The spider lunged at me and everything went black as the words “GAME OVER” flashed across the screen. I pressed the reset button on my controller and the cutscene loaded up. As always painted in big red letters across the sign were the words “Welcome to the Dream Motel! Where all your wildest dreams come true!” Picture of Clyde
Picture of big spider
Picture of Mannequin
Scraping Noises Every night at around 3:30am I hear scraping noises. They move up and down the halls and every so often they stop outside random doors. Every night I hear scraping on the walls and a shrill high pitched scream. Every morning, I find life-size mannequins where the sounds were coming from. Whenever I try to see what the noises are, I just find the mannequins outside random rooms in the hallway but in different positions then I leave them. I can’t get rid of them. Whenever I try they just come back in different positions. I think I’m in danger because every night the noises get closer and closer to my room and last night they were just outside my door.
Rana Celiker, Age 12 Rana Celiker, age 12, lives in Canton. She likes to write because it opens people to a new world and because it has so much creativity. In addition to writing, she enjoys crafting. Her favorite author inspires Rana’s writing. She would like to live in a world where there are animals everywhere.
Reunited It has been 782 days since I was taken away from my family. I remember that treacherous day like it was yesterday. I woke up to a truck's lights flashing in my eyes through the thick fog. I looked at the digital clock sitting on my nightstand, barely able to open my eyes, I saw the number three. “3am, don’t people care that they are disturbing others’ sleep!” I said, annoyed. I looked out the window, the dark green truck in full view from my window, hiding under the fog. Moments later the truck lights closed and the door opened. Three men exited the truck, one man was holding a flashlight shining a bright light. Slowly, the man holding the flashlight walked to the sidewalk as the others followed. They came closer and closer to the door, my house's door. “What? What are they doing com—” I couldn’t finish my sentence. The man in the very back tried forcing open the door. My heart was racing, I thought the whole world could hear it. Slowly, I tiptoed out of my bed. “It must be a mistake,” I said, trying to calm myself. It didn't work. The man forcing the door pulled something out of his pocket and pressed it against the door. I was panicking enough not to be able to stand. My palms were sweating, but I forced myself up. I opened my room door, peeking one last time at the man struggling to open the door.
WRITING A NEW WORLD | SUMMER 2021
13
