Short Story Competition 2012

Sm谩sagnakeppni grunn- og framhaldssk贸la 2012

GAMES

Smásagnakeppni grunn- og framhaldsskóla 2012 Félag enskukennara á Íslandi (FEKÍ) Þátttakendur voru 51 frá 14 skólum. Að þessu sinni var þemað, leikir (games) Þeir skólar sem tóku þótt, eru: Borgarholtsskóli, Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti, Fjölbrautaskólinn í Garðabær, Fjölbrautaskóli Snæfellinga, Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurlands, Flóaskóli, Grunnskólinn í Hveragerði, Hlíðaskóli, Húnavallaskóli, Landakotsskóli, Laugalækjarskóli, Menntaskólinn að Laugarvatni, Smáraskóli, Vesturbæjarskóli Stjórn FEKI þakkar fyrir góða þátttöku.

Skipulag: FEKÍ Dómnefnd: stjórn FEKÍ Mynd á forsíðu: Sunna Dís Örvarsdóttir, Hlíðaskóli Styrktaraðilar: Sendiráð Bandaríkjanna í Reykjavík; Bókaútgáfan Salka ehf.

Contents

I. category Brynja Árnadóttir Angry Birds

6. grade and younger Hlíðaskóli

Sylvia France Skuladóttir The Ball

Vesturbæjarskóli

Una Yamamoto Barkardóttir Computer Games or Jump Rope?

Vesturbæjarskóli

II. category Dagbjartur Kristjánsson Alexander Gunnþórunn Sara Karlsdóttir Game Situation Magnea Rut Gunnarsdóttir Just a Little Imagination

7.-8. grade Grunnskólinn í Hveragerði Hlíðaskóli Húnavallaskóli

III. category

9.-10. grade

Urður Einarsdóttir You're It

Laugalækjarskóli

Sigurður Andri Jóhannesson The Play Addict Grandfather María Nathalie Mai The Forest of Fears

IV. category Halldóra Þórdís Skúladóttir Mud Cakes Amila Crnac Hangman in Hell Guðjón Þór Lárusson The Butterfly Game

Flóaskóli Laugalækjarskóli

upper secondary Menntaskólinn að Laugarvatni Fjölbrautaskóli Snæfellinga Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti

I. category

6. grade and younger Angry Birds

Brynja Árnadóttir, Hlíðaskóli

The Ball

I fly!!!!

There‘s the shop.

This ball is beautiful!

Do you want to play with me?

Now I have to find someone to play with me.

No

Now I can fly to the shop and buy a ball.

I want!

It‘s funny!

I like playing with you.

See you tomorrow!

We can play with the ball tomorrow.

Oh! Yes I want to play more.

The End

Sylvia France Skuladóttir, Vesturbæjarskóli

Computer Games or Jump Rope? ‘‘Crash! POW! Boom BOOM! ‘‘ As usual Alex was playing his computer games. He had about 25 of them. He spent most of his time locked up in his room, in a war against Star Wars clones. ‘‘ Hey, mom! He shouted. ‘’It says here that there is a new version of ‘’Black Death War’’! Can we get it, mom PLEASE? ´´. However his mom heard absolutely nothing because the volume of the computer game was turned up so loud. ‘’ MOM! Can we? MOMMMM!’’ Alex shouted even louder ‘’WHAT?’’ His mother shouted back. She sounded tired. Alex’s mom worked as a waitress at McDonald’s. She didn’t like her job but she knew it wouldn’t be getting any better. ‘’Yeah! Sure whatever.’’ She answered. Of course you can realize by now, that Alex was rather spoiled. Alex’s father had gone off to war when Alex was just two years old, he never came back. Alex had no idea where his father was now or what he was doing but he didn’t care. All he cared about right now was the TV screen and his computer game! Later that day, Alex and his mother had leftover chicken nuggets from MacDonald’s for dinner.

The next day, Alex woke up at seven. But when he tried to turn on his lamp something strange happened. The light didn’t turn on. This had never happened before to Alex, but he knew what it meant, he just had to check on something first. Alex ran downstairs and…no, just as he suspected. None of the lights were working!’’ This can just mean one thing,, Alex thought. The electricity was out! This meant that Alex couldn’t play computer games all day!

He was about to run up to his room when he heard something. He heard something that caught his attention. He heard laughter. He ran to the window and saw some kids playing in a sandbox. Across from them were other kids playing jump rope. One girl stopped jumping and looked at Alex and then she whispered over to the next girl. Alex couldn’t hear the girl whispering into the other girl’s ear, but he could tell from the look on her face when she looked up from her jump rope at Alex, that they were talking about him. ‘’ Why would they be talking of me? ’’ Alex thought. ‘’I don’t even know who they are’’.

And then, right on that very moment something very strange happened.

All of the sudden, deep inside his heart, Alex felt an urge to join them. He didn’t know why.

He never wanted to hang out with other kids, especially not girls! But now was different.

When he started thinking about if he should join them he had a thought. ‘’You know what?’’ he said to himself. ‘’I’ll do it!’’ So he got his jacket and ran out the door. ‘’Bye mom, I’m

going out’’ he called. Right there, Alex’s mom nearly fainted. She hadn’t heard Alex say that he was going outside for weeks. You see, Alex was a truant. He had never set foot into a school before, although, he had taught himself to read. ’’Ok, how am I supposed to do this?’’

Alex thought, as he walked slowly through his garden, which looked more like a garbage heap by now. Then he spotted the girls. They had switched from jump rope to hopscotch. But Alex didn’t care, until he thought something that changed his mind. ‘’Oh no! They are going think I am some kind of idiot. Boys don’t play with girls!’’ But there was no place to hide. The girls headed his direction. Alex could hear a little voice inside him telling him to stop being such a coward. Then the girls did something that surprised Alex. They walked up to him and then one of them said ‘’Your Alex, right?’’ Alex rose slowly up to them .Then the other girl spoke up ‘’Hi! My name is May, and this is my friend Ariel! You want to play hopscotch with us? ‘’Ummm….’’ Alex didn’t quite know what to say. There was a long pause. ‘’ Uh, sure! “’ Alex finally said. Ariel and May led Alex to their hopscotch game. ‘’So where do you live?’’

May asked Alex cheerfully while she was jumping over five. ‘’We don’t really see you around.’’

‘’ Uh yeah, I live on, uhh… over there!’’ Cried Alex and pointed over to his

house. The game went on with similar conversations. When they had been playing for a long time, Ariel looked at her wristwatch with surprise, Alex and May guessed it was time to go home.

When Alex came home he ran to the living room to find his mom. ‘’MOM! You’ll never guess where I was!’’ he shouted. ‘’ No, where were you?’’ his mom said. ‘’I had so much fun!

Playing outside is much more awesome than playing computer games inside!’’ he exclaimed.

Alex’s mom almost fainted, again. ‘’Oh my lord’’ she exclaimed. ‘’What on earth made you think that?’’ Alex explained to his mom all about Ariel and May and the game of hopscotch.

When he was finally finished his mom just stared at him, her eyes sparkling. Finally she said. ‘’I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that.’’ Then she gave Alex a big, big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Turns out Alex’s mom never liked his addiction to computer games. She just thought it would never end. But that day, it did.

Little by little, Alex played more and more with the girls. He also made even more friends.

Alex felt happy. He had made new friends. Two weeks passed and by then Alex had completely forgotten about his computer games. Nothing was more important to him than his family and friends. One day, when Alex was walking downstairs to breakfast, something caught his attention. When he came into the kitchen, his mom was sitting there with a great big smile on her face. Of course that part was normal, but the part that caught Alex’s attention was the man sitting next to her. He looked strangely familiar to Alex. Then suddenly Alex

knew. He knew that man. He knew that he knew that man. ‘’Oh my god’’ Alex whispered slowly. ‘’ Dad, Is that you? ‘’ The man let out a big laugh and shouted ‘’Of course it’s me!

Come here son!’’ Alex ran to his dad and gave him the biggest hug he had ever hugged. ‘’DAD! I knew you would come back!’’ Alex cried. He looked over to his mom who had tears in her eyes. ‘’Of course I came back! I wanted to see how my Alex had grown!’’ His father exclaimed. ‘’Well, it looks like we’re a whole family again.’’ said Alex’s mom. The family hugged and hugged until Alex’s mom said ‘’Alex, your father has a present for you.’’ ‘’Whoo-hoo!’’ cried Alex. He stared wide-eyed at his father who drew out little envelope from his backpack. Alex’s parents looked at each other, exchanging mysterious smiles. ‘’This is a very special present, Alex.’’ His father said. All of the sudden, everything grew very quiet. All the excitement from Alex’s father coming home had turned into silence. Alex sat on his chair just staring at the envelope. Finally he stood up and tore the envelope open. Out fell a letter. Alex reached down and picked it up. ‘’Read it honey’’ said his mother. Alex read. ‘’Dear…uhh… Alex! Congar..uh I mean.. Congratulations!’’ Alex’s mom took the envelope from Alex’s hands and read.

Dear Alex Smythe, Congratulations! You are now entering KEYLUCKY SCHOOL. You will be in third grade.

Your teacher will be Ms Catherine Goodman and you will start your first day on January 8th 2013. Again I congratulate you and of course welcome you to KEYLUCKY SCHOOL. Yours sincerely, Abigail Minch Headmaster of Keylucky school. ‘’No way! School? I get to go to school?!’’ Awesome!!!!!’’ Alex shouted. The morning ended with happiness, laughter, and hugs. And so did Alex’s family.

Una Yamamoto Barkardóttir, Vesturbæjarskóli

II. category

7.-8. grade

Alexander

Hello my name is Alexander; my mom said that the meaning of it is “a protector of humans”. Well, I’m not quite like a protector of humans at the moment, because right now I am stuck in a game that will kill me and another player, unless we will confront the man who made it. This might sound weird to you but I will explain it all. I live in Iceland and my parents are very rich. The reason for their wealth is that they’re making a fortune from their business in cooperation with their rich friends. Among the rich friends they have is the one who got me in all this trouble and he invented the online game that I am stuck in. His name is Romanoff and he lives in Russia, he is the one I will have to fight. To explain this I will begin the story when I first met Romanoff in a diner with my parents …

“Alexander! Open the door for the guests” shouted dad. “But dad I am playing … “Open the door kid!!!”.”Okay I will! “Alexander it is Mr. Romanoff. Mr. Romanoff is a business partner of my father´s and he gave me a great online game for Christmas. It came in the mail from Russia, I didn’t know anything about that man but he still gave me a Christmas present, that was kind of weird. I played the game almost every single day.

The game had a special uniform which sensed your movement so that you played the game literally with your body. The uniform also has glasses which help you to see the environment of the game and it also has a helmet that you can use for magic in the game, because it senses how you think: if you concentrate, you can use magic. I chose fire as my element. I got to be one of the best players of the game and I had many friends (in the game) many of them were from other countries. There was a translator installed in the game so I could talk to other players and they could talk to me.

Now back to the diner. I opened the door and in front of me was a man in a gray suit; with a tie which was also gray and nearly everything was gray from the tie to the eyes. His son was so not like him. His son had his gray eyes like his father, but he was very unlike him. He had brown hair and he was weary tall even taller than his father, he was wearing a green shirt and black jeans. “Hello” said the man with the gray eyes “my name is Romanoff and this is my son Ricky, can we come in?” “Yes come over here, diner is ready”. When we started the meal I saw that Ricky wasn’t very happy being here, actually it was like this was the worst moment of his life. Well I didn’t say it was fun. Dad and Romanoff finished all the beer in the house and dad said with a strange voice:

“Aleggsendar go innntoo yorr rroom novvv”. “Yee you tuu Rikki” said Xing. They were obviously very drunk. I was happy to get away from them. Me and Ricky vent into my room “Is your father always so weird” asked Ricky. “Well maybe you didn’t notice but he was drinking a lot of beer”. “Hey do you still play the World of Elements, you know that game that my father gave you for Christmas”. “Oh yes I do, do you want to play it?” “Yes that would be perfect”. I didn’t even think about that he would need a uniform; there was something about those gray eyes that made me want to do things and not to think about things. I put on the uniform but it was a different feeling than usual. Something was going on. My eyes wanted to close.

Ricky started talking. “My father has set up a task for you, and another son of a rich man, that he knows and hates like your father. Go to the volcano in the centre of the game, there he will be waiting”. I felt pressure on my body, my eyes closed and everything went dark for a short time. And the next thing I knew I was underwater and didn’t see anything.

I couldn’t swim up, but suddenly I saw a hand, I grabbed it and it dragged me up. I took a deep breath. Someone said “What were you doing in the water”. I said “I fell”. I looked up and there was a tall Asian boy. He said “my name is Wing and I live in China, what about you?”. ”Iceland and my name is Alexander the translator is obviously working”. He looked around and said “We should go, Romanoff’s spies will be here soon”. I stood up and he asked “can you run. “Yes I can” and we ran away. Something was following us, they were like a mixture of humans and wolfs and they were running much faster than us. Suddenly Wing stopped and said “There is no use running, they go much faster than us and they will catch us” he passed me something, it was a sword. “But what can we do” I asked. ”We can fight” said Wing. I was holding the sword in both hands. The wolf-humans came to us; they were about twelve and had razor sharp claws. One came close to me, I stabbed it and it turned to gray smoke a. One grabbed my leg; I kicked it and swung the sword. Gray smoke was all around my face and it was like it was trying to go into my mouth. I saw that Wing was unconscious. I saw everything in gray, a wolf came close to me, knocked me out, and everything went dark.

When I woke up I saw ash all over the place and I heard someone talking: “Well, well Alexander you finally came to me. How exiting it is that you could join us”. It was Romanoff! I am on top of the volcano looking down a big crater full of lava. The heat was too much, I looked back at Romanoff, and he was wearing armour with spikes and carrying the sword that Wing gave to me. “Well Alexander, you probably don’t

know why I put you inside this game and you don’t need to know. Let’s just say that your father and I had some disagreement, when we were young”. He came to me and handed me the sword. “What have you done to Wing?” “Oh Wing? I didn’t do anything to him, except creating him.

“What do you mean”? “You see, Wing is a program that I designed just for you. I knew that I would have to lead you to me, so I designed a program for you to follow… right to me. But it doesn’t matter you will be dead soon”. He attacked; I jumped away from the sword, looked at it and concentrated very much on jumping away. Then suddenly I felt the same feeling that I felt when I used magic. I saw the lava in the volcano. I used all my power to lift the lava up and I let it fall over Romanoff. I had finally done it, I had defeated Romanoff!!! I did what should have been impossible I … Suddenly I felt the heat all around me….. I was falling to the lava……. nooooooo!!! Why did you do this God - why?!!! THE

END Dagbjartur Kristjánsson, Grunnskólinn í Hveragerði

Game Situation Ethan and Jessica are best friends and they love playing 007 Skyfall together in an online multiplayer mode. It´s winter outside. Ethan and Jessica just bought the game so they can´t wait to actually get to play it. They live in Los Angeles and it‘s almost Christmas season. The city is full of Christmas lights shining bright like a diamond. It’s the 30th November this evening. Jessica has always had a tiny crash on Ethan but she never told him. She thinks it might ruin their friendship.

It‘s late in the evening and dark outside. The city noises are loud like a saxophone playing at a jazz concert. Jessica sits down next to her computer after eating a big meal at Burger King. She waits online for Ethan to get online. Finally after waiting for 30 minutes Ethan eventually appears online. They start playing 007 Skyfall but first they have to customize their character. Jessica picks a girl that has dark hair and green eyes and her skills are archery, knife throwing and fighting. Ethan picks James Bond of course whose skills are gun shooting and fighting.

And now they start playing the game. They start at level one. Suddenly they hear thunder and lightning. Ethan and Jessica can talk to each other by having some headphones with a mic on it. Just when they have started, they electricity goes off. In a few minutes the electricity comes back on and they both see a big rainbow cloud over their heads spinning in circles and it spins faster and faster. Then it stops and goes away. The lights get brighter and then they get zoomed in the computer. Knocked out they just lied there like a fish out of water but they were breathing.

Jessica woke up before Ethan and she decided to try to wake him up. Jessica noticed that she wasn’t at home any more. Jessica screamed so loud that Ethan woke up and said: ,,Jessica, is everything alright?“ She replied ,, No, everything is not alright! Where are we, Ethan?“. He looks around and thinks about where they are. Finally he realizes that they got pulled into the game. Ethan says ,,We are in the game, somehow we got pulled into the game and we have to go through the game and complete the all levels.“ ,,So we have to win the game to get home?“ Jessica asks. ,,Yes!“ Ethan replies.

So they start walking, they look around and see that people are frightened of them.

When they finally realize what is going to happen, it’s too late. A bomb explodes just two feet away from them. Ethan jumps to Jessica to protect her but Jessica jerks off and says ,,You don’t have to protect me, I can take care of myself.“ ,,They all say that, Jessica, and then it turns out they can´t take care of themselves. They get hurt or they die,“ Ethan says. “Ugh,“ Jessica replies. Gun fire starts and they run as fast as they can. They are running almost as fast as a lioness hunting her pray. When they arrive, they see the evil villain and Jessica hides behind the trashcan that’s nearby. Ethan is frozen. He is so afraid he can’t move. Jessica screams his name, she wants to reach out for him and pull him behind the trashcan so he won’t get hurt. She thinks to herself: “Should I risk my life for the boy I love, and what if he doesn’t love me back? Should I let him die or should I save him and maybe he loves me and maybe not. There´s only one way to find out.”

She reaches out for him and by the time she grabbed him and moved him closer, a bulled landed right where Ethan was before Jessica grabbed him. Ethan screams so loud that the people stopped running and they just stared at them like they were a store with everything off 50%. Ethan said: “Thank you, Jessica, for saving my life!! I owe you a big one.“ Jessica waits to think about her answer and then she finally says: “See I told you I could take care of myself! And also you´re welcome and the last thing you owe me is a big one yeah.”

Ethan and Jessica wait until the gunfire has ended and then they start walking. “We have to find a computer so I can hack into the system and get us to the last level so we can get out of here sooner,“ Ethan says while they are walking past a big hotel. Jessica asks Ethan if he would like to stay there while he tries to hack into the system. Ethan and Jessica walk into the hotel and ask for two rooms, the hotel manager says: “Sorry, we only have one room left and that is the biggest room that we have.“ Ethan says to him: ,,Fine, we will take it.“.

As Ethan takes the key and they walk towards the elevator Jessica beats Ethan in the arm and says: “What was that, couldn’t you find another hotel with two rooms?“ “No! Why? Is this not fine with you? “ Ethan asks Jessica. Jessica answers after quite a while: “Well, you ´re a boy and I‘m a girl, where is one of us gonna sleep? And do they have a computer up there?“ „Yes, they do,“ Ethan whispers to Jessica. They come up to there hotel room and open the door. Jessica is speechless when she sees the room. The only thing she could do was just stand in the living room and stare. Ethan did not like the room at all and said „ Oh no, it’s to girly!“ „Well we have to find the computer and hack into the system that controls the complete game.”

Maybe if Ethan is clever enough he could get them home right away but one of them might not get through the portal. He finds a computer and he starts hacking. Suddenly the rainbow cloud shows up again. Jessica grabs all their stuff and the storm starts. Ethan is concentrating so hard that he can’t be disturbed. Finally they can go through the portal.

Jessica decides to tell Ethan how she feels about him „ Ethan there is something I need to tell you before we go.“ „What is it?“ Ethan replies quickly. „ I love you!“ Ethan is shocked by these news and he says: „We have to go NOW!“ They jump through. They travel for a long time. When they get home, Ethan is alone. He doesn’t understand why he is alone. He thinks: “Where is Jessica?” He thinks about this for a long time when he realizes that Jessica didn’t make it, she died on the way here. Ethan never got to tell her how he really thought about her.

He whispers to himself: „I love you too Jessica.“ He doesn’t know how he should tell Jessica´s family about this Ethan is afraid and confused. Ethan closes his eyes and all he sees is black. Darkness takes over him and everything goes black, just dark black nothing. He never speaks again, he never feels again, he misses Jessica every single day. It hurts him more every day that passes by. And this is the story of Ethan and Jessica.

Gunnþórunn Sara Karlsdóttir, Hlíðaskóli

Just a Little Imagination Julia was sure that this evening would be the worst evening ever. Her parents and her uncle Carlos were going to dinner in a fancy restaurant and Julia was supposed to babysit her seven year old cousin Jeremy. He was rather skinny and tall for his age; he had light blue eyes and dark hair. Julia was a fourteen year old with long blonde hair and brown eyes. She didn‘t really like babysitting Jeremy. To her he was annoying, selfish and mean.

Julia sat in her room waiting for Carlos and Jeremy to arrive. Julia’s parents were busy getting ready. Maria, her mom, had put on a beautiful yellow dress and a pretty diamond necklace.

Her dad, Johnny, on the other hand was looking for his dark blue tie, after a few minutes search he noticed he was already holding it. „Julia come down here, Tom and Jeremy are here. “ Her mom shouted out the hallway. Carlos was Maria´s little brother and was visiting from Canada. „What on earth am I supposed to do? There‘s no fun in babysitting“ Julia whispered in her mom´s ear. „oh Julia calm down, it‘s only a few hours. You could go play some games or watch a movie, “she said to Julia and rushed to greet her brother and nephew.

Julia stood behind her and waved but a simple wave wasn‘t enough for Jeremy, he rushed and hugged her tightly. „Julia! Make sure the dog doesn’t go out“. Tinkle was a big brown hairy dog. Julia had got him for her seventh birthday and he was her best friend in the family. „Should we leave, I got a reservation at eight, “Carlos said and looked at his watch. Then they hugged Julia and Jeremy and left. „What are we going to do for the next four hours? “ Jeremy said and threw himself into the couch, „We could watch a movie...“ “Boring! Let‘s play games!“ Jeremy shouted and rolled around throwing all the pillows of the couch. “Fine. I‘ll play one game but only if it doesn’t involve a lot of movement, I’m tired “.

Jeremy jumped up and started thinking. He then ran across the room to Tinkle´s bed. „We can play an adventure game. I‘ll be a knight that lives in a castle, you could be my maid and Tinkle is a dragon “. Julia rolled her eyes making it obvious she did not like the idea. „Please, I play this game all the time with my friends, it‘s really fun! “Jeremy said and went down on both knees begging. „Okay then, but I don’t want to be a maid; I want to be a princess.

“Jeremy jumped of joy. He took a blanket of the couch and tied the ends around his neck, making it look like a cape. „I am Sir Jeremy from Camelot! Who might you be? “ he said and

pointed at Julia. “ Do I really have to do this? “Julia said and looked at her cousin like he was loosing his mind. „Of course you do, you just need a little imagination! You can be Princess Julia, daughter of the great king Johnny of Cambridge. Or you could just be my maid. “Julia stood up in a lazy way and said „Fine, I am Princess Julia from Cambridge“. At the very moment Julia had finished saying those words, she could easily imagine she was in a medieval world. „My dear princess, let me go with you on your journey to keep you from harm. “„No, I can take care of myself Jeremy,“ Julia said and acted if she was going on a long journey and walked to the kitchen then suddenly everything became normal. „Okay great you get the game! The kitchen can be the forest where the big dragon lives. “Jeremy said and tried to pull Tinkle into the kitchen. Tinkle ran and jumped to Julia and licked her face „Oh dear.

Someone save me from Tinkle the dragon! “Julia said“. Jeremy then grabbed one of Tinkles chewing toy and threw it into his cage. Tinkle ran into the cage and Jeremy closed it quickly and walked to Julia. „Everything is alright now, the dragon is locked in a cave where he can never go out“. Julia stood up smiling and said „Thank you dear knight for saving me from that horrible beast“. „I told you this was fun, okay let‘s play another game! “ Jeremy said and threw his cape of. „Yeah but I have to make us something to cook. “ „What are we going to eat? “ Jeremy said and rubbed his stomach. „I haven’t thought of that yet, let‘s check in the fridge. “ „I know we can pretend we are space rangers trying to find unique space diamonds, and our food can be the space diamonds. “ Jeremy said and took a pot and put on Julia’s head „This is your helmet, don’t take it off or you can die. “. Julia then jumped into her spaceship and headed towards and entered the gigantic fridge. „Julia can you hear me! I‘m at the headquarters and I ´ll be your guide through this mission. “Jeremy said and pretended a spoon was his microphone. „Yes I can hear you perfectly, so what do you want? “„Try to find something sweet and yummy,“ Jeremy said hoping Julia would give him candy for dinner. „Negative, sweets are too risky for this mission, how about something like spaghetti and tomatoes, I spot tomatoes right ahead. “Jeremy lifted his shoulders and agreed to that idea. Julia then flew across the fridge dodging many space rocks and finally reached the tomatoes. „Okay, now all we need to do is boil some spaghetti and then, bon appétit. “ Julia said and started cooking.

After a short time dinner was ready. „So what should we do next? “ Julia said after she had finished eating. „How about we play hide and seek, you start seeking and I will hide,“ Jeremy said and ran to find a spot to hide on.

Jeremy found the perfect place, „Come and find me! “ he shouted to give Julia a sign that he was ready. Julia started seeking in the living room. She looked under the couch, behind the

TV and under every chair, but she didn‘t see Jeremy, so she headed to her dad´s office. Her dad worked as a journalist so he needed a room to do his thinking. „Come on it‘s not that hard to find me.“ Jeremy shouted from another room. Julia then ran to her room and looked inside her closet. „Aha! Found you!“ Julia shouted and jumped of joy. „Tag your it. “ Jeremy then said and pushed Julia on her bed and ran away“. „What? What are you talking about?” Julia said confused. „Come on you know the game tag. I run and you try to catch me! “Jeremy said and ran to the kitchen. „Wait Jeremy I have a great idea. Let‘s take tinkle out for a walk and we can play tag at the dog park.“ Julia said and ran to get her coat.

Jeremy went and let Tinkle out of his cave and put his leash on. Then they all went outside and walked to the dog park. Julia took Tinkle´s leash of and ran to Jeremy „Tag!“ she said and ran as fast as she could away. „Hey! I‘ll get you! “Jeremy said and ran after Julia. Tinkle got excited in all this running and ran next to the kids as they tried to catch each other. After a long time of running they went home. „What should we do now? “ Julia said to Jeremy while she hanged their coats up. „I’m really tired, let‘s just watch a movie. “ He said and yawned. „What? No, that‘s boring let‘s do something more fun. “Julia said begging her cousin to come play. „Fine let‘s play a game, you can be a teacher and your supposed to try to keep me awake in class. “„ Okay I can do that. “ Julia said, but it was too late. Jeremy was already asleep and her parents and Carlos were home. „Okay we‘re home! “ Maria shouted as she walked through the door. „Shh, Jeremy is asleep,“ Julia whispered to her mom. Carlos then came in and carried Jeremy to the car, „How was it? Was he good? “Carlos asked Julia, „It was great, we had so much fun. “ Julia said and smiled. She was also really tired and went to bed right after Carlos and Jeremy left. She had never had so much fun while playing games. Maybe because this time she had a little imagination.

Magnea Rut Gunnarsdóttir, Húnavallaskóli

III. category

9.-10. grade You’re It

„Ready or not, here I come!“ My brother’s shrill voice echoed around the creaky old house.

“Great.” I quietly murmured, so he really does know how to count to one-hundred. However, I knew he’d never find me because I was in my own personal hiding place. Nobody knew about this place. Not even our parents. I was the only one who knew.

Behind a loose panel under the stairs there was a secret hallway. The hallway was poorly lit by candles on large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was clear that this hallway was very old. It had cobwebs in every corner and the chandeliers obviously hadn’t been cleaned for over a decade, or a century. Next time I come down here I’m bringing a duster.

Suddenly I saw him. His oily black hair glistened in the candlelight and as I walked toward him he slowly looked up at me with his silvery blue eyes, half hidden by his hair. At first he looked startled, seeing me, but as I grew closer he started to recognize me. His face reminded me of myself when I first found this place. “Wow, for a moment there I thought you were someone else“, he said. ”All that thinking about cleaning this place frightened me. “You know, you could stop poking around in my head for a while” I replied, “All this mind reading is kind of freaky.” “It’s not really something I can control,” He said in a strained voice. “But I’ll try, for you.” He smiled as if he’d just remembered something pleasant. “It’s funny, I’ve been stuck down here for over a century, but you’re the only person I’ve met that isn’t afraid to speak their mind around me.” I laughed. “Is that good?” I asked. “Yes, I believe so”, he replied in a satisfied voice. “Well, in that case, why would someone be afraid to speak their mind around you? It’s not as if you don’t know what they’re thinking already.” “I guess they’re just afraid to make me mad.” He replied. His smile lingered as he told me a story about a girl named Kate, who thought that Jem couldn’t read her mind while she was wearing a garlic necklace under her shirt. “And she thought you wouldn’t notice?” I grinned. Only the thought of that girl, wearing a bulky necklace under her shirt made me smile. Then Jem frowned. “Katie wasn’t one to be afraid, but around me she was pretty much freaking out all the time, especially after she found out what I was.” His face darkened. “Am” He corrected.

“You don’t scare me Jem. Even though you wanted to, you wouldn’t scare me.” I said. “Well, you should be scared.” He replied, his voice trembling. “But I’m not, so ease up.” Suddenly he was standing in front of me glaring into my eyes, his own black as the night. “I could rip your heart out in an instant.” He hissed, showing his sharp teeth. “But I know you won’t.” His expression softened, and his teeth turned back to his pearly whites. His eyes turned back to their silvery blue too. “There, that wasn’t too hard, was it?” I asked Jem. “No, it wasn’t” Jem said, smiling eerily. He looked at me. “Thank you”, he said, with gratitude in his voice. Jem’s face suddenly darkened again. “What’s wrong?” I asked, taking his hand. “I smell something.” He wrinkled his nose. “Human.” Before I knew Jem darted down the hallway, leaving me standing there, completely dumbfounded and unaware of what was happening.

Suddenly I heard a familiar scream. My mind went blank. “Jem, no!” I screamed “No!” I ran down the hallway with tears in my eyes. But when I got to him it was too late. I saw my little brother lying face down in a pool of blood. “Will!” I screamed my voice cracking. But then my attention shifted. Jem stood next to me, his smile red with blood. “You’re it”, he said.

Urður Einarsdóttir, Laugalækjarskóli

The Play Addict Grandfather My name is Johnny. I am going to tell you a story about my lovely grandfather, Tony. The story takes place about 20 years ago.

In a house in Florida on Sand Lake Road in house number 1252 lived an old man named Tony. He was a carpenter when he was young.

He had a wife and two sons. When his sons got older they moved away.

One day his wife Louise, my grandmother, died out of cancer, it was so sad. She was only 68 years old. She was diagnosed with cancer in the head. After she was diagnosed with the cancer she only lived 2 months. Tony was very sad and closed himself inside his house and stayed there for days. He became depressed and started to play videogames like Call of Duty and Assassin Creed and got addicted to them. He just wanted to be alone and play videogames.

But one day someone knocked on the front door. My grandfather was playing Call of Duty Black Ops 2. He stopped playing. He came to the door and a boy stood outside. The boy was me. I was 12 years old at this time. It had been 2 years since my grandmother died. I knocked on his door because I had not seen my grandfather for some years. He came to the door. I greeted him and introduced myself. He closed the door and said that he wanted to be alone. I did not give up. I knocked again. He was going to open the door and tell me to go away. But I went into an open window next to the door. I came towards him at the entrance hall and told him that we were worried about

him after

grandma Louise passed away. Because he had closed himself inside his house for so long and did not answer the phone. I said that we wanted to have him at Christmas. He did not answer. Then I saw a video game cover, or Call of Duty Black Ops 2 cover more specifically. I asked why it was here. He said that it did not matter. He just wanted to be alone. I

asked: Do you play this game? He said: No. I said: I love this game, it is so fun. Then he admitted that he played the game, so we went into the living room and we sat on the couch. Grandpa turned on the television and the computer and we took one game online. Then I asked him if he had any more games. He took up the remote control and pushed a button on it. Suddenly a cabinet full of video games opened. There was a lot of games probably over 100 games. Inside the closet were all kinds of video games such as car games, shooting games/gun games, puzzle games, adventure games, treasure games, and many more types of video games. We spent the rest of the day playing video games. My grandpa told me that when he was young there were no video games.

He also told me that he really loves to play video games and because he couldn’t play video games when he was young he played them now. In the evening I said to him that I needed to go home. I asked him to come home with me. He said: Yes because it had become so dark outside that he could not send me alone. We walked home, I did not live so far away from my grandfather. When we came to the house I knocked on the door, my grandfather was standing next to me. My dad came to the door and greeted us, he was very surprised. He was so glad to see his dad.

My grandfather slept over the night at our place. He also decided to spend the Christmas with us.

After this, I and my grandfather became best friends. We played video games together and he taught me to build a lot of things, using his experience as a carpenter. He stopped being depressed and we had many years together until he passed away two years ago. God bless his memory.

Sigurður Andri Jóhannesson, Flóaskóli

The Forest of Fears

Waking up was not so hard. I had barely slept all night. It took me a long time to figure out where the book had lead my sister Amy to. She had left a code in her room and papers with the descriptions of the place. My results were the dark forest of fears. I picked up my old coat and backpack with some biscuits, weapons and a map of the dark forest that Amy had drawn. No one was outside; usually nobody is about at this time of the day so I decide to go through the market place. On the ground I pick up some old oranges and cauliflowers and put them in my backpack.

Now I’ve been walking for fifteen minutes, over bridges, hedges and through small towns. Then I finally reach the gate that will lead me into the forest. I’m not quite sure if I should go inside but then a powerful storm rises and forces me to. Everything gets dark, I don’t know what to do but I trip over a piece of driftwood and find myself lying on the ground. In front of me appears an old woman in a green cloak. “Get up quickly” she says with and old woman voice, and I do as she says. “My name is Brenda and I’m the gatekeeper of this forest, you must be Lucy Crosswood, am I right?” Now I’m getting scared but I confess. “I believe that you’re looking for your sister. I’ll tell you this; in this forest there are many frightening things that will scare you. But don’t give up on looking for your sister.” She said and then vanished like a snow flake when it hits the ground.

I’m not sure if she’s good or bad, if I should trust her or not but I have to find Amy. She’s right about one thing this forest is terrifying. As I walk I see faces in the lakes shouting and screaming very painfully. And when I look closer I see

that these faces are those of people I know. I convince myself that this is only a hallucination or a trick. Creatures I’ve never seen before run into me and someone near is singing a scary song. I follow the sound and see a girl sitting at the riverbank with blond hair worked into a long braid that hangs down her back. Maybe she’s one of the frightening things that the forest has to offer, but I’ll never know unless I go to her.

I walk slowly towards her and she turns around and stops singing. “Hey, I’m Annie, are you lost?” she asks? “Yes. I’m looking for my sister Amy. You know this forest well?” I ask. After a short talk she tells me that she does, that she’s been stuck in here for eight long years. “ I Would get mad, and I already am.

How can you not be after staying in here for so long?” I ask. “The forest holds what you fear the most. I’ve learned to face them and I’m not afraid of anything anymore, just that I won’t find my way back home. But the forest can only frighten me by not letting me go, so I guess that’s why I’m still here.” She says with a dreamy voice and then we take a walk through the woods.

She says that she wants to help me and I let her. We search everywhere but without success. At one point I get the thought that I might be looking for her in the wrong place, but Amy’s descriptions matched perfectly to this forest.

“You know Lucy this is a game. I figured that out a long time ago. First you passed the gatekeeper, she does not let everyone get through, kills most of them if they have no purpose of coming here. You completed level one. There are said to be three levels and we have two to go.” she says. I had never thought of this as a game but I think Annie is right. I read Amy’s clues again, and now I’m confident that this is a game. It says: 1. Brenda 2. Mazes and faces. 3. Crowd.

Number one was to pass Brenda and so we did.

“I think we have to swim over the lake with the faces that we already saw but I’ve never seen any mazes” she says and we get into the lake. The water is freezing. The people in the lake are screaming and they try to pull me to the bottom of the lake. Annie is on the other side and shouts: “They know that you are afraid of them, think of something else, then they’ll release you” I think of a warm cup of tea and that I’m not frightened of them. They release me and I swim as fast as I can to the other side were Annie is waiting for me. We look everywhere for a maze but don’t find one. I’m tired and tell her that I’m so exhausted and I’m giving up.

“Don’t worry we will find her. I know you miss her but if you absolutely want to see her again destiny will guide you back to each other. You just have to believe deep in your heart that you will never be apart. If you give up you will

never find her, so don’t, “she says and I appreciate her kind words and know that she’s right.

Suddenly I remember that I’m afraid of mazes. When I was a little girl I went into a maze in a theme park and got lost. I cried so much and was very scared. A maze appears in front of us and we go inside. The walls are made out of yellow old bushes that are as high as skyscrapers. We stand on a thin layer of ice that holds both of us. Beneath us people from the lake are swimming and banging the ice. We run and get lost. Then I think of that event in the park when my dad came to me where I was lost in the maze and got me. Then I was safe. I see the exit of the maze and we run out as we see the light. The people from the lake crawl out of it and head into the woods and we follow them. I think I see my sister. She’s pushing through the crowd and Annie and I do the same. We have cleared level two and now the third one will have to be faced. I reach Amy’s hand and she pulls me as I pull Annie along. We manage to get through the crowd and see another gate. There is the exit and we run fast. The gate is closing but we manage to get through. All three of us.

“You scared me Amy, why did you come to this horrible place?” I ask her. “I’m sorry Lucy. But it’s not horrible anymore. The thought of never getting frightened again was exciting; I was drawn to this forest I couldn’t stop myself.

I’ve always been frightened of everything but by coming here I would never have to feel like that again.” She said and she’s right, the forest was not horrible anymore. It made us strong and now we don’t have to be afraid anymore.“ I came here for the same reason” Annie says. “But it didn’t work to make me fearless because I still was scared that I would never be able to go back home, and that was in fact also your sisters fear. You came and saved both of us. Thank you. And now this game is finally over.”

“But it isn’t over.” I say and they ask why. I’m not in the mood to explain and I know that they won’t understand. This was a game that taught us to be strong and have no fears. As soon I walked through the last gate a new game had begun. Life is a big game with many levels and from each and every one you will learn something new.

María Nathalie Mai, Laugalækjarskóli

IV. category

upper secondary Mud Cakes

Back in the old days, when kids didn't have smartphones or a computer to entertain them all the time, they played outside. Before the electricity became global they had to entertain them selves. In Iceland they mainly played with bones and made mud cakes.

Delicious mud cakes.

Baking mud cakes was Sara's favourite game. She looked like a normal six year old Icelandic girl on the outside. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, but on the inside she was different from the other kids. Everyday she was outside until the sun went down making them.

She was obsessed. Even when she was at school, all she could think about was mud cakes.

She made them with sand and worms, grass and bugs. When it was her birthday she asked for a stove to put outside so she could "bake" her cakes.

She was always an isolated child. All of the other kids liked more futuristic games.

They called her names and laughed but she didn't mind at all, was happy playing alone in the mud. She had dreams where she could be left alone for the rest of her life, just alone with the mud and she was so happy, after all, it was her favourite game. Her favourite smell was the smell of mud, and her favourite food was mud.

Her family was worried and tried to help her. They said she couldn't play with the mud anymore. She realized there was only one thing she could do. She baked a cake, but this one was going to be special. Her family never wanted to taste her cakes, even though she put all her best contents in it. She decided to make a deal with them. She would never ever make a mud cake again if they would agree to eat a piece of her best mud cake.

She spent hours on this cake. The cake would be the key to her freedom. Instead of the normal contents, she decided to change the recipe. This time she skipped the bugs and put a dash of drain cleaner instead. The cake was served with a cold glass of milk. Cold like Sara's revenge would be, they should never have tried to separate her from the mud.

Her family loved her so much that they all ate a piece; they just wanted her to get over her addiction. But she loved the dirt more than she loved them. They all dozed off one by one and she just stood there, with a big grin on her innocent little face. Now it was just her and the mud.

Halldóra Þórdís Skúladóttir, Menntaskólinn að Laugarvatni

Hangman In Hell I couldn't quite remember how I ended up here. The forest just kept getting darker as I walked through it. I remembered one thing, and that was my mother’s voice telling me not to fall asleep. Why would she say that? I guess I won't ever know.

I felt like somebody was watching me. It was a strange feeling that I didn't like, no, I didn't like it at all. I was wearing a strange dress. It reminded me of the white hospital wardrobe my mother had to wear when she got ill and had to stay at the hospital for months, the only difference is, is that mine has blood stains on it. I even had a bracelet, but not just any bracelet, it was the one with your name on it which they give you when you're sick and have to stay at a hospital. Mine had my name on it, Sophie Rose Emerald. Why would I be wearing this? I tried to bite it off, but even that wouldn't work, the bracelet was stuck on me.

I heard a whisper, a voice calling my name. I didn't recognize the voice but it sounded scared. I didn't know where I was so I decided to walk towards the voice that was whispering my name. A little house, more like a cabin, was hidden well inside the forest. The cabin had no windows or doors. What scared me the most was the axe that hung from the roof of the cabin. It looked like it had been well used on animals or even people.

The voice was coming from inside the cabin. Before I could move my feet, three creatures appeared out of nowhere, surrounding me so there was no way out. My mother used to tell me stories about the three monsters that would haunt you if you weren't kind and good when I did something that made her mad at me. Of course, she used that on me when I was about five years old but even now when I'm seventeen, it's hard to forget. They were all three kind of the same- they were big, much taller than me and they had no eyes. They couldn't speak because their lips were sewn together but you could hear what they were saying because they could whisper loudly. They had a big wooden stick and another small one at the top of it.

One of the three monsters dug the stick into the ground and another one whispered into my ear "must play, you will die anyway". A rope tied itself around the smaller stick and a girl appeared hanging on the other end of the rope. The girl was me. I screamed, but I knew that no one could hear me. I was all alone and the monsters were going to kill me, but first they were going to make me play a game. "Hangman," whispered one of them into my ear. The monster that stood by the girl, or in this case the other me, took a knife out of his pocket and turned the other me so we could only see the back of her. He cut out a square of material from her white hospital gown so we could see her back. One of the monsters took out a stone and started writing with it on the ground in front of me. It looked like this: S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ S _ _ _.

The monster by the other me whispered loudly, so loud it made me shiver. "Guess," it said. I knew right away that I had to guess a letter. It's not like I haven't played hangman before, except I cannot remember playing it in hell. Or that's what this all looked like. I didn't understand what would happen if I would guess a wrong letter. In a usual game of hangman,

every time you guessed a wrong letter, a body part was drawn or the stick that held the hangman- I guess I would find out sooner rather than later. "E" was my first guess, and it was correct. The monster in front of me wrote the letter down in the correct places.

"SEE_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ S _ _ _".

He looked at me violently and then looked away. The third monster didn't seem to be enjoying this as much as the other two. He must be the lazy one. He sat by a big dead tree, and only watched the game. It was my turn to guess again. I felt judged and I got really scared because I didn't know what was going to happen if I guessed wrong. "F." I started shaking, it was starting to get cold. The letter I guessed was wrong. The monster by the hangman took the knife and stabbed it into the other me’s back. I couldn't watch. Then suddenly I felt pain. I felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife and I could feel my blood flowing down my back. It all makes sense! Since the hangman is me, the things happening to her has to happen to me. It's almost like a voodoo doll. My vision started to blur because of the pain I felt. I screamed from the top of my lungs "G!" I just wanted it to end even if I didn't know what "it" was. "G" was correct and once again the monsters weren't happy. I also guessed "Y" correctly.

"SEE_ _ G Y_ _ _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ S _ _ Y. I guessed "seeing" was the first word in that sentence. So after taking a risk and guessing "I" and getting it correct and guessing "N" afterwards, I was right about the first word.

"SEEING Y_ _ _ IE _ I _ _ _ _ ING _ S _ _Y".

After guessing "H" and "K" wrong the pain got unbearable. I fell on my knees, barely breathing, with blood all over my body. The monsters smiled an ugly smile. They could barely stretch their lips but you could see that they were enjoying themselves. "O" and "D" were correct so I could guess some of the words by now.

"SEEING YO _ DIE _ I _ _ _ _ ING _ S _OY".

"U" and "B" made it clear to me what stood there. I screamed the sentence. "Seeing you die will bring us joy!" The monster by the hangman cut the top of the rope. I felt like someone had thrown a couple of bricks at me.

I woke up and looked around. My mother was beside me. There were doctors everywhere.

Some of them were talking about me and others picking needles and stabbing them into me.

I still felt the pain after being stabbed with a knife but I was in a much cleaner gown. I heard the doctors talk about an accident, and I remembered driving to my mother’s house when everything suddenly turned black.

Amila Crnac, Fjölbrautaskóli Snæfellinga

The Butterfly Game Elizabeth was in a sour mood. The cold wind ran through her hair like cold fingers where she swung to and fro on the swing. Her eyes were fixed on the wall in front of her. Like the rest of the garden it was cold and cast in shadow. Far away in the distance you could see the outline of the wall where it took a sharp turn and stretched out of sight behind the orphanage. She touched her chin which was bruised.

She hated that wall. She had hated it as long back as she had been left in the orphanage.

Everywhere it was, no matter where you turned. She had again and again tried to climb it but had always failed. She had countless bruises and scars because of that. The other kids made fun of her but she didn’t stop. Most people would have called her stupid but they didn‘t know the feeling to be trapped somewhere. Suddenly Elizabeth‘s world went upside down as a strong force pushed her from the swing set.

The earth came rushing towards her like a muddy face. With a loud noise she landed on a rock. The pain came instantly and she yelled out. She lay in daze on the ground which smelled of moss and grass. She groaned as she turned to face whoever had pushed her. The grey sun brought tears to her eyes which made her vision hazy. ”Were you trying to go over the wall again?” a boy’s voice asked in a squeaky tone. “What a loser,” another one said which sounded even squeakier. “Miss Aubain is going to punish you for this.” “Punish, punish,” the two voices chanted in a choir. Her eyes opened her in fright.

Miss Aubain was the headmistress of the orphanage. Many children were afraid of her because how strict she was. A lot of stories circulated the group of children about what she had done to those that had been summoned to her office. Some say she stuffed them in the broom closet. Other said she hanged them up on their ankles. Whatever she did, children often left her office crying. A click of heals was suddenly heard through the air.

It sounded foreign in the cool morning. Like that sound you sometimes hear in the night and know instantly it doesn‘t belong there. The hazy figures of the boys seemed to stiffen. That clicking was not a good sound. Click, click it sounded. Nearer and nearer it came. No one dared to speak. Even the wind seemed to stop singing to pay attention. ”What is going on here?” a firm voice asked. Elizabeth put her hand before her eyes. The sun was too strong so she couldn‘t see the exact outlines of the person but she knew who it was. Miss Aubain.

“Are you picking on Elizabeth?” the voice said. “No, ma’am” one of the boys replied in a nervous voice. ”She fell and we were helping her.” “I did not know helping someone involved pushing someone from the swing,” the voice said angrily. “Go, I will see you in my office later.” The ice cold voice broke no opening for arguments. A series of feet tapping the ground was heard and the boys were gone. Elizabeth lay on the cold ground, staring up into the cloudy sky. Somebody took her by the armpits and raised her up.

“Good grief, those boys. Did they hurt you?” the now soft voice asked but Elizabeth did not answer. The wind danced around her, cool to the touch as if it was trying to comfort her. She kept her head down so she would not look in Miss Aubains eyes. If she told her what had

happened the boys would just pick on her more. It would be best to be just quiet. ”It’s fine,” she said. ”It’s not fine,” Miss Aubain said in a sharp tone that made Elizabeth wince. She averted her eyes and looked at the wall. The huge forest beyond was so tall that it seemed to reach the sky. Birds were seen chirping in the trees like they were embracing nature. The sun shone through the branches like golden locks of hair and landed on her forehead. She closed her eyes. A small smile appeared on her face but instantly vanished. Even though the sun shone, its heat did not reach this cold and lifeless world behind the wall. She turned her eyes at Miss Aubain.

She was a tall woman, though not too tall. She was dressed in a light sweater and jeans which seemed too large on her. She had a little crooked nose and glasses that reflected the pale sunlight. She was very thin. So thin, Elizabeth sometimes thought that a breeze could snap her in half. She looked to be in her mid-fifties, yet somehow seemed older in the pale light.

“May I go inside,” she said quietly. “Not until you tell me what happened,” Miss Aubain said in a soft voice that did not quite match the hardness of the face. Elizabeth´s mouth suddenly felt very dry. The cold wind seemed to embrace her as she stood out there in the pale light.

She did not want to be there. Not there or anywhere. She just wanted to go inside and curl up under a blanket and forget the rest of the world. She closed her hand in frustration. “Then at least tell me why you are always trying to climb over the wall.” She could not hold herself back anymore. A seething fury settled in her.

“I hate it here,” she blurted out. She was so angry. Angry at the kids that picked on her.

Angry at the wind that was so cold. Angry at the sky that was always covered in clouds. She grinded her teeth together. ”I want out,” she said. Miss Aubain fixed her glasses with bony fingers. ”What a stubborn person you are,” she mumbled. Strangely her tone was not angry.

More curious. “How about we play a game?”

If Miss Aubain had shed her skin and revealed herself to be a lion, Elizabeth could not have been more surprised. ”A game?” she asked slowly with her mouth hanging slightly open. Of all the things she thought Miss Aubain would say, this was not one of it. ”Yes,” The headmistress said. ”A game played by both children and old people like me.” Elizabeth blinked her eyes and pinched her arm.

She tried to imagine Miss Aubain playing a game of hide and seek but the idea was too ridiculous that she could only stare in surprise at her. ”What kind of game are you talking about,” she asked and pinched her arm again as to see if she was asleep and winced at the pain.

“It’s called a game of butterflies,” Miss Aubain said. ”A game of butterflies,” Elizabeth repeated after her slowly like she was tasting the words. ”Yes,” Miss Aubain said.” It’s like where you have to catch another person. Except this time you have to catch the butterfly“. ”Oh,” the girl said. That sounded boring.

”I don‘t want to play that game,” she said and crossed her arms. ”You don’t even know what the prize is,“ Miss Aubain said and smiled. That smile when the person knows something but doesn’t want to tell. Elizabeth hated that smile. It always managed to make her curious. But she was also confused. Miss Aubain was acting completely different than usual. ”What is the prize?” she asked trying to sound normal but her curiosity was on a rampage in her. “Well, you have to catch the butterfly in order to know what it is,“ she said in a teasing tone. Elizabeth couldn’t be more curious.

She stepped closer to one butterfly with her arms open. She approached slowly. The butterfly opened the white wings lazily. She clasped her hands together but it was too quick for her.

Like an elegant angel it flew through the air with her chasing after it.

Again and again she tried capturing it but it was too quick for her. She did not notice the sun was slowly coming out of the clouds and the wind was getting warmer. All she could concentrate on was the white butterfly.

She ran over moss and puddles and again and again tried to catch the butterfly. She was so annoyed that she couldn‘t catch it. Somehow, no matter how fast she was or quick with her hands, the butterfly was faster. She growled in annoyance and chased after it. She began to wonder why she was so into this game. It wasn‘t that much fun but still she couldn‘t stop.

Every thought about being trapped or feelings of being in a box had vanished. She had forgotten about everything else but the butterfly. With one final lunge she flew through the air and closed the hands.

She landed with her face straight into the cold ground and her world became dark. She stood up and made a face when she felt the mud leak off her like water. She felt like her face hadn’t been washed for a long time. Yet, though she was covered in mud from head to toe, she couldn‘t stop smiling. She hadn‘t had so much fun for a long time. Her hands were firmly closed. She wasn‘t sure but she could have sworn that she felt something move in it. She looked up and the smile disappeared.

She hadn‘t noticed but she had wandered too far away from the orphanage. Cold and grey the gate to the orphanage loomed over her in the shape of an archway. Dazed and now warm from all the running she saw that on the other side the land was covered in light. Bird flew in a ring through the air and chippered merrily. A warm wind blew through and sent a shiver down her back. Before she could form a thought in her head a sound of clapping hands were heard. „Congratulations,” the headmistress said behind her. Elizabeth didn‘t hesitate.

“What is the prize,” she asked. Miss Aubain smiled. ”Whatever you want.” Now Elizabeth was really confused. ”Can I ask for anything? Even for the moon?” she asked. Miss Aubain laughed. It was a wheezy but a warm laugh. ”No not the moon. Ask for something simpler,” Elizabeth thought for a moment.

There were so many things she wanted. New toys, new bed sheets. Or maybe her own room so she wouldn‘t have to sleep with all the other kids. The possibilities were exciting. But that

was not what she really wanted. The butterfly was still trapped in her palm. ”I want to go out.” she said. Miss Aubain raised an eyebrow but a small smile appeared on her face. ”Are you sure?” Elizabeth nodded. ”The world behind those doors may seem to be bright and warm but sometimes things are not what they seem,” the headmistress said. Elizabeth hesitated. ”And you know full well that you can’t leave just yet. The rules say that you can’t leave until you are eighteen.” Elizabeth’s heart sank. So Miss Aubain was just playing with her after all. She never intended to let her go out in the first place. The world seemed even colder than it had been before.

“But now when I think about it, I have some business in town. Maybe you would like to come with me,” she said. Elizabeth’s eyes lit up and the hopelessness that had filled her was gone.

“Really?” she shrieked in high pitch voice. Miss Aubain just closed her eyes and smiled more.

She touched the grey bars and with a light tap it flung open. Right then and there the sun decided to come out.

Bright and yellow it lit up their faces with a warm kiss and cast their shadows on the ground.

It was so warm and bright that Elizabeth thought that they had opened the door to heaven.

She opened her hand in surprise and the now free butterfly flew out into the light. ”Miss Aubain?” Elizabeth said in a timid tone. Something was bothering her. The headmistress looked down at her. Elizabeth could now see that her eyes were very warm and full of life. ”Why are you doing this?” she asked. Miss Aubain smiled again but this time the smile was sadder. ”You are not the only one that knows what it is like to want to escape. I also grew up with people that did not like me.” A sound of geese could be heard in the distance as they landed on a sparkling Lake. Like a forgotten diamond it glittered in the sunshine. Elizabeth had never seen anything more beautiful. ”Elizabeth,“ the headmistress suddenly said. ”Do you know why we play the butterfly game?” Elizabeth shook her head so the locks of her hair dangled. ”It’s because sometimes people desire something so bad that they chase after it again and again. Some give up and others keep going. But you who are covered in mud have caught the butterfly.” Elizabeth understood what she was saying but there was one thing that bothered her. ”But I don’t see what a butterfly has to do with it.” Miss Aubain took her hand. It was warm to the touch and a peaceful feeling settled in her. “Do you know what the meaning of butterfly is?” Elizabeth shook her head. Miss Aubain just smiled wider. ”It’s Hope.”

Guðjón Þór Lárusson, Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti