angel happily to herself. Devil was sitting on a rock by the river when her sister came up to her, she said with a grin "Soon I will be the queen, and you, my dear sister, will be my slave." After Angel left, Devil went to seek help from her friend, the good witch, whose name was Panda. "Panda" she called when she had arrived at her towering home â&#x20AC;&#x2022;Panda I need your help, my mother is going to die soon and she is going to give the kingdom to Angel. I have to find a way to show mother that giving the kingdom to me will benefit her and the kingdom!"

Survival Amy Vertanness, Grade 7 Have you ever found yourself stranded in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua? If you have, then you know that it is not an easy place to survive. The island is made up of trees and sand. There is also rugged coastline with white caps crashing on the shore. If you ever become stranded in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, make sure you have a first aid kit, water, and a swiss army knife handy. One very important tool for survival is a first aid kit. If you were to suffer a small injury like a cut or insect bite, the medical supplies would be crucial. It can help you with tons of different things other than helping with wounds and cuts. For example the tweezers can help you pick up small bugs and can help you gather things. You can use the gauze as a net to catch fish and food. It could also make a great hammock. The box could be used as a bucket or even for a hat. Who knew that you could use it for so many different things? Water is one of the most important things when you are trying to survive in a very hot climate. Did you know that humans can only survive 3 days without water? Water can help you with tons of different things, but mainly with keeping hydrated. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t keep hydrated, you will get dry mouth and you will get tired. In addition, this flowing serum can also help you with washing yourself when you are dirty and with cooking meals. Pretend you get a cut and it is bleeding a lot. The smooth liquid can help the bleeding to stop. You just have to pour a little on top of the cut and then the bleeding should slow down. So make sure wherever you go to have a bottle of clear fluid nearby. The Swiss Army Knife is more than just a regular knife. It has a lot of different tools inside of it that can help with a lot of different things. Inside the Swiss Army Knife there is a knife, a nail filer with a screwdriver tip, scissors, toothpick and tweezers. The sharp tool can help you make shelter by using the knife and the scissors to cut the wood to the right size. By scraping the knife blade on a stick or log while it is facing the sun, you can create a spark and start a fire. It could also be used to gather food and kill animals. So make sure that you carry the pocket knife around because you never know when it will come in handy. Make sure you always have a Swiss Army Knife, a first aid kit and water nearby at all times because you never know when you could get stranded.

Greek Myth Ari Bouma, Grade 8

―Deal?‖ asked Adingrund, ―Or no?‖ Aromesis thought for a while, as Adingrund repeated the word ―Wee-e-e-ll?‖ eleven times. The trade he had proposed was that he would put a spell on all her different smells (as she was the god of scents). This would make her smells last as long as the amount of time people had wasted. In return, she would give him a feather with a strong odor that changed its scent depending on the seasons. In the winter it smelled like blood, in the summer it smelled like honey, in the spring it smelled like fire and smoke, and in the fall it smelled like fruits. Adingrund would use the smells as distractions. ―Under one condition,‖ Aromesis replied, ―At every changing of the season, you will go out and use the feather to distract people to fuel your spell, and thus you will be happy because more people will procrastinate, and I will be happy because my smells will last longer.‖ Adingrund was not pleased with this request, as he did not like people giving him orders. However, he figured it would be worth it. After all, this would mean more and more people would come to him after death. ―Fine.‖ Adingrund said. Aromesis grinned, and handed him the feather. After that, Adingrund continued to fulfil his promise to Aromesis. However sometimes it would have consequences. When the winter came, and the feather started to smell of blood, occasionally the stench would become so strong that it would reach up to the gods. Zeus was mistaken and thought this was caused by mortals killing, and he would punish them by making it snow, and become cold. When spring came, and the feather smelled like fire, this would trick Zeus into thinking that there was a large fire, and he would attempt to help put it out by making rain. In the fall, the smell of fruits fooled Zeus into thinking that the mortals were picking large, and unnecessary amounts of fruit from trees, and he would try to stop this by causing the trees‘ leaves to fall off. And well, we can only assume that the smell of honey during the summer would get Zeus in a good mood, because he would make the air warmer for the mortals. And thus, weather. 50

Value and Prices of Inanimate Objects Juliana Bruyn, Grade 8 In today‘s society people don‘t know the value of their inanimate objects. People judge something by its price and looks, but never wonder what thought and effort was put into it. Only after making some items myself, have I come across that realization. Stores price their items after the mark up of the factory, and the price of shipping. The buyer is basically paying for the item to be made, and shipped. But does anyone ever realize how complicated and challenging these things are to mak?. Even something as simple as a shirt. Most people see a shirt for sale and go, ―That shirt would look good on me.‖ Followed by ―and it‘s inexpensive!‖ Then they find their size and buy it. What they don‘t know is that that shirt has had a lot of planning, traveling, thought, and work put into it. If you don‘t know how something is made or done, then you don‘t appreciate it as much. If you were to make a shirt yourself, you would first need to gather you supplies. A pattern, fabric, and color matching thread. This in itself can be time taking and stressful. Have you seen how many patterns are available at Fabric Land!?! There are hundreds available to purchase! After finding a pattern, a task that might take hours: you must figure out you size. Should be easy enough, that information is on the back of the pattern. The next step is to define what type of fabric you need to use: also on the back of the pattern. If you don‘t know what type of fabric THEN ASK THE PERSON WORKING AT THE STORE!! Picking your fabric… Hmm should I get the purple and pink striped, or the pink with purple polk-a-dots? As you can infer, picking the fabric can be as stressful as picking the pattern. After finding the perfect fabric, find a spool of thread that matches the fabric in color. Now let‘s hope you know how to sew or this would be all for nothing. After setting up your sewing machine, you start following the pattern…. Now I could go on about this, so you understood exactly what time, and effort is put into making a shirt, but I think you would get bored. Have you ever made something for yourself? Something more than a drawing or painting? You most likely put a lot of thought and effort into it. If you were to buy the same item instead, do you think you would appreciate it the same way? My guess is that you wouldn‘t. The chances are if an item says it‘s handmade, it will be more expensive. That‘s because a real person made it, not a machine. Because of that the item should be better quality, and very unique. Next time you go shopping, instead of just thinking about how something looks, think of the time and effort put into it. Try to figure out why it might be priced like it is. But don‘t compare it to others like it. If you do that, then you will start think just about money, and not the actual item. If you understand what effort was put into an item, you will hopefully value, and appreciate it more.

Protagonist -Tell Tale Heart Anthony Martopullo, Grade 8 The old man‘s butler was someone who loved the old man. But he starts wanting to annihilate the old man. The butler explains how carefully and quickly he planned the murder of the old man, as the butler commits the murder. He suffers from a sickness that sharpens his senses. Because of that, the butler ends up confessing to the police that he was the one that has murdered the old man. He explain to the police that he is not crazy, but that his sanity for taking the heart of the old man was driving by the old man‘s right eye. The butler before he planned the murder, was extremely calm. In the story, he sounded excited to plan his first murder (like he sees pleasure in killing an innocent old man, like he‘s a psychopath). Once he buries the heart and the body, he mentally hears the beating of his heart. He hears it because he has a feeling of guilt inside his heart like he is really going ludicrous. When the police came, he was terrified knowing that they would not leave, and he starts having crazy delusions like he‘s schizophrenic. He started to believe that the cops know what he had done, and so he admits it in a raging way. He starts screaming that he killed the old man like he is looking at the face of a demon, and started digging up the heart acting like he hated the old man all his life.

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Isaac Nield, Grade 8 When I was young, I was the Lord of Florence in the 1400s. My name was Francesco de Cesta. I was a good lord but many people didn't like me; the main one was Bonavelli de Hansro, the leader of Genoa. We fought for many years, and lost most of our army. The war was coming to an end. One day, September the 18th to be exact, I told my guards to have a break because they barely slept in days. Somehow Bonavelli knew that most of my guards were off work, whether by luck, or a spy, I don't know, but he attacked me. First, I heard was a scream, then nothing, then there was another, and another coming closer, and closer. I locked the door trying to find a place to hide. Then I heard a Thud! Thud! Thud! Someone was ramming the door!!! "Yes!" I thought because I just remembered a secret passage in my closet. I ran for it but I heard another thud and then a crack and another, and another. I reached the closet and pushed the third stone on the right. The door swung open. Just then, I heard a smash as the entrance fell down, and enemies poured in. there was around seventy of them a equipped with iron armor and steel swords they looked around, then They saw me I closed the door just in time, but a throwing knife cut my arm it felt like it was burning and when I looked I saw a cut with my blood running out. I was going to stay until I felt better, but the people started to ram on the door, so I ran. I followed the passage and it led to a gate out the back. I went to look at what happened to my house. Most of it was burning and there was a lot of blood on the walls, mostly from my guards.

Potholes Nicole Menard, Grade 8 ―The wheels on the bus go round and round! Come on everybody!‖ Charles Cornelius Peterson tried to get his family on board, but they weren‘t feeling it. Their blank expressions conveyed a look similar to one you would use after being stuck at the DMV for 4 hours. Peterson resented his family's lack of enthusiasm for their road trip, ―Six months! I planned for this trip for 6 months! And I took 2 weeks off work, what more do you want?!‖ Peterson badgered, he expected his wife and kids to smother him with apologies. All he got was an expressionless hair flip from his daughter. Feeling dejection, the father stared at the highway ahead. The old, cracked asphalt had turned a light gray. At one time it was probably almost black, but years of trackers, balers, and combines had worn the farm road down. After hours of driving, Peterson‘s eyes grew heavy. He‘d grown accustomed to the repetitive sounds caused by the street‘s numerous potholes, almost to the point where he found it soothing. Bump, bump, BUMP the sound of the car riding along faded into the night, and Peterson found his eyes closing. ―Eeek!‖ His daughter yelped desperately grappling for her father's attention. ―What?!‖ Peterson snapped into reality, and hit the brakes. Their decrepit minivan skidded to a stop. He felt his body lurch forward, and exhausted Peterson breathed a sigh of relief. ―Dad,‖ his daughter whispered ―Look outside…‖ Fear and anticipation crept inside him, as he warily peeked his head out the open window. What he saw made his heart race, a gooey crimson colored liquid clung to his tire, and a sinister trail of red led off into the distance. Guilt and panic swelled up in his chest, he could only imagine what lay at the end of road. Gingerly, he turned the van around, dreading discovering what his minivan had run over. The headlights shone a feeble light on the street ahead, barely cutting through the darkness. When they finally cast there dim glow on the source of the blood, Peterson could barely breath. A young boy lay sprawled on the asphalt. A grim tire track ran through his torso, his intestines spilled onto the pool of blood around him. Under the light of the moon his expression was blank. No fear haunted his eyes, no pain encompassed his face, he seemed almost calm, almost at peace. The car grew silent; Peterson and his daughter just stared in terror as their kin slept. ―I… I have to call 911‖ the father breathed. ―He, I, I never meant…‖ He never finished. After a few seconds of awkward breathing he pulled his phone out. ―911 what is your emergency?‖ A tired female voice sighed. The father took a deep breath, ―I‘m on the extension off highway 69. There‘s a kid, I think I might have, might have, run over… I, I, I‘m so sorry.‖ The operator barely reacted, ―Okay we‘ll send someone over right away.‖ Her voice sounded unimpressed and monotonous. For 52 minutes they waited. Peterson couldn't stop checking his phone. He and his daughter stepped out of their van, trying not to wake up their slumbering relatives. After a while of staring awestruck at the stars plastered across the sky, they saw a pair of headlights appear in the distance. A white and black police car ominously pulled up to the isolated family van. Peterson took a shaky breath and greeted the officer, who simply nodded while his shades flashed in the moonlight. The cop whipped out a flashlight and looked around, when the pale beam reached the boy, he took a sharp breath in. ―Simon! My, my, my son. You, how, AHHHH!‖ The man shrieked in rage, his eyes glowed red and his body seemed to radiate heat. ―YOU! You will die!‖ In absolute and total anger the police officer threw Peterson down, his hands wrapping around his frail neck. The last thing the optimistic father saw was the terrified look of his daughter, and the face of the man who had lost his son.

The Electricity Myth Andrew Valentine, Grade 8 Klefka was a quiet, solitary man who spent much of his time drawing and writing short stories which he loved to share with the villagers in his town. When he wasn‘t spending time working on writing, Klefka would take a strong walking stick and walk the countryside during rain or shine, spending time thinking of new stories to write about. His walking stick helped him navigate his way through the rough roads and hills. One stormy night, Klefka decided to walk around the town square where the famous Iron Tower was located. The tower was placed as a landmark to the gods right in the center of the town. The majestic tower was the hub of the city for the townspeople. A great place to meet and discuss ideas and stories. Klefka was regarded highly as a man who enjoyed helping make life easier for his fellow citizens. He had the ability to look at a problem and come up with a solution. The skies that evening were darkening and Klefka knew that a terrible storm was moving in. Shortly after arriving at the tower Klefka noticed the sky darkening. Within moments the storm clouds were right above him, blasting him with a full fury of rain and lightning. The temperature was warm so he did not feel the need to head home but instead decided to stay in the town centre for the rain was warm. All of a sudden the entire sky lit up. Klefka needed to shield his eyes from the enormous bolt of lightning that was connecting to and striking the Iron Tower. When he removed his hands protecting his eyes, he saw that the Iron Tower was radiating light from mini lightning bolts shooting from the tall tower. The tower seemed to it. He was mesmerized and within moments found himself lifting his walking stick towards the giant tower. Upon contact with the tower Klefka felt a bolt of pain jolt through his arm. He then pulled out a small piece of copper placing one end on the tower and the other on a nearby cow. The cow sharply sounded a cry of pain. Klefka was amazed at the power he generated from the tower. Once the storm passed he ran around the entire village telling everyone of his discovery. News of Klefka‘s discovery reached a young man named Ciros, Ciros was a very insecure and envious person. For many years he had been jealous of Klefka‘s intellect and popularity among the villagers. This news made the villagers think even higher of Klefka and this irritated Ciros greatly. Ciros decides to make a trip to Mount Olympus to notify Zeus that Klefka was using Zeus‘ powers to further his own popularity. When Ciros arrives at Mt. Olympus he spins a tale that Klefka had stolen Zeus‘ power and was manipulating Zeus for his own personal popularity gain. Zeus became enraged and he summoned Klefka to stand before him to explain what he has been up to. News of Zeus‘ request reached Klefka and he prepared himself to journey to Mount Olympus to speak with Zeus. When Klefka reached Mount Olympus, he found Zeus waiting angrily. He accused Klefka of trying to take advantage of his powers and using it to his own personal gain. but Klefka responds by saying that all he wanted was to help his village grow and make more worshippers for Zeus and he tells him how beneficial the sparks will be for his town allowing it to grow and flourish making more worshipers for Zeus. Zeus is appeased by this and lets Klefka keep the sparks on one condition he gets to name the energy source. Klefka happily accepts these terms and asks him what he will name the spark. Zeus thinks for a minute and says ELECTRICITY. And from that day forth it was called electricity. 55

David Samuels, Grade 8 Eons ago, during the Silver Age of the Universe, just mere years after the Olympians had seized control, humanity did not hunger for anything, All things were pure and simple, and temptation, greed and slander had not been released on the universe. The small island kingdom of Pycos sat just off the coast of Crete. Pycos was a fertile island, where the citizens worked hard to heed the words of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, who had commanded them to cultivate the soil in this idyllic paradise. All of them worked hard, except one. Monocles, the young, brash king of Pycos, had grown up from a rich family, and was a self-indulgent sluggard who was spoiled rotten in his childhood, and had known nothing of hard labor, or working to benefit society. Despite his greedy, hedonistic lifestyle, Monocles was revered by the citizens of Pycos, due to his ability to command and lead the agricultural processes on the fields. Because of this, the citizens ignored his indolence, heeded his commands, and every fall, and turned a tidy harvest to sacrifice to Demeter. As Demeter watched vigilantly from the heavens, she noticed that the farmer citizens of Pycos worked hard to grow crops such as grapes, fennel, and olive trees, and had never even tasted the fruits of their labor, sacrificing ox carts full of their spoils just to appease Demeter. Demeter was grateful for their loyalty, and decided to ask them to save a part of their harvest, and taste them for themselves. The gods and goddesses spent days and nights celebrating, and reveling in their divine nutriments. They feasted on ambrosia, and guzzled nectar, the holy drink of the Olympians. Demeter thought that this practice could be introduced to mortals, as they had tilled the soil for thousands of years to serve the gods, without taking anything for themselves. If we can eat, why can’t the mortals do so also? Thought Demeter, and she climbed into her chariot made of straw, and rode down to the earthly realm of man. She approached King Monocles‘ castle, and knocked on the great wooden door. King Monocles slowly opened the door with an ambient creak and, upon seeing Demeter, The purple-robed king bowed his head slightly, with a sly, conniving grin on his face, as a young, blonde woman with tousled hair poked her head out of a corridor. Despite being engaged to the lady Euphemia, he managed to add a great deal of philandering into his daily schedule. Demeter created a golden piece of wheat bread out of thin air, took a bite out of it, and asked Monocles to take a bite of it, as she did. The sensation Monocles felt when the soft bread melted in his mouth was incredibly enticing, and he had never felt anything like it! He wanted more! He quickly asked Demeter how he could do this again, and she graciously answered all his questions. The next day, the self-indulgent monarch told his countrymen all he had heard from Demeter, and commanded his manservants to bring him more food, so he could indulge in his newfound gluttony. Pleased with herself, Demeter returned to Olympus, and took her seat on her throne, her arms crossed smugly. As she told all the gods and goddesses of her accomplishment, all of them celebrated, for she had worked further to shape humanity in the image of the gods. Well, all but one. Eris, the goddess of discord, stood outside the chamber of the gods, watching Demeter boast about her accomplishments with envy and contempt, through her piercing red eyes, as she clutched her scepter with the head of a raven on it. Eris had not been as privileged as Demeter, and the conniving sociopath had held a great deal of envy towards her from the beginning. Demeter had been offered a seat on Mount Olympus, while Eris was doomed to watch the meetings of the gods forever from the chamber window. And, to add insult to injury, Demeter had been given full reign over the plantations of the mortal world, While the goddess of discord was doomed to instigate petty conflicts between men. Eris set out towards a great oak tree, in a field of golden grass, her staff tapping the ground as she walked, leaving behind a trail of shadowy vapor. But then, an idea popped into her head, and she snapped her bony fingers. She withdrew a shimmering golden apple from her gown, and cackled! There’s no way my plan can fail! She thought, as she twirled her gown, and disappeared in a veil of shadow, leaving only behind an ethereal feather, which soon disintegrated into dust. When Eos threw open the gates of dawn, Eris descended into Pycos, and appeared in a blur of black inside Monocles‘ bathroom, as he was taking a bubble bath in the finest white wine. Monocles saw Eris, and snapped his fingers at his servants, clad in robes of white, who poured water out of ornate clay jars, and fed him the finest meat, cheeses, and grapes on a silver platter. The philandering despot told them to leave him to talk to Eris. Monocles

reached to his left, clutching a tall, narrow wine glass, and filled it from his bathwater. ―Some wine, my lady?‘ The greedy ruler outstretched his glass to Eris, and raised one eyebrow suggestively. ―Actually, that‘s not why I‘m here,‖ Eris replied, as she clapped her hands together, revealing a shimmering golden apple that reflected Monocles‘ chiseled face. ―I‘d like you to have this.‖ offered Eris, as she grinned slyly. Monocles outstretched his hand to receive the golden apple, and bit into it with a juicy crunch. As soon as it touched Monocles‘ taste buds, his eyes lit up, and he was dying to know what manner of heavenly sustenance it was, and it was heavenly indeed. Eris told Monocles that this was the food of the gods, and that he could find many morsels in the heavens, as she handed a pair of ornate, winged sandals to Monocles. ―Where did you get those?‖ Monocles inquired, pointing to the pair of aerodynamic foot covers. ―Let‘s just say Hermes owed me a few favors.‖ Eris replied, chuckling in a deep voice. The sun wan now at its zenith in the sky, and as Helios watched the earth from the great lofty blue, Monocles called for his chariot, driven by glorious white stallions, and departed in a flurry of hooves and dust. When the indolent hedonist had arrived at Olympus, Monocles soared up towards the tightly-knit blanket of clouds, as the wind whistled by his ears. From a glade on the mountain peak, Eris peered into her golden apple of discord, and watched Monocles‘ journey from afar, smirking, as the ravenous braggart drew nearer to the gates of Olympus. Where is it? Monocles thought, as his footsteps tapped on the floor, of the glistening silver halls on Mount Olympus, as he searched high and low for the heavenly banquet room. When Monocles finally found the room he gasped at its glory. The walls were gilded, and jeweled goblets covered the table, as a quintuple-layered white cake stood on a diamond plate. Monocles‘ mouth watered as he reached towards one of the goblets, unaware that someone was watching him. Eris, who took the form of a raven at that particular time, flapped her wings silently, and took off from her perch on a crystal chandelier. When she was a certain distance away, she reverted back into her usual form, and sprinted into the meeting hall of the Olympians. Swinging open the door, she proclaimed to Zeus, franticly, that there was an intruder among the Olympians! Zeus furrowed his brow with zealous anger, and, disappeared in a flash of lightning, flying at breakneck speed towards the banquet hall. ―Foolish mortal! What are you doing!?‖ As thunder crackled around Zeus, he loomed over Monocles, his eyes glowing bright yellow with the fury of thunder. Startled, Monocles flapped his arms, as a pilfered raspberry muffin held in his mouth fell to the ground. Curious about the commotion, Demeter wandered into the banquet hall, but her face turned to a shade of white, as she gasped, taken aback with astonishment and dismay. The sniveling sluggard fell to his knees, as he turned around to face Zeus, pleading forgiveness. ―For disturbing the sanctity of our divine realm, and tainting it with your avarice and gluttony, you shall be force-fed entrails and food scraps for eternity in Tartarus!‖ Zeus bellowed, as he raised his pulsating spear of lightning, and struck Monocles in an explosion of smoke and golden light, and the philandering king vanished, leaving only his charred bones behind. ―And You!‖ Zeus spun around to face Demeter, as a swirling belt of storm clouds gathered around her. ―For your foolishness, you will watch your gift to the mortals turn to a punishment!‖ Zeus raised his lightning bolt one more time, and at that instant, the bellies of all men, women and children on earth would feel an insatiable hunger for food and drink, till the day that they died, and all their children, to the end of time would need to eat. Blights of famine would strike the mortal world, and wars would be fought over land which could be used to grow crops. And all the while, Eris laughed at the plight of the mortal world, because it didn‘t matter. She had gotten her revenge, and her plan had come to fruition. But her insatiable, dark heart craved more discord in the universe, and it was yet to come. And since then, all men have needed to fill their bellies with food.

Sam Toews, Grade 8 On a day in the black of night, Artemis heard squealing. It was her son that had been born the day before that Hephaestus his father had named Gunnius. The day Gunnius had been born, Artemis shot a large stag which they had interpreted as a good omen for the child. Artemis had said that he would be a great hunter. Gunnius as he grew was always the best hunter. His younger brother was not. He could never make a kill and so Gunnius wished for a weapon that would take less skill and strength. In that pursuit he would spend each day hammering away in the forge of his father, designing a more powerful weapon. He had shown the plan to his brother but his brother said ―it would never work.‖ ―It will,‖ Gunnius had said. ―No it will not, you do not have the skill of our father and plus how would you propel the bullet?‖ ―It will work,‖ and with that he stormed into the forge. Gunnius‘s little brother did not see Gunnius leave the forge for two days. When Gunnius eventually came out he held a long tube of iron and on one end was a beautifully carved stock. ―That looks good‖ Gunnius‘s brother said when he saw it. ‖Does it work?‖ ―Not yet,‖ Gunnius said, ―I still need to be able to propel the projectile, I have made the barrel strong enough to withstand a small explosion but I don‘t know how to make an explosion able to propel the bullet.‖ ―I can't think of anything other than oil but I don't see that propelling the bullet yet it would just leak out of the barrel. Gunnius‘s little brother said. ―I'm thinking more of a powder based explosion,‖ Gunnius said thoughtfully. ― I think if I mix Sulfur and charcoal, but I would still need an oxidizer.‖ ―How about potassium nitrate as the oxidizer,‖ Gunnius‘s little brother thought. ―That might work, thanks‖ Gunnius said gratefully. ―I would have to figure out the proportions.‖ With that he walked back into the forge to make this powder that would exploded. When he eventually came out his clothes were black with charcoal and his hair was charred. He sought out his little brother to tell him of the development. ―I have finished the powder I think I will call it gunpowder.‖ Gunnius said. ―I think you should call it black powder,‖ Gunnius‘s brother responded . 58

―I made it so it is called gunpowder,‖ Gunnius said with a hint of anger in his voice. ―Ok fine, have you tried it yet?‖ Gunnius‘s brother said anxiously. ―I have not tried it yet‖ Gunnius said. ―Can we?‖ Gunnius‘s brother said his excitement growing. ―Sure,‖ said Gunnius and he and his brother walked away in to the woods. They stopped in a clearing. ―This should be a good spot‖ Gunnies said and walked to the edge of the clearing to set up a target. Gunnius walked back to his brother and took the weapon from him. At the edge of the clearing, he had placed a brass shield. Gunnius poured his gun powder down the barrel then jammed the bullet down the barrel. He lit the fuse on the hammer and pulled the trigger. The gun exploded! The brothers had never heard such a sound so loud, that it would surely be heard on Mount Olympus. When the smoke cleared, the gun was intact and the shield had fallen over. Gunnius and his brother walked over to inspect the shield. There was a hole torn right through the middle of the shield. Gunnies laid down the gun in awe it had torn through the shield like it was butter. Not even the strongest arrow could penetrate it. ―I shall call this mighty weapon a gun!‖ Gunnius exclaimed. This time his brother did not reply. He was dumbfounded by the gun. They both decided that it was for the best that they did not share their invention with the mortals, until they were ready. 59

Kai Yadav, Grade 8 One day, a baby was placed by a nymph in a hidden glade inside a forest. However, this was no ordinary baby, this was the daughter of Zeus. The nymph placed the baby on a leaf, to live in the middle of the glade. One day, Hermes; The Messenger God, was flying over the forest and spotted the glade with the baby in it. Upon landing in the glade, he felt a strong wind flow through the glade. Then, he saw the baby and understood why the wind was here. He realised that the baby was the one summoning the wind. He named the baby Anemoi, after the greek word for wind. The glade was large, and surrounded by trees. The glade had a pond in a corner, sitting by itself. After finding the glade with the abandoned infant, Hermes came back every day to give the baby food, water and to care for it, he raised it like his own. As the forgotten child grew, her control of her powers grew too. The well-rounded goddess found tricks and things to do with her powers. Anemoi learned about the world around her, by being brought things from around the world from Hermes. Anemoi began knowing what she did and did not like. For example, there was a pond in the corner of the glade. Although it was small, Anemoi found an interest in swimming. Anemoi was not very good at it, but she still liked it. The agile swimmer liked swimming because it made her feel like she was floating, but still on the ground. The once abandoned glade dweller liked swimming, because she could still control the wind, while not having to float or fly. She felt like she could just be, not having to use her legs to hold her up, or use her wind powers to make her float. Also, she found a way to move while flying using the wind to propel her. The god-like wind summoner was very good at flying, and learned quickly too. On the other hand, Anemoi learned quickly that she did not like enclosed spaces at all. Since wind could not blow in an enclosed area, this made her very scared and uncomfortable. One summer morning, when Hermes came with things for her to eat, the independent hermit asked her guardian who her real parents were. Hermes sighed, then sat down to explain Anemoiâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s heritage to her. Hermes explained that she was the offspring of Zeus, the god of Lightning, and a nymph. However, the nymph was the one who placed her in the glade one day, many years ago. Anemoi then asked where her father lived, and she was told: Olympus. Immediately, Anemoi summoned a tornado to take her up to Olympus. Upon arriving in the city of the gods, she was amazed by the stunning sight of it. She had never seen anything as beautiful as Olympus, as she had lived in the glade for her entire life. There was many bright lights, everything was coloured white, and all of the buildings were made of marble. Nowhere was there a speck of dirt to be seen. With houses, surrounding a large set of stairs, leading to a large gold, and white building, with pillars, and designs all along the sides. Finally, she found the hall where all of the Olympians gathered. In the hall, there were huge chairs, where giant people sat. Although, these were no ordinary people. These were Olympians. Each were different gods. And in the center was the king god. Zeus, the god of Lightning. Zeus saw the young goddess, and was amazed that the long lost child has survived, and found him once again. Awarded for her bravery, Zeus granted Anemoi to be an Olympian, and apologized for abandoning the child at birth. 60

Scorpion Nathan Archibald, Grade 9 A young man sat quietly in his large chair, with nothing to do. Being new to town, he had not met anyone. Sitting there staring out the window he felt lonely. The man decided to go for a walk. Excitedly, he gathered a water bottle, a backpack, a tent and some food. He headed out on his journey. The sun was beginning to set. Bill knew that he could not be out that long because it was going to be dark soon. Bill had wanted to go on a hike for a long time. He had noticed a large sandy mountain that he had wanted to climb. Now, this was his opportunity. He climbed up the hill. It was a lot bigger than he had imagined. Out of breath, he finally reached the top. The sun was just beginning to set. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Blues, purples, whites, yellows and oranges blended together as though they were mixed on a painter‘s pallet. The lanky, spear-like body of the saguaro cactus reached to the sky. The smaller cactus was bright and glowed with a neon glow. From a distance, the smaller cacti looked like dandelions. The sand felt cool under Bill‘s feet, because of this he knew that it would be dark soon. He paused a moment, and took one last look around before he headed back to his camp site. Walking back, Bill had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He could barely see his hand in front of his face because it had gotten so dark, so quickly. ―What was that?‖ Bill saw movement in the distance. Cautiously, he walked over. Slowly, a small black creature climbed out of the sand. After a close look, Bill realized it was an emperor scorpion. Frightened, he jumped back. It looked as though the scorpion was coming after him. Bill frantically looked around the area for something he could use to kill the scorpion. A large stick was the first thing he found. Right away Bill killed the scorpion. ―Well, I guess I have something to eat tonight‖ After his scare in the woods, Bill finally arrived at his camp site. He began looking around the area for wood he could use for a fire. Bill managed to find enough wood to last him the night. He started a fire, and cooked up his scorpion dinner. Bill‘s stomach was full. Now he was ready to set up his tent. He started hammering the nails to secure the tent. When hammering the last nail, he hit a small box. Bill dug the small box out of the sand to see what it was. He opened it and small knife and a note that said, ―If you are reading this you must leave this area now! It‘s haunted by the evil scorpions!‖ The man yelled, ―No! I will not leave this area!‖ The night passed on and Bill slept great! In the morning Bill slowly woke up, but he was not able to see anything it was all just a blurry mess. After having a cup of coffee Bill was able to see again, he looked at the ground for another scorpion to eat for breakfast; instead he saw all the sand moving around him. As Bill was cooking the small scorpion for breakfast, he looked out into the distance and sees a small movement in the ground. Bill watched it as it kept getting closer, it was heading toward his camp site. It took it a good five minutes to get to the campsite, the man looked closer and realized that it was a scorpion! In a panic Bill grabbed his knife and was ready for a big fight. 61

Friendship and the Jewels That Come Along Within it Annette Berry, Grade 9 Friendships are jewels: dazzling, brilliant, beautiful each with a separate shiny, unique side. We all treasure friendships and the jewels that come along within it. Friendships are necessary in our lives, you can chose to focus on the bumps and rough edges or you can embrace the imperfections. Once you have gone through these tough times

Friendship

a stronger gem will shine.

Help in our in daily lives, They give you great vibes. They help keep you busy, With no misery. They are there for you in tough times With joyful chimes,

Friendships are essential They give you potential They recognize your differential Whenever you have a tough day Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t get too carried away Because friendships let you rant your day away.

Boundless Bram Bouma, Grade 9 Story is difference Seeing from the outside Seeing from all sides Seeing unlike normal Feeling unlike normal Makes un-normal normal Chaos the definition of calm Calm the definition of boring Excitement unconditional Unlimited Boundless

Art Kemarr Bishop, Grade 9 The most plain or simple things can be art on the wall. Different ways of looking at things. Many eyes of different visions. Changes what you think. It makes people wonder and ask questions.

Skiing Jack Conquergood, Grade 9 You stand looking downwards the sun glares as the breeze blows The poles stand freely like your delicate mind and soul Your eyes close as the world stops the thrill slowly seeps through your body You click into your skis stepping in foot by foot the sound makes your body dance with excitement you pick up your poles hit them together ready to go fast as thunder Up down through the moguls left right through the trees fast as thunder go go go

The Beast:

A Spoken Word Poem Aneisha Gardiner,Grade 9

Two bloodthirsty hunters came to the town one day. They went after her. I tried to stop them, but with gold on their minds they went. What happens if you miss? They shoot two arrows, she cries out for the pain to stop. The beast runs. How do you find a beast? You follow it, Until it stops, you talk her down. You try and try for her to help. But the beast doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t think before it acts. She forgets. That you are here for her, you get close. Then she goes after you, with words as sharp as bear claws. You realize that theres nothing you can do at this point. You join with the hunters. How do you kill a beast? An arrow right to the heart, three arrows shoot through the black of night. The beast stands in the dark waiting for you to come and save her. You will not be her shield, so you can feel the pain of the arrows and she can walk away unharmed. Not this time. The beast is dead. 65

Killer Robots Attack Amy Heise, Grade 9 ―When is Ms. Hoehn coming back?‖ asked Gannon. ―She‘s been gone for, like, ages!‖ ―I had better go look for her,‖ sighed Olivia. ―I really need her to help me plan my tale with a twist. Where is she, anyway?‖ ―I think she went to Mr. Paz‘s room for some reason,‖ mumbled Amy, barely looking up from her work. ―Here at Rundle Academy junior/ senior high school, teachers trust their student well enough to leave the classroom.‖ Olivia wandered off to go and locate Ms. Hoehn, while the rest of the class patiently waited for them to return. That is, the rest of class except for one. Penn wasn‘t patiently waiting for them to return because he had not come to school that day. ―Where do you guys think Penn is?‖ Isaac wondered out loud. ―Ms. Hoehn said that he‘s sick,‖ replied Amy. ―He‘s probably just playing video-games!‖ grumbled Nathan Retzer. All of a sudden, Olivia burst into the room. ―GUYS!!!‖ she yelled. ―EVERYONE IS ASLEEP!!!!‖ Everyone paused for a minute. ―Can you repeat that please?‖ requested Amy. Olivia started again. ―All of the other classes and the teachers have fallen asleep. I tried to wake them up, but I couldn't. I‘ll show you.‖ Everyone followed Olivia out of the classroom. When they got to Mrs. Kopp‘s classroom, everyone was fast asleep. In fact, it seemed that the air itself was filled with sleep. Olivia tried to wake Mrs.Kopp. She didn‘t even move. What could have possibly happened to all of them? she thought. ―They‘re breathing, so they must be alive,‖ reasoned Adam. ―I looked In Mrs. Goepen-Wee‘s room and Mr.Paz‘s room,‖ Olivia told them all. ―It‘s like this everywhere.‖ ―We have to call 911,‖ decided Adam. In the blink of an eye he grabbed his phone out of his binder and immediately called the emergency number. ―That‘s odd,‖ Adam said quizzically. ―It‘s not working.‖ He tried again. It still did not work. ―Perhaps you should try the classroom phone,‖ suggested Olivia. What do we do if that doesn’t work? she thought. After Adam had tried the classroom phone and everyone had tried their phones and tried using their computers, it was eventually determined that technology no longer functioned. ―What do we do now?‖ asked Nathan Archibald. ―I think we should watch the UFO landing,‖ responded Adam. ―Adam, this isn‘t a time for jokes!‖ snapped Olivia. ―Adam is correct,‖ began Amy. ―Look out the window.‖ All of a sudden, everyone looked toward the window at the parking lot. Hovering, about two and a half metres above the ground was a large, saucer-like, perfectly round, reflective disk, as if it had flown directly out of a sci-fi movie. The disk was about ten metres in diameter, and three meters tall, large enough for giants to play ultimate frisbee with. The mirror-like giant frisbee slowly rotated clockwise, although it made no sound. Everyone watched in awe as a hatch open up on the bottom of the Unidentified Flying Object. Tall steps, which appeared to be glass, popped out of the round hatch. All the students in Ms. Hoehn‘s class held their breath, each one predicting what would happen next. Just as they had predicted, something came out of the ship. However, it was not a carbon-based life form, as most of the class had expected. Instead, the thing that came out of the spaceship was more robot-like. It was human in shape, but much larger, Made entirely out of grey metal. It‘s eyes glowed bright red, and they appeared to be sensors. It was carrying a gun and covered in what appeared to be armor, and it didn‘t look friendly. Once the armored stranger reached the ground, several others followed it. Soon, the entire parking lot was filled with an army of killer-alien-robots. ―We need to leave now!‖ Amy said in a loud whisper. ―Before they see us!‖ Everyone ran out the room, down the stairs and to the staff parking lot door. Olivia was the first one to the door, and threw it open with the force of a thousand stampeding horses. What Olivia saw when she opened the door was worse than she expected. Outside in the staff parking lot was a UFO exactly like the one in the junior high/senior high parking lot. Outside the UFO were robots exactly like the robots they had seen. Fortunately, none of them saw her. She closed the door as fast as she had opened it, only much, much, quieter. When she told the others what she had seen, they were very concerned. ―What do we do now?‖ asked Nathan Archibald. ―They have the school surrounded.‖ Ryan pointed out. ―Do we know for sure that they‘re unfriendly?‖ questioned Amy. ―I mean, they could just be-‖ Amy was interrupted by a loud mechanical voice, which seemed to come from one of the robots in the staff parking lot. To everyone‘s surprise, the robot spoke English. ―Attention fellow robots,‖ the voice bellowed. ―Our orders are to surround and secure both schools, to kill anyone who has not fallen asleep yet, and to ensure that no one escapes. We have to follow these orders carefully. They

come directly from the top. If you insist on knowing how close to the top I am talking about to, these orders come directly from Turdle-Bacon.‖ ―Okay,‖ Amy broke the silence among her classmates. ―If there was any doubt that they were unfriendly before, there certainly isn‘t any now. Anyway, I don‘t like the sound of their leader, Turdle-Bacon‖ stated Amy. ―He sounds like someone I know.‖ ―What do we do now?‖ asked Nathan Archibald. Olivia thought fast, deciding on the safest place for them to hide. It can’t have windows, and we have to be out of view from the door, she thought. ―To the science lab!‖ Olivia ordered. The all ran bullet speed to the science lab, threw open the door, and closed it behind them. Olivia lead them over to the far side of the science lab, where the sinks and cupboards were. That way Ms. Hoehn‘s class wouldn‘t be seen from the door. ―Everyone should pretend to sleep,‖ suggested Amy. ―However, that will not be a long term solution. The robots will figure out that we are not under the control of what they called an aura, and then they may kill us.‖ ―We don‘t even know what they plan to do with everyone who is under the control of the aura,‖ added Adam. ―Anyway, I have an idea. We should send three stealthy people to investigate possible escape routes, and to gather information on the robots defences. That way we can find a way out, without the robots discovering us.‖ ―I like that plan,‖ Olivia approved. ―I think the investigators should be myself, Adam, and Amy.‖ ―While you do that, we will set things up so we can defend against the robots if we are discovered,‖ explained Gannon. After they had planed who was doing what, Olivia led Adam and Amy through the school. Every time she heard a noise, she thought Oh no, it could be a robot! However, the trio successfully made it to the bottom of the stairs nearest to Mr. Vesey‘s classroom. For those of you who don‘t know, this set of stairs is less than ten steps away from the science lab, where the trio had come from. ―We should split up,‖ advised Adam. ―That way we‘d cover more ground in less time.‖ ―Isn‘t splitting up usually how people get killed in horror movies?‖ asked Amy. ―On second thought,‖ Adam recalculated. ―We should probable stay together.‖ The team slowly and carefully made their way to the bottom of the main stairway, in between the two lunchrooms. As a group, they made their way up the stairs. Olivia reached the top of the stairs first. She turned around and signalled Amy and Adam that it was safe. When Amy crept to the top of the stairs, something unusual and terrifying happened. An alarm went off. It was incredible loud, filling the air with an ear splitting beeping noise. BEEP!!! BEEP!!! BEEP!!! Amy looked down at her feet. Stretched across the top of the stairs was an electric tripwire that none of them had seen. Olivia had stepped over it without noticing, but Amy had not been so lucky. ―Run!‖ shouted Amy. ―Run and hide! The robots don‘t know there‘s more than one of us. I‘ll stay here so they won‘t look for you.‖ ―They‘ll kill you!‖ shouted Olivia. She’s being ridiculous! thought Olivia. ―Otherwise they might kill us all. Please, please run,‖ Amy pleaded. ―I can keep their attention long enough for them not to realize the rest of you were with me. ― ―Amy, you can‘t just get killed! There has to be another way!‖ Adam protested. ―I promise Adam, I will do everything in my power not to die, after the robots see that I am alone, unless it puts the rest of you in danger.‖ If I don’t run, Amy won’t either. Then we’d both die. If I do run, Amy will die anyway. If I try to make Amy move, I would be so slow that we would both die. But there aren’t any other options, Adam thought. There is only one thing I can do to save someone's life, but I cannot prevent Amy’s death. She won’t take no for an answer, thought Olivia. If we don’t run, all of us could die. This time, Amy has to have her way. Olivia took off running toward the junior high ELA classrooms, and as she did she could see Adam running down the stairs. Good, he’ll live, she thought. Olivia wasted no time and hid in the first supply closet she saw. Luckily for Olivia, no robots had seen her. While Olivia hid, Adam zoomed down the stairs and to the junior high lunch room, hiding in a locker that had been left unlocked. From both of their hiding places, Olivia and Adam could hear the sound of weapons firing, feet running, glass breaking, the alarm that wouldn‘t stop beeping, and robots yelling in their mechanical voices. Then, suddenly, louder than all the other noises, was a horrifying sound. It was a scream, the type of scream that could wake the dead. It was so loud, and so high pitched, that Adam and Olivia had to cover their ears. The scream was pure death, an undiluted liquid coating everything in its path. Amy had made that scream. She was dead. Adam and Olivia were sure of that. Whatever weapon the robots had used to kill her, it was certainly very unpleasant to die by. After what seemed like hours, all the noises Adam heard from the locker had disappeared. Ever so slowly, he opened the door just wide enough to see out of. There were no robots in sight. In fact, there was nothing out of the ordinary in sight except for broken glass and blood. Lots and lots of blood. Adam walked toward the broken window and the blood with an awful feeling of sickly dread. The blood had pooled in one spot near the broken window. Something was floating in the pool. Adam knew what it was immediately. It’s

her shoe, he thought. All that is left is her shoe and a pool of blood. Adam stood very still for a few minutes reflecting on the situation. Where is Olivia? Should I go and look for her? Who is Turdle-Bacon and what does he want? Adam felt somewhat ill, so he decided it would be best and safest to simply return to the science lab and wait for her to do the same. Back in the science lab, things were going relatively well in comparison. No robots had showed up to search, the door was blocked, and all the students had been pretending to sleep for what had seemed to be a very long time when they had heard an alarm and then the blood curdling scream. Everyone had sat up immediately and huddled in the center of the room. After many minutes had passed, Ms. Hoehn‘s class heard a knock at the science lab door. They jumped. There was another knock. ―Guys, it‘s me!‖ whispered Adam. Gannon raced to answer the door. He moved the chairs out of the way, and in stepped Adam, out of breath and ghostly pale. The students bombarded him with questions, but Adam walked to the other side of the lab and sat down without saying a word. ―Adam, what happened?‖ Nathan Retzer asked with concern. ―Amy‘s dead,‖ Adam whaled. ―No!‖ exclaimed Gannon with overwhelming expression. ―How?‖ ―The robots,‖ Adam mumbled. ―When they came Amy wanted them to think that she was the only one awake. She tried to prevent them from finding Olivia, the rest of you, and I. I sure hope she succeeded.‖ Several seconds of sad silence passed as the group took in the information. Once again, Nathan asked his favorite question. ―What do we do now?‖ Everyone glared at him. Olivia wandered the hallways upstairs wondering what to do with herself. Many of the questions that ran through her head were very similar to the questions that had ran through Adams head after he had seen the shoe in the blood. Olivia hadn‘t the faintest idea where Adam was. She reached the decision that she would have to continue on with the original mission. Olivia was turning toward the high school hallway when she heard voices coming from Ms. Prest's classroom. ―Master Turdle-bacon, are you completely sure that Amy was alone when you shot her?,‖ a voice that clearly belonged to a robot asked, unsure. Turdle-bacon, thought Olivia. He’s here, and he knows Amy’s name. She creeped toward Ms. Prest‘s door, determined to find out who the mystery villain was. When she was right next to the entrance, a human voice spoke. ―Yes, I am completely sure that she died alone. I suppose I should have known that Amy would not fall asleep so easily. She is my arch-nemesis, after all,‖ the voice announced. Olivia‘s blood ran cold. She knew who that voice belonged to. Olivia would have recognised it anywhere. Penn. Turdle-Bacon was Penn. Why?How? thought Olivia. This doesn’t make any sense! Penn wouldn’t do this, would he? Wait a minute, wasn’t Turdle-Bacon the one who gave orders to kill anyone who hadn’t fallen asleep? That can only mean one thing. Penn is responsible for Amy’s death. With rage, and not a lot of planning, Olivia flew into the room. ―How could you do such a thing?!!‖ she screamed at Penn who was sitting in the teachers chair. He stood up and pulled what appeared to be a gun out of a holster on his belt. Although Olivia didn‘t have much time to think before she acted, she did notice a few things. First of all, Penn was still wearing his school uniform, which she found odd. Also, the gun looked like a smaller version of the type that the

robots carried. It looked like a combination of several guns from various video games. Lastly, and probably the most important, was the fact that Penn hadn‘t shot her yet. ―Olivia!‖ shouted Penn in a sinister voice. The robot in the room blocked the door, preventing Olivia‘s escape. ―Don‘t you know what happens when you are shot with this weapon? If you did, you would surely think twice about attacking someone with one.‖ ―What does it do?‖ Olivia inquired, although she didn‘t really want to know. ―First, all of your blood drains out.‖ smiled Penn. ―Then it vaporizes whatever is left over.‖ Penn held up the gun and pointed it directly at her. At the same time that Pen pulled the trigger, Olivia dived to the ground. Time itself seemed to slow down as the bullet went through the door. Olivia rolled toward Penn, grabbing his ankles and pulling his feet out from under him. As Penn fell face first to the floor, Olivia snatched the blood-draining, body-vaporizing weapon from him. She leaped on top of him, holding him to the floor and pointing the weapon at his head. Lifting Penn to his feet, she continued to point the weapon at his head as she held him in front of her like a shield. Olivia looked at the robots who had just arrived and the one who had been there before. ―Drop your weapons and leave, or I‘ll shoot him!!‖ she yelled. All the robots dropped their weapons and scurried out of the room. Olivia turned her attention to Penn. ―Please don‘t shoot,‖ said Penn in a very calm voice, especially considering that someone had a gun pointed at his head. ―Do you really expect me to negotiate with a murderer!!!‖ screamed Olivia. ―Murderer?‖asked Penn. ―I am fairly certain that I do not fit that term.‖ ―You killed Amy!‖ shouted Olivia. ―What did she ever do to you?‖ ―Well nothing, really. But don‘t take things so seriously. It‘s only a video game,‖ shrugged Penn. Olivia spun him around so she could see his face. She could tell immediately that Penn wasn‘t lying. He really thought that he was playing a video game. ―Penn,‖ she whispered. ―This isn‘t a video game. It‘s real life. I mean that.‖ ―It...it is?‖ asked Penn. Olivia slapped him in the face. ―OW!‖ ―If this was a video game, would that have hurt?‖ Olivia questioned. ―I guess not,‖ answered Penn, sounding rather concerned. ―I guess I must have got something mixed up. Maybe it‘s because I play so many video games. I really thought I was creating and using an army in a game, not in real life. You‘re...you‘re telling the truth aren't you? ―Yes,‖ insisted Olivia. Penn looked her in the eyes, and seemed to be searching for something. He was trying to make sure he wasn‘t being deceived. Finally he stepped back, gasping. ―You are telling the truth!‖ Penn gasped. ―Is...is Amy really dead? In real life? And... and I am responsible?‖ ―Yes,‖ whispered Olivia. ―No!‖ shrieked Penn. ―What have I done?‖ He backed up against the wall, and broke down in tears. ―No,‖ he sobbed. ―No.‖ Penn slid down the wall, to the floor, and rested his head on his knees. Olivia waked to the other side of the room and sat down next to Penn, placing her comforting hand on his shoulder. The whole school was silent except for the sound of quite, smothered, sobbing. Penn lifted up his head enough to look at Olivia. ―I‘m r-really sorry for the d-ddamaged I have caused,‖ he sniffled, as tears continued to stream down his face. ―But I don‘t think...I don‘t think that anyone can forgive me.‖ ―I can,‖ Olvia assured. ―I can forgive you.‖ When Penn had calmed down, Olivia began to deal with more practical matters. ―Can you destroy the robots?‖ She asked Penn. Penn took a sort of spherical device out of his pocket. He pressed a series of buttons, and scanned his eye and his fingerprint. ―The robots won‘t bother us anymore, but it might take a while for everyone to wake up. The aura takes a while to shut off,‖ he mumbled. ―The aura didn‘t work in Ms. Hoehn‘s room or the science lab. Why was that?‖ asked Olivia. ―I may have forgotten to put the device in Mrs. Hoehn‘s room, because I didn‘t know that it hadn‘t worked until now. As for the science lab, it‘s probably because of all the chemicals and stuff,‖ explained Penn. Olivia explained to Penn the entire story of how the class had stayed hidden, and Penn talked about how he had built the robots. I would love to tell you more about the robots, but it is a rather long story, and this tale is rather lengthy as it is. ―We should go and find the rest of Ms. Hoehn‘s class while everyone is still asleep,‖ suggested Penn. ―Then we can all deal with this together.‖ And in time, all of the problems were dealt with. All of the robots were disposed of. Amy‘s funeral was nice and everyone said that she would have liked it. Eventually, things went back to being mostly normal, but it took a very long time. Everyone remembered how Amy had died, and no one looked at that spot on the lunchroom floor the same way again. Penn got all the help he needed, and he was able to regain control of his sanity again. As far as I know, no one has ever mistook life for a violent video game again.

Business Letter Ryan Holan, Grade 9 23 Jordan Street Montreal PQ J2R 3A4 December 24, 1908 Jacques Bernard Foreman, Provincial Milk Company 23 Lebron Ave Montreal PQ R3S P3T Dear Mr. Bernard: Hi my name is Humeed. I have been a long term customer of Pierre Gold. I am writing to say that I would like to give Pierre a huge thank you for delivering milk every day. Now he has passed away. I have been a happy customer for about 33 years now and he never missed a day. It was an absolute pleasure to have him delivering milk to me and it is devastating for us to lose him.

Pierre was so good at his job because he never ever missed a day on the job. He was always on time and never late for his job. He also had a strong relationship with his horse named Joseph.They always shared secrets, best friends. Why? Because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ve been doing it for 30+ years. He also did it so long that when the kids were small, he watched him grow up.

I would like to suggest for you guys to put Pierre and Joseph on your milk bottles to recognize his devastating passing. I would like this because I want people to remember how great he was, also he worked really hard to make the people happy. But letâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s not forget the great man that delivered milk and watch the parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; kids grow up.

I thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any more questions please drop by and we can talk, but also I can be reached at 543-282-3665.

Sincerely,

Mr. Humeed

Paper Scratches Emma Jacob, Grade 9

A lead forced upon unscathed parchment, A score of dark in a sea of white. Chicken scratches embedded in the creamy surface below, Intricate lines connecting at invisible angles. Two youth appear in the hasty marks, A boy and girl in a different perspective.

A dress and cloak fashioned in dashes that flow, With an equal share of happiness presented. A mental mass of stress released, A personalized image for only one.

Two Friendship Metaphors Keegan Janzen, Grade 9

Friendship sounds like a songbird in the morning The soft chirps that make you feel calm All the birds sing in harmony All in tune all together.

Friendship is not only a word Friendship is a powerful connection to another person Smaller than a couple yet just as strong A strong bond between people Friendship gives you someone you can always talk to. 72

Shadow Olivia Leaver, Grade 9 I look around, there‘s green smoke all around me, like its circling me and creeping closer and closer to me until it swallows me. All I can do is wait for it to get to me and I‘m deep in a sea of green smoke. I can‘t see a thing. It‘s like having really blurry vision, as if I were opening my eyes in mucky green water. I start walking until I hear a crackle under my feet. I look down at my feet and I am standing on a white grey thing. I can‘t quite see it, but my muscles are so stiff that I can‘t crouch down to see what it is. I continue walking, my feet are getting heavy as if I were walking for years. I hear a noise that sounds like footsteps walking. The snapping sound of twigs breaking underneath someone‘s feet, I get scared and freeze. What is that I think? My body is cold and shaky. I stand there and hope it walks past me, I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. It‘s silent. The footsteps stop and all I can hear now is myself breathing heavily out of my mouth. I continue walking. My foot gets stuck under something. I stumble a little, but I catch myself before hitting the ground. I turn around, my heart is racing. I am paralyzed. I slowly start walking backwards and once the gray thing is out of my sight I turn around and start running as fast as I can. I trip and fall to my face and in front of me, suspended from a tree, is a collection of ash dusted human remains. The gray face has dirt spots all over it, it has empty black eye sockets and heart shaped holes where it‘s nose should be. The mouth is wide open as if the face was screaming and the teeth are boney and white. ―A skeleton!‖ I whisper in awe. I slowly crawl away from it but bump into another one. I can‘t escape, they‘re all around me. I can‘t escape without stepping on them, so I slowly get to my feet and drive on my tippy toes walking, trying to put my foot where the empty holes of dirt are. When I‘m tiptoeing, I look like I‘m doing some sort of rain dance. I start thinking about what I look like and laugh a little bit, but then my mood is ruined when I hear a noise. It‘s the same noise I‘ve heard before. It is the same sound I heard not more than three hours ago It‘s the sound of the footsteps on the twigs but, this time it‘s not twigs its bones. I suddenly stop and drop to the ground and cautiously army crawl over towards a tree and carefully cover myself with the skeleton trying not to make any noise. I see the thing walk by, but it‘s too dark to see. It‘s night now, but I can see the shape of it. It is walking with a limp and it‘s hunched over. I can see its sharp pointed spine, its fingers are long and rounded and its face is long and narrow. It‘s out of my sight now, but I wait ten minutes before I get up, just in case it comes back. It‘s about midnight now. I get sleepy and almost fall to my face. I need to find a place to sleep. I think. I look around, I don‘t want to sleep on the bones and I don‘t want to sleep anywhere where that thing can get me. I look up at the sky through the trees and think, wow it‘s so beautiful. I stare and focus my eyes on the trees. The trees! I think, I’ll sleep in the trees like Katniss Everdeen. I remember reading that book, but I don‘t remember when, now that I think about it I don‘t remember a lot. I don‘t remember what I look like, how old I am, or even my own name! Everything is a blur in my memory like my whole life is gone. I try to think and remember, but I can‘t. How do you try to remember something when you don‘t even know who you are? I think about it more and more, asking myself questions that I don‘t have the answer to and then I realize it‘s bright out, I didn‘t sleep at all. ―Hello!! Hello!‖ someone, something is shouting. I feel like saying something back but I‘m afraid it won‘t be a person. What if it‘s that thing I saw last night, but what if it‘s an adult that can help me? I have to take that chance, but I also have to be cautious so I jump down from the tree and sprint to the noise. I stop to look around, wheezing. ―HHEELLLLOO!‖ I hear again, I force myself to start running again. I stop running once I see the thing yelling. I stare at the thing to analyze what it is. It‘s a man! He has long brown hair that looks like it could be a long shadowy face. He is hunched over and you can see the bones of his spine. He has long round fingers. And then it hits me; the shadow. It was him all along. When I see his face it looks familiar to me and I think he looks more like a youth rather than an adult like he could be 16. I focus my eyes on his face and I know.

―Caleb?‖ I whisper. I remember! Caleb. He‘s my brother and he‘s 16 years old; one and a half years older than I am, and my name is Annabelle. I have long thick light brown highlighted hair. I don‘t remember much but I remember my family. The last memory I have with my family is when I was five. My brother and I were playing with these toy planes, we were crashing them into bridges and saying ―ka-boom‖ every time it hit the bridge. I remember the yells of our parents telling us to stop because it was violent and we would break them. ―Caleb? Caleb!‖ I shout with joy. I sprint over to him and give a big hug. ―Annabelle?‖ he whispers in my ear. He pushes me away to look at me as if he were making sure I was actually there, to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. ―Are you really here?‖ He smiles at me. ―Yeah…yes, I‘m really here,‖ I say shakily and surprised. I smile back and he gives me another hug. We stand there hugging for what seems like forever. ―Where are we?‖ He says pushing away from our long hug and looking at the green smoke hugging the ground. ―I have no idea?‖ I said, my voice sounds uneasy. ―What do we do?‖ ―Let‘s look for mom and dad,‖ he insisted. I nodded in agreement. He looked at me as if to ask which way to go. I lead the way to the right into the forest. We walk for a while in silence. I say nothing. I can‘t think of anything to say. I‘m waiting for him to say something. Please say something. It‘s really awkward, please say something, say something. ―So… what do you think happened?‖ Ugh, finally, he speaks. ―Like how we got here,‖ he adds. ―You don‘t know?‖ I asked. He shakes his head and looks at me for an answer. ―I don‘t know,‖ I say shaking my head, ― I don‘t remember a lot.‖ ―Well, what do you remember?‖ He asks. ―Once I saw you, the last thing I remember was mom, dad, you and me watching the Ohio State vs Michigan football game, and Ohio State just won. The players were so happy, they all ran on the field, spread their arms out and ran around in circles. We thought it was really funny so we got up and did it.‖ I laugh, ―I even think we got mom and dad to get up and do it too! We were probably around 13 and 14 years old.‖ I smile and look up at Caleb who smiles at the ground like he remembers. SNAP! A branch falls from the tree and lands at our feet, then a few seconds later a rectangular shaped

74 Elisabeth Faircloth-Nunn, Grade 8

box follows the branch. Caleb and I glance at each other like we‘re on the same page, open the box. I bend down to open the box, the box is not wooden and it‘s soft. It has several tears and rips in it, probably from the fall I think. It is brown and has several pockets in the front, I unzipped the soft box and there‘s a shirt. I look at Caleb, puzzled. I‘m looking up at him, and past his head is more clothes. I rub my eyes to make sure my I‘m not just hallucinating. I‘m not, I‘m shocked, there are actually clothes in the trees. I let out a big sigh in relief. I stand up and point at the clothes in the trees. ―What do you think happened?‖ I ask. ―Why would people leave their stuff behind? What if something really bad happened?‖ I imagine the worst and quiver in fear. ―Stop thinking about that!‖ he shouts at me. ―What do you think happened, everyone died or moved away?! What are you thinking! We have to stay positive. So stop thinking about that, I don‘t want to think about that!‖ He walks past me, as he‘s walking away I grab his wrist. ―We have to talk about! We can‘t just not think about it!‖ I argue, he turns and faces me, his eyes are filled with anger and disagreement. ―Why not,‖ he croaked. He yanked his wrist away from my grasp and walks away. I roll my eyes and run to catch up to him. ―Because Caleb, if we don‘t figure out what happened we could end up dead! If these people left then they left for a reason, and I‘m guessing the reason is so they wouldn‘t die. Why can‘t you see that?‖ I ask him. He‘s has a straight face on, he won‘t even look at me or talk to me. I can tell if he‘s giving me the silent treatment. He only does that when he‘s mad at me. ―Wow, fine, give me the silent treatment, but you need to open your eyes and see what‘s right in front you.‖ We continue walking in silence. We have been walking in silence for an hour. ― Are you still not talking to me?‖ I look at him, he just rolls his eyes and keeps on walking. Well at least I know he’s paying attention, I think. I turn away from him and look to the side. My eyes wide there‘s a big field and in the field there are big metal pieces. ―Caleb!‖ I shout, ― Caleb, Come look at this.‖ He‘s still ignoring me. ―Ugh,‖ I grunt. I walk past the trees, bushes and go check it out. I run out to the big white metal piece. On the side of the metal piece. It says United, I wonder what that means or stands for. ―Annebelle! Annabelle where are you!‖ He sounds worried. I smile. Aww, he does care, I think giggling a little. ―I‘m over here!‖ I yell back. He runs over and I can see his head peeking out of the bushes, his eyes fixed on me not even the huge thing behind me. He walks towards me stomping his feet in anger. ―What are you doing!‖ he yells at me. He is frustrated. His eyes are glued to mine. I curve the corner of my mouth, trying so hard to keep from smiling, but I can‘t. It‘s too hard. I let out a little giggle. ―What are you laughing at!‖ He grabs my arm and squeezes it tight. ―Ow!‖ It hurts, and suddenly it‘s not funny anymore. ―Look up‖ I manage to force the words out. He looks up and lets go of my arm, it feels good once he lets go. I rub my arm and he looks at me, his eyes like puppies when they beg. ―I‘m sorry,‖ he says putting his head down at the word ‗sorry‘. ―It‘s ok.‖ I sit cross legged and look up at him so he could see me. I stand up and give him a hug, it takes him a moment, but then he hugs me back. We both pull away from the hug, ― What do you think this is?‖ I ask. ―I think it‘s an airplane,‖ he replies, ―C'mon lets go check it out.‖ I nod my head in approval and we walk into the airplane and look around the seats are grey and ripped. There are air masks hanging out from the short ceiling in front of the seats. What happened? I think and then it hits me, it crashed that‘s why it‘s slanted on it‘s side and it‘s less than half way in the ground. We keep on walking looking in each row. Row after row we see nothing but emptiness. This is useless, I think. I jerk my head backwards and something flashes in my eyes. I try to look and see what it is but I can‘t quite see it because the sun is reflecting off of it. I walk closer to the object and pick it up. It‘s a locket, I open it up and it‘s a picture of a man and a women. It‘s my parents! My eyes wide. Caleb is shaking me and asking me what‘s wrong, but I just stand there in shock. Suddenly I remember. ―We were in this plane crash...‖ 75

An Open Letter to Hair Dye Oliver A.X. Petti, Grade 9

Dear Boxed Hair Dye People, I appreciate your pricing (#threedollarsattarget). Your boxes of dye are an affordable way for little britches like me to chemically alter my hair and I thank you for that. What I don't care for are the bare minimum efforts names you come up with for your products. You can do better. For example: ―Jet Black‖ ? Come on. A better choice would be ―Jet Li Black”. It's action packed hair excitement for the whole family. ―Brown-black‖ is boring. ―Machete Brown” is much more Hollywood. Can you hear the comments? 'I love your hair! You look just like Danny Trejo!' ―Auburn?‖ So boring. How about just calling it Burn! Way more dramatic. Sales will skyrocket. What about Platinum? What is unique about that? Nothing. You could just as well call it ―White.‖ I suggest: ―Elsa.‖ People will never want to let it go. “Salt and Pepper?‖ Change it to ― Hugh Heffner.‖ It's a bit old and wrinkly sounding but it's the best way to make playmates. ―Ash Blonde.‖ The worst name ever. Change it to ―Ash Ketchum Blonde.‖ Blondes will be as cute as Pikachu and everyone will want to catch them. So you see, Dye Box People, there is a better way. Put some effort in. You'll feel better about your boxes of toxins and the people who use them will be smiling and happy as they destroy their perfectly good hair cells. 76

Aiden Voit, Grade 9

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s the breeze going past my face Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s the snow hitting my face on turns The clink sound when I go over a pipe The thump sound after a jump The pain of when I go home I hate it when the season ends The fun will stop

` Silent sifting snow finds its way into my boots snappy snazzy branches getting in my way soft and smoggy fog cover the end of the hill shaper smooth lines I make makes me smile slowly sadly the season comes to an end 77

Penn Poutanen, Grade 9

The fire-light illuminated the dark menacing hallway and kept the spiders at bay. As Derek took his sword from its oiled sheath with a distinct *SHINNGGG* noise, the spiders grew ever closer. When the giant spiders got too close, he gave them a slash from his mighty level 78 Sword Of The Gods (which did enough damage to kill them in one hit). Derek strolled along the corridor, occasionally slashing at the spiders nipping at his feet as he went to the Spider King's lair. He walked for about an hour collecting minor loot and killing spiders wherever he went around the dungeon before him finally found the Spider King. Derek was a rather tall man plated in shining armor. He had a beard big enough to cover most of his face and his sword shined through his newly oiled sheath. Like most adventurers he was a pragmatist and never cared if he had mismatched armor, only what the armor‘s stats were. That was the reason he was doing this quest (there was chest armor as a reward for completing it that was slightly better than his own) The King‘s chamber was massive, bigger than two elephants side by side and although the chamber was dark, Derek could still see the massive treasure trove on the other side of the room. He just had to get to it. He sprinted then jumped towards the large steel door which blocked the way to the treasure but the door was locked. At that point the Spider King descended from his sleeping area in the middle of the ceiling and boomed; ―WHO HAS AWOKEN ME?‖ The Spider King was larger than a normal giant spider and was covered with a multitude of gems and gold ornamenting his body like a jeweled crown. Derek answered, ―It is I, better known as your swift demise, you evil demon!‖ Derek jumped up and grabbed a spider web, jumped onto the spider king and started his grisly work (By which I mean stabbing it in the face). He sat there stabbing it for about an hour and the spider did nothing to stop him. Derek thought that was very strange but he watched the spider‘s health points go down very slowly anyway. The King gave one last groan and died slowly and in pain, but Derek didn‘t give the King a second thought after his death. He quickly ran to the other side of the room, unlocked the door and looked at his reward. A vast room filled with the treasure of the adventurers that had fallen to the spider king awaited him. Massive piles of gold coins were there to welcome him too, but something weird happened. The interior room suddenly didn‘t exist for a few seconds but soon came back as quickly as it had appeared. Derek knew that some evil magic was about here (he had heard of mages at Rundle Mage College being able to make entire towns disappear and assumed that the Spider King recruited a down-on-his-luck mage (mages will do anything for money) to his monster horde) and so swiftly looted the room and ran for the entrance to the cave and from there to freedom. Derek traveled back to the closest village where he had to hand in the quest for killing the Spider King. He was going to get a slight upgrade for his chest armor. An increase of 4 armor points! As he crossed the magic barrier the town used to keep monsters out, the entire town of Glitter Dome disappeared! He was shocked that such a thing was to happen so suddenly (the mages had never attempted such a thing before). He checked his quest log and saw something was wrong with the quest.

The quest told him to go to the capitol but at the moment he was stuck inside some sort of black void. As he walked around looking for the town, he somehow managed to fall through the ground and back into the world. He was at the capitol, with its shining spires which happened to be apartment buildings. He would think about what just happened to him in the morning. *** After he donned a new set of clothes he set out to find out what happened to him. He walked to a shop and asked the shopkeeper, ‖You there, Shopkeeper! I was wondering if you knew anything a black void consuming Glitter Dome.‖ ―No and even if I had I wouldn‘t tell you!‖ the shopkeeper replied ―But I just want to know what happened to Glitter Dome! What‘s wrong with that?‖ The shabby little man responded with, ―NONE QUESTION THE MASTER! GET HIM BOYS!‖ Suddenly people started to pour out of the surrounding doorways to surround him! Derek ran for the door to the little shop and, once out, sprinted his way to the King‘s castle. The guards to the king wouldn‘t let him into the chambers even when he explained that there was a mob chasing him that wanted to kill him. He was about to deliver a witty retort to a guard‘s question when he heard banging on the front door. He tried to run by the guards but one of them got him through the heart with a bow. It hurt for a while but after that there was nothing but blackness. Then light. He was alive! He looked around and noticed that nothing had changed. He was right where he had been hit. He had somehow ‗respawned‘ after his death. He was confused – he realized not feat of magic could have revived him. ―Was all that real?‖ he asked himself. Somehow he knew that the gods themselves had revived him. But for what reason? Entertainment? Was he just a plaything of the gods? He then realized that he was not in the real world but some kind of twisted source of entertainment for the god-people that live in the sky. THE END 79

The Least Expected Nathan Retzer, Grade 9 It was July, 3 2015, and Craig was camping at Alford Lake along with his friends Curtis, Stephan, Herman and Brad. Curtis was a nervous spaz, who had an anxiety disorder. Stephan was questionable and had peculiar behavior. Herman was an ordinary man who lived in the suburbs and worked as an accountant. And Brad was a goof, who usually messed things up. They were going to Alford Lake for a weekend getaway, after a long week at work. Hiking single file had to be done since the trail was so narrow. Although it was extremely narrow with a sheer drop below, they were still able to grab hold of rocks and tree roots that were protruding out of the wall of rock. ―I think we‘re almost there!‖ shouted Curtis. ―Did you check the map?‖ replied Herman with uncertainty. ―No,‖ Curtis admitted with shamefulness. Three hours later they were still walking. Stephan had noticed an ant hill and decided to start stomping on it; this had made Curtis very angry. ―Stop, just stop man!‖ Stephan gave Curtis a cross look. Curtis went over to Brad and asked, ―Why did Stephan even need to come?‖ ―Why do you not like Stephan!?‖ Brad shouted. Everybody glanced over at Curtis, all with skeptical looks, except for Stephan who looked like he was about to suffocate Curtis. Curtis glanced over at Brad with an accusatory look. ―Sorry,‖ responded Brad with guilt. ―Looks like we're almost here!‖ announced Herman. Everybody quickly jogged up to where Herman was standing. ―I think you're right,‖ replied Craig. They all peered over at a beautiful turquoise body of water, which was surrounded by evergreen trees. They continued on to descend to the location of the campsite. The campsite was a courtyard sized dirt covered area, with a few picnic tables and a fire pit as well as several tent pads. As they approached their tent pads, Stephan stealthily veered off into the woods. ―Okay, looks like we're finally here,‖ said Herman with relief. Nobody seemed to notice Stephan‘s disappearance until Craig, who was Stephan‘s tent partner, called him over to help set up but he got no answer. ―Stephan?‖ hollered Craig ―Stephan!?‖ he called again. Craig was both worried and annoyed, so he decided to inform Herman. ―Herman, do you have any idea where Stephan went?‖ ―No, why?‖ replied Herman. ―He‘s supposed to be helping me with our tent,‖ said Craig with exasperation. ―Does anybody know where Stephan went!?‖ asserted Herman. Nobody said anything. ―Yeah I don‘t know,‖ apologized Herman. At that very moment Stephan appeared out of nowhere. ―Where have you been!?‖ demanded Craig. ―We need to start setting up our tent,‖ Stephan deflected. Craig began to worry about Stephan‘s odd behavior. After all the tents were set up, they started to prepare supper. During supper, Craig noticed a second disappearance of Stephan. Before Craig was about to address the situation, Brad piped up and yelled, ―Does anybody know where Stephan went?‖ They all turned and looked at Brad like he was an utter Gump. ―What?‖ he said confused. At that very moment Stephan appeared out of nowhere. Craig gave Stephan a look that was beyond angry. ―How am I supposed to do anything when you keep disappearing?‖ Stephan put on an artificial, confused look. ―Let‘s all try to get along here guys," suggested Herman. Later that night when they were all getting ready for bed, Stephen made his third disappearance. Craig noticed his absence shortly after he left. Craig was about to flip out, but he then realized that it wasn‘t even worth it. Instead, he just climbed into his tent and went to sleep. The next morning he was awoken by the nervous chatter of Herman and Curtis. He opened his tent, not even noticing that Stephan was still gone. When he got outside, he saw Curtis pacing nervously and Herman was looking curiously into Brad‘s tent. He quickly trotted over and asked, ―What in the world happened?‖ ―Brad‘s gone missing!‖ Herman replied in a horrified voice. ―Wait what, who, what happened?‖ ―I don‘t know,‖ Curtis just ran to me panicking and told me that he was gone.‖

―Oh God Oh God Oh God,‖ muttered Curtis as he was pacing anxiously. ―Curtis, calm down!‖ ordered Craig. ―How am I supposed to calm down when something like this just happened?‖ he responded in a spazmatic, overwhelmed tone. Craig then became distracted by the sight of Stephan, attempting to hide behind a tree. ―Hey!‖ yelled Craig. Stephan quickly darted back into the woods. Craig now had one thousand reasons to believe that Stephan was responsible for Brad‘s disappearance. Craig ran over to Herman and yanked on his shoulder, telling him, ―Herman, Herman that Stephan I tell you, I know he has something to do with all this.‖ ―Innocent until guilty my friend,‖ Herman sighed. Later that day they all went on a search and rescue hike to look for Brad. The trail that they were hiking on was very dark and had a musky smell. There was about five feet between the precipice and the cliff. ―Brad, oh Brad!‖ yelled Herman. Curtis was afflicted as usual. ―You know, maybe he‘s gone for good, and, and don‘t you think we should just go back?‖ asked Curtis in a trembling voice. ―Not yet,‖ replied Herman. They continued to look for the next hour or so. After it had been about ninety minutes they decided to throw in the towel. On their way back, Craig spotted Stephan down below. Instead of yelling and making a scene, Craig decided to quietly and carefully watch him. Stephan seemed to be tinkering with something behind a bush. Because he stopped to observe Stephan‘s behavior, the group had gotten way ahead of him. After a short while, Stephan noticed Craig peering over the edge. A churned look flashed onto Stephan‘s face. He then kicked an arm-like object behind a bush. Craig immediately assumed that the object was Brad‘s body. He leaped over the edge and slid down the slope. Stephan darted into the bushes and was gone like that. When Craig got to the bottom of the hill, he pulled back the bushes, only to find a bizarre looking mushroom. Right then he spotted Stephan attempting to hide behind a tree. ―Hey stop right there!‖ Stephan had already made his way through the grove that was surrounding the trail. After pursuing him for about three minutes he finally caught him. Their chase ended with a violent tackle. ―You can‘t just keep disappearing and expect us to not be suspicious!‖ Craig shouted. Stephan said nothing. ―What did you do with Brad!?‖ Craig interrogated. There was still no response from Stephan. Craig then began wailing on Stephan. Blood oozed out of Stephan‘s nostril like a leaky faucet. At that very moment Herman came running up shouting, ―Stop, stop Craig! Just stop!‖ Craig looked away with his fist still pointed at Stephan. ―What on earth are you doing?‖ ―I swear I caught him this time,‖ said Craig. ―Caught him doing what?‖ asked Herman ―I can assure you that he is responsible for Brad‘s disappearance,‖ he replied. Herman sighed. ―Craig you need to stop just assuming things,‖ Stephan broke free of Craig‘s grip. Craig glanced over at Curtis, who was pacing in distress as usual. After their scuffle, it was then time for supper. They returned to camp and started to prepare for dinner. While they were preparing, Curtis decided to start packing up his stuff. Craig had noticed what Curtis was doing and he went over to talk to him. ―Curtis, what are you doing?‖ ―Packing up to leave,‖ Curtis replied. ―But why?‖ ―Because there is a freaking psychopath on the loose!‖ exclaimed Curtis ―I tell you, I really think it‘s Stephan that‘s responsible for this.‖ When Craig said that, Curtis began sweating bullets. Still with a nervous look on his face, Curtis swung his backpack over his shoulder and paused. Surprisingly, he did not walk away. Craig went back over to the picnic tables to continue preparing dinner. After dinner was ready they took it over to the tables to start eating. By the time they had cleaned up after dinner, it was time for bed. As they were getting ready for bed, Craig had realized that Curtis decided to stay. After they had gone to bed, as Craig was drifting off to sleep, he was awoken by a shrill scream from Herman‘s tent. Craig looked over at Stephan, who was sleeping soundly. Craig felt a rush of guilt from jumping to conclusions. He quickly unzipped the tent and could not believe his eyes. What he saw was Curtis with a bloody knife in hand, and Herman‘s dead body in the other.

Molars Isaac Towsley, Grade 9 ―Mom!‖ my sister yells from across the room. My mom roars, ―What is it now?‖ ―I have my molars!‖ My Mom runs in the room, ―Oh my god that‘s great!‖ I watch without saying a word, I wish I had my molars, I say to myself. My dad wanders in and spits, ―Why is everyone yelling?‖ My mom responds, ―Serene has her molars‖. My dad, with a surprised look on his face, ―Really? Let me see‖. My sister opens her mouth with a grin. ‖You really do have molars,‖ he says. I finally stand up and say, ―Dad, do I have molars? ― I open my mouth so he can look inside. He answers ―You barely have teeth kiddo‖. My face slumps with sadness. Well, I‘m only eight years old but this still bugs me. The way my sister smiled makes me feel very angry. My sister smirks, ―You're just a kid, you can't get molars stupid!‖ I can‘t think of a comeback so I run to my room. Ten minutes later I hear footsteps coming from the stairs. My door opens, it‘s my mom. She sits beside me and says, ―Michael, don't worry about your molars they will come with time‖. I nod in approval but in my head I really want my molars. I fall back on my bed. My mom leans in for a hug but I am too upset to hug back. As I start to drift off, I start to feel my teeth with my fingers. First feeling the front teeth, then the back, then the gums where my molars will be. The next morning, I go downstairs to eat breakfast. When I sit down at the table, my sister is staring at me with a smile. She says, ―It feels great to have molars doesn‘t it Michael? Oh wait! I forgot you don't have any!‖ I answer, ―Shut up!‖ ―Stop it both of you! We are having company tonight‖, says my mother. My sister questions, ―Who is coming over?‖ 82

My mother answers, ―Your twin cousins Earl and Tyler‖. I exclaim, ―Yes! I haven't seen them in forever!‖ Later that day, I am waiting for my cousins and decide to watch TV. On a commercial it is showing how most kids don‘t brush their teeth enough. I think to myself, great just what I need, commercials about teeth. I switch the channel. Now it‘s a commercial of a dental office, ―come down to Mr. TC dentist to get a free teeth whitening!‖ Just then the doorbell rings, it must be my cousins. My mom runs in and opens the door and yells ―Hello!‖ Earl, Tyler and their mother Lucy enter my house. Lucy responds, ―Hi, how are you?‖ My mother responds, ―Good, let me take your jackets.‖ As everyone starts to get settled, my sister walks down the stairs and sits beside me on the couch. My mother says, ―Oh, Serene has her molars now!‖ Lucy is surprised, ―Really? Tyler and Earl got theirs two weeks ago.‖ Tyler asks, ―Michael, do you have your molars?‖ I answer, ―No‖. Tyler awkwardly continues, ―Um, that‘s ok.‖ My face starts to burn with embarrassment. Just then a loud ―DING‖ goes off. My mother blurts, ―Oh that must be supper!‖ We all sit down at the table and my mother brings out a roast. After supper, Tyler, Earl, Serene and I go downstairs into the basement. Right before I enter they close the door in my face and Serene laughs, ―This is a molar only club!‖ I stand there for a second processing what just happened, and in a panic, I run into the kitchen. I grab a knife and run up the stairs into my room, shut the door and lock it. I sit on my bed, the knife in my left hand, and I open my mouth. I gently put the knife in the back of the right side my mouth. I turn the knife and start cutting the gum at the back of my mouth. The blood has a metallic taste to it. I start cutting more aggressively, shredding the gum until I feel the tooth buried beneath. The pain is unreal, I finally feel the tooth. One down, three more to go. As my mouth starts to fill with blood I realize that this will be a hard task. I start to cut the upper left gum. I start to black out as I tear my gums. Gosh, this knife is too slippery, I say to myself. I drop the knife and start to use my fingers, clawing at my gums. Picking the gum with my nails. Finally I have molars. My hands full of blood, I run downstairs. My whole family is in the living room, I come in the room and yell ―I have my molars!‖ My family looks in terror as I smile. 83

Tale with a Twist Gannon Willson, Grade 9 ―...Happy birthday dear Holan, happy birthday to you…‖ Williams reached out and passed Holan a piece of rehydrated birthday cake. Holan smiled and took a bite. Around the room there were two happy birthday banners. It was kind of childish but it was fun. It was a tiny space ship with the main room and bathroom. The bedroom were bunk beds: two on one, and two on the other side. Turner and Holan were on one side, me and Williams had the other side. Then there was just a room with a window to go to when you're in pain, because of the view made everything feel better. Holan loved to talk he would talk and talk forever if he was allowed. He was 21, the youngest of them all. He was very smart and he was here to study space rock. Williams was the toughest person that was there, the commander of the ship. She didn't talk much, but when she did it was all nice things. She was 55 and this was her last time being up in space, but she was happy still. Turner was the co-commander. He was still in training though, and just there to learn. Turner was hard to get along with: young, 25, and very snappy and impatient. We were about two days from the moon. It was my first time actually going to the moon. Same with Holan. Somehow Turner has been there already; he went with a ten man group just two weeks ago. He just joined our group when he got back. ―Man, my stomach is starting to tie in knots,‖ said Turner in distress. Williams replied, ―Go rest. I‘ll get you some water to drink.‖ He explained how it felt: not bad, but a sharp pain in the stomach wouldn‘t stop. The terrible feeling of discomfort was unimaginable and it keeps getting worse. He was telling us how it felt he would stop for a minute to hold the pain. After an hour, he screams and we all rush over. He claims that a thousand needles just stabbed him. Then as we watched as he barfed right in front of us. The smell was unimaginable, it was similar to the smell of a skunk. You could see the chunks in on the floor; it was terrible. It would not stop either, just coming and coming. Someone finally got a bucket for him. We all felt bad as we watched in a half circle, but there was nothing we could do. All of us were scared of getting sick so we talked to mission control and they did not know what it was. So we decided to quarantine him in the room. Then we had to clean the room none of us wanted to go clean. So our plan was to pull straws so the commander got three straws and cut two at different levels. Then he mixed them up and said, ―You two will pick, and the one with the shortest straw has to go clean up.‖ Holan for once has shut up and reaches his hand without saying anything and pulls before any of us can even talk. The straw looked kind of short. You could tell it had been cut, but the only one who knew if it was the shortest, was the commander. Then it hit me: I have a 50% chance of going in there! My throat immediately dropped. I reached my hand to the straw and pulled one. Then we all dropped; I pulled the short straw. Then I snapped out of shocked and grabbed the hazmat suit, put it on and walked to the room. The fear was really running through my head. What if I get sick? What if I never leave the room? My legs could barely hold myself. I felt like I was going to fall any second. Then I started to wonder how it spread. Will I get it by breathing his air or touching his barf? Then I thought, what if there a hole in my suit? It slowly creeps in and I can just imagine it slowly creep up in my arm or slide down my leg. It felt like minutes had gone by then I looked at the clock and it‘s only been a matter of seconds. As I press the button for the door, it slid open. I put my foot in and I didn't want to go in, but my left came in with surprise. I thought to myself get it over with, don't get sick. When I bent down, I took a little look

at my suit to see if there were any holes then thought don't get sick. Then I grabbed the bucket, not releasing my hand and just grabbed a bit of barf on the side. Don’t get sick. I poured the bucket into a bag type thing it was sturdy just I could put all of it in there then throw it off the ship. Ten minutes passed cleaning when Turner used his energy to say, ―Help me please! The pain won't stop! Help! Help! Help!‖ I shook him, but he didn‘t wake up. I put my two fingers to check his pulse, but didn‘t feel anything; immediately I thought I couldn't feel his pulse because of the suit so I ripped my glove off and put it to his hand. All I could feel is, da..da..da…..da……..da……. It slowed down by each second, which felt like hours. Then nothing. I screamed, ―Help! Help!‖ No one came. Then I put on my glove and two people came in to help. They took me out and finished what I started. When they were done, his body was still in the room. It was clean and I was sitting by the window thinking about what just happened. Then I felt a pain in my stomach and immediately freaked out, but not in the way you would think. I wasn't screaming, I wasn't crying, I was just shocked in my mind. Five minutes passed, just when I was about to say something, Holan screamed and barfed all over the main room. We all ran out he was on the floor. Same barf as before. We all had a fear crawl down our backs, like how a mouse walks along the floor fast and tiny. Then the commander and I helped him up and moved him to the window. It wasn't hard; Holan was a tiny guy. When he was resting, I spoke up and said, ―I feel the pain.‖ ―So do I,‖ said Williams. It wasn't that emotional; all we could do is wait. There was no medic. We were all getting weaker and that was that. They watched as Holan got sick and I knew that I was going to barf. It was a matter of hours. Same with Willams. All of a sudden my stomach got real bad and I knew it was close. The ache you could imagine. It was similar to when you eat too much cake and you can't do anything. Then at the same time feeling a cramp from running too hard, it seemed like. Together it was hell. I'm surprised Turner didn't kill himself, it sounds bad but it was the worst and it was just going to get worse. You could feel it get worse by the minute. The commander and I were getting weaker, Then we heard a Boom, Boom. The sound was Holan wailing in pain in the ground. We knew he was close to dying. So we ran over to go help He was screaming, ―Please, no! I don‘t want to go now! Just let me stay, please.‖ His screams were terrible they were louder than kids not wanting the leave; high pitched and hurt my ears. Then all of a sudden he was gone, just like Turner. As he died, the commander and I barfed. It was excruciating like a mean, spiked animal was crawling up my mouth. Then I screamed, ―MOM! I barfed,‖ in a wailing voice. She came down to the basement and said, ‖This is what you get from eating too much cake for Holan‘s party.‖ ―But I Holan and William and Turner ate cake,‖ I cried. ―There all sick too, silly,‖ the mom replied. Then Holan, William, and Turner went home to deal with their sick kids. They said their goodbyes and left to go home.

Derek Wispinski, Grade 12

Senior High 86

Ciaran Bailey, Grade 10 Technology: always evolving for the betterment of mankind. However, technology is advancing so quickly that the question of robotic morals has become a popular debate. In the short story ―The Veldt‖, the question about robotic morals is serious matter. In the short story, the home owners, George and Lydia, are very mentally underdeveloped due to all the help from the robots. But what would happen if the robots were to turn, as the room turns on the owners. The room, which is undeniably 100% robot, has the ability to hurt and even kill George and Lydia. This brings up the question of machine ethics, which by definition is the way robots are programed so that they will always act in a way that us humans deem moral. To make sure that the machines wouldn‘t get out of hand and hurt human beings, science fiction author Isaac Asimov created ―Asimov‘s Three Laws of Robotics‖. The laws state: A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law; A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law. By creating these airtight laws, machines are safe to be around. Therefore technically speaking, the whole house should obey the three laws of robotics. However, the actions that the nursery displays are far from normal. The room has been programmed to flat out ignore the first law, and since two children are controlling the room, the machine is undeniably dangerous. The machine is about as safe as a wild chimpanzee in the middle of New York with a loaded gun. Now, you may be thinking that this is just a groundless theory, but the intelligent technology is easy to create. In fact, it‘s already coming into existence. With all the political war, the area between North and South Korea is a stretch of land of about 4 kilometers wide. If you take a step into that territory you will be immediately shot without any questions asked by the thousands of troops patrolling its borders. It‘s one the most dangerous places in the world for humans, but it just got a little deadlier. The South Korean Military and Samsung have teamed up to create the Super Aegis 2, an autonomous gun tower that can sense and lock on to a human being in complete darkness, from a distance of about 3 kilometers away. This machine is deadly: overkill, if you will. Remember the first adjective I used to describe it: autonomous. This means it can find a human and take out a human, without needing to consult a human. In summary, we should take what happened in ―The Veldt‖ as a serious warning, because the next thing you know, we could be sweeping the floors for our Roomba Overlords.

Clara Hall, Grade 10 My Dearest Johnny, I have finally come to the realization that I have been the complete opposite of a role model to you. As a father, it is my job to protect you and stand by your side in times of need, and as much as it pains me to say, I have failed miserably. I am so proud of your many achievements such as being as committed as you are to scouts, designing that art project that everyone thought was spectacular, and excelling in your swimming classes. I know you will continue to impress people with your creativity and ability to make friends effortlessly. I have missed out on so much of your life because of the way I have failed to express my emotions and show affection towards you. I am afraid that you will grow up resenting me when you‘re older because of the way I have shown no interest in your hard work or been there to cheer you on at swim meets. One of my greatest regrets is that I betrayed you on stage when you were receiving your well-deserved awards while many people watched. I want to change our relationship for the better and I‘m hoping it‘s not too late to prove to you I can be the father you have never had. I owe so much to you for the many things I have missed out on. It doesn‘t matter how many times I apologize to you, it will never make up for any of my actions. I take full responsibility for the way you have behaved in the past. I denied the fact that the reason you were acting out in grade one was because I never showed you the way you‘re supposed to treat people and because of this our relationship has greatly suffered. I want to show you that I am willing to try as hard as I can to be a big part of your life. I don‘t want you to be under the impression that I look at you as a burden, you are the complete opposite of that. It embarrasses me that you have someone else‘s dad to help you with your art projects and spend time quality time with you, but I am also happy that you have found an adult who can set a good example and make you feel special.

I understand it has taken me a very long time to acknowledge my faults, maybe even too long, but even if you cannot find it in your heart to forgive me I still want you to know how terrible I feel for the way I have treated you. Sometimes not speaking to someone at all is worse than not speaking nicely and that is exactly what I have done to you. I fear you will eventually find someone else to call your dad and you will only have good things to say about him, while I will slowly become a stranger and your memories of my time spent with you will fade. I stayed sober when your mother was pregnant with you because I made a promise to myself that you would not grow up with a dad who only cares about getting his hands on another drink. I do believe it is a positive thing that I am in treatment for my alcoholism because I am finally ready to start fresh and think about all of the people I have affected due to my drinking. My thought process is much clearer now. I want more than anything to be happy and healthy so you can trust me and I will not feel the need to be reserved out of the fear you will judge me.

Lady or the Tiger – Which One Wins? Teagan Sisson, Grade 10 The youth walked calmly into the shade where the imposing door was. He reached for the cold handle of the door and began to open it. He closed his eyes in fear of what his lover had chosen for his fate. He was scared of not knowing the final decision she made. Would it be that her more barbaric side would come out and he would be dead? Or that he would lose the love of his life forever and have to spend the rest of his life with another lady? As he opened the door a crack, all was quiet. The youth waited for the sounds of bells and cheers to cry out. But all there was, was silence. Then he heard the low panting. He turned and opened his eyes to look at the princess sitting up next to the king. All of a sudden, the door flew open and a great tiger jumped out. The tiger ripped into the youth. All the youth could feel was the betrayal and the sadness. He thought she would let him live. Her choice was made; if she couldn‘t have him then no one could. Blood spread onto the ground. The king was delighted in seeing the youth that had dared to love his daughter, the only thing that he truly loved in the world, being so horribly torn apart by this beast. The princess however, did not feel the same about this horrible fate that she had lead her lover to. But she could not let that witch of a woman, who had dared to throw glances of love at her beloved, have him. This scene before her eyes was too much even for her to withstand. She stood up calmly and proudly holding her stomach in sickness and walked out of the arena. Once out of the arena, she ran into the empty marketplace as everyone was at the arena and fell to the dirty ground bawling her eyes out. The princess was disgusted with herself for what she had done. She knew then and there that she would not be able to live without him or what she had done but she hoped that he would still love her in the afterlife. She got up, wiped away her tears and walked slowly toward the castle. When she got there she went to the battle hall where father planned all his war strategies and kept all his trophies of war. She went to one of the walls and pulled off a great spear and gripped the weapon tightly in her hands. She took a deep breath, then plunged it through her heart. She dropped to her knees and then all the way to the ground. Her blood pooled in the cracks of the stone floor. Her eyes closed slowly. The last thing she saw was how red her blood was, then nothing, just blackness. As she lay dying on the floor all life flooded out of her. When the king returned from the arena he found his daughter, lying peacefully in a pool of her own bright red blood. The king was so distraught from losing his daughter, that he became sick with grief, no longer having anything worth living for. He took the spear from his daughter‘s hand and in one swift movement, impulsively impaled himself in the stomach. His own greed kept him from sharing what truly never belonged to him. He had lost it all….. 89

Response to “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury Jennelle Hughes, Grade 10 We were all sitting at my daughter Catherine‘s dining table. It was Sunday night and we were having our weekly family supper. I thought the food was quite good, for Catherine had gotten very good at cooking through the past years. With this, I was obviously not alone for beside me, I noticed that my grandson Rupert was shoveling away at his food. With a stern look I scorned him for being rude and then told him to use better manners. Most of conversation at the meal was one sided, for it was being led by my son-in - law, Henry. He is known as a good respectable man, but once you ask him about his interests, he can be quite dull. ―Recently, I have read an interesting new story by Ray Bradbury,‖ he stated while taking a large bite of sweet peas. ―The Veldt.‖ ―What was it about?‖ my son David inquired. He is always trying to get in Henry‘s good books, for he hopes that this will lead to a close money related friendship. ―It‘s futuristic tale, for they‘re quite popular right now,‖ Henry replied. ―Though it‘s a bit disturbing, for it has quite an ugly plot twist.‖ ―What sort?‖ ―The children end up murdering their parents.‖ ―Really, how?‖ ―They used their nursery, which is a giant television screen that takes their thoughts and puts it on the shows it. They thought up lions on an African safari and somehow the screen came alive and lions killed the parents.‖ ―Why?‖ ―Because their parents were going to shut down the nursery. The nursery had become their parents. They were spoiled and the real parents didn‘t take care of them. The house did. And when they threatened to take away the nursery, the parents had to protect it. The story symbolizes what happens when you aren‘t there for your children.‖ An old familiar lump formed in my throat. ―That reminds me of when I had to live with my aunt and uncle,‖ I added. ―Oh mom,‖ Catherine sighed. ―Really?‖ Henry budged in. ― Did you grow up rich?‖ ―When my parents died I had to move in with my upper-class relatives.‖ ―I‘m guessing their children were brats then,‖ Henry voiced. ―That‘s one way of putting it.‖ When I was only nine years of age both of my parents died from tuberculosis. I then had to move in with my mother‘s cousins for they were my only living relatives. They were very wealthy and lived in the richest part of the city. I was scared, for I had never met these relatives before. When I was older I learned that both my mother‘s uncle and mother had grew up in a very wealthy family. Though my grandmother chose without consent, to marry a middle class accountant, and after this, my grandmother had barely any contact with them. I remember when I had first arrived at their house, I was greeted by the housekeeper. She got the servants to carry my bags and led me to my room. I asked her if I was now going to meet my aunt and uncle, but she told me that they were busy. Later that day, I was introduced to my three cousins. They greeted in a manner like I was a one of their servants. They thought that they were better than me, and I believed this, for I was soon explained to by the housekeeper that they were from a higher class than myself. For the next few weeks, I was forced to adjust to the new lifestyle. My grief and pain was completely disregarded by my new family, and the children were horrible to me. I would accompany my cousins to see my aunt and uncle once a day at tea time, for one hour only. Once the clock would strike 90

5:00 we would be hastily removed from the sitting room, and back into the charge of the governess. They never paid us any attention, they wouldn‘t even have dinner with us. Despite the fact that the governess took care of us, she didn‘t have much charge over us at all. My cousins were very rude and horrible to her, and never listened. I remember once asking them if they weren‘t afraid of getting in trouble for disrespecting her, but they told me that their mother and father didn‘t care about what they did or said, as long as they stayed out of their way. All of this confused me for my mother and father had paid much of their attention on me. I always ate with them and we spent the evenings together. They had also taught me to polite and do as I was told, not be rude and self-centered. For the years that I stayed there, I was always treated like an outsider. I was quite miserable for this, though later, when I finally left the house to make my own way, I was thankful for my discrimination. I was still the same person that I was before my parents died and I still knew the ways of the real world. A while later, after marrying and having children, I looked back on my childhood with realization. The reason my cousins were so horrible was because they weren‘t raised by their parents. Their mother and father had no part in raising them, and the governess didn‘t have much control over them as well. They had raised themselves and were taught by the possessions they had. ―Mom?‖ I blinked. ―Mother?‖ I blinked again and put my eyes back into focus. ―Are you feeling alright mother? Catherine asked. ―You were staring into space.‖ ―Oh I‘m fine,‖ I replied why clearing my throat. ―Just thinking of old memories.‖ The conversation had moved onto politics. Henry was debating with my oldest son Charlie, about how the Prime Minister was being too liberal towards Quebec. Charlie is a very strong Liberal, and Henry is more of a Conservative. Whenever both have a little to drink, they always somehow manage to get into a query about politics. Though I hardly paid any attention. There was still a lump in my throat and I felt out of place. Then I remembered that the feeling was quite normal after a flashback, for I hadn‘t had one for several years. When the meal finally ended, we all said our goodbyes. I kissed each child and grandchild on the cheek and pulled my coat on. David drove me home that evening, and waited in his car on the side of the street to see that I got in alright. After unlocking, I waved to David and closed the door behind me. I then stood there for a moment, replaying the evening in my mind. Nothing of that night was anything of interest, but the flashback I had experienced stuck in my mind. I had been reminded of, and experienced memories that I hadn‘t thought of for a very long time. With a sigh, I took off my coat, then turned around and locked the door. 91

How Parents Influence Their Children Georgia Needham, Grade 10 The roof was leaking… the resounding sound of water daintily tapping on a softly toned, stained wood floor echoed within the dirty cobble townhouse, disturbing the familiar atmosphere, void of any current human feelings or presences. Worn red cotton loveseats sat, slumped, in corners of the carpet laden living room while an exuberant flame danced in the hearth of a large, brick fireplace. Suddenly, the creak of the households large wooden door, and the lurch and clatter of large cooking pots and plates being shifted in an overloaded sink. Soon after, an individual‘s low pitched curse could be heard throughout the house, and the undignified static wail of the radio being tuned caused the home‘s red hunting hound to stir in his slumber near the fire. The husband had just returned from the local market, located in the center of old London, only to return to a horrific mess of a kitchen, with soiled porcelain threatening to spill over the rim of the family sink. As usual, the man had tried to untangle the awkward mess, but only succeeded in causing the pile of plates and pots to tremble and fall on to the wooden floor, with the gentlemen's unintentional swear following soon after the incident. Despite the unpractical upset to his usual routine, the man continued to follow his unavoidable habits, switching on the aged radio placed on the granite counter of the kitchen table and humming as he went about doing other actions and chores, such as placing buckets under the vulnerable spots in the roof, tidying the house, mopping the floor, and wiping the counters. As he was cleaning the table, the man happened to uncover an object which caused a small grin to slide across his handsome face. Shielded beneath the checkered tablecloth, depicting his dear wife and daughter, was a photo, framed in dark oak. Eventually, this particular sight caused the man‘s smile to become tilted with worry, for the stone brick streets of London were smothered with unusual amounts of smog and sleet that day, and making the routine journey back with her mother from his wife's workplace seemed rather tedious for a young youth like Sophie, especially when the pair had to make their way through thickets of people and a maze of streets. With an image of his wife and child in his mind, the husband ascended the house‘s sturdy wooden stairs to reach the uppermost floor, in which there was a tiny circular window located in the front wall of the house which the man could peer through in order to possibly see the rest of his family making their way,

92 Mia Berloni, Grade 12

slowly but surely, along the various roads and trails leading towards their homestead. What the man saw, was, unfortunately, not his family, but only hordes of humans, smog, and dreary weather. However, something made that man look back to the bleak day outside of his living quarters, a figure, a rather familiar figure indeed… The man drew in a wearied breath, closing his burdened lids over his eyes for a split second. When he dared to open his eyelids again, the figure had vanished, and with it, the terrifying and overwhelming memories. Sized with unexpected determination to complete his self-assigned evening tasks, the husband pulled himself from his favored viewing spot and abruptly turned to proceed down towards the kitchen, only to catch sight of a crisp, white envelope set, ever so carefully, on his office desk, sealed with a circle of red wax depicting a cross made up of two rifles. Captivated, the man studied the blank white structure of the paper and found the envelope‘s exterior barren of any ink. As he continued to study his aquired message, the gentleman‘s brow furrowed with maddening curiosity, for this particular man did not remember there being any previously received mail on the desk, and he had not associated himself with many people in London, for he was almost always working, and therefore did not receive many formal letters. Finally, when the husband's curiosity was brimming and he could no longer ignore or deny the feeling, he snatched up a nearby letter opener off his desk and slit open the top of the envelope ever so carefully, revealing a thin slip of fine paper within. Pulling the paper out, the man flipped open the halved letter, and froze, suddenly rigid. The man knew the delicate handwriting all too well, How did he…? Why….? Various thoughts were racing past as the man bent down to read the note in order to find his orphaned clarity. My dear boy…. I see you today, with your family, and I see all the ignorance I gifted to you, so many years ago, converted into compassionate love when you gaze into your young one’s eyes... Son, I do believe I am pushing my already worn limits, as fragile as glass, to their climax, yet, since my curiosity will not spare me, nor leave me in peace, what’s your dear daughter’s name in which she goes by? I never had the chance to meet up with the young child, nor your dear wife… Oh, my despair has ventured deep, scraping and gnawing at my sides. You, my one and only son, are the father I never had the thought, or the chance to become...you are a father who puts his family before your personal needs….. Since that day, that dreadful day you ran away from me both physically and mentally, and I had lost track of you until this present moment, I had explored, and, with no wonder, discovered I had given myself one too many indulgences, and that I never had the mind to care and love for you back when you were with me, at home. I have come to offer my deepest apologies son. The regret won’t cease, won’t leave me… The wretched sensation will never travel or navigate to the oblivious parts of my mind, my thoughts. Finally, after long years have passed, I see you now, in the present, not as the vulnerable lad you once were but as a father like no other, giving your vivid child the future and upbringing she deserves. Although it may not happen at this precise instant, I hope you can forgive me one day. I hope you can try to find sweet mercy for both me, and my sins. For one last time, my boy, tell me, what is the length of my wait going to turn out to be? How much damage has my selfishness caused? How long, son, how long until you will let me see you again? . The husband stood, pondering the letter, in his office for quite a while, staring like a dead man, eyes glazed over from lack of focus, vision blurred. Then the tears came, dripping, much like the rain droplets coming through the roof, onto the fuzzy white carpet. The husband remained in that state until his wife and child came through the door, both bidding him to come down from the attic. With tears still threatening to spill from his lids, the man descended, and caught sight of a frail, trembling individual with white hair placed alongside a grinning wife and child. Without waiting, the old man hobbled over, and embraced his son, ―Johnny.‖ the elder sobbed, the effort of crying shaking his old vessel to the point of breaking. ―You don‘t have to wait anymore papa‖, the husband murmured, attempting to cradle his father in return, ―The wait is over.‖ 93

Extended Metaphors Dad is an Ocean Dylan Barr, Grade 11 My Dad is the ocean. He can be soft and gentle but also can be rough and dangerous too. He has strong currents for you to follow and to guide you in rough waters. He has patches of cold water but the warm water is always more potent. He is full of life and even during the toughest storms he is always bright and colourful on the outside. He is always contributing to my life just like the waves crashing against the sand or the rocky shores that never stops.

Dunes of Prest Aden Garcia-Ahmadi, Grade 11 Ms. Prest is the harsh Sahara Desert. Her voice stings like the rushing sands. Her gaze scorches the life below burrowing for safety. The lure of kindness and compassion are naught but a mirage. Many travelers attempt to transverse the dunes, but the encroaching desert will be their tomb. Her personality is drier than the bleached rock, darker than the nightfall. Her will is as infectious as the venomous scorpions that live under the sand.

Dad’s Protection Kennedy Huntley, Grade 11 Dad is a fire. Fire provides protection from all the dangers of the night. Keeping all that you‘re afraid of far away. The fire provides light in times of darkness. It‘s a symbol of hope and that when times get tough it can help guide you through. Fire provides that warmth that is needed during those cold winter nights, shielding you from winter's bite. Fire can provide comfort that is nurturing, but it also needs nurturing its self. Add too much wood and the fire will rage, add not enough wood and the fire will fade. Providing entertainment through the night by watching the fire dance and flicker all night. Just like dad how he needs some love and attention too, a fire will always be there for you.

Sunset Alycia Udy, Grade 11

She was like a sunset, warm and always beautiful. She has a warm feeling that always leaves you wanting more. Her beauty is dazzling like nothing that you have ever seen before. You can be mesmerized by her no matter where you are. She has vibrancy that intrigues you at first sight. She leaves a lingering presence even after she is gone, when she has left you can't wait to be able to see her again. She never fails to amaze you. 95

Uniqueness Katherine Bennett, Grade 11

Hiding in the shadows, forced to be someone you're not. In a black and white society, Costumed and made up head to toe, With a red rubber ball for a nose. You are a lion; you are a lie. Tired of being treated like everyone else. Individuality lost in the darkness of the night. Originality waiting to explode everywhere Wanting to break out from the chains that keep you trapped. Crash! Chains fall to the ground and your personality is revealed, Lights, camera, action! Show what it is you have, Break out, and be free, Uniqueness is key to an authentic life. 96

Cali Champagne, Grade 11

Dear Diary, Today, on the 13 of June, 2011, my life changed forever. At around 11:00am, an earthquake destroyed my city. I watched my house collapse slowly from a hill not far from where my house was, and it was destroyed right in front of me. Unfortunately, this is the first earthquake I have ever experienced and it is truly devastating. At that moment, I was glad that I didn‘t have anyone else in the house to get hurt. After the earthquake, I was allowed to go back to my home and my spirits were shattered. Everything was in ruin. I didn‘t even have a roof over my head. I had realized that there was no choice but to move on. I need to rebuild my house but at this time but I can‘t focus on that right now. Out of everything that had survived, surprisingly the kitchen had been strong and lived through it all. I came to the conclusion that all I had left to do was to try and go back to my life and how it was. I became so emotional, but I managed to clear a path from the rubble into the house. Finally, seeing through all the mess, I cleared off part of the kitchen floor with a broom that managed to survive the disaster. The kitchen was a mess. All the pots and pans were dirty and spread out. This was the first thing I decided to do. It made me feel a little better. There was dirt in everything so I started wiping the dishes with cloths to get them clean and back to normal like always. I remember being surprised because I looked out and saw some building still standing. But what really got to me and what surprised me is that when I looked to my left, I saw to my surprise a telephone pole across from where my wall used to be. For some reason, I remember that upsetting me and making me angry. How is it that an old wooden telephone pole was allowed to make it through, but my house and the community‘s houses were not. After a while I realized that I didn‘t need to be mad at a pole. If it survived, then so can I. A tiny setback will not make my life over. Sure, I was homeless, but it‘s not like it was the end of the world. Instead of just complaining, I needed to work on restarting my life. I just needed to say this and talk about what happened; it will help me move on and accept what happened.

Ecological Distance Rachel Crossfield, Grade 11 Dear Arnold, It‘s me, Tim. Long time no see my friend. It has been two months since moving to the city. It is really painful knowing you no longer live beside me. What makes this process even more difficult is the ecological distance between us. You live on the dirty, smelly farm. I live in a stupid, clean, polished city. Arnold-you said the exact day I left the farm, ―The move will be fine. In the city it is like a farm from what my parents told me‖. You are going to be in for a rude awakening. Don‘t listen to your parents please. City life is so different compared to living on the farm. Read this carefully. When my mom told me, ―Bitter sweet news. I got that job in the city were moving‖ I thought behind her wicked heart she said, ―Great news I got a job and were moving to hell‖. After I watched Godzilla I thought the city was possessed by demons and zombies. Despite this dramatic change, in some ways the move was the right choice. There are many great things in the life of the city. There is more company. So far I have made four friends: Tessa, Logan, Thomas and Sage. They are an interesting group of people. The only difference between us is they don‘t eat any animal products. They love to garden and participate in the city. In a way it‘s like being back at the farm with you. I miss the farm. We were born and raised there. No internet, the stinky smells, and the ones of fresh soil are like home sweet home in my heart. Running through the corn fields and playing with the hay it gives me that question in my head. ―How can I get through the day?‖ Picking vegetables and making veggie soup reminds me of good times. It was so yummy. Some of these plants grow taller than me it‘s amazing. We don‘t get that anymore in the city. The only things that grow taller than me are the buildings and fountains. Plus technology. I have to stop writing soon. My mom is cooking supper. Say hi to the goats, pigs, cattle, chickens, sheep and horses especially the one who runs into the barn walls. Keep in touch with me, amigo. I have been telling my new friends all about you. Come up to city one day, you will see. 98

The Goddess Test Book Review Madison Hillstead, Grade 11

A couple weeks ago I borrowed a digital book from the Rundle Academy online library called The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter. The book follows the story of Kate Winters, and her fight to keep the only person she has left in her life, her mother. Kate spends all her time taking care of her mother, who has been suffering from cancer. When her mother can‘t hold on any longer, Kate will do anything to keep her mother alive. She's approached by a very handsome young man named Henry, who offers her a deal. If she lives with him for six months out of the year as his wife, he can keep her mother alive, but for this deal to be possible she has to survive seven tests. Throughout her stay at Henry‘s house, she is schooled in Greek mythology. She soon comes to realizes Henry is Hades, god of the underworld. But this doesn‘t stop the feeling she builds towards him. The journey that Kate experiences is an emotional and epic story. What makes this book incredible is the use of Greek mythology. If you love the stories of gods and goddesses, this book is for you. Also, another great plot feature is the complicated love triangle between the characters. Romantic struggle and Greek history couldn't have come in any better story than this. The Goddess Test is only book 1 out of the Goddess series. If interested check out the online library today!

Standing Strong Anthoney Stan, Grade 11 It is important to stand strong through for what you believe in difficult times and challenging moments, this is not always easy and comes with many hardships and struggles. This is shown in the picture of a man standing in a collapsed building that is most likely his home until an earthquake took that away from him. Even though he may not have the physical aspect of a home, he still chooses to treat it as if it were still standing. He does not give up. He is still standing strong and he is not giving up. Another example, was when Calgary had the horrific flood. During the destruction of the flood, people had lost their homes and businesses. surprisingly, people decided to stay in their homes, and many collected what they could from their homes and determination decided to build new homes. In the image we see a man in China still in his home after an earthquake. Everything he knows, everything that has brought him warmth, comfort and shelter has now been completely obliterated. There is wreckage and nothing is recognizable except for what is left of his small little kitchen. It looks as if he is attempting to collect the dishes from within the kitchen. This is a great example of attempting to stand strong through a difficult time. Even though this man has many reasons to give up and to lose hope, we see him attempting to collect items from what was previously a kitchen. Even after his home was completely destroyed after a natural disaster, he chose to fight on and make do with what is left of his little home. People in situations as dire as this, would often give up and choose to abandon the wreckage. Not even attempting to salvage what little they can, because standing strong and moving on in difficult times is hard. It feels as if your world has fallen apart and your natural instinct would be to give up. Fortunately, this man has chosen a path not easily taken and he is trying to rebuild and renew what he once had. This is important to do that in life because we all at some point will come to a situation that feels disastrous. Willingly, if we choose to stand strong we will grow in character. Another example of standing strong in a difficult situation would be back in June of 2013. As Calgary, Alberta experienced the terrible floods, Some people stayed in their houses, or tried to save some of their belongings, and many people stayed in their businesses during the destruction of the flood. They did this because they didn't want to lose a part of their life, and all the work that they have put in. Many people who would have experienced this situation would have left the city and given up. In Calgary this situation caused us to grow, we became stronger and closer as a community. We had so many reasons to give up and let our city fall apart but instead we chose to fight. Many areas of our beautiful city had been torn apart and were unrecognizable, but we came together and took what little we had and fixed our city. During this long, emotional process we decided to stand strong. We fought and made this city flourish once more. If we would have given up, our city and community would not be what it is today. Standing strong through difficult times is not always easy, but it is always worth it in the end. In the first example, the Chinese man decides to face the difficult time he goes through head on; he decides to start trying to collect and rebuild what he has. The second example was the floods that happened in Calgary, Alberta. Many people would have given up and lost hope during this time, fortunately our city was brought back to its former glory. If the people in the two examples, had allowed defeat to overcome them, nothing would have moved forward, everything would have stayed destroyed. This is why standing strong in a difficult time is needed, because without struggle there is no growth.

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Response to Visual Mitchell Tuckwood, Grade 11 This picture shows a modern day Canadian forces soldier sitting on a bench conversing with a veteran of what looks like the Second World War. What this picture shows is that, no matter what generation a veteran is from, they can connect over common things. Veterans from many generations like to sit and share stories on Remembrance Day. As a child growing up my dad was in the Canadian forces, so every Remembrance Day I would go the military museum and watch the parade. I would talk to friends of my dad and old army veterans. I would see that no matter what generation they came from, whether it be the First World War, Korea or modern day Afghanistan, they could connect over common things. They would talk about training experiences or army traditions. Such as the basic training of the World war II era compared to modern day, or different traditions that a highland regiment has versus a normal infantry regiment. Ever since I have joined the army cadet force I have realized that I too can connect with veterans, as the army cadet force shares the same values, traditions and some of the same training as the Canadian Forces. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s not just on Remembrance Day that I can connect with members of the armed forces. I have gone on many training exercises with the army and I have found that I share many things in common with them, for instance each corps within the army cadet league adopts the traditions and training from its affiliated unit. So if a certain corps has been trained with the same knowledge at its regular force counterpart cadets of that corps will share the same traditions and knowledge as that unit. I have also completed courses that were instructed by army veterans and I can connect with them as well, for example when i did my basic reconnaissance course there was a escape and evasion segment that was taught by an ex-soldier of the Canadian airborne regiment which in its day was an elite fighting force. All of the cadets on that course that year including myself were selected to be staff for the next rotation of cadets to take that course because we shared the much of the common experience and training of the regular force. In conclusion, these two soldiers in this picture can connect and share something in common, even though they are from two different generations and have fought in two completely different wars.

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The Wars Journal Response Nick Block, Grade 12 27. Februar Es war Monate her, seit ich hier gepostet, wurde ich als Artillerie funktioniert. Es war besser, als dort, wo ich jetzt bin, war ich weg von den Kämpfen und ich wurde aus den Tod geritten Felder Niemandsland distanziert. Aber jetzt habe ich als Scharfschütze zugewiesen werden, und aus meiner distanzieren Artillerie bunker, war ich auf einem Hügel mit Blick auf den nackten Ebene platziert. Ich habe noch nicht einen Schuss auf den englischen ab gefeuert, verstehen, wie ich könnte, aber ich kann einen Mitmenschen nicht töten / Ich verstehe nicht, wie meine Kameraden können. Ich versuche, mich zu überzeugen, dass ich sie zu töten, dass es würde nur ein Zug eines Auslöser sein, ich weiß noch nicht mich selbst zu glauben. Ich müde Blick durch mein Fernglas; gibt es kein Leben, eine Farbe in zwischen unseren Gräben. Ich sah einen Vogel vor ein paar Tagen, eine Schwalbe, denke ich. Es war schön, eine reiche blaue bedeckte sie, aber ich konnte nicht viel mehr zu sehen, bevor er flog davon. Ich versuchte, es mit einem Fernglas zu folgen, aber ich es verloren. Es muss ein Nest um einen der Gräben; sonst gäbe es wenig Grund, hier zu bleiben. Wenn ich, dass Vogel, würde ich so weit weg, wie ich konnte aus dieser Hölle zu fliegen. Aber nicht alle Hoffnung verloren ist, auch in diesem elenden got verlassenen Stück Land. Ich sah eine von ihnen nicht nur ein paar Stunden vor, auf der Suche nach etwas unter einer Decke. Ich wagte nicht, ziehen Sie mein Gewehr aus, damit nicht meine Finger rutscht. Mein Fernglas, wo das einzige, was von mir, die nicht zerfetzen oder kaum funktionsfähig war, und ich konnte mit absoluter Klarheit, was a herangezogen zu sehen. Ein Igel, schien es verwundet werden. Das machte mich das Gefühl, ich war nicht die einzige, die, betreut zwischen meinen herzlose Kameraden oder meine kaltblütig Kapitän Bestellung der endlosen Gas Streiks, fühlte ich, dass ich nur über alles gekümmert, dass ich der einzige war, der nicht aufnahme bereit war jedermann auf Sich, nur weil er auf einer gegenüberliegenden Stück Land. Dieser Engländer verändert, dass ich nicht allein bin, auch in dieser Hölle. Hoffentlich ein in seine Heimat zurückkehren können, am Leben und hoffentlich so kann I. 102

February 27 It has been months since I have been posted here. I was working as artillery. It was better than where I am now. I was away from the fighting and I was distanced from the death ridden fields of no man‘s land. But now I have been assigned as a sniper, and taken from my distanced artillery bunker, I was now placed upon a hill looking over the bare plane. I still have not fired a shot at the English, try as I might, but, I cannot kill my fellow man. I do not understand how my comrades can. I try to convince myself that I can kill them, that it‘d only be a pull of a trigger, I still don‘t believe myself. I grow tired of looking through my binoculars; there is no life, no colour in between our trenches. I saw a bird a few days ago, a swallow, I think. It was beautiful, a rich blue covered it, but I could not see much more before it flew away. I tried to follow it with my binoculars, but I lost it. It must have a nest around one of the trenches; otherwise there would be little reason to stay here. If I was that bird, I would fly as far away as I could from this hell. But not all hope is lost, even in this miserable godforsaken piece of land. I saw one of them not but a few hours prior, searching for something under a hedge. I dared not pull my rifle out, lest my finger slips. My binoculars where the only thing of mine that wasn't tattered or barely functional, and I could see with absolute clarity what he pulled out. A hedgehog, it appeared to be wounded. This made me feel like I was not the only one that cared, between my heartless comrades or my coldblooded captain ordering the endless gas strikes, I felt that only I cared about anything, that I was the only one that wasn‘t ready to shoot anyone on sight, just for being on an opposing piece of land. This Englishman changed that, I am not alone, even in this hell. Hopefully this one can return to his home, alive, and hopefully so can I.

Life Lived and Life Lost Katharine Elliott, Grade 12 Land of peace, for you and I A home so quaint from the outside Inside a tyrant controlling A sweet sister lays so still in her chair Calm water A fall so sudden Life so delicate, now left crumpled Broken glass Blame of death, left weighing on one Escape from the tyrant Gone forever from her life, without a word of goodbye Swaying ship, pointed towards war Grim as death Horses everywhere One must use his caring nature A friend, ill Fallen horse must be shot Pain everywhere Two comradeâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s both injured Land of destruction Soldier act strong Gas everywhere, some shall die Lungs searching Orders barked, lives saved A bullet finds its mark, a bird sings Songbirds gentle chirps Sweet as perfume Haunt forever One hundred and thirty locked away Free they run with their guardian Pursuers shot, freedom A barn on fire, must escape Flames stalking their prey Captured at last, barely alive Never to live as before A single photograph, the only thing left A picture screaming a tale

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Edgar Allan Bro Jaxon Gaetz, Grade 12

Green eyes Green like the lettuce of a big mac Raps so ill He ainâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t never get no flack School uniform always too cool but rocks that mother****** and all the girls drool

He got that ray-ban vision Swagger is his mission D-Street Dont get it mixed With stinky feet His ladies are loyal They all know heâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s royal Three-sixty with the wrist boi A 325xi is his toy It shines bright like a diamond He even owns his own private island

D-Street Dont get it mixed With stinky feet Black lacoste with the velcro See em walk with a limp doe like an OG thug But he always give the love

D-Street Dont get it mixed With stinky feet 104

Carley Louw, Grade 12 Dear Ismael, This is very hard for me, but I now understand what must be done. It is important that you understand that we must end things now before we hurt anybody else, or ourselves for that matter. It‘s not that I don‘t care for you or think that you are not good enough for me, but what does worry me is how what was supposed to be nothing more but a fling could ruin my relationship with my family. Lately I have been feeling torn between my feelings for you and my responsibilities and obligations to my family. What we had was special to me and that‘s why this is so hard for me. For a while now I have been having mixed and confused feelings about you. It never felt right. I had this feeling like I could love you but at the same time I knew I couldn‘t love you. I always knew that what we had would not last and I guess that is why I always had this feeling of unsureness. My mother is right and I am only starting to realize now that I must own up to my responsibilities to myself and my family and that is why what we have can no longer continue on. We were only children and we were as childish and culpable as our actions. I hold myself culpable, as I was in the wrong by going against my family and dishonoring my parents by putting my affections first. After my mother and I talked, I realized that she was right and I was in the wrong. It‘s not that I don‘t think you‘re a good person or that I‘m not fond of your family. I have a great respect for you and your family. It‘s just, and this is really hard for me to tell you this but, we are of different backgrounds, and we live and follow different cultures and beliefs. I hate the fact that we always had to hide our relationship from our parents because of our cultural and racial differences. With all these secrets I was becoming more and more torn with myself and confused about my sense of responsibility to myself and my family. I won‘t deny that I had feelings for you because I know I would be lying, but I wouldn‘t be lying when I say that I knew what we were doing was wrong no matter how right it felt. I‘m 18 now, and it is about time that I grow up and begin to own up to my responsibilities. I am so sorry Ismael, I really am, and I am also sorry that things have to end the way they do. I know this isn‘t fair to you but you deserve so much better, I want to love you I really do but I know I can‘t love you. The truth is that I think it is about time that I move on and hopefully you will do the same. I‘m not going to say that I won‘t miss you because then you would know that I‘m lying and so would I, but this is for the best, for the both of us. I was hoping that we could still remain friends but sadly I know that for now the best thing for us right now is for us to remove ourselves from each other‘s lives. I didn‘t want things to end the way they did, but I was foolish and childish and I made the wrong decisions to go against me and my family‘s beliefs and values and my way of owning up to my responsibilities to both me and my family is for me to end this relationship. I was confused and I wasn‘t thinking clearly and that was my mistake to have put you in this situation in the first place. I realize that things between us could be different but I have decided to accept responsibility and make a choice. Kindest regards, Hatsue 105

The Different Cravings of the Power Hungry Cristi Louw, Grade 12 In the play The Tempest, Shakespeare presents various styles of power through the different characters of Prospero, Caliban, and Gonzalo. However, even though each man has different ambitions for power, they all portray some sense of a symbiotic relationship. Prospero, a powerful magician, began functioning as a god on the island, manipulating everyone within his reach, after his younger brother, Antonio, exiled him there. His actions were a result of the parasitism relationship that he built with the island. Caliban, however, achieved a much more sympathetic relationship, for he constructed commensal relations with Stephano, his new master. Caliban was the original claimer of the island; this was until Prospero came along proclaiming it as his own, and enslaving Caliban as his servant. Prospero‘s actions are what cause Caliban to be in search of a new master, Stephano, because it wasn‘t so much about being the one in control, but instead being controlled differently. Gonzalo is another individual who desired power, but in a different manner, he wanted to redefine the power structure. Gonzalo, desired a sense of power that was mutualism, his motive was to spread an equal amount of power among the island, for he wanted to create a united society, the perfect world. There are numerous forms of power, Prospero, Caliban, and Gonzalo, all fought for control and wanted some sense of power, although for different reasons, to which sets them apart from each other, making each desire and symbiotic relationship significant. In the play The Tempest, Shakespeare presents forms of power in different ways, mainly through the character of Prospero who appears to hold the majority of the power, for he is the 'conductor' of every character and every event that happens throughout the play. Prospero, who‘s been stranded on an island with his daughter, Miranda, begins ruling the land and imposing his own culture on the people of the land. His actions give him full control over everything and anything on the island, and thus, proclaiming himself as king. Therefore, Prospero restoring his authority sees the island as an opportunity for he and Miranda to start all over, as if they have a second chance at life. However, although Prospero sees it as if he‘s starting off on a new blank page, he actually isn‘t. All he‘s actually doing is scribbling all over everyone else‘s work, and practically erasing everyone else‘s life away. Prospero didn‘t just let his new life fall into place, but instead he made it happen, meaning that while he was putting all the pieces of his life together, everyone else‘s life was falling apart in the process. For example, Ariel, another one of Prospero‘s servants, had her liberty taken from her, for Prospero had her right at his fingertips and he could mold her into whatever he wanted to. Ariel points out how Prospero isn‘t staying loyal to the promises he has made with her, and this is shown when she says, ―Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains, let me remember thee what thou hast promised, which is not yet perform‘d me (I.ii.242-244). This just shows how Prospero already has the power, and even when he has it all, he doesn‘t care how it might affect Ariel. Ariel completed every task given to her, remarkably well in fact, and even though she kept loyal to her promise, he hadn‘t kept to his own. Although Ariel was proven worthy of her promise, how Prospero sees it, is that Ariel was being ungrateful for all he has done for her. Even though she was well deserving of her liberty, in the end, whatever choice Prospero makes is the right one, as far as Prospero perceives it. No matter the choice in the end, Prospero is going to abide by his own, because even though he may be wrong, he has enough power to convince Ariel he is right.

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Another one of Prospero‘s servants was Caliban, however, Caliban wasn‘t threatened as much by Prospero than Ariel was, to which makes him one of the main results of chaos on the island. When Prospero and Miranda got stranded onto the island, Caliban, who originally claimed the island as his own, had it snatched from right beneath him. Although Caliban claimed the island first, Prospero took no interest in his feelings, including how it might affect him. Prospero‘s dreams and desires are what caused Caliban to lose the island and his home, for it was taken away from him, and not even just that, but Prospero imposed his own beliefs upon him as well. Although Prospero taught Caliban their language, it was not by choice, and this is pointed out when Caliban says, ―You taught me language, and profit on‘t is I know how to curse. The Red plague rid you for learning me your language!‖ (I.ii.437-439). This supports Caliban‘s dislike for Prospero because he was practically dehumanized. Prospero, who already seemed to have most of the power, never felt it was enough. He always desired more, which is why his relation towards the island is parasitic, since he‘s the only one benefitting from it. In other words, he‘s the only person constantly having the chance to erase what used to be there and just start new, whereas everyone else is permanent. Another form of power that Shakespeare presents in The Tempest, is through Caliban, who is not necessarily all about being in control, but being controlled differently. Caliban was considered to be the product of nature, for he was the offspring of the evil witch, Sycorax. Prospero, Caliban‘s master, dehumanizes him, by treating him inhumanely, like an animal. For example, Caliban points out, ―—here you sty me in this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me the rest o‘th‘ island‖ (I.ii.409-410). This supports Caliban‘s argument, for he no longer wants a master who treats him the way Prospero does, but instead wants a master who will give him his freedom, leisure, and independence over his own decisions on life. Prospero‘s actions are what cause Caliban to abandon his old ways and follow a new path, where both Caliban and his new master will benefit from the relationship, instead of a parasitic relationship, and thus, making it a win-win scenario. Caliban comes across two men: Trinculo and Stephano, both of whom respect Caliban a lot more than Prospero did, particularly Stephano. Caliban convinces Stephano to become his new master and overthrow Prospero. To do so, they plot Prospero‘s death. Caliban suggests several ways of killing Prospero, and it is clear that he has 107

thought about this before: "Thou mayst brain him ... or with a log batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, or cut his wezand with thy knife" (III.ii.97-100). However, Caliban isn‘t just doing it for revenge, he generally liked Stephano, for they both shared similar desires and qualities. Each individual likes the idea of power, they just desired it differently. For example, Stephano desired a form of power that would give him complete control of the island, whereas Caliban desired power in a way that was built upon control and humanity. Therefore, Caliban had a sense of power that was commensal; where one benefits, (Stephano is this case) and the other is neither affected nor harmed (Caliban). In the play The Tempest, Shakespeare presents another form of power through Gonzalo, who desires power differently, for he wants to redefine the power structure. Gonzalo is an optimistic, good-tempered, and loyal man, he is also one of the main reasons Prospero had a change in his old ways and bad habits. Gonzalo always makes the best of every situation, and has a positive outlook on the world. When Gonzalo has the ambition of redefining the power structure, it is only the building blocks of what he truly desires: a united world. Gonzalo wanted the perfect world, where everyone was equal, and power was spread among all in such a way that a mutual relationship was created in its place. Gonzalo points out, ―I' th‘ commonwealth I would by contraries execute all things; for no kind of traffic would I admit; no name of magistrate; letters should not be known; riches, poverty, and use of service—[...]—no occupation; all men idle, all; and women too, but innocent and pure; no sovereignty—‖ (II.i.162-171). This supports his argument, for he no longer wants the side of power that darkens the world, but instead the side that enlightens it. Although Antonio and Sebastian made a mockery of Gonzalo‘s desires, other individuals such as Prospero was impacted by it, and for that reason, Gonzalo was a significant part of Prospero‘s change in heart. Therefore, Gonzalo had a sense of power that was mutualism; everyone would benefit from the relationship, because the bottom line is power couldn‘t be possible if the society wasn‘t united, since the power structure he desires is the brain of equality. Whether it‘s already being in control, wanting to be in control, wanting to be controlled differently, or even wanting to redefine control, there‘s always a desire for some sense of power, even if they are different. Prospero, Caliban, and Gonzalo are characters in The Tempest who all had some type of symbiotic relationship with the island. The symbiotic relations came from their individual unique desires. Prospero with his desire for more power is what constructed his relationship with the island to be parasitism, and even though Prospero saw being stranded on a remote island as a second chance at life, his actions made everyone else‘s only chance at life not even possible. Caliban, however, who wasn‘t all about being in control, but being controlled differently is what caused him to construct a commensal relations with Stephano, for the power he desires will not only grant him a new master, but also a life full of endless opportunities. Therefore, Caliban was done letting slavery completely strip him of his humanity, but instead he was ready to have slavery empower him. Gonzalo, however, his greatest desires was a sense of power that could unify the world. On the other hand, he may have wanted a united society, but that was just the building blocks to his mutual relations with the island, for what he truly wanted most out of life, was the perfect world. Therefore, even though there are numerous forms of power, Prospero, Caliban, and Gonzalo, all fought for control and wanted some sense of power, although for distinctive reasons, to which categorizes them differently from each other. However, the actual significance to each of the different desires are the symbiotic relations grew alongside it. Prospero, Caliban, and Gonzalo may have had different cravings and a different taste for power, but in the end, they were all power hungry. 108

Liberalism Kristian Thomsen, Grade 12

The first source is a graph of voter turnout in Canada and the USA. The data in the graph calls attention to the rapidly decreasing Canadian voters and the long time lack of voters in the US. The true goal of the source however, was to show how voter apathy has become a large scale problem in many nations. A particular point of interest is the massive drop in voter turnout in Canada from 1988-1998. This could mean that the Canadian nation is undergoing a rapid increase in apathy and that Canadians are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the political process and our parliamentary system. In contrast with Canada's drop in voter turnout, the US appears to be undergoing a resurgence in voter interest and faith in the political process, since in 2008 it experienced a 40 year high. The apathy that this source makes visible (Even though US is at a 40 year high voter turnout is below less the 60 %) serves as a major challenge facing the modern liberal democratic states threating that nation with the possibility that small political parties that fail to represent the people will be elected, leaving the function of the state ever more illiberal due to the people no longer being represented. Comparing both the voter turnout for Canada and the much older democracy of the USA, could be used to indicate that the idea of democratic decay is very much a threat and that within several years Canada will be stuck around the 50% line.

Source I In source two, the author is condemning liberal ideals and instead supports a "Stalinist" styled authoritarian dictatorship or one resembling the state of North Korea. Throughout the source, the author claims that rights are not needed and do not benefit the people. The author also believes that the state should be unquestioned and have its people's undying loyalty. It also moves against the capitalist/classical liberal ideas of the free market by supporting the nationalization of industry with the line "it has a right and 109

obligation to monopolize all power" in reference to the state. The source is also absolutist when it comes to its collectivist ideas stating that the ideas of the individual and groups (likely meaning nationality) should be abandoned. The author claims that citizens need protection from the world, and supports this in the form of the state caring for its people through social programs like welfare. This shows that the author can, once again, be classified as a collectivist. One reason as to why the author supports these radical authoritarian views is likely due to a quest for national power, since the source frequently supports the ultra-devotion of citizens to the state and his belief that the state should be the focus of society. This drive for national power could show Benito Mussolini as an inspiration since both strived for a strong country and Mussolini supported the idea of people abandoning their native ethnic groups and instead joining the nation of their country, much like how the author believes people should no longer identify with their "group". Another belief of the author is that the state should be the end goal but he still supports some socialist styled programs for the people. Because of this, it would be safe to assume that Joseph Stalin is another source of inspiration for their views or the state capitalist style of government found in China.

The first and most obvious similarity between the two sources is that both depict challenges to the liberal idea of democracy, although Source I shows this through evidence found in the modern world, whereas Source II is simply a criticism of democracy. They also depict how over centuries, the support base of the democratic ideals has withered away both through contending ideologies and the fact that many people simply no longer care about it. One could also interpret the drop in voter turnout for Canada as being that people are beginning to support the anti-democratic views of Source II's authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s views (This interpretation does require the assumption that a dictatorship is always collectivist). That interpretation would resemble 1933 Germany where apathy and discontent with the democratic system lead to support for an authoritarian regime. To contrast the two sources, Source I can be seen as a sign of rising illiberalism since the liberal ideals of democracy are failing, whereas Source II could only be seen as anti-liberal since he is out right against liberalism in any form, as opposed to claiming to follow liberal ideals. Both sources however, without a doubt, provide a critical challenge to both democracy and the liberal ideals it has spawned from. 110