But Then I Saw 2nd edition

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1 CONTENTS Foreword – Claire Olivier .............................................................................................................................. 5 150 Ways To Hell – Amalia Carney ............................................................................................................... 6 Stepping Out of the Darkness into the Light– Sophie Sanderson ............................................................... 10 Krubera – Ashley Koo .................................................................................................................................. 11 Unforgettable – Ami Miyazawa .................................................................................................................. 13 Guy and Death – Mina Ryan ....................................................................................................................... 18 For An Answer – Darren Kim....................................................................................................................... 22 Spring – Christine Yun ................................................................................................................................. 26 Grandmother – Zayed Shaikh ..................................................................................................................... 28 The Garden – Madeline Lee ........................................................................................................................ 29 Lost Memories– Sue Paik ............................................................................................................................ 34 Engaged – Emma Duby ............................................................................................................................... 36 Bright Red Back Pack – Napan Lee .............................................................................................................. 38 Moment of Happiness – Hyunsung Bang .................................................................................................... 39 Counterpart – Mariana Noriega.................................................................................................................. 40 Ally’s Disappearance– Johanna Kleinert ..................................................................................................... 44 Soul Scars – Sofia Masondo ........................................................................................................................ 47 But Then I Saw – Vivien Choi....................................................................................................................... 53 Depelicona – Thies Jensen .......................................................................................................................... 55 That One Girl In Town – Jenny Suh and Alice Wang ................................................................................... 58 Trees – Rauan Khangerey............................................................................................................................ 60 Along The Lines of the Track – Natasha Huibers ........................................................................................ 62 One Fine, Fine day – Jiye Moon .................................................................................................................. 67 Meow – Soyeon Han ................................................................................................................................... 68 My Love – Aiko Hatakoshi ........................................................................................................................... 71 But Then I Saw Them – Jinu Park ................................................................................................................ 74 Really Wonderful… – Mia Laursen .............................................................................................................. 77 But Then I Saw… – Cameron Kirsch ............................................................................................................ 79 Silent Tree – Siwon Lee ............................................................................................................................... 82 House 401 – Elleen Kim............................................................................................................................... 84 Monsters – Gyueun Choi ............................................................................................................................ 87 2|Page

Seen – Jiah Choe ......................................................................................................................................... 88 Reincarnation – Scott McLaughlin .............................................................................................................. 91 First Sense. First Love – Paulina Lee ........................................................................................................... 94 The Thief – Edward Shin ............................................................................................................................. 96 Timer – Andrew Oh ..................................................................................................................................... 99 A Strong Shell; A Fragile Heart – Ahyoung Seo ......................................................................................... 102 The Wounded Patient – Nicole De Peralta ............................................................................................... 105 Dream – Haruki Yoshikawa ....................................................................................................................... 110 Please Call My Name – Eunse Kim ............................................................................................................ 112 Tunnels – Kingsley Kim and Yunus Wardak .............................................................................................. 117 The Ring – Vanessa Rapson....................................................................................................................... 120 Trapped – Melissa Rapson ........................................................................................................................ 123 A Story of a Girl – Elizabeth Chung ........................................................................................................... 125 Heaven – Michael Hahm ........................................................................................................................... 128 Buried – Grace Kent .................................................................................................................................. 129 Unstoppable – Yuna Han .......................................................................................................................... 131 Pray For The Prey – Youbin Park ............................................................................................................... 135 Blood On My Hands – Charlotte Clisson ................................................................................................... 136 Crime Scene Investigation– JD Kim ........................................................................................................... 138 The Absence of Desire– Handa Jung ......................................................................................................... 143 Cause and Effect– Simon Rho ................................................................................................................... 146 Miserable Mistake– Taewho Yoon............................................................................................................ 150 Heritage – Jamie Cheeseman and Stella Nass .......................................................................................... 153 But Then I Saw My Other Half– Raphael Schlipf ....................................................................................... 158 Him All Along– Ana Coarasa...................................................................................................................... 160 Tohoku– Riho Minegishi ........................................................................................................................... 164 Just Because Of My Looks– Kate Koo........................................................................................................ 167 The Twist– Marshall Moussavi .................................................................................................................. 169 The Stalker– Catherine Park...................................................................................................................... 172 Golden Time– Ana Park............................................................................................................................. 175 Step, step– Claire Kwak............................................................................................................................. 179 Time Machine – Daniel Pak ....................................................................................................................... 182 3|Page

When My Eyes Lied To Me – Shereen Batra ............................................................................................. 184 The Only Thing You Need To Fear Is Your Neighbours – Max Baskin ....................................................... 188 Bugs – Christopher Jung............................................................................................................................ 193 Birthday – Kenneth Ho .............................................................................................................................. 194 Storyteller – Alice Kwon ............................................................................................................................ 198 Bang! – Martin Kim ................................................................................................................................... 199 The Box Broken – Lois Lee ........................................................................................................................ 201 Hebeloma – Joanna Jung .......................................................................................................................... 204 Because of A Dream – Catherine Deng ..................................................................................................... 209 Fly – Daniel Park ........................................................................................................................................ 213 Trapped – Julie Howarth ........................................................................................................................... 215 But Then I Saw The Horror – Jim Bae........................................................................................................ 218 Laura – Claire Kim ..................................................................................................................................... 222 Deja Vu – Danny Wang ............................................................................................................................. 224 16 Again – Angela Bang............................................................................................................................. 227 It’s Coming! – Iain Choi ............................................................................................................................. 230 But Then I Saw – Sojeong Han .................................................................................................................. 233 My Best Friend Is A Living Sausage! – Alin Sung ....................................................................................... 235

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FOREWORD – CLAIRE OLIVIER Inhale. Exhale.Inhale.Exhale.

These simple instructions would be very difficult to do with lungs that don't function properly. Mothers, who are afraid, try to listen to the fragile breaths of their babies hoping for them to stay alive for one more day in the Seoul National Hospital NICU. Every year, over 18000 premature babies are born in Seoul.

Babies in the NICU cost $3000 per day and Seoul National must accept all children regardless of their ability to pay. This immense cost is impossible to pay (especially when you live far away and have to pay the tremendous cost of fuel from constantly driving to the hospital).

In SFBS, we were all born with great facilities - making us strong and healthy! Although we are incredibly lucky, the poor babies in the NICU are not. How would we feel if we had the anxiety of worrying, every single day, if our baby was still alive?

Vanessa Rapson

A very proud thank you to our KS3 community for enabling us to publish our 5th KS3 short story anthology. Over 80 students participated and that does not include the British School alumni who helped coach and edit.

My gratitude goes to Mrs. Gray, Ms. Snowden and Mr. Hopkins who spent considerable time editing the stories with me.

Thank you for helping us to help them!

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150 WAYS TO HELL – AMALIA CARNEY I’ve hacked your inner retina. You just picked up a book, or you opened a web page. It's blank. Don't worry. I’m not going to hurt you.

That's their job.

And they are coming.

The bad guys.

The Voids. There's 150 of them. And there’s one way of escape. They took me, and now they are going to take you. But not if you run. Don't stop moving. Not now. Not yet. Not until you know the whole story. Find somewhere safe. A closet perhaps.

But don’t stop moving.

Never stop moving.

Hi there. My name is Violet. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m not completely normal. But neither are you. If you were normal they wouldn’t be trying to kill you.

I’m assuming you found somewhere safe. If you haven’t, then you shouldn’t be reading this. I’ve programed this message so that when your amygdala (that's the part of your brain that controls your fear levels) has reached average range, your retina will resume showing you this message. You still don’t believe me. You will be looking around to see if anyone else is seeing this. They won’t.

And that's what makes them lucky.

I’m going to tell you my story now. If you don't want to hear it, all you have to do is close the book. Exit the browser. I have no problem leaving you to the voids. You could go on living your life and pretending this never happened. Convince yourself that it was a dream, a childish creation of the mind. But it's your decision. It's your family that you are putting at risk.

It's your death.

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Okay then. Well, as you know, my name is Violet. I don't know my last name. The orphanage didn't see fit to give me one, or tell me what it was. Oh yeah. I’m an orphan. I’m 13 years old. When I was 1, my parents died in what seemed to be a freak accident. Except it wasn’t. I’ve been on my own since the age of 8. No, I didn’t run away.

St. Margaret's was the one place where I felt safe. I would never leave it willingly. But there was another accident. The building went down in a burst of flames, with around 70 kids inside. Myself included. Maybe it really was another accident. I seem to be the cause of many of those. But when they pulled me out of the blaze, I saw a face. Or what I think was a face. It was a skull, emerging from the flames like a vampire rising from a coffin. It had no mouth, no nose, no nothing. Its face was completely bare of skin, and in the cavern where its eyes should have been, there was… oblivion.

Now I know what you are thinking. That it was a dream, that it was a smoke based illusion. After all, I had just been in a traumatic incident. But here’s the thing; That monster, that devil, has been following me since I could walk. I would see it in school, as it flashed behind a door. I would see it on my way back home, as it waited for me on the rooftops. I knew then, as I know now, that that hellion was responsible for burning the orphanage down. I knew that it killed my parents. I knew that I was next.

And I knew that I had to run.

So I took to the streets. I didn’t know anyone. As far as I know, all my friends were dead. Everyone who had ever cared for me had been burnt to a crisp. I learned to defend myself, picking up techniques from different fights I got into. I never got seriously hurt, and I never asked for help. I became a ravager.

I spent around two years on the streets. I had a decent system. I would do jobs for the people who couldn’t get out of bed, mostly groceries and such.

And I eventually landed myself a job as a maid, and my payment was that I got to live in the old gardening shed behind a hotel. I developed a reputation as a girl who would stop to help anyone. Almost anyone. I also became 7|Page

someone you do not mess with. Under any circumstances. But there was always the odd teenage boy who thought they could best me in a fight. It was always fun watching them go home and explain to their mothers why their nose was broken.

But then they got me. The voids. I was trying to help out a little kid who was getting beat up by some bullies. But they weren’t ordinary bullies. They weren’t even human. I’m still not sure what the voids are. Do they even come from earth? But at that point it didn’t matter. The creatures from my nightmares had found me.

They took me to hell. 150 ways in; and no way out. By hell I mean hell. I was, I am in a hole in the ground that just gets deeper. You can't go anywhere without hearing screams. Most of those screams will be yours. They take blood tests, they poison you, they push past your physical limits, and they pulverise your soul. There is no humanity here. There is no mercy.

There is only the devil.

The devil never shows it's face. Throughout history, in each and every story, in each and every religion, the devil is never given a face. In the christian religion Lucifer is described as an angel who has fallen from the grace of God. Well let me assure you that there is no hope, sanity and definitely no angel here. There is nothing that gets past the gates of hell.

Not even God. Since I’ve been here I think I’ve started understanding why they want us here. People like you and me, we’re special. There’s around 100 inmates here. Each one of us has a talent has a power. Some of us are unusually fast.

Some can climb walls like a spider. Some can predict the next 5 minutes, simply basing it on what you say. As for me, I can disappear. In a sense. If I remain quiet for long enough, and if I stay completely still, the human eye can’t see me. I can become that speck of dust that you see in the corner of your eye, that piece of fluff you dismiss. It doesn’t matter what I’m wearing.

I could wear a clown suit, and I would still blend in with my surroundings. So what about you? What makes you special? It has to be something. They wouldn't be after you otherwise.

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I used my powers to get in here. Wherever here is. It seems to be some sort of headquarters. There's cameras and TVs that plaster the walls. I can see families. Just sitting there. Having dinner. I assume these are the families of the ones who have been taken. Or they are about to be taken. They all have an empty look in their eyes. Like they are sad, but they can’t remember why.

That's what the voids do to all the families. All the people who made the mistake of interacting with a chosen. They wipe their memories, and monitor them to make sure everything is going to plan. Everything is going to hell.

Sometimes I’m glad my parents never had to go through this. Maybe it's for the best that they never had to forget their daughter. Maybe it's best that I face this alone.

I came into this room, the remote control of the devil you might say, hoping to find answers. Hoping in vain, to find a way to escape. But then I saw…

You. Your file is blank. There's no power listed, only that you are currently in the process of discovering it. The only thing other than that stated on it is that you have a family. And that your family is currently under surveillance. You are a threat. A target. And some of the people around you are too. Funny.

You never realise how small of a world it is until you and your next door neighbor are both being chased by hellhounds. Other than that you are normal. You go to a normal school/job. You come from a healthy background. You have plans for your future. But if you don’t run, if you stop moving, that future is going down the drain, and you, you are going down screaming into the pit.

So don’t stop moving. Don’t stop trying. If you give up, it's not just you that you are letting down. What's the worst thing that could happen? Boy you have no idea. When was the last time you hung out with your little brother or sister? When was the last time you said thank you to your mom? You are running out of time. The clock is ticking. You still have a life to live. So go on.

Live.

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STEPPING OUT OF THE DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT– SOPHIE SANDERSON (A tale about a baby turtle hatching and a seagull watching – use the shape of the writing to decide who is speaking…)

It’s warm.

Comfortable.

Everything is black.

Although I’m scared, I know I’m safe in this dark place.

Protected.

Protected from my dreams, my nightmares, my imagination, But… nothing is stopping me, nothing is stopping me from stepping out, stepping out of this darkness into the light, into the real world, where my dreams, my nightmares, my imagination could all come true.

Waiting.

Always waiting.

My whole life I’ve been waiting.

Waiting for this moment.

Suddenly, my heart starts racing, pounding, cracking under all the stress.

Suddenly, I feel a cold, dry breeze hit my side, I struggle to change my position, but I manage to get a glance, a glance at something I have never seen before, something that makes me wonder, is what I know, not all I know?

My body freezes.

My muscles tighten.

And then I saw…

Waiting. Always Waiting. Not long now. Patience. They will come. You will come.

I can see you. I’m watching you. My stomach will stop churning. This deep, hollow pit inside of me will soon be full. I watched your mother abandon you. She left you for me. I am ready now. I have lived here for over 60 days, waiting for this 10 | P a g e

moment. Suddenly, my heart starts racing, pounding. A breeze caresses my face and my nostrils flare at the smell of your delicious body. I inch myself over to you. My body freezes. My muscles tighten.

And then I saw...you.

KRUBERA – ASHLEY KOO Drip.

It was a chilly and rainy afternoon. Inside my raincoat, the heat kept me warm but I had no clue that it was going to be frigid 2,200m below where I stood. Smiling like a child who just saw an ice cream truck pass by, I slip into the slender but grand entrance of the deepest cave ever known. It’s a smoother first step into the cave than you think, as you drop in like dripping cream.

Drip.

You soon find yourself dripping with sweat as hours have passed by in the sweltering chambers.

The droplets drip down into a perennial tube made of limestone. You cannot see the top nor the base, fear forces you to keep your eyes fixed straight ahead. The only thing you are dependent on is the single rope that is dangling from your harness. Nonsensical imaginations flick in front of your eyes like flashcards. The thought of the rope severing- the harness disconnecting- the nightmares of what might happen if you let go of the rope you are gripping onto for your life. The panic makes your sweat glands become more active. Another droplets falls. Drip.

It’s the tallest mountain to climb for this journey, the tight rifts are straight ahead of me. I am quite far from my fellow team now. If anything happens, the desperate calls for help will be pointless. My mental state is so unstable that I even regret this all. My mind tells me unconsciously to squeeze myself head first, into the jagged, barely- open mouth. My body was slowly sliding through the compact chasm; my neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen andThe jagged mouth closed as my hips were at the limit. The panic kept on increasing while all I could see was all four sides of dull, multi-coloured rock walls surrounding me. Composedly, I collected myself and attempted to pull my upper half out of the breach. A few inches pulled back and I let out a desperate sigh of contentment. Beyond the rift, where my upper half was stuck in was a small chamber- according to my sight dependent on my torch. It was ever so cramped that I could see the other side of the wall no more than a meter before me. If there were no other gaps in the chamber there is a chance that I may lose oxygen since my hips were wholly stuck for good in this hole.

I pull myself together and pull into the chamber further. I feel a stabbing pain in my hip bones as the sharp cave stone hamper my lower half. My unconscious state yells at me to pull, pull, pull.

The pain escalates and even my tough caving pants cannot resist the strength of the two stones compressing me. I felt a burning sensation on my hips and- rip! My pants couldn’t take it any 11 | P a g e

more. I make my first physical contact with the gravelly mouth squeezing me. The cold air is sucked through the rip in my pants.

Drip.

I hear the sound of me slowly dying. With my torch on my head, I squeeze out the energy left to take a look down at my hips. The strong LED light reflects against the small pool of dark blood flowing down into the chamber that my upper half was in.

Drip.

Another red droplet falls. I find myself having trouble breathing; not knowing if it’s because of my body not functioning well anymore or just because of the tight room now filled with carbon dioxide. It feels as if a hundred years passed in fastened between these rocks when only 7 hours passed.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

But then I saw light that shone through the small gap between my hips and the cave. The same light on my head: the bright LED that was shining on the floor of the cave chamber. Faint, muffled voices rang in my ears as my eyes slowly and automatically closed.

Drip.

My last drop of blood dropped onto the cold stone.

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UNFORGETTABLE – AMI MIYAZAWA It was a normal morning. I had just got in the train and was trying unsuccessfully to find a seat.

The train was filled out with people: a girl like me; a man wearing a black suit; a woman reading a book; a short child pushed by tall adult; and a boy with soft black hair who is wearing the same school uniform as me. He was sleeping and his head was hanging down so I couldn’t see his face. Anyway, I didn’t care about it because I had to memorize about 20 words for the test I will take today. Before I memorized all 20 words, my train arrived at its destination and I got off. I just looked at the train again involuntarily, and saw that boy was still sleeping. So, I went back in the train.

“Excuse me? It’s already arrived.”

He shook his shoulder and he opened his eyes. He was surprised, but soon looked at me smiling.

“Thank you.”

He stood up. His neck was same eye level as me. We got off and he looked as though he wanted to say something to me, but a cute girl’s voice from behind me stopped him.

“Haruta!”

Now, I know his name, Haruta. Haruta looked behind me and smiled.

“Miku and Sho!” I also looked behind, and there was a girl and a boy. A girl that Haruta called Miku had brown short hair, a boy called Sho also short brown hair but Miku’s hair was curly and Sho’s hair was straight.

“Sorry. I have to go to the track and field club with them. What’s your name?”

“Hina Shimizu.”

“Ok Hina. I’m Haruta Ichinose.”

Haruta, Miku and Sho waved and left the station.

That was a curious morning, and also the start of my new life.

Seven hours later, I was packing to go home. I was alone because I have no friends. It was like a normal afternoon; some students are going for their activity; some students are going to library to study; some students are going home like me but with friends.

I left the classroom and just as I was walking toward, the main gate, someone called me.

“Hina?”

I stopped to look at that person, and it was him.

“Haruta?”

“Yes. I want to ask you something. Um…” He started to look shy. I was just standing in front of him and waiting for him to speak.

He suddenly said this weird question.

“Can you be my friend?”

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“What…?”

I thought, he is not normal, because I think people don’t usually ask this kind of question.

People will be friends with no words, just feelings. However, I’m not sure this opinion is correct, because I have never had a friend.

I didn’t say anything and he said that phrase again.

“Can you be my friend?”

I didn’t answer for a while. I wanted to be his friend, but didn’t.

“Sorry.”

I replied shortly and left him alone because I don’t want to see him down in the mouth.

“Hina!”

He called me again, but I didn’t turn around.

“Sorry… I have to pull the wool over your eyes.”

I said really quietly, so maybe he couldn’t hear it. I ran away and arrived at the station five minutes earlier than I normally do.

Two days passed, and I was riding the train. It was similar to that special morning: a girl using her phone; a man reading a newspaper; a woman putting on make-up; a short child who going to school with his father; and Haruta looking out of the window. He looked at me for a while, but I decided to think it was my imagination.

Soon the train arrived, people got off. Again, Miku and Sho came to Haruta. I walked fast so that they didn’t have chance to talk to me. Honestly, I don’t want to do this, but I have to.

“This is x so this will be y and…”

A class just before lunch, a teacher is teaching easy mathematics slowly so I’m almost falling asleep.

“Okay, you can go.”

I heard the teacher saying something, but I didn’t notice that class was finished because I was in a daze.

“Hina? We can go now,” Someone told me, and it was him again. I packed up and brought my lunch box as fast as I could, so he wouldn’t ask me that question again. However, he came in front of me and asked me, but different question.

“Can I eat lunch with you?” “...Okay.”

I hesitated but finally accepted. He looked so happy and I went outside with him. We found a little bench where just three people can sit. We sat and left one space between us. At first, we didn’t talk, but about two minutes later he started talking.

“Do you like reading?”

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“Who is your favorite author?”

We were talking about an unimportant thing, but it made me so happy.

“Hina? Can you be my friend?”

Yes, I knew it. I knew that he was going to ask this question again.

“Okay but it’s hard to be my friend.”

“It’s okay. I can try my best.”

I decided to talk about my secret.

“So, you lose memories about your friends every a week?”

“Yes I forget everything. My friend’s face, voice, smile, fun memories… everything.”

This was my secret. I have a problem with remembering about friends. It was caused because of the car accident which happened four years before. From that time, I tried hard not to make friends because it might make them feel sad.

After thinking for a seconds, Haruta asked me seriously, “But you know your family right?”

“Yes. I only forget about friends. I can remember the maths equations, scientific words, shop’s name… but not friends.”

“I see…”

Haruta started to think about something again, but I didn’t say anything. When I grabbed broccoli with my chopsticks, Haruta said happily that a good idea had flashed into his mind.

“Then we can write it down! Like a diary!”

“What?”

“We can write what happens every day in a diary. So at least you know you made a friend called Haruta, and what you did with him.”

I couldn’t believe that he isn’t joking. I’m really happy that I can have a friend even if it’s like this way, but there is no point in Haruta doing this. He is popular, so he has a lot of friends including Miku and Sho. He doesn’t need me as a friend…

“Can you be my friend?”

“Yes… Thank you.”

I couldn’t stop myself. I want to have a friend.

The next day, I went into the classroom and he came beside me.

“This is a notebook for the diary.”

“Thank you!”

He gave me a simple, brown note. I put that in my bag. I’m happy that I can write our fun memories there. I’m happy that there is a person apart from my family who tries to understand me. I’m happy with everything now.

At lunchtime, I was eating with Haruta again but also with Miku and Sho. Haruta asked me to talk with them too. I hesitated but decided to tell them about my secret because I trusted them 15 | P a g e

now. They were surprised at first, but they understood in the end. Haruta and I decided to ask these two to write diary also. Miku and Sho agreed willingly.

“Thank you. Haruta.”

“What? Why thank you?”

Nearly a week passed and on Sunday, Haruta and I met in front of the supermarket and went to watch movie. We found out that our favorite types of movies are the same. Then we went to the restaurant and ordered pasta, but pizza came instead. It was very funny so we just ate it and it was delicious. After that, we went shopping. Finally, we went to a cafe. We wrote what happened in the diary. It was an amazing day, so we had to write a lot.

“I’m going to keep this notebook okay?”

Haruta said while he was putting diary in his bag.

“Why?” “Because maybe you’ll throw it away if you have a book which you have never seen before.”

“Thank you.”

It was true. I had thrown away a bag which I got from someone who I don’t know, but I guess it was a previous friend.

“Bye. See you tomorrow at school and I will give you the diary so you won’t feel scared.”

“Thank you.”

This week was the happiest week I spent.

I woke up. It was normal day. There were a lot of in the train. I sat and got my book out. When I opened it, a black haired boy woke up and turned his face to me. Involuntarily, I looked up at him. He smiled at me but I didn’t understand the meaning of that smile. Anyway, I looked down again to continue reading.

“Good morning Hina” “G-g-good morning?”

I don’t know him. I only remember I saw him before on this train.

“Can I go school with you Hina?”

“Okay? What? You know my name?”

If I say something, it always becomes a question.

“Yes, because I’m your friend. Do you remember about yesterday?”

“What? Friend? Yesterday?”

“Yes, yesterday. The movie was really good! The main character was …”

He started talking a lot about a movie which I didn’t know. A few minutes past, and the train arrived. We got off the train. But, I still don’t know the relationship between us.

He suddenly said, “I forgot to give you something.”and got something from his bag. It was a brown notebook, written “diary” on the front cover. He passed that book to me. I opened it, and there were a lot of photos of me, some people and this boy.

“What? Who are you? You know about my secret?”

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He smiled and told me everything. I started crying, because he tried his best for me. I was so happy.

“So, we are friends!”

“Thank you.”

I still don’t have any memories about him, but, I want to be more close with him. We went to school together. I never stopped smiling at him.

About two weeks passed and, something started changing. Even though a week passed from a day when the memories reset, I still remembered some parts. But it’s only a part, such as a scene I ate lunch with them, a shop scene when we went together. However, I couldn’t remember details such as what we talked about. I was surprised. Besides, I was glad because I felt like I was not losing fragment of important thing. When I told this to Haruta, Miku and Sho, they looked really happy as same as me.

About a month later, I finally almost achieved my target which was to remember everything about friends. Now I can remember what we talked about.

However, from this time, Haruta started acting weird. Despite smiling most of the time, he occasionally looks sad now.

“What happened Haruta?”

“Nothing. Thank you Hina.”

He always answered “Nothing,” but I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know how to get him to tell me. So, I tried to forget about it.

I woke up. I saw sunlight. I heard the noise of cicadas. The temperature was pretty hot as if the sun it’s in a bad temper. Even though I had a gut feeling, I left home as normal.

I went into a classroom.

“Good morning Hina!”

“Good morning.”

Miku and Sho came. But Haruta?.

Homeroom started. I had to sit down. Was he just absent? The teacher started talking.

However, he didn’t mention Haruta.

I asked Miku and Sho with a little fear.

“Do you know Haruta?”

“Haruta? Is he a celebrity or something?”

“Maybe it’s a she!”

“No it’s boy name.”

They started to say jokes but I couldn’t laugh. Where was he…?

I was confused as, I opened the diary.

But then I saw…

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Nothing was there except for...

“Thank you. Good-bye.”

GUY AND DEATH – MINA RYAN

Let’s start with a man. Completely average - nothing particularly great about him at all. In fact, he’s probably the most normal person you’ll ever come across. Same with this Tuesday. It’s atrociously boring with nothing particular planned at all. Guy - the normal man - would eventually have to get up, go to work and do whatever normal people do. This is all jolly and good until the inevitable happens. He’s been expecting this for a while, he’s just been putting it off for as long as he could and would be perfectly happy continuing ignoring his problems but in the end, the inescapable is inescapable for a reason and it can often be very difficult to turn the inescapable into the escapable. In this case it wouldn’t happen at all.

Guy knew this.

“You know I’m sick of this.” A not-so-normal red haired lady that Guy had become all too familiar with said walking into the dimly lit bedroom looking slightly flushed.

“Well you know what? SO AM I!” Sure, Guy was effortlessly average in every aspect imaginable, but he happened to have the normal emotional range of a twenty-three-year-old resulting in him simply exploding all over the love of his life in front of him.

“FINE.” “FINE.” ‘Wait what?’ Guy thought as the stunningly fiery woman walked out of his life leaving nothing but her tears on the marble stone. ‘What just happened?’

For some reason, Guy was completely and utterly stuck to that specific spot on the cold polished marble for the following twenty minutes; the only difference was he was now crumpled in heap consisting of his knees on the ground and his head in his hands and a weird moisture covered his face and hands as he simply remained, completely still.

18 | P a g e

That was of course, until he stood.

And when he stood he ran. He ran through the door, not knowing where he was going, only knowing that he was simply going. Suddenly feeling the tarmac pressed against his face he peered upwards, ‘Wait-why were my eyes closed?’

Suddenly painfully aware of his surroundings, he jumped up from the ground in an instant, ‘Where are the cars?’ He was in the middle of a road, assuming he had tripped and fallen down what he didn’t see coming was the car that was about half a meter away from where he was previously lying. What he didn’t see coming was the woman in the car,petrified, as she leaned back in her seat as if willing the car to stop moving. What he didn’t see coming was the look on the child’s face across the road as she stared at the place where he used to be.

Silence. Guy finally registered that there was nothing but silence around him. There should be sounds of cars, birds singing, feet padding along the street. But instead - silence. Nothing was moving either, everything looked completely normal apart from the fact that nothing was moving.

In the corner of his eye he saw a person (well not a person, a shadow? A figure?) that was moving… sort of. More like drifting towards Guy’s general direction until he stopped a few centimeters from his face.

“Um.. Do you think you could move?”

“But you called me.” It was one of those situations where you simply couldn’t say that this thing had said anything, it was more like the words fell out of its body like water from a waterfall.

“You called me. It’s not like I want to be here anyway.”

Rather astounded Guy couldn’t really speak anymore so he just tilted his head slightly and questioned, “Um. I don’t remember calling over a joykill- so man if you could just mo-” “Are you KIDDING ME? You called me here because of THAT?” “Excuse me?” Guy managed to utter bewilderedly as he had never seen the grim reaper shout at him before, “You - Zeus help me with this darn millennials - you got your heart broken for the first time so you caLLED mE?” “How on earth would you even know that? What th-” The shadowy figure pointed skeptically at Guy’s chest. Somehow.

19 | P a g e

“Now listen, I am sick and tired of you millennials calling the almighty bringer of death over some heartbreak, I mean you could be alive and move on and so and so, but no you decided yep I’m going to cease my existence instead because life is oh so hard.

Well guess what - life is pretty soft, you can bend it, mold it and change it completely but to break it is simply idiotic. Do you think the Roman soldiers were looking for me when they went into battle? No! They fought for it. What about that girl that’s fighting cancer just down the block? These people are fighting for their lives and you throw yourself under a car because of some heartbreak? Shameful.”

“It’s not like I meant to get run over…”

“I have to show you something. I’m taking you to Hell.”

“Wait don’t I need to die for that?” “... You’re almost there anyway, it’ll be fine” So Guy was taken by Death… Down the road a bit until he reached an empty highway that he had never seen before, almost as if it didn’t belong there.

‘Wow, AC/DC was right.’ Guy mused, as he saw the sleek black convertible sitting on the smooth highway ahead of him. ∆V∆ “Well that was shorter than expected.” Muttered Guy as he stood disappointed at the edge of the highway to hell.

“We wouldn't want people to enjoy themselves too much before they plunge into the depths of the underworld now would we?” Death responded seriously as they both stepped out of the vehicle just to start walking towards the gates of hell. They were currently stood on the edge of the highway which faced a pair of towering red and silver gates which shielded outsiders from the contents of whatever was inside. But then he saw the boat. It wasn’t the boat itself which made emotion run thick through his veins but the two people seated inside it laughing and smiling at each other at the gates of the afterlife.

“You see that?” Gesturing towards the small rowing boat in in front of them which made Guy stop in is tracks as soon as he saw exactly who was in side. He used to think that hesitation was a sign of weakness. But now he didn’t care - his feet refused to move.

“You know that girl don’t you? You’ve seen her walking down the street to school before. The man is still in his uniform so it wouldn’t be hard to guess where he came from.”

20 | P a g e

Sitting in the boat was a girl, the girl he had seen countless times walking down the streets on the way to the local public school with a bandana wrapped around her head because of the lack of hair. She has cancer.

The man in his army uniform sitting in there next to her quietly conversing did not make him feel any better. The way he managed to sit his huge figure into the miniscule boat while the girl half his size was laughing beside him made the scene in front of him look almost as if it belonged in a painting.

“These people have fought for their lives. They probably even knew they were going to die but they kept fighting anyway.

What are you doing? Running in front of a car when you have your whole life ahead of you. It’s pathetic.”

At first Guy was stunned, but then he couldn’t help but think; “What right do I have to be letting go of my life so easily? What right do I have when there are people around me suffering yet continuing to fight for the one precious life that they have? What right do I have to let go over something as mediocre as this?” When he turned to face Death, he was already walking back to the car, “Come back. You don’t belong here. You have too much to live for.” All Guy could do was simply nod his head and sit back in the convertible for the last time for a long time. ∆ Fin. ∆

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FOR AN ANSWER – DARREN KIM But then I see the answer. The answer to the question. The question that seemed to have no answer.

A costly one, for sure. I’ve given everything for this answer. Literally.

It’s still worth it.

Now it’s in front of me. *************** Curse my loud footsteps. No matter how cautiously I try to escape, I always get caught. Home is supposed to be comfort, I think, agitated. How am I going to do it this “Dylan? Why are you awake at this ungodly hour?”

Even in the death of night, she lies awake… encumbered by my instability.

Worrying. About me.

“Nothing… I need some fresh air; I feel a little light-headed.”

Not waiting for a reply, I climb out of our first-storey window. As I jump out, I hear a disapproving answer.

I don’t care. I’m free… *************** “You’ll never amount to anything,” my dad shouts, whilst being dragged away, “Your entire destiny stood on my shoulders!” And now -” my dad chokes back tears, “YOU’RE FINISHED!!!”

Guards cover my dad’s mouth, who obliges and leaves. Someone is crying.

Everyone is staring at me in pity. I realise the crying is mine.

Memories fly back in like waves, developing as they go along. Soon they will capsize my boat of sanity.

Yet I continue... *************** Guilt hangs in the air. Guards escort me around the labyrinth of orange jumpsuits and bars. Then I see my dad. A visible change - from angry and rebellious to reserved, almost pained. A streak of blood emulates the streak of guilt on my dad’s face, trickling down from eye to neck.

“Hey, Dylan. You remember me, right?”

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An untimely intervention. She assumes I have nothing to say; nonchalantly dismisses me. Ignored again.

“Why did you do it?”

I thought all questions could be answered. Not this one.

“Look, I -” I thought all questions could be answered.

“Whatever the reason, I’m sure it was stupid. Way to set an example!”

She spits it out like dirt in her mouth.

She leaves… *************** I look back (physically); a building once known as my home stands in the distance, unidentifiable.

At least, I know it’s there. A building so encased by obscurity and shame, it is invisible to the emotional eye.

They say that houses can reflect on the owner’s traits and emotions.

They do. *************** “...and there’s this guy, right? He walks up to me, right? He asks where the toilet is. I say, ‘There aren’t any dumps here - oh wait, I’m looking at one right now!’ and then I tackle him and he gets dirt all over him!”

His cronies laugh hysterically, raise him to their shoulders. Chanting. Shouting.

I walk past them.

The chants and shouts turn to jeers, heartless taunts, insults. The school counselor advises that I ignore it. Despite his assertive words, his tone seems timid; he seems to be consoling himself.

I walk past him.

I get back home. She is at the door, holding a brown envelope, the school logo adorned on a corner. She calls me by my full name; that means trouble. I already know what’s coming. Last time this happened, I ended up sporting a lumpy reminder, blazoned all over my forehead.

I walk past her.

I walk past everyone. Except one... *************** The waves are overwhelming me, filling my boat with a cacophony of discouragement and despair. Even though I can easily solve this, I hesitate. A precaution strictly frowned upon, a split-second act of total disheartenment. *************** 23 | P a g e

“When can we meet Dad again?” An ignorant, feeble semblance of me implies.

An awkward pause. She says that she is uncertain, that Dad is in a better place now.

“Where? Another country?”

Yes, she replies. A place so secluded, no one knows what it will be like until you get there.

“Can we go there?”

She sighs; says that one day, everyone will be there.

“When will we go there?”

In due time, she says. In due time.

Another lie. I knew where Dad was all along. I wanted to join Dad. 22:30. Determined to do so, I rush down the path, not thinking of anything else.

That bridge is my plane ticket, the ocean the airport.

I must see Dad. I will see Dad. I should see Dad. I want Dad to return. I don’t want to leave. But he can’t.

So I will. *************** I’m here now. No one else is here. I’m daunted by the prospect of this. I prepare myself on the observation ledge. The black water below me is still. No clouds, only darkness. A haze of pollution. Faint noises of traffic. A solitary light hangs in the distance. Mild night, gentle breeze. I’m going to miss this place, I reflect, and for a scary second, I don’t jump. Then I hear the voices. The bullies, the counselors, the teachers, the mother. Each one telling me that I’m not right. Just like everyone else…

Except for one person. The one person I called by name. The one person I admired.

The one person, merely a passerby at the wrong time and place. The one person who was accused by her. The one person who I knew was in that fateful destination.

And then I jump. *************** A cascade of water. Someone is screaming. The murky water is staring at me in pity. I realise the screaming is mine. The lights, the water, the screams… everything is going quiet. Nothing is happening. My attempt is beginning to feel in vain. I thought I’d be worthy of some recognition in death. No matter which side of the mirror, life or death - no matter how hard I tried, I got nothing in return. I thought wrong. Now I pay the price. Eternal boredom and sorrow in an abyss of nothingness.

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An abyss of nothingness. Like me. *************** But… But then...

But then I see the answer. The answer to the question. The question that seemed to have no answer.

A costly one, for sure. I’ve given everything for this answer. Literally.

It’s still worth it.

Now it’s in front of me.

I see him…

He was always by my side, even in the toughest of times.

A blinding presence; a hand reaches out .

I see Him...

And He gives me the strength to survive.

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SPRING – CHRISTINE YUN “Em!” She hears her mom call out to her.

“Emily! Liste—” Shaking with anger, Emily abruptly turns around to face her mom.

“WHY DO YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME? Stop pestering me and following me around everywhere! I TOLD YOU. It’s embarrassing!” she yells with rage.

Her mom opens her mouth to speak but Emily storms down the stairs, out of her reach.

“Don’t come to my game this Saturday,” Emily mutters and slams the door shut. ~

~

~

~

A gentle wind blows from the east as Emily enters the park. The once bare trees are now adorned with colorful flowers and the once frozen lake has now melted into a vibrant blue. Underneath a budding cherry blossom tree sits an old, rustic bench.

The deeper you wander into the park, the more you get lost in a reverie. You’re plunged into a cycle where the park falls under a snowy slumber and wakes again when bright flowers blossom.

You watch people come and go—young children shrieking in laughter as they chase each other, teens weaving in and out of crowds on city bikes, couples roaming around doing couple activities and the elderly taking their morning exercise.

High in the sky, the spring sun shines brightly, shedding warmth to the park. Next to a pavement where bikes cycle past, a mother bends over and gently strokes her daughter’s head. The little girl is dressed in a sundress decorated with exuberant birds and ripe berries, a battered straw hat sitting daintily on top of her blonde head. But the radiant shine of her outfit isn’t reflected on her face. Instead, she cries and sulks until her mother points to something in the distance. Her tears dry and her face lights up with a beam.

Emily continues to walk. She walks down a winding path that leads her to a clearing in the park.

Past the verdant trees and nature, the urban city pops out; skyscrapers and cranes standing tall behind the park. Here and there, the clearing is scattered with people on picnic blankets.

In a particular spot where grass grows a little yellow and soil is rough, two boys run around playing soccer, rocks set up at each end serving as their goals. The black and white ball swiftly rolls up and down the glade as two pairs of feet pitter-patter to and fro. Sweat trickles down the 26 | P a g e

boys’ faces but they continue to run hard, laughing hysterically as they push and fight for the ball. Five—six—minutes pass and, exhausted, they finally sit down, their jeans covered in grass and dirt. A few meters away, their parents are seen telling them to stop and join them in their picnic on this nice day.

The blazing sunlight starts to fade. As her watch ticks four o’clock, Emily turns to walk back to the entrance. Efflorescing honeysuckles cluster together in bushes, outlining the path.

An elderly couple brush past Emily as they take a stroll through the park.

“Wow, these flowers have bloomed so beautifully!” the couple gush over the flowers.

Wispy, grey strands of hair fall from the grandma’s loose bun, framing her wrinkled face. Her thin, bony arms peek out of her green cardigan, frayed stitches hanging loose from her sleeves.

As her husband cracks a joke, her face crinkles into a soft laugh, reminiscing about their days of youth. Arm in arm, he holds her as they amble along.

Life surrounds Emily. The park flutters with the cycle of life, adolescence to adulthood. Emily then realizes that her mom acts with love and that she loves her daughter wholly. Everyone has a stage of winter in their lives; a brief period where they wander in unfamiliar lands, not knowing what to do and acting rashly. However, after this bitter time, spring blooms and the park awakens in the beauty that spring brings...

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GRANDMOTHER – ZAYED SHAIKH (Dedicated to my grandmother) My grandmother is different. She’s not fit or healthy like the other Korean grandmothers. She’s not the type of person who’d go hiking. As I told you before she is different. She’s obese and she’s shorter than me. But it doesn’t change the fact that I love my Grandmother.

My Grandfather died long before I was born.

Then I see these muscular Grandmothers who aren’t even breaking a sweat when they are playing soccer with their Grandsons. Giving piggy-back rides to their Grandson. The ironic thing is that these grandmothers and my grandmother completely juxtapose each other by their physical appearances. My grandma has osteoporosis (I think she does), obesity and dental problems. She just has a lot of problems in general. I am discussing my father’s mother not my mother’s mother. My grandma’s also a miser. She hates spending cash and she has money.

I too, was sick. I had my fair share of problems such as chronic sinusitis and my allergies. I was going to have a surgery today. I also had problems growing - I was short. My parents thought I went on my Grandmother’s side. I still have that problem up to this day.

So I had a surgery, for the removal of my adenoids. My grandmother was sick - she had a high fever of 39.8 degrees celsius. My mother was too busy to come check on me. My father was out of the country, so I was alone in the hospital room. I was staring out of the window, expecting for someone to blast out of the doors but nobody did. Hours passed, it was already sunset. My operation was finished at noon. So there I sat, waiting, alone. A nurse entered the room with my meal. Not who I was expecting at all. She left the tray on the bedside table next to me and while she did that I fell asleep.

I was asleep, in my dreams I couldn’t stop dreaming about her…

I heard a voice- a soft, blessed, beautiful voice. It was my Grandmother. ”Zayed wake up, wake up” I heard but then I saw her, I actually saw her.

I could see that she wasn’t well“Oh no! does she still have a fever?” I thought.

“Don’t worry.” she said, “I’m fine Zayed,I’m fine” Suddenly, I burst into tears, hugging my Grandmother. I was surprised and sad. She came for me, with all of her own problems. Her own diseases.

She still came for me and that’s all that matters. I don’t know when she’s going to die. I don’t know when she’s coming to live with us overseas. Truth be told, I don’t know that much. All I know is that this moment matters.

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THE GARDEN – MADELINE LEE Inspired by Rapunzel

I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Perhaps since I was born? Or perhaps since I was about two. Well, it doesn’t matter because I have a beautiful home, beautiful friends, beautiful everything! I’ve read, once in a book, what a ‘friend’ was. Apparently, it is someone I can talk to and relate to. And I... can talk to birds! I can talk to... animals! Does that make them my friend?

But I guess at least I can call something my friend, it means something positive right? I hope because I actually don’t know… what it is. Is it a thing? Wait… or is it a… wall?

Because I can talk to walls as well!

By the way, my best friend is my pet crow. Ummm… he is five years old and he’s been with me since I was ten, so it seems like we’ve been together for quite a while. He seems cold on the outside, but to me he is a cute little birdie. I also have my pet snake, who doesn’t like to come out from underneath my bed. He always tangles himself into circles so that later on he has a knot in his body. Then I have to take it out and it is quite some work. He has a pointy nose with a skinny neck. Well, you might ask what their names are, but they don’t have one, or should I make one?

Walls are all I’ve got here along with my beautiful house or rather, a beautiful room. My room is not that big, but it is shaped in a circle, about ten steps along each ‘side’. This is the only place I’ve been since I don’t know when. I have never been outside where the blazing sun exterminates all the grasses on land and birds screaming to be saved. I wouldn’t dare to go outside and I didn’t want to because I liked my room.

I also learned about someone called a mother. Is that right? Oh, nevermind, it’s mother. I have one! She takes care of me, I guess. She feeds me and takes care of me, without her I wouldn’t have a place to live. At least I have shelter and food although it isn’t the best appetite. It looks horrific and smells like rotten faeces, but it is indeed highly nutritious. It contains snake, birds, rats and a magical herb which I can’t quite figure it out what it is. These grow a lot around my garden. I never saw them up close, but I’m guessing it's something precious because lots of people try to take them.

It comes with great consequence to challenge our garden. The herbs are grown in neat rows of five. Mother takes care of them, but I don’t know when because whenever I stare down the window, I don’t see anyone. Sometimes I hear screams and yells, this is a clear indication that someone tried to steal our herbs, but obviously mother catches them all. I have no idea where she was watching from because there are no windows except mine in our tower.

I once read this book about a married couple that the pregnant girl wanted to eat this herb called Rapunzel so badly that they guy went into a witch’s garden, but got caught. He couldn’t get away unless he made a deal. A deal to give their first child to the witch. This story did seem familiar, but I couldn’t guess where...

Our garden has turned into more of a playing field as there are even annual competitions to choose who is the most courageous and the smartest. No one has succeeded since. I don’t 29 | P a g e

know what happens after they get caught though, they go missing and many families come occasionally in front of our house to ask where they are. I hope I could have an answer for them.

Lately, for the last three years or so, I have noticed that mother was hiding something from me. As more people challenged our garden and the more I grew, it seemed like there were more problems than she expected.

Perhaps my long hair, perhaps the garden, perhaps our tower, perhaps the….

I couldn’t imagine how I would look with short hair because I never cut it before. I mean someone could climb up it and I hope the ‘someone’ will be the prince that saves the world. All of the books I read have princes saving princesses and ending with a ‘happily ever after’. That is exactly what I want, but my long hair could possibly create princess saves the prince, than a ‘happily ever after’. I didn’t know what to expect at all.

But then I saw….

HIM. This garden was mysterious. Very mysterious.

It had a house next to it and then a tower that was connected to it. It had one small window that was always open. I’ve heard that all of those who went into the garden disappeared, but I wanted to know what caused it.

The house seemed empty as it was already falling apart.

I love challenges and I can’t get over something until I try it.

I stood around the area for some time until the sun set because I wanted to check if there was anyone to turn the lights on.

I just couldn’t go empty handed today.

I knew that I lot of people both challenged the garden day or night, but obviously the night was a bit easier to get away.

It was a particularly lonely night I guess.

I’m not a particularly gloomy person but that day I just wasn’t in the mood. I’ve been looking out the window all day; still couldn’t see an amusing thing.

Spring was coming, which meant they were coming back as well.

Not today though…

However, there was a much more surprising thing awaiting me.

Did I wait ‘til midnight?

A faint light was spotted in the window of the tower.

I KNEW there was SOMEONE! As the wind blew fiercely on a chilly March night, 30 | P a g e

I was off for some real adventure, to a new place, where no one dared to go to.

And I was going to make it.

I crawled in the garden in a different method as any other challenger. Although every single route you could think of was attempted by others, I had another plan in mind.

I was just going to go for it.

Not for the herbs, but the tower.

The faintest light I was reaching for, felt so much further away from what it looked like.

The tower itself was pretty much damaged that it could be a historic site by now.

I knew that crawling and sneaking up wasn’t going to work because that was what everyone else did, but I wanted to just go for it.

I was gonna sprint through it.

This garden was very well organised with exactly the same number of herbs in each row, making it hard to not notice that someone had passed by.

The soil was so flat without a single bump, anyone could notice a footprint of some sort.

I was very careful where I was stepping, just in case I was leaving something behind.

I had to lean on the fence as if I was stuck to it.

I was still scared, although everyone calls me the most courageous of all.

Everything was going as a planned until I bashed into something like an iron can.

It was never there…

Did someone notice me already?

Does the ‘witch’ know that there is someone trespassing…

The can made a loud crashing sound as if someone was playing the tam tam.

If it could wake up those across the lane, it was definitely heard by the ‘witch’.

I was dead.

He wasn’t much different from what others looked like. He wasn’t special, but just a normal guy that was curious about our garden.

If you wanted to call him special, I guess he was a bit too perfect!

His physicals, his face….

I honestly couldn’t understand what was so amusing about it, it was just a garden, but I knew he was in big trouble.

Mother wouldn’t allow such trespassing.

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And that crash definitely wasn’t good news for him.

I wanted to help him although he probably doesn’t even know that I live here.

I wanted to say ‘Hi’, but I wouldn’t dare to.

I haven’t talked to anyone before.

But the urge to save him from mother won over.

I, at least, wanted to help one person get away with my own power.

I was surely in big trouble.

I knew that I was never going to be able to go back home.

She was coming for me.

Then I realised that the light shining through the window of the tower was right above my head.

Something seemed to move slightly back and forth and when I looked up, the movement disappeared all of a sudden.

I couldn’t but call out for help.

“Is anyone there?”

I knew that if I didn’t say ‘Hi’ or at least say something, he was surely going to disappear like none others.

“Hey…” I could barely even hear myself.

“I know you are there!”

I said it in a low whisper because I knew I couldn’t make a single noise.

I was already hunted down by the witch how much more did I have left to lose?

“Who are you and how do you know I’m here?”

“I don’t have time to lose!

You know I’m in big trouble already!”

She could help me somehow from that tower I began to think.

“Do you think you can help me?”

“I want to... but… I don’t know how…, That’s why I couldn’t save any, but watch them disappear. I have to special power. I’m just a girl who lives here and surely does not know what is going on.”

“Wait, what’s your name?”

It felt like a random stranger asking for my personal information, but he didn’t look like an unreliable person.

“Rapunzel,” I said.

“Okay Rapunzel, Do you have any special things?

Like strength or just something that you have in particular. It would be better if you have 32 | P a g e

a rope of some sort because I need to

e!”

get out of her

I guess I was no longer whispering by then.

“I have no special power! I told you already.

Let me think because there are no curtains or ropes around here.”

Something like a rope…

Something that I only have…

I put my head down trying to think of everything I could and all I saw was the wooden floor and my hair just hanging and knew this could help.

“I think I have something!”

“What is it and you have to hurry up!

I’ve been out here for so long, I think I can already hear her by now.”

“Use my hair!”

“A what?!”

“My hair!”

“Are you out of your mind or something?

How would I use your hair to do anything unless it is exceptionally long.

Wait a minute, is it that long?”

“Yes, but I’ve never tried it before.

I think it would still work.”

I took a spoonful of my hair and untangled it so that it was straight. I didn’t even know if it could handle his weight, but who never know until you try right.

I was about to throw it, but stopped for a second to reconsider my decision. I was already going against mother and now I was saving a stranger?

“Rapunzel Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair.”

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LOST MEMORIES– SUE PAIK Based on Tangled - Rapunzel “Mom? Dad? Where is this? Golden windows, fluffy bed. Wait… who are those people?

Why am I even calling them mom and dad? Where am I? Is this where I belong?” she thought.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and darted up from her bed.

It was as if she was locked in the island for her whole life. No memories. Nothing left of her original life. Not knowing what she used to be.

Blonde hair. Marine blue eyes. Marina lived on the shore of the Opal Sea, the most beautiful sea in the world. Her father was an old fisherman who spent most of his day out in the sea. There weren’t any people living near the Opal Sea, and before Marina came to the shore, her father was the only one living there. Marina was found on the shore of the Opal Sea 16 years ago, as a young baby. After that day, her father never let her travel out off the island.

Usually, Marina’s father was kind and caring, even if his days were mostly out in the sea.

Her father cared for her very much. However, occasionally, she felt that her father was strange.

He glared at her, but when her eyes met his, an instant smile appeared on his face. Every day, he would repeat the same words in his trance, “She is mine. You can’t take her from me… ever..."

There were many things which bothered Marina; the way her father looked at her, the way he looked into the fireplace and the dream that she was having every single day. It felt as if all of those three things were leading to something.

One day, for the first time in her life, Marina asked if she could go to the Luna Festival which occurred once in four years on February 29th, at the nearest city which she could see through her bedroom window. Every four years, she would sit under the palm tree with her favourite blanket, and fall asleep while watching the lanterns gracefully rise up into the sky.

Marina thought that her father wouldn’t let her go because he never offered her the chance to go out off the island and visit other areas, and as she expected, her father was strongly against it.

“Don’t you ever ask me that silly question again! How many times have I told you that anywhere other than the island is dangerous for you? You MUST stay here!” her father exclaimed full of rage.

When Marina heard this, she was tremendously shocked as her father had never screamed at her like that before; however, that didn’t stop her from wanting to go to the festival. On that day, she was determined to secretly ride her father’s fishing boat and head out towards the country where she had been watching the bright lanterns floating into the sky.

As the boat gradually approached the harbour, butterflies seemed to be in her stomach, partially because of the excitement and partially because she was scared. As her anticipation

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grew, she remembered what her father had told her; he had said that nowhere other than the island was safe for her.

Marina slowly climbed out of the boat and tiptoed one step at a time, expecting to see creatures like Gollum roaming around the area. However, what she saw was very different to what she expected. In the night sky, she could see a bright full moon welcoming her, as well as people all holding a lantern in their hand just waiting for the right time to release their lantern.

Suddenly, a young girl tugged on her skirt and timidly asked her, “Would you like to release a lantern as well?”

Then, she handed Marina the lantern and smiled joyfully. Marina carefully examined the lantern while her marine blue eyes were gleaming, reflecting the brightness of the luminous lantern. Meanwhile, the young girl was admiring Marina’s beautiful features. After a while, Marina noticed that there were small words inside the lantern. It read: For our one and only princess to return.

Marina wandered what this meant, so she asked the young girl, “Excuse me, can you tell me what these words mean?”

When Marina asked the question, the young girl smiled, but her eyes seemed to be saying something different, she said, “It’s our message to our princess. She was lost… no, actually stolen by somebody. Everybody hopes that she returns when she sees these lanterns. It’s her birthday today…”

Without knowing, Marina’s eyes started to form small tears which trickled down her face, but she didn’t know why she was crying. The words of the lost princess stabbed her heart.

After a while, she started moving towards the castle. When she arrived below the castle walls, she looked up at the king and queen holding one lantern in between the two of them.

But then she saw that the king and queen were the two people… her mother and father... that she saw in her dream every day.

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ENGAGED – EMMA DUBY We were going to be Engaged.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------August 7th, 2015 The day has arrived. Off to training. War… My significant other is off to prepare to fight - an endlessly tiring fight that could possibly kill her. Theresa will be surrounded by weapons, sharp knives, but she has always been the strong one, the dominant one in our relationship.

I am weak, fragile, emotional.

She is strong, tough, and unexpressive.

Total opposites. I see the world differently, a different perspective from Theresa’s.

Optimism. This keeps me going during the darker days of my life. Anyway at least for now, she only is training. Training - preparation to join war, practically dancing with death.

I never know when she will be swept away, dispatched, commanded to accompany others on a classified trip. Everytime Theresa returns, a sense of relief washes over me… she’s alive and safe, but her face never reveals any sign of happiness, it is inexpressive as per usual.

I feel as if I am the one who is always trying to make her laugh, comfort her, take care of her but she never appreciates that.

One day she is calm, thoughtful, almost optimistic, and her mood will change with one sharp comment, from calm to a raging storm. These hormones are just messing with me.

Few days later…

I hug her.

She collapses in my arms as I keep her steady. Her eyes sparkle. That wasn’t a compliment or meant as a romantic gesture, her eyes were literally sparkling, shining from the water filling up her eyes. A tear drops down onto my clothes. Crying!? This hasn’t happened in a while; normally, I am sensitive and show my feelings.

Red marks stain my hands as I hold her in my arms. Her position seems weak, weaker than normal, but I don’t say anything. This isn’t like her; she is fragile. It seems like the best thing to do is be comforting and ask, “are you alright” but not with her. Ignorance is key, I have overridden the idea of speaking up and questioning Theresa- the time isn’t right. So that’s what I do, ignore it.

“How was your d-” 36 | P a g e

“Stop.”

She doesn’t look back. Mood swing, her whole stance changes pulling her shoulders back.

Looking down, her face is cold… inexpressive but I can always see right through her, something happened. Something bad happened.

She walks out of the room.

Her face seemed to be enraged as she storms off. So red, but it isn’t a flushed face... It is...

August 9th, 2012 She is becoming more and more detached from me. I sound like a girl…. I shouldn’t be worrying about her cheating, right? RIGHT? I wait for her to come around, but this time she never does. She leaves without a goodbye… and I don’t even know if she will return this time.

Sunday Morning.

I walk into church, alone.

A warming face flashes across the screen after prayers are said songs are sung. A death. Her eyes crease at the corners. She wears a ring. Looks familiar...Theresa.

Two dates appear: birth and I am numb.

I am dazed.

I am empty.

Seeing the face up there… I just can’t sit there and watch - so i don’t.

I run… I run. I run down the street. I run home. I run into OUR room.

But then I saw… the ring.

The ring catches the light, shining into the face of horror. The face of grief.

My face.

If only she didn’t go. If only she didn’t fight. If only she didn’t die…

We were going to beEngaged.

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BRIGHT RED BACK PACK – NAPAN LEE It was 6:30am, the usual time I woke up for school. Birds were chirping. Sunlight was peeking through the curtains. There was a smell of bacon and eggs, one smell that I could never forget. I knew it… I knew it was going to be a good day. The last day of school started out perfect. I was feeling especially refreshed and excited. It was a wonderful morning, my mum was cooking me breakfast; my brother was running around getting his bright red backpack, disorganized as usual, and my dad was taking phone calls. It was hectic… but in a good way.

However, my heart felt empty; it was the last day of school before I go abroad for university. I started to get a little emotional, as I started to think about how much I’ll miss the little things like my brother getting mad at me or the little quirky things my mum does every morning.

It was around 6:50am. We all had bacon and eggs for breakfast. Weirdly, my brother didn't talk during breakfast, which was unusual as he also was the talkative one. At around 7:25am, my brother and I left the house to get ready for school. Dad drove us, instead of mum which was odd. It was warm and sunny, with a slight cool breeze, the 19th of June 2012. Music was flowing from the old radio built in the car. I was texting my friends, while I waited to arrive at school.

It was around 8:05am, we had finally arrived at school, after a long average ride. I jolted to class, as I was running a little late. We had math until 11:00am as it was our last day. The teacher generously allowed us to have free time as it was our last day in high school. My friends and I were chatting, talking about the stupid things we would do once we were done with high school.

It was around 8:30am. Class was almost over, our yearbook club representatives handed out our yearbooks for us to sign. I can never forget that rush of adrenaline I get when I sign people’s year books and that brief moment of laughter everytime I look and my school photo.

It was 11:15am. 1 hour and 45 more minutes until school was finally over. We gathered in the school gym where we had a barbeque to commemorate our time here in SFHS. After our lunch, we gathered as a grade and started to finish signing each other’s yearbook. That was when someone had obnoxiously barged into the UAC. It was 12:55. 5 more minutes and school was finally over.

The loud room, suddenly become silent. We all stopped… in fear. The silence had been broken by multiple screams. People were running. People were crying. Everyone was in shock. ..bang..bang..bang.

I fell to the ground… Unluckily I was one of the victims who got shot. I had never thought I would be in a school shooting… As I fell to the ground, my head struck the cold wooden floor.

My eyes... they were getting blurry.

But then I saw… a rough silhouette of a student with a gun and his bright red backpack...

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MOMENT OF HAPPINESS – HYUNSUNG BANG All the girls turned their heads when Mr. Leroy Gay walked down the street. Him! Him with such an astonishing appearance, who worked as an executive director in Mapple, the biggest high tech electronics company. However even though he had money, good looks and admiration from his employees, he was not happy. Mapple’s year-end bonus didn’t make him happy anymore. He felt something missing all the time.

After thinking about it for a long time, he decided to go for a trip.

One day Mr. Gay threw down a bunch of documents onto his secretary’s desk and said “I won’t be back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow or for the whole year. ” He decided to go to a trip because he thought staying in the U.S. won’t help him to find his happiness. He decided to go to Paris, simply because he never had a chance to go there and he heard it was an amazing place to visit. To him, money was not a problem. He made a reservation at Shangrila, bought a first class ticket and booked dinner at Garibaldi where they serve “Taste of Diamond” champagne.

On the first day in Paris, he decided to go out for a walk. The air was fresh, and the streets were full of fancy people. He sat down in the sidewalk across the street from the ice cream store. In front of him, he saw a little kid who looked about 4~5years old. The kid reminded him of young little Leroy waiting for someone to help him. He felt the nostalgia and he automatically walked towards the little kid. He asked the kid “What you doin boy?” The kid answered. “I want to buy an ice cream but Mama never gives me a single penny. She is too busy every day.”

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“I’ll give you the money if you promise to come back and talk with me. OK?” The kid nodded and he ran across the street to the ice cream shop like Usain Bolt with full of enthusiasm.

But then he saw… ... a Ferrari rushing towards the kid and he jumped up to push the kid away from the car.

In that slight moment he was saving the little kid, he felt happy.

COUNTERPART – MARIANA NORIEGA (Sokhem - 2017) “But then I saw…but then I saw...”

I murmured the words endlessly as I scrutinized them on the page.

“It seems age has really cost me my memory!”

“Come on granny. You can’t give up now!” Jorani, my (granddaughter) complained, remonstrated and threw herself on the floor as I retrieved an ancient, rusty, cheap watch out of my handbag and threw my hand over my mouth in surprise. “Is it already midnight?”

“So what if it is?”

“You have school tomorrow!”

“OH yes!” Jorani surged into the air and before I could blink again dashed into her room and scrambled onto the bed in the room opposite to my own. Yanking the blanket over her skinny torso she turned to me with glimmering eyes. “Sokhem. You are so creative. No other human could make up such a story!”

“Make up…”

“Yes…” My gaze turns to the door as I stand and walk towards my room.

“Goodnight!” Jorani calls from her room.

I reply silently and return to my desk. It takes a couple of minutes of staring at the same four words before an idea.

“But then I saw…”

Suddenly, I am a little girl again. Staring at myself through the water of a pond. This pond… once had been lively and blue but now turned dark and evil.

Khmer Rouge.

Must I re-live this? What have I done to have to go through this again?

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My mind was wild and my heart felt like it had sunk to the pit of my stomach when my ears picked up a familiar sound. The sound of a plane. It was a O-2A Skymaster… a war aircraft.

Familiar? Yes. Comforting? Never.

-----------------------(Elise -1976) It was a bright day outside. The birds were chirping and I was standing by the window in my living room with my cat, ironically named “Chien” (“Dog”), tucked comfortably in between my arms. I closed my eyes and rested my head on the window sill and before I knew it, I fell asleep.

Talking.

I could hear talking sneaking up the hallway and into the room I was in.

“Oui! Je sais, je sais…” (“Yes! I know, I know”) “Mais vous ne vous rendez pas compte de la gravité de la situation, monsieur.” (“But you don’t understand the seriousness of the situation, sir”) “Silence! S'il vous plaît. Je peux garder Sokhem tout en m’en occupant . Ce n’est pas un problème, d’accord? En fait, ça irait mieux si vous pouviez sortir de chez et n’oubliez pas votre femme… d’accord? (“Silence! Please…. I can keep and care for Sokhem. It’s not a problem okay? Now, it would be best if you could leave my house with your wife… yes?)

“Oui monsieur.” (“Yes sir.”)

Quiet.

My eyes peeked open and then I noticed… that was my dad. Who is he keeping? I sprung up and jumped out of bed and out the hallway. I forced myself to a stop once I reached the end of the hallway and there he was. My father. But then I saw, two big eyes scared and sorrowful staring at me from behind him. She couldn’t have been much older than me a year or two. But she looked petrified.

“Bonjour ma chérie!” (“Good morning darling!”) he called out to me with his warm smile.

“Qui est-ce?” (“Who is she?”) I pointed with a stern finger at the child behind my father.

“Elle s’appelle Sokhem. Elle va rester avec nous pour quelque temps.” (“Her name is Sokhem.

She will stay with us for a while.”)

--------------------------(Sokhem - 2017) 150… teachers, doctors, aspiring educators or politicians from my village.

Gone.

Innocent lives, torn by the inhumanity of bigotry. My own father seized along with the rest. A once beloved mathematics teacher curtailed into nothing more than a memory. My brothers, unwillingly placed in the face of death… obliged to serve amidst the bloodshed. My mother and I no longer considered human by anyone but ourselves“Granny. What is ‘bigotry’?” Jorani’s young spirit filled the room and brought me back to… now.

“When someone… dislikes something because they are not used to it.”

“Did the ‘teachers’ and ‘doctors’ and ‘aspiring educators’ and ‘politicians’ go on a holiday? What are they like?”

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Mr. and Mrs. Bopha. Perhaps the most well-known educators. Brilliant and logical but unimaginative and blunt. Miss Khin, a happy soul. Her beady eyes somehow reflected her curiosity and fervor to learn more despite having one of the best education in all of Cambodia. We all admired our teachers. However, Mr. Lim was the person who stood out to me the most. He was the best local doctor. He was a ‘miracle worker’ as the elders would say. Whenever you walked into his room he maintained a cold and harsh stare; his eyes followed you around the room as if he were trying to count every single hair on your head. Nonetheless, his voice was softer than an eight-year old’s! This perfect contradiction always made me giggle when he spoke but I always held the utmost respect for him… he was the first to go.

“Wow! These characters are very interesting I wish they were real. I think that I could be friends with Miss Khin but Mr. and Mrs. Bopha sound a bit scary. How do you come up with these characters?” Jorani questioned.

“Well some of my characters are similar to people that I have met before.” I lied.

“Oh…” a brief pause silenced the room until she loudly spoke again “So where did Mr. Lim go for holiday?”

“Hmmm… he didn’t tell me but I always thought that he went up.” I pointed towards the ceiling with a single finger. She looked up accordingly, squinted, crunched her nose and asked “He is upstairs?” Her silly response amused me distracting me from the real answer.

“He described it as ‘Heaven’.” I responded.

“Oo! He must have gone somewhere nice to call it heaven.” the genuine and innocent tone in her response made me feel relief as well as pity. Knowing that one day she would find out… about the genocide.

----------------------(Elise - 1976) “Sokhem! Someone is at the door waiting for you.” My father called up the stairs. No matter how well he had learned English his strong French accent refused to leave him. Soon enough, she scrambled her way down the stairs and made her way through our antique furniture and peered out the door.

“Ma!” she lunged at a woman standing outside.

Jorani stares wide eyed at the little old Cambodian lady as Sokhem embraces her.

--------------(Sokhem P.O.V - 2017) She was my mother. She had returned for me! She was no longer one of the 150...

But where was dad?

Mother… sunken and tired eyes glanced at me; a void of any emotion reflected my face that stared back in commiseration.

“Mom?” I started. The only confirmation that I received to let me know she understood me was a tired head shake. I had only turned eight when my life spiraled out of control and now here we were. Face to face after humanity's worst punishment for simply being different. “Where is dad?

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Mom? Mom, what happened to dad?” my voice becoming paranoid filled the living room.

Eventually, my mother’s eyes became red and a single crystal clear tear rolled down her rosy cheek.

“Dad is on vacation.” her voice was calm but I could almost hear her incessant sobbing.

“Vacation? Where? When is he coming back?”

“He is in heaven now.”

“Heaven?”

“He is resting; he is not coming back Sokhem.”

“Why? He doesn’t love us anymore?”

“No, he loves us very much but he needs time to rest.”

My naive mind didn’t understand that my father was dead. After all, my parents had made every effort to keep me away from what had really happened. Of course, my mother knew she would have to explain it or I would eventually find out. I did. After what was left of my mother’s earnings flew us to the United States I would get glances of sympathy or confusion. When I finally worked up the courage to ask my mom why I was handed over to my dad's co-worker, Nathan. She explained everything, by this point, I understood my father’s “holiday to heaven” and my parents urgent behaviour to get me out of Cambodia as soon as possible. For a while, I managed to convince myself that I was sent away because my parents didn’t want me anymore…

Isolation.

My mother passed away after I turned 20 and I had no one to look to. Fortunately, after learning the language I managed to get a job at my previous neighbour’s workshop. Before I knew it, I had a husband and two beautiful children. I decided to educate them about what had happened in Cambodia perhaps we will finally get rid of hatred and ignorance, little by little.

Years later… here I am, writing my entire life onto pieces of paper so perhaps one day, Jorani will learn of the awful genocide, that was the Khmer Rouge.

So that the voices of the 150 will never be silent again.

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ALLY’S DISAPPEARANCE– JOHANNA KLEINERT Based on “There’s A Haunted Lake In Minnesota And My Friend And I Decided To Swim In It”

by Rosa Vaselaar

“If I die, it’s all your fault!”

Those were the last words… that I ever heard from her. _______________________________________________________ July 6, 1990 Today is the one year anniversary of my late best friend, Ally’s “death”. No one really knows if she’s dead or not, or how she died, since her body was never found. Of course, no one but… me. ~~~~~ July 6, 1989 It was a cool, rainy afternoon in Ontario, Canada. My best friend Ally and I had gone to her Aunt Sally’s house during the second month of Summer for a well-deserved mini vacation trip together. After all, finishing all our summer homework had really depleted out our energy levels.

We had just finished eating lunch together at “Antonio’s”- a favorite restaurant of her’s ever since she was six, and now eight years later since I’ve tasted it for the first time, a favorite of mine too.

“And so Martha came up to me, acting all stubborn and sassy like she usually is, and asked snobbily, ‘Where are you going in the Summer?’, and I replied, ‘Antonio’s’. Right after I said that her eyes widened like she’s seen a boy for the first time, and her face turned as pale as a ghost, and then red like a tomato! You could obviously see the jealousy in her eyes, it was hilarious!” Ally and I were bursting out with laughter, as if we couldn’t contain ourselves.

There was a boy called Antonio in our school in our grade, who Martha had a major crush on, but Antonio liked Ally. Ally liked him too, but they weren’t going out yet.

“Little did she know you meant the restaurant, “Antonio’s,” I giggled.

“Hahaha, yeah! That’s kind of sad though,” Ally sighed with a goofy grin plastered on her face.

“Haha, yeah it is- but don’t worry! It’ll come one day,” I assured her as I patted her on the back, trying not to laugh.

“Maya!!” Ally slightly punched me on the shoulder while a bright red appeared on her face.

“Okay, okay,” I giggled while motioning with my hands that I’ll stop.

“Anyways,” Ally emphasized, “Are you still up for it?”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, trying to recall what she meant.

“Up for what?”

“You know… swimming in the lake? It’s blazing right now, and I really want to be doused in some cold water… you down?” Ally’s eyes narrowed while she looked at me and gave me a mischievous smile. This confused me but I just brushed it off, assuming it was nothing.

“Oh, yeah sure! You’re right, I need to cool down as well.”

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Ally gave me a playful grin before taking my hand and running to the lake she planned to swim in. No one thought it would be the last place where she would ever be seen… ~~~~~ As my vision was splashed with refreshing lake water, I chuckled while I splashed an equivalent amount back at Ally, kicking my legs in the water in order to maintain my flotation above it. We splashed at each other and continued to laugh for about 5 minutes, then turned on our backs and stayed calm. Everything was serene except for the gentle sounds of the small waves from the lake, and the shining suI suddenly realised that the sun wasn't shining as brightly, and there were no birds chirping… which wasn't normal in a lively place like Ontario. I felt weirdly about it, but I just shrugged it off.

We floated on our backs a little while more, when Ally interrupted the silence.

“Hey… have you ever heard about the myth about the Haunted Lake?” I heard Ally asking while we both stared up at the sky which was beginning to fog up.

“W-what myth?”

“You know… the one where the lake always needs a source of energy, like humans to function. Therefore, whenever a human drowns in the lake, the lake actually conserves the body for energy. If another human drowns, the previous person that drowned gets released back into life.”

My body tensed and the color of my face started to drain. Ally knows that I don’t like getting scared like this… so why was she scaring me now?

“Uh, so what? That’s probably not even true,” I nervously chuckled as I tried to reassure myself that everything Ally was just saying nonsense.

I heard a slight splash to my left while Ally was trying to get back into an upright position in the water while kicking her legs. Curious, I did the same thing and tried to absorb information about what she was thinking by staring directly into her surprisingly intimidating eyes.

Ally giggled, before continuing to say, “Maybe not. But maybe it is… and maybe this is the lake that was said to be… haunted.”

“Ally please, stop scaring me like that!” I exclaimed, my voice radiating with fear.

“Maybe we’ll get to see something happen today, or we can try to find the previous body that was drowned in this lake…”

“Ally!” I screamed. “I can’t take this anymore! I’m getting out of this lake!”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Ally snickered, while I heard her follow me swimming towards the edge of the lake.

As I stepped out of the lake and shook my hair to get all the excess water off, I turned to make sure Ally was behind me, but… what I found was more horrific than anything I’ve witnessed in my whole life.

Ally seemed to be paralyzed with fear, as she slowly floated farther and farther away to the center of the lake, eyes wide open in horror and a face as pale as snow.

Terrified, I yelled in order to save my best friend, “Ally!”.

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She snapped out of her horrified look and seemed to snap back into consciousness, and she realised the situation she was in, then desperately tried to swim back, but something was stopping her.

Panicking, I yelled for her name again.

She continued to float away while she looked at me in a terrified expression. “Maya!!”

“Ally!!”

“Maya!! Please, come! Something is pulling me away!! It feels like a hand… Maya!!!”

I began to get ready to jump in- to save my best friend’s life. However, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t manage to get past the edge and into the lake. Something… a certain vibe, it felt like invisible hands pulling me away from the edge, forced me to stop.

I looked back into the distance into Ally’s face in trepidation, and saw her face gradually change from fear into anger.

“Maya!!!” She screeched. “If I die, it’s all your fault!”

That was the last thing… I ever heard from her, before I saw her slowly get pulled into the depths of the lake, the bubbles rising to the top slowly coming to a stop.

I dropped to my knees.

Did my best friend, just… die? And I couldn’t manage to save her? What kind of a best friend am I? In the far off distance I heard some water splashing sounds. In an immediate hopeful attitude, I looked up into the distance hoping to see Ally back the the surface.

What I saw instead… traumatised me for the rest of my life. I saw what seemed to be a middle aged man, which bright eyes and a psychotic smile that could only be found in the depths of hell, staring straight into my eyes as he excitedly swam out of the water as quickly as a motorboat.

Terrified, I got up onto my feet and ran.

I ran as quickly as I could… away from my best friend… away from the middle aged man that Ally replaced… away. ~~~~~ July 6, 1990 Today is the anniversary of Ally’s death, and I’m sitting on the edge of the lake… the same place I watched her drown.

Ally, oh Ally… I’m so sorry.

I cup my hands together and close my eyes, starting to pray. I pray for Ally’s wellbeing, how sorry I am for not being able to save her, how much I still love her and miss her as a best friend, howI suddenly feel a light shove on my back and quickly gasp for air as I tumble into the water. I feel the eerily cool sensation of the lake water I recognise, and as my heart begins to race, I try to quickly think up of possibilities of who could’ve pushed me into that horrific haunted lake.

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I feel the sun rays traveling through the lake water into my eyes, and while I’m still sinking into the water and dying for a gasp of air, I open my eyes, hoping to get a glimpse of who could’ve possibly pushed me in.

But then I saw…

Ally?

SOUL SCARS – SOFIA MASONDO I woke up with a groan. The searing pain was back.

“Luz! Where did you put the burn cream?”

I heard a muffled yell from the sorceress’ tower, shortly followed by a crash. Typical Luz. I checked the scar forming on my ankle. The red lines glowed faintly, twirling and twisting, reaching further into my skin. Similar scars patterned my entire body – vines reaching, flowers blooming, creatures dancing. This one didn’t seem any different.

Luz burst into the room, hair dusty and holding a pot of something pale green.

She chuckled and spread a little of the mix over the scar. It sizzled to a stop, and finally the pain ebbed away. Luz rubbed her eyes, I rubbed mine, and then we flew down to breakfast.

Luz’s tower lab, which was emanating a faint green glow, caught my eye.

“Julio said he started working with a sorcerer who was studying a similar condition to yours.”

I tried not to feel the sting of hostility when she mentioned my dad, but it happened anyway. I knew my dad was studying hard for me, but he still left me without a parent. And that hurt me.

But at least I had Luz. I opened the window, and pulled myself onto the smooth ledge. A woman in the Valley village was in her garden, sitting with a cup of something dark. She had my same milk-tea tan skin and frizzy hair. I remembered that once there were people like cream and people like coffee and people like all things in between, but over time, the races disappeared. It was good – we were all a family. But for me, the scars that dug my skin, they made me stand out.

And whoever it was that gave them to me, I hated them. ~ Monday again.

There was no painful scar this morning, but there were classes, and that was basically the same thing. I trudged into the ‘classroom’, which was the living room but with a portable blackboard that Luz kept in the tower attic.

“I’m gonna teach you how to paint with magic!” Luz exclaimed.

“Is that why you were ‘painting’ yesterday?”

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She looked at the ceiling, like she was looking for the answer.

“Yeeees, but painting makes me HAP-py!”

The way she said “happy” caught my attention – accentuating ‘HAP’ and releasing on ‘py’. I laughed and picked up the paintbrush. On her palette table, which was covered in a hundred sepia tones of paint and occasional colours, was a green potion. Luz twisted open the cap, and dipped her paintbrush in.

“It isn’t just… art. See, this isn’t just painting, it’s creating something in real life. It bends the rules of reality. Let me imagine those pretty azaleas we’ve got outside, okay?”

She asked me what colour the azalea was. I told her it was red, like a strawberry (my favourite fruit). She told me it wasn’t. I raised my eyebrows.

“Listen, the azalea can be any colour that you want. All you need is to do is focus really, really hard on it. Then you paint it, in your mind and in real life, and it changes colour.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s impossible.”

She sighed.

“You lack imagination! Come on. Get out your sketchbook. Draw a quick azalea – make sure you’re imagining the flower while you’re drawing it or otherwise it doesn’t work.”

I did as she said, and doodled a quick flower. Luz glanced at the drawing, and looked away quickly, seeming stung. Like she didn’t want to teach me this, like she just had to.

“Okay. Now, dip your paintbrush in the potion. This is the stuff that binds reality to your imagination. It’s called Imagireal, and it’s serious science! If you use too much of it, your experiment will be over-the-top and gaudy.”

I pushed my brush into the bottle top and shook off the excess.

“Now imagine. Imagine as hard as you can, and paint.”

My mind’s eye zoomed in on the flower, flourishing red. I imagined the strawberry next to it, comparing the colours, and then discarded that. I didn’t want to eat a lilac strawberry! I focused and focused and when I couldn’t focus any more on that flower, I opened my eyes and painted the flowers a beautiful subtle purple. I practically threw down my sketchbook and ran to the window. I scanned the bushes for any sign of lilac, and sure enough there it was – a pop of purple, all over the garden. All. Over. It. Over a mug of mocha coffee, I spoke my thoughts aloud to Luz. “I mean, where did you even learn this? Do sorcerers do this a lot? Like, where does it stop?”

Luz stared into her tea and examined the tiny leaves at the bottom, like it was the most important thing in the world. Was she ignoring me?

“Who taught you?”

She looked up, startled.

“Well… your dad did. I guess you didn’t know because he’s never mentioned that painting makes him HAP-py as well.”

There it was again. “HAP-py”. I knew Luz, more than she thought I did, and I knew it meant something. I would just have to wait until after class to find out. I twiddled my thumbs, suddenly excited about learning something new. What I didn’t know was that what I found would change my life. ~ 48 | P a g e

Tuesday.

Hapkido day.

I jumped out of bed way too late, at 1:30PM. I had stayed up the last night trying to investigate “HAP-py”, whatever it was. I found nothing on it, not even a single mention in Wikipedia, nada. It was probably just coincidence. A slight burning suddenly pinched my hand, and I lunged for the ointment I kept on my bedside table. I spread it over, rubbed it in, and examined the drying scar.

“I’M”.

That was definitely a word.

What. The. Heck.

I tried to scream for Luz, but the words came out garbled and incomprehensible. I was scared. I didn’t understand, it was all so WEIRD, no scar had ever said anything before, and I didn’t know why. I settled for coincidence – even though I knew it wasn’t true. But my true emotions took over me, and I screamed again. Luz came scrambling in, her eyes wild.

“MARIA! What’s up?! What’s wrong?! Sit down, sit down! Oh, my god. I. Am. Going. To kill you!”

I didn’t know how to tell her.

“Ah, um, Luz. I just got a scar. It was weird. I think it, um, says something. It says ‘I’m’, like ‘I am’. Do you think, it’s, uh, coincidence?”

Luz sat down next to me. She picked her words carefully.

“You’ll be fine. It’s almost definitely coincidence. Don’t worry about it.”

Something about the way she said ‘almost’ unnerved me.

“Can I still go to hapkido today?”

She thought for a second.

“I… don’t know. On the off chance that it is not a coincidence… If there is someone who made it happen, I don’t want them around you,” She seemed like she believed what she said. But she shook her head. “Ignore me, I’m being silly. It’s definitely coincidence. Of course you can go.

Don’t forget your uniform this time.” She stood up, smiled tiredly and left.

I bowed to Master, and began stretching. I ran around the dojang a couple times to warm up, and hit my hand on the wall by accident. The sting made me feel alive, let me know I was normal. And I should act normal today as well. Nothing strange had happened.

That was until I checked my hand again.

As well as a tiny bruise, another scar was forming. It hurt way less than earlier that day, but I felt sick to the stomach. Whoever it was creating these scars, they probably knew who I was. What other reason would they have to write on my skin? They wanted to communicate with me.

“S”.

That was it. But it was enough to send my heart racing and my brain picking for ideas.

‘I’M S’ was all there was, and it managed to keep me distracted through the entire lesson. Master mentioned to me that I was off-task, not as concentrated as usual, I was always one of his best students, but today was different. I was sorry. But it wasn’t really my fault, right?

Usually, when I passed by my dad’s lab, I just ignored it. Today, I threw my bike down and walked straight in. My dad was in the kitchen, making coffee, and he turned, surprised to see me. I sat down at the bench and yelled.

“What the heck is happening? I’ve gotten three scars in the last two days, and two of them are LETTERS? I’ve never gotten letters before. This is weird! TOO weird! It’s someone’s fault, I know it, someone’s behind it.”

49 | P a g e

My dad put the coffee he meant for himself in front of me, and examined my face. He picked his words just like Luz had.

“Stop yelling. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

Rage bubbled up in my throat.

“You’ve hardly lived with me! You don’t know me! You’re lying!” I pushed the cup back towards him, spilling some on the table. Guilt layered on top of my anger, but I tried not to show it and growled. My dad put a hand on my shoulder and sat me down.

“Maria, I’m sorry.”

“For what? Get off, I’m going home.”

He shrugged, and I wished I could see the hurt in his eyes. “Whatever makes you happy.”

I pushed his hand off and slammed the door.

I was about to get back on the bike, when my guilt got the best of me. I opened the door again, yelled “sorry”, got on the bike, and pedaled furiously.

Wow, that was pathetic. But… Happy. Whatever makes me… happy. Was I happy? Was I HAPpy? He said he was sorry. ‘I’m sorry.’ What was he sorry for? For everything he’d done to abandon me? For leaving me without a real parent? My mother died in childbirth. Would she have wanted this?

No, no, I shouldn’t think like that. Of course she would have. If my father couldn’t care for me, she wouldn’t have wanted him to suffer. He hadn’t abandoned me. He’d left me with Luz, and she was my parent. A guardian. She protected me. If it hadn’t been for my father, I probably would have never met Luz. And suddenly, I was happy I had my father. Happy like I had never been before.

When I reached home, I knew I finally had to ask Luz. I locked up my bike, took a deep breath and walked inside.

“What’s HAPpy?” Luz walked out of her tower room, pretending she hadn’t heard me. “Hmm?” “What is HAPpy?” “Well, it’s an emotion. You know I don’t like philosophy, Maria.”

She was trying to change the subject.

“No. HAPpy, with the ‘HAP’ in capitals and the ‘py’ in lowercase. You know what I’m talking about.” She looked tired and suddenly I felt guilty.

“Do you want – maybe we can talk about it, later – I mean, I can make coffee –” Luz shook her head.

“No, no. I should tell you what I actually do for a living.”

We walked to the kitchen, and she sat me down. She started pottering around, cleaning dishes, as if she was desperate for something to keep her busy.

“HAPpy. It’s the organisation I work at. Do you know what it stands for? I mean, have you tried to research?”

“No – yes, I tried, but nothing showed up. Only the song by Pharrell showed up.”

She looked at me, and I knew I was missing something. Then it clicked.

“You’re a spy.”

She laughed.

“No. Nowhere near a spy. A spy is way too cool a job for me. But yes, HAPpy is a top-secret organisation. ‘HAP’ stands for… Happiness Art Project. ‘Py’ doesn’t stand for anything. It aims to bring happiness to people through art. Like painting those azaleas! Imagine if you saw a bright blue bumblebee. Wouldn’t that make your day?” She sighed happily. ~ Wednesday.

50 | P a g e

I looked into the bathroom mirror, brushing my teeth furiously. I had hardly slept. That’s when I noticed the perfectly round ‘O’ carved into my hand.

‘I’M SO’ I hadn’t even noticed it. I hadn’t even felt it.

The thing that appealed to me the most was to go to Luz’s tower room and search it for clues. And at the time, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable decision. So I creeped into the tower room and looked around.

There were cabinets everywhere. There was Luz’s doodles cabinet, her potions cabinet, her forbidden spices cabinet, the weird and wonderful chemicals drawer – hm. Forbidden spices? I checked in the cabinet, carefully taking everything out and putting it back exactly where I found it. I was, after all, forbidden to touch the spices. But there was nothing. No papers, nothing. Panic ensued. I opened all the other drawers. Chemicals, potions, doodles, passport, etc., candles, bunsen burners, miscellaneous projects, her collection of butterflies (which were preserved in a state between alive and dead that she was very proud of), but I found nothing. She knew I would look for it. She knew, but where would she put it? If I was hiding clues to my life, where would I hide them? And suddenly I knew.

In plain sight.

I ran over to her desk, tucked away in the corner of the tower room. It was so well hidden that I hadn’t even thought about it. And sure enough, pinned up on her corkboard, was a folded piece of paper. I took it down hurriedly and opened it. It read, Julio Torres HAPpy Organisation 6th August 3002 That was seven years ago.

The year that I had moved in with Luz, at 5 years old.

So, Julio Torres – my dad – really was the head of HAPpy. But I kept reading. There must be more.

To Miss Luz Flores Azalea Tower, Monterrey That was our house.

I am writing to congratulate you on your job application for HAPpy Organisation – you have been accepted into our company. Our group is small now, but we will soon grow in numbers. When that happens, we will spread our unique art all over the world.

As we are friends, I will trust you to keep this confidential. At no point should this information reach my daughter. I sometimes regret that she is subject to her artistic condition, but it is for the sake of science.

What?

“Artistic condition”?

“Sake of science”?

Thank you so much again for agreeing to look after her for me. My experiments on her would be much too dangerous if she was around. She will figure out why she is like she is much later if she is 51 | P a g e

with you. I am sure she will have much more fun with you than she would have if she spent her time at my house, being kept from secrets. She’s the only one who will trust me enough to never guess about who’s behind her condition.

No way.

What I was reading almost seemed like a fairytale. I was so confused, so swamped by my emotions that I didn’t notice the door opening.

Anyway, we will discuss this more next time we meet. You can work from home or leave the house, whichever is more convenient to you. Of course if you would like to keep the information from the girl, it would be more realistic to work from home and make up something. Thank you for applying to the Human Art Project “Maria, put that down and look at me.”

I stared at the wall. Human Art Project? No. That was disgusting. That was inhumane.

“Maria.”

Who did my father think he was? HE gave me the scars? Just earlier today, I was thinking I was grateful for him. Did he even have morals“Maria!” Luz’s strict voice snapped me into reality, and I turned to her. Furious.

“Is it true?”

She hesitated.

“Yes. It’s true. I’m sorry.”

When you paint, when you paint with the sepia shades that stained Luz’s art table, they blend.

The creams and the coffees, they blend and create chocolates, chestnut, vanillas, lattes. Once you paint and mix and blend and paint more, you end up with one solid shade, one solid colour.

What does one do when they end up without any more colours to paint? They start to design.

They draw, and carve, and sketch. They doodle and etch and outline. My dad drew me. He painted me in the same tan milk-tea as everyone else, but then he had an idea. I wouldn’t just be a normal person. I’d be a project, an art project of his own, always improving, always changing. And so he drew on me vines, and animals, and beautiful dancing things of nature.

And I didn’t know better than to accept it as a mysterious condition. And even today, he had drawn an ‘O’ on my skin, writing a message. It had been him. Then I reached over and hugged Luz. I hugged her like I would never see her again, and realised I wouldn’t. The person sitting in front of me was a new person, a person who learned from her mistakes, a wonderful person and parent. Then I glanced down, at my hand, at the words that were forming.

The other three letters surprised me. Then they angered me. Then they made me happy. So, so, so happy. I read them over, and over, and over, and realised that he really meant it. He really meant it when he wrote I’M SORRY.

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BUT THEN I SAW – VIVIEN CHOI There. I saw him. I saw It. One depressing evening, I was casually walking home from the horrendous place everybody calls school. The street lights were crackling like exploding fireworks.

Hastily, I turned around. A tall figure with a black mask was standing behind me and following me. I scurried away trying to liberate myself from it. I scampered to the “Safe Tunnel” and It had vanished.

Gone.

It was finally the weekend-the only time that I could actually relax.

Promptly and abruptly, two monumental men with dark masks came barging in my front door. I thought to myself, “they look identical to what I saw that night while I was coming home from school.” However, they were much more gargantuan; I thought they were the twin towers!

“Off to the quarantine. Both of you.”

My roommate (Megan) and I were forcibly hauled out of our own front door. It almost felt as if we were prisoners.

The man had such a skin-tight grip on my anorexic arm that it left a vermillion blemish that lasted for about a week. Our innocent selves were exhausted and fatigued after being dragged around like toys.

“Time to run the tests; let’s see if they have It.” Megan and I had been forcibly sundered from one another. The last few words that I perceived were “We’ll see each other again”.

I had immaculate crystal tears streaming down my face like a river.

I pondered to myself, “why do they all have masks...and more importantly, what are behind these masks?”

“This won’t hurt a bit.”

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The thick, vigorously looking needle strenuously entered my smooth skin.

“Ouch!” I yelped sharply.

“Make. No. Sound.” They whispered into my ears.

I felt as if I was a part of a horror movie.

“Infected…”

Obliviously, I questioned myself about what that meant.

“Are you done here? Let me go,” I desperately clamored.

“You are special. We need you for future experiments.”

“Future experie--” It smothered my soft, pampered lips with Its greasy and unsanitary hands.

Suspensefully, It took one of Its hand off of my mouth and revealed itself. I was sickened after It showed its deformed face. Flesh was dangling from the left side of its face; Its right eye was swollen and It didn’t have a left eye.

“Stay. Calm…”

54 | P a g e

DEPELICONA – THIES JENSEN Far away, on a star, the city of Depelicona was resting on rods of tacnium- a high quality metal composed by a special alloy of platinum and the element tacmide-which was discovered on the planet of Xen. Depelicona was located high above a burning ball in the middle of nowhere and unit 061403 was shooting around the city doing his usual routine. There was nothing significant to be seen and probably never ever would be since he was assigned to the City of Light instead of the Dead Zone.

Nothing ever happened in the City of Light- all crime, drug dealing or smuggling was happening in the Dead Zone, but ever since the big crime lords like Morris Jojay found a way to disrupt the signals of I-drones, and therefore bring them down and analyse their technology, no I-drones were sent further than the border for fear that they might fall into the hands of malicious people who could use them to bring down the government.

Unit 061403 saw the usual, every-day activity; people taking the hover buses to get to the housing unit after a day of shopping and people in suits, dashing along bland and scarcely decorated buildings, shops and even some children playing chess on marble and concrete tables soldered onto the floor. You could even see the trains from the agriculture unit coming in to unload their harvestings. He decided that this sort of thing did not need his attention and he would much rather go patrol the border, as it wasn’t a long flight.

Three minutes later, Unit 061403 had arrived at the border checkpoint and started touring around the outside of the fence- carefully flying faster when he was over a gap so that in the case that he was caught by a radio signal, he would be less likely to burn up in the giant star.

He had already covered most of the border when something… or someone, caught his eye.

He zoomed in to check if he was right, and sure enough he was. President Lewis, the overweight president of Depelicona- wearing his usual green shirt and suspenders, was standing at an abandoned border checkpoint with Morris Jojay, the feared and cruel criminal who ruled the Dead Zone with drugs, fear and money. They seemed to be talking while President Lewis was throwing around careful glances. Unit 061403 got curious and decided to get close to the border wall so it would be harder to see him. He was watching them talk for a bit more while President Lewis was nervously toying with his hand and stepping from one foot to the other, but Morris maintained a somewhat entertained grin on his face. What was going on? Maybe it’s just a secret friendship that they didn’t want people to know about? Unit 061403 could hardly keep a straight mind.

55 | P a g e

Then suddenly, President Lewis pulled out an imprinted sheet of paper with pictures on it. Unit 061403 zoomed in but what he saw was confusing. President Lewis was holding out a list of members of the opposition party who were going to be competing against President Lewis in the next election- this was a strange thing to do but then he also took out a stack of pelions, the stellar currency, and gave it to Morris. Now Unit 061403 was confused. Maybe he just wanted to tell him a story? And maybe he just owed him money? He was convinced that this was nothing bad and that he should just leave. Lewis seemed to be thinking the same and with a quick glance around, he hastily disappeared behind the nearest building. This was incredibly hard to process for Unit 061403. He decided that he didn’t want President Lewis to get into trouble, mostly because of the electrions, where the media would find and spread any dirt they could find about the candidates. He went into his video storage and ejected his tape of the day through his tape chute... watching it fall into the abyss below and presumably dropping into the blazing hot star, being erased forever.

It had been a tough evening. He returned with the rest of the I-drones while the ironically named nIght-drones flew out for their everyday- or every night- routines.

Officer Leah, the red-haired cop who was in charge of all the drones had been very confused when his tape was not delivered into the dropbox. She asked him but he just said he accidentally ejected it mid-flight and it broke. Not to his surprise, she wasn’t satisfied with his description but did not question it any longer. He found comfort lying next to George, the extremely old and grumpy janitor who had once opened up his heart to unit 061403 when he was floating around and exploring the facility, as opposed to all the other drones who just stayed in the drone room. It was easy to see that he was different to the others and that made something click in George’s heart.

They never talked about anything specific, just random things, but that day George noticed something was wrong. As soon as he asked if anything was wrong, Unit 061403’s resistance burst and he told him everything he saw, heard and did. At this moment he did not care if it wasn’t very wise to do so, but he felt as for something like this he required confirmation or at least some kind of tips on what to do next. He knew he was unable to go to the other drones or Leah since they would immediately report it and he would be interrogated and… he didn’t know or want to know what came after that. George understood but just told him that he shouldn’t worry and that it was probably just some weird coincidence and all. This relaxed Unit 061403 a bit.

Flash. Unit 061403 was awoken out of a dreamless slumber- if you could call it that. All drones slowly rose from their charging capsules and swarmed out of the Drone room. As Unit 061403 was slowly moving out of the large window and getting ready to start his daily patrol, he could already see the nIght-drones approaching. He was taking his usual routine and decided to take a short stop over the fabled statue of Unit 000001. It was strange to see the alpha model of the I-drones. So much of the drone was exposed and seemed somewhat unprofessional, but you should respect your elders right?

There seemed to be a tense area of discussion around the town hall. Unit 061403 drifted closer to the scene and used his convenient zoom to scan the scene for the cause of 56 | P a g e

drama. There seemed to be some police officers taking care of the scene and even some ambulances were there. Strange, Unit 061403 thought to himself. He descended down to a news van and listened to what they were reporting about. He could not believe his ears, or well… microphones. Some candidates of the election had been found dead.

Something literally clicked in his head. This couldn’t be true could it?

He listened for a couple more minutes just to confirm his suspicions. He was shaken by what he had discovered. His flight back to the Drone room was fast. He rushed to the janitor’s office. He flew through the open door and… couldn’t find George. He wasn’t anywhere, not even in his bedroom. This was bad. Unit 061403 needed to talk with somebody. He couldn’t keep this to himself. He investigated the desk. There was nothing in particular, expect for a small red stain.

Click.

Unit 061403 turned 180 degrees faster than a drill head and saw President Lewis standing in the doorway. “I’m sorry about this but I can’t let this circle around”. He took out a taser and charged at Unit 061403 who dodged the attack, not very gracefully, and swirled against a wall. President Lewis approached the wall at a surprising speed and this time Unit 061403 would not be able to dodge it so easily. He took his chance and used one of his robot claws to slash at Lewis as hard as he could manage. President Lewis was only shortly preoccupied by the small cut that Unit 061403 had inflicted on his neck and took a third charge at Unit 061403. This time he could not dodge it. Lewis pushed the taser into his exposed charging port and pressed the button.

Unit 061403 woke up in a very damp environment which smelled of oil and sweat. “Oh thank god you are back. I was getting very worried”. Who was this voice? Could it be?

President Lewis was standing next to him on a table at the mechanic. How did this happen? Wasn’t he dead? “You were flying around and smashed into a building which completely messed with your A.I.”. It seemed so real. He could not believe that what he had seen had just been an error with his coding. It might take some time to figure this out but in the end he didn’t know very much about how he worked he worked. “See you around”. President Lewis turned around and made his way out of the room.

But then he saw a small red cut on the President’s neck...

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THAT ONE GIRL IN TOWN – JENNY SUH AND ALICE WANG Nobody in the whole town actually knew who that was…

A juvenile girl began to glance through the windows of people’s dwellings which petrified numerous amount of citizens with chills rapidly streaming down. Considering that they tried to draw the curtains and attempted to ignore the glimpse of the secretive girl’s eye, it always gave them a brisk chill; they started to sweat like a heavy rain pelting down on the possessed town.

Her skimpy clothes which loosely hung over her shoulders were shabby and scruffy, and definitely caused the frigid, wintry and intense goosebumps. For sure, the days that she has been halted in the exact uncanny and ghoulish ally passed in a rapid speed as the rumours of the little girl began to spread wide across the whole country.

Citizens from town to town wondered how she was managing to survive without getting malnourished. Her eyes, however, definitely proved to a plethora of people that she was as hungry as a bear and might as well eat from a trash can! The only thing they found out was that she only appeared at midnight and disappeared in the morning. That, for sure, was not enough information. In fact, they couldn't figure out where she was going but noticed the pattern of what happened every night…

Every pitch-black night, one by one, the number of murder mysteries gradually increased…

The breaking news of the destitute and impoverished girl became more intense and serious as 10 years had passed… Every minute, every second, every millisecond seemed so precious. In fact, me living at this stage was totally unexpected. Living my life, never had I thought about time being wasted and here I was thinking how thankful I was about to even be alive right now, right at this time, right at this second in the middle of the road.

Although a long period of time had passed, the puzzling news of the displaced girl kept on going… and going… and going… as if it was an immortal bacteria that spreads illness from one place to another. Owing to the fact that the latest news was all about the homeless girl, almost everyone in town knew about it.

Everyone knew about it. Who wouldn’t know?

Unlike what I just thought to myself, I immediately thought about what I was doing standing in the middle of the road raising my arms as if someone was praising God - it just seemed so ignorant. I didn't have time and wondered what I was doing with my life. Why couldn’t I die?! WHY DOESN’T ANYTHING WORK? Getting onto my knees, I just wished I wasn’t born. If I knew that I had to go through this, I would’ve just killed myself already. My life had no meaning and was not useful in any way.

Forget it. Moving on rapidly...

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Just like any other days, I was rhythmically strolling down the unpleasant, abandoned street where people usually don't seem to be comfortable to pass through. Every step I took, I saw a dark shadow looking bigger than mine. Turning around, I expected someone to be ready to murder me… Unlike my imagination, no one was behind - Who was it? As I walked by shops to shops, I saw several corpses lying on the floor covered with dried blood - it disgusted the hell out of me.

Without distinguishing anything, accidentally, I slipped on a decrepit banana peel which was settled on the concrete floor. Frowning, as I rubbed my back with little weight of force, I perceived a crimson red cheeked girl. As I observed and cast an eye over her, her entire body was encrusted and plastered with clouds of dusts and gooey mud. Overall, it definitely looked like she had been beaten up with a baseball bat… But that was not her case - who knew what happened to her? Her two feet and hands all hypothermic and frigid; for an instinct, I felt sympathy for her because she was in a difficult and unpleasant situation. I dug through my bag in order to locate where my wooly gloves that protects my hands from frigid weather were. Digging deeper, every time I rummaged around, it only seemed like a sinkhole. Nothing...else.

“Ugh where is it?! ...did I lose it? I swear if I can’t find it…”

As I was handing my gloves to the girl, I ‘accidently’ brushed her hands against mine as I felt and noticed that her hands weren't as cold as I expected. As soon as they brushed against each other- it wasn’t pleasing. In fact, I was infuriated but I knew it wasn’t her fault. Not at all!

Honestly, at this stage of the mysterious murder, who would be clean? They had no food, shelter or a place to clean themselves. Unlike what I had expected, her miniature hands were unusually warm and balmy comparing to the normal homeless people hands. Due to the curiosity, I looked straight into the girl’s eyes. That split second I knew who that was…I.. it w...wa..was the..

AHHH!

-silence-

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TREES – RAUAN KHANGEREY Trees.

What do you think of when you hear the word “murder”? Savagery? Brutality? Evil, perhaps?

Can you imagine the gun, see the pull of the trigger, hear the bang as the bullet is blasted through the barrel? Can you see the life drain away from the victim’s face, see the eyes roll back into their head, never to see again? Do you see the murderer’s face, full of malice and hatred, their cold, emotionless eyes staring at their victim without a glint of remorse? Is that what you think of when you hear the word “murderer”?

Trees.

Murderers are often associated with egocentrism, with utter disregard for human life, with evil.

All in all, they are pretty bad. Yet would you ever see something more virtuous as a murderer?

Something other than a human? What? What would be unexpectedly dangerous, seemingly innocent yet absolutely barbaric?

Trees.

I learned this lesson one cold winter afternoon as a fist of branches smashed through my window.

In this situation, cold would be an understatement. Frigid. Gelid. Body fluid freezingly frosty. It felt as though the heater was broken (in retrospect, it probably was). The aura of heat that usually radiated from the fireplace felt like the abysmal amount of warmth emitted by a lit matchstick.

Indeed, as I sat in my third favourite chair, wrapped in three heavy blankets, wearing no less than than three ugly sweaters, attempting to pass the time by writing my new story, I would have never expected a huge, tree branch come racing towards by window, its many twigs and offshooting branches curled up in miniature fists, and the winter snow flying everywhere from its swing, the branch crashing through my window, spraying sharp shards of sparkling shattered glass everywhere, uncurling its branches and twigs, grabbing my non-responsive, frozen form, pulling me out of the shattered window and into the cold, winter street.

But it did.

I lay on the cold pavement, amidst the shattered glass of my window -- sorry, former window -that was stained bloodred, though the cuts they made upon my body weren’t too substantial. Yet the wooden arm showered me in fragments of glass as it came through the window; it grabbed me so tightly I felt as though I would pop; it roughly pulled me through the jagged remain of the window, slashing though my clothes and flesh; it held me outside in the cold winter air, exposing me to the world; it dropped me unceremoniously onto the ground, my crumpled body bleeding 60 | P a g e

on the stone pavement; it, a branch, then disappeared from my view, leaving (probably) to die out on the street.

As it turns out, I would have been trampled to death before bleeding to death.

Dying in agony, I hear screaming. Children wailing, parents yelling, people howling. It seems that they can’t see me. Or they just don’t care. In any case, the masses came hurdling over my limp and broken body, threatening to crush me to death. They all run past me. No one is even bothering to stop and help. They’re too busy saving themselves than to save some random bleeding stranger. Yet suddenly, from where I can’t tell, there is a massive crunch, and the screaming simply escalates. Another mighty groan. A sickening squash sound. More screaming.

I can’t see a thing. All I can see is the shoes of those leaping over my soon-to-be corpse.

But then I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a leg. A leg walking by. No, not a leg. Roots, tree roots shuffled past. I close my eyes.

Eventually, the sound stops. The screaming, the thundering of people running, the groaning, wooden crashing sounds eventually disappearing too. It feels like days- no years! - are passing.

Slowly, as my life seeps out, memories seep in. Memories, of my childhood: running barefoot through the grass; watching the wood logs burn in the fireplace; cowering before the old, gargantuan trees at the edge of the forest; the cried of a woman underneath a fallen log, a curtain of water surrounding. I always liked trees -- they were nice, and useful, and had an aura of ancient wisdom around them. They always seemed alive, and they were my friends.

And now they walk the earth.

They want revenge. They want revenge for what we did to them…

TO BE CONTI

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ALONG THE LINES OF THE TRACK – NATASHA HUIBERS Her name is Skyler Anderson. She’s 16. She runs.

---

Bang!

The gunshot fires and off they go, each and every runner fighting for a good position in the race.

Skyler is trembling as she sets off with the pack of athletes - extremely aware of the fact that she is surrounded by top state competitors. Her nerves send adrenaline coursing through her veins, a factor that will benefit her in this case. She manages to slip into fifth place, drafting behind the number one in the state.

Skyler can feel her strong, rapid heartbeat against her ribcage and the speedy striking of her spikes against the track.

The race has begun.

---

Skyler has always run, ever since she was a little girl. Running has been her strongest passion, her biggest interest, for as long as she can remember. She can still recall the very first time she went for a run.

It was a cold, miserable day. The sky was grey. The clouds were dark. The icy wind was howling, blowing and blustering. She was sitting in her room, looking out the window, longing to get outdoors. That was the moment Skyler felt it - a tug, a spark, a flare inside her.

Her heart was yearning for something. Her heart was craving it. Itching for it.

A run.

Skyler remembers her 9-year-old self as she put on a tattered pair of running shoes, threw on a hoodie and flew out the door. She stopped outside her doorstep and took a long, deep breath of fresh air. It washed over her young, delicate lungs and energised her immediately. And then she set off, and ran harder than she’d ever run before. Her legs were burning and her feet were throbbing, but she kept on running.

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A blanket of euphoria wrapped itself around Skyler as she came back from her first run. She felt alive. Awoken. Ignited.

---

The memories of her childhood remind Skyler of why she runs.

She runs to feel complete.

She runs to feel strong.

She runs to feel free.

She runs because she loves it.

The mere thought of this pushes Skyler through the first lap of the race. It’s a brutal and fast lap, yet she manages to keep in fifth place. She’s breathing hard already, but there’s enough adrenaline and determination pumping through her blood to keep her legs moving swiftly.

---

As Skyler got older, she began to run more and more. Every morning she would wake up and go for a long, hard run, coming back completely soaked in sweat. After school, she would train with her team for two hours. On the weekends, there would be races of all sorts - Skyler would compete against other runners, some better, some not.

Day by day, Skyler got faster and fitter. And as time passed, her passion for running got stronger and stronger. Soon, she became one of the best runners in the state.

---

The second lap approaches, and Skyler finds her pace.

Woosh, woosh, woosh, woosh.

The sound of her arms pumping soothe her fears and she finds a fast and steady rhythm. She looks at the girls running in front of her, how strong and fit they look - the temptation to overtake them is more than overwhelming. As soon as that thought creeps into her head, however, it vanishes and is replaced with the voice of her coach: “Do not get ahead of yourself, Skyler. Pace yourself. Strategize. Run smart. .”

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The wise words of her coach replay themselves in her head, getting Skyler through the second lap of the race without burning herself out. Even though her lungs are stinging and her muscles are heavy, she keeps going.

---

But one day, Skyler went for a long, vigorous run in the woods. It had been pouring with rain that day, and the ground was wet and slippery.

One misstep.

That’s all it took.

Skyler tripped on the mossy root of a tree and crashed down onto the soggy, entangled earth.

Her leg landed on a sharp rock and ‘crack’ was the only sound she needed to hear to confirm that a bone had broken. Tears immediately began to rush down Skyler’s face - not only because of the excruciating pain in her leg, but because she knew it would be a long time before she could use this leg again.

Skyler spent the next couple of months in a cast. The doctors informed her that complete recovery was indefinite. Every night, she would look down at her wrapped up leg as tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. Melancholy engulfed her, and Skyler felt like she would never be able to run again.

She gave up.

She lost hope.

---

As the third lap comes along, slivers of doubt start arising in Skyler’s chest. It had taken a lot of power to completely block them out in the first two laps, but now that she’s starting to get tired out, Skyler can’t help but let them flood her mind. What if her leg can’t carry her through? What if, on the last lap, it fails on her? What if it starts hurting so much that she collapses on the ground?

Skyler catches herself over-thinking, pushes the negative thoughts away, and concentrates on the race. She can’t lose focus now.

---

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Months had passed and, finally, the day Skyler had been waiting for arrived. The doctor removed the cast from her leg. As expected, her leg had lost most of its muscle mass and strength; it was weak and powerless. Something that had carried Skyler for hundreds of miles was now a frail and feeble resemblance of a leg. Despite knowing that this was going to happen, Skyler cried herself to sleep that night.

Recovery and rehabilitation were long and painful. Every day of not being able to run was another day that Skyler could have been getting faster and stronger. It took time to get some strength back into her muscle. It took weeks to be able to walk again. It took even longer to be able to run.

Skyler’s first run after months of resting was slow and exhausting. What used to be a nice, easy jog to her now felt like an extremely tiring pace. She was furious at herself for not being able to run for more than 10 minutes.

She could have given up.

She could have let go and never run again.

But she didn’t.

---

Bang!

The gunshot fires, indicating the last lap of the race.

This is it. All Skyler has ever wanted.

---

The next day, Skyler ran again. She did the same the day after that, and the day after that. She pushed through each and every run.

It was hard. It was painful. It was agonising.

But she pushed through it. She trained slowly and steadily gained back her strength and speed. It took months of dedication, commitment and drive.

Nevertheless, it was worth it. Skyler was almost back to where she before the accident and she couldn’t be more thrilled about it.

---

Skyler’s heart has never pumped faster. Neither have her legs ever moved quicker.

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It’s the last lap of the race and all Skyler has in her head is getting in first place. She overtakes the girl in front of her on the first half of the lap. This single action burns her out slightly, but slowing down is not an option for Skyler.

The three girls in front of Skyler are all up ahead by a good 7 metres.

In this moment, Skyler realises how challenging it will be to overtake all three of them and get gold.

And in this moment, Skyler sees it - the real meaning of running.

She sees it written along the lines of the track.

Written across the spikes of her competitors.

Written across the calves of her legs.

Running is not about competition. It’s not about racing, or winning or even losing.

It’s not about beating everyone or coming in first place.

Running is simply an individual journey. It’s a rocky path filled with uphills, downhills and plenty of obstacles.

As Skyler comes along the last bend of the race, the last 100 metres are stretched out in front of her. Skyler gives it her all, and sprints as fast as her legs will allow her to. She pushes through the agony, the pain and the burning, exerting every last bit of energy into these last few metres.

Driving her arms and legs, Skyler crosses the finish line.

Not in first place. Not in second place. Not even in third place.

Yet Skyler is perfectly content with this.

She knows she did her absolute best. She gave it everything she had.

And that’s what matters most.

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ONE FINE, FINE DAY – JIYE MOON The turtle and rabbit were sitting down on a tree.

Mr. Rabbit, the know-it-all, proceeded to brag about his superior speed and his fine muscles.

"One race," The rabbit huffed, "And you shall see the true winner!"

While the rabbit hopped, whipped and sprung towards the finish line, Mr. Turtle took cautious note of every step. He could only go so far.

But then he saw his short stubby legs grow into long sticks, like the roots of a tree.

He saw his fragile arms transform with strong, fine muscles like a ferocious lion while maintaining the grace of a swan. The Turtle leaped across the field and surpassed the little Rabbit now hopping helplessly while the sun shone in its full glory. Now, we could hear the sounds of his friends cheering him as he swooped in with the finish.

But slowly, his image grew smaller and the sounds reduced until they were nothing but soft whispers.

But then he remembered his beautiful shell that protected him the sharp bills of unwanted predators. He saw his grace and wisdom that kept him from trouble.

He trudged one more step as the rabbit snickered at the finish line.

To him, he was just a turtle.

And to him, he had won.

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MEOW – SOYEON HAN

“What was that?” My friend, Conor, gasped and frowned when he felt something go past him. We were walking to school together this morning because we live in the same neighbourhood.

It was still dark outside. In our neighbourhood, all of the houses look the same and are like pentagons - they are painted light grey or pale yellow; they all have triangular grey roofs; they have hedges instead of fences; they have red chimneys and are all the same size.

There is a part of the neighbourhood which is the oldest and is completely empty now. All of the houses there look crooked, taller and covered in thick layers of moss and vines making them look green if you had looked down from an aeroplane. They were all differently coloured with multiple dull colours each as patches but the the paint was faded.

“I think it was a stray cat.” I said, looking at where it was going. It had sticky, grey fur that stuck out as spikes but there were still parts of its fur that were still white and it had big, pale green eyes. It went behind the trees and disappeared. There were cars going through the road this morning.

“Come on, Conor.”

As the sky got brighter, we got to our school. In the morning, during maths, it started to get foggy outside and started to rain at 1 o’clock. The rain didn’t stop until 3 o’clock but then it started to rain again. Because we didn’t bring our umbrellas, as we walked home, we were soaked. As the water in puddles leaked into my shoes, my feet felt very cold. Because it was so cold, we didn’t talk.

Finally, we got to Conor’s house and he waved at me and went inside. As I walked, I could hear the rain rushing into the sewages and it sounded like someone pouring water into a glass.

Luckily, some of the trees kept the rain from getting on me. Suddenly, white light came out from behind. A car rushed past me, making a soft bump noise, spraying water on my uniform. I saw a grey cat lying still on the ground close to the lamppost - it was the cat I saw earlier this morning.

Quickly, I walked over to the other side of the road. As I bent my knees to look closer at it, I could see bits of white bones sticking out of the scattered bits of flesh; the fur was wet in clumps; the stomach had a tyre print on it and the eyes were half shut. I bent down further and stayed like that for a while and then I decided to pick it up. I put my hands between the ground and the cat and lifted it up - it felt wet, muddy and soft. Because there was nowhere else that I could bury it, I decided to take it home with me.

When I got home, I quickly sneaked into the garden, carrying the cat. Pools of water filled up the lower, empty spaces of the ground in the garden. Because I was so cold, I decided to hide the cat behind the shrub, which had water dripping down its leaves.

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After getting changed into dry clothes, I went back into the garden. When I stepped on the mud, it felt sticky. Carefully, I took the cat out from behind the shrub and buried it in front of it. I went back inside afterwards.

•

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

The following day, I looked out of my bedroom window and saw that most of the puddles had dried. I remembered that I had tried to bury a cat in my garden. I went outside to look if the cat was still fully covered with soil - if my mum saw it, it would shock her.

My chalky skin burnt and itched under the sizzling heat of the sun. Squinting, I kneeled down and touched the lump of where the cat had been buried. Hurriedly, I went back to get a brown paper box from the dusty top of a tall shelf in the living room. I dug out the cat, making the garden messy, and, gently, I placed all of the pieces of the cat into the brown paper box. Whilst I was making sure that there were no pieces of the cat lying on the ground, I noticed that the cat looked a bit different from the day before, when I had picked it up from the side of the street to take it home with me - its left back leg was severely scraped and he had seen that it was red but now that was completely gone.

“It’s probably just because it was too dark to see clearly yesterday,” I assured myself but still was scared at how strange it was “It’s still very strange but whatever,” I thought. Feeling strange and confused, I put the coffin into the hole and covered it back with soil. Then I went back into my room.

When the colour of the sky started to alter from a solid blue colour to a warm green, purple and pink colour, I decided to get ready to go to bed.

•

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

The following day was a Sunday. Mum, my sister and I went to church in the morning.

When we got back home, mum made us lunch.

Suddenly, the sky started to get cloudy and covered all the sunlight. Rain scattered onto my bedroom window and the wind made all the raindrops join together. The branches of trees started to shake. The frames of the window clattered.

Scared, I closed my curtains and went downstairs. Mum and my sister, Autumn, were in the living room - mum was sitting on a white sofa, underneath a fluffy, purple blanket, sipping hot chocolate; Autumn was sitting next to her, reading a book and also sipping hot chocolate.

“Mum, can I have a hot chocolate as well?” I went over to where my mum was sitting and sat down next to her.

“Alright,” Slowly, mum got out from underneath her blanket and walked into the kitchen.

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Whilst I was waiting for it, I decided to get a book from the shelf. A while later, mum came into the living room with a hot chocolate and a box of biscuits.

“Here you are, Byron,” Carefully, she placed the steaming cup of hot chocolate down onto a table.

“Thank you,” I left it untouched on the table so that it would cool.

Noisily, the wind blew constantly, harder than a while ago.

After about an hour, the sky cleared up and the sun started to set. Outside, the sky looked like it was burning. Suddenly, behind where I was sitting, I heard meowing from outside. Curiously, I turned around. Someone had dug out the paper box coffin. It was empty. Confused, I stood up from the comfortable, warm sofa and stepped forward to stretch. There was something underneath my foot.

“MEOW!” But then I saw...

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/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

MY LOVE – AIKO HATAKOSHI Hot day. First day of school in Year 9. Falling in love with Ella. Her soft voice makes me feel comfortable. Shining, precious, blonde hair.

My name is Jack Pallett. Ella (who I really admire) and I are in the same class for the first time.

When I look at Ella in the class, she looks back and smiles. My heart starts pounding… Should I tell her my feelings? No, we should get closer and then I should ask her out.

I started talking with her more. The following week, we started our streaks on snapchat and two weeks later, we started following our personal accounts on Instagram! I was pretty sure we’re getting closer. After another month, nothing really happened but we still talked a lot in real life and also on Skype.

One day, we became partners in science, we talked so much and we were making jokes together.

It was so fun. Maybe, I should ask her out soon…

Since I decided to ask her out, I texted Abby who is the best friend of Ella and me, to ask her if I should ask Ella out or not. Abby said that it was a great idea since Abby thought Ella liked me.

That surprised me a lot and gave me courage to ask her.

Next day, I was kind of panicked due to my nervousness and Abby kept encouraging me to ask her.

“Hey Ella….” I nervously called her. She slowly looked at me. I felt like everything was happening in slow motion.

“Yes?” Ella looked at me and smiled.

“Will you…will… will you go out with me?” My face was getting so hot and red. Everyone started to scream and clap. Even our teacher was smiling and kind of teasing me. Ella looked so surprised, everyone was waiting for Ella’s response. She slowly looked at me, and said, “Yes”.

I was so confused; did she just say yes?

Today is the happiest life in my life! I didn’t care about what people said about me, I just couldn’t be happier.

The next morning was a little bit colder than previous days, so my mom told me to wear a hoodie to school. When I arrived at school, my friends called me “Jella”. That sounded so nice! I loved it! I went to see Ella. She was saying that the weather was too cold for her. Since I was her boyfriend and we liked each other, I wanted to help her.

“Hey Ella, do you wanna wear my hoodie?” I asked her.

People could clearly see Ella’s face becoming as red as a tomato, so I thought she would definitely say yes.

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But...

“No, it’s ok,” she laughed a little bit awkwardly, and ran away from me to play soccer.

I was a little shocked that she kind of rejected me. My friend laughed at me because of the rejection. It’s just because she wanted to play soccer, not because she doesn’t like me or anything like that. She must like me, she said yes to going out with me. I stopped thinking about her, and went to class.

During class, Ella came to me and whispered, “Can we talk in break time? I need to tell you something.” Then she smiled.

What was she going to talk about? I was kind of curious about what she was going to talk about but I didn’t say anything, just answered yes. She told me to go to the parking lot because there wouldn’t be many people there at break time. At the same time, it started to rain cats and dogs - like something bad was going to happen…

At break time, I went nervously to the parking lot. Ella was already there, she looked so serious.

I slowly walked to her. She looked at me; I stopped. She took a deep breath and started talking, “Let’s break up.”

It took time to understand what she had just said. Let’s break up?

“W..What? I thought you liked me? Isn’t that the reason why you said you’d go out with me? I am so confused right now.”

“I like you, but just as friends.”

“Oh, I see… Haha then let’s break up. Let’s just be friends. I think that’s good for me too.” My eyes were filling with tears, I wanted to cry because I was embarrassed and sad. Ella smiled and quickly ran away.

My love has ended. But I can’t cry forever as we have a lesson. So, I stopped crying and decided to leave. When I was going up the stairs, I saw one girl standing at the top. Was that Ella? Was she waiting for me? It gave me happiness even though she broke up with me.

But then I saw… it was Abby standing waiting for me. She looked at me and started to talk.

“Sorry, I was listening to your conversation... I already knew that Ella was going to break up with you, but I couldn’t tell you because you liked her a lot.”

“Oh…It’s okay, I will get over it,” I answered.

“It is weird to say this right now, and I didn’t want to tell you but...”

It took a while until she continued talking.

“I like you. Will you please think about going out with me?”

I was so surprised. She was the one who always supported me with Ella. But now the only person I can think of is Ella, even though she broke up with me.

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“I will think about it, but I think it will take long time to get over Ella,” I answered. Abby smiled, and she said, “That’s ok, I will wait for you.”

It was already time to go to class, we were little bit late but it was fine. During class, Ella and I were a little bit awkward with each other and our classmates were also awkward because they knew that we had broken up. After class, I went to the cafeteria with my friends. Before lunch, I went to the bathroom and I heard Ella’s loud voice talking with her friends. I felt little bad but I eavesdropped on their conversation.

“Why did you break up with Jack? He is pretty nice and he likes you,” one of her friends said, “Ew! I just liked him as a friend and he just asked me out in science in front of everybody! I was so embarrassed! But I couldn't say no about it because I felt bad for him, so I just agreed.”

Now I understand. My feelings for Ella completely disappeared. I really liked her for a long time however, now… my love is ended.

Forget about her.

Now I should start thinking about Abby - since she always supported me. She encouraged me to ask Ella out. This was amazing because she really liked me herself. She would have been heartbroken but she wanted the best for me.

She IS the one for me.

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BUT THEN I SAW THEM – JINU PARK 6:00 AM. It’s critical to look up the air quality levels of the imminent day before dawn emerges. This is due to the serious air level fluctuations in the area of where my apartment is erected. Generally, air pollution consists of chemical reactions that react with air pollutants, forming the products of acidic compounds. Nevertheless, as my apartment is directly alongside the main street roads, the car emissions from below may constantly rise in the air, which also contribute to air pollution.

I can recollect clearly that the real estate agent informed me the height of the building is around 120 metres tall, due to this apartment being comprised of 40 floors. I was lucky to claim the 40th floor since the majority of the residents are single men or women, and there’s not much point in buying large rooms if you live alone. But mainly, the higher up you are, the less concentrated vehicle exhaust gas you are exposed to.

Yet, since this building’s infrastructure is outdated compared to the rest in California, in addition to Bakersfield’s hideous air quality, the air ventilation system isn’t the best. Renovations are being scheduled later on but perhaps my lungs may not survive until then. Plus, the residents have a territorial “claim” of smoking in this apartment, which the landlord doesn’t care about (this apartment was decent in price, okay?). Hence, I have installed a couple of air purifiers around the house and blocked all the windows or any slight openings to cut off the ventilation of exhaust fumes and tobacco smoke from below. This prevents me from going out that much, which is why I earn my master’s degree (as an Air Quality Field Technician and Air Quality Engineer) online. It may be pretty dark in here, but I can concentrate better in low light levels.

52 in the air quality index (AQI); moderate. Limiting outdoor activities will keep my sensitive allergies safe from today. Too risky to step out the door, since all that foul gas will engulf every corner of my house. Wear a mask just in case.

I sit up and reach for the drawer to pull out the new mask. I pull both bands on the edges to wrap them on behind my ears. As I place the mask on the bottom half of my face, the scent of packaged purity enters my nostrils; I will be fine for the day.

6:34 AM. I walk to my desk to start my laptop. I take a seat. I open the screen and the desktop brightens up. I enter the password. The desktop emerges: the default background of green plains and blue sky. Wonderful. I can already smell mother nature’s purity. I launch my assignment based on constructing air ventilation infrastructure accommodating the effects of carbon dioxide and ozone.

6:16 AM. I can’t trust that AQI. I open my browser. I type up the forecasts of the AQI with 10 different websites: don’t trust just one.

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I should start my assignment.

9:20 AM. I’m hungry.

I leave my seat and walk through living room and to the kitchen. The room is dim with the only source of light visible from the slightest glow of the laptop screen and the luminous blue glimmer from my aquarium that’s located in living room.

I stand in front of my refrigerator and open the freezer first. Eyes closed. As the door opens, a chilled gust from the encased arctic storage breezes to my front. I savour this pleasing moment as the chill runs down to my spine. I open my eyes to inspect.

Empty.

I open the fridge below.

Empty.

Ha. I really should visit the grocery shop.

No. The moment I step out of the front door, my lungs will be spoilt by foreign impurities. The MINUTE after I take a breath, my cilia will deteriorate. The SECOND the poison enters the alveoli. My blood will be corrupted by alien contamination.

It’s the Industry. They’re the ones to blame; trying to benefit the world but give in return their airborne cancer to slowly kill us all. It’s a lie. A deception. A misconception, that we should invest our lives for their merchandises. They show no loyalty to their customers, but there is no chance for us to avoid their powers in this world network of game. We are ultimately their slaves.

I close the fridge door. I need nourishment to keep my immune system intact for any further germs from declining my health.

The blue glow can be seen in the corner of my eyes.

The aquarium…

9:58 AM. I walk towards the luminous mass of water. The tank isn’t decorated with only the gravel as the bed of the tank. 10 goldfish swim around in every corner, well at least 3 are lying above the surface. I grab my fishnet.

I crane my arm into the tank. My arm is soaked. After a few attempts, I catch one. I lift the net.

Struggling to grab its moist body, the scales vigorously squirm against my squeezing palms.

Sensational.

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I squeeze harder.

In a few moments, it gradually stops moving, assuming that it’s giving in.

I open my palms and view its soaked tangerine body. Its mouth wide and eyes protruding, manifested in awe.

I lift my hand to my mout–

••• Rays of white penetrate my eyes.

My blinded eyes work to open.

A white empty room. My body’s fastened on a bed in the middle of this wide space. The serene atmosphere is so pure, yet it seems to sufficiently hide its flaws as though it was faultless on the surface. Artificialism. This environment is not a welcoming presence. To reach purity is nonother than the ambitions of mankind. We want to live in a pure world as our impatience to await heaven on this earth. Our impression of purity is an impression of perfection without the sufferings of Mother Nature.

To see her having to be so frail… so frail that she would just let the Industry hurt her like that?

Pity. Such beauty she exhibits, but at the end of the day she is yet but valued for the money.

She’s just another slave of theirs as if she were a thick street urchin minding her own business selling her soul to those who steal from her for their own gain. We are all ultimately their slaves.

I hear a door open behind the room. I hear steps. I begin to panic. My body is desperate to escape these belts off my limbs. The steps are coming closer towards my left side. I writhe in agony and scream uncontrollably through my manifestation. My temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

But then I saw the lab coat.

“You haven’t taken your prescriptions. You still are– you were always - schizophrenic.”

It was a dark, cold and sad morning. As I was walking to school it almost felt like the weather was crying. It was windy. Hearing a noise, I looked back. Nervously, my heart started beating faster, so fast that I could actually hear my own heartbeat.

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REALLY WONDERFUL… – MIA LAURSEN I got scared... scared of something... really wonderful...

I thought of her all the time. There she goes, right past me, but not alone. She is, of course, with her two best friends, Charlotte and Scarlet. I’m walking alone, thinking about what they are going to say to me today. Will they push me into the wall and steal my money? Will they call me something stupid again? Now seeing the red bike, walking past it, like always. Now knowing the world is going to end. The way to school almost felt like two hours of walking, even though it only took ten minutes. I hate when they just walk past me, without saying anything. It feels like, I don’t exist. Like they can’t see me. I am nothing…

Walking through the door, into the school, but everyone just walked straight past me. I entered the class and heard someone say, “New seats”.

I woke up from my dreams. Looking confused around the classroom. It was almost lunch time.

In the second I walked through the door, two boys stood outside the classroom, waiting for me to go out. They pulled me outside.

“Give me your money!” demanded Cooper.

“I..I.. I don’t have any money. You took all of it yesterday.”

“You must have some,” said Tyler. He put his hand in my pocket and subsequently pulled out fifty cents.

“Hey! That’s my money, I have to use it for the bus ticket home.

But they just ran away, so I tiredly had to walk all the way home.

Tripping over a stone, looking up and there were Cooper and Tyler. Next to them, was Skyler and she was talking to them. They were standing just where I had to walk past them. What if they say something to me? But I didn’t have a choice, that is the only way home. Reluctantly, getting closer and closer until, finally, I stood just in front of them. My only target was to get home, so I tried to avoid looking at them. But, in the second I walked past them, I felt something pulling my shoulder backwards. Was it Tyler? Cooper? Who was it? Hearing a voice, I turned around and looked up to see Tyler. He was much taller and stronger than me.

“What are you doing here?”

I kept looking down, trying to avoid any eye contact with him.

“Are you going to say anything to me?”

“Um.. Um.. I am on my way home,” I stuttered.

“So, you are on your way home?”

“Yes,” I agreed nervously.

He did not say anything else to me.

Walking faster and faster, my heart started beating faster and faster. The fear of being hurt was screaming in my thoughts.

I woke up the next day, confused, laying in my bed and looking at my arm. It was full of bruises.

My mom was cooking my breakfast. She just looked at me but said nothing - our normal

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breakfast routine. We really need another boy in the house, it was always so boring. I kept wondering why my dad never came back but my mother didn't want me to talk about it.

I ate my breakfast slowly, like it was my final meal. Putting on my coat and my shoes, and not forgetting to bring some money, I walked out of the front door, with my very heavy bag on my back.

On my way to school, my mind was full of one person. When was she ever going to like me? I was nothing compared to her. She could find someone much better, than me. I am only good for nothing. I had walked for a good amount of time, but then I saw... Cooper and Tyler.

Were they going to hurt me? This was not going to be a bad day. I was tired of this. It had to end. Not a single person was going to hurt me. Not this time. Not ever.

Entering the school, I was late for class. As expected, they were all staring at me. The time went past as quick as a lightning flash, and it was the end of the day. I turned over a new leaf.

Feeling something special would happen on this day, and my imagination became real. I can’t believe this happened... she smiled at me...

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BUT THEN I SAW… – CAMERON KIRSCH Based on the FNaF series and “Silver Eyes” by Scott Cawthon.

The young man was sneaking down the corridor as the rain hammered against the windows and thunder shook the old restaurant. He was holding his flashlight out in front of him as if it was a weapon, with cold sweat on his palms, slowly losing the grip.

Click.

The noise came from the kitchen.

Click.

Carefully the young man peeks into the kitchen and scans the room with his torch.

Click.

Behind him. The sound of metal hitting stone.

Crash.

This time from the kitchen. Where was it?

Suddenly, a low creaking noise of rusty metal slowly grinding against each other.

Click.

In the middle of the kitchen a pair of cold, blue eyes staring directly at him studying him with predatory accuracy.

The creaking started again. Now he noticed that the creature was getting ready to pounce and he took off running towards the exit.

The sound of heavy footsteps fading behind him. He’s almost there but then he hears a loud, metallic clank as the vent shafts above him started showing dents. Stunned, he stops and looks up as the monster was creating deep dents in the aluminium.

Bang.

The metal breaks as the monster gracefully landed in front of him. Too paralyzed to move the monster stepped into the shaking light of the young man’s torch. The creature was about 9 feet tall with grey, matted fur. The joints showing small parts of machinery responsible for its movement. With a hideous screech it strolled forward. Every step, a low thunk then.

Click.

The eyelids snapped open revealing the same eyes he had seen in the kitchen. Blue irises painted on a white stained glass ball emitting a cold, deadly glow.

Only now he realised that the creature has stopped and raised one of its arms revealing a five-toed paw which reminded him of a mouse or a rat.

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With the sound of two knives sliding against each other, serrated claws protruded from the otherwise soft paws, it raised its arm and the last thing that the young man saw was the silver flash of claws driving straight towards his chest.

______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ____________ COLIN! Yes? Did you go to the job yet?

No. Then do it!

Fine, mom.

Blog it or something Ok, mom. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ____________ Hey guys, I’m in trouble. I need a job in my local area (check my profile) but I don’t know what or where I should start!

Could you guys please help me? My parents are threatening to kick me out and I need to be able to pay for at least an apartment.

Any suggestions? Please post below or message me.

BurgerBOI3 writes: Hey, I have a friend who owns a restaurant and needs a night guard.

Contact me if you’re interested.

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Colin was walking down the dark alleyway next to the restaurant. The smell of rotting pizza remains burning in his lungs. The dark door, almost completely camouflaged in the wall stood slightly open.

He crept up to the door and tentatively pushed the door open with a gut wrenching screech.

The small room beyond the room reminded him of a storage closet with another door at the opposite side of the room.

It was too dark to make out many details so Colin took out his phone and used the glum light of the screen to see ahead of him.

The young man was sneaking down the corridor as the rain hammered against the windows and thunder shook the old restaurant. He was holding his flashlight out in front of him as if it was a weapon, with cold sweat on his palms, slowly losing the grip.

Click.

The noise came from the kitchen.

Click.

Carefully the young man peeks into the kitchen and scans the room with his torch.

Click.

Behind him. The sound of metal hitting stone.

Crash.

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SILENT TREE – SIWON LEE Inspired and dedicated to Pierce the Veil - Hold on Till May Uncomfortable, I squirmed and struggled in the car seat, scrunching fabric underneath me. The seat belt scratched and prodded around my neck, dug into my hollow and starved stomach and strapped me into a distressing car ride with my neglectful parents.

“Mummy! It’s hurting me!” I cried.

I was greeted with a “Shh” and a glare through the rearview mirror.

I’m four and small; I’m no match against the tight binding of a seatbelt.

“Mummy!” I cried over and over again. With each cry, my cracked voice grew more and more whiny. A mix of desperation and urgency swallowed me, washing out my thoughts.

All I could think now was the need to grab a hold of my mum’s attention. One last time?

Nothing.

Absolute silence. I could hear the silence, ringing in my ears; demanding for me to acknowledge its presence. So I did. I knew how the silence felt. Desperate. Desperate to be noticed just like I was desperate to be noticed by my own parents. I screamed out inside. I screamed until my lungs hollowed and the misery and sorrow was drowned in the screams. I became friends with the silence. I screamed with silence. Together, we shared the pain of being ignored and despised.

We shared the silence.

Suddenly, the car screeched to a stop.

“We’re home.” She said bluntly and stepped out, slamming the door. I struggled to undo the seatbelt and trip out into the warm atmosphere. Somewhere in front of me, the back door smashed shut but laughter and chatter erupted from inside the house. I could barely recognize the voices of my parents. They were happy, talking and enjoying themselves.

I walked towards the house, dragging my feet. The closer I got to the house, the louder the voices grew as if warding me away with their deafening, self-produced, machinery.

Suddenly, the house seemed darker and bigger. It was as if it would eat and digest me into a pit of loneliness. I am forever chained to this house with no doors. Is it a cry for attention if I was kidnapped by silence?

I spotted a tree, growing in the hidden in the depths of a shade alone, like it needed someone to talk to. The tree was located beside the train tracks only fifty meters away.

Sometimes the trains would drown the world under their racketing commotion. With scratches blossoming from my flesh and my bones setting on fire, I climbed the tree until I was seated at a high and hanging branch. I sat there with tears mixed with sorrow dripping down my cheeks for hours until the sun went down and I ended up on the ground.

For eleven years, I sat there in silence, waiting to see if my parents would search for me.

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Fifteen. I was now in high school. I had grown more mature to understand the actions of human nature. To analyse and evaluate the emotions and to accept the personalities of others. But this mistreatment wasn’t even close to the acts of human nature. It was abuse.

And to me, it was more physical harm than mental as I felt an iron spear piercing my cavernous chest every time laughter blossomed amongst my parents. A distraction from all this neglect was school. School was a place of education, learning and socializing. But a shadow cast through my opinion of school. It’s a road, split into two and pushed down by the sky of pure pressure until the pavement cracked. It rained papers and tests weekly and the sun scorched my skin with the glares from spectators in hallways. Sometimes, there were hailstorms of rumpled paper pitched at me, followed by the unpleasant blow of laughter that swept through me like wind and knocked my papers and books into a heap on the floor.

Slamming my window, I slumped onto the bed. I had completely forgotten my keys and my parents had completely forgotten that they were responsible for a child. Hours before I had tumbled into my room through the window like some oversized, unwanted moth; I had been overtaking a tree next to my bedroom window. Now, beaten and scratched from the encounter, I was just glad to have all my body parts stuck flimsily to me. A physics, creative writing and algebra test was crashing down on me, getting ready to crush me tomorrow.

This was it! I felt the pressure snap the last string connecting me to sanity as I ran downstairs. The sun was melting into an oozing mess of orange as I climbed the tree beside the train tracks. After an hour, the familiar noise of metal wheels grinding on the rusty train tracks serenaded my ears. The rattle of the train shook the window frames causing a deep vibrating sensation through my bones. I screamed all the silence that I had repressed for eleven years over the sound of the train.

It was a beautiful harmony.

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HOUSE 401 – ELLEEN KIM Everyone has a weakness-but I had two: Everything she [Said.]

And everything she [Did.] She told me that dreams come true, but she forgot to tell me that nightmares are dreams too.

She was the defined form of everything that was wrong with this world. A murderer, a psychopath. But I loved her. I still loved her. She came as everything I’ve ever wished for. Fire in my chest; flames in her eyes.

I lacked certain necessary qualities, like the ability to behave myself. Perhaps, that’s the main reason why I’m the madman in the village. What happened to me was monstrous, and that in turn, created a monster.

I think it’s all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it gets. ‘Cause any game gets boring when it lacks thrills.

But do I still care?

No, Not really.

I would much rather just… enjoy a cup of Earl Grey tea on an afternoon like this. You can always count on a bit of oolong and bergamot to lighten up the start of your day. Under certain circumstances, there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. (Not to reference Henry James.)

And here I am, finding myself in the same place in the same position as always. The delicate teacup in one hand, the other on the sill of my window. Gazing out into the place that they called a village as if I was in a soppy old movie. I’ve always wondered, who structured this tiny village? Why is my house in the middle of this circle of houses? But again, do I care?

Ah, and there she is. Little Miss Samantha from house 401 in the front, in her same ol’ gown as every other day, except today, I see a bit of spice added onto it. Streams of blood as red as her hair dripping down from her head to her bare, shaking toes. Much like the prom scene in Carrie.

But I knew.

I can see she’s in desperate need of help.

Hm? Silly girl. Shivering her way to Mr. Bisthander. I know you know he’s not gonna help you in the slightest.

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Mr. Bisthander, the lonely old, Russian man living alone in house 501. The definition of “Doesn’t give a damn” at its finest. Most definitely the Marie Antoinette in this town. “Let them eat cake!” A bit dumb, if I should say.

But I knew.

I bet you 10 U.S dollars that he’s not gonna help her. Believe me, I once made a profit by the age of 10 just by setting up bets with my so called “friends”. You see, Mr. Bisthander’s the type of person who, in any situation, thinks he’s too good to give his care towards anything. If a house set on fire in front of his eyes, that would be the most perfunctory ‘nix!’ you have ever heard.

Cable not being available in this part of town, I’ve always thought of Mr. Bisthander and his flowers as my television. It seemed that his flowers on his blue porch represented his dignity and self-respect from his noticeable expressions whenever he found that his flowers had withered. Quite the amusing one, he is.

Look at him, carrying his tubby dumpy body into his house, forgetting about his flowers as soon as he spots Samantha, frightened by her appearance. What did I tell you? And what were you expecting? Mr. Bisthander will always be a bystander.

Now who will be the next victim of this rejected, helpless female? Mrs. Scarlett?

Hmm…Not the best choice, but still better than Mr. Bisthander.

Mrs. Scarlett, the wife of the newlywed couple and mother to a newborn daughter living in house 601. Red hair green eyes, originally from the UK. Described with one word: pulchritudinous. Let's see, Samantha. Will you receive the help you seek this time?

With Samantha’s blood staining her white porch, I can see her suspiciously eyeing the girl. But of course, like any other mother holding her infant, a nice act appears. “Oh mah dahling, what happened to you?” I think that’s what she said. I’m not sure, I’m not the best mouth reader. Not to mention that they look tiny from up here.

A quick one, she is. Coming up with an excuse on the spot. “I’m afraid I can’t help you. I have to catch a flight in five minutes.” I know the truth. She doesn’t want blood stains on her white carpet. Women these days. Better luck next time, Samantha.

But I knew.

Little children. How do I start to even explain the children in this neighbourhood. Let’s start with the representatives. Little Virginia, Patsy and Gavin skip-roping on the road gaily. Just a group of untainted, innocent new souls on this strange planet. I can’t wait until they experience the real execrable world.

Wow, Samantha. First success you’ve encountered today. The children are pitying you.

They’re most likely unaware of the fact that that is blood on her body. Not ketchup that their mothers desperately squeeze out from the dry tube onto their scrambled eggs every morning. But they’re 9- years old. What good could they be?

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But I knew.

Mrs. Heller comes to the rescue! Her wrinkly hand ushering the children home as she starts to examine Samantha. She offers her a hug, which he happily accepts, letting their hearts warmly touch each other’s. “I’ll help you, so don’t worry my dear.”

But I knew.

My eyes follow the two figures as they walk into Mrs. Heller’s cozy home, and I can make out Samantha’s figure through her kitchen window with Mrs. Heller’s back towards her.

But then I saw Samantha’s hand creeping towards the counter. Hey, Mrs. Heller, where did your kitchen knife go?

But I knew that the crimson substance that she was drenched in, was not hers.

Explanation: Believe it or not, this story is a symbolic form of the political acts during present time. Our main protagonist and narrator, Dimaano (meaning: untouchable) stands as a God-like figure living in the center of this circular shaped village. The character that he follows through the story, Samantha, represents the United States (United States: often referred to as Uncle Sam=Samantha). The first encounter was with Mr. Bisthander living in house 501, close to Samantha’s home. The name “Mr. Bisthander” was obviously a play on words for ‘bystander’ and can be a representation of countries such as Russia, who don’t necessarily care about the events happening in the U.S, unless it involves their own country. The next victim was Mrs. Scarlett (name referenced from character ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ from “Gone With the Wind”: portrays a narcissistic persona) who can be a representation of countries such as the U.K, who are in good terms with the U.S, however only for their own benefit. The third victim was the group of children: Patsy (meaning: taken advantage of), Virginia (meaning: not experienced/uneducated), and Gavin (meaning: pure). They may be countries such as Africa, who, like the U.K are in good terms with the U.S but may be taken advantage of and be used by the U.S for the U.S’ own needs. The next and final victim was Mrs. Heller (meaning: enlightened) . At the final moments of this story, she is exposed to the true identity of Samantha, who is a commonly referred to as “a psychopathic killer” who pretends to be a victim, just to manipulate others, much like the privilege that the U.S has as one of the most powerful countries, being able to use other countries to help themselves develop their own country further.

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MONSTERS – GYUEUN CHOI It was my position to take care of my family. It was my job to not lose them. It was a position which I could not achieve. I had failed. * * * Everything looked dreary; the clouds and the sky were darker than ever before. I was forced to be optimistic as my mother had always assisted me to behave so, even with the golden star patched on my jacket.

My mother and my little sister Sharon lingered behind me as we stepped onto the cold, loaded train. Everyone was so desperate for a seat. Their hard, emotionless faces made the atmosphere lifeless. We managed to find a seat for 3, and we deliberately put our suitcases below our feet. The tracks started to move and I stared out the window and began to tune out on the chaos going around me.

“Nathanael?”

“Nathanael, are you listening?”

“Nathanael Benson!”

Suddenly, out of the swarming area in the train, a thundering blast created shrill shivers across the whole inside of the train. I anxiously peered around to see the doors creaking open as a tsunami of people began to slide out of the train like pouring lava.

“Mama! Mama! Sharon! Where are you?” I howled searching through the packed crowds. Don’t lose them. Don’t lose them. Nathanael Benson, don’t lose them…

I had lost them.

It was hopeless. I had lost my only job. My stomach sank as I slumped down to my knees.

“Hey! You! Get out!” a fearful shadow appeared slowly as I lifted my head up. A man lifted his hand up, aiming a gun towards me. The arm on my arm stood up as I shivered in terror.

“S..so…sorry sir, I’m just looking for my mother, have you seen her? Yes, and my sister sir, Sharon, h…ha…have you seen her sir?” I questioned anxiously for hope.

“GET.OUT.” The man demanded without a blink. And there, the last string of hope was gone. Everything. Gone.

Cold streets. Cold faces. Cold air. The roads of this new place were old and cracked. I slumped down on the stone bricks as I cuddled up to warm myself up. I could 87 | P a g e

see the green uniformed soldiers walking in straight lines, ready to catch their prey at any time.

But then I saw them. The monsters.

The monsters in green uniforms walking straight towards me.

SEEN – JIAH CHOE “But. But then I saw…”

The guards crammed their faces into my view, anxious and curious. What had I seen?

“But then…”

I stopped. And I remembered. *************************************************************************** I remembered, all of it. All of what made me, me. All of what my days were about. All of what was inside of me.

I remembered…

I remembered NOT to tell them! ************************************************************************************* “What did you see?” the tallest guard that stood in the middle like the leader demanded, staring straight through my soul, as if all I was...was transparent. *********************************************************************************** “No matter WHAT you do, do NOT tell them what we did.”

The memory of mom’s stern and determined eyes pierced into my eyes. The memory of mom… Of my parents hustling to bring their Jewish friends into our house… ********************************************************************************* “I... I saw… nothing.”

My heart started to ache from lying, but relief washed over it, burying it somewhere far away, deep down in my complicated soul.

“You. Saw... Nothing?” the guard in the far right spat, his last word slashing through me, as his ice cold breath brushed my pale face. The angular, bloody red mark of the Nazis gleamed from his right arm.

“C’mon let’s go on. Don’t waste your time on him. He’s just a little child. Probably doesn’t even know anything.” the guard next to him said, looking down at me with his glimmering, green eyes.

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Arnold.

The first guard scoffed at him, nudging him as if he had said something really stupid.

“This boy? Little? Is that what matters right now? Little or not, this thing is telling us what he knows, and he is telling us now. This child is a child of a devil.”

There was a sudden pause. A devastatingly silent pause. Nobody said anything.

Nobody even bothered to make a tiny sound.

“How about you draw what you saw?” One of the guards asked, finally breaking the silence and handing me a paper and crooked pencil full of teeth marks.

“I... didn’t see anything though...” I said so quietly, the sound of the rats crawling on the floor seemed to top over my voice.

The guards started tapping their feet, and more and more glares came at me.

“No? You haven’t seen anything? You haven’t seen… THIS???!!!” the first guard slammed a star with six different sides that looked like two triangles put together.

I gasped. It was the star. It was that star. **************************************************************************************************** ** “This is too dangerous. Are you really sure about this?” The memory of my parents whispering in their bedroom came to my head.

That had been the last time I’d seen them.

“But they are our friends. This is the most we can do. We have to do--” **************************************************************************************************** “WE GOT ANOTHER!” Said a voice as booming echoes filled the room, taking away my memory.

I quickly turned around toward the booming echoes and noise to immediately regret it.

There, I saw Mrs. and Mr. Cohen with their son Tommy dangling helplessly from the guard’s grip. There were stained tears across Mrs. Cohen’s face, glistening so beautifully in the light. The jolly face of Tommy Cohen was covered, darkened, shadowed. He was no Tommy. He was not the boy that always made jokes at school.

Not the boy that liked skateboarding. He was someone else. Someone who saw things no one could even imagine. Someone different. Our eyes locked, and my heart ached just from looking into his eyes. I closed my eyes and turned away, trying to stop them from stinging. ***************************************************************************************

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“We know you have one. We know you have a Jew.” The word Jew hissed over me so coldly, so painfully.

The guard’s yellow teeth glistened, his breath smelling like rotten food.

“No. We do not.” I straightened my back and tried to sound as strong as I could, though my voice trembled as if the world was ending.

Maybe it was.

The guard slammed his fist onto the wooden table in front of him, making everyone jump, even the unconscious Cohens.

A different guard then approached me, grabbed me by the wrist, and pulled me to the back of the basement. Arnold. My neighbour Arnold.

“I saved you once. Now tell me. What do you know.” The words hissed out through his teeth.

His words were firm and strict, however his eyes exposed his fear. He started to study my face.

“You know the Cohens, don’t you? You hid Jews in your house, didn’t you?” He started out calmly.

Rapid footsteps rummaged in my brain as they came to a live memory. Those footsteps were coming from the attic of my house, the sound I heard as a daily routine as the guards approached our house. I remembered the tense and nervous feeling I had as they inspected every single little bit of our house and catch anything that they did not agree with. The memory of the bursts of crying as soon as the guards had left was terrorising and haunting. ************************************************************************************ They’ve got my mom. They’ve got my dad. ************************************************************************************ “Th-The Cohens? Never heard of that name before.” I said.

But any sensible person could see that I was lying.

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REINCARNATION – SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN The laughter of a child wakes me. The rug underneath me warms up my skin as a curl up into a ball, and try to get back to sleep. As an unfamiliar sense touches my back, I decide to sit up.

Something was strange. The same old house, the same old place, the place I call home. But something, something, was different.

My head.... Really... Hurts...

As I crawled up against the rug, my prickly leg hair spikes my other leg, and I twitch aggressively.

My head. Really. Hurts.

Why am I so lazy? What am I doing with my life?

The screech of the television sparks my ears, as the light carries me upwards.

The strong scent of pizza pulls me across the room, and half asleep, I start nibbling on the pizza.

Thomp… Thomp… Thomp…

“HEY!”

I squeal as I sprint back into my bed- or should I say, a rug.

THOMP, THOMP THOMP! A tall, unknown girl chases me down as try to stay out of sight.

“Who is that? She’s extremely tall!” I thought to myself, as I curled up into a ball and tried to go back to my favourite place of all-dreamland.

“COME BACK HERE NOW!” 91 | P a g e

“Ugh! This annoying lady!” I think to myself, as I reassure my dominant presence of my bed.

I feel a hand touch my belly “GET OFF ME!” “DON’T BARK AT ME LIKE THAT YOUNG MAN!” I run around the room like a headless chicken.

THOMP THOMP THOMP THOMP THOMP! I sprint past television ZOOOOOM I hurdle the cupboard CLANG I knock down a cup as I do so “Whoops” I think to myself as Usain Bolt past all these giant objects As I accelerate past, the water spills from the cup spills, causing the giant lady to slide across the room.

WHOOOOOOSHH YES! I DID IT! I’M KILLING I… BANG I ricochet off a long hanging sofa, as it feels I’m hanging in the air for a good hour.

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“Wow really got to pay attenti...”

But then, I saw Two big ears 1 black nose Whiskers My heart skips a beat.

The view I see astonishes me.

Is that me?

Is that me?

Am I hallucinating?

No. This can’t be.

Woof.

Woof.

Woof.

I’m a dog.

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FIRST SENSE. FIRST LOVE – PAULINA LEE I knew I shouldn’t have talked to her. Why was I so stupid? I fell for her words so easily like opening a bag of chips. Now I’m here, at the edge, crying and yelling my last breath…

It all started and ended with her.

Selena. *

*

*

It’s February 14th, the worst day of all. Valentine’s day. It’s such a meaningless day that I think should NOT exist. Honestly, what is the point of Valentine’s Day? It just reminds you that you have a boyfriend or girlfriend and if you don’t, well that just sucks for you. It can be a day of jubilation or a day of remorse. I may as well just go get some chocolate. When else would I have a reason to go out? I look for my sunglasses and I wear these so people don’t judge me. I usually take my stick but today I don’t need it since I’m taking my Guide dog.

Target is only 5 minutes away from my house so I can manage to walk there myself. My guide dog, Max, has been my best pal since I was 10 years old. He is the one who keeps me alive.

When I get to Target, I am stopped by a staff member, since I have a ginormous dog walking in.

I tell him that he is my guide dog and that he has a license. I open my fanny bag, very carefully and take out the license touching every space in my bag until I feel something hard. I show him and he approves. When I ask him where the chocolate is, he takes me there and leaves.

As I try to feel the heart shaped chocolate boxes (those are my favorite), I hear a voice, talking to me.

“Looking for a chocolate for your girlfriend?” She asked.

“No, just looking for one for my own while I think about how stupid Valentine’s day is,” I answered, sarcastically.

She introduces herself.

“My name is Selena. I work for a special agent at the police department. Oh who is this little cutie?” she said as she petted Max. Standing there shocked, I thought that it couldn’t harm her if I introduced myself to her as well, so I did.

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“My name is Zander. I can’t see… and Max is my guide dog. ” I said, not knowing where she was standing.

As I expected, there was a gap of silence, and this is why I HATE talking to people. They never see it coming. They don’t realize that there are people in this world who weren’t as lucky. I walk away with empty hands. I hear her following me, step by step, I feel her every breath, her heart, her hands on mine. I stop, she stops.

I was triggered. “I DON’T WANT YOUR HELP!” I yell. As I walk away stomping, I collapse, without a warning. All I hear is Max barking and barking as loud as he can but no one helps. I feel dizzy and lost and then BOOM; I was out.

Everything was dark. I could feel it. Chills came down my spine and when I tried to escape, that’s when I realized that I was tied. My feet, hands even my waist. I froze. Who could do this to me? Then it hit me. The girl. She was the only one who actually knew me. Who I talked to last.

The one person I actually thought that would accept me. She betrayed me, BIG time.

I had to get out of this nauseating, scandalous and intoxicating place. Whilst I was thinking about it, I felt the wind breeze gliding over my face. I smelt the wet soil. I was outside. Starting to panic, I desperately call for help and think about how I can leave here. Having all these negative thoughts flowing in my head, distracted me from reality; I felt a sudden violent kick on my shin.

“Get Up” she yells, untying my ropes with her pocket knife, impatiently.

As I slowly stand up with my shaking legs, she yells again.

“Hurry up!” “ How could you do this to me? What did I ever do to YOU?!” I wailed.

“You did nothing. That’s the point. That’s the reason” she replied calmly.

With her mighty arms, she brutally guides me to the end of the cliff. I yell, I kick, I pull but it’s pointless. The fierce wind made me even more feeble as it hit drenched body. My legs now hanging off the cliff. All the flashbacks of my useless life just hits me as I feel she let go of me.

But then I saw her in my past, as I fall into the darkness ...

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THE THIEF – EDWARD SHIN Dedicated to My brain, My hands and my Laptop. Without you guys, I wouldn’t have been able to think and type.

Did you ever see your life flash before your very eyes? Did you ever have an ordinary day when suddenly your life was turned upside down. Did you ever wish that you could press the reboot button? This was me, a 17 years old high schooler who had a perfect grade, handsome AND popular. But then it all changed in a gruesome instant...

BANG The sound of gun shots, the smell of gunpowder was everywhere. My school was currently under attack by terrorists. I was hiding in my unbelievably messy locker. Just by standing still I could smell the stingy small my sweat socks made.

BANG It was obvious. My friends and classmates were dying from the gun… I couldn’t just stand still so I quickly ran out of my locker. During the time, I felt so brave, possible stupid. That moment was the moment I made the worst mistake of my life.

BANG I died...

I knew I was dead… I was certain… but why was it that I could move… was I alive? No I was certain I got shot…

As I opened my eyes, I saw a beautiful room which was filed with glistening moonlight that danced off the roof and exploded on the walls. It was almost like I saw heaven right before my eyes. I looked around the room, stunned and amazed at the beauty of the room.

But then I saw HIM. The one man that changed my life…

All my life I have thought phenomena such as resurrection were impossible.

However according to his word he was able to resurrect people who have died.

“Do you want to live again?” he asked with a monotonous voice.

I didn’t know how to answer this.

“I will resurrect you to a world. However, in this world you will be the opposite of you, currently” A few minutes later…

As soon as I woke up, I heard sirens everywhere and I was holding a heavy sack. Also I was running from the bank. What was happening? All I knew was that I was wearing a black balaclava and was running as fast as possible away from the bank!

I knew I had to run. I ran and ran as fast as possible

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Was I robbing? I felt different from my original body. Did this mean that I was actually resurrected to a different world? What was in the sack? There were so many mysteries that I didn’t know.

As soon as I got away, I checked the sack. I expected money but there were… pens?

Did I think of this? Because if I did… I was a genius! Why steal money when you can steal pens! No one would expect us to steal pens from the bank! Obviously pens were more expensive than paper!

At this moment, I didn’t know what was happening. However, all I knew was that I was a genius who robbed a bank.

With instincts, I drove to into a gloomy, bleak, dark and forest. As I drove deeper in this forest, I found an adorable house. The house glistened with radiant colours. All the dazzling light pointed at towards the house. I just couldn’t resist the urge to go into this appealing house. When I walked in the house was surprisingly empty.

Next day…

This world was actually really beautiful. There were trees growing everywhere. Houses made of bricks scattered around the trees. Outdoor shops were filled with people as the owner sells fresh fruits, ripe and ready to eat. The sky was clear blue with clouds that look like the clouds you see in a three-year old’s painting. It was a picture perfect world…

I had the urge to destroy it with my genius plans.

I was tremendously jealous towards this world. These people were so lucky. The world that I was living in was polluted, terror was happening, it was the worst. I wanted these people to feel as though I felt.

My plan was to kill the president that controlled this world.

I have come up with a brilliant idea that would finish off the government. This was the plan: At 5:23 exactly the rulers of this world will come to the restaurant, le pobre, before 15 minutes, 5:08, I will put acid called citric - that I brought from the convenient storeand put it in the food.

Citric acid. An acid that existed in dangerous substance that existed in my world too.

Ever since I was a kid, I stayed away from this acid. When people in restaurants attempted to kill me with this lethal substance, I always avoided this, with my genius mind!

I was fully prepared for this. My greatest crime yet… I was so thrilled!

As soon as I arrived I told the chef that I worked for the family that was going to come here (wearing a butler costume). I told them that they needed at least a spoon of this ingredient (the acid). Since I was so well dressed they listened and put the acid in. Right after that I left with joy. I first ever plan was an easy success Back at the restaurant…

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“Chef! The food is way to sour! I heard you guys were good cooks!” Yelled a man furiously.

“What do you mean! Your butler told me to but in citric acid in!” Answer the chef “What my butler is in the car!”

Week later...

“President smith was found dead due to his allergic reaction to citric acid. The suspect for this crime is suspected to be a man who robbed pens from the bank a few days ago.”

(Its turns out that the president was allergic to citric acid…)

This was the moment I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I was on television for a crime!

As time passed on, the police continuously searched for me. I couldn't do much to hide. Eventually, I was caught by the police. This was expected from the start; I was fully prepared to go to jail. But then…

“WE HAVE FOUND OUR HERO!” The funny thing was that he was actually evil… and unwillingly I became the hero of this world.

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TIMER – ANDREW OH A middle aged man trudged up the sidewalk, weary. He looked up at the house he stood in front of a house, vacuously staring at the lights beaming through the window.

After a moment, he walked up the stairs to the house; after a moment, he grabbed the doorknob; after a moment, slowly opening the door. As Daniel entered the house, he was astounded by the smell of food.

“Hey honey, I’m back from work.” he murmured drowsily.

“How was your day?” a shout came from a place in front.

“Great…” he mumbled.

It was the day… The day, a test, which Daniel had to do his presentation for the promotion. It. Was. Horrible. He slurred and stuttered his words throughout the presentation. With all the curious eyes glancing and staring at his inadequate performance. Daniel’s day, in fact, had been terrible. Disastrous, morelike.

“Honey, the spaghetti is almost done. Why don’t you change your clothes?”

Without words to prance out of his chapped lips, without looking at his own wife, he nodded. With a creak, he opened the bedroom door and entered as the shadows awaited his arrival.

---------As Daniel disappeared out of view, Rachel timidly waited if he were to come out again.

Seeing as he didn’t, she rushed to their tv and in the most subtle place of all, lay a box.

To be precise, a rectangular prism with two wires on it and a screen. It was most peculiar of things, as this morning was the first time Rachel had ever seen this object.

Below the screen were four buttons. All the same shape, colour and size; no labels were posted to identify what each button did. And the screen, showed the numbers 6:40. This number changed every second, decreasing by one. However, this little box had a special feature. The first person to touch this object could not leave the vicinity.

Accurately, they could only stay eight metres within the circumference of the object.

6:39 6:38 A time bomb.

6:37 6 minutes and 36 seconds left, and there was nothing Rachel could do about it. She reached out with her trembling hands to grab the box, to try and find a way to defuse it, but nothing. Able to do nothing but stare, she was mentally breaking down. “What have I done? What will he think of me? Why us?” These questions rushing into her unstable mind, Rachel’s hands were quivering, beads of sweat rushing down her face, her forehead heating up.

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5:40 Already five minutes left. Rachel swore it had been only fifteen seconds, but as soon as she heard the door to the bedroom open, she hurried to the sofa. He must not know, he must not know, I must act normal was that was going through Rachel’s head at the moment, not realizing she had left the bomb beside the tv.

---------Daniel came out of the room with his pajamas on, slippers on his feet, and not looking up. He made his way to the sofa in front of the tv, finding his wife already there. She looked normal, besides the fact that her eyes were unusually large and there were beads of sweat dripping from her face. He sat down next to her, held her hand, and closed his eyes. It could be worse.

Still with his eyes closed, he asked “Is the spaghetti done?”

“Ye-yes…”

Finally opening his eyes, Daniel looked for the clock. The thing that came to view however was the bomb.

4:39 4:39, that’s awfully early for the day.

But then he saw…

4:38 What kind of clock goes backwards?

“Rachel, what is that?” Daniel asked pointing to the bomb that she had left beside the tv.

---------Do I tell him?

4:29 No, I shouldn’t. Best to get him out of here “Oh, it’s-it’s just my timer for the uh, the spaghetti.” Rachel was feeling extremely warm all of a sudden. She was sweating all over, hands trembling and was unable the control her voice. Did I blow it?

“But you said it was done...right?”

“Yes, yes, it’s done. I forgot. That’s my timer for when my favourite tv show starts. Yes, that’s it.”

3:49 “Daniel, can you go to the bank quickly, I mean supermarket, we seem to be out of spinach and cheese.

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---------Daniel couldn’t take it anymore. His wife was perfectly fine the moment he came in, but after he came out of the bedroom, she was acting weird. She was sweating when sitting on the sofa, and it was only 19 degrees Celsius outside. She had forgotten that the spaghetti was ready and that her favourite tv channel started in two hours, not four minutes.

“Rachel, what’s wrong with you? Do you want to know what I’ve been through? I failed my presentation today for my promotion and while I was walking home, I thought, MY wife will help me and be there to cheer me up. But no. You’re acting very suspicious today. You’re sweating for no reason when it’s perfectly fine weather; you’re trembling all over when you don’t have a cold; you can’t even speak perfectly; AND you don’t even remember when you’re favourite tv show starts. Which you rarely forget. Sure. I’ll go to the supermarket, but I expect a reasonable answer to how you’re behaving right now.”

Daniel stormed off, quickly changing his pants and putting on a jacket. In a few moments, he was out of the house and Rachel could hear the hum of his car starting.

Then there was silence.

0:57 ---------Rachel sat there on the sofa quietly, not moving a muscle. Staring at the numbers on the box going down, a tear appeared on her face. And another, and another, until she couldn’t hold it in. What have I done?

The eerie silence that was left when Daniel had stormed out of the house was broken

by Rachel’s crying. All she could do was sit there, regretting all the times they had fought for stupid reasons, and Daniel was the person who always apologized.

0:21 Now Rachel started to wipe away her tears and compose herself. If these were the last moments of her life, they were to be spent acting strong, not being weak and petty.

Goodbye Daniel. Stay strong and healthy.

0:04 0:03 0:02 I’m sorry...

0:01 0:00 101 | P a g e

A STRONG SHELL; A FRAGILE HEART – AHYOUNG SEO Slightly tilting her head to the side with confusion, she went down the corridor with the slightest thoughts of fear growing inside her. She kept persuading herself that everything would be fine.

But then she saw…

Her entire family dropped dead on the ground, lifeless. ******************************** Humming, Rachel gracefully glided down the hallway as her golden blonde hair waved through the atmosphere and her deep sea blue eyes were shining like pearls on a crystallized beach.

Envying the flawless girl, everyone carefully eyed her trying not to catch her precious attention.

After all, she was the infamous ‘Ice Queen’; she was always emotionless and never had any friends because she never needed one. Was there one word to describe her?

Flawless.

While everyone else was looking up at her as if she was a goddess, there was one pair of eyes burning with hatred, disgust and derision. Filling up with anger. Kana was the one and only girl in the school, that hated her so much; nothing could be compared with her passion for hatred.

Why did she hate her so much?

Many reasons. For starters, Rachel was extremely clever and her looks were amazing too; she was just inhuman. Unfortunately, she was always in Rachel’s shadows - this girl always had the upper hand. Every time she attempted to do something, she would always be covered by this certain girl. Kana’s disgust for her only grew bigger and more passionate...

CLICK, CLICK, CLICK. Unexpectedly, the sound of sharp heels echoed through the area and that’s when the crowd knew she was coming…

Their savior, Their queen, Their leader - Rachel.

As Rachel settled down, she examined Kana with her empty blue eyes and acknowledged bloodlust and hostility in her dark eyes.

“WHAT would an elite student want from me huh? Rachel?” Kana mumbled while gritting her teeth. She raised her eyebrow and spat out those colorful words as though they were dripping with venom.

“Nothing, besides, I wouldn’t be here if a certain somebody wasn’t causing a ruckus,” Rachel monotonously spoke with a straight face.

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Unintentionally, Rachel’s arm clawed onto the innocent scholar’s shoulder as she pulled her back up onto her feet. Nonchalantly, she stepped away while a pair of emerald green orbs stared at her back until she was out of sight.

Kana looked as though, if she had the chance, she would actually murder her so that she could hear her cries of horror and pain.

But Annabelle didn’t even see it. ********************************************* Her eyes widened in fear and shock as her glass like fragile body started to shake violently. With a thud, she fell onto her weary knees; she couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed!

No they can’t be dead! They just can’t be!

She just couldn’t get what was going on! How had this happened? She panicked and her mind was tangled up. Nevertheless, that’s not what mattered right now.

Her family was dead.

Dead.

They were no longer with her anymore; they were gone, forever. She hesitantly crawled up to her mom’s freezing, pearl-like white body and held onto her dearly as her memories flooded her. ************************************************* “Mom!” Exclaimed Rachel as she came running into her welcoming mother’s room out of boredom “Yes? My dear?” She calmly replied.

“What happens after you die?” Rachel asked and you could see the pure curiousity in her dazzling sapphire eyes.

“Hmm, let's see… Well, I think that when we die, we head back home and the fragments of our souls will dance across the night sky, entangled with the sea of stars.” Her mother answered with a soft and gentle voice and smile.

“Uh, well I don’t really understand but you’re basically saying that there is an after world right?”

Rachel slightly raised her voice with excitement growing inside her.

“You could say that” She spoke again.

“Really? Yay! Oh, and also, can you promise me one thing?” Rachel politely requested from her mother.

“What is it?” She questioned.

“Can you promise me that you won’t ever leave me?” Rachel spoke as she looked at her mother with adorable pleading eyes.

“Of course I promise my little child,” Her mother said in a very hushed voice with a slight hint of sadness because she already knew that she would have to leave one day.

She just didn’t realise it would be so soon. **************************************************** 103 | P a g e

Unexpectedly, her face felt wet.

What was it?

Tears.

Rachel was crying for the first time in her life and she had a reason to. As her slightly dull eyes were glazed with tears, she screeched at the top of her lungs; she was screaming ‘YOU said you won’t ever leave me! or ‘YOU broke our promise!’ over and over again. Repeatedly, she kept going until her throat and lungs couldn’t take it anymore; they were hoarse and all worn out now.

Now, the large chamber was only filled with nearly soundless sobs.

Soon after, the almighty police had finally arrived at the case. As soon as they located Rachel they tried to get her away from the bodies for inspection. Keyword, tried. Alarming, as soon as their hands came in contact with her, the sound of her cursing and insulting them reached their ears. She started squirming and wiggling violently in their arms as their grip had gotten stronger and tighter around her.

“See! I told you she was crazy!” An oddly familiar voice was heard in the distance.

“Yes, I believe you are correct; I am truly sorry for not believing what you said in the beginning,” Spoke a police officer.

“You should send her to the Psychiatric hospital! She killed her own parents and now she’s refusing to cooperate like a psycho would do!” Kana shouted while she pointed her finger accusingly at Rachel “I understand how you feel however, we should just check her at the hospital beforehand,” The police officer tried to calm Kana’s hostility.

“FINE! But don’t tell me I didn’t warn you later on-,” Kana’s little speech was cut off when Rachel started screaming repeatedly again.

“LET. GO. OF. ME!” Rachel screamed out her lungs as she ripped herself out of the officer’s death grip.

But then she saw Kana’s eyes swirling with victory and vengeance.

That was when she launched herself at Kana while her hands slid and wrapped around her neck like a snake killing its prey. Rachel was mentally and physically ready to deal with the consequences as long as she could have Kana dead. Nevertheless, fate had seemed to hate her while Kana was soon to be out of breathBANG! The miniature bullet ripped through the air heading straight for Rachel’s heart. When it reached and shot her right through the heart, she fell down with a thud. Due to the blood oozing and pouring out of her body, Rachel’s sight became blurry so that she couldn’t even make out what was in front of her. Accepting her destiny, she slowly closed her eyes while even her ears were starting to block out as well. A small smile bloomed on Rachel’s face while she thought of being with her family again, forever. She let out her final breath as her life slipped through her fingers.

There she was lying on the ground falling into slumber while taking a break for eternity.

Little did she know that there was no afterlife… ~End~

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THE WOUNDED PATIENT – NICOLE DE PERALTA

But then I saw…

A gentleman lying unconscious like a log in the bed of the private hospital room. From what I heard, the surgery had been successful; a bullet had been removed. A bullet?

Why did he have a bullet through his left shoulder? And why was he found squirming in the back alley? I know I’m just a cleaning lady, cleaning after people’s bodily fluids. But, why? I’m curious! Who was this man with no name or identity? Surely, he didn’t look like he’s one of our people - was he foreign?

I eventually finished cleaning out the last bug infested ward. Certainly, the mysterious individual should be awake now. Slowly, I crept inside the room. At least now, I could determine if he was alive and well. The silhouette of the fit and broad man on the other side of the pale blue curtain sat there, staring through the sheet. Could he see me? An eerie and frigid breeze swept by me from the spring filled window…

“Excuse me sir, are you well?”

The man didn’t answer. I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place (I was a cleaning lady after all) “Would you like a cup of water?”

No answer.

Could he not hear me? I awkwardly stood there, when suddenly, a raspy voice reached to me.

“Who are you?”

I froze as if a cold, sturdy force wrapped itself around my torso like a spider’s web. I wanted to know who he was but when he finally responded to me, I was incapable to open my mouth and reply.

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“You there. Stop standing there and come close the window; I am shivering from the chilly wind.”

His voice was dry and drained of energy.

“Yes sir, would you like some water?”

I tried to create a conversation so that I could find out more from this silhouette, mysterious man. ************5 Years Later******************* “Hey honey, good morning.” Maria scurried past her husband to wake their three energetic children for school.

“I’m going to drop the kids off and head out-” “Get back home before noon” Jonathan commanded me.

Stopping in my tracks, I furrowed my eyebrows. Studying the posture of my saviour, I noticed that even though my husband’s body towered over the closet door, he seemed to be smaller than the frame.

“Ok, I’ll do so-” “Yes! You will do so. I’m coming home late so don’t cook me dinner…”

He didn’t look at my eyes as he usually would do and he whispered harshly as if he wanted me not to leave.

Something was up…

I observed him like an owl and his neck tensed.

Reassuring myself, I slid past him and through the bedroom door which was ajar.

He’s probably anxious of his job or does he have a surprise for me?

I skipped to my eldest child’s room and slid the curtain open.

“Good morning, it’s time for school” I laid Albert’s uniform down on his clean mattress and moved to the next room while repeating the process another times.

As I did so, images of my husbands darkened face kept flashing into my mind and it reminded me of when I first met him in the gray hospital ward. That mysterious man I met five years ago turned out to be my husband. I can’t live without him.

“Mother?”

I was once an unwanted cleaning lady but now, I live in Washington. Back in India, that was unimaginable and unheard of but Jonathan made my dreams come true!

He held a big roof over my family; he ensured that I went to bed with a full stomach and I would always remain in warmth. However, for that instance, I didn’t feel warmth; my stomach churned as the doubt that my husband was actually a criminal. But I was sure he left that life behind (in India) and he wasn’t even confirmed to be a criminal. But that face scarred me even more! Five years ago, he was found in the back alley of some place with a bullet penetrating through his shoulder…

How can I doubt him? He rescued me out from the grey life that I was living in- he’s not a bad man with an unpleasant past; he just doesn't like talking about himself.

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I moved on into my other son’s room.

“Mother... Mother...”

In my debating head, I concluded that my husband is not a criminal like the other nurses suspected back in the hospital- He’s my hero, my saviour, my Husband and I must respect and never doubt him.

“Mother!” Albert, my eldest son, bellowed.

“Huh?” “Mother, report back to earth! Can I please have the money you planned to give me for my trip?” pleaded Albert.

“Money? Oh yes, I need to go to the bank to get my card exchanged to notes. I promise to give it to you once you return home from school; now go and eat breakfast.”

“I love you mother” “I love you too. Oh and Father’s not coming home for dinner.”

“Why?” “Don’t question it…” **************5 Hours later**************** Click.

The door locked to my husband's home and I ‘click clacked’ towards the car door in my Louis Vuitton heels. My objective for today was to head to the bank and withdraw money for my eldest son’s school trip. I never had school trips, I thought to myself as I strode into the city bank. As expected, there was a long queue and there was no way that the queue would disappear during the middle of the day. After waiting patiently in the line rope, I swam out of the crowd and crashed into the bathroom door. The door closed on me as I tried to push it back open. The crowd on the other side was so huge that they pressed against the door frame causing me to be unable to crack it open.

I felt trapped!

Like the movies where people get themselves stuck in unimaginable places, I felt trapped- in the bathroom…

No one would hear me through the shouting outside. Shouting? Why are people screaming! I leaned into the door and focused on the volume outside.

“Please Sir stop!” Screamed a hysterical high pitched woman.

“SHUT UP!” bellowed a stern voice followed by further wailing. Then the sound of glass shattering to the stone floor brought chills to my neck.

Silence...

Panicking, I naturally, stumbled to the back of the room and hid in the quiet stalls.

Hoping that the less frequent wailing would die out, I built my courage and lurked to the door. Successfully, I forced the door to swing open and I scurried out. Looking around, I 107 | P a g e

saw the other side of the room which would have been impossible when the room was full of people. Where’s everyone else?

Standing in silence, I stiffened; I could probably hear a pin drop a mile away.

Something was up. All the blinds on the windows were yanked down and the counter at the back was darkened as an uninviting heavy duty shutters were lowered.

Is it a robbery? Where’s everyone else? Did the bank close as I was in the restroom?

Where are the staff and the long queues? What?

Questions and theories flooded my mind and I started to become short of breath.

Instinct pushed me to the exit door as I stumbled to reach to the door handle. It was like a gate to freedom. My body weakened as I took each step to the door and my high heels were walking over quicksand. Eventually, I reached my destination and grabbed hold of the door. I felt like I took a journey across the world to reach the exit. With my remaining strength, I distributed all my weight and shoved the door.

BOOM! Suddenly, the glass door in front of me shattered to my ankle like a waterfall.

“No one leaves!” Screamed a strong demanding voice.

The familiar voice came right behind me. Like a stiff Barbie doll, I swung around to see a towering figure dressed in black with their broad face covered all the way to their eyes with a mask.

It was a robber!

The man had a wide torso with broad shoulders. He stood tall in his laced black leather boots and he towered over me like he owned the place.

Suddenly, my view of him was obstructed when a steel barrel raised up to my face.

A gun!

It took me a second to comprehend what it was but when I realized it was a pistol; I froze like a marble statue.

“Please sir!” my voice quivered and I hoped that this was all a surreal nightmare.

Then the man’s voice jumped higher in surprise and he gasped: “Maria!”

“What?” I screeched (the gun still pointed at me).

Who is this man? Did he just blurt my name out?

The guy stumbled back and he fell to the ground as if my face terrified him. The robber petrified on the ground, the pistol fell to my feet then another male voice echoed in the back room of the bank.

“Hey, Jonathan!” One man in jeans and a leather jacket shouted confidently as he carried a sports bag full of something. (Money?)

His stride was one of a pro wrestler as he pushed the fat bag to his back and shifted a rifle to his arms.

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“We can split the cash in two. Your wife is going to proud of you eh Jonathan?” Not noticing that the man called Jonathan laid on the floor in shock, he continued to stomp up into the bank lobby.

Jonathan? Wife? My husband? This can’t be true.

Examining the man on the floor, I noticed that his shoulder was in an awkward position as he was struggling to lift himself off the ground.

But then I saw….

This robber was no stranger! His sleeve shifted up and that revealed a permanent scar that I knew well. Then my mind flashed back to the time that I snuck into Jonathan’s hospital ward; he had been shot in the left shoulder.

“Jonathan! Is that you?” I couldn’t believe it; I had to be sure - Was it a dream?

“Maria, I’m sorry. But this is the only way I could’ve fed you!” The familiar voice instantly came from him.

Then I realized that this man was my husband and that during the past years, this was how he was “working”.

“You swore that this was not your way of living!” I screamed and tears started to burst out as I remembered my heart stopping when I was held at gunpoint by my husband.

My legs weakened and I crashed to the floor as I continued to cry a river.

“Stop right there!” This time, a female voice commanded from the street.

BOOM! Taking my hands off my damp eyes, I turned towards my back to see a woman wearing a uniform and vest that read “POLICE” with three more officers behind her. I quickly noticed that she also had a pistol in her hands and it pointed past me. NO! Turning around, I witnessed my husband crashing to the floor like a tree falling and blood started to leak out of the lifeless body and it reminded me of when I first found my husband in the hospital ward back in India.

But this time, he never woke up…

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DREAM – HARUKI YOSHIKAWA There were things happening to Tim every morning. When he entered the futuristic classroom, everyone stared at him unnaturally, as if he was performing something in front of the class. He sedately sat down on the brown wooden chair, as unnoticeably as possible. The Year 8W homeroom teacher, Mr. Wardak took a deep breath to make the students ignore Tim. In his dark and blind world, he didn’t know what was happening behind him. Tim had only 4 senses left to tell the teacher what he felt.

After each lesson, there was a plentiful 10-minute break for everyone to get their notebooks, pencil cases and to get a refreshing drink of water. On the wall of the corridor, there was a golden framed 120-inch picture of a magnificent view from the peak of Mount Everest hanging. Everyone questionably stared at it when they walked by. Tim didn’t know what the picture was of. He said “What is piktur...pi…picture?” with confusion.

Immediately after that, the whole corridor fell into silence.

The boys started to disrespectfully laugh at him and said “It’s the thing you can’t see and you don’t deserve to see! Too bad for you”.

Later, they heard energetic footsteps from the main staircase and an immense shadow appeared; it was the harsh school principal, Mr. Bae. He notified everyone to go inside the classroom because the lesson was about to start in a minute. However, Tim didn’t even take a single step. He was cluelessly standing in front of the picture, having no idea what classroom he needed to go to. Gently, Mr. Bae held his arm and slowly walked him to the History classroom, as Tim had History that time.

Mr. Bae: So… how is your day? Good?

Tim:

No

Mr. Bae: Bad? Tim:

No

Mr. Bae: You look a bit sad. What’s wrong?

Speaking with tears in his eyes, Tim replied “It’s nothing…. Actually, I…I…want to see the picture of the view from the peak of Mount Everest on the wall of the corridor visually...”

Mr. Bae escorted Tim to the office because he thought something was wrong. They both sat down on the white leather couch in the principal’s office and had a little discussion.

Tim informed Mr. Bae “I cannot keep my stress (Not being able to see the picture) in my

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damaged and broken heart. Also, is it the actual fact that I didn’t deserve to see the picture?”

Mr. Bae replied by saying, “No. Who said that? Oh, I think I know who you are talking about. He is new to this school. Actually, he came to this school 4 days ago. He has some learning and emotional problems. He cannot stop doing it because of that. If what he said made you feel heartbroken, I could take him out of the class and talk to him. Do you want me to?”

Tim answered, “Yes, please.”

TIM WENT BACK TO CLASS. THE BOY TALKED TO MR. BAE. IT TOOK ABOUT 10 MINUTES. THEN, THE BELL RANG AND IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE SCHOOL. Tim went back to his house and, as always, he leaned on the straight wall thinking about how to make a picture of the view from the peak of Mount Everest in his head. His mum calmly entered the room and asked him nicely what he did during school and how he felt.

His mum had to send an informal email to school every day to check with Tim’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Wardak to check if Tim had spent time at school without any disturbances.

Every time when Tim’s mum asked Tim about it, he always expressed to her he wanted to see the picture of the view from Mount Everest. In addition, he always wondered why he so hopeless and unlucky.

Tim had a nap for few hours. All of the sudden, he was teleported to the mysterious place.

The familiar smell, voice and the temperature made him realise that he was at the corridor of the school he goes to, standing. He wasn’t blind; he could now see his surroundings.

He teleported during the 10-minute break. There were people walking with books in their hands, and staring at the rectangular object. Others were getting ready for the next lesson, History.

Unexpectedly, Tim saw a flash of light, which was the reflection from the golden frame of the picture. He turned 90 degrees to his left uncertainly. Tim’s eyes were fully loaded with tears. He realised that he was in the exact same situation as when he was taking a break before the last History lesson, and a more surprise to come, the picture of the view from Mount Everest was right in front him. He froze like he was in the freezer for the entire life.

Then he woke up. He went downstairs and joyfully reported his mum that he saw the picture. However, she replied “No way”.

But then Tim saw…

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Disclaimer: One of our British Values is tolerance. Our year 9 students are critical thinkers who are encouraged to explore how their faith and beliefs intertwine with compassion and respect for those who hold different lifestyles. This story explores how homosexuality is experienced and viewed by different members within a community. If you feel that this content will offend you then please skip the story.

PLEASE CALL MY NAME – EUNSE KIM Inspired by the song Deja Vu (used and adjusted the lines to the story), sung by JubyPhonic and rachie (Youtubers), Published from the youtube channel, GUIANA CHANNEL. I stood there low and blank in the obscure drizzling scene of this place that somehow looked familiar to me…

What was her name…?

I kept on thinking that there was an important person I’d forgotten about…

Someone very important… Huh…?

Everything seemed like a blackout to me - empty memories and scattered visions in which I couldn’t recall.

What was her name again?

-------------------Tick!,Tock! the clock went as we sat systematically in the classroom.

I couldn’t help myself but to glance and examine the classmates as our professor painstakingly and slowly did our registrations.

One. By. One. “Alice Brooke?”

“Here.”

My hands started emitting cold sweat as I knew that the registration would go in alphabetical order.

‘A’ being the first letter of my name, of course...

“Alex Michaelis?”

“Here.”

OK. Don’t act weird, it’s only a registration.

“Allison Walker?”

“Here.”

As the professor slowly blurted my name out to the class, fear and anxiety rushed through my blood vessels as my body turned to stone.

Great. My turn. I fidgeted a bit with my cold sweaty hands as I straightened my back.

“H-Here, Sir.” I guess I did alright although my voice did crack a bit - probably because of my dry throat. My eyes couldn’t help but examine the students’ reactions. Some didn’t move an inch as they were waiting for their turn, however, some gave curious glances at me which made me feel even more intimidated and nerve-wrecked.

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“Hey, you look like you just saw a ghost, are you alright?”

A sweet youthful voice came from behind.

As I turned my head around to see who it was, I was able to get a good look at his surprisingly picture-esque appearance which left me without words.

-------------------Patches of green danced above my head as the breeze played with my hair in the morning rays while walking to school with Allison, my new good friend. It was peaceful… Until someone popped out of nowhere.

“Hey! Were you alright yesterday?”

It was the student from the registration day.

“Oh, um yeah…”

“The other day you seemed like you were in a haze, were you alright?”

“I was just nervous, I guess”.

“Oh! I get those feelings as well, especially in my first weeks at a new place. By the way, my name is Harry Wright, nice to meet you”.

He smiled with his radiant dark eyes as we got closer to the school building.

“My name is Allison!” Allison exclaimed with glee.

“Nice to meet you.” I replied hesitantly.

And with a sudden flash, he left.

I, who was left astonished by his annoying nature, never wanted to encounter him again.

-------------------Close to the entrance of the school, next to the iron gates of what almost seemed like prison bars, I had caught an interesting sight.

There, Harry lay in the distance as he was helping Allison with her sprained ankle.

But something was different…

I noticed that Allison was acting very awkwardly around him, fidgeting, adjusting and even making her beautiful ecstatic laugh quiet, as her face flushed rosy red - perhaps, a facade? What I found most odd was that Harry seemed to be unfazed by it. Did he notice or was he oblivious?

Those were the questions that lingered within me - that almost haunted me.

But something was different…

After having a front row view of the incident, I began to see Harry from a different point of view… The incident wasn’t very significant itself, however, it made me realise something, but I don’t know what it was…

-------------------… Reading and dissecting poems in literature class was the starter of our day. Boring. I’ve always came up with the idea that poetry always had such powerless words. Most of the poems I’ve read so far only had blocks of horrific amounts of text - surely, someone must’ve thought the same.

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I examined the class out of boredom while the professor was lecturing us with a painstaking amount of useless information. Alice, like the good student she was, took notes of every single word the professor was saying; Harry seemed as if he was enjoying every minute; Allison was gazing out the window while giving sudden glances at Harry; and Ben, with his hands over his broad forehead and the book in front of his face, was sleeping.

Allison and I hung around the corridors as break begun. While doing so, I accidentally stumbled upon Harry. Recalling all the irritating encounters I’ve had with him, I tried my best to avoid eye contact.

It was a strange feeling.

My stomach was fluttering as my heartbeat went faster.

What is this feeling?

It’s so… Annoying…

-------------------Seven o'clock, at the dinner table with the cutlery and cloths left untouched, the pork and chicken laid carefully on the table with a bowl of salad sitting beside the edge of the table and waiting for what seemed to be centuries. The appetizing smell pranced into our noses and enticed us as we reframed our mouths from gorging onto the still-ready food, as my parents and siblings prayed silently.

When we all finished our prayers, we all gave thanks for the dinner and ate. While consuming our meal ravenously, my father asked, “So, how’s your school?”

“It’s alright, I’ve made some new friends and I don’t think I have a hard time adjusting,” My father nodded and there was a moment of silence at the table.

Then my younger brother questioned, “Why is being a homosexual bad?”

His sudden question astounded us.

“Why this all of a sudden?” My Mother inquired with a worried expression.

My Father then placed his knife and fork on the empty plate and then replied with a stern voice.

“You should all know by now that being homosexual is forbidden in the name of God-,” I already knew it was a sin to love the same gender, however, his words stung me…

“Loving the same sex is forbidden by any means- it is an illness- a curse!” My father exclaimed with zest.

I clenched my fists as my throat tightened uncontrollably.

What is this feeling?

My heart pounded heavily as my face flushed with delicate waves of warmth.

I… I’m crying…?

Then I realised…

What I have become…

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With a thud, I hastily lunged out of my chair and grabbed the front door.

“Where are you going, dear?” My Mother asked in a concerned tone.

“I’m going to go for a walk” I uttered as I tried to hide my face as it was flooding with tears.

Who would’ve known that loving someone could hurt so much…

-------------------No one would accept me for who I truly am.

Harry would hate me if I told him how I felt about him.

It wouldn’t be the same again… If I told himThen…

I wouldn’t be able to see his smile again.

It’s better this way…

Better than making all these moments with him fall apart.

Better than making my heart smash into pieces when he rejects me in repulsion.

I guess I really am a sick person.

I’m just… An outsider…

No! I can’t lie here lamely and sulk!

It’s his fault!

The society is at fault not me!

He’s the problem. The problem to everything- He made me become crippled!

Tears soon flooded my vision. … It’s his fault…

-------------------In a dark, empty, unfamiliar room, the hands of the clock ticked steadily…

I had my last sip of tea and reluctantly swallowed the large white pills. Before I knew it, my vision became blurry and my body was heavy to the point where I collapsed to the floor which was, luckily, embedded with a cushion of warm carpets.

Strange. The tea bag wasn’t in the mug at all, it landed on the wooden floor which was then stained.

How did the tea bag fall to the floor? I could’ve sworn it was in the mug…

-------------------“Is...okay, Sir?” “S...Amn...Mrs Carol…”

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I opened my heavy weighted eyes and gazed at what seemed to be a claustrophobic room. WIth humble furniture, some medical devices and an empty vase sitting right beside me, I thought for a moment to myself…

Who… Am I? “Oh good you’re awake!” A young woman with a funny hairdo and dressed in white attire stood beside me with a relieved expression.

“E-Excuse me, but do you perhaps know what’s happening?” I murmured.

“Good heavens, Sir, you were in a coma for 150 days!”

“150 days!?” I rose from the bed.

“Sir, you must rest! you’ve just woken up!”

“Is the patient up?” The doctor queried as he slowly approached to us.

“Yes, Sir” “You probably don’t know why you can’t remember who you are right now - and don’t worry, your memories will come back in some time. It’s only mild amnesia,” Those words echoed in my head for weeks while I was resting in the hospital.

-------------------After I was released from the hospital, I remembered what the nurse had told me when I woke up from my coma…

“150 days” For 150 days I forgot something important…

For 150 days I felt empty…

For 150 days I felt as if someone was missing…

I felt I lost someone dear to me…

-------------------I stood there low and blank in the obscure drizzling scene of a place that looked familiar to me…

What was her name…?

I keep on thinking that there was an important person I’d forgotten about…

Someone very important… Huh…?

Everything seems like a blackout to me now - empty memories and scattered visions in which I can’t recall.

What was her name again?

I lingered off to a park to try and remember who that person was… But then I saw… I saw a young man who looked somewhat familiar to me.

And then I realised that I wasn’t looking for her, I was looking for him.

Memories started to flash back as my heart beated. Faster and faster.

I remember!

Step. By. Step.

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Please talk to me…

Step. By. Step.

Please notice me!

The young man noticed I was following him and soon turned to face me.

Harry…

Please…

Call my name.

TUNNELS – KINGSLEY KIM AND YUNUS WARDAK His silhouette shifted, sending tremors into the tight tunnel. I cursed. The figure was advancing closer. Looking back, the only way to escape was to return to the dimly lit room.

I was stuck. Sighing, I knew all of this had started with the day of my after school activities.

It was a few months ago…

I raced down the field, checking my watch. 3:28. I needed to make it before it closed.

Bursting into the building, I ran to the Spirit Shop, only to be met with glass doors. It had closed. Dismayed, I sat down next to the entrance. Today had been the deadline of getting a band folder.

Nudging the door, I was surprised to find it open. The counter was empty. The lady must have forgotten to lock the shop, I thought. Spotting the band folder on a nearby shelf, I snatched it, deciding to pay the counter the next day.

Just as I was leaving, I spotted a glimmer out of the corner of my eye. A small alcove had reflected a ray of sunlight, momentarily blinding me. Curious, I ran over to it. My hand froze over the stone. I remembered the school regulations prohibiting certain areas after school.

Surely, the Spirit Shop wasn’t one of them. Or was it?

In the previous assembly, I vaguely remember Mr. Mitchell listing the ‘red’ zones…

I brushed the thought away. The Spirit Shop wasn’t one of them.

At first, there was nothing. Then I began to see small crevices in the foundation. I pushed into the stone.

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The wall gave away, exposing a musty tunnel, just about the size of a boy at my age.

Standing up, I examined if there was anyone approaching. Crouching down once again, I crept into the tunnel.

After weaving through a few tunnel, I noticed another similar piece in the wall, identical to the one in the Spirit Shop. However, there was an insignia scratched onto the surface, a Delta sign, a letter from Greek mythology. Once again, I pushed the slab, but this one opened with a hiss. Pulling myself out, I realized I was in the bathroom of the UAC. Strangely, though, I thought I had only travelled a few metres through the tunnel. An idea began to formulate in my head.

I entered back through the tunnel, and began walking (the tunnel was tall enough to accommodate the average teenager’s height). I focused on a certain area of the school. The Media commons.

The tunnels shifted under my hands.

“No way.” I whispered.

Turning the corner ahead of me, I saw another door. I clicked the Delta Triangle, and it opened in a compressed hiss. Peeking my eyes outside, I watched my surroundings to see if anyone was here. Fully opening the door, I walked into the MC. I ran to the astrophysics section, and picked a heavy book labelled Wormholes and their Eccentricities. Flopping down onto a beanbag chair, I cracked open the cover, and began to read.

When the MC was closing, I jumped back into the door, and tried something different. I focused on my home address. The tunnels shifted again, and I opened another door. I stumbled into the warm, heated living room of my home. Looking around, I could smell the scent of dinner coming from the kitchen. Laughing, I couldn’t believe my luck.

The next few weeks were a blur. Right after school, I would race to the Spirit Shop, right after closing time. This is where I made my mistake. I was misled by excitement, and I ignored the fact that the lock was opened every day.

On the fourth week after I found the tunnels, something changed. The tunnels stop shifting, and I ran into 4 dead ends before reaching my destination. Then, when I was using it to get home, there was no ex it. My head bumped into the solid walls.

Panic crept inside me. Desperately looking around, I willed another destination. The tunnels did not shift. I walked through a few more passageways. Panting, I lay down, the narrow tunnels barely fitting my body frame. Opening my phone, I tried calling my friends, but the call was cut short. I was going to die here of asphyxiation soon. I pounded the walls next to me. I should have been more careful. There must have been something like a “onemonth use”. Why didn’t I think?

I looked at my hand. Under it, a faint blue glow began to emanate from the walls, running around the faint etchings in the walls. The blue light went further into the tunnel. I followed it. After six or seven sharp turns…. I lost count, and the tunnel began to narrow into a 118 | P a g e

cramped, confined corridor. I got on all fours, and began to crawl. Once more, the tunnel opened into a dimly lit room, with two doors, facing opposite to each other. Storage boxes and used cardboard boxes laid in heaps around the room, with food and cookies heaped in the corner. I guessed it was the cafeteria storage corner. Desperate to get out of the tunnel, I tried both doors. One of them was locked shut, and the other opened into dark stairs.

Groaning, I walked into the descending darkness. Using the wall as stable support, I slowly shuffled down the stairs, holding onto the wall as support. By now, I was filled with trepidation. The tunnel had taken me further than ever, and it didn’t look like it would end.

I felt like it was a cold presence was at my back, taunting me to go further, but closing any methods of escape. Maybe this was my punishment. I had overused the tunnel, exhausted it, and it replied like this.

But then I saw, the shadow. I jumped up, and my eyes strained against their darknessaccustomed blindness. It appeared the light and its bearer was coming up a winding staircase, just a few feet in front of me.

Then, I noticed something odd about the shadow. The figure wore the iconic ‘Grim Reaper’ robe, and in his shadows, I saw the sickening figure of a sickle. I knew this visitor wasn’t one for a good purpose, to save me; maybe it was trying to do the opposite.

I started to hyperventilate.

Time slowed down. I felt the vibrations of the footsteps of the unknown thing.

I recoiled, turning around, and I felt the breath of the unknown, panting on my neck.

I scrunched up for the last moment, the place where it would impact me, and kill me.

But instead, the shadow grabbed me, and I heard the all-too familiar thick Northern England accent: “Wha are ya doing here?” I whip around, and I saw the clipped beard of noother than Mr. Mitchell, with his famous and iconic Batman Hairline.

His hand moved, and I saw the curved blade. Looking further down at his boots, I noticed grassy marks, and the faint smell of the forest circled around him. The only place he could have been was the nature trail. I was about to explain everything to Mr. Mitchell, but I caught myself.

How had he gotten into the tunnels?

Was he lost too?

You couldn’t access the nature trail with these tunnels……

Or could you?

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THE RING – VANESSA RAPSON Where am I? How did I get here? I panickedly asked myself. Everything around me looked like nothing but green. I could hear tweeting birds and I could smell the clean and pure air. The scorching and sizzling sun sunk into my body making my blue eyes slowly close. I started to lie down onto the soft grass but…

“HELLO?” An aghast sound yelled from up in the trees.

“Who said that?” I rapidly replied.

“It is the King of the Jungle” he quietly whispered.

“I have never heard of that in my entire-” But then I saw the massive King. He glided down from the top of the trees wearing a gold embroidered robe and a golden crown. His shoes were made of emeralds and his hair was silky soft. His eyes gleamed in the sunlight and they gave off a beautiful ruby colour. I was mesmerized by what I saw. The King kept coming closer and closer to me as I stepped backwards trying to keep space. Eventually, his face was only 2 cm away from mine; he closed his eyes.

“You are the chosen one. You are the person I have been waiting for!” The King exclaimed.

“Chosen for? What on earth are you talking about? I am extremely honored but I don’t even know where I am.” I answered sinking my shoulders.

“Come with me, don’t say a word and look down.” The King demanded.

I followed the King and after walking for nearly an hour he told me to look up. My eyes opened and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

The azure sky was breathtaking and the trees were as green as emeralds. The birds were soaring like angels; the tigers and lions were sleeping with their cubs. I smiled like I had never before until the King came up to me and said, “You need to go through this jungle, pass the animals, go across the bridge and climb on top of the mountain to get my ring. My jaw dropped to the floor.

“Your ring!” I shouted. “Go make another one because I am not grabbing it!”

“If you don’t, you will be thrown off the bridge and that will be the end of you.” The King growled.

My heart instantly beat faster; I immediately bowed and was on my way…

Don’t give up…

I started walking and then running and then sprinting through the jungle. Beads of sweat started to trickle down my face and my throat was getting drier and drier. My ankles were getting scratched by the sticks and sharp bushes scattered all over the floor.

Don’t give up...

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“OW!” I screamed as I harshly fell onto the floor. Dark red blood was trickling from my left ankle - I couldn’t manage to stand up. Suddenly, I heard a roar. A roar so loud that my brain felt as if it was starting to vibrate. I turned my head to see a massive, ferocious and bloodthirsty tiger ready to pounce. I turned my wrist, planted it on the floor and used my strength from my arm to push my fragile body up. I was limping, staggering and hobbling trying to save my life from a tiger but then I felt a harsh tickle underneath my foot. I was getting lifted up towards the bright and blue sky to see the face of the King. I gasped as I thought he was going to throw me off the bridge. “I am so sorry sir.” I said trembling. “Please can I start over?”.

The King looked directly into my eyes, lifted this gold eyebrows, gritted his teeth but then kindly nodded. Gracefully, he put his warm hand onto my ankle; it healed. The King put me down, back to the grass, and I was on my way to the bridge.

Don’t give up...

The sun was creeping behind the trees and going below the horizon when I reached the bridge. I made it without any bruises or scratches - I made sure to place my tiny feet onto the safe areas and to be careful of the branches’ tips as they were as sharp as a knife. I looked to see the end of the bridge but it wasn’t in my view. With my teeth chattering, I placed my foot onto the bridge; it made a creaky sound. I immediately placed my foot back onto the grass. I couldn’t get the thought of: “What if the bridge breaks?” out of my head. It kept repeating over and over.

Eventually, I got the courage and I confidently placed both my feet on the bridge standing with my back straight and my shoulders wide. I looked down to see nothing but rocks and stones ready for me to die on - but this was not going to stop me. As I took one step, there was a creaking sound. As I took another step, the creaking got softer. As I took my third step, the creaking stopped. I stood on the bridge with curiosity but relief. I continued walking and the bridge seemed to be stronger than what I thought; I kept going.

Don’t give up…

As the night went on, I kept walking across the bridge waiting patiently to see the end. As the long hours went by, I finally saw the end of the bridge. I started sprinting. I was ready for real land to greet me with a warm welcoming. Slowly, but surely, I made it to the end of the bridge with my tiny feet clean and not bruised. “HALLELUJAH!” I yelled.

I felt nothing but satisfaction and accomplishment. However, that all changed when I tilted my head up to see a mountain so high, the peak was above the clouds. Automatically, my confidence went down as I stood on the grass with my jaw wide open.

Don’t give up…

My stomach was grumbling and I was eager to find food. However, I was in an area full of barren and dry land. At this point, all I wanted to do was give up. There was no way I could climb up that mountain with my tiny feet, my hungry stomach and my pessimistic thoughts.

Turning my body, I slowly took a step towards to the place I found myself in the beginning. All of a sudden, a gust of wind so strong hit me that I couldn’t move. “DON’T LOSE MY TRUST!” The King strictly demanded.

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Don’t give up…

Slightly rolling my eyes from having no motivation, I turned back around and started to climb up the mountain. My feet were aching, my skin was covered in sweat but my cheeks were still frozen from the strong and harsh winds. The thoughts running through my mind were not about going to find the King’s ring to please him, but to finish the mission to be back home. My breaths were intensifying as the mountain got steeper; the air was more suffocating. “Just a few more steps” I kept repeating over and over till I stopped to see a cave. The cave had a shimmer of gold when I looked in. The cave walls were all made of gold and the cave entrance smelled like a floral perfume. I poked my head in and I saw the ring. The King’s ring was made out of gold with diamond spheres. There were also heart shaped ruby and sapphire gems lining all around the top of the ring.

Don’t give up…

I sprinted to the glowing ring which was on a piece of granite with a purple and silky blanket. I grabbed it and took it back outside. My mission was complete. I then saw the King’s hands slowly fall from the sky ready for me to put it in his hands. I looked at him directly in the eyes; he looked at me. I thanked him for the journey that I would never forget. Still looking into his eyes, I reached my hand out to give the King the ring. I gently placed the ring into his warm and welcoming hands and he smiled. “Thank you” the King whispered.

“No, Thank you.” I replied relaxing my shoulders and smiling back.

You completed your mission.

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TRAPPED – MELISSA RAPSON I ran and ran and ran until my feet couldn’t carry me any longer. But then I saw it. I saw my grandmother’s ring. It floated in the air and moved through the trees. It was the most incredible beauty that I had ever witnessed. With what little energy I had left I bolted towards it. I was so close to being able to touch its magnificence. Just as I reached out my hand to grab it something pulled me back . . . he was here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Where am I? How did I get here? The last I remember was that I was on my way to my grandmother’s house. What happened? I began to observe my surroundings. The room I was stuck in was a monotonous and immensely miniature room containing three small objects, each located on its own stand. The item to my left was a 5cm thick, small and blue book with no text on it, the item to my right was a small stool and the item in the center was a large sharpened axe. Panicking, I scanned the walls for any sign of a way to escape but came up with nothing.

My anxiety was starting to rise with the thought of not knowing how long I would be stuck in here.

“Help! Please! Somebody help me get out of here!”

Nothing replied. Suddenly, I started to feel light-headed and my body started to shiver. I was spinning in circles going round and round and round and round. Then the world went black.

“Hello? Are you awake yet? Hello?”

The voice was high and squeaky. Who was here? Gradually I lifted my eyelids to see a small hamster directly in front of my face. I must be hallucinating. I closed my eyes for a full five seconds and opened them again only to see the hamster still standing in front of me. I tried closing and opening my eyes again and again until I gave up and still saw the same hamster waiting for me.

“Oh good, I was starting to worry that you were never going to wake up! Follow me!”

Unexpectedly, the petite hamster bolted through a miniature hole only made for the size of the small creature located at the bottom of the wall. All I could do for the next few minutes was lay on the floor and stare at the wall in shock.

“This has to be a dream, it has to be,” I whispered to myself.

Suddenly, I heard a noise.

“Drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop” Frantically I searched the room trying to figure out where the noise was coming from.

Instantaneously, I felt a splash of water on my foot and immediately looked down to find a drain on the floor and saw the water fall from the drain up above on the ceiling. For a while I stared at the water falling one drop at a time. Then it hit me. Hurriedly I grabbed the small stool and placed it directly underneath the drain, then I took the book and placed it on top of the stool, once I finished doing that I grabbed the axe, went on top of the stool and started to hit the drain with the axe repeatedly. I tried to use all of my strength in the axe, however, it wasn’t good enough - the drain refused to break. I kept trying until my arms were aching. Right when I thought that it was time to give up I heard the drain loosen from the ceiling. This was my chance. My chance to escape this claustrophobic room. Recklessly, I began to swing the axe again. After only three hits the drain fell clattering on the concrete floor. I began to feel a glimmer of hope that I would be able to escape this terrible place. Standing on the stool I was 123 | P a g e

able to reach the hole in the ceiling where the drain used to be and was able to pull myself up onto the damp surface in the ceiling.

My glimmer of hope was shattered into a million pieces when I realized that there were four different paths. How was I supposed to choose? All of the paths looked exactly the same. They all were black pipes, one-metre-high and one-metre-wide with just enough space for me to crawl through.

“Oh! You finally made it!”

It was the squeaky hamster again standing before me as I stared at it again with horror. I didn’t know how long this staring contest would last. My arm then began to reach out towards the diminutive creature as I attempted to touch its silky fur moving one step at a time. I kept moving closer and closer. Soon I began to notice what was happening. As I got closer the hamster began to look translucent as if it wasn’t really there. I was centimetres away from touching the innocent hamster but then...

“AAAH!” A high-pitched scream was ringing in my ears. An immense cloud of dust erupted before me.

The next thing I knew the hamster vanished into thin air. Behind me footsteps were pounding on the dense metal getting louder every second until something grabbed my shirt tugging forcefully.

The shirt was cutting through my neck causing an excruciating pain. I was dragged across the cold metal. Desperately, I used all of my strength to try and escape what was taking me.

Everything was a blur. I could feel the tears rolling down my face as the shirt was cutting deep into my skin.

After what felt like hours I was released from the cruelty and curled into a ball trying to protective myself from the heartless monster who would cause such an agonising pain. When I finally gathered enough courage, I got up to see what kind of malicious human caused this. As I turned myself around I finally noticed where I was.

The trees were everywhere. I scanned the forest in all directions but saw no end. I felt my anxiety rise again with the same fears. There was no escape. There was nothing except for the infuriating trees. I couldn't take anymore. I was desperate for something. Anything. Anything except for the maddening trees. I needed to escape. I needed to get out of here. I ran and ran and ran until my feet couldn’t carry me any longer. But then I saw it. I saw my grandmother’s ring. It floated in the air and moved through the trees. It was the most incredible beauty that I had ever witnessed. With what little energy I had left I bolted towards it. I was so close to being able to touch its magnificence. Just as I reached out my hand to grab it something pulled me back . . . he was here.

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A STORY OF A GIRL – ELIZABETH CHUNG

Footsteps echoed against the cold, unforgiving marble floor. I was crouched on the floor, panting, terrified, and desperately clutching a flashlight. In the darkened room, every shadow seemed hostile. The usually calming breeze, creeping through the slightly opened window, heightened my anxiety. My shallow breathing slowly turned to panicked gasps as the footsteps advanced toward my door. The ticking clock, the whispering wind, and the pale curtains swaying in the wind was uneasily hushed. I caught my breath as the door shifted ajar. I fumbled around with my flashlight, turning it off before the intruder caught its fluorescent beam.

I escaped that night. ************************************* She is a normal girl who is mundane in every possible way. Everything about her screams average. Her scores, height, weight, and personality, practically her existence, is exactly in the middle on the spectrum of life. She has a circle of friends who are nice, calm, and as uninteresting as her, and a family who is happy, content, and dull as well. She is pretty satisfied with her life. It’s just one, long, extremely tedious movie. Nothing ever swirls out of hand. There are no exhilarating moments either. She is just a typical girl. A person you would overlook easily. Her life isn’t extraordinarily tiresome either. It is reasonably average. ***************************************** Kneeling on the far corner of my room, I was unaware of the impending doom that would soon fall upon me. I was on the marble floor, which was comforting. My room was uncomfortably humid, and the cool, smooth floor was a welcome sanctuary. However, I was far from being calm and serene. Like a frightened rabbit, my head jerked up every few seconds, and my eyes warily scanned the room. My eyes settled on the old clock, its hands were jerking like a haywire marionette every time it moved.

The time was 12:30… wait.... the time was 12:30!

Overcome by sudden, intense dread, I floundered around, trying to turn off my flashlight.

I slowly crept back to my safe haven, shivering as if I was drenched with cold water. The footsteps started...the door opened.

I closed my eyes and succumbed to the darkness. ************************************************** Her life is fine. Nothing less, nothing more. She is not happy but is most definitely not depressed. She is oblivious to everything; she notices everything. Her life is full of twist and turns, but it is as tranquil as the morning breeze. She is cynical as she is positive. She is sarcastic as she is sincere. She questions why people do not understand her. She wonders how she has friends.

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************************************************* the child, too light, was still breathing...

No longer able to continue, I shivered, my eyes wild with horror. The child was still breathing, and I was sitting here, as helpful as his captors. The poor child was hanging from a rope, suffering a slow choking. I averted my eyes, but in my head, the image of the suffering boy was permanently branded.

A fan whined in the distance. My sister’s heavy breathing, my shallow gasps were prominent in the dead silence. I held my breath, drowning in the prolonged quiet. Trembling from head to toe, I felt lightheaded, dizzy and sank to the floor. The footsteps started again. The only sane part of my mind probably told me to do something reasonable. Some sane part of me had screamed at me to turn off my flashlight and hide. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very obedient that night. I did not turn off my flashlight, I didn’t flinch at the footsteps. Not understanding what was in store for me, I risked my life that night. What I do recall is that I sobbed in simple, excruciating sorrow. **************************************************** Actually, she is quite well off. She has a family, a pet dog, and friends. She lives in a safe, conservative and monotonous society. She is fortunate enough to have plentiful food, clothes, housing and many other priorities. She is satisfied with all she has and isn’t hungry for more. She is fine, thank you very much. Again, nothing less, nothing more. ***************************************************** his eyes not yet extinguished… Two tears rolled down my eyes, thick as glass beads. I could feel my throat closing up, and my hands griped the flashlight, the only source of light. The quivering clock was unnerving, and I found myself staring at it with total contempt. I couldn’t believe that the wretched object could go on its trivial duty without hesitation during this tragic event. It was all very inhumane. A brittle whisper escaped my lips, a sound filled with unfiltered fury. This was undoubtedly wrong. My knuckles shone white, I was clutching my flashlight as if to unleash my anger upon it. My eyes were blurred with the bitter mixture of rage and grief. How could people allow this to happen?

I escaped that night. ***************************************************** She is a perfectly normal girl. Really. But… she has done something that is both irreversible and forbidden. **************************************************** I had seen the senile clock hit 12:30… I had heard the footsteps… I had… But… “I shall always remember that smile. From what world did it come from?” I could go no further. When my fate had been decided, I cried. I had simply, oh ever so stupidly, sat and cried. The flashlight flickered as if predicting the consequences. The end was nigh.

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The door swung open. I opened my mouth in alarm, unable to register the fact that the door was, indeed, open. My flashlight clattered to the floor, no longer important. Sanity was screaming at me, screaming at my mistakes. …

But then I saw a woman with disheveled hair standing in the doorway. Her clothes were crumpled, the side of her face was marked in shallow lines as if she had been crushed by a pillow.

“Go. Back. To. SLEEP. How many times must we have this conversation?”

Despite her rather unimpressive looks, her eyes shone with sheer anger.

“But… Mom…” “I. Said. Go. Back. To. SLEEP.” However, underneath her fury hid a tired middle-aged woman, suffering from too many sleepless nights. She eyed my book, and a look of indignation crossed her face.

“Why are you reading that book?” “... ” “I TOLD you not to take the books off the top shelf. They are FORBIDDEN.” “But mom…”

“Why can’t you be like your sister? Who did NOT insist on staying up at this stupid hour and reading that STUPIDLY horrific book!” “... ” “Why can’t you be more… NORMAL? And stop reading those-[She waved fervently at the book that I was clutching desperately in my hand.]- horror books! No wonder you are so puffy-eyed in the mornings.”

“But mom…”

“You know how you get. Those books provoke you to cry your eyes out.”

“But mom…”

“You are grounded.”

She pondered my punishment for a second. With a smile, she spoke my verdict.

“For a WEEK.” I shuddered, my instincts had forecast that the odds were against me. My mom beamed with a sudden, maddened pride. She had finally caught me in the act.

I had been reading all night long.

The words in bold are quotes from Elie Wiesel’s Night, a book about the Holocaust.

This story has no meaning. I have simply portrayed to you the life of a girl who likes to read books, books especially with detailed horror scenes. It is also safe to say that this unfortunate girl has an emotionally-challenged android of a mother.

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HEAVEN – MICHAEL HAHM I returned back from the hospital and was going to a gathering with friends and family. My parents didn’t have it. My ancestors didn’t have it either. The reason I am calling it it is because it is a living thing that was inside of me - something that messed with my life. For my entire life, I always thought I had enough strength to fight it, but I was wrong...

I lost the battle; now I feel like it is finally, truly, gone. You see, I had lung cancer which is something I truly believe is a living thing because it spreads and sticks. Not anymore though; I think that even though I say it is living, it somehow got unstuck from me, and is now somewhere else in my body - however, not in a place that would be harmful anymore.

Something feels different though, but I don’t know what. I feel more peaceful, but at the same time sad; I feel apart, but still complete...

As I stumbled to where everyone had gathered, I gazed upon my friends and family in black. They were staring down at something, so I then saw that they were staring at something in the ground.

But then I saw it.

It was something that had my name on it, my birth date, with another date I was not so sure about.

Then I figured it out. It was a tombstone, with a coffin being buried.

“Is...is that my grave?” I thought to myself. I was dead; I was dead and I didn’t even notice.

But then I saw a white light, a light with joyful music getting louder and louder as it got closer and closer. All of a sudden, I was then greeted with someone familiar- the owner of the place I was in.

He then pointed to my right where I saw a chair. I sat on the stool, completely surrounded in a white room.

“Do you want to relive your life?” I heard the man say.

“Yes. With all my heart, yes I want to relive my life.” I replied as the tears sprinted down my tender cheek.

The man then pulled out what looked like a button. He pressed the button, and then the entire place I was in turned black.

I then gazed upon what looked like a projector screen.

And then I saw it.

The day that I was born…

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BURIED – GRACE KENT 150 Minutes I opened my eyes, only to find blackness around me. Darkness, fear and the unknown surrounded every crevice of my body. I couldn’t move, I tried to thrash my legs around but there was no room. It was wood. Everything around me was wood, I clawed at the walls but only became bloodied myself. I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow but the screams just ricocheted and suffocated me in my own distress.

Where was I last? What happened to me? Where was I? A mask covered my mouth, putting who knows what into my lungs. Desperately, I tried to pull it off but it wouldn’t budge. I thrashed around until my phone made a small, faint buzz. I pulled it out, I only had 2 percent. A call was coming from an unknown number, I picked it up…

“Hello there! Welcome to the game! You have 150 minutes of oxygen in that tank next to you. They know where you are, but can they find you in time? Will they save you, or someone else? They can only save one. Will you survive?”

An eerie voice whispered through my speaker, then my phone went out.

My whole body trembled with fear, what did this mean? I lay in the darkness for what seemed like forever as my body quivered in the dread of what this was. This was a problem, but not one I was sure had a solution...

100 Minutes After what seemed like hours of thought, I figured it out, the wooden box was strangely shaped like a human body, flowers lay next to my cold and shivering body... My heart raced faster than a hummingbird's wings, struggling to pump oxygen to my trembling limbs as the realization hit me. As my eyes adapted to the dark, I kicked the walls with all my might.

Suddenly, I heard a faint cry for help, a voice, male, terrified, calling out for someone, ANYONE. I called back, and so did he...

“Hello? Help! Where am I?” The troubled voice stuttered.

“Hello? I’m here too! Do you know what happened to us?

“No! My limbs are as cold as ice. My body is confined to the walls of this coffin! Yet air still exists my lungs so why am I here?” He said this through his chattering teeth.

Then we both went silent for some time…

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“I know, I know, we just need to find a way out. Oh, I know! Scream! We have to scream!

As loud as we can!” The idea hit me like a rock, our voices together would surely be heard.

Right?

I screamed first, he followed, the sounds of our screams echoed, weirdly so, like they were everywhere… I stopped and hundreds of different voices filled my ears, all of them screaming as much as they could. But after a few minutes of constant noise, some of the screams stopped abruptly, until everything was silent. But why would they stop? Why give up now? Would “they” save me or him? A sly grin crossed my face and I understood why they had all stopped: they were gone, unsaveable, in pain, suffering... Dead. I needed them to die, because I needed to be saved. I tried to hold my breath, I tried to find a way out, fumbling, a piece of paper touched my cold, frail hand.

I lay here tonight in a dark silent room, Feeling only pain and uncontrollable gloom.

Pictures of your body flash in my head, Pictures of you laying in the deep dark ground. Dead.

10 Minutes My breath was taken away, my head spun around in circles. A single tear rolled down my cold, pale cheek and I knew that it was time.

5 Minutes I closed my weary eyes and drifted off thinking of the darkness.

1 Minute I can’t breathe. No. I won’t breathe. I have to stay strong, I must survive. The pins and needles pricked me like little beaks of a sparrow rapidly pecking at my body. The world around me turned and twisted into shapes and colours. Images of my friends, my parents slowly crossed my vision. The tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down my face. My walls, the walls that hold me up, the ones that make me strong just... collapse. Moment by moment, they fall, I hear my own cries above the ringing inside my ears then everything went utterly black.

But then I saw it.

A sliver of light….

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UNSTOPPABLE – YUNA HAN (TRIGGER WARNING. This story contains scenes of depression and mental illness) Dedicated to my friend Love you ❤ Beauty.

The one thing that any girl could wish for.

As I scrolled down to only see more hate comments, I realised that it was impossible. Unreachable.

Unattainable. It was not something anyone could get overnight. I wasn’t a very appealing girl, so it made sense that they despised me on Instagram. My body wasn’t “on fleek”, even though I am a dancer. I thought my posts could encourage people to love who you are… Why couldn’t they understand?

Hiding my tears, I curled up in a ball; even though there was no-one to see me weep. Gritting my teeth in grief, I contemplated life -- just like I always do. My house wasn’t particularly a place that I would call home. My parents shut me out all the time, and I never knew why.

No one cares about my depression.

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And they don’t need to because they never dare to help. The only reason I keep fighting is because I’m afraid to scar other people’s lives. There’s something in my brain that’s shouting that at least someone cares. Hot tears ran down my face. It was hopeless. Did anyone care about me?

“Oh, you should go to a support group Janelle!” They said. “It can’t be that bad Janelle.” They said. “Try dancing or exercising, Janelle.” They said.

Nothing worked. I’ve tried them all.

Even though I adored dancing when I was an innocent little girl, I lost interest in it. What’s the point of living if there’s nothing that you love? My dance teachers caned me for not having the “right body” and they only do that to me. In pain, I cringed as I cautiously peeled the scabs off my petite hands.

Oh no. It’s coming.

A tsunami of agonizing thoughts rushed through my brain. The water sloshed violently against my skull.

It leaks into my eyes, blocking my field of vision, eventually dripping down into my cold hands. The most terrifying thing of having depression is not knowing when it will hit you like a sledgehammer.

A few moments later, I realize I’m shaking like a rattlesnake’s tail. I couldn’t stop. The springs of my bed were vibrating so much to the point that it’s about to shatter into pieces.

The reason why I avoided at all costs going to support group is because I’ve realized how petrifying it is to go through what Julia did. It only caused us more pain.

She didn’t make it.

I’m desperate to stay above the water. I don’t want to cause as much pain to others as she did to me. I miss her. She was the only one that cared. My best friend. My only home.

Rushing to the spare room, I urgently searched for a photo of me. If I can’t die now, I need to do something to keep myself satisfied.

First tear.

I paused to see the photo lying on the floor.

No. This isn’t enough. I take a glance at the clock from the corner of my eye. It’s 3:33 am. No-one to stay up with. No-one to reach for help. No-one to talk to. I leaned on the refrigerator with a thud in agony.

****************************************** What was that? Something must’ve dropped from somewhere. I threw my blankets to the side and heavily dragged my feet to open the door.

WHAT. IS. SHE. DOING! I’m shocked myself that I’m this worried for her for once. Have I missed something? I pinch my arm. I feel an intense chill down my spine after I realize this is not a dream.

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The first thing I see is her tearing up her image. My heart dropped to my feet.

“Mum… I... I can explain…”

Breathe. Breathe Janelle. “...I have depression.”

It scares the skin out of my bones. How did I not know this? She always looked so happy… I feel a sting at the back of my eyes. I feel so stupid… I’m such a terrible mother. I should’ve known.

“Mum. I’m not trying to hurt anyone except for myself.”

I pulled back to see her heavy-hearted face.

“Honey… I’m so sorry I didn’t know…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Her voice cracks a little. Poor thing. *************************************************

The golden rays of the sun peek through the curtains.

I’m still shocked by how sorry my mum felt for me.

Then it popped into my head -- she must’ve thought that I was okay because I was acting like I was satisfied with life.

Blindly, I search my phone with my delicate hands. Click. The screen brightens, shaping letters. Letters that shape bitter words.

“Why r u always ignoring us? If ur gonna do that, u don’t need us. We don’t need to be ur ‘friends’ if u hate us that much. U keep on actin like u have a mental disorder.”

Depression is a mental disorder.

“Stop being sorry for yourself. I don’t think anyone likes it.”

I’m not being sorry for myself. I’m doing the exact opposite of that.

Why do I live if everyone hates me? What the point of living if everyone hates you, even yourself?

My hands start to shake. The rest of the day goes by in a blur. I find myself back at home. The home where all the dark thoughts drift in the air.

The voices are coming back.

No one likes you. You’re worthless. You’re fat. You’re ugly.

I take a look at my damaged self in the crystal clear mirror.

I am ugly. But somewhere in my mind tells me I’m not.

I’ve had enough. This is the reason why I hate being alive. You want to die; so, so, badly, but there are people around you; people who care. It’s too much.

But then I saw…

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My parents dashing for me in tears.

“J-Janelle…” I’ve never seen my parents in such shock before. I thought they hated me…

The pale terror of their skin… The trembling of their hands…

My mother wept heavily into my father’s shoulder in misery.

I can’t do this. I choose my life.

I throw the phone with all their nasty comments against the wall.

Nothing can stop me.

For those struggling with depression or a mental disorder: seek help. Call an emergency hotline or talk to someone you trust. You’re not in this fight alone.

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PRAY FOR THE PREY – YOUBIN PARK

Pray for the Prey Fat, ugly, worthless.

These are the words they hear.

Did you know that you are their biggest fear?

Day by day you torment them, It takes so long for their hearts to mend.

All they ask for is one true friend, But you make them want their lives to end.

Others join in because they think it’s fun, Not knowing the harm, they do to anyone.

Social media can be engaging But to those being bullied it’s never-ending.

‘Do it, do it, just go away!’

These are the words the bullies may say, Until one day the victim, they may crack.

Those poisoned words can’t be taken back.

But then I saw Them lifeless on the bedroom floor, They just couldn’t take it anymore.

And then those who mock and those who scorn Turn up at the funeral of those who they now mourn.

So think before another word you say, Because the bullied may not be able to face another day.

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BLOOD ON MY HANDS – CHARLOTTE CLISSON

But then I saw the blood on my hands… ********************************** This had all started on Saturday morning. Having a very low expectation of my weekend, (as usual) the day had taken a very wrong turn. The day was a casual weekend with my husband Charlie. Knowing him for over 20 years, I knew he'd always find a way to make me smile. He had eyes as deep as a unicorns’ souls and every detail on his face was so impeccable.

“Good morning!” he answered. “Are you ready? We are leaving in about an hour” “Okay” I replied in a drowning voice He hugged me one last time before he departed the room. I hadn’t left the house in a week since I lost my adoring, loving, passionate grandpa. Having been such a great inspiration in my life, I knew that he would still be with me wherever I would go.

This weekend, we were going over to his old beach house to clean it before we would sell it.

This had been a very hard choice to make...

Having been in the car for over three hours, we had finally arrived. Stepping out of the car, I could feel the raw breeze of the sea against my bare skin. Racing through my head, were the memories of every single second of every single day that I had ever lived. With every step I took further into the house I went further Into my past!

It felt like all the pain that was hidden all these years was updating back into my memory.

The next morning, I departed on a stroll to the beach as the sun was rising on the horizon. All of a sudden, I heard a noise like a branch snapping. I turned around to see what had made that noise. There was this dark, gloomy figure which was standing in the alley. Without warning, the strong wind came and blew something in my eye. I looked again; the figure had disappeared! It seemed as if it was never there. After the incident, I rapidly went home since my eye was itching like crazy.

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Nighttime had fallen and the sun was setting. You could observe the sun cast its golden rays of sunlight on the clouds, turning the them bright red.

When I was young, my grandpa used to tell me a sinister story about this house.

There had once been a murder in this house and they said that every hundred years the soul of the girl that had been slaughtered in this exact house would come back looking for her one true love and take him with her.

Shivers ran down my spine as the cold dark night stared me right through the eyes!

Gradually the itching had gotten worse, that I couldn’t even stop.

Crash!

There had been a bolt a lightning that had struck me right in the head; it felt as if I had been torn in two. The pain was taking over every inch of my body to the point that I couldn’t even move.

Was I going to die tonight?

Without warning, my body just bolted up abruptly and slowly started walking into the kitchen; it was as if my body was being controlled by a puppeteer! Making my way to the kitchen, I could see a burly figure standing in the doorway. Gradually, I raised my hand as if it was searching for something. A frigid feeling climbed up my hand and casually filled my body with a raw feeling.

Walking up to the odd figure in the distance, I raised my hand and swung the object at the figure. Just as I had let go of the, a cold feeling a warm liquid run down my hand.

Thud!

As soon as my knees made contact with the ground my body felt free. My body trembling from what had just happened, I forced myself to open my eyes terrorized by what I would see.

But then I saw the blood on my hands…

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CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION– JD KIM Tuesday, December 13th 2012 - 11:30 PM “Wait, you’re married?” I asked, dumbfounded, staring at the beautiful woman on Noah’s outdated flip phone.

“Don’t act so surprised Jack,” replied Noah, teasing me, “We’re already twenty years old.”

Really, now? In an attempt to let every one hear, I shouted as loudly as I could. “Is that why you still work in a convenience store, Noah!” At that moment, everyone stopped whatever they were doing, and looked at Noah.

“Wha-” Noah grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me towards him, and whispered, “You said you wouldn’t say that in this class reunion!”

I smirked. “We’re in a mansion! What if Liam hears that and kicks me out! He’s your senior at work, so you could get into trouble as well!”

“You know he wouldn’t do that.” I confidently said. After all, Liam, Noah and I used to be best friends.

“Whatever, I’m going to the bathroom.” After this, Noah stood up, and grumpily started walking towards the door.

“Do you even know where it is?” I mockingly asked. For a moment, Noah stopped walking, but continued. He’ll probably find a way. Noah slid the door open, and left.

11:42 PM The door opened, and a tall, blonde man wearing a gray suit entered the room.

It’s been awhile since Noah left. “Oh, hey Liam. Did you see Noah on the way here?”

Liam turned his head towards me, and replied, “I don’t think so.”

“Hey, do you two know each other?” A former classmate asked.

“Liam and I were pretty close in high school, and we have the same job, so yeah.” I replied.

“Liam’s a detective as well?” It’s another classmate that I couldn’t remember.

“Yeah.”

And out of nowhere, was a loud thud.

“What was that?” Liam asked, dumbfounded.

“I’ll go check.” I said, “Don’t worry, Noah probably just tripped.” I slide open the door, leaving the room. If I remember correctly, the sound came from this way. Staring into the seemingly endless, dark corridor, I left the room.

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11:50 PM I’m lost. I sighed. Does this place have to be so big? I took another turn, only to be met by another dead end. There were almost no lights on, as everyone had gone to sleep, apart from the people attending the class reunion. I took another turn, and to my surprise, it wasn’t a dead end. It’s near impossible to see the end of the corridor though.

In attempt to make sure not to trip on anything, I started off by slowly walking, squinted my eyes, and tried to find Noah. However, what I saw instead was a man lying on the floor. Is that…. Noah? He was surrounded by a large pool of a red liquid. Next to him, was a familiar looking woman, holding a dark metal object, pointing it towards Noah’s body. Is that… Noah’s fiancee? Wait…

What?

After seeing my best friend get shot with a gun by his fiancee, I tripped, and fell on my back. The woman took a step back, and immediately saw me. No way, are you serious?

“H-hi…?”

Clearly, the woman was panicking. However, what she proceeded to do was totally unexpected.

She pointed her gun towards me.

Huh? At that moment, my eyes widened.

I’m going to die.

Instantly, I turned around, and ran. Hearing the sound of the gun shaking on her hand, I continued to run. My body felt heavy, and I was sweating like crazy. And out of nowhere, my left foot slipped. I’m going to trip and fall.

BANG! The gun was fired, and I tripped. I turned around, and saw Noah’s fiancee pointing her gun at me, breathing deeply. After realizing that I was still alive, I ran for my life. For some strange reason however, my body felt light.

Then, I confronted the nearest door leading to a room. As I tried to touch the door handle, my hand completely passed through. Huh? I took my hand back, and tried with my other hand. Just like before, my hand had passed through. I tried with my leg, but the same thing happened. Desperate, I tried with my entire body, and it passed through the door. Whwhat? And then, I realised something. No one else knows about Noah’s fiancee.

12:00 AM Finally, I found the room used for the class reunion. After catching my breath, I attempted to open the door, but my hand simply passed through the door handle. I took a deep breath, and walked through the door. Instantly, the noise of people talking became much louder, and it was clear that no one knew what was going on. Although I expected something like this, I was still shocked by the fact that no one knew what was going on.

“Hey!” I shouted, in an attempt to grab everyone’s attention.

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However, there was no reply. Huh? What’s going on?

“Hey!” There was no reply. C-could it be…. no one can hear me? There’s no way, right? I shrugged off the thought, and tried again.

“Hey!” There was no reply.

“Hey! Hey!” Are you serious? Desperately, I tried to grab one of the beer glassware on the table, but my hand simply passed through it. No way. My eyes look through the room, and I spotted Liam, drinking with others while smiling. Like a lost child finding it’s mother, I ran towards Liam, suddenly filled with hope. As I reach my arm out, I shout, “Liam! Liam!”

He didn’t notice me, but I couldn’t have cared less. As I was about to reach him with my hand, ….

My hand simply passed through him.

Slowly, I took my arm out of Liam, and fell on my knees. The hope that had filled me a few seconds ago, had become nonexistent.

Tuesday, December 14th 2012 10:30 AM “Next, we will be discussing the recent murder case, that took place yesterday.” I turned around, and stared at the tv. “This case took place in a mansion located in….” and on the tv, was a picture of Liam’s house. “There were 3 casualties,” No way, three? “and two were identified, Noah Brown and Emily Brown….” and on the tv screen, was a picture of Noah, and his fiancee. Wait, what? Noah’s fiancee was the culprit, so why is she listed as a casualty and not the culprit? “Currently, the main suspect in this case is Noah Brown, as a gun was found next to his corpse, with his fingerprints on it.” Huh? What’s going on?

Oh. After Noah’s fiancee shot Noah and one other person, she probably tried to frame Noah as the culprit, by putting his fingerprints on her gun, but the pressure of killing two people probably drove her to commit suicide. Damn. Not only was Noah killed by a pathetic person, but he’s going to be framed as a murderer. There’s got to be something I can do to fix this situation, even in my current state. “…. and the detective that has been put in charge of this case, is Liam Jackson.”

12:00 PM Well, here I am. And in front of me, was Liam’s house. I came here thinking that I could help out with this case but…. I reached out my hand to the wall of Liam’s house, and as usual, it 140 | P a g e

completely passed through. I let out a deep sigh. There’s not really much I can do right now.

Despite this, however, I decided that I’d at least try to find out who the other victim is, in case I knew them.

12:15 PM After some searching, I was able to find the location where I spotted Noah’s corpse.

Thanks to the lights, it was a lot easier to find my way through the mansion. Although there was only a chalk outline, there were still stains of blood, and I started to remember seeing Noah’s corpse. I started to feel sick, and decided to move on.

It was then that I spotted another chalk outline. If I remember correctly, this is where I felt that strange pain in my head. Wait. It was probably after that pain, that my body started to act weird. And then, I thought of an idea. Maybe, if I can somehow feel that strange pain again, my body will return back to normal!

After this, I tried to reenact the scene of running away from Noah’s fiancee.

04:00 PM After hours of trying, I hadn’t made any progress. In fact, after trying to recall the same scene over and over, my imagination had started to mess with my memory, and my attempts were getting more pathetic. Despite this, I didn’t feel tired whatsoever.

“Hey, did you hear?” An unfamiliar voice said. Turning around, I saw two detectives walking towards the chalk outlines.

“Apparently two of the victims were detective Liam’s best friends back in middle school or something.” Best friends in middle school? That’s when I knew Noah and Liam!

“Really? Poor him… and on top of that he’s in charge of this case, huh?” Did Liam have other friends apart from me and Noah? While thinking, I had decided to explore the rest of the mansion.

04:15 PM “Why are the bodies here?” A familiar voice asked. Liam? I started to walk towards the place I heard Liam’s voice, and found myself in a room with Liam, a few other detectives and three bodies covered with a white sheet. Looks like these are the three corpses. Two of them should be Noah and Noah’s fiancee, and the other should be Liam’s best friend. Since the bodies haven’t decomposed yet, I may be able to take a look at the bodies. Although I hesitated at first, I decided that it would be better for me to check who the last victim was.

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Slowly, I started to crouch, and moved my head towards one of the corpses. When my head passed through, I saw Noah’s fiancee’s lifeless face. Instantly, I took my head out of the white sheet, and screamed like a little girl. Although it was clear no one could hear me, I felt embarrassed. For the first time, I was relieved that my body was in its current state.

After calming down, I proceeded to try again with a different corpse. I ended up seeing Noah. Another high-pitched scream came out, and I started to feel sick, although I didn’t feel the need to puke. Alright. The last corpse should be the one I’ve been looking for.

Slowly, I repeated the process that I had already taken twice, and looked at the final corpse.

But then I saw…

Myself.

Huh? What’s going on? Why am I here? Why is my body here? This doesn’t make sense…

What? I don’tOh. At that moment, I had realised what was going on.

My “body” suddenly getting lighter, not being able to touch things, not being heard by others, not feeling fatigued or puking…

It was because I lacked a body to be able to do these things.

The other best friend of Liam’s wasn’t someone that I didn’t know, It was me.

The sudden pain I felt after the gunshot, Was me getting shot. After that gunshot, I had already died.

Disclaimer: Although this story may seem somewhat similar to the film, “Sixth Sense”, I took no inspiration or ideas from the film.

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THE ABSENCE OF DESIRE– HANDA JUNG Based on the recent political events in Korea and my love of medieval political stories such as Game of Thrones and the non-fiction life of Puyi The increasingly chilly wind was sweeping the crusty leaves in the city, the unending corn fields and the disobedient, yet beautiful, roadside shrubs. One, two, three…. It was infinite. The gravel road was covered with layers of premature ice, building murky chunks of ice mixed with the decaying leftovers of autumn while angering and testing the patience of the local residents.

This was the day he came into this world and as a child he was repeatedly told it was an exceptional day to be born on. Which is what you would expect from a royal son. All three of them were on a quaint and red carriage, with a magnificent horse pulling them.

The street from the hospital to our house was littered with garbage and pieces of wood immobile even on larger streams. Flags, rusty metals and rotting leaves were all distinguishable elements and characteristics of our capital. The enemy was leaving our country but not before leaving their grisly marks and unseemly remnants of their existence on our beautiful lands.

“Grandma!” a toddler shouted. The sound became a complete and colourful picture, spreading vividly, opposite to the grim black and white photos we have today. An old lady who was presumably the grandmother halted from her current task of sowing seeds.

Soon the Grandma wiped several diamonds of sweat off her wrinkled forehead and slowly shuffled herself to the toddler who was enthusiastically crawling over the small watermelon. “My smart child this is a watermelon. Wow look at how big this is!” The small boy crawled over to their presumed house with the grandma following close behind with the melon. A deformed and bloody leg peered over the length of the door. It was not alone. There was a steady amount of injured men appearing in the toddler’s vision as he continually entered the seemingly vast rooms of the house. He would soon be back in the unfamiliar rooms at the palace.

“Smug.” thought one consultant of the prince.

“Young and handsome.” thought his mother.

It was the child’s 14th birthday. He turned around to his mother, looking proud and content. A childish satisfaction jolted through his nerves as the royal servant lay more pieces of silk on him, fueling his sweat but the prince waited.

“Like a patient good king.” he thought. His uncle had recently died, childless but with many unacknowledged illegitimate offspring. This was where the dying uncle acknowledged his semi-royal nephew and raised his mother to the throne.

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“You!” he shouted. Two servants hustled over, both afraid of the recognition. The prince continued: “This piece of silk has a large stain. It should be discarded and another piece of clothing should be made right now.” The courtier bowed and turned, hopeful to finish the job and satisfy the king. But the prince thought otherwise. “During my lunch which is in….” The prince stared at his diamond embedded watch. “In 17 minutes, you should be present to be my food taster.” The same eunuch whom the prince forced to drink his dye returned with a new jacket, without pink this time. It was gold streaked with the national colour of red.

“Excellent” sneered the prince as he admired himself in a mirror. The servant later died of poisoned food.

Crash, beep and revving. Beep, crash revving. The mechanical rhythm entered my ears as I transitioned to a deep hypnagogia. Crash, beep and revving. Beep, crash, revving.

Instinctively I already knew where I was. Without my consent, a large, rusty and redundant LED sign started beeping loudly. The radio began humming of age told us the recent news. “......Olympi……....Princ..…..commits..suicide..after..ruler….enemies…...Army…..marc hi...nor.h….” He thought about the news he heard. It was winter. And he had never expected to be relegated to such a low standard of transport. Were old friends still friends? He had never contemplated this. Maybe his brain was too occupied but he had not even thought about his childhood friend since they last met.

“S...cide…..pre..sur...enemy...troo….ma..” and the radio died. It was known that the enemy was approaching rapidly, killing unled men and taking over countries. But there was not much he could do.

The prince awoke from his brief nap, troubled with the sudden death of his mother. He knew that she was sick, but he was still terribly shocked, considering his annoyance with the large fuss two months ago. “When will she die?” he confided with his servant. The servant provided the polite answer probably afraid of a potential test. “Your honor has been sick for a long time, your majesty.”

The failures of his mother provided the separation of the country, an act that had been prevented by his father. The siege of his country was inevitable. The gong sounded. The frontmen fell and the enemy was in the castle. A translator popped his fat body through the troops and recited the options. “The prince is to sign a treaty and surrender his lands to our nation and live a luxurious life as a political prisoner or to be executed.” The prince stepped forward still carrying his golf club. He looked particularly annoyed and hostile today.

A magnificent, beautiful and glamorous beast was approaching the country. The ship was incredibly vast almost the size of the royal city combined, magnificent like the beasts in fairytales and glamorous like the watches at the Rolex shop. As it slowly approached the 144 | P a g e

crowd in a gracious manner, I looked at the foreign servants, the foreign language plastered all over it like ugly graffiti. He would leave for the first time and return in the future he thought as he hummed a song he recalled the other day.

He grew used to life in the luxurious foreign country. But seeing his flag gave him a jab of guilt every day. He was now known as a puppet to his people. Obeying the greedy and never entertaining the desires of the people. The faces of the cheering crowd were rooted deep in his mind, an ugly weed nestling between rationality and the great gift of forgetting.

Despite his overarching unhappiness, there was some comfort in living a luxurious life, even with the guilt of leaving his country. His keepers had lost. As the smoke from the village emerged, beginning the day, he was dragged into a train. Even with the realisation of further imprisonment in his own country, he looked intently through the train window and stroked the leather ends of his watch.

With his fortunes exhausted he walked south to the free cities and the country borders until he reached a large patch of forest whose beauty pleased him. The weaving vines, the large overhanging piece of shrub that seemed to float above him supported by beautiful beams of trees. But then he saw a large clearing of land and he felt the urge to live in the comforting wilderness, without luxury but ultimately satisfaction.

He would remain invisible to the inquiring historians, a man of the wild and one who has reached personal peace.

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CAUSE AND EFFECT– SIMON RHO He had one final place to visit before letting go of his past and continuing with his future.

On May 23, 2133, there, he saw his mother, lying on the floor, a knife through her chest.

He quickly rushed over to her deceased self and looked at her, for the first time in his life. He held her body in his arms and buried his tearful face in her chest.

And stayed there motionless for a long time. ______________________________________________________________________ ____ The murder of John and Mary Hendrick was one of the great mysteries of the 22nd century. Even ten years after the night of April 24, 2138, nobody seems to have a clue about who or what killed the Hendricks and why. And that seemed to bother Ivan Hendrick, who had devoted the past ten years of his life trying to solve the mysteries of his parent’s death. In the span of ten years, he did not learn anything about his parent’s murder that he did not know previously. He began to lose hope. It seemed as if the murder of John and Mary Hendrick would never be solved. Before he gave up, however he decided to visit his childhood home as a final, last resort. ______________________________________________________________________ _____ It was different compared to ten years ago. Ivan could hardly recognize the house which was now occupied by another man. Everything around him was new and foreign to him.

Except one thing.

“That bookshelf over there seems unchanged,” Ivan told the man.

“For some reason, that bookshelf seems as if it's stuck to the wall. No matter how hard I try and move it, it remains completely stationary. I figured that I should just leave it, it’s not a bad looking bookshelf anyway.” the man replied.

As Ivan began to examine it, he found a rotating panel behind a section of the books.

When he stuck his hand through the panel, there was a large button.

Hesitantly, he stuck his hand deeper to press the button. Within a few seconds, there was a sudden loud, unpleasant cranking noise before the bookshelf started moving to the side. Behind the bookshelf was a large metal door.

Ivan took one glance at the man before opening the metal door. As he opened the door, he saw a small room. Ivan used his flashlight to illuminate the room that was pitch-black and on the floor, he found hundreds of blue sheets of paper.

“Blueprints...” Ivan thought to himself.

As he examined the blue sheets of paper, he noticed on the top, it was labeled “time machine”

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______________________________________________________________________ ____ “I finally got it.” Ivan thought to himself as he finished building the machine and turned it on. The miniature device projected a portal in front of him. Feeling nervous, Ivan slowly walked towards the portal until he was completely inside of it.

The world inside the portal seemed to contain all of his memories at once in a straight, linear path. As he walked further along the path, he seemed to go back further into his past. He quickly walked to the memory of his parents being murdered and soon enough, a portal quickly opened into the real world.

He was at his childhood home. On April 24, 2138. As he was walking around silently across the house, he saw a masked figure holding a gun towards his mother in the living room. His father was next to her, lying on the floor, unconscious. When Ivan saw that the man was about to pull the trigger, he knew that he had to interfere. He immediately rushed to the living room to prevent the man from murdering his parents and quickly knocked him out with a blow to the head.

Ivan dragged the unconscious body and used his time machine to return to present time. Once he was there, Ivan went to the basement of his former house. He took the body and tied him up to a chair where he later planned to kill him but not after interrogating him first. This was the moment that he had been waiting for ever since his parents were murdered. Soon, when the man would regain consciousness, he would finally, after ten long years, find out about what happened on the night of his parent’s murder and why he killed them.

But then, as he removed the mask, he saw...himself. A slightly older version of himself. ______________________________________________________________________ ______ “Who are you?” Ivan said as soon as his doppelgänger opened his eyes. His doppelgänger slowly raised his head and began to inspect his surroundings. Realizing he was unable to move, he looked straight up at Ivan.

“What year is this?”

“Answer the question.” Ivan snapped. “Who are you?”

“My name is Adrien Boyle.”

“Why do you look exactly like me?”

“I am you. I am the exact same person as you from the future. From the year 2156.”

“No... I’m not you. I would never become you. You’re a murderer. You were the one who killed my parents. Why?” Ivan responded as he picked up the gun and pointed it towards his Adrien’s head.

“Now, before you make the grave mistake of ending my life, why don’t I show you something first?”

“What?”

“A photograph. From my right pocket” 147 | P a g e

Ivan pulled out the old, crumpled photograph which showed three people; the person in the middle being a young version of himself and two older people, one male and one female, whom he has never seen before.

“Who are these people? I’ve never seen them in my life. Why do you want me to see this?”

“Look closer. You know who they are...you just don’t remember.”

Ivan looked closely at the photograph and focused on the two people behind him. He immediately began having visions of the same two people. He saw the two people looking at him and smiling at him.

“W-what happened? What was that?”

“When I first discovered this photograph, I remember having the exact same flashbacks that you did. I was confused as well. But soon it all started to make sense.”

“What are you talking about? Who are these people?”

“Their names are Robert and Susan Boyle. Two physicists who were murdered in the year 2133...by John and Mary Hendrick. Of course, I never knew any of this until I discovered their secret little room. Before I did, I figured that something was a bit off about my ‘parents.’ They were constantly disappearing to someplace. Whenever I asked where they were going, they always responded that they were going to the lab to work on something. Little did I know that they had another secret ‘lab’ inside the house.

When I finally did discover their room, there were many other photographs like the one you are holding right now: photographs of you when you were younger...with your real parents. The people you see in the photograph that you are holding right now are your real, biological parents. And then, on the night of May 23, 2133, Robert and Susan Boyle were murdered in cold blood. Their life’s work, their research, every single scientific discovery that they made was stolen from them. After John Hendrick murdered your parents, he took you, and brought you to his house.

“How come I don’t remember any of this?”

“They brainwashed you. They took you to their house where you were placed on a machine that removed your memories. But here’s the thing about their ‘amnesia machine.’ It wasn’t permanent. Your memories weren’t gone forever. As the years passed, your memories would slowly return, but not automatically. To access those memories, you needed something, like a reminder, to make those memories come back.”

“So that’s why you showed me that photograph. To try and make my memories come back.”

“Correct.”

“Why go back in time to kill them? Why build a time machine for yourself just for the purpose of murdering the people that raised me? Why murder my parents?

“They are NOT your parents!” Adrien snapped. “Your real, biological parents were murdered by those psychotic lunatics. The Hendricks didn’t care about their actions, as long as they got what they wanted. Their only motivation was greed. They murdered Robert and Susan Boyle for their own personal gain, to use their research for their own 148 | P a g e

purposes. They didn’t care about anything but themselves. You think they love you?

You think they actually care about you? The only reason why they brought you to their house that night was to brainwash you. To make you forget all of the things that you saw on April 24 when you were a child. But by all means, if you wish, keep living in this alternate-reality life that you call ‘home’ and maybe one day you will find out the truth about your so called ‘parents.’” ______________________________________________________________________ ______ He decided to let his future self go.

Of course, the decision wasn’t an easy one to make. Ivan had been searching for this life, a life where both his parents were alive, ever since the night that he lost them. He had come all this way-searching for clues, building a time machine, going back in time, and preventing his parent’s death only to find out that his parents are not what they seem. Only to find out that his real, biological parents are still dead, and have been dead for many years. It was a lot to take in for Ivan. But a part of him felt somewhat satisfied, finally knowing the truth about what happened on the night of April 24-even if it was the ugly truth.

He started to untie the knots from the chair that restrained his future self and gave him back the time machine. As he watched his future self disappear through the portal, Ivan decided that he had one more place to visit before moving on: May 23, 2133. The night his biological parents were murdered. The night where he became ‘Ivan Hendrick’ instead of ‘Adrien Boyle.’

For the final time, he traveled back in time and there, he saw his real, biological mother, lying on the floor, a knife through her chest. He rushed over to her unconscious self and looked at her, for the first time in his life. He held her body in his arms and buried his tearful face in her chest.

And stayed there motionless for a long time.

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MISERABLE MISTAKE– TAEWHO YOON Crack!

The loud sound changed one sunny day of happiness into a miserable reality that followed…

My name is Shota Masamoto, a typical Japanese name. Like many normal students of my age, I go to a countryside school in my neighbourhood. Everything was ordinary about my life, until one day, when I was 16 years old and saw my best friend committing suicide.

Or at least I thought so…

Ding Dong Thinking about my dead friend, I headed towards the swimming pool for my next lesson (PE).

“Swimming is canceled today!”

I saw the warning sign on the door that was ajar. Being curious, I hastily entered the pool and all the water from the pool was gone…

Suddenly, I felt something dark coming slowly towards my back.

“Shota! What are you doing here? Get out of here now!” My PE teacher (Mr White) bellowed at me.

“I….I..am s…sorry Mr White, I’ll just go to the next class” I was frightened like a mouse that was trapped in the jaws of a mousetrap.

After that mysterious moment, which was 11 am, it was lunchtime.

I couldn’t stop thinking to myself “Why is the swimming pool water gone?” I whispered in my messed up brain.

“Aren’t you going to eat that sandwich?” questioned Max - who ate greedily.

“No, you can have it if you want,” I replied with a deep breath.

“Thanks! Why do you look so curious and confused?” Max questioned while eating the delicious ham and cheese sandwich.

“Did you know that the swimming pool water is gone?” I whispered while I was standing up.

“No, where are you going?” He bellowed while dropping his sandwich.

“I need to go somewhere! Meet me at my house after school!” I rushed to the empty swimming pool.

While I was heading to the pool, I started to feel the deadness around the natatorium and I felt something unknown, mysterious and dark coming towards me…

SWISH!

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“Who’s there?” my supernatural reflexes made me turn back quickly.

“GO TO THE SWIMMING POOL,” an unknown voice whistled through my twitching ear.

Quickly as I could, I entered the swimming pool.

“What? How is this possible? I swear the water was gone! The swimming pool is full now,” I muttered in confusion.

From the corner of the waiting area, I saw red liquid floating on the swimming pool like an oil slick left alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Slowly as I could, I stepped Closer Closer Closer to the corner…

SWAHHWSSJHHHHH! A strong wind started to blow like a hurricane and made a swirl like a tornado!

I felt myself being transported through time to the previous week and all of a sudden I was at the same place...

“WOAH! What just happened?” My voice echoed through the ginormous swimming pool.

“Mr White? What are you doing here?” I saw him talking to one of the students.

“Mr White can you see me? HELLO? Answer me!” I yelled at his bearded face.

“It seems like he can’t see me,” I stated to myself.

But then I saw Mr White raising a sharp knife and stabbing the student several times like a psycho maniac…

The pupil tumbled down like a poached elephant. Mr White escaped the crime scene.

I quickly rushed to the boy…

It was Hotaka!

My best friend Hotaka.

Mr White killed Hotaka.

I was shocked in horror and I fell down on the hard tile floor without any support from my quivered hands.

SWAHHWSSJHHHHH! I felt myself transporting back to the present as a ball of tears came running down my wet cheeks.

“Am I back?” I questioned myself.

“Shota! What are you doing here? I was searching for you for ages!” Obese Max waddled like a penguin, with his sandwich.

“Did you just see that? Mr White killed Hotaka!” I bellowed at him in excitement.

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“What do you mean Mr White killed Hotaka? I didn’t see anything,” he exclaimed creepily. “Wait! Come! I need to show you something,” he waved his greasy hands at me.

“Sure,” I excepted him “Don’t worry it’s just a surreal nightmare,” Max calmed me down gently.

“Thanks Max! Anyways, where are we going?” I smiled with a big excitement.

“We are going to a great place that only few people know about,” his sarcastic smile made me feel fear tingled up my straight spine.

“Ok then what’s the place called?” I queried him “Oh, it’s called the WMH…” suddenly his angel like face turned into a wicked devil.

“Stands for ‘White’s Murder House,’” His deep voice made my heart pump quickly like a cheetah.

Then I realised that Max was Mr White’s nephew…

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HERITAGE – JAMIE CHEESEMAN AND STELLA NASS Madison Brooke. My best friend.

She was… normal. All it took was a game. A game no one really believed in; a game played as a joke. Who knew it was real… *Earlier this year* It was my big party. The rays of the sun gave off warmth, which was then cooled by the slight breeze in the air. “Sarah’s Summer Party”, the word had spread all around. Months of planning had gone into this, and everyone was so excited.

The tables were laid with checkered cloth that matched all the napkins.

The lighting was perfect, the colours were perfect, it was all perfect. My friends started piling into the garden, stuffing themselves with food while dancing to the music. Maddie stood proudly at my side.

Fern, my childhood friend was here. I missed her so much. She had amazing jade green eyes, surrounded by deep black eyelashes. She was a little taller than me, had wild red hair, (natural of course). She came with a divine white silky flower dress. She was beautiful. I guess I was a little jealous.

Ruby was going to wear a flaming crimson dress; she couldn't stop talking about it. Her grandma had made it for her, and the colour represented her love for the colour red. Ruby had shining blonde hair, and has a rare Heterochromia Iridum, which meant her eyes were different colors. She came skipping through the gates, admiring the scenery around her. In fact, everyone looked delighted.

As the sunlit sky faded to a darker shade, the adults were all rested and watching a movie. I decided to take all of us children upstairs into the attic.

Recently, the whole school has been obsessed with this new ‘evil spirit’ summoning game. It brought a whole new level of thrill upon all of us. Legends say that if a group of people linked arms and chanted the ‘spell’, one of them would be infected by the evil spirit.

My bedroom was now completely dark, and the only source of light came from a single candle in the corner. Fern held my left hand, and Ruby 153 | P a g e

held my right. I could see Maddie getting into the circle of girls across the room. We all began chanting.

“Don't worry, this is just a tad bit of fun! It's not real” I whispered to fern when I noticed the look of fear in her eyes.

“But what if it is real? What if-” Before Fern could finish her sentence, there was a clap of lightning and thunder. The candle blew itself out and we were surrounded in complete darkness. Maddie screams. Almost as if the darkness was engulfing and suffocating us, nobody made a sound. We were greeted with a soft dripping sound that echoed in my mind.

Drip...

Drip...

Drip…

“Maddie?” I am the first to speak. This seems to calm everyone down, and one girl even stands up to turn the lights back on.

“See. It's fine. I'm still alive, you guys are still perfectly intact. Nothing happened” I calm everyone down. *One week later* The school bell rings and I run out of school, finally free from all the educational lectures my school offered. Maddie hasn't been in school since my party, and I was going to her house with some magazines and chocolate to make her feel better.

Her door was open. Strange. Mr and Mrs Brooke probably left it open while on their way to work.

“Maddie?” I yell out. I begin to walk up the stairs to her bedroom when I begin to start hearing the soft dripping again.

Drip...

Drip...

Drip…

The more intense the dripping got, my heart beat faster. I dart down hallways, swerved around corners, checking every single room in my house. I eliminated all the possibilities, and it singled down to the bathroom. I closed my eyes, then slammed the door open.

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“OH MY GOODNESS!” I mumbled under my breath.

There was Maddie, her eyes white and hair black as ink. She was reeking a strong smell. A smell resembling death.

For the first time in my life, I was startled. Completely speechless. She slowly turned her head, her neck bones cracking, making eye contact with me.

Her eyes were rolled into the back of her head, and her lips formed a fake, but horrifying smile. Not speaking, not moving, just staring. It was terrifying, how I could feel her piercing stare even though her eyes weren’t looking at me.

Something was wrong.

Horribly wrong.

I awoke later on in cloud of darkness on the floor of Maddie’s Bathroom.

The bathroom was spotless. It was almost as if nothing had happened, but the clean walls and clear floor can’t hide the truth of what happened. I could still remember the pungent smell she gave off, the white eyes, the obscure black hair, the bleeding flesh under her long and sharp nails…

Next thing I know I was running up the stairs of Madison’s house, up to her room, into her closet. Her closet was her happy place, the place she went to for some quiet time. It felt like she hid something; she never let me in.

When I opened the door, the closet was filled with bloody scratches on the wall, and crumpled up papers reading “THE GAME IS REAL”.

Curious, I searched more in depth to try and find answers. On her desk, there were pictures of us smiling beside each other. Wanting to see more, I moved the pictures aside…

A melange of words were scratched onto the wall behind the pictures.

Angry words, melancholic words, bitter words of hatred. I had never seen this insane side of my friend. There were more pictures of me, where someone had drawn large X’s over my eyes and had scribbled all over me. Each picture was signed by the name ‘Lucifer’. My eyes diverted to a spot on the table; a single piece of paper that looked different to the others. It was overflowing with writing, unlike the others that only had a single sentence. It read:

“Dear Sarah. Since that ‘game’ i’ve been feeling really weird. Like i’m doing things I don’t want to ; it feels like something is controlling me. I can’t stand this! I need help! My brain is falling apart and my thoughts are out of control. This probably sounds 155 | P a g e

really stupid and childish, but I think it’s real. THE GAME IS REAL. I don’t think you’ll see me anymore. My spirit is flying out of my body more and more by the day. And now… I have

control over your dear friend’s body. She’s MINE. DOn’t even bother to try and get her back, because she’s GONE. And if you try to mess around with that game again, you’ll be the next one I’ll possess. Goodnight!

-LUCIFER. My heart began to race… Lucifer? Did it mean… The devil? My paranoia kicked in fast. My eyes were skimming every corner of Maddie’s room expecting to see this red horned figure looking at me from the ceiling. I was sweating, my hand was holding on to the paper so tight the ink started to bleed.

A whirling of muffled sounds surrounds me. All I can see is Maddie.

Maddie everywhere. The times when Maddie cried, when she laughed, “ha ha. Ha ha”…

Make it stop. Please.

All the memories engulf me in a wave of emotions. I tried pulling my hair out, anything to make it stop.

“You will be next” … A deep voice mumbled.

“You will be next” … It said again.

“YOU WILL BE NEXT!” I jumped in terror.

Maddie stood behind me. The same white eyes, obscure black hair, and bleeding flesh under her long and sharp nails. Why was her voice so deep?!

This definitely wasn’t Maddie who was speaking.

“Maddie? Is it… you?” I asked in a quiet voice, trembling.

“NO! SHE’S GONE!” It screamed.

There was a clap of thunder and lightning, just like the night we first played the game. The night Maddie got taken away.

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But then I saw Maddison Brooke. Not the girl who was possessed by some evil spirit, but my best friend. Everything was normal again. Why was she looking at me like that?

“Sarah...” Suddenly Maddie looked horrified.

“It’s been a long time no see Sarah. I feel a lot more comfortable under your skin, it reminds me of the good old days” My own voice speaks to me. I’m so confused. Please help me.

My hands uncontrollably grip Maddie’s neck with an incredible amount of strength. I could feel the heartbeat through her jugular vein slowing down.

I loved you Maddison. I decide to close my eyes so I don’t see anything else.

Drip...

Drip...

Dri-

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BUT THEN I SAW MY OTHER HALF– RAPHAEL SCHLIPF It was a silent night when I went through the deserted city. The city wasn’t deserted as you think, that nobody was on the street, it was an overall ruin.

The silent wind plays with the raging fires. The smoky air from the fires blocks my nose and every step is hard, because big stones looking like sleeping giants lie everywhere and block my way. The city was on a parallel world and when I don’t find the other half in two hours, myself, I will be dead...

And he will be too.

You will now ask me many questions: How has this happened? Why are you in a parallel world? What is the other half? Why are you going to die in two hours?

Can I travel into the parallel world? Who am I? Don’t ask me so many questions. In the next paragraphs are the answers to all of them...

It started 3 hours ago, when I walked back from school. The day was ordinary and the birds sang the winter off and the spring on. I was thinking nothing when I went home. But then suddenly, an old man stood in front of me and he was laughing and laughing into my face. His lips formed three sentences to me.

Old man: QWERTZUIOPÜASDFGHJKLÖÄYXCVBNM. And he said to me: These words will send you into another world and they will split you into halves. One half is now in the other world and now I will also send you there. You must find your other half in three hours or you will die.

So now here I am.

Every writer writes this sentence in the beginning of a paragraph, when it gets exciting, but it is so good you can use it in every book several times.

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Oh I must write my story! Here I am. In a dessert with only sand, but there in the north, far away, is a city. There can be water or, when I am really lucky, my other half.

I stood up and walked to the city. Every step felt like I had stones on my feet and it was hard to make the next step. After half an hour I fell into the sand: tired and with pain in my feet and knees. But I must stand up or I would die...

Finally, I came to the city. Not knowing what to do, I looked for people and water. But there was no water or people, it all was silent. Suddenly I saw a club coming on my head and in the next second I was powerless. I fell to the ground and knew I would die.

When I woke up, I was in prison. But in the other cell, there was a boy looking exactly the same as me. We cannot hear us, but in the cell there is a sign with the words: whoever presses the button becomes free, but the other person dies.

Your partner has the same sign...

But your partner is still YOU.

So what would YOU do?

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HIM ALL ALONG– ANA COARASA But then I saw...

HIM and that's when I realised...

It had been him all along.

Their parents were their idols; everything that their parents were, they had aspired to be. Their hopes, dreams and role models, had been taken from them at once.

“This isn’t fair,” Sophie complained “Who would do such a thing!”

Josh remained quiet, he didn’t know how or what to answer. Yesterday, he’d had the normal life of a 16-year-old boy - today his house had burnt down and both of his parents had passed away in the fire and somehow, he felt like it was his fault “It’s not your fault you know,” Sophie whispered with a faint grin that disappeared faster than it lasted.

“What are you?” he asked, “a crazy mind reader?”

She let out a weak laugh, almost as quiet as a whisper. Sophie knew how to read her brother’s face. She knew when he was happy, depressed, angry, but most importantly, when he was blaming himself; she thought of it as her 6th sense.

Ding Dong The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Sophie said. She wanted to break the silence; it made her uncomfortable. A man who looked middle aged walked through the hotel door.

He seemed… different- very different.

“Hello children,” he said. Sophie -somehow- picked out that he had a french accent.

“Are you... French?” she asked shyly, trying to hide her intrigue.

“Yes,” he answered, “I am indeed!”

“How can we help you, sir?” Josh stepped in. He’d never seen this man; he wondered why he was here.

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“I’m here to take you two to my house to live with me,” he said confidently “I’m your father’s cousin.”

Likewise, both Sophie and Josh had their mouths as wide open as a cave!

“Our what?” Sophie asked shocked “Dad said that we had no family, except for them.

And well, eachother.”

“I’m not surprised, your father and I never really got along very well.” he said “My name is Nicholas Meyer” “Why should we trust you?” Josh asked.

Sophie couldn’t believe he had just blurted it out like that. Nicholas remained silent.

“If you really are our uncle, then tell us something about our father.” Josh said confidently.

“He was an archeologist,” he said expeditiously, “You and him don’t get along very well because he never has much time for you children.”

There was a pause in the conversation. Sophie felt uncomfortable; she never really liked silence. She felt like silence was a synonym for danger.

“Let’s get packing then!” she said interrupting the pause.

“Try not to take too long children!” Nicholas exclaimed.

Josh didn’t fully trust Nicholas. There was something about him that was … off.

On the way to Nicholas’ house, nobody spoke. Josh kept glancing at Sophie to make sure that she was ok. He had the feeling that Nicholas wasn’t telling them everything...

Finally they arrived! Nicholas lived in a HUGE mansion with three floors, two gardens filled with beautiful flowers, at least, five balconies and, from the outside, it looked like there was at least ten rooms!

“Is it only you?” Sophie wondered “Only you live here?”

“No,” Nicholas was surprised that Sophie didn’t ask if he was rich or if he made a lot of money. He started to sense that Sophie was kind and had a good heart.

“My wife lives here with me. Her name is Berenice, but you can call her Bere.” Nicholas commented.

“Please make yourselves at home” Nicholas added.

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Josh could tell he wasn’t making a very good first impression. He could also tell that silence made Nicholas uncomfortable, just like Sophie. I’ll make a note of that he thought to himself.

Sophie ran inside of the house as soon as Nicholas finished talking. She obviously had no idea where her room was, but luckily, Berenice was waiting for them inside. Berenice took Sophie to her room while Josh was still daydreaming outside. When they got to Sophie’s room, she was trying to not freak out in front of Berenice, but Berenice could tell that she was excited so she said: “There’s no need to act natural around me Sophie, you can get excited as much as you want” As soon as Sophie heard these words come out of Berenice’s mouth. She ran around the room with a wide smile on her face. Her room was INCREDIBLE. The bed was so soft and the covers looked like silk. She had a balcony and she had a small comfortable couch to sit on. It was her dream but she knew she couldn’t accept this.

“I love it!” Sophie exclaimed “But I can’t accept it” “Why not?” Berenice asked surprised. She’d never met someone that wouldn’t accept such things. She realised how humble Sophie was, unlike other people she had met so far in her life; she knew that she was kind and had a good heart.

“It’s too much” Sophie stated “I don’t deserve all this” “Of course you do! I can sense that you’re kind and have a good heart. If anyone deserves this, it’s you,” Berenice declared “And I won’t accept a no for an answer” “Well, thank you. You and Nicholas are very kind for offering me and Josh all of this” Sophie said with a smile on her face.

“Anything for family.” Berenice said softly smiling back. When Berenice left the room, Sophie looked out the window to check if Josh was still out there. The moment she saw him walking through the front door, she ran downstairs and dragged him all the way to her room.

“What’d you do that for!” Josh exclaimed “Well to show you my room of course!” Sophie exclaimed back.

But before Sophie could show anything to Josh, they heard a weird and unsettling noise.

Screech A door opened “What was that?” asked Sophie nervously.

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“I have no idea” Josh answered “But I intend to find out” They opened the door and crawled downstairs carefully, to make sure they didn’t make any noise. When they got to the living room, they saw Berenice fiddling with the bookcase.

“Sorry to bother you Berenice, but we heard a strange noise coming from down here.

Do you have any idea what it was?” Sophie asked intrigued “Sorry children, I didn’t hear anything” Berenice said nervously, but neither Josh or Sophie noticed. So they kept looking.

“Where do you think it came from?” Sophie asked “It was a door, definitely a door” Josh said confidently “How do you kn-” “Hold on. DON’T MAKE A SOUND” ______________________________________________________________________ ______ And that was when they saw...

HIM and that's when they realised...

It had been him all along.

The person who killed their parents.

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TOHOKU– RIHO MINEGISHI 18455. Do you know what number this is? March 11th 2011. Do you remember or know what happened on this date? Some of you will not know. However, for the Japanese, no-one can ever forget this day. This tragedy.

Never...

March 11th. I stayed at home, because there was no school. I was in first grade in elementary school. I forget the reason why we had the day off, but my mother and grandparents were also at home. It was no different from any other day. Everything was normal... until 14:46 and 18 seconds. Suddenly, it was rumbling… an earthquake!

“Clatter, clatter clatter…”

Tokyo’s seismic intensity was level 5 which was very strong. Earthquakes were repeating: shake, stop, shake, stop. Because I was only six years old, I didn’t take this earthquake very seriously. Therefore, I continued eating an icecream until the shaking stopped. Eventually, the warning alarm could be heard almost every minute. I remembered that warning alarm scared me.

Hearing something rattling and noticing the ceiling light was swaying, I realized that it was a powerful earthquake.

Japan is on the Ring of Fire and, therefore, earthquakes often happen. Accordingly, I didn’t care about the shaking and neither did my mother and grandparents. However, when the shaking became stronger, I believed it was the strongest earthquake that I had ever experienced!

My grandfather thought this earthquake could be really dangerous. Therefore, he turned on the television and we went under the table. All the TV stations broadcast news about earthquakes...

32 minutes after the first earthquake... it came... a TSUNAMI! I knew about the tsunami from the news because the tsunami hit a different place, not Tokyo. I thought this tsunami was not huge.

But then I saw...

It was the first time that I saw a tsunami and it was shocking! The tsunami was a monster and it swallowed everything: people, buildings, houses… and gulped families, important people, memories...

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Seeing live pictures on the news, I realised that this Earthquake was a really serious problem. The cities which had the most damage were Miyagi and Fukushima. I started to feel under the weather. My feelings turned from shock to sadness. It was too scary.

The tsunami was so big and, therefore, it didn’t stop quickly. I watched the tsunami for a few hours. It was impossible to stop watching, those poor people needed our help.

Eventually, I went to my room and tried not to watch the news. I couldn’t understand what was happening and didn’t want to watch the tsunami destroying everything. I felt that area was a different country. Tokyo would survive the earthquake and we could fix everything in a few weeks. But, I couldn’t believe what was happening in Tohoku. Only at that time, I detested the fact that Japan was surrounded by ocean.

A few days later, I got a really big shock and cried. There was a television programme explaining what had happened….

Right after the Tsunami started, there were announcements telling people in Tohuko to evacuate their homes and head to hills and mountain areas. Ten thousand people were helped by that announcement.

One woman risked her life to make that announcement. That woman’s name was Miki Endo. Her announcement saved lots of people. However, she died in the tsunami. She sacrificed herself for others. She is my hero and a hero for others as they really appreciated her help.

One of the biggest causes of the loss of life and the destruction of the Tohoku region, was backwash. After the tsunami stopped, the backwash started. This was so powerful that it moved and destroyed lots of houses, ships and even people. Lots of people were watching these tragic scenes from the top of a hill. Some people were crying so hard, because they were devastated by the loss of memories and important things in their homes. Furthermore, lots of dead bodies flowed into the ocean. Even now, 2561 people are missing. We can’t find them, because their bodies are in the ocean.

Time passes by so quickly. Already six years have passed since that day. Not long ago, I watched a Tohoku Earthquake documentary on TV. I watched that scary and horrible scene again. I didn’t want to watch but I felt compelled to. I saw lots of people crying and I almost started crying too. When I watched the video of the tsunami and thought about all the people who died, I became so scared. My mother was almost crying too. I realized the power of nature is so destructive. No one can stop it. On the sixth anniversary of the tragedy, at 15:20, I observed one minute’s silence to think about and pray for all the people who died or are still missing.

On the whole, I think Japanese people are kind. However, some Japanese people can be mean. Lots of people moved to other cities to escape from the cities of Miyagi or Fukushima after Tsunami happened. This was due to the nuclear power station being hit by the tsunami and then radioactivity levels were really high. Everyone knows this is 165 | P a g e

dangerous for the people exposed to radioactivity. However, there were cruel people who did not want those who had been exposed to radioactivity near them.

“Go back to your home city, because you are radioactive and you are going to kill me.

Don’t come close to me.”

Lots of people were surprised about this. These poor people had suffered enough from the tsunami. We have to welcome them to our cities. We have to take care of them. We have to make them happy.

I couldn’t believe it when I heard that news on TV. I was really mad at them and I’m still angry now. I think they should get educated about the Tohoku Earthquake so they realise how horrible and rude they were. Furthermore, they can know that to lose everything is extremely sad.

Some people have turned over a new leaf and try to support Tohoku’s revival. Some people made senba tsuru: senba means one thousand and tsuru means crane. We make these using origami when we wish or hope for something. I made senba tsuru with my classmates too, because I want the people of Tohoku to become cheerful and for the area to be re-built as quickly as possible. Moreover, lots of people donated money, food and blankets because lots of people lost their homes and also there were no supermarkets to buy food. The tsunami hit three cities in Tohoku: Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. After the disaster, Iwate had 5.84 million tonnes of rubble, Miyagi had 19.3 million tonnes and Fukushima had 4.22 million tonnes. However, with lots of people’s support, all of this had been moved.

Furthermore, “Yahoo Japan” waged a campaign this year on March 11th. This campaign is called “search for 3.11”. Every time someone searches “3.11” on Yahoo Japan, Yahoo will donate 10 yen ($0.1) to Tohoku. Lots of people actually did this and Yahoo sent 42,945,320 yen ($429,453.2). I was really happy that I could join that campaign and support them.

18455 is the total number of people who died or are still missing from the tsunami.

Whenever, I write or read articles about this earthquake and tsunami, I get goosebumps all over even though I didn’t experience the tsunami directly. However, I think it is because I feel “The Great East Japan Earthquake” was so intimidating and because I watched it happen live on television.

The “Tohoku Earthquake” was a little traumatic for me. So, every time earthquakes happen and shaking is strong, I become worried that a tsunami is going to come again.

I don’t want more people to die from a tsunami.

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JUST BECAUSE OF MY LOOKS– KATE KOO Based on a true story.

Day 1 After school I came back again in front of the mirror. Fat, ugly, unattractive, stupid… I call myself by those names, over and over again. Each word, no matter how much I repeat it, brings fresh pain. People call me ugly and unattractive, and now I call myself that too. My name is Lauren and I'm 14. A lot of things are changing around me. I'm going through puberty… but I know I shouldn’t blame my looks on puberty. I was always on the chubby side… and far from pretty.

I look through a celebrity’s instagram. The beauty with the perfect body and face is on the page staring at me. The slightly condescending smile seems to be directed to me. “You need to get prettier! Why do you have so many pimples? Don't you have thigh gaps? Wow look at that fat…” I spent the day looking at articles about how to reduce fat, how to cure acne… I tried all of them but I have never succeeded. Nobody appreciates my looks and I don't too. But in the corner of my mind, I feel like I need someone to help me to get out of this world of torture.

Every day is the same. The neverending cycle of self-torture. Every night I secretly take out detox drinks and I start drinking. Without thinking, like always, I swallowed bottle after bottle.

Feeling uncomfortable and hungry, I went to bed.

At midnight I got aches and in the morning I always had to go to the bathroom. Even though there are no prominent effects from the drinks (except the side effects of course), it feels like I need to keep drinking them anyway. I moved my body heavily, trying to get ready for school. I skipped. I put on my skirt and zip up the zipper… It doesn't go up all the way but I can't do anything about it. The same thing happens to my top, Buttons don't fit and there are huge gaps appearing between the fabric. I ran out of the house, in fear that someone might see me. I can't have breakfast in this kind of state either. I run one block away from my house and I feel exhausted. I regret skipping breakfast, but force myself to justify my actions… ‘I need to lose weight’. Why am I like this?

The most painful time in school would be break time. A few people come to me and stare at me as if I’m an animal placed in a zoo exhibition. I silently write in my diary in the corner of the kindergarten playground slide. It feels safe, nobody looks at me, at least not yet. Until, of course, Alissa does. “OMG! Lauren! What happened to you? Did your plastic surgery go wrong?” The bullies found me. They start laughing at me, mocking me and finally hitting me. I can't stop them just because they are the popular girls. If I even try to stand up to them… well there will be consequences. I just lay still on the ground after getting beaten. Alissa pushed me to the ground and kicked me. I felt dehumanized. Feeling the awful pain on my blood-soaked knee, bruised face and my scratched neck, I go back up to the classroom.

I just wish teachers could rescue me when I get bullied. I want teachers to understand me. I want teachers to scold them but this never happens. They think it's no big deal because the bullies always pretend to care for me in front of the teachers. Everytime I think of this, the worst memories come back. My experience with my crush Jason.

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Last year I stood up for myself from the bullies and they planned a revenge. Embarrassing me in front of my crush was their ultimate plan. During lunch time I was carrying my tray from the food court, he came to me to ask me for a spoon… behind me there was the bully, Alissa. I didn't notice her because of the captivating face of Jason. Suddenly I felt a strong push behind my back! I gasped in horror, and flailed my arms to keep myself from falling. But my actions were useless. The tray laden with food slipped out of my hands… The food on the ceiling started to fall. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen. I closed my eyes. It gradually fell down, slowly, slowly and slowly…

Even when the scorching soup hit Jason’s shirt, the greasy meat splattered on his hair, I didn’t dare open my eyes. I stood there, swimming in pure humiliation.

Alissa was the one who led Jason to the nurse. I heard he suffered minor burns. I felt immense guilt.

If I think of that situation, I want to disappear.

I came home with a glum face. My face was facing the ground and my eyes were looking down at the tip of my shoes. Mother asked me with boredom “How was school?”. I couldn't. And then I got in trouble … for nothing. She doesn't understand how I feel. She says that she is disappointed in me just because I'm not the popular girl in school. She says she was. She was the most beautiful, fit, popular and kind girl in school. I don't believe her. On the dinner table, I have two slices of beef and mostly all of it is salad. I think this is the life of children who have a body shape like me.

Are my looks that bad? I ask myself, “If it's that bad why didn't somebody try to help me by encouraging me instead of discouraging me.?” I finish my meal leaving the two slices of beef and head to my room downstairs. I feel like I'm invisible when I'm in a good mood but nobody cheers me up. When I'm in a bad mood people see me and scold me for being… ugly and fat. I'm going to sleep now, I'm on the bed and my head is filled with millions and millions of worries. I go to sleep at 12:00 and the later I sleep the worries become nightmares.

Day 2 ‘Ugh’ I woke up with a start. When I opened my eyes, my brother was smirking over me, ready for school. By the look of it, he had punched me … again. I sighed and dragged myself to get ready for school. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I felt overwhelming envy. Even though it was only 8am, my immature ten-year-old brother looked flawless. His round chubby cheeks, radiant light brown eyes, dimpled smile… he was the crush of all the girls, and even the boys admired him. Seeing him actually hurt me. The difference was so large it was almost comic. I let a bitter laugh escape. I stumbled to school… gloomy as ever. …

Day 47 I'm sure I'm really bad at writing diaries…

I skipped a lot! Maybe this is how diaries end … when people who don't like writing start them, but aren’t committed enough…

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I’m writing again because I want to make a goal for myself. I can't stand it anymore… I need to make a change. But then I saw that the reason I was so depressed was me. I hated myself, my body, personality, everything. Even if I had friends, I would have been unhappy forever.

I know how people in the internet say you are beautiful just the way you are. Well, I now realised they were right. I am beautiful! I am pretty. I am worth as much as the pretty girls on social media pages, maybe more. Society might think I'm not but I don't care I can be me.

I am happy, because I am myself.

THE TWIST– MARSHALL MOUSSAVI Quentin Gayle was in every way perfect. His perfections were perfect and his imperfections were perfect.

Here are some of his achievements: • • • • •

Top of the grade in every test for three straight years National champion of both the 100m and 200m sprints Dissed Alipe, an enemy, who was harassing kids from Year 6 in front of everyone at the end-of-year assembly Produced and Published a scientific paper on the Anathema of Polymorphic Ichthyomorphic tessellations in raindrops (or something like that) Starred on Masterchef Jr. only missing the cut to the finals when he didn’t accept bribes from Rordon Gamsay

As you can see from the few achievements listed, (in no particular order) Quentin was as extraordinary as one could get.

On this particular day, in the holiday celebrating the transition of summer to fall 1999, the “inspiration to many” was amongst his friends walking back home after watching “The Matrix”.

A sample of existential crisis was being demonstrated and was the centerpiece of the discussion.

Primarily, the crisis revolved around the matrix and whether their lives were just dreams, and whether they were being harvested by robots.

“What if we are hooked up to The Matrix or something?”

“On the web the chance of this varies from a billion to one to a two to one chance that people from future civilizations are simulating what their ancestors’ lives were like”.

“Nerd”.

“Gerald, do you need me to define that for you?”

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“No, but you can if you want”.

“Nerd: An individual persecuted by others, usually who are jealous or scared of them”.

Quentin shivers at the mention of persecution. “Why do I even hang out with you?”

“Do you want me to tell you why?” ” Here we go again!”.

Then the crisis shifted, and revolved around the Truman Show (which had been released around a year earlier). The Truman Show is about an insurance salesman who realizes his life is the most popular television show in the world. All the people in his “life” are just actors portraying fake emotions. He has been on the television show for almost 30 years unaware.

“What if someone is setting up my life?”

“Yeah, just like The Truman Show!”

“I know right… Are you guys actors?”

“Really.”

“I know, but it’s technically possible.”

“What if you were supposed to say that to make me think my life is not a television show?”

They continue to discuss other topics that are related, such as devious government programs and how anything could happen in the future or even be happening.

Each one of them say their farewells as they are reaching the intersection where everyone will split up. The light turns red, traffic is halted and they cross. Quentin is by himself. He starts the walk of homestretch.

He doesn’t finish.

Awake, but paralyzed. The effort of keeping the two bricks open is too much. In a fraction of a second filled with calculations, I realize it is done. The only way I could escape my… ideas?

Creators? Parents?

Dreams, too real to dreams be filled with a red liquid and a peculiar gurgling sound. Next is laughter. A smudged silhouette: “This will hurt. A LOT”. Shouting, rasping screams. Sobbing.

Then the alarm clock.

Every night. All night.

I kept telling myself these dreams were ephemeral. I researched. Nothing. Evidence of small scratches and scars told me that something more was happening. I speculated it was real.

They were testing.

Who am I? Part of me is someone. The other part is someone else. Brain transplant. No, body transplant.

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When I signed up to be part of the “Then I saw” program I thought it was a privilege to rent (practically) my body for half a million dollars. Now I realize it was not seeing, but being.

Twisting people’s lives. “Then I saw” So know I’m myself and another person. No, I’m myself and another person. No I’m myself and myself. The platform I’m lying on is rough. What i think is leather has me strapped to it. It’s all dark.

A loud light switch turns loud lights on. A woman in high heels in a white suit walks in. Her shoes echo in the vast room. “Another failure” she speaks in a disappointed, yet stern tone.

She raises a gun to my brain. “NO, NO I’m alive” I want to scream, but I can’t do anything.

The world turns black.

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THE STALKER– CATHERINE PARK This story has graphic scenes of violence. Do not read if you are sensitive.

05/01/16 Tuesday Cuts.

On my upper right thigh.

Blood stained on my cream colored duvet is what I woke up to find on a cold miserable Tuesday morning. Threatened, I instinctively tried to recap the events that occurred the night before. Nothing. I could get nothing. The last thing I remember doing was taking my sleeping pills and falling into deep sleep.

Now I had a splitting headache as if I didn’t get any sleep and I was confused and frightened. I stared into the mirror expecting it to give me some sort of answers, or hints but I wasn’t any less confused. I ran up the front door to check if it had been locked throughout the night, the backdoor and the windows; just how I left it.

I phoned my psychologist but all she was interested in was about the story of what happened; urging me to go on and tell her about everything that I did which could have triggered the stalker - I had a stalker since freshmen year and “he” never physically hurt me before… this was his first time using physical abuse to get my attention. She wasn’t in the slightest bit interested about my hectic mind and about the wounds on the verge of bleeding again. I took a deep breath and told her exactly what I told her just a couple seconds ago. “I don’t know” and she seemed disappointed as if she was waiting for a much greater answer. Still confused and clueless, I hung up the phone.

Moments later I found a knife; a kitchen knife too, but with blood. Lots of it sitting on the kitchen island. I was doubting myself for a moment. Did that kid really want me to know that “he” was trying to kill me? Or maybe “he” was just unprofessional? I left it at the exact spot and waited for the police to arrive and take it away to the forensics team.

I waited and stalled in the halls for hours, people with white gloves, masks and professional gowns walked past the halls endlessly. When the forensic crew finally appeared with the results, their faces seemed utterly bewildered. They glared straight at me with expressions I could not interpret. They left 172 | P a g e

us with a stack of paper the first page reading: No other DNA apart from along with perplexed expressions.

I just couldn’t wrap my head around the data.

14/01/16 Thursday Constant exhaustion. Was this normal? Maybe it was, considering all the stress I’ve been getting. Ever since I found those cuts, I feel as if I haven’t gotten any sleep. I felt like the only way I could sleep was to find the wretched demon who wanted nothing but my attention.

Days, even weeks passed. The police were notified, as well as a public investigation. My house was constantly surrounded by flashing police cars as if they were wolves getting ready to attack its prey. However, in this situation, they were for security. (“Security”. They’re honestly not that helpful). They would guard the house dutifully, yet a scream was always heard the next morning.

I slowly began to consider the possibilities. Is there a chance that it isn’t my stalker? I was becoming certain that it wasn’t.

But then again, who else could it be? I drifted away from the idea that it was “him”, the stalker kid.

25/01/16 Monday I was fed up and terrified at the same time. It was as if the emotion “anxiety” in my head dominated and nothing could stop it. I installed cameras - even in places I wouldn’t even imagine going to around the house hoping for some results as the thought of not getting anywhere and perhaps putting myself in more danger by waiting, struck me.

26/01/16 Tuesday I woke up but this time, no cuts and no headache. I was glad it was another one of those days when nothing happened during the night but also frustrated I couldn’t get anything.

29/01/16 Friday I checked the cameras this morning after once again, finding more blood stains on my sheets. I rewinded the tape to 5 hours 173 | P a g e

ago where I could find a figure walking around. It was too dark to see her face but I could remotely see her body structure and walking patterns; similar to mine. She finally lit the lamp on my table and I neared my face to the camera screen to get a better glance.

But then I saw myself.

I doubted myself at first. I listed all the possibilities but her face, body, hair, general looks. They all resembled me to the point where it was frightening. Then did I realise that the demon was very near me at all times in fact, within me; the dark figure I’ve been getting chased by for weeks, happened to be another me. The demon inside me ready to take over my existence.

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GOLDEN TIME– ANA PARK What’s happening? But then I saw the emerald blue waters absorb my body bit by bit, as my helpless hands clawed out to the sinking ship. Bronze tin cans spilled out on top of me and I strangled myself to grasp onto anything. I was not aware if it was the salt water that was making me tear up or whether it was the blood curdling sight of my lifeless companions drifting away that made me suffocate. My feet shriveled to escape the cold but I still desperately strained to somehow, miraculously surface up.

I knew that some, at least one or two of my classmates would be alive to help me up to the lifeboat. Knowing and reminding myself of the feckless chances, I poured all my remaining energy to hurtle myself up to safety. *** “Mrs. President, you need to go to the Command Ops now.”

David’s breathing was heavily, sweat rolling down his forehead.

“Look David I know you are doing a great job as the special advisor but I have to finish this report by tonight or else I won’t be able to make this speech. You know I’ve been prepar…” Calmly but slightly disturbed, Park continued to write, refusing to look up to the worn out secretary.

“Mrs. President, this is urgent.” David almost shouts, alarming the president, causing her to widen her eyes.

“Oh wow alright this sounds urgent. What’s happening?” She lifts her body immediately to stand up, busily start to neaten out her outfit and head out of the room.

“Mrs. President, we have a national dilemma here. We just received a call from the CSG (Central Security Group) that a boat, named the Sewol ferry sunk during their way to Jeju. Our team cannot assure you of any casualties yet, but we can promise we are using every resource to work this out.” General Choi explained with confidence.

“Where is the exact coordinates to the accident? Can I talk to the marine police commander there please?” The President inquired in a desperate tone, making it seem obvious as if she did not know what to do about it.

“I am sorry Mrs. President but we do not have any details of the location yet. And about the commander, sure. David? Chief commander Lee should pick up soon.” *** Bright.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Ye Jin, Happy birthday to you!”

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Thrilled screams of children came from the room as the ferry started off with a loud honk. Students excitedly linked arms, busily looking up and down from their list to find their own rooms. Regardless of age or occupation, everyone had an excited look on their face, all prepared for a long trip. Teachers also joined the pleasure, diligently organising their belongings along their beds.

“Find your rooms and roommates and get prepared for dinner by 6 everyone!” the teacher shouted, we never gave him a single look though, all busy chatting along with their fellow classmates. Elderly citizens in the boat were preparing to explore their first experience, fervently looming around the scene.

During the first few hours on board, we all just stayed in our rooms, organising belongings and getting ready for my birthday dinner at 6. My classmates came to deliver their birthday presents to me, and I thanked them with great sincere.

“Hey so I guess you’ll be having your birthday lunch with your friends when we get to Jeju, Ye Jin” asks one of my teachers in such a sarcastic tone that I cannot resist to let out a smirk.

“Yeah I guess. Do you have any plans when we arrive?” I return the question, striving to hide my smile.

“I’m just planning to pick up a couple of presents for my family, you know?”

“Oh yes, yes of course.”

When dinner came, we all prepared for a night party as the students approached the dinner hall filled with extreme adrenaline. Teachers, students, we all were one team that night, volunteering to sing and dance to the exhilarated atmosphere.

Dark.

We all walked back to our rooms, still overwhelmed with the cheer. It was around 7:30 P.M., and the lobby was still noisy of people trying to look around. Everyone was expecting a peaceful night to come, spending the invaluable time with their friends and family. Students exchanged last “good nights” in front of their rooms, and we all split up at that point.

“Thunk.”

An ear splitting thunk blasted us as we were entering our rooms, causing the entire boat to lose its balance. People standing in the lobby grasped to find balance as one or two students held the doorway to keep them stable. After a couple of seconds, the boat came back to its stern condition, but everyone was concerned about their safety; perhaps due to the possibility of another thunk.

Again we started entering the rooms, but this time with delicate and cautious steps. The crew staff started an announcement: “Dear passengers, the loud thunk produced just now is due to our engine system, since we have just found a gas container discharged.

We believe the sound itself was produced from the collision of both gas containers, so you do not have to be worried. Our crew staff will always strive to provide you with

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safety.” After this announcement, the loud chattering continued, and the boat was at its usual volume.

I could not feel anything special probably just yet. All I could feel was a little tilt, but that was usual for an experienced plane rider. Business was the same for everyone on board. Our music was on a full blast, some of us were stood up dancing to the radio.

There were still screams and laughter- both the voices of young and old.

All of a sudden, we all stopped from a loud thunk against the wall of our room. Instantly, everyone made a turn and saw that our speaker had hit the inner wall of our room; not a big deal really, at its first sight. Slowly breaking the silence, we started to make small movements, and everyone realised that the curtains had made a dramatic twist in shape. Before we realised, our boat was tilting towards the water line.

Chaos.

Through the unexpected plot, the laughter filled, bright and energetic ferry was full of painful agony, each room gasping for help. Unable to hold their balance, people started sliding down the hallways, making a chaotic scene- almost one of those cliché moments in a Harry Potter movie. After a blink, my bag, along with all my friends were screeching the floorboards as they slid across the floor, and people slid with them, creating a horrific knot of bodies. In the midst of this disarray, a young woman’s voice came out of the speakers, announcing in a settled tone for the passengers not to move from their rooms.

“Passengers of the Sewol ferry, our crew staff is working to figure out the cause of this accident. In order to make this process fast and easy, all passengers must stay in their rooms and wait for the corresponding instructions. Please stay calm at all times…”

I don’t understand, I mean, we’re all confused and scared here. I felt like the crew’s trapping us right now. Who in the world would think it’s safe to stay here? What, do they expect us to somehow survive in a room soon filling up with salt water? The ferry has now angled in almost a full 45 degrees, and I can smell the salt even closer - I can literally hear and see death approaching us.

I look around the room to find most of my classmates either screaming or riskily trying to call their parents whilst holding onto one of the metal bars attached to the bed. The crew announcement is on an endless repetition, although honestly, they should know that no one cares about their ignorance. Unfortunately, I can’t stop doubting whether the crew staff are just announcing this load of nonsense just to escape out of this hell themselves before anyone else does.

While having all these potential conspiracy theories floating in my head, my body drops to the cold floor, and my left arm pivots for me to roll out onto the hallway. Surprisingly, it is not the warm floorboards that just a few hours ago, students were cheering on, that greets me, it’s the stern surface of the table only just balanced on top of the freezing waters. If this table did not protect me, that greedy waters would have sucked me in by 177 | P a g e

this point and frankly, I would be dead. All of a sudden, the heavy metal table is banged on top of me, causing me to lose my conscience. Everything was dark, and everything felt like a dream.

I hardly open my eyes again, feeling the sudden rush of pain of the salt water stroking my eyes. I also see smokes of red, and I’m guessing it’s from the blood that came from the injury the metal table caused me. But wait, where is everyone? How did all this just happen all of a sudden?

Confused, terrified and worried, I look around my position. On top of me lies the monster ferry, around 15 meters above. The lifeboat, and people are somehow rescued.

On the corner of my eye, I see a body slowly surface up. I’m guessing it’s one of the dead bodies that drowned. But then I saw countless, probably hundreds of bodies surface up with them, and the one right next to me is my best friend, Jin ah. Shocked and ripped apart, my heart still lies there. I should not fight this anymore, and my eyes black out again.

What’s happening?

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STEP, STEP– CLAIRE KWAK Do not read if you are triggered by suicidal content.

Step, step.

A new player has approached the railing of the Bridge of Life.

Would you like to play?

“Yes…” Player, enter 50 cents to begin.

"This is all I have left," you said. Plink. Plonk. 2 quarters with an added sigh. Uh oh, that'll be an extra 50 for the carbon dioxide you just emitted into the air. You throw two more coins and they sail into the murky water of Hangang river, aiming for the boat while you’re at it. It’s like a wishing well- make a wish!

(Oh, how I wish I could throw myself away as easily as those coins.)

Thank you. Please approach the machine.

You take a tentative step towards the box.

The rules are simple. A number will light up randomly. It will flash for only a split second.

If you miss any number, the game is over.

Noticing the tiny LEDs on the numbers, you started to crack your knuckles before it started to hurt. The cuts. They burned more than the newfound fire in your eyes.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

But what was the point of this?

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As the number 2 lit up, your hand lashed out to meet it. It stung; you weren’t sure if it was the bruises or the blood. Or maybe it was the pain of disappointment.

But then you saw lights at the end of the bridge. Your eyes followed the chain of lights as each message on the Bridge of Life lit up, as if it was a symbol of hope. Across the river, you saw the lights. The city that you live in. Each one representing a person or group of people. People that could care if you had ceased to exist from this world… maybe.

If only they had listened and seen the signs. If only they hadn’t walked away then you needed them most. If only they had given you that one hug you craved and the love you never received.

Then maybe you wouldn’t have gotten drunk. Maybe you wouldn’t feel this way. You’re too far deep.

But you have to keep going.

And then you saw the final number flash out of the corner of your eye. Time seemed to slow down as you reached out-Game over!

It was too late. You were distracted by the hope, and the fire in your eyes was extinguished with tears.

Forget it. There’s no one who can help you now. …

You looked down at the ocean below. The fresh water looked so inviting. How did the fish feel down there? Were they free to go wherever they wanted? After all, the ocean takes up 71% of our world- you could travel practically anywhere. What a difference that would be from this cruel, trapped feeling.

You wanted to feel the cool breeze against your damaged skin. Know what it feels like to be free.

As if the force was dragging you, you subconsciously climbed onto the railing with the little strength you had. The strength that was once used to fight, was now being used to give up.

How pathetic!

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You shut your eyes and breathed in the polluted air- the pollution you contributed to. You didn’t want to see this disgusting excuse of a world anymore.

Sitting on the railing of the Bridge of Life, you let the wind embrace your broken heart.

Splash! ... …

Step, step.

A new player has approached the railing.

Would you like to play?

The end.

Side note: I didn’t realise that so many people were writing about the topic of suicide and I didn’t want to write about something that was written about so much- however, I wrote this one day when I visited Mapo Bridge and it was a feeling that I wanted people to know about.

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TIME MACHINE – DANIEL PAK OO/OO/2017 “Mom, can I go hang out with my friends?”

Suddenly, I noticed that I can’t actually hang out with my friends right now, because it’s dark outside and it’s like 8:00. I just wanted to get some fresh air, NOT studying. I just wandered our yard and I accidently stepped on something hard: a metally kind of thing.

I was curious about it so I used the shovel - which I found in someone’s house - to dig and find out what that thing is. It took like several hours to do it. But the thing I found was - a mysterious machine.

It looked like a small machine (a bit rusty). I went inside and it looked like a spaceship. I mean, an old one but it was definitely better than that. It was also comfy.

Anyway, in the ‘rideable-machine’ thingy there was a set of numbers; 2017. Which was this year. I touched the number and other numbers started to come out. Apparently, if you touch the number, the computer voice- which reminded me of Siri- says ‘year set.’.

The astonishing part was there was a button which says ‘time warp’. Could this be a time machine? I set the number to 2040. A strange feeling came to me. ‘Press the button.’ ‘Press it.’ It was like someone was talking to me. I could hear it clearly. So I pressed the button. I lost my consciousness for a moment.

When I woke up, I suddenly noticed that I was still in time machine, also that I really was in the future, judging by the sights of tall and futuristic buildings.

I was just roaming around the city and saw a weird-looking human. He did not look that weird but it was like his skin was all metallic and a bit shining. I was curious so I came closer to him and looked at him closely. The strange human quickly came to me and said, in a robotic voice, ‘Hello, what can I do for you?’. Yeah, it turns out that the stranger was a humanoid. And there was quite lot of them in the streets, walking around. I thought, ‘I didn’t know that humans had developed that fast though.’

All of a sudden, the humanoids looked like their programs were corrupting by a virus.

They started attacking people. One of them tried to attack me too. I ran as quickly as possible. That’s when I stepped on a strange thing which teleported me in a strange place. I looked around. There was a guy standing in front of me. Me and him both looked surprised. Come to think of it, he seemed bit like my dad. He said, “How are you here? I thought no one could possibly come to my lab.” So it was a lab. Quite large lab.

And then, he asked me to work on his secret project. Of course I said yes, because I was pretty interested in science.

We had lot in common. Personality, interest in science and more. I think that was one of the reason that we finished our extraordinary project- the time machine.

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How did we make that in a short time? That’s simple. We used special kind of 3D printer; we call it 4D printer. We conceived the looks and functions of time machine, put it into a ‘futuristic’ computer and printed it. But I had a thought in my mind. ‘Could this be the time machine that I rode? ‘Then who would be the person who made this machine crash-land to my house?’ I was starting to get confused so I chose to stop thinking about it. By the way, we started to make an A.I for the time machine. We thought it was going to be quite useful. However, there was a problem. You know the virus that corrupted the robots and tried to attack me? That computer virus was spread into our time machine AI. The machine was shaking like crazy and just disappeared. We were both in despair but he said “At least I put voice message in there.”

I wonder why he put the message.

But we didn’t give up. We had to save our fabulous invention from the computer virus and possibly the whole internet. If the internet and computers weren't working, it would be a huge impact to humanity. At the end, we found a way to kill the virus. We just had to spread stronger vaccine. After all of the research and stuff, we invented the vaccine.

And with the special device, we spread the vaccine.

So we did it. We succeeded at destroying the evil A.I virus by spreading another good virus to stop them. We saved our ‘internet’ world. And I grew up and became a scientist.

Now I knew what I should do. I recorded My voice message in the time machine and he would hear that.

--Press the button. Press it--

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WHEN MY EYES LIED TO ME – SHEREEN BATRA Inspired by: Episode.

Those were the days… … the days when it used to rain in my mind. It would drench me by the thoughts that always came up in my brain: why are they always together? (Suspicion #1). What is her problem?

(Suspicion #2). Why is she always so aggressive? (Suspicion #3). Ugh, that’s disgusting, I hate that…

A melancholy machine. This would be me in those days. Who would manufacture thoughts unrelated to the situation as if they had schizophrenia? For instance, my heart would throb with pain when I saw Triston and Tracey together. It would make my blood boil with rage and make my shoulders shiver with anxiety knowing that sometime soon, I might not be able to see them…

Which was better than seeing them together…

Tracey.

Ugh, gosh I hate that girl! Up until Y4, we used to be best friends. You know, BFFs! Friendship bands, same clothes, meeting up every weekend for a sleepover or a playdate would be our thing.

We were always talking about our crushes, gossiping about other girls we hate together, baking, dancing, singing, swimming and doing absolutely everything together.

However, after the day that I am about to explain to you, it changed both of our lives.

On the day of our fashion show, I was the show starter. Since, I was up first, I realized that everyone would notice me if I kept the bar up high as I wanted to win the award!

But, on the contrary, Tracey was the show stopper.

Thus, both of us were the main models of the show which both of us were remarkably excited about. On my gorgeous dress, I had one extraordinary bow located on my right side which was the only strap on my dress. Until someone decided to change it to a real bow which would open up as soon as it was to be worn. Before it was my turn to go on the stage, I decided to ask Tracey, “You don’t you think that the bow is too loose?”

“Girl, no! You’re probably just paranoid right now because you are the show starter. Now, come on! ROCK THE STAGE!” Her tone seemed very sassy and sarcastic at the same time and at that time my heart was raging with fire without knowing what was coming my way.

I replied calmly and nervously thinking what she meant by you are the show starter, “Yeah! Lol you too!”

After about 3 minutes, my name was called with the type of dress I was wearing. Impressing the stage with confidence, passion and charisma, I did my best pose that I had practiced every day and night (the Queen Elizabeth’s wave). As I was raising my hand, the real ribbon that someone (*cough, cough* Tracey) replaced with a real bow was very easy to open. Thus, just as my hand raised, the bow opened and my dress started to glide down my body and I quickly bent down. At

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the exact moment, I felt 150 eyeballs rolled right towards me. The show director came and asked “Honey, what happened?”.

I replied hysterically, “Somebody replaced my fixed bow with the real one and the real bow opened and my whole costume fell apart!”

In the corner, I saw someone giggling…

With her back towards me and right when she turned she was smirking and after a second I realized…

OH MY GOSH! Tracey.

My nerves were flooding with blood containing serotonin. In my brain, I had tons of emotions overflowing within me like I was laughing as soon as I saw her and instantly I went ballistic and started crying because by that time I realized that nothing in the world could get me back to how close I was to winning the award that I had waited for for a year and a half.

Even though everything in my life was and is always grey, I was sure of two things after that day: 1. “Someone” had ruined my life’s goals and 2. Nothing could ever get me back to that girl even if it was as a “friend”.

And that’s when all my suspicions started... __________

__________

__________

__________

__________

__________

It’s my birthday today. Usually, I love my birthdays but today, nothing really seemed special.

Got up, changed, brushed, ate breakfast, and came to school.

But, maybe there is something special that would happen to me.

Following on with my sophomore year, feeling nothing like a Birthday Girl (as you do), I had Math, English and then Drama (which I already had enough in my freakin’ short amount of life), PE and Science.

I was hearing everyone’s convos as always…

“Oh my gosh! Yeah I also saw Triston made everything for her!” … but not entirely eavesdropping.

Everything was entirely the same: Tracey, was taking my friends away and talking behind my back. All during Math, English and Drama. Since the day, there has been all sorts of rubbish happening to me: vandalizing my locker, stealing my clothes when I needed to change back from my PE… Now, was the time I realized that I couldn’t take this anymore.

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As I walked by the halls, Tracey and Tina were whispering and giggling while looking down at me sarcastically. I know that this happens, I know that this is something normal but your best friend doing something to you for three years!

THAT is unacceptable, man!

Immensely tired after three hours of PE, I went to the bathroom and waited for my turn. But right before I went in I quickly checked my shampoo container which seemed to weigh less than usual. The container was the exact same one that I used but underneath the bottle, I noticed that something was written with a permanent marker “Hair removal”. With the blasting pain in my nerves, I couldn’t think at the time who it was. However, something just gave it away, the handwriting of the person. And who would that be, definitely, TRACEY! No wonder, that girl doesn’t finish her homework and get good reports because she wastes her time with these types of things. Luckily, I realized that before I went in and oh, look who’s next in line after me? My “bestie”! I don’t use my shampoo and…

“SURPRISE SUSANA!” exclaimed Tracey and Triston at the same exact time.

But then I saw… … him.

Him having birthday cake with my name on it and a box with miniature people that looked like him and I. Ostensibly, he was collaborating with Tracey (my “enemy”). Now, I’m not even sure who or what Tracey because the first that came to my mind was that something must be wrong because Tracey is involved in this…

Astonishingly, I wondered why Tracey would help Triston to make a gift that only included him and me? Mainly because I never talked that much to Tracey ever since the scenario happened…

Nevertheless, it all made sense: why they weren’t including me in any of the conversations, why they were ignoring me and spending more time together. All for me.

No wonder, the figures in the wooden box were immensely gorgeous and the cake looked extremely proficient.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick. Tock.

The time passed by while I was in my own fantasy world, amazed, shocked and ecstatic.

Tick. Tock.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

A hundred and fifty tick-tocks later.

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“You don’t like it?” murmured Tracey and snapping me out of my fantasy life and into the real world.

“Susana?” Triston flabbergastedly managed to speak.

“Huh, no… no, no, no. I love it! I can’t explain how much I am adoring it just by looking at it,” I explained and glanced at Tracey not exactly sure how to react. I smiled a little at Tracey and then glanced at Triston with a half semi-circle formed from my mouth. I could see Tracey’s eyes were filled with tears but there was a shell that was holding her tears back. Her short black hair turned as she came closer to me and hugged me. Triston’s eyes, crystal blue seemed immensely tensed as if he was hiding something from me.

I needed to find out what was happening, and soon.

But then I saw… … (in my own eyes) that I was seeing things from the wrong point of view all along and my heart sank down to my feet.

In total, there were a 150 suspicions all that time and none of them had ever been true.

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THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO FEAR IS YOUR NEIGHBOURS – MAX BASKIN Inspired by “Monsters are due on Maple Street” - The Twilight Zone

The child wept into his sleeve as his town died.

Wave after wave of humanity receded to the countryside as the community burned. The fire spared nothing, burning the homes of the rich and poor alike. Everything, from stuffed animals to precious family heirlooms went up in flame as decades of memories and culture were destroyed.

And in the midst of it all, the boy saw one shadowy figure standing on top of a burned-out car, watching the carnage with a hint of a smile.

The figure slowly turned its head towards the boy, weighed down by the sins it had committed against his people.

“Why?” The person paused for a moment. They took off their hood, revealing a face that was all too familiar to him.

“To show you the future.”

And then he woke up.

________________________ Excerpt from the Transcript of the 44th (and final) Meeting of the Bloomgrove Homeowner’s Association 06-06-20XX ETC 01:00:00 (1 AM EST) -Well someone’s gotta turn the power back on. That leg of lamb in my freezer ain’t gonna last forever.

-My milk’s already gone!

-It’s been three days!

-Everybody needs to stay calm. We’ve already called the “thorties” at Aberdeen, they said they’ll be here to fix the lines in a few days at minimum.

-Bureaucracy at its finest.

•

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Frost household, front entrance ETC 00:53:57 -Honey, I’m back!

-How was it dear?

-Nobody has any idea what’s going on with the power. No running water, no electricity, no nothing. I haven’t checked the car yet, but Dave’s wouldn’t start when he tried to go to Aberdeen. It’s like we’ve been hit with an EMP, or an act… of god.

-Nik’s only gotten worse. He’s saying all sorts of weird things, about how one of us is causing the power outages, the strange weather-Don’t listen to him. Just keep him in bed, ok? Wouldn’t want him going out and waking up the few people that are still asleep!

-That would be embarrassing...

Sycamore Street, Bloomgrove VA ETC 00:46:20 -Well gee, thanks for coming! It’s not like we’ve been waiting for THREE WHOLE DAYS for somebody to show up!

-Ma’am, please calm down. I’ve already reported this issue to my superiors. Your utilities should be fixed by the day after tomorrow.

-Which superior? The sheriff? How’s he supposed to help?

-Gina, stop it. I’m sure they’ve got everything under control.

-Oh not YOU again John! Your idiot child woke up my husband with his screeching! If he’s to be believed then this isn’t something that the goddamn sheriff can control!

-Just- stop it, both of you. Go home, get some rest, and it’ll all be over in the morning, okay?

-Fine! Just don’t come crying back to me when your kid starts naming names!

Sycamore Street, in front of the Cassandra household ETC 00:32:45 -I saw it in my dreams. There was this hooded person, but I couldn’t really see who it was. I just got this weird feeling that it was someone in this neighborhood, on THIS STREET! First the power’s gonna go out, then the water, and then the fires are gonna start.

-And then what?

-I...I don’t know. All I know is that we’re all gonna die unless the man… or woman I saw is caught.

-Looks like your kid’s finally remembered how to use his words again John!

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-Dave, please. How are we supposed to trust one child’s word against ours?

The Cassandra household, backyard Barry Cassandra was a rebel. He enjoyed smoking despite what every single one of his teachers and classmates had told him at school.

NOTHING would ever separate him from from his cigs. Not even the full gas tank he was leaning on that caught a spark from one of his butts.

BOOM. Sycamore Street, in front of what used to be the Cassandra household ETC 00:31:48 -What just happened!

(The group pause as they look at the ruins of the house, seemingly disappeared out of thin air. Little fires burn amongst the rubble) -Oh my god… Barry was in there… He said he was studying for his exams…

(Barry stumbles out of the smoke, holding what’s left of his “cig”) -Apparently not.

-Who did this to you!

-...I don’t know. One moment, everything was fine, the next, BOOM. (Nik steps forward, and speaks softly) -See. This is what happens when we let our guard down. If we don’t act, then every single house on the block, every building in Bloomgrove will burn. We will all die.

- Actually, I was just smoking a- He’s right! He’s right! The kid’s right! This ain’t natural! We’ve gotta catch the- Everyone calm down! Let’s not turn this into a witch hunt.

- That’s what the, uh, the monster would say John! How do we know you’re not behind all this?

- Because I’m not the one trying so hard to find it! How do we know you’re not trying to draw away attention from yourself!

Oak Household, Gas Main ETC 00:10:12 The pipe was filled with volatile hydrocarbons, gases like methane and carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gas sat safely in its chamber meters below the earth, protected from the elements. But now, one element was in abundance next door.

Fire.

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It spread, from one dwelling to the next.

BOOM. BOOM. KABOOM. ______________________________________________ The residents of what was left of Sycamore street looked at each other once, and attacked. Chaos enveloped the neighborhood like a fire spread over kindling. Friends, family, none of it mattered. The only thing left to do was to blindly destroy and kill and hope that they would hit the traitor among their ranks. The traitor that started it all.

But what they did not realize was that they and their paranoia had merely brought this destruction upon themselves.

It was this that Nik, the only son of John Frost realized as he cowered behind a car, watching the carnage around him like a journalist in the middle of a warzone- which he was, for all intents and purposes.

Out of the corner of his eye, something, someone caught his attention.

Standing atop the Oak family’s burned out car, like him, a fellow watcher. The black-cloaked figure seemed almost familiar. Where had he seen it before?

Ah, yes, of course. His dream turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. There was only one thing left for Nik to say.

“Why?” __________________________________ SIMULATION 0375 TERMINATED. PROGRAM SUCCESSFUL. TIME TO COMPLETION: 1 HOUR “Interesting, isn’t it? Take your average small town from the 50’s, take away the power, maybe throw in a variable or two, and it all falls to pieces!”

“I’m sure the anthropological department would looove to hear about this. Like every undergrad hasn’t done this a million times already.”

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“Perhaps. But it’s still important. We have to learn from these scenarios- to not let our society fall apart because of suspicion and fear-” “Well that might be true for some imaginary boogeyman, like the catalyst you used in your sim. But did you hear that the Centauris have cloaking technology now? They don’t even have to disguise themselves anymore, they can look human, at any time they want! Any one of us could be an alien now!”

“Here we go again.”

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BUGS – CHRISTOPHER JUNG Kano, Nigeria Remote “Total Oil” Gas Station 6:30 PM I grabbed my Aviator Ray Bans just as the light crimson rays of the afternoon sun started to seep through the dense cluster of kusia trees. The chirps of a nearby bird and the dust around me, suspended in the air and illuminated by sunlight, overwhelmed me with the unfamiliar feeling of peace. I clamped my hands together into a tight fist, just as the tremor on my right hand started up again. My brain was telling me not to think about the past, but my body recognized this exact place.

The same place 30 years ago, where I had lost everything and everyone.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, I took another swig from my bottle of beer, and quickly diverted my attention to the graceful flight of an Abyssinian Roller. Accompanied by the tranquilizing and humid autumn wind, the bird waltzed around the outskirts of the gas station like an elegant ballerina. I slowly slid into my seat and let go of all the tension in my body. Just as my eyes closed, the harsh screech of the Abyssinian Roller sent a terrifying chill through my body. I shot straight up out of my chair, immediately cramping my leg. I cringed, letting out a small cry in both pain and sadness, as the remaining contents in my beer can slithered through the dirt and into the soil below. I stumbled back up, slowly massaging my calf, and relaxing my tightened muscles. I had a feeling of fear, and what was a melancholy evening of remembrance turned into an afternoon of fear and paranoia.

I looked up at the velvet sky and into its horizon, just like I had 13 years ago when the unexpected struck. To me, that was when I experienced true fear and despair. I felt as though I had no control over my body anymore, and my mind flashbacked to 13 years ago.

“Kwame! Get back in here, your father is home and dinner is ready!”, the shrill screech of my mother resonated into the deep afternoon sky. The sound echoed all over large rice farm like a ping pong ball that was out of control. I bent down, picking up both large buckets of water that I had collected from the well in the morning. With enough struggle and the usual sound of metal banging against each other, I picked up both buckets of water, but there was an unfamiliar sound.

A buzz?

Maybe it was a mosquito or bee.

The buzz got louder and louder by the second.

A swarm of wasps?

The buzz started to become deafening and I looked up at the sky, expecting the same crimson and cloudless sky, but instead got a black mess.

My muscles were petrified, and cramps were developing all over my body.

I flailed my arms, trying to shoo them away desperately.

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They weren’t fazed though and continued to charge towards me.

I whimpered in despair.

Then it hit me.

The locusts had arrived.

BIRTHDAY – KENNETH HO Fear.

A common feeling that is inevitable to us, but we never see it coming. It strikes us like lightning attracted to a metal rod, and when it hits, it leaves a mark. A mark so deep, it’s impossible to recover from it...

Hope.

A feeling we don’t always look for in our lives but nevertheless, it occurs daily. Like a genie rising from a golden lamp, it gives you a chance to achieve what you are desperate for.

Unreliable as it seems, we still hold it close in our hearts.

These two feelings associate like a dynamic duo in an action movie; how, you might ask? When one rises and becomes a problem, the other rises along with it. It’s an unbreakable bond. And at times, you would wish these would just go “poof” and disappear.

Well, this was one of those times for me.

08:00 28th March 2017. 32 weeks pregnant. Winter is nearly over, spring on its way, and my Veronica and I were expecting our baby soon. She was due in another two months at the least.

Either way, we waited attentively not knowing what awaited us in the next hours that our baby was about to be born...

10:00. 28th March 2017. My shrieks ricocheted off the walls like bullets to an impenetrable object; my chest burns like the surface of the sun; my heart pounds like the punches of Muhammad Ali against an opponent. Beads of sweat roll down my temples as I flex every muscle in my body. I don’t know if I can do this anymore… Just. One. More. push.

PUSH! He wasn’t breathing… Devastated, I sat up in disbelief as the surgeon's wheeled him to the life support incubator. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t feel, I couldn’t understand. Did I do something wrong? Is he… Dead? What is Ekai going to think about this? And at that moment, I felt like 194 | P a g e

everything around me slowed down, even the nurses who dashed down the hallways in pursuit of the doctors.

At that moment he dashed in, immediately our eyes locked, we stood in disbelief, fearing the future yet gasping for any signs of hope. Like an avalanche, the millions of questions faltered. ??????

“How is he? Did you see him? Is it my fault? What if he doesn’t make it? What if-” His palm clasped over my mouth.

“Breathe honey, you did your part, his life is in the hands of the doctors now. We can’t do anything but wait.” His voice was so… soothing. As odd as it seems, in the midst of all the chaos and worrying, I felt a sense of peace.

01:21 29th March 2017.

With every flicker of the fluorescent lights, we gathered what was left of our hope, and slowly we fell into a deep slumber until…

“Mr. and Mrs. Jackson? I have some good and bad news… Which would you pre-” “The good news,” I peered over my shoulder at Veronica. Her face dry from the aftermath of her tears and eyes begging for an answer. As our hands joined, we braced for what was about to hit us, whether it was a colossal truck, or a puff of smoke - it didn’t matter.

“Your son… is alive,” phew it was only a puff of smoke. Our hands gripped tighter together as we realised that this was only the beginning. This was when our old friend fear, decided to join us.

“Im dearly sorry for your son but, due to his critical condition, he has been in a coma for the last few hours; the only thing we can do now is wait.”

Our hearts and our hands were crushed by the eerie sound of his words that rang in my ears as I presumed it did for Veronica too.

What could we do?

How would we supply the millions of dollars? Our future… Our plans are basically gone to waste - Why did this have to happen!? I could feel my legs getting weak and the numbness that spread throughout my body was paralyzing.

“Can we … see him?” The words flew out of my mouth before I could even grab them. The thought of having Veronica experience this was... devastating.

He’s in a… coma? Out of the million questions, this one stood out. How? Why? Did I cause this?

On one hand, I was crushing Ekai’s hand. On the other, I clenched my hand so tight, my nails 195 | P a g e

dug deep into the flesh of my palms. The stinging sensation was the kick I needed to get back into reality. The beat of my heart hastened, and the constant anxiety was rushing through my veins like a coursing river. It was time to see my son.

The squeaks of the partially rusty hospital bed wheels reverberated off the empty walls. As we turned towards the next corner, I could see the sign above the doors, ‘Baby Life Support Room’.

All of a sudden, my head started to spin, and the tang of lightheadedness overtook my senses as my eyes close - I can’t remember what happened after that.

“VERONICA? WAKE UP! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!” I immediately grabbed her shoulders and started to shake her in the hopes of bringing her back to consciousness.

Guessing from the way the doctors reacted, this was an unusual event. They then proceeded to wheel her back to where we came from, eventually she disappeared. Speechless, I grabbed the closest empty seat and just sat… Till this day, I am unsure what I was thinking about.

10:30 29th March 2017.

I sat there for the next several hours before hearing the muffled yet faint voice of a boy.

“Mom, why is that baby so small? How come it’s the only one sleeping? And why are there so many strings connected to his arms?”

The multitude of those three questions were as good as me being a building in a 9.5 magnitude earthquake.

I fell.

As I peered over the glass wall, the impossibly small infant, with paper-thin skin lay on the bed with an abundance of wires which surrounded him. In a million years, I would have never thought our family would be among the two percent of the population that succumbed to premature birth…

“Ah! There you’ve been, what are you-” But then I saw, the horror in his face that said everything. The life that faded from his eyes, his shimmering orange hair that now, is just shades of brown and grey. It looked like he could never recover from this. But I have hope that he will…

10:30 March 30th 2018.

“Hey son! Long time no see! How have you been? All is well at home. I hope you’re taking care of yourself!”

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10:30 March 30th 2019.

“It’s pouring rain out here! I’ll make it quick, here,” I replaced the flowers and put new ones…

Too bad they wouldn’t last long in this weather…

10:31 March 30th 2020.

“Son! It’s been three years since you were brought into this world and into our family. It’s sad that we can’t visit you every day… we miss you” “Ekai, don’t you think, we should… move on? He’s gone from our lives. We can’t bring him back… It’s just too late.” In the softest and most innocent voice Veronica whispered.

“No.” I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my face. I could not ever get over it.

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STORYTELLER – ALICE KWON My name is Emily Skywalker and I am a storyteller. But, I’m nothing like the normal storytellers you’re thinking of…

I make up stories in my head and they seem to come true; all the stories I think of in my head turn real. I am grateful to have these powers, yet horrified. What if I lose control of my own power and create a mess…?

No one knows about my power except my parents. And they know that there is one way of making me lose my ability… However, that one way should never be brought up...

After work, while heading home, I heard footsteps coming closer to me as I walked… I sprinted as fast as I could but I could not outrun him… After few minutes of running and chasing, I got caught and I slowly lost sight of the streets...

blink blink All I could see was the colour pitch black… Nothing but darkness. I was petrified and I wanted to be out of this place. Surprisingly, for the first time in a while, my thoughts would not come to be real. No one came to save me and all I could see was nothing. I wanted to open my mouth and call out for help but my mouth was shut tight with sticky duct tapes.

Right then, someone pulled the duct tape from my mouth and the blindfold from my eyes.

As he pulled it off of my face, my eyes and his eyes met. He was wearing a mask so I couldn’t tell who he was but, he definitely looked familiar.

I looked around the place and I noticed that I was being held up by chains and wires. Who was doing this to me… and why?

“Emily, I heard a lot about you. About your powers and how WE can make this world ours!”

“What are you talking about…? Please just let me go…”

“You’re going nowhere. AND don’t try to make up stupid stories to run away and escape this place. Your powers don't work anymore.” As he said this, he injected a long needle and I let out a screeching scream. My blood was being taken out into a huge tank.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? WHO ARE YOU?” I yelled “All I want is your blood and then I can transfer it into mine, and I can have your powers and be the king of this corrupted world.”

“How… do you know... About my power… about my jinx? The only people who know are my parents…

But then I saw who he really was…

“Daddy, please… don’t do this. I beg you...”

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BANG! – MARTIN KIM Based on the events of the Mexican Drug War. Sunny days. They’re my favorite of them all. Warm, comfortable, they have everything.

Squirrels run across the lawn, birds tweet as they fly from tree to tree, kids play in the sand with each other. But that wasn’t for me.

My name is Braylon Alonso and I go to Lõreto Elementary School. I was not your ordinary “have fun with other kids” kid. I had bigger things on my mind: like destroying the galactic universe and saving them from the space invaders. Life wasn’t easy in space, the biggest monster of them all the M.O.M (malicious odorous mad-women).

Rockets would shoot out from her shoulders picking us up and bringing us into her dungeon. Where you were forced to eat this green goo. Sweets? Never. I wasn’t going to let this happen. I shot down the door with my magical gun and ran for the exit.

Between me and the exit was M.O.M…We both rushed at each other at full speed. I closed my eyes, and I squeezed my body ready for impact!

“BRAYLONNN JOHNSON ALONSO, FOR THE 5th TIME, WAKE UPPPPPPP”, said my M.O.M. Returning to the real world absolutely made my day. Imagine going from flying around space to listening Mrs. Anso speak to us about how her children are so amazing. My mom gives me a ride to my “amazing” school, I meet up with my friends and we head to class.

“BANG!” The ball elegantly goes through the hoop, as I head back on defense, I start trashtalking my friends. The game is just for fun, but the competitive juices always go around our bodies. The ball moving from one side to the other side in the blink of an eye. The scorching sun's rays shine on to our 100cm by 15kg frame. The clouds on our foreheads get too heavy and the water starts dripping down, my favorite white & navy shirt that my mom ironed for me is all drenched.

“BANG!” “BANG!” “BANG!’ There were two things that could make that type of sound: my basketball shot and a gun….

Sirens screaming all over town signaling us to move to the underground shelters.

Teachers are escorting the children to shelters, while I just stand still in shock. Buzzing sounds start to get louder and louder near my ear and my sight starts to fade.

Pitch Black.

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Salt is spilled all over the table. Kilograms worth of salt is just spilled on the tables.

Needles arelying everywhere. There are used ones and new ones lying everywhere. It feels as if an animal has come through and torn the entire room apart. In the corner, a stout man walks through the doorway laughing.

“Welcome to the Sinaloa Cartel. My name is El CHAPO!”, he said in his weird accent.

I look at him in confusion.

Where am I? Who is this?

What is going on?

He chats with his guards in gibberish and I can’t understand a single word they are saying. The sounds get louder and louder as if they’re excited for something to happen.

Suddenly, “Bang…”, it reminds me of the sound of a…

BLOOD.

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THE BOX BROKEN – LOIS LEE < Dedicated to my grandfather Dong-Soo Kim > Based on the book: Break the Box Present Year: 2017 Reporter: So Hannah, how did you earn the Nobel Peace prize? Could you please tell us a bit about your childhood, and how you made it to this position today?

Hannah: Sure thing. (Sarah starts telling the story below which is about her childhood, goes back in time to twenty-seven years ago.)

October 11th 1990 I’m a South Korean girl, who’s 8 years old. And my name is Hannah. I’ve gained and received a lot of love from my parents and my grandparents, which is considered to be normal for most of the other children in my country.

But then I saw the face of death…

1991 I’d always lived in South Korea, and had never thought of going into a new and totally different country. I was never truly prepared for this change, a new life in California. Friends were something that I’d rarely had after the depressing event of my parent’s death. From that time on and onwards my academic results were poor and indigent, and basically every other subject that I had tried except for math, was a complete breakdown. All of my test scores, were depressing. And the fact that I’d have to learn a new language: English; gave me the nerves. This led to every step of my life having to be discouraging. Every day seemed to drag on and on, and I would have to force myself to go to school. A lack of self-confidence soon covered my brain. I wondered every now and then, if I could go back home, back to my own home where my mother and father were waiting for me. I wanted to go back to the past, where I was alongside my parents. However, I firmly had to understand that this new country, this new lifestyle without any friends and family in California was my only home, and my parents were already above. There was no other alternative, no other option or solution. This unfamiliar place was where I would have to grow up, and have to mature like adults.

This unfamiliar place: California, USA was very unlike my lifestyle in South Korea. In the year of 1991, South Korea was developed a bit from the Korean War. But hasn’t developed as much as America. In California there are many convenient stores, malls, hotels, museums, and elegant houses which I pass by and look at on the windowsill of my car, when I’m off to school.

My grandparents sent me to live in the US to stay with my aunt and uncle, having no other alternative or option. Although my uncle and aunt treated my kindly, I was still peculiar and unaccustomed to this new different place. As an orphan, people in public saw me differently to everyone else, and started to take pity on me. Although the adults were compassionate, at school my classmates started to take an advantage of my weaknesses, such as talking about their parents 201 | P a g e

and whatever they did for family time or vacation. These small negative incidents turned into bigger things, which lead to my depressing mindset.

Already knowing that my classmates ignored me, due to my lack of education, knowledge, and personal background. I decided to focus on my grades, which were the major disclaimer about having to go to school. Math was one subject in which I was good at doing, since this passion and talent came from my parents. But then again, other subjects such as my English, and science without suggestion needed improvement. This soon enough turned into my box. My box full of tests which had high test marks. The only plan that I had in order the break the box, was through studying. Every day and every night, I took up the pain, thinking about my parents and wondered how proud they would be, with their own daughter studying abroad in another different country. Soon enough my test came out, after practicing more compared to my past. I started to achieve better grades, and improvement was definitely seen. The feeling of improving felt valuable and satisfying. And I constantly had the desire to improve even more, to get that feeling. I started to do more than what was necessary, and consistent reactions started to appear from my classmates. Accusations, lies, and taunts, were all things in which I was able to block outside of my mind. Through will and determination, I was able to break my first box.

I willingly wanted to start to develop more friends at school, instead of always creating enemies and bullies. Friends besides grades were what I needed to share my feelings and emotions with. Besides my aunt, uncle, and cousin, there were no other friends that I had at school. I understood that my family members couldn’t support me during class. So that’s why I decided to create a companion, who would support and encourage my ideas. There wasn’t a way out of my impasse. Almost everybody in the school hated me, and disliked me for being bad at academics until I suddenly had these overachieving scores.

Soon enough more of my classmates tried to create conversations with me. And I off course participated and engaged, by noting out my particular opinion towards something. Not only did I engage in conversations, but I additionally participated in after-school activities, such as after school swim, math & chess clubs, and also speech and debate clubs. I got to know a wider range of people. Which made me able to choose, while having more options. Finally, I chose Elle to be my friend. Contrasting her to other students in my school. She was very alike me. She was also into math, had the same grades, and was also an orphan and living with her aunt and uncle. We both had several sleepovers and playdates, until we decided to be best buddies. Elle was the person who helped me break my second box. And I soon started to get the hang of things.

My third and final box which helped me accomplish my future was adjusting to my home.

My broader home was the state California. But in the concentrated version my home was my aunt and uncle’s house. This house has 6 bedrooms. One for my aunt and uncle, another for my cousin, and one for me. The other three were considered to be the guest rooms. Every day I found it hard to adjust to living at my Uncle’s house, however I got used to being around their company. Everyday turned into months and then years. And as the time passed I was able to cooperate more with my new family besides my friends. I started to adjust more and more into my home. Until I was finally accustomed and comfortable to my new home. This was how I broke my third and final box.

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Back to the present day...

Reporter: Ok Hannah, thank you for sharing us a piece of your childhood.

Hannah: Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re welcome! These boxes which I broke were able to give me success once I became a medical surgeon at the New York University hospital.

Reporter: Well Hannah, it was a pleasure to hear your story. Thank you again!

Hannah: It was my pleasure!

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HEBELOMA – JOANNA JUNG “This is Hebeloma Claud.” Teacher introduced me.

Everyone stared at me with the eyes.

“And as you notice, she is wearing a box.” He spoke sharply. “On her head.”

He stopped. Then started again.

“Would you like to take it off?” I looked up at him.

“So you are saying no?”

I nodded slowly.

“Okay. Can you please go and sit next to him” I looked away from the aculeate eyes focused sharply at me. This was not a question.

This was a statement. A rule. Something I had to follow.

“Quickly. Go sit next to Steve, Hebeloma.”

Teacher pushed me out of his way and started his class.

“Oh. And share textbooks with Steve. I will give you one tomorrow.”

Soon, winter came. I made a lot of friends since the year started. Many wanted to see my face, but my answer was always no. School was filled with beautiful colors as red, yellow, green, pink and blue due to the cold weather.

“So, what class do we have first?” Janette asked, as she hanged her bright amber (x-tra) fluffy coat in her locker.

I stared at the coat, completely ignoring the world.

“Um… Heb?” I came back to reality when Janette poked me with her finger.

“Oh. Sorry.” I mumbled. “Oh! And we have history the first thing” I said and reached into my own locker for my history book.

The rough brown jumper sleeve touched my hand. It was the jumper I wore since I was 9. The jumper I got from my grandma, before she passed away.

I remember the time I was able to distinguish with both eyes, and listen with both ears.

The time I was frequently called cute. I was 5 at that time, when the deformation appeared through the areas around mouth, then the eye, the brow and last, my neck- due to Parry Romberg Syndrome. There was no cure or treatment to stop the progression of the syndrome.

At the age of 8, my left eye sunk and hid inside, my facial hair turned white, fell off and all my hopes started turning into impossibilities. But people still helped me. Except my mother who ran away after smacking my ear and making my left ear deaf.

It was terribly different, living in a society that cares more about outside appearance than inside. I’m still Hebeloma Claud, few years ago and now, however the contaminated looks they gave me was dreadful. “Heb!” I heard Janette calling, waving at my happily. Maybe I was wrong.

Maybe it was a stereotype stuck in my head for years. Maybe people were not as horrendous as I thought.

“What you doing? Come quickly. I thought you were possessed or something, just staring at your brown jacket.” She laughed a short laugh and walked towards me, took my arm and pulled me to next class.

There were two people in this community that sighted my fully deformed face: My grandma and my mother. They were both not near me. My dad blamed me as a reason why my grandma passed away and I blame myself too. I was making myself the target to him, making myself the object of resentment to him so he would at least not reproach himself for her death. I was afraid that he would leave me.

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I was afraid of being alone.

“Heb, do you know what the word Hebeloma mean?” Janette took me to a library later in the week. “I heard about it somewhere before, I can’t remember what it was… I found the book!”

Janette yelled, holding up a book called “Hebeloma” in the air and waving it at me. “Janette, shhhhh” I replied quietly. “We are in a public library.”

“Oh ya sorry. I forgot.”

She opened the book.

“Hebeloma is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenogastraceae. Found worldwide, it contains the poison pie or fairy cakes (Hebeloma crustuliniforme) and the ghoul fungus (H. aminophilum), from Western Australia, which grows on rotting animal remains.”

Janette turned to check my face. “At least your name has a meaning, my name doesn’t even have a meaning.” She spoke and she turned the page. The page was surrounded by pictures of Hebelomas. They were usually white or brown. Unlike other poisonous mushrooms, Hebeloma was not gorgeous or splendid.

“Heb… Can I please see your face?” Janette slowly looked up at my box. I didn’t answer because I didn’t know how to deal with this sudden question. “I mean we were best friends for half a year now. It’s weird not knowing how you look like. Do you still not trust me?” She asked again. I still did not answer. “What can I do to earn your trust?” She said with a very soft voice.

That voice my mother used at the beginning of deformation. “Janette. You are going to leave me when I show you my face..” I mumbled quietly.

“No. I won’t” “Promise?”

“Promise.”

I hesitated for a moment. It was not that I don’t trust her. It was because I was frightened since everyone knowing my face left me. I raised my hand, slowly, and tucked the box over my head. The box fell on the ground and my bare face was revealed. Exposed to the society. It was so quiet, the box landing had no volume and no weight. The box, that had was so weighty on my face, had no weight as it dropped.

Janette was not good at hiding facial expression. Her eyes widened and then closed immediately, remembering what i said. She looked extremely shocked. I bent down swiftly to get my box and dropped it on my head. As soon as the box was on my head, I felt safe from all the brightness that suddenly appeared in front of me. My world was full of darkness, fully covered by a single box, being a thin line between me and this world.

The next day, I woke up as usual and came to school, wearing that box. It was a normal day, possibly slightly tilted to bad since I found some people looking at me, but it was usual and I didn’t care much. The whole week went the same, maybe the only difference was that everyday, the number of me hearing my name increased… and Janette was far away from me most time. She left me.

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Like the two other people.

Janette Being the only one in the whole school that saw Hebeloma’s face was irritating me.

Everyone asked me about how Hebeloma looks and were expecting an extraordinarily ravishing look or deformed look. I was never good at keeping secrets- but I had to now.

If I had to be honest about myself, Heb wasn’t my best friend. I had my own best friend called Lena. We were best friends since 7. Because she knew that I recognized her as my best friend, she threatened me to death about leaving me if I don’t tell her.

“Stop being so insistent. I’m not going to tell you.”

“I stayed away as possible with all those people to be your best friend and now you’re leaving me for her.” She retorted, pointing at Hebeloma, who was always wondering around my periphery. “Make a prudent decision, Janette. I tell you everything I know. Stop being so egotistical. Even you being reluctant to tell me is aggravating me.”

Every word she said was somehow convincing. I did trust her but not at the same time.

Strangled between the conflict, I reclined on my bed. If I choose Lena, It would torture Heb and if I choose Heb, it would torture me.

Yes. I am egotistical.

Hebeloma Finally, my birthday was near, not just near, it was today. I was so delightful and was in such a good mood. Being cheerful and merry, I walked into the classroom, skipping around smiling (No one notices but still…) at everyone and saying hello. My box bounced up and down and was about the fall out however I didn’t care much.

But then I saw…

“Monster approaching” I walked into the classroom and noticed Steve smiling at me. “Monster is looking at me” He spoke. “Monster from hell.”

Lena leaned onto the window and flipped her golden hair. Her sassy eyes were aimed at me.

Steve circled around me as wolves circling around a deer, ready to jump off and eliminate their prey.

Till now, I didn’t know, or I was too stupid to notice that no one here was on my side. There were eyes glaring at me, red eyes. Their eyes were shooting arrows at me.

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“Look. Monster from hell is mad.” Lena walked towards me. “Come on, try breathing fire like all the other monsters do.” She looked confident about what she was saying.

I had nothing to say to her. Whatever I said, it was not going to change anything. Everyone seemed to already have a side: Lena and nothing would change.

She walked over to me and poked the box.

“I wonder if anyone would appreciate anything inside this box…”

“Oh. I want to see her deformity. It’s cool.” Steve stared right into my eyes.

“I mean… you are the most entertaining thing I saw in life. I mean… I saw kids that were impoverished, orphaned but a deformed kid like you is very amusing to me.”

“Did you really trust your dear friend, Janette. Kid, you don’t know anything about this society.

You don’t trust anyone.” Steve mumbled.

There, I noticed Janette hiding in the corner, looking at me.

“Yep. What an easy target you were. All I did was to just talk to your dear friend and she just told me everything.” Lena snorted “I mean… You are so chivalrous. Telling your biggest secret to a dear friend isn’t that easy.” Lena snapped her finger. “Steve?” She murmured and grinned. Before I can even move, Steve appeared from behind and pulled my box, ripped it into pieces and threw it in the trash can. All of this happened in one second, at the time Lena snapped her finger once more.

My heart just thumped to the ground. The children were tantalizing, laughing at my nudity. They gave me a nauseated look, pointed fingers at me and laughing again. I stared straight at Janette. She avoided my look. “Don’t blame your dear friend. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

My deformity was exposed to the society.

Janette Today was Hebeloma’s birthday. I walked into the classroom with her present in my hand, imagining her jubilant face as she sees it. I bought her a new winter coat.

‘Wait what.’ I thought.

I saw Hebeloma standing in the middle of a crowd. Lena on one side and Steve on the other. I dropped the present I was holding. An arrow darted into my heart. My selfish heart.

Lena.

Steve ripped Heb’s box and it flew into the trash can. I avoided her eyes, I had no courage to. I had no courage to cease this, no courage to help someone I tortured.

‘I am the villain inside this fairy tale.’

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No villains wanted to be a villain. The witch from Hansel and Gretel was just furious because children she never saw before came and ate her house. Wolf from Red Riding Hood was just doing his job to stay alive and consuming his prey.

Tormented, I ran out of the classroom, the present was left behind in the classroom. If I can wish for one wish, I would wish to go back to the past and revise my terrible mistake. The guiltiness I felt was unfathomable. The pain ached in my head.

After that day, Hebeloma Claud was nowhere to be seen.

But she continuously tortured my heart Hebeloma crustuliniforme was growing on me. I knew if I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t destroy of it quickly, it may demolish me, but I would never eliminate it.

I am courage-less.

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BECAUSE OF A DREAM – CATHERINE DENG My phone reloaded and I picked it up. There was a message on the screen: “Welcome to the ‘Zero World’.”

Unusually, there was a ray of light coming through the ceiling; it became bigger and bigger, and caught me into it. I thought... it’s just my imagination.

But then I saw… everything had changed around me, every person changed!

A weird feeling told me that something touched my shoulder, but, when turning, I could not see its appearance clearly. It was wearing a cloak, and seemed to want to lead me somewhere but all I could see was it walking away from me, farther and farther, until I couldn’t see it anymore.

Soon after it went out of my sight, I heard someone talking. A voice. In the air. Everything went back in time, but me, the only one, who stayed the same… taken back to the time to discover the memories, which they kept hidden from me.

I opened my eyes... there I was, on my bed.

“Haley, hurry up!”

“Coming, mom.”

Mom shouted from the kitchen downstairs once again. I’d woken up from a mysterious dream, seemingly real but very strange. My sleep has been disturbed by her loud wake-up call every day. I love the situation in which I’m living now - peaceful and quiet, high up above.

I’m a 15-year-old girl in high school, rising 10th grade this year. I eat the same meal every morning and do the same things everyday, nothing changes. An extremely independent person, only one thing I would never forget. And about that, the story has to start from the beginning...

My parents are divorced. I’m living with my mom, who is the CEO of her own company. She’s famous and popular. The whole story, the way it ends, it’s never going to change. My life is in the hands of others. Seems like the denouement has turned out already. My life reflects that of being a child in a rich family. It’s not happy all the time; it’s not always good to live like this. I live in the centre of this city, in a home which is higher than thirty floors. Open the windows, the view is gorgeous - everything is the best.

“Ding!”, the calendar reminder on my phone makes a noise to tell me about the opening of school after two months’ summer vacation.

Another year has begun.

A short time late, the driver drove me to the school. Everyone knew who I was. Camera flashes shoot at me when I am at any event with her. But, I got used to it and it didn’t have any influence on me.

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As usual, I placed my backpack in the locker, and grabbed some books for the classes which started in the morning. After, I sat down. I love to chat with classmates, whoever she or he is, but the rules in my world is to never cross the line, the bottom line, and I named it “family”. Reaching targets in every subject and even though I’m at an upper level of the whole grade, does not make mom delighted. I’ve hardly ever seen a smile on her face. The only thing she ever said to me was: “NEVER let anyone shove you down.”

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Someone touched me on my shoulder but I still could not see its appearance. It was wearing a cloak, and seemed to want to lead me somewhere but all I saw… was it walking away from me. I opened my eyes, the stranger it grew, the more curious I became.

It was five o’clock in the evening and I went up to my room, to do homework. Once again, repeating the same thing which I do everyday, and hearing my mom’s demands...

Later, I walked out of the house, along the sidewalk. Street by street, lights turned on, shopping malls becoming brighter and brighter. I could see the cars on the endless road; never stopping, never resting.

The boy holding hands with his parents on both sides of him, and the girl with her mother by her left; and it seems that I’m the only person who does not belong.

Just then, my phone rang. On the screen, it did not show the number from the caller, only the words ‘Unfamiliar Number’. “Hello?” I asked tentatively but the person who called just hung up. Next morning, I opened the locker. There was a note at the top, that made me shocked for a second.

“If you want to travel back in time, then come to find me.”

Things becoming mysterious. Someone knows what I want, someone knows why, and someone is watching me all the time. But who? Who else would know everything about me?

I called back, but the voice I heard was “the number you called doesn’t exist.” Ten minutes later, my phone reloaded and I picked it up. There was a message on the screen: “Hello, I’m Zero.” I rubbed my eyes to see if it was real. The answer was - YES. Just the same as it was in the dream!

A ray of light split through the ceiling; it became bigger and bigger, and caught me into it! I recognised that everything had changed around me. I’ve travelled back in time! It was just the same as my dream. I was in panic; nervous but also excited.

I felt someone touch my back. This time, it was a real feeling. In a second I turned around to see that person. When I look down, a girl was watching me, with one hand holding a picture - I bet that was of me. “You must be the one, follow me.”

No more than four minutes later, she led me to the place where the leaders were. A palace emerged in front of me. As I walked in, I spent a few minutes looking around: glass and crystal for the decorations; photos and pictures hang on the walls; everything seems just in the right places; walls were white; the rug painted in red set in the middle of the hallway. It was silent, the air also seemed like to be freezing - quiet but scary.

A man, sitting on a chair at the end of the hall; waiting, waiting for me to come. As soon as I stopped in front of him, he started to speak, “Hello, I’m Zero, you want to change everything in the past, don’t you?”

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“You are the person who phoned me at night; you are the person who wrote the note in my locker; you are the person who made me come into this world! You planned all this!” He smiled and nodded.

You want to change your life back in time, tell me what you want to tamper with.” No more than a few seconds later, I had the answer: “A complete family.”

“Well then,” he said in a low voice, “I’ll let a man travel back with you. He has travelled many times. Act cautiously. Don’t let the people who have a connection with you see the two versions of yourself in the same time and space or you may not be able to come back.”

When I opened my eyes, I’m in a room, on the bed. Just like the dream - but this time it was real.

The room was painted in blue and the bed was white. A diary was turned to the eighth page, left open on the table, a pen next to it. The curtain was closed and the lights in the room were on. The man was behind me. He made me feel comfortable and he was wearing a white cloak, just like a character who walked out of a comic!

I saw him go farther. I was nervous and anxious. I reached my hands to touched that man. He turned, he was shocked. The expression he gave me was just the way I thought it would be. “ I know the truth.”

“Tell me.”

He replied in a normal voice: “Money is a thing that could have broken any relationship in this world.

Therefore, it will break the relationship between us. I know you hate me as much as I hate myself. I want you to live a life without me.”

I realized, everything I saw and every belief I had was changed. I replied, “Money can’t make everything work, particularly our relationship. We are a family, we are one.”

Back to the time we came from, the present. The only thing I saw was the light. As I opened the door, I closed my eyes and then opened them again. I was back. A voice came from behind, “How was it? Was it the way you thought? Well, whatever you think, your father will be back tonight... he will, trust me.”

He looked into my eyes and his hands were tightly around my shoulders. The only thing to do was to believe in him.

And, that was me - a girl who experienced travelling back in time. I couldn’t believe it. So I would remember, I wrote it down in the diary: Dear Diary, I have travelled back in time, to change my life and I actually did it with the help of a mysterious person, I didn’t ask for his name, and he didn’t tell me. Everything seemed so real yet unbelievable. Once again, my life had been changed completely. This is the story of my life - happy, amazing, weird, complicated…

The start was a dream, which led me to a new world back in time. Every feeling and thought I have; every word I speak; every decision I made; every person I met - I will never regret. We can’t change the result of our life or its ending, but the thing we can do is to cherish what we have and live on with the best 211 | P a g e

attitude, until the last day of life. Everything I have done is because of a dream, filled with magic and mysteryâ&#x20AC;Ś The dream has gone but life keeps going. For now, I will live as best as I can, as long as I can.

END

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FLY – DANIEL PARK It was a peaceful day, so I decided to slip inside a warm and cozy house and rest for a bit. Flying around in search for delicious garbage is actually quite tiring. People just assume we’re dirty, but they don’t even appreciate that without us there would be a lot more garbage in the world! I never understood why I didn’t get any respect. Putting my thoughts aside, I was just about to take a nap beside a bright sunny window sill when I overheard a voice that drifted from the television nearby.

“An extremely precious diamond worth millions has just been stolen from the grand museum! It just disappeared and walked out the front door!”

When I glanced up to look at the screen, I saw the most shiniest translucent blue diamond in the whole world! A few minutes later, I fell asleep and dreamed about a world full of diamond flies with beautiful scents of garbage...

The next morning, my body was aching quite badly, so I decided to fly straight to my favorite place ever (a fast food restaurant). When, I finally arrived at the towering building, I zoomed inside and hid inside a convenient burger someone had left behind. If there was anything I had learnt from my life, it was that humans were disgusted by flies! When I certainly thought nobody had seen me, I started to devour the brown juicy meat inside. It was the best meal I had in days. I don’t know how long it had been, a few minutes or maybe an hour, when I felt that the burger was floating on its own!

“Wait, that’s impossible!” I told myself. I was just about to crawl out of the cramped burger when the world turned into a black hole.

Right then, I realized the horrific truth.

Gulp!

I had been swallowed.

Confused and depressed, I flew around bumping into random objects. I knew that if I stopped using my strength to fly, I would plunge down and get soaked to death by the slimy liquid filling his stomach (though it did smell quite good). I found a spongy object, which was probably the burger, and sat down. I was just about to accept my death now.

But then I saw the strangest thing I had ever seen in my short life.

A blue solid object kept coming into my sight, and I just couldn’t ignore it for some odd reason. I decided that I would approach it a little closer to inspect it. I expected it to be a piece of vegetable or some rotted food, but it was something completely different than I had imagined. ‘No, no, it can’t be! I must be dreaming right now!’ I thought to myself. I bashed my head everywhere so I could wake up from this dream, but the more I tried, the more it seemed like reality.

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It was a diamond! It wasn’t just an ordinary diamond; it looked like the most shiniest translucent blue diamond in the world. I gasped. “How could this diamond possibly have ended up into this man’s stomach?” I questioned myself.

For a few moments, I just remained there, still dumbfounded by the fact that there was a stolen diamond in this man’s body. Had the man stolen the diamond himself and swallowed it to hide it from people? Had he been forced to eat it? Was it all just a mistake?

My thoughts trailed on and when everything had finally gone through my mind, I came to my full attention. I couldn’t let a diamond stay in a prison like this. I would feel too guilty to die here without even doing anything about the situation. I was determined to return the diamond to its original home - the museum!

I noticed a long string-like noodle nearby, so I picked it up carefully and wrapped it around the small diamond. I grabbed on one end of the noodle and started flying up. I expected it to be almost as light as me, but I was wrong. It weighed a tonne! It would not even budge no matter how hard I flew. The noodle only snapped in half when I kept trying. I decided that I would have to use a different way. I wrapped about 5 more layers of noodles on the diamond and attached the 5 noodles to a small broccoli. This time, I grabbed the broccoli and started flying up. After several failures, I realized that my small tiny wings couldn’t handle a weight like this. Feeling quite stupid, I flew back down and sat on the burger again which lay on the pit of his stomach. After a while, I came up with a plan...

With my remaining strength, I managed to fly upwards inside the dark world, and I somehow found the entrance to the stomach and was able to finally crawl out of it. It was still pitch black, but I knew where to go because of the narrow path. As I started to climb up the esophagus, I was very careful not to slip on anything. After a while, I started to see the man’s mouth. That was my doorway to freedom. It seemed like the giant was sleeping, so I waited until I saw the right timing. He opened his mouth wide open when he snored, so I instantly bolted out of that filthy cave.

I softly landed on a brown desk and waited.

Sooner or later, someone would recognise the treasure that I had saved.

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TRAPPED – JULIE HOWARTH (inspired by the Movie Insidious)

Even before I went to my university, my childhood, academics (grades) and friendship issues were in a total catastrophe. Ever since I was born, I used to have a hole in my heart and disabilities constantly faced me all the time. Currently, I have an anxiety disorder and my heart is absolutely speechless. In school, all the teachers and my fellow pupils were alarmed that I shouldn’t get surprised or astonished due to my heart consequences; if I did get overly shocked, I could possibly suffer a heart attack!

Every now and then, school for me was like a place of apprehension. Overlapped with my anxiety disorder, everything in the school was counterproductive especially if it was an exam or SATS week. Although all students (including straight A students) hated the exam week, for me, it was an especially, incredibly, inordinately worse for me since I know myself too well; I know that I would get a mark like a D-.

A WRETCHED D! In addition to this, if I had supportive and encouraging friends, I know that school wouldn’t be this bad. As you may have noticed, yes, I don’t have any friends. It seems like everyone was avoiding me. It always seemed like I had a black aura around my body wherever I would go. Everybody hated me… Everyone did….

Especially the fact that the school was like a community of narcissistic, self-centered, vainglorious girl ‘gangs’! Creating friendship was the most arduous thing to do; it was just so obvious that each individual would ignore me and exclude me. Everyone thought I was rebarbative - everyone including teachers thought I would generate annoyance and irritation. Twenty-four hours in a day, my heart was always sunken and I never understood myself why I was alive…

The word to describe my life was hopeless.

Since my parents knew that I had a rollercoaster of depressed emotions and insecure health issues, they put me into psychological treatment sessions even though they were in their toughest circumstances (my parents thought that seeing a psychologist was mandatory for me). Everyone around me kept in mind that my mental capability of handling consequences and depression was a disaster. But I don’t get it. Look at all of my stress – I could handle all of this when nobody could.

Who started this idiotic rumour? I did nothing. Why was this happening to me?

Just to end my week contentedly, my parents contacted my cousins in order to invite them to our house and have a barbeque party. Although I wasn’t really close to my first and second cousins, since they were all family members, they understood my personal consequences and my atrocious health issues.

But this wasn’t it…

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As I cautiously climbed up a tree with my first and second cousins, a sudden earthquake occurred and I was out-of-control. As I held onto a firm, unyielding branch, the branch suddenly broke at the most “perfect” moment. I fell off a tree that was 10-metre-high, fracturing my spine, legs and arms.

Due to the shock, this accident put me into coma. As soon as my parents realized that I was unconscious and my head was bleeding, they carried me to my bed.

“Wake up… You are our only hope… Without you, I can’t live…Please.. Don’t let go… I will follow you...” my parent’s voice echoed constantly in my ears; it felt like my ears were in a cave that never ended.

Of course, reluctantly, the doctors were unable to diagnose my problem. My family members were curious about my unexpected coma, as well as my mum witnessing a spirit in the house. Was there a ghost in this house?

Or a goblin?

Everyone wondered; they knew they had to think outside of the box. My aunt came up with an idea - there was actual spirit in the house. Despite the fact that we weren’t rich and demonologists were highly paid, at this occasion demonologist would be exceeding needful.

2 weeks had passed, but nothing changed.

The sound of footsteps echoed through my corridor; every single droplet of water from the tap made it more suspenseful. The door slowly creaked and it opened by itself. This terrifying creature stared at me as if I had done something wrong; his sharp, excruciating eyes punctured my soul as his mouth widened into a chilling, vicious grin. His nose was exceedingly long and pointed it seemed like his nose was his own personal weapon.

“You want to come with me? Come on! Follow my path of hell. You’d enjoy yourself there; it’s a very pleasant place to be in,” the petrifying voice broke in the eerie, suspicious, horrifying atmosphere.

“Come on, I came here to take you there. Let’s go!” As he touched my hand with his trembling, cold nervy claws, I felt like I was either dead right at this moment, or my soul had left my body.

“Who are you… My parents told me not to follow strangers… How did you even get into here?

I’m going to call the police if you don’t leave!” I splattered out random words.

He glared at me with his excruciating eyes and just decided to laugh; I was confused! He nodded and he pointed at my bed. As I slowly turned my head, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I rubbed and rubbed several times but nothing worked. My heart sank; shivers bolted down my spine as my hands were trembling. I saw myself in the bed sleeping. “Wait… I’m standing here but why is my body there…?” I thought to myself.

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Far across the distance, the demonologist was calling my name repetitively and the unknown creature was intimidated. For instance, I thought to myself that the demonologist could possibly be my life saver or that the demonologist could discard this unidentified monster.

This wasn’t it…

It seemed like the anonymous creature had his suspicious friends with him… They were all lined up together, trying to stop the demonologist (hopefully my lifesaver) from approaching me; maybe they knew that the purpose of the demonologist was me. Her body vanished all of a sudden. Was this the end? Did I have to stay with this inexplicable creature? Was there even a single chance for me to meet my family?

Or was there another pathway that I didn’t know?

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BUT THEN I SAW THE HORROR – JIM BAE My name is Josh. For me, my childhood was like a messy puzzle, and no one loved me. No one expected that I would become a genius until the day...the day that I successfully entered this high school.

September 17, 1987 It was the first day of school. For me, it was one of the biggest successes that I have made in my life, in the past ten years my life was miserable and unpleasant. On the way when I was going to the school, I saw that many students were unhappy and depressed. Finally, one of the kids told me that there was girl who committed suicide yesterday. No one understood why she committed suicide and she was not the only one.

In addition, as soon as I arrived to the classroom, other students were all cheerful, but there was only one kid who was sitting at the back of the road. It was Sarah. She was a tall and beautiful girl. Unfortunately, no one was willing to talk to her. She was weird. As soon as the class started, I concentrated on my studies. Suddenly, I saw a shadow which passed away from my side. It was totally horrible! It only had half of a face, and had a huge grin on her face. (No one had recognized this) After the school ended, I left the school as quick as possible. Obviously, I was really shocked by the strange shadow that I had seen today.

But what I never realised was that I was in danger……

September 18, 1987 Today was one of the worst days that I have ever had in my life. Before I continue, I will tell you what happened in my dream the day before. It was a very weird and nasty dream; I saw a pale girl who was wearing white clothes. Her eyes were inhumanly cold. Her face was full of misery and sadness. Her lips kept muttering, it seems that she wanted to say something, but it was at this important moment that I woke up……

After I arrived at school, I told everyone in the class about my weird dream; everyone was depressed and miserable. The situation was very serious and unpleasant. Suddenly, our math teacher Mr.Hung came in, and after pointing his finger at me, he said, “You! Come out!” Mr.Hung said, full of anger.

“Yes sir...” I responded, knowing that I was in trouble.

“The reason that I’m angry at you, is because you have mentioned some things that we are not permitted to mention!” Mr.Hung said seriously, “Like what?” I asked.

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“According to your dream, the girl who appeared in your dream was already dead, and she had already commit suicide in this school years ago.” he miserably answered.

“Whenever there are students in the school who dreams about this girl, they will die in a week.” he said, full of depression and sadness.

“Are you saying that I will die in the next few days?” I asked but I didn’t get a reply from him, he leave me alone in the hallway and he left silently…...

September 19, 1987 After school finished, I decided to stay in the school because I never believed ghost or spirits.

Therefore, I wanted to investigate and prove that there are no spectres in the world. In addition, I was warned by my friends and teachers but I ignored them.

At 23:30, I was starting to feel hungry and exhausted. So I decided to go back to my house.

Suddenly, the moon was covered by a gloomy cloud; my back felt very uncomfortable! When I looked at my watch again it was already 23:55. It was 23:30 a few minutes and now the time is 23:55. Then I saw a little girl crying on the stairs. I felt suspicious of this girl, I have never seen such a young girl in the high school. Feeling curious, I walked near to the stairs to find out what was happening. Meanwhile, clouds that were previously covering the moon were gone. Her skin was as white as snow; her hair was as dark as coal. Her hair was long enough to reach her legs. She was very skinny, and you could barely see her blood vessels and her bones.

“Are you okay?” I asked full of concern and suspicion. In the blink of an eye, the air started to get colder and colder, enough to choke someone to death…... I started to sweat because I was too nervous and suspicious of the girl stood in front of me! Abruptly, she turned her head around and looked at me full of depression. Something made me feel uncomfortable, her eyes were closed…...

“Why are you here at this time? Aren’t you scared?” I asked, but I didn’t get a reply. It seemed that this girl was ignoring me.

“I was lost from the way going back to my house……” she muttered. Her voice was unbelievably soft, and her voice was a lot weaker than I expected. She was crying!

Suddenly, there was a very nasty and evil smell flowing in the air. It seemed that time had stopped.

She started to laugh, her laugh was full of fear and death……

Blood was dropping from her eyes……

The moon was covered by dark and evil gloom, the hope inside my heart was like a candle that suddenly went out… Afterward, this little girl stood up slowly. (She was crying with blood and she had a deadly laugh) Then she opened her deadly eyes, her eyes were empty! I saw there were worms and insects chewing her muscles inside her eyes. It seemed that this body had already decomposed years ago. Suddenly my senses were telling me that the girl who was standing here was already dead!

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I started to run like a flustered rat escaping from the predator. Honestly, I wasn’t scared or panicked when this ‘apparition’ was chasing me. My mind was like a piece of blank paper. I couldn’t describe my feelings in that situation.

As soon as I turned my head around, this evil nasty creature, like a wild tiger suddenly jumped in front of me. She began to walk towards me and the crosses on my necklace started to shine.

In the blink of an eye, this evil creature was gone……

I knew the necklace saved my life but I still couldn’t believe what my eyes, what I had just seen…

September 23, 1987 In the next few days, I had this dream over and over again. In my dream, the little girl who chased me that night appeared in my dream. Evidently, the ‘creature’ that I saw few days ago were difficult to describe in words and there’s no way to explain in a scientific way. The only thing that I’m confident with the girl who was chasing me that night was already dead! Fears and terror were like gloomy clouds which surrounded me all the time, I started to lose my mind.

Apparently, I didn’t tell anyone about my experience because everyone refused to listen my ‘horror experience.’

In the Science class, we were having a lab experiment about animal organs. Honestly, I wasn’t focused at all and my lab partner was very disappointed about my attitude.

“Why are you not focusing Josh? Are you feeling not well?” she asked full of suspicion and I still can feel her disappointment from her words. But I wasn’t focusing neither the lab nor my lab partner. My mind was still focusing on the girl that I have met on the stairs. Until she waved her hand in front of my eyes, I didn’t recognized her existence.

“Well I had a really weird experience few days ago.” I answered but I wasn’t expecting a reply. because everyone in the school refused to listen my ‘horror experience.’ Suddenly, my lab partner started to sweat. Her sweat was like rain dropping from her white skin, her face was full of gloom and misery.

“Is it a little girl who is standing on the stairs?” she asked. She was sweating. It seemed that she knew everything.

“Yes, how do you even know that?” I replied suspiciously.

“She’s the death deity of the school! She only appears in the school after midnight….. ” she answered.

September 24, 1987 From today, my life is surrounded by fear. I couldn’t describe or demonstrate what I have seen today. Before I continue the story any further, I will just briefly demonstrate what I have seen today. After the English class was finished, I decided to go to the cafeteria. Suddenly, on the way to cafeteria, there was a very weak light that appeared in front of me, it was a lot weaker and it was less shinier than I expected. A girl, a very tall and beautiful girl, who stood in front of 220 | P a g e

me, it seemed that I have met her before. (She was wearing a white cloth full of dust) In the blink of an eye, I suddenly remember this girl, this girl who was standing in front of me appeared in my previous dreams! She started to mutter but I couldn’t hear a word.

She grabbed my hand and we started to walk towards to a small hill. (Inside the school) Unpleasantly, her hand was unbelievably cold and I’m confident that the girl who was standing in front of me was already dead! As we were walking towards the hill, she suddenly stopped walking; she pointed at the ground. It seemed there is something inside the ground she wants.

Then I started to use my rough hand and started to dig. A while later, my hands were covered with mud and dust; my mind was like a mess. Is there any connection between the girl who stands here and the girl that I met on the stairs? If the girl that I met on the stairs was evil, how about the girl who stand behind me? Fortunately, she didn’t attack on me yet but I still couldn’t trust her.

Abruptly, I could barely see a hand. I was in shocked! Then I started to dig as fast as I could, I found a dead body in the school! From the body, it seemed that this body had decomposed years ago, it was very difficult to classify the sexuality of this body because the body was chewed up by those small insects and ants. These insects were close together. (there were many insects crawling over each other) These insects were chewing her muscles and blood vessels inside her body! When I used my finger to flip her eyelid, her eyes were full of dirty bugs and caterpillar inside her eyes; chewing her eyeballs and the muscles inside! It seemed that these insects were hungry enough to swallow this innocent ‘stranger.’ But the clue that I have got from this dead body, is that this ‘stranger’ has a long and black hair which can reach her legs. Abruptly, my back was unbelievable cold! I was sweating with fear! I knew something terrible is going to happen. I don’t understand why these ‘apparition’ choose me as their fate dummy to play with but I know my destiny was ruined by these spectres…

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LAURA – CLAIRE KIM Contains scenes of abuse. Reader discretion is advised.

His figure approaches my door.

The orange light is behind him, streaming in from the hallway. Despite his skinny frame and limp clothes, his shadow stretches out to resemble a long-legged, muscular creature. It makes his legs look horribly thin, arms bursting with veins, and shoulders broad.

I tighten my grip on the pillow. I can’t see his face: the stripes from the streetlamp outside the window makes his nose horribly disfigured. His eyes are pitch dark, and I can’t see the white part of his eyes. I dig my fingernails into my palm, fists clenched around pillow. Goosebumps line my pale arm even though a trickle of sweat runs down my spine.

He takes a step towards me, and now, his shadow lies across my door; I wish I could move back, but I’m chained. The dark hands reach out to grab my shoulders, his teeth shining in the dim orange light, and my pulse is pounding in my wrists– I sit up, drenched in sweat, hyperventilating and dizzy. My bed sheets are soaked in my tears and my shaky hands reach for my phone. My sweat is slippery against the opaque glass screen, and I swipe to see two missed calls from Brian.

He picks up.

“Hello? Laura?”

My body trembles, and my breath is trapped inside my throat as I try to speak.

“It–,” I hiccup. “It happened again…he got drunk and hit us again” “Laura,” he sighs, and I can’t tell if it’s from relief or desperation. “You have to do something about this.”

“I can’t… He’s fine when he’s sober, but when he gets drunk…” I shudder at the flashback I have of my nightmare and my voice wavers. “It was worse this time. It felt so real–the light outside, his shadow, and the touch of my pillow–it all seemed so real.”

He breathes heavily, and I can almost imagine his face darkening as he thinks. After a moment of silence that felt like eternity, he breathes in.

“I’m going to your house. Right now. Send me your address.” He sounds mad: no, infuriated. The only time I’ve heard him speak in this tone was when a car ran over his dog.

“What? Brian! No!” I whisper angrily into the phone, but it’s too late. The sound of him opening and slamming the car door rings in my room, and shortly after, he hangs up on me, leaving me stunned and alone in my dark room.

“Who’s at the front door?”

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My father storms into my room with a baseball bat slung over his shoulder. His dark circles reach his cheeks, a parade of dark stubble lines his chin, and last night’s alcohol reeks off of him. I immediately tense up, but force myself to be calm.

“I don’t know, dad. Maybe it’s the delivery man?” I ask meekly.

He grunts and staggers to the front door, and I follow behind him. Knowing that Brian was on the other side of the door relieved me, but at the same time, I was afraid for what was about to happen.

Without warning, my father swings open the door.

“Who are you? Do you know my daughter?” He threatens bitterly.

“I’m Laura’s boyfriend,” Brian responds stiffly. “My name is Brian. I would like to speak to you for a moment, if you would allow me.”

My father’s red eyes sweep Brian up and down and I see the madness, the rage flashing behind his eyes.

“Dad, no!” I reach out in desperate attempt to prevent him from doing any harm to any of us.

But then I saw him raise the gun.

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DEJA VU – DANNY WANG “Hello Mr. Oh,” said the maths teacher, “How’s your day?”

“Uhh…um…. GREAT!” I replied. “How’s your day, Ms. Sun.” As I asked the question, the bell rang.

“It's time for us to teach the students! See you later, Mr. Oh!” This was our last conversation.

It was a typical day. I was teaching students about science, one kid did not finish his work, so I asked him to stay after school. The day ended. I was with that student, staying after school for work not done. He was such a naughty kid, he just did not want to work, so he was finding excuses to escape from me. I had an idea, which was to take him to my house and let him finish his job.

The next day, I woke up but I couldn’t remember anything.

Later, when school started, I checked the attendance, but the kid that I had taken home was absent. I thought, “Was I too harsh on him?”

But that was only the BEGINNING, until I saw…

Today, the year group was on a field trip, but I was worried whether something was going to happen. We arrived at a museum; the exhibits were about the human body, the digestive system and the circulatory system. Suddenly, I saw a poster that said, ‘We are working on how many way people can die (starvation, illness, etc..)’. Then, I felt it... deja vu.

As I stopped, the officer carried a mysterious object. It was all covered in black and was a 2meter-long cuboid. I was curious about the black object, so I followed him all the way to the end of the museum. Then the officer opened the black cover. Inside was a glass coffin containing a dead body. I got such a shock and I fell. Then…

“WAKE UP MR. OH!” I yelled at my science teacher, “YOU WERE HERE FOR THE WHOLE DAY!” This was the last sentence that I spoke…

I am a student. I was on a field trip. Our class lost our homeroom teacher, so we were running around to find him, and suddenly… I was in a hurry for the bathroom. I did not know where the bathroom was, so I ran as fast as I could to find it. As I was walking back, I saw my homeroom teacher lying on the ground. I got a bit nervous, but I still wanted to help him. I ran towards him, 224 | P a g e

and I was yelling at him, but I saw his eyes were open… If I didn’t help him, nothing would’ve happened…

“How long have I been here for?”

I looked at my watch: “16:45”. It was the exact time when we had to meet up at the bus. I was nervous about getting punished for leaving all the students. I arrived at the bus on time, and the principal said nothing to me. After a few minutes, the teachers checked the attendance; then we noticed something!

“ANDY?” “HERE.” “MARTIN?” “HERE.” “SCOTT?” I am a student. I was on a field trip. This was the last time hearing the name, and it seemed as though everyone forgot about Scott except me.

“Mr. Oh? There's no one called Scott in our grade.”

“Oh… sorry guys.”

I was so confused, how come everyone forgot about Scott all of a sudden?

What was happening?

BUT, THEN? I SAW... Mr. Oh was also very confused and was very nervous. Perhaps he murdered someone?

The trip was fun. It was. Except that I did not know why a person just disappeared and nobody seemed to know about him.

It’s science class. Science class is boring. I want to miss the class, but I am not sure where to go. “O wait, there is a room where we are not supposed to go in, but who cares.”

I was in the corner of the prep room but then I saw a huge refrigerator and nothing could stop my curiosity. I opened the fridge and saw organs packed inside plastic bags filled up with blood.

Then, someone opened the prep room door. I quickly hid in a huge box beside the fridge.

I wanted to check if my ‘things’ are still fresh. I want to have one for my dinner. Most of the delicacies have gone but I need some more. Let's see…. Wait… why is there no liver left? I checked it yesterday. I still had one. Wait, I can feel someone is here?

Ok so “Scott?” Why does he have a name tag saying Scott here?

“WAIT, for WHAT!?!?”

O, my God!!! So glad you are here!!

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“Hello Andy?” as I made an evil laugh at him, “How’s your day?”

“Uhh…um…. GREAT!” I replied. “How’s your day, Mr. Oh.” As I asked the question, the bell rang.

“Stay here.”

This was my last conversation.

Then, I felt it... deja vu.

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16 AGAIN – ANGELA BANG Chaeyun Anxiously, you climbed out of your bed and sauntered to the bathroom to get ready for the most important/life changing day of your life; well, after your wedding day. Whilst brushing your teeth, you stared at yourself still thinking if you should actually do this come back. Whenever you looked at yourself now, you kept losing hope and courage for your own self. Lost in your thoughts, you brother quickly shouted, “I’ll be waiting for you in the car Chaeyun. Come quickly, you don't want to be late for the first day of school!!”

After earning some support and courage from your brother, you quickly finished your morning routines, changed into your uniform and ran down the stairs. As you were putting your shoes on, suddenly you remembered about make up. This wasn't something you normally did as you were never confident about your appearance. Plus you never had time to think about your fashion since from a young age you were a mom and always had to work full time too. But thinking back to your old high school days, you usually did use make up. Therefore, on second thought, you decided to swiftly walk up to grab all the makeup you had and run to the car.

No. But you aren’t 16. No… You aren’t. No I’m not…

You are 37 and you have 3 sons; Jungwook (who is 19), Shiwoo (who is 18) and Jihoon (who is 16). You got married at a very young age during high school (18) with your (ex)husband therefore didn't get to finish school. Back then, people always asked why you agreed to this marriage. Well at that time, you did not understand that not finishing high school and getting married early was going to create so much chaos.

You divorced with your husband about 8 years ago which created a big shock to your 3 sons; also you too. You always felt sorry for them to because they had to overcome so much depression but they were different to what you thought because they were so fine and didn’t struggle much. Well, that’s what you thought. On the other hand, you struggled A LOT. Well after getting divorced you were basically traumatised because back then you were very fragile, soft and most importantly, he (your ex-husband) was the one person you trusted the most and relied on the most. And in one day, every bond between you and him were just broken and lost.

Basically, he cheated on you and you were too weak to fight nor talk back. You lost all your selfesteem, courage and … just yourself.

But now, 8 years have passed and now you were back to the normal you; even more stronger physiologically. Now you had the courage to do what you really wanted to do. And you finally had a thought. A thought of going back to high school to finish off the last senior year that you missed. Many of the people who you told and asked for feedback disagreed to your thought and was certain that it won't happen. But the more people you asked, the more you wanted it to become true. Plus, you wanted to prove them wrong and that a middle aged woman like yourself could take in action. Therefore, it was time for you (a 37-year-old woman) to get ready to go back to school…

Hyunwoo You sauntered up the stairs sighing of tiredness as you didn't sleep at all the other night; lost in thoughts thinking about your sister’s school life. You were just so anxious about what would 227 | P a g e

happen and if something happened, how much it will affect her as she was such a fragile little girl even though she acts tough on the outside; she was still so hurt and damaged by her exhusband. Opening the door to your room, you grabbed the car keys and shouted, “I’ll be waiting for you in the car Chaeyun. Come quickly, you don't want to be late for the first day of school!!”

After that, you swiftly walked down the stairs hoping of a good start.

As you brought the car up in front of the main stairway, you saw her tying her shoelaces with her school uniform on. The view reminded you of her real high school times and how bright she used to be, which made you smile in awww, but at the same time how much heartbreaking damage she went through, which made you tear up. With the single tear dripping down your face, the door suddenly opened.

Chaeyun When you entered the car you happily shouted, “Let’s go to school!!!”

But honestly inside you, you were more nervous and anxious compared to enjoying. As the car started off, you took your mirror out and started to apply make-up. You started from foundation, eye liner, eyebrows, lips and all of the beauty products. After you finished, you started at yourself inside the mirror. You suddenly had flashbacks of your old high school times whilst you were dating your ex-husband and going on dates during class time. You suddenly felt water dripping on you face, you recognised it was your tears. Tears full of pain. Remembering that you had make up on you quickly wiped them away and fixed some of the makeup. About 20 minutes later, you arrived infant of the school. Nervously, you packed up everything into your bag and as you were about to opened the car door, your brother slightly whispered “Don’t be afraid …”

Recognising it took him a lot of courage and thinking to say that to you, you quickly hugged him and got out of the car. From the second you were out, kids started staring at you with evil looks saying ‘why is an old lady here’ ‘what’s wrong with her’. You weren’t quite effected so much about this because you already knew this was going to happen. Therefore, you decided to just ignore all of it and wonder around until school starts; as there was 20 minutes left. You were so amazed by how much schools developed compared to your old days. Now, you felt more excited and curious than anxiousness. As you were about to go into the school, you heard girls screaming from the entrance gates. Wondering what it was you looked over but there were too many kids so you just went in. Walking through the corridor was the most worrying thing.

Everybody could see you, you were visible to everybody. ahh… nightmares. With sweaty hands, you swiftly walked down the aisle trying to look ordinary. But obviously, you couldn't look ordinary, you weren’t normal. Kids were laughing, smirking, calling names and purposely bumping into you. You were quite shocked at their behaviours because you didn't expect thins much. As you were looking down, you bumped into a hard chest making you collapse to the floor. Before you could even say sorry, the anonymous boy laughed and kicked you around your stomach. In this very moment, all you could do was apologise; so you did.

“Im very sorry, I wasn't looking,” you whispered with your head facing the floor as your stomach was stinging. You suddenly heard girls screaming again so you looked up. But when you did that, the anonymous boy grabbed your hair to look at you straight and replied smirkingly laughing, “You think apologising could solve all this? Then why would there—“ “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!!!” an anonymous boy shouted.

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The three sons They got out of the bus with girls following them like bodyguards. Well for them, this was so normal as it was like this since the day they came to this school. They are the top 3 most popular boys (playboys) in the high school so having girls follow them everywhere was normal.

As they arrived to the school gates, Jihoon said shocked, “Isn’t that mom in front of the school door????”

The second Shiwoo and Jungwook heard the word mom, they quickly eyed the doors with a nervous feeling. They all knew their mom was going to go to high school again but little did they know it was their school.

“OH MY GOSH… Here comes trouble” Shiwoo loudly whispered running quickly towards their mom.

When they entered the corridor, all the girls were screaming their names again and again waiting and wishing for them to notice them; it just bothered them. They all had their focus on finding their mom as they knew she would be up to trouble. Suddenly, there was a crowd of people and instantly Jungwook knew it had to be their mom. Therefore, without thought, he forcefully pushed into the centre and grabbed the anonymous boy’s collar and shouted, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!!!”

Suddenly, their mom looked up surprised and was loss of words. She managed to say, “No, please don’t. Just leave him alone…” Looking at her watering eyes and shaking body form, he let go. But the anonymous boy shouted whilst smirking, “What right do you have me to stop this pathetic old lady that—“ “PATHETIC OLD LADY??!!! IS THAT SOMETHING TO SAY TO AND ADULT???!” Jungwook exclaimed back panting with no temper. The anonymous boy continued, “But why are you protecting this old lady? She is going to be a burden—“ “You stop RIGHT NOW with this nonsense!!!” Shiwoo added cutting him off. The anonymous boy kept annoying them by adding, “Woah.. the whole family protecting this old lady? (laughing) what is up with all u guys??!!! (annoyed) SHE IS A PATHE—“ “SHE IS MY MOTHER!!!!!”

Jungwook shouted with all his soul. Now the whole corridor was silent. No one dared to move a muscle. Jungwook continued, “Well OUR mother. And you (pointing) have no right what so ever to disrespect OUR mother for coming to school. She is our one and only mother who cared for us since a very young age by herself. So from now on if you have any arguments against her, please be welcome to come to us.”

Now, most of the kids in the corridors had watery eyes with their souls ripping apart. Their mom was now weeping from all the pain she had overcome and the heart touching thought of what her son just said. After some moments, all her three sons went up to her and whispered, “We will always protect you. Whenever and wherever”.

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IT’S COMING! – IAIN CHOI Tired of stalled scientific advancements as well as his lack of research money, a worldfamous scientist convinces the public that people have hacked the many satellites that patrol the sky. He capitalizes on their panic to get rich.

“AND SO,” he continued, “THE EARTH WILL BE STRUCK WITH TRAGEDY.” He raised his hands like a father to his child while telling a horror story.

“WE MUST DO SOMETHING.” He screamed the last line with such decisiveness that the audience’s faces went ghostly pale. He grinned inside his head at the general reaction while maintaining the anxious mood inside the auditorium. In fact, the tension inside the room accelerated so dramatically that the room seemed tangibly hotter. Then, it was like he was releasing all the air inside of a filled balloon.

“That is all.”

The audience exploded with unnerved, worried applause as he strode confidently backstage. This, was the 4th speech he had done today.

“Excuse me,” a thin, timid voice interrupted NAME from his thoughts. He wiped his face vigorously and swirled his chair around smoothly. It was his assistant, a tall, wiry man of 40 with a well-groomed moustache and a fair complexion. He had a pale, slightly malnourished face. His arms were thin and boney like stick insect legs. In fact, he was so thin that he only had to open the door halfway to get in.

“Yes?” “Sir, the supplies were delayed. They’re expected to come next Tuesday. What do you suggest we do?”

NAME’s face darkened. He frowned, ran his fingers through his black hair and sighed. He couldn’t delay this much longer. “Fine.” he muttered impatiently. “Contact the department and rush them to do my deliveries early.” He resumed drawing the graph with unwavering concentration as his assistant’s footsteps faded off into the distance. Dot by dot. Line by line. It had had to be ready by Friday. The more complicated, he thought, the better it will convince the public. He tried to envision his future audience’s reaction. He deemed it satisfactory and proceeded to draw lines in random places in a final attempt to make it as complex as possible. Then, he raced over to his computer and rapidly typed: … An Ogristanian hacking team, only known as “Where @m I?” or “W@I” has breached the defense system of the satellites. All of the satellites are connected, thus the result of one being hacked will result in a complete wipeout of all of them. We will be destroyed by our own machines.

We must put up firewalls and barricades to stop them as soon as possible! =========== With a snap of his camera, and a few clicks, his graph faded into existence onto his screen.

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He wiped his forehead, let a satisfied smile spread across his face and continued.

Donate to www.waipreventation.org to support this project! For more information, please contact NAME@worldmail.com He pressed SEND and leaned back in his chair with content, waiting for the “DING!” notification.

He was just about to fall asleep when a loud “DING” erupted like a volcano from his computer and jolted him awake. He rolled over to his computer and saw a small box on his screen that said: “Thank you Dr. NAME. Your article has been published on octimes.com. Thank you.”

He smiled and leaned back again in his chair, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The speech was a fabulous success. He had said the same speech so many times before that it was practically glued onto his brain. Occasionally, while working, he would murmur some miscellaneous line from his speech: “And so, the earth will be struck with tragedy.”

He even felt a twitch in his arms as that was where he was supposed to raise his hands.

“Researching” was difficult. Finding fake facts to support a completely bogus theory was no easy task. In fact, he spent the majority of the time thinking about his successful future as the most recognised scientist who saved the world. Money, fame! His brain whispered treacherously.

NAME was the type of man who would do anything for money. NAME had an unhealthy obsession with money.

He craved money.

He was drawn to money.

Money, he reasoned, was the key to happiness.

HIS happiness. And fame…

HE would be famous!

HE would be the one; the one to discover!

HE would be a real-life hero.

He looked around his desk at all he had done. His money. His fame. As he looked around his desk, something caught his eye. A long, black tube sitting in the corner of his desk. As he picked it up, a brilliant beam of light glinted off the tube and hit his eye. His telescope, the object that changed his life 30 years ago...

NAME trotted down the stairs in childish glee. His christmas present! His dad, sitting at his dining table, looked up at him with pure love.

“Merry christmas, son.”

A telescope. It was beautiful, shiny and black.

“You look through it, like this:” His dad demonstrated it while NAME looked up in awe.

He saw all the planets and stars, all the distant cosmic entities and whatever wonders beyond the earth’s atmosphere were waiting for him. They were so beautiful...

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… And now, as he peered through the telescope, his eyes widened in horrified shock. The cloud of self-worth, importance and narcissism covering his vision was gone. But a new cloud HAD formed. He could no longer see the plants and stars. He couldn’t marvel at the distant things in the universe like he did when he was young. All he saw was a cloud of smog and death looming over the earth. It was almost as if the earth was aging just like him. Phasing into corruption and destruction. Tumbling slowly into an endless abyss of darkness. But he saw something else.

Something silver. Something shiny. Something deadly. As he watched, a satellite plunged into the earth at terrifying speed. He shut his eyes as a brilliant flash of white light came from the impact.

He finally knew the reality. What was going to happen.

He wouldn’t be famous...

He wouldn’t be the one; the one to discover...

He wouldn’t be a real-life hero…

He would, however, be dead.

And so would all his loved ones: Friends.

Family.

Co-workers All dead, some instantly disintegrated and the rest slowly dying.

It didn’t matter anymore. He was the only one. The only one who knew how to stop it. And, after all the money that he had embezzled, the scientists who really mattered would not believe him anymore...

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BUT THEN I SAW – SOJEONG HAN It started raining outside when I finished baking with my mum and sister, Soyeon. The weather report was on TV and the temperature had dropped to minus 20 celsius! Even though it was still 8:30 in the morning, it was still dark outside and the moon was out instead of the sun.

Whilst watching drama with my mum in the living room, I remembered discussing how grandma was moving near to our house.

“Do you want to go with me to your grandma’s house to bring her cookies?” mom asked.

Hurriedly, we packed half of the cookies and got changed into pajamas, because we would probably stay there for more than two hours so I didn’t want to wear uncomfortable clothes.

As we were waiting for an empty taxi, I saw something flash in the sky and I was about to ask my mum about it but the wind was too loud. When the taxi stopped, we were in front of a forest - however, in my memory there were no woods in this neighbourhood…

A cold breeze of wind blew on me and a girl with long dark hair, with pointy nails painted in blood colour, in a white dress as she swished past me. When I turned around, the weather was suddenly foggy and mist was flying around our legs like translucent fabrics. There were sounds of nails scratching on chalkboard but after a few seconds it was quiet again, so I thought I heard wrong.

Just in case, I turned around but there was nobody else except me and my mum.

It was a bit dark in the forest, therefore it was easy to notice the shining object in front of me. When I stepped forward to see what it was, it was an enormous magnifying glass. “Mum~ I found a magnifying glass,” I called my mum, who was five footsteps away from where I was.

“Okay. Let’s go,” she replied.

Hurriedly, I took the magnifying glass with me to ask mum and grandma if they knew why it was in the middle of a forest, as I thought grandma would know because she has lived here since mum was born. It was also confusing how I didn’t see the forest before - my mum and I had visited grandma’s house several times. ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆ When I woke up the next morning, it had started to snow and the roof was decorated with gigantic icicles. It was cold in the room because I had forgotten to shut the windows last night, so I stayed under the sheets for a little bit longer than I was going to. My mum came in whilst I was still laying on my bed and told me to come out soon for breakfast.

“Do you want to bake cookies again? Come to the kitchen when you want and tell me which flavour you want to bake~! The heater is not working for now… so get changed into warmer clothes.”

“Okay,” I replied.

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“Also, do you want to go downtown to buy clothes? Most of your clothes are for spring and summer so we should go buy warmer clothes. We can also go to the cinema so if you want to go, tell me which movie you want to watch.” Then she closed the door and went back to the kitchen.

Quickly, I got up and put on my long padded coat and fuzzy ankle socks. I brought a blanket with me outside to the living room and layed on the couch. My dog, Sulli, hopped on next to me and I turned on the TV to watch a movie, cartoon, or K-drama. In the middle of watching the movie “Split”, I thought I saw something grey swish by in the garden, which you could see out the big sliding windows in the living room, next to the couch that I was laying on.

“Mum~! Do you want to watch TV together?” I called mum, remembering that she asked if I wanted to bake with her or go out anywhere.

“Okay, wait a second.” I heard her turning off the oven and taking out the cookies, the scent emitting through the kitchen and living room. She came in with the plate of cookies and raspberries, and set it down on the small table in front of the sofa. Sulli sat in the middle of me and my mum.

Out of the blue, my mum asked, “What is that?”

When I looked at her, she was looking out the rectangular sliding windows, at the garden.

Soyeon and I turned around and a creature about the size of our dog, Sulli, was bouncing around.

It was difficult to catch sight of its appearance and shape as it moved so quickly.

But then I saw that the creature had suddenly stopped moving - and looked around to see if anyone was watching, as if he had heard our conversation. It had colossal round eyes, the size of a baseball and looked similar to one of the House Elves in Harry Potter.

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MY BEST FRIEND IS A LIVING SAUSAGE! – ALIN SUNG There was a little boy in a small town who had a weird experience. The little boy’s name was Lincoln. He was very happy and open-minded all the time and loved to go to school every day. And his best friend was James who was good at studying and sports. One evening, Lincoln went to James’ house and slept over the night. Lincoln saw James and his family all had cold symptoms and they took some strange “cold syrup” that night and went to bed. What Lincoln didn’t know was that James’ father was a scientist who created interesting experiments.

The next morning was just another normal day, with students going to school.

Lincoln: (Next morning) Good morning James James: Good morning Lincoln: (Surprised) Oh! James are you alright? Look at you! What’s happening to you? You turn to live sausage (hahaha) James:(Rolling his eyes) I know I turned into a living sausage but can you not laugh at me?

Lincoln: (haha) Yes, I will try James: WHAT DO YOU MEAN TRY JUST STOP DOING IT! Lincoln: Let's go downstairs and eat our breakfast because even if you turn into a living sausage, we still have to go to school and the school bus is coming. (keep laughing) James: (Rolling his eyes again and sigh) (Going downstairs) Lincoln saw it was not just James turning into a living sausage. His whole family had also turned into LIVING SAUSAGES! Because Lincoln was so surprised about how people could turn into LIVING sausages. A lot of questions started swirling around in his mind like are they alien? Or are theyBut James seemed very calm about everything. Apparently, his father had done this before.

(James saw the school bus was coming) James: Quick! the school bus is coming! Lincoln be quick!.

Lincoln: Hey, James. Are you ok with the fact you have now turned into a living ice-cream?

James: I’m alright and I still have to go to school to see my girlfriend...but I won’t be able to do any gym because the sun will melt me.

Lincoln: (Fake laugh) Haha so funny you want to go to school because you want to see your Girlfriend?! Dude, you’re dripping all over the bus!

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James: YES! (full of excitement) Lincoln: (In his mind: He is alien he is not human and he is weird) But then I saw James’ family also turned into living ice creams and the neighbour’s cat was licking one of them - what is happening?

(Get on the bus) Everyone in the bus: WOW! Today, you have turned into a LIVING fried egg.!

James: (show off) It is very cool right? I have always wanted a round orange face in a big white circle. All the ajummas are jealous of my white skin!

Boys in the bus: Yes, it is so cool. I also want to turn into a living fried egg too.

After they got to the school, Lincoln thought that James’s girlfriend would not like James anymore and really upset about turning to living sausage but James didn’t seem upset about it at all. He was rather dating with his girlfriend in school and he still played basketball at break time. Even though he got yolk all over the net.

How could that possibly be okay? I wondered.

Because I was so curious about why he was not upset about it, I went to ask him how he could be happy about living in a fried egg body.

James: Lincoln, I am not upset about my turning into living food because it doesn’t matter what I look like and no one can really choose what they want to look like but you can choose how you want to react to that and how you treat others. That’s why my dad made the medicine. We were so worried about how we looked that he wanted to teach us about what is really important.

At that moment, I really saw the human inside of James.

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