Mystery Boxes-LE activitiy in eTwinning

Learning Event: “Creative writing in eTwinning- a hands on experience�

Mystery Boxes activity Participants create collaborative stories about 5 objects and their owner 15-22 December 2012

YOUNG GREEN WRITERS

A MYSTERIOUS STORY

A Mysterious Story Cornelia Melcu, Vasso Oikonomidou, Magdalena Goc , Angela Tsakiri, Dimitris Tsintzas There she lay, unconscious, on the staircase, her pearly necklace broken and the little beige pearls scattered all around.

She was dressed up in her fine silky dress and fur coat. She was sure everything would be perfect tonight. Her red cabriolet car was waiting for her in the locked garage and so was everybody else. Never again, had she broken her promises. “Am I alive or is this that another world, that better one? I can see some fairly coloured baby hand prints as if a child played with different paints and left its prints on the paper. Where have I seen them? Are they real? How does the child that left them look like? Is it a girl with beautiful, golden locks round her small, sweet childish headie or a boy, small cupid? Where am I? What had happened? Have I lost my memory?�

The mystery was growing...

When dr. Watson arrived, the scene was set: the baby handprint the broken necklace a torn paper, possibly airfare the drawn papers and

Picture 1: Dr. Watson

the lecture that never took place. The lecture that this dynamic woman was about to give.

The

telephone

kept

ringing

constantly. Participants of the lecture were eager to hear what professor Sarah Green had to propose about a revolutionary method to address the problem of excessive exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

Neither sunscreen creams nor sunglasses would any longer be needed. Unfortunately, that lecture never took place...

The

experienced

dr.

Watson‟s

eye

fell

on

the

torn

ticket.

Destination: Kenya.

Who would want to hurt her? Did she have any enemies? She was a prominent scientist, always caring for those in need.

The questions must be answered but not by her, her memory loss won‟t help.

Dr. Watson has to find the people close to her. Was anyone supposed to go with her on that trip to the safari park? A tiny rhinoceros hanging from her keyring implied that maybe she had been there before. Going on a safari trip is certainly not

somewhere

to

go

with

your

Picture 2: J. J. Gibson shows off his gold medal after winning the 5,000m at the Olympic Games

girlfriends... a man must be involved. Dr. Watson checked her agenda and called the plane company. There was the answer! Mr. Gibson, the gold medal winner of the Olympic Games in long distance running had made a reservation for three for the trip.

Only two flew this morning. What could their relationship be?

The missing child kept torturing the detective‟s mind. My God! Sarah‟s daughter! It was obvious. A child was living with Sarah but nobody knew if she was married. Jonathan

Picture 3: Kenya

Gibson was the only man in her life. He should go by himself in Kenya! Sure. That‟s where he was staying the whole year practicing his athletics for the World Championship. Now he wanted both of them there but Sarah refused. Why? Sarah never took her ticket. She ripped it and threw it away.... but the child?

All the evidence led to the conclusion of kidnapping!

And what about solar radiation? Kenya is one of the most warm and sunny places on earth. How is it connected with Sarah‟s research? Is it because she and her child were planning to live there with Jonathan?

The pieces of the puzzle began to come together. But what changed the last minute? Was it Jonathan Gibson who took Sarah‟s daughter to Kenya with him? And why did he leave Sarah behind? Or is there some other explanation lurking?

Yes! A flash memory came to dr.

Watson‟s mind. She was Green He was Gibson. The answer to the puzzle was a green Gibson!

Sarah met this guitar player and ran away

from

the

goldmedalist

when

he

decided to change his name to Gibson. Then he came back to take his child with him.

Sarah was not a good mother. Her life was devoted in research and now she was following that man in all his concerts leaving her child alone.

The group he is playing is named “Smashing Pumpkins” and her favorite song was “Rhinoceros” (that‟s why she carried that rhino in her keyring and NOT because of Kenya).

Jonathan was hoping to take both of them with him but when he came, he saw Anna and the guitarist together. He announced her that he was going to take both her and their daughter with him to Kenya.

But Sarah refused - she didn‟t want to leave the guitarist. Jonathan was very disappointed and went to a nearby pub. He got drunk and lost control...

The rest can easily be understood. Inspector Watson have clarified another case of mystery. But was it enough? Deep inside, he knew that the story was hiding a family drama. He smoked his last cigarette and took the road to his house.

Small, everyday stories ‌ as usual.

THE END

A DIAMOND IN MY LIFE

Team: Little Red Writers Betina Astride Santos (Portugal) Edit Viast Kadi (Hungary) Ingrid Gallardo (Spain) Facilitator: Kiriaki Melliou Words: shell / painkillers / diamond ring / seal / hairbrush / silver spoon The morning raised shiny. Some days ago I would say that this could be a perfect day, but... nor a morning like this was enough to put a smile in my face, today. I was feeling so blue when I woke up that I couldnâ€&#x;t stand it anymore. The reason for my bad mood: 3 days before, I had lost the diamond ring that my husband had given me when we got engaged, 7 years ago.

One thought followed the other, because I began to think hard about the happenings of the previous 3 days. No result. Only one thing happened I got a strong headache. I remembered having some painkillers in the bedside table drawer, so I took one.

My heart was really broken. I couldn't stand the idea of having lost my diamond ring, my last gift from the man I had loved all my life. And now? What do I have from him? Since the engagement day he hadn't offered me a thing! How would I live without my diamond ring?

After 1 hour of my first painkiller, I had to take another because my head was almost exploding! It seems that everything was happening again: Ian, crossing the street to get in his car after saying see you tomorrow, my love, and going down on the ground, without a groan, without a word, without a help call in his eyes. I have to go out and refresh my mind, otherwise I will be crazy! I looked at the mirror in the hall and I saw my hair completely unkempt. I said a bad word and went to my room, took my hairbrush and combed my hair, because my mother always said to me Alice, never leave home with your dishevelled hair!

While I was brushing my long thick hair, I realized that I was talking to myself: Alice, please put yourself together. What if I walk to the seaside. I can be alone there and collect my thoughts.

We lived for a minute walk from the ocean. I was running barefoot in the soft sand and the warm wind was stroking my face and disheveling my hair again. I felt brilliant but suddenly a sharp pain in my sole. I lifted my foot and realized that it was bleeding hard. I began to look for the thing which had hurt me.

Ahaaa! Here it is...a shell in the sand.

As my foot was bleeding, I decided to clean the sand from it.

While I was near the shore, I heard a strange noise. The waves splashing oddly, I turned back and there was the most beautiful animal I had ever seen, a white seal.

It‟s incredible how some things can change our mood! That amazing white animal made me forget the lost diamond ring, the headache, the dead fiancé, the broken heart, the crazy hair... and for a minute I even thought that I was a happy woman! I felt that something magic was happening; I couldn‟t say what, but my heart was beating like a wild horse and my legs started a soft shake as always happened when I got nervous. Oh, My God!... From the waves, the white seal raised up into the shiny sky and above my world of problems I got astonished looking to the long seal wings.

- Wow... This is like a dream!... Hey... white seal! - I shout. Where are you going?

- Ian called me, I have to go. He doesn‟t like waiting.

- Ian? What do you mean by Ian? My Ian?... Hey... don‟t go away!... Please... - I begged her.

But the white seal went away and everything returned into my mind: where is my diamond ring?... my head is exploding, no one likes me with my crazy hair, I don‟t know how to survive without my love... My body got sweaty and I started a painful scream.

It was clear for me that I didn‟t want to go mad. I forced myself to go home and ask for help. What is the solution for my problem? Who can cure my mental illness? Friends? A psychologist? The diamond ring was the closest connection with my love. Is there anything in my life which can substitute it?

Suddenly, an after-image came to my mind. We, Ian and I, were in Tenerife, during a summer holiday. Those wonderful days! I began to watch the video made there.

I sit on my sofa, and there, in the middle of the different images that came to my mind, was the silver spoon.

I had nearly forgotten it, it was my precious treasure, a treasure that had been hidden in my deep thoughts. How could I have forgotten it? I was ten years old when my grandma gave me a tiny green box. I opened it and there, in the bottom, a bright silver spoon was wrapped in a wonderful pink paper.

What a lovely present! I was delighted with it. This, together with the hairbrush, were two gifts received from my dear grandma Anna. And now neither the diamond ring nor the silver spoon were in my possession, how could I have been so careless? My dear love Ian was no longer with me either.

Things seemed to be getting worse and worse.

And then... suddenly, I listened to the sound of a dog barking!

Whatâ€&#x;s this? Where am I? Oh, I woke up!... all had been a nightmare! My dear love was breathing deeply next to me, sleeping unaware of all the pain I had passed because of not having him. And there on the bedside table, next to the silver spoon I had used to drink my sugary milk, was the diamond ring. Oh! Thank God! Now it was time for me to sleep calmly and leave all the terrible thoughts away, at least for the moment I was living. Pain will knock on my door but not today nor tomorrow, who knows...

One thing I know for sure, tomorrow morning, I will tell Ian I love you and I will draw a white seal to offer him.

Elder-Blue-Purple-Writers: Maria, Lidia, Tino, Jose, özgür

Cinderella's Adventures in the Modern Life

Once upon a time there was a beautiful young lady named Cinderella.

Her hair was blonde and shining like a gold medal and her eyes were sparkling like two black pearls.

But while she was still very young, her mother died and because her father felt very lonely after mourning his wife for five years, he married with another woman.

He was hoping that Cinderella will be happy having a stepmother and two stepsisters by her side and they will be a family again.

Unfortunately, Cindy‟s stepmother was an evil and haughty lady, and her stepsisters were two ugly and very malicious girls.

From the beautiful young lady she was once, Cindy‟s stepmother transformed her into a maid. Cinderella was getting lonely and no one

was there for her. Her only joy was now to dream that one day everything will be as before her mother‟s death...

Our poor maid Cinderella was sweeping the floor when Santa and Little Fairy visited her that afternoon. Hello little lady said Santa “As much as we can see, all the town is empty but why are you here alone?”

“Don‟t you know?” said Cinderella “All the people went to Siringe to celebrate. It‟s Mayan DoomsdayChristmas party! My stepmother took my stepsisters there leaving me here in case Mayans were wrong and when she is back she wanted the supper be ready.

“But...” said the little fairy “I‟ve heard that The King is giving a last party tonight. The prince and a lot of handsome gentlemen will be there, too. ” “You‟re damn right, I hate that wicked woman and those stupid sisters; I‟m the one who should be there not them but I don‟t think I can go there because, although I have my driving license it takes more than 24 hours from Athens to Şirince. I don‟t mention about the flights as all of them are full.”

“Don‟t worry for that my little child” said Santa, “What do you think my old fellow-deers are for? You can have my sledge and I have a stylish love-necked evening dress of Dolce&Gabbana in my sack for you, too. You will look terrific in it.”

"And the poor necklace of yours will turn into a pearl bracelet" said the little fairy adding "Also you will be a rich duchess with Santa's sledge being turned into a red

Cabriolet.

"Thank you both" ,said Cinderella. "You are very kind people, I wish my stepmother could have just half-of your kindness". She got on the sledge or let's say her Cabriolet and was about to take off when she hardly heard

Santa shouting, "Cinderella, my child don't forget you

shouldn't drink alcohol during the party otherwise the deers will return here without you!!"

When Cindy (yes, on her way she had decided to change her oldfashioned name) finally managed to park her car and reach the party yard after a long struggle it was late evening. One would expect our promqueen, Cindy to take all eyes on with her pearls and stylish Dolce&Gabbana, but it really didnâ€&#x;t happen that way. Nobody cared or they didnâ€&#x;t notice her as they were already drunk, and were busy talking, laughing, crying, arguing or kissing.

Her eyes searched for the Prince but she was late for him as he had already gone with Ariel .

First Cindy tried to enjoy herself dancing in the party but as time passed she got stressed being alone and nobody to enjoy the time with. Coming here her plans were different. She had planned to marry the Prince but as Prince was not available she had to find a rich gentleman.

Hours passed and passed the party was full of people but she felt the loneliest person in this damn world. She was so full of stress when she got her first glass of martini a young man gave her.

She totally forgot what Santa told her and she needed a relief. Thanking our gentle lad she began to chat with him.

The boy was of a well-built and good-looking kind. He won a Gold-medal that year in the London Olympic Games. Yes, that is right he was a good swimmer.

Cindy was attracted by this boy already and accepted his proposal to have some drink at the bar bench. They drank, talked, danced and laughed all night long, Cindy was very happy now...

Afterwards, they did so many things together shared happy moments and created memories and this legendary relationship ended up a splendid wedding on a nice mid-summer evening .

Once ,when she was on vacation in Kenya, she was walking in the streets of Nairobi when she ran into a poor child crying.She asked why he was crying and he told her that he was lost and didnâ€&#x;t know how to return back home.

When she heard that, she had not any doubt about offering him her help. She told him that she would take him to his home if the boy did not mind.The boy who was lost two days ago, could not believe himself, so he accepted her help.

The first thing she did was to go to the local police. When the boy told them where he lived, police said that he was from a village 8 hours from Nairobi and the roads were very bad and dangerous to get there. She did not care.

She hired a driver and a bodyguard to accompany the child to that place. Finally it took a day and half to get there because it was rainy season and they had to wait because of the rain several times.

Once there, she saw that it was a very nice small town, similar to the Masai village but modernized. The boy took the hand of her to carry her to his house. When they reached it, his parents had given him up for lost or abducted so their joy was immense.

They said that as they were so grateful they would like to offer her a great free safari where she could admire the wildlife of their local animal. She could see giraffes, elephants, rhinos, lions and many more exotic animals.

She said she would accept the invitation with pleasure, but had to return because her husband came to Nairobi this weekend and then both of them would return to that wonderful place for safari.

Two weeks later, she and her husband went back as she had promised and safari was much more exciting than she could ever imagine. When finished the safari, she

told the village chief that she

would never forget that day and was very grateful for the great present they had given them.

Yet there was still something missing. Although she was in the lap of luxury ,tears were coming down her eyes at nights and a knob in her stomach kept her awake till the early hours. Then the Little Fairy appeared

and

asked

her.”Why

are

you

crying

Cinderella ?”Hasn‟t your life dream been fulfilled ?

Aren‟t you married to a rich man as you always wanted?” Cindy‟s eyes filled with tears and asked for one more wish of hers to be realized,” My beloved Godmother, I deeply love my husband and cherish every moment I spend with him but a baby in my arms, is a wishful desire of years that I humbly ask to be fulfilled .

And the miracle happened .Twelve months later Cindy was holding her little angel ,the most valuable pearl of all who set his handprint in her heart for ever.

She then realised that real beauty is seen through the colorful glasses of life creation and is worth all the treasures of the world. Now she was the richest woman in the world and her life was a magic fairy tale. But all of a sudden she heard her stepmother yelling “ Cinderella what are you doing ?

Are you dreaming again?� Lying on the floor for hours , with a happy smile on her face Cinderella got up and realized that everything was just a sweet dream. She took her broom and continued cleaning the house. ...

THE END

This is a story about life. We wrote a story about stuffs with sentimental value that we collect in our life.

Hermina Popa (Romania) Efthymia Filippaki(Greece) Evi Tarro(Estonia) Athanasia Papachristou(Greece) Emanuela Leto(Italia)

A life in a box This Friday evening Maria is alone. All her friends have gone for weekend holidays. It would be perfect for her to spend these two days in the small white house at the edge of the sea. The house belonged to her grandmother. But now it is hers.

On Saturday, after two hours driving, she arrives there. She opens the door. So much dust! After her grandmother passed away and for three

years it was closed.

She decides to start cleaning from the bedroom. Suddenly she looks at it.

A small mysterious green box on the wooden table in the corner. She opens it. Some strange things inside it.

A shell !!! What does it really means! Last week she read the excellent book “The shell seekers� . Now she has a shell in her hands.

A shell from the sea.

Her gaze falls on the opposite wall. An old picture. Summer days. A smiling boy and a girl on the hot sand next to the sea. A shell on her hands. Her grandpa

and grandma. And a shell. Was it his first gift to her? Was this the first gift in a common life full of love, which stayed alive for more than sixty years?

Her grandma! How much Maria loved her! So many memories... Words, songs, fairytailes from her lips... Everything is coming to her mind this lonely morning.

...Hmm ... All things have her smell. l feel washed over in happy memories.

I would like to know what is the meaning for her each object. I remember the ring.

I keep asking myself...Why grandma put in that box only six things...and why those things? What's meant to her? Very strange...I think "six " is the key. If I could have a clue what is "six" for her...And painkillers... why? O...my god..I know.. Her sister, Ana suicided with pills ... That's it...

She put in a box for each of us, one thing .

For me, the hairbrush. I remember how she brushed my hair every evening when I was little girl. We shared special moments. She used to

sing a song... an old song about love... Ufff I cannot remember the lyrics.. but I remember how I liked my hair brush The diamond ring...has to be for my grandpa... Grandfather gave her this ring when he asked her to marry him. He proposed to her at dinner.

I remember how she told us that he was so nervous that he almost dropped the ring on the floor. Oooo..my brother's silver spoon ... when he was little, he never ate without his favorite spoon.

shell... I know ...is for my mother. She loves to collect shells since she was little girl. She and my grandma, used to go on the beach all the time.

But what could this small seal statue possible mean? Why her grandmother had included this into her favourite objects in this box? She had never seen it before. Who gave it to her and why?

She grabbed the small statue with great care and she started examining it. She noticed some engraved letters at the bottom. The letters had almost worn-out by the time… "To Maria, my only truly love..."

What could this mean? If this was a gift of my grandfather would know it.

My grandmother should had talked about this... Is this statue the

eldest thing in this box?

O...grandma... you kept and treasured all these feelings We collect things because they represent aspects of our lives – extensions of our personality, physical reminders of places we‟ve been, dreams we wish to achieve. But mostly, because they are feeling, experiences that we have lived and cherish them, memories. So, I realized quite a few things about memories and possessions during the entire experience. We are not our stuff. We are more than our possessions.

The end

Version of ELDER BLUE WRITERS about BROWN MYSTERY BOX Anna walked quickly towards the station. She carried a big suitcase and a handbag and had the tickets in her right hand. Suddenly she realized she had forgotten the brown box in the café.But she had no time to go back and fetch it. Those cherised souvenirs would be lost forever.

Amy‟s first drawing. Her dearest daughter, Amy. She remembered the light in her face when she gave mummy her first Christmas present: her hand print on a white postcard. Her husband, Harry, had thought she would like it. And she was blissfully happy. Magical moment. (by Isabel Cotillo from Mallorca) And

her

mum‟s

amazing

pearl

necklace! She had received them on her graduation day...She had always had such a difficult relationship with her mother, who was so egocentric and narcissistic, a sort of actress always trying to be in the limelight. Her mother had never really appreciated her and showed it openly. In her opinion, Anna was not gracious and clever enough, but that day things were different and her mum was so proud of her, she had seen a shimmer of love in her glance ...

She looked at her watch and started to run. She was late and afraid of losing t the train. When she got on the train, the

station master had just started blowing his whistle. The doors were closing but fortunately she made it. She got in a compartment and sat down. She was breathless and confused. She felt desperate: she started to think of her precious brown box. All her life most important moments were in that box. The memory of the little brown rhinoceros brought her back to.... (by Silvana Turcinovich Petercol, Croatia) her childhood.

It was Christmas Eve, when her best friend in kindergarten gave her this little cute rhinoceros. Tommy chose this instead of a teddy bear because it had a unique gift. This rhinoceros could understand what a kid thought if he embraced it. It could guess if a kid was sad, annoyed, excited, happy, bored or tired.

Then it could change colour. Grey for sadness, red

for

excitement,

yellow

for

annoyance,

orange for joy, purple for boredom and brown for tiredness. Anna was really happy when Tommy gave his present to her and the rhinoceros became orange. It was so strange to see a rhinoceros change colours... Anna thought that she did not need anything else now.

But for the future... she was dreaming of having a

cabriolet..... so as to travel all around the world.

Anna needs a red and fast car like in the movies. Her deepest desire is to become F1 pilot. And maybe sometime she could win a gold medal.

But this is not the goal or the

purpose. Anna is a very kind girl that wants to provide people in need with medicine, food, education. So Anna wants the money and the gold medal to provide altruistic help volunteeringly. Anna believes that children that are born in less privileged families should have the same rights in education, health, water, food. When Anna remembers her childhood was a happy kid with warm clothes, a lot of toys and maybe some useless accessories like a pair of sunglasses with flowers on their spectacle arms , and a family to protect her. (by Pitarokili Stella, Greece)

arry was on holiday. One day on a chest of drawers he found a piece of handwriting letter. In the letter there was a request: to go on the beach and wait there for next tips to help in a very important matter. A matter of life and death. So he went to the beach and found there a golden shoe. He thought that someone who had lost the shoe (it was a female shoe) was in danger. Maybe she cannot swim and needs help immediately. He put on his swimming glasses and started to dive and look for the woman. He was looking until a lobster grabbed his toe.

It was so painful, that forced the man to stop the search under the water. He went back on the beach and had a look on his toe. It wasn‟t so bad as he tought. He decided to continue his search. After a long time, he gave up. Maybe nothing happened here and only his imagination made a joke on him? Like the saw-story viewed years ago…That was a funny…but this coin, probably an ancient coin is real. He squeezed it in the hand.

or now, Harry went out of the sea, exhausted by swimming. He raised his swimming goggles on his forehead and sat happily on the sand . He smiled to himself. He was holding a coin in his hand and looked at it carefully. He had found it on the seafloor, along with sea stars and lobsters. Perhaps it came from a treasure. He was trying to figure out whose ages belonged to, but gave up: he had never been very good at history. He decided to go to the city history museum. But when he got up, something clung his foot in the sand. He curiously dug and found an old trunk made of rotten wood with a rusty iron handle.

He tried to lift the cap, but he could not. Then he remembered that he was carrying a saw. He grabbed it and finally he was able to open the lid. He was astonished. Inside there was a golden shoe. ,,Looks like Cinderella's shoe‟‟ he said. Alongside was a note that said a name, Eve, and an address in Paris. So, he had to go to France. He had no clue that there must meet his destiny!

At the same time…

famous ballerina now in her sixties travels around the world. Everytime she sets up her new journey she doesn't forget to pack her most precious things in a red box: her golden shoe which reminds her about her success, an ancient coin inherited from her grandfather who was a famous officer, the red toy-lobster she used to play with when she was a child, a piece of an old scented letter , a pair of green goggles and a rusty saw.

here was another thing hidden in the red box - a strange map drawn in vivid colours. Most of the places were in red.

They were linked together like a spider web. There was one left behind.

he lady used to travel to all the places where she had performances. She was the main star. People would come

to celebrate her appearance on the stage. But those glorious days passes away.

Now she sat silent in a wooden deck chair dreaming...

ne day a young couple came near... the wind was blowing the veil wearing the woman's head. She kept a map like a puzzle in one of her hand ... the last place was still apart from the others. An envelope stood open on a red box under the chair. The young lady took it and began reading...

This is the last piece of my life puzzle. My destiny has been fulfilled.

Whoever finds my red box has to keep my treasure all his life - my golden shoe opened my path through life, my ancient coin saved me anytime I was in danger as it did while my grandfather was shot in the war, my darling lobster I used to fall asleep with after my mother's death and her last words for me written in a letter, a pair of goggles which my husband's was wearing while trying to take out a saw and drowned.

These things were the most important in the maze of my life.

he time when Eve was thinking of all this, someone knocked on the door. She rises slowly from the chair and heading for the door. She did not know why, but her heart beating faster. She opens the door and become speechless. In front of her stand Harry, her husband, which she believed drowned. She could not believe her eyes. He explains that to her, after being rescued from the water almost breathless, he lain longer in hospital, being in a coma. When he awoke from the coma, he has long had amnesia. Only recently, finding in his pocket, by accident, a

handwritten note from her, then remembered everything. They hug and cry together. They remember their first meeting in Paris. How much was it? Then Eve realized that this was the significance of the red box: to remind that miracles are part of our life and we must not forget that.

Maybe each of us has a red box, which contains treasures of our soul. All these are our memories, the people we loved – are our life... For Harry, the red box was Eve herself, the love of his life!

Authors:

Camelia Timofte Joanna Zalewska-Coldron Melania Filip

Event: Etwinning lab

December 201

Irene and the seal

by Evie, Marie-Hélèn and Olga

Once upon a time, in a very strange land, in a place called Europa, a young girl lived with her family.

The whole country was close to the sea and everyone on this land loved the sea, the beach and kept enjoying seashore activities. Most people worked on the sea and this was a sailorâ€&#x;s place. Absolutely everyone had to own a boat, however tiny it was.

One day, Irene, our beautiful and long-haired young girl, decided to go for a walk with her two brothers. Walking toward the sea, she almost fell down, as she stumbled on an old dirty and sandy hairbrush. Even though this hairbrush was not very attractive, she felt drawn to it and picked it up.

Her brothers believed she had lost her mind and looked at the „thing‟ with disgust. She cleaned it into the sea water and started to brush her hair as if she had never had a hairbrush before. They did not dare say anything, because they knew she was a sensitive but eccentric person and they respected her decisions, as she had a mind of her own and would have hated to be told off by her younger brothers.

After that day, Irene used to take a morning walk at the seaside, almost every day. But it wasn‟t a usual walk. She walked up and down the seashore and brushed her long blonde hair with the old hairbrush, looking at the sea, as if she was expecting something. The strange thing was that the hairbrush was becoming like new, with a strange shine and Irene‟s hair was getting like pure gold. Irene‟s brothers were anxious about her weird behaviour and her “magic” hairbrush.

One day, she brushed her hair at home, wore her best dress, even perfumed herself and left for her usual itinerary at the seashore. But today she left the hairbrush at home! Her brothers saw her different “preparation” and they secretly followed her.

When she arrived at the beach, she didn‟t walk up and down as usual.

She sat down at the seashore, looking at the little calm waves, staring at the horizon. She seemed as if she was waiting for somebody. And suddenly a little seal showed, crying and trying to reach the beach. The seal‟s crying seemed like a lament. Irene stood up, worrying about the seal‟s effort to reach the beach. She ignored her best dress, she dived at the sea, swimming toward the seal. After little, she reached the crying seal, she enfolded him and she helped him swim along to the beach. They reached the seashore, swimming together and Irene carried the seal out of the sea.

He was bleeding and he was obviously seriously injured. She didn‟t hesitate not even for a minute. She was going to take the seal home and take care of him until he got well. Her brothers were watching speechless. They watched her carrying the bleeding seal at home, ignoring the fact that her best dress was ruined, full of seal‟s blood, and she was cold and wet.

She arrived home and put the seal to her bed! She cleaned his wounds, taking care of his injuries.

Although the seal‟s wounds seemed to get well, the seal seemed to have serious pain.

She decided to give him some painkillers to calm and relieve him. She tried to

give him medicines with her silver spoon. Her mother used to

give her and her brothers medicines with it, whenever they got ill. From her early childhood that silver spoon was magic and “healing” every pain. It was her mother‟s love and caring that was healing them, but now that she has passed away, the silver spoon was a healing memory that could help the seal too.

The seal seemed to enjoy the care Irene was offering. He accepted the painkillers, the warm food and the comfort that the young girl was offering. Day by day he was getting well, until he was totally recovered.

Irene realised that the seal was finally totally alright and he needed his genuine habitat.

Although she had great time with him at home and he

became a best friend she never had, she had to take him back to the beach.

They greeted each other with tears in their eyes. The seal started to enter into the sea, looking back at her. He unwillingly dived in the water, got out again, cried out to Irene.

Suddenly she was attracted by a phosphorescent shell, shining in

the

waves. She took it, stroked it and showed it to the seal but...

at his place she saw a very handsome young man! The shell had been like the Aladdin lamp!!!

The Prince got out of the sea and approached Irene with a big warm smile on his face. “What can I do to thank you? Nothing seems enough!

You healed my wounds, you took care of me, you shared your home, your

bed, your food with me, being a filthy seal! And now you released me from the magic spell that had transformed me into a seal! I am a human again! Free from spell! How can I thank you enough?”

Irene watched him speechless as if she was spelled! How handsome he was! She could not get her eyes away from him, nor he could! They were keeping staring at each other, sharing feelings and thoughts! They were obviously in love, stroke by a deep love at first sight! They kissed.

Suddenly

he

knelt

and...“Marry me Irene, be the queen of my heart and my kingdom”.

Irene couldn‟t believe it!

She accepted and after a few days they married on the beach which had made possible this miracle! Everybody was happy, even Ireneâ€&#x;s brothers.

They didnâ€&#x;t think that she was weird anymore! Now she was a princess

happily married to a handsome prince, with whom they lived happily ever after!

Memories in a green box

by Tea Horvatic, RosaDelia del Pino and Karol Barriuso It was an autumn noon. A slow and silent rain was covering the city as Eileen was staring at the window. She was not looking

at anything in

particular, just lost in thought. Pensive. A green box was within her wrinkled hands. She opened it and she found the things she put inside many, many years ago. It started bringing memories of her last days in Chile.

There was a photo of her last trip where it appeared a seal resting on a rock. It was the same day she received a diamond ring from her lover. It was after lunch, she still had a silver spoon from the dessert in her hand.

While she was observing the wrinkles on her hands, she couldnâ€&#x;t believe her eyes. how the years passed so quickly. She thought about her ring.

She didnâ€&#x;t understand how he could pay for that ring since he was a poor fisherman.

He was a charming man, Roberto, even in his sixties, he still made her heart skip a beat.

She remembered all his fishing trip stories he told her

so many times. Her favourite story was when he set off the south coast of Chile. The sun was setting and the sky was purple orange. As the boat was sailing, they saw a seal. It swam so gracefully along the peaceful waves. Suddenly it jumped aboard and looked at the crew with its sweet eyes. To make the sight more unusual, in its mouth there was a beautiful silver shell. The most special kind he has ever seen. The seal dropped the shell before Robertoâ€&#x;s feet and jumped back to the sea, never to be seen again. Still impressed, he took it as a token of good luck and carried it ever since in his pocket. Indeed the shell helped him in many times.

In bad times they both used it for good luck. Eileen was packing her bag to go for a surgery to hospital. As she was using her favourite hairbrush, she tried to keep good memories of their time together. When her suitcase

was almost packed, she took the shell with her and put it in her handbag.

It somehow made her feel secure. “You can wake up now, Ms. Gomez�. - she heard the nurse say. She was happy to see her face. She knew that the surgery had gone successfully.

However she felt like she needed the painkillers desperately. The pain spread through her body and she shook her had to make it go away. As her gaze turned right, she saw the special shell upon her night stand. She inhaled deeply and felt better immediately. She was happy to know that she was coming back to her husband soon.

The mystery red Box

Written by Red Young Writers 23rd December 2012 Etwinning Learning Event Creative Writing in Etwinning-a hands on experience

It was 22nd of December in the year 2012.A group of friends were sitting comfortable in their chairs and discussing about

their plans for the Christmas holidays. All of them were teachers: Nena, Jola, Fusun, Anna and Paraskevas

.

Anna

Suddenly the bell rang and Jola opened the door‌but she only found a red box and nothing else. She took the box inside and she asked from Paraskevas to open it. It was really funny because he found inside the box five different items: an ancient coin, a gold shoe, a lobster, a piece of handwriting letter, swimming glasses and a saw.

It must be a hint- thought Jola. The hint from our old aunt. She is extremely weird but lovely and as every year sends us ideas for Christmas holidays. Usually there is one thing in the box, but this year aunt Sofia wants to pay for our holidays but we have to solve this mystery. All together decided to use their creativity and imagination to create a story using those five different items Yes!!! Thatâ€&#x;s it. Aunt Sofia loved very much stories and the only they had to do was to write a story .They were going to send the story to their aunt and if aunt Sofia was satisfied , she would pay for their Christmas holiday Well let start said Fusun

and all the others agreed with her

"Once upon a time Anna was invited to the New Year Eve party. She bought a beautiful pair of gold shoes and during the party she discovered that she lost one while dancing with Paraskevas. Friends started looking for the shoe. They were surprised because instead of the shoe they found an ancient coin."

Suddenly the five friends stopped writing their story because they realized that they had to change their plan. Paraskevas received an email from Uncle Paul, Sofia's husband that informed him that she was really the person that she had sent the red box. The only thing they had to do was to understand why their aunt decided to do this

Was she still alive? Why was she gathering these objects? Are they related to each other? Why did she leave the box with them inside?

Anna tried to call her in her mobile number but there was no answer... All remained silent…and confused Paraskevas then decided to share his thoughts with the others. When he opened the red box he had seen the coin and he recognized it .He had bought it as a souvenir for his aunt when they had visited together Italy. It was an unforgettable trip. They had visited Rome and the famous Fontana di Trevi. He had bought the coins to make their wish but Aunt Sofia wanted to keep her coin and not make a wish. She was very happy doing this tour in the most famous places of Rome.

Yes now it was clear ‌that was the coin!!! What about the other items?? He asked his friends to remember if they had seen those items before.... Jola saw the saw and started to laugh. She remembers Uncle Paul while going to the forest to cut the Christmas tree for the family.

It was funny because the saw wasn't sharp enough to cut the tree and it took five hours for uncle to bring the Christmas tree home.

In the box there was also a gold shoe. This is the shoe Anna got from Aunt Sofia and she won a competition at school during fancy dress party. Anna felt her eyes brimming with tears.

Nena were viewing objects that were collected in the box. She knew that they are associated with an aunt, who sent a box. She knew well, what they have to do. Yet she was a little confused.

She did not understand aunt very well, but she knew, why she added a piece of handwritten letter. She wanted to point out that despite all the modern technology there is necessary to

maintain warm, sincere personal contacts. And what is more beautiful, as to get a handwritten letter?

Everyone was surprised to find in the red box a lobster. It was still fresh and they felt like being by the seaside sitting in the restaurant. They remember that in 2000 they went to Barcelona and spent fantastic time together eating lobsters for the first time.

They decided to prepare the lobster for lunch.

Fusun decided to send a message to their aunt Sofia. They have just realized the purpose of this mysterious red box All of them had memories, good times that spent with their aunt and those memories was the best gift for Christmas ...not only money...

Love is the best thing in their life and Aunt Sofia tried to made them never forget it

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Aunt Sofia. Thank you. Your red box is the best present for all of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh!!! They have forgotten the swimming glasses No they did not. Swimming glasses could be a promise for all of them. They would spend their summer holidays all together

sharing new memories....

Nena Fusun Anna Jola Paraskevas And of course their Aunt Sofia!!!!!

YOUNG RED WRITERS Fusun Kuleli (Turkey), Jolanda Okuniewska (Poland), Nena Mandelj (Slovenia), Paraskevas Pinelis (Greece), Anna Pokorny (Hungary) Facilitator Anna Moutafidou

Brown Mystery Box:

rhinoceros, pearls, a baby hand print, a cabriolet, a gold medal a pair of sunglasses with flowers on their spectacle arms

Signs of a life ‌

Anna walked quickly towards the station. She carried a big suitcase and a handbag and had the tickets in her right hand.

Suddenly she realized she had forgotten the brown box in the café.But she had no time to go back and fetch it. Those cherished souvenirs would be lost forever.

Amy‟s first drawing. Her dearest daughter, Amy. She remembered the light in her face when she gave mummy her first Christmas present: her hand print on a white postcard. Her husband, Harry, had thought she would like it. And she was blissfully happy. Magical moment.

(by Isabel Cotillo from Mallorca)

And her mum‟s amazing pearl necklace! She had received them on her had such a mother, who was so of actress always trying to

graduation day...She had always difficult relationship with her egocentric and narcissistic, a sort be in the limelight. Her mother

had never really appreciated her and showed it openly. In her opinion, Anna was not gracious and clever enough, but that day things were different and her mum was so proud of her, she had seen a shimmer of love in her glance ...

She looked at her watch and started to run. She was late and afraid of losing t the train. When she got on the train, the station master had just started blowing his whistle. The doors were closing but fortunately she made it.

She got in a compartment and sat down. She was breathless and confused. She felt desperate: she started to think of her precious brown box. All her life most important moments were in that box. The memory

of the little brown rhinoceros brought her back to.... (by Silvana Turcinovich Petercol, Croatia)

…her childhood. It was Christmas Eve, when her best friend in kindergarten gave her this little cute rhinoceros. Tommy chose this instead of a teddy bear because it had a unique gift. This rhinoceros could understand what a kid thought if he embraced it. It could guess if a kid was sad, annoyed, excited, happy, bored or tired.

Then it could change color. Grey for sadness, red for excitement, yellow for annoyance, orange for joy, purple for boredom and brown for tiredness. Anna was really happy when Tommy gave his present to her and the rhinoceros became orange.

It was so strange to see a rhinoceros change colours...Anna thought that she did not need anything else now. But for the future... she was dreaming of having a cabriolet..... so as to travel all around the world. Anna needs a red and fast car like in the movies. Her deepest desire is to become F1 pilot. And maybe sometime she could win a gold medal. But this is not the goal or the purpose. Anna is a very kind girl that wants to provide people in need with medicine, food, education. So Anna wants the money and the gold medal to provide altruistic help volunteeringly. Anna believes that children that are born in less privileged families should have the same rights to education, health, water, food. When Anna remembers her childhood was a happy kid with warm clothes, a lot of toys and maybe some useless accessories like a pair of sunglasses with flowers on their spectacle arms, and a family to protect her.

(by Stella Pitarokili, Greece)

However, you have to notice that this couple banal spectacles was important for her: it was the glasses from him, her boyfriend, was the first gift of her great childhood love.

As for those around her, yes, it is something common! But for her that was a subject of great importance...! (by Mirela Tanc-Romania)

She had studied hard and succeeded in finishing the university. She was a doctor! Yes, now she was a doctor!!! Since she knew English very well, she had applied for a scholarship at the hospital: a research on cancer. The task was very difficult; there were different steps to pass: 1) a pre-selection test; 2) a report on recent discoveries in the biomedical field; 3) a personal project to treat scabies in developing countries.

Anna had passed every step, one after the other, and a dream began to take shape in her mind: she wanted to candidate for the Nobel and create an Onlus to help children in Madagascar. It wasnâ€&#x;t easy, her task was a very demanding one. But donâ€&#x;t ask me how, she obtained the

“Golden Medal�. Another goal had been reached. Now with the money received, she started to think to her Onlus and the children in Madagascar... (by Enza Martorana, Sicily)

Elder Blue Writers: Mirela Tanc (Romania) Pitarokili Stella (Greece) Provvidenza (Enza) Martorana (Italy) Silvana Turcinovich Petercol (Croatia) Isabel Cotillo (Spain)

There‟s a reason behind everything

By Niculina Chiper, Romania

It was Friday, and just like any other Friday, the day seemed to go on and on forever to Daniel, especially the last class and seeing how their teacher was talking about some historical battle that no one from the class actually seemed to care about.

Glancing around the room, he spotted his best friend, Alfred, talking with Emily, his current crush and by the looks of it, whatever he was telling her wasn‟t too impressive because she looked like she was having a hard time deciding whether to listen to him or the teacher.On the other hand, his brother, Matthew, was carefully taking notes and nodding his head, sometimes even adding a few remarks which earned him a few smiles and praises from Mr.Smith.

Any thoughts of actually paying attention were shoved away and just as he was about to doze off, the teacher cleared his throat and called the class, trying to get their attention.

“Okay kids, August‟s coming and I suppose we all know what that means, yeah?”

His answers were the groans of the kids and the enthusiastic (yet pretty girly) squeak that Matthew let out.

“Oh, oh!Another treasure hunt again?”

“You‟re right, mister Jones!This year another treasure hunt will take place and I‟d like you all to write your names on this paper, if you‟re willing to participate.”

Said paper was placed right on a blonde haired girl‟s desk who didn‟t even look at it before she passed it to the girl behind her.Sighing, Daniel leaned towars his best friend and whispered:

“Dude, why is he always so excited about the treasure hunts?They aren‟t even that cool.”

“Don‟t ask me man, I can‟t get why he likes them, remember last year when we had to look for a ribbon in the girls old bathroom?Ugh..”

“Or the time when we found a saw next to a dummy which was full of red paint and thought there‟s been a murder.That was actually pretty scary.”

Both boys shuddered at the memories before the voice of their teacher caught their attention, yet again.

“Of course, this year something will be a little bit different.Not only that the objects you will have to find are of a bigger value, but everyone who is willing to give up some of their free time reserved for make up ( three girls in the back of the class turned a bright red at being called out so discreetly while they were trying to fix their make up right in class) or for video games will get a pretty good mark in my class, and not only, Ms.Brown also agreen to take part in our event and to encourage her students with a few good points!”

In an instant, the students got up from their desks and hurried to Emily‟s desk, who was unfortunate enough to have the paper on it.Screams and yells ensued, kids pushing each other and trying to write their name on the paper as soon as possible so they can get done with it already and forget about the whole event by the end of class, when they‟ll finally be able to go home.When everything calmed down, Daniel and Alfred went to Emily, who was staring at nothing in particular, a shocked look on her face showing just how much she didn‟t expect her desk to be assualted by her classmates.Daniel wasn‟t sure what Alfred was thinking when he sat down on her desk in what was supposed to be a seductive manner, only making him look like he was about to fall off it at any minute but he supposed it worked because Em calmed down pretty quickly and began laughing at him.

“So, guys, are you going to participate this year too?”

“Well, it‟s not like I have any choice, do I? I mean, have you even seen my marks in math class?”

“Actualy, I did, and I‟m still wondering just where I went wrong when I tutored you.”

“It‟s not my fault, okay?I just can‟t understand all the calculations and the matrix, it‟s just too much for my poor brain!”

“Well, I don‟t know about you guys, but I can‟t attend it, my family‟s going to visit some relatives on Saturday.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Alfred, have you been paying attention?The treasure hunt‟s taking place at the school this Saturday!”

“What!Are you serious?Oh come on, I was planning on going to the arcade with the guys!It‟s not fair!What do you think, Dan?” “Well..I don‟t really have anything better to do, and I think my mom‟s planning on catching me alone so she can ask me to help her in the kitchen ..ugh..”

“She‟s still dreaming that one day you‟ll become a cook?”

“Pretty much, yeah, so I guess I‟m coming.”

“Alright!At least this way I won‟t be all alone!”

Suddenly, the bell rang and the noises that the kids were trying to keep low now were loud, everyone greeting everyone and saying their goodbyes, only Matthew keeping the teacher still in the classroom with his questions.Daniel looked at them for a few seconds before shaking his head and picking up his books, hurrying after Alfred and Emily to their lockers.

On the way home, they talked about anything from the treasure hunt, to how clueless Alfred is in math class and ending with the fact that girls shouldn‟t be allowed to play video games.In her defense, Emily said that

she didn‟t mean to sit on her controller, and that she could beat them at Call of Duty anytime.

When he arrived home, Daniel couldn‟t help but feel exhausted to the bone, which wasn‟t that usual for him, but he couldn‟t help but wonder why; it wasn‟t like he was an athlete, or taking part in the football club because really, anything related to sport just didn‟t get along with him.He decided that some games would probably raise his spirits, more importantly, after dinner.It truned out that after dinner he went staright to bed ( at the usual hour of 9 pm), way too annoyed with his mother‟s bugging questions about how his day was, only to be awaken at six AM by Alfred‟s happy voice, telling him that in an hour the school bus will come to pick him up, because apparently, not only did the objects of the treasure hunt change, but the location too, and they were now going on a two days trip to Brighton.

Groaning, Daniel lazily got up and went to do his usual morning activities: brushing his teeth, changing his clothes, packing some changing clothes and snacks, going to eat breakfast and explaining to his shocked mom that he won‟t be home untill tomorow.Almost missing the bus by five minutes, he got in and went staright to Matthew, who, as always, saved him a seat, his brother chatting happily with Emily ( way too happily for someone who had to wake up at six in the morning) who in the end got to come because the visit got canceled due to reasons that Daniel wasn‟t really paying attention to.

After greeting everyone, he truned to Matthew and asked: “So, since you‟re the one who talked with Mr.Smith after class, where are we even going?”

“I could swear I already told Alfred to explain everything to you.”

“Let‟s be serious, it‟s Alfred we are talking about, putting aside the fact that he started explaining everything while I was half asleep!”

“Yeah…He‟s like that.Okay so, basically, we are going to Brighton, first we‟ll visit a few places which will be actual clues to where we will find the things on out lists..Oh right, the lists, okay so, we‟re going to be split in groups and each group will have a list of objects that they‟ll need to find!Isn‟t it awesome?”

Daniel gave his friend a look before shaking his head and mumbling to himself.

“Only you would find that awesome..”

“It‟s not as bad as last year, now you‟re just being a big baby.”

“Oh shush it, now I‟m going back to sleep.If Al gets too loud, just kick his seat for me, ok?”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks.”

Leaning back in his seat, Daniel closed his eyes, relaxing and in a few minutes he was out cold, dreaming about dragons and fighting next to his favourite superheroes.His friends chatted happily while he was sleeping, sang a few songs

and in the end, when Alfred got bored, he

took a marker from a classmate and ended up drawing a moustache on Daniel‟s face.The plan was to not let him know about it as much as possible.Of course, it was hard enough to look at the curly drawing with a straight face, Emily giggling at it even though Daniel was still asleep.

“Okay so, we go with the plan for as long possibly.Now Matt, wake him up, we‟re already here!”

Getting up, the blonde haired boy skipped away, yelling loudly “Who is now ready for an adventure?” before running straight into the yet still closed door.Glaring at the driver who tried hard not to laugh and look innocent at the same time, Alfred rubbed his nose and waited for the door to open before turning back to his usual happy self, igoring the laughs of his classmates.

In the mean time, our hero, Daniel, was still sleeping and dreaming of saving a beautifull damsel in distress from an evil villain.However, when the lady opened her mouth to thank him, Matt‟s voice came out and told him to wake up.

“Wha-..what the-..oh come on, I was having a nice dream!”

“Sorry Dan but we arrived at our first stop…Harry‟s ramsden!”

“Wait..What‟s that?”

“A restaurant!We‟re all pretty hungry so we‟ll eat here before splitting in groups and going on the hunt.”

Getting up, Daniel yawned the stretched his limbs, then grabbed his bags and got off the bus, following Matt into the restaurant where he got a few stares from the people inside, giggles from the girls in his class, and Alfred‟s cocky smirk, especially when he awkwardly sat down.

“Okay Al, what did you do?”

“Me?Oh come on, you wound me!”

“I‟m serious, everyone‟s laughing at me for some reason that I don‟t know and it‟s making me feel quite uneasy.”

“They‟re just being weird, ignore them.” Smiling, Alfred leaned in closer and whispered in Daniel‟s ear. “Dude, I have this feeling that I‟ll be on the same group as Em, what are the chances?”

“Even if the teacher won‟t split us in groups of boys and girls, the chances of you being in the same group as her as still low.”

“Gosh, fine, I see how it is now..”

Daniel shook his head at his friend‟s attics, jumping up and turning to look at the waiter, who just asked him what he wanted to order, smiling in amusement as he looked at Daniel in a way his mom used to do when he was young and did something silly, only this time he didn‟t know what that was.

“Oh, right, excuse me.I guess I‟ll go for fish and chips.” That earned a snort from Alfred and some eyerolls from his classmates.

“Seriously?Can you be more uncreative?”

“What!They are best known for fish and chips anyway!”

“Whatever you say Dan, whatever you say.”

Lunch passed by quickly, the teens laughing as they ended up having a food fight right into the restaurant, resulting in getting a long scolding from Ms.Brown, who wasn‟t so happy about the mess.Of course, they ended up apologizing to everyone and helping the staff clean up the place, but really, no one seemed to mind that much.In the end, everyone gathered their things then went out, where they sat in a line while the teacher started calling the groups.Daniel let himself doze off again, thinking about the places he wanted to visit while he was in Brighton.Ever since he was young, his parents would take him on trips there to visit their aunt but unfortunately, after she moved away the trips stopped and looking back, at the time his parents had more free time than they do now.

His thoughts, however, were suddenly broken by Alfred‟s loud whine which he guess was caused by the fact that in the end, he didn‟t get to be in the same group as Emily.True enough, not even five seconds after the whine, Alfred was suddenly next to him, complaining and flailing in arms.

“I can‟t believe that the teacher made groups of boys and groups of girls!It‟s not fair, I wanted to be in the same group as Em, but now I guess I‟m stuck with Matt and you.”

Not sure whether to be offended or not, Daniel gave his friend an amused look then patted his shoulder.

“It‟s okay, you‟ll have another chance to get her, I suppose?And if you really don‟t want to be in the same group as us, you can always go to Jack‟s, I noticed that they‟relacking a person.”

“Oh god, no thanks, you know that I love you, right Dan?” “Sure thing.Now let‟s go find Matt, I think he‟s the one who knows what we actually have to do.”

Turns out they didn‟t have to look too much, because Matthew himself came over to them, holding a paper in his hand and a big smile crossing his face.

“Hey guys, I got the list so we an begin now!”

“Sweet.So where‟s the first stop?”

“Al, we can‟t just start like that, you don‟t even know what we have to do.Okay so, listen to me guys.We have to find nine objects in total, and they can be found in three locations.Even though we know the three locations, we still have to find where the objects actually are.”

“So, basically, we search the city, take what we need, and then come back?”

“No, no, you see, we don‟t take the objects with us!But as proof that we found them, we need to take pictures.Daniel, you have your camera with you, right?”

“Well, that‟s a little bit weird..but yeah, I do have it with me.So..As Al said, where do we start?”

“I‟m not really sure..?The first object is a piece of a handwritten letter..”

“What!Give me the paper?..What‟s with the riddle?‟Mark my words; I‟m on display for the world to see me but a few can actually understand me.Can you guess where I am?‟ Oh come on, nobody said anything about riddles!”

“So..each object has a riddle to help us figure out the location.”

“Seems like it.”

“Matt, what are the three locations?”

“Well, we got the Royal Pavilion,the town beach and , The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier..”

“Well then, let‟s go to the Royal Pavilion first, that‟s where we should find the letter.Besides, it‟s not like anyone would hide a letter in a funfair or on a beach.”

“Hey Dan, have I ever told you how much I like it when you get smart like that?”

“Oh shut up,Al.” And so, the boys began their adventure.Since they weren‟t familiar with the city, it took them a hour to figure out how to get to the Royal Pavilion; a long way of losing the needed buses, forgetting their bags at the station and having to get back for them, forgetting to buy the tickets and almost getting a fine.However, when they found themselves in front of the place, they couldn‟t help but be amazed.The Royal Pavilion was huge, in a style that‟s more like taken from India and simply beautiful.

The boys went to the entrance where a scary looking guard asked them what they were doing.After explaining, the guard nodded and gave them three tickets, telling them that the school had the aprovation of letting the students visit the place without having to actually pay for it.It seemed so surreal that the boys just gaped at the guard who started laughing at them before sending them on their way.

Basicaclly, everything was fine as long as they didn‟t lose the tickets or actually touch/break anything.Which they weren‟t about to do because, really, everything in the palace was way too expensive.

They walked around, pointing at the paintings on the walls while whispering

quietly

to

themselves,Matthew

happily

telling

them

information about the place at a speed that would make a guide jealous.

They leared new things about the city and about the Pavilion, accidentally finding two more objects from the list, an ancient coin, in one of the rooms where they were taking pictures of themselves and some

statues

of

soldiers

and

a

beautiful

painting

of

Queen

Victoria

.By the end of the visit, they found themselves back into the main hall and were ready to take their leave when Alfred noticed something far away into a corner.The glass box was glistening in the light, having accidentally hit Alfre‟s eye which caused him to notice it in the first place.In order to satisfity their curiousity, the boys went to check it out and found an old letter, looking like it was written in old english, by the way they could barely understand what it was saying.

“So..I guess that‟s it for here, right?” “ I guess so..But wow.”

“Yeah, I understand the feeling, it was …awesome!I can‟t believe we got to visit the Royal Palivion for free, I mean, I‟ve only seen it in books before.”

“So, what‟s next?”

“I think it‟s the beach..We have to find a lobster.” “…”

At that, both Daniel and Alfred gave their friend an incredulous look.

“A

lobster

on

a

beach,

what

the

heck

kind

of

trick

is

this!”

“I‟m not exactly sure just how we‟re supposed to find a lobster on a beach Matt, the chances are ..more than low.”

“Oh come on guys, we can still try!”

Daniel sighed, following Alfred and Matt back to the room where they left their back, listening to the brothers arguing about how it was imposible for them to find a lobster, of all things, on a beach in Brighton.He looked down at the camera hanging from his neck and smiled, thinking of the pictures and of the memories he‟ll have for later.

Once everyone got their bags back, they took one last glance at the Pavilion before walking back towards the gates, Alfred surprising the guard from before by giving him a high five as they passed.Only when they were back at the bus station did the boys realize that the beach was very far away from the Royal Pavilion and that it‟ll take them almost two hours only to get there.They asked a few people just what the fastest way to the town beach is but all of them said the same thing; by bus.So, once they found the right bus station, the teens made themselves comfortable and took some snacks out of their bags, start to eat and to relax while they waited.

“Why did the teacher gave us the only locations that are the farthest away from each other?” “ Al, stop complaining, besides, the Pier is closer to the beach! ”

“ Wait, wait!Guys, where do we have to meet with everyone once we find everything? ” “ …Well I think the teacher said that we‟ll all meet at the Pier, at the fun fair.I suppose it makes sense since it‟s the last location and we‟ll have to find some objects there too, right? ” “ Guess it could have been worse, haha! ” “ Or better.. I wonder what Emily‟s doing.. ” “ Oh for frigs sake Alfred!Don‟t tell me you‟re not having fun with us?” “ Whaaaat?Of course I am!It‟s just that- “ “ Why don‟t you simply ask her on a date? “ “ Don‟t be silly, I can‟t just do ..that. “ The blonde haired boy trailed off when he noticed the glares he received from his friends, crossing his arms and starting to sulk. “ Well I suppose I could try that too..”

They were done eating just a few minutes before the bus came, only for them to notice that they moved too far from the station while talking among themselves.Another race of „life and death‟ began as they hurried to the bus, barely catching it on time.The bus was usually empty, compared to the ones they were used in Cambridge but they enjoyed the chage of peace nevertheless. “ So, about that date?”

At the question, both Daniel and Matthew rolled their eyes while letting out a simultaneous “ Hmmm? ” “ What should I do? ” “What do you mean by that?You go to her and simply ask her if she wants to go on a date with you, it‟s not that hard.”

“That‟s a good idea, and now that I think about it, Matt, didn‟t you say that we‟ll meet at the funfair?You can do it there, I mean, girls like that stuff, right? “ “ I suppose so..I think at the end of the hunt we‟ll be able to go on the rides and everything before finally going to the hotel. ” “ Wait, we‟re going to a hotel? Wow!That‟s awesome!Maybe we‟ll get the same room. ” “ There‟s no maybe, each group will share a room. ” “ Okay, so basically, once we‟ll finish the hunt, you‟re telling me that I should be asking her on a date and take advantage of the fact that we‟ll be at a fair to have fun. ” “ Yep, that‟s the plan. ” “ Sounds good to me. ” “ Be sure to win her a plushie or something, girls love plushies. ” “ But you guys know my aim is horrible! ” “ Well then, you‟d better try your best if you want the plan to work.”

Daniel snickered ad Alfred‟s defeated look, discreetly giving Matt a high five which of course, didn‟t escape Alfred‟s well trained eye, who began complaining about them working behind his back.

The subject quickly was changed to video games, the boys comparing the newest ones with the old ones, starting a few arguments (“You just can‟t compare Call of Duty with Left for dead!It‟s blasphemy!”” “ And don‟t even try to bring in Amnesia, Daniel, not only do you share the same name as the main character, but nobody with a sane mind can play that!” “…but I played it..” “Exactly.”) and before they knew it, they arrived at their stop.The trip on the bus did indeed last an hour and half, and the walking to the beach from the bus station was another thirthy minutes. At the beach they found some other of they classmates,

including Emily‟s group (which Alfred quickly skipped over to, only to come back when the other girls angrily shooed him away).

They began walking along the beach, Matthew checking the list and marking the items they‟ve already found while Daniel took pictures of the scenary and Alfred sulked over being rejected.Suddenly, all three boys stopped and looked at the scene in front of them. A rather big, red lobster was holding in it‟s claws a pair of swimming glasses, probably stealing them from a poor kid who was too scared to even try and get

them back.

Sometimes you just can‟t fight

mother nature. “ Is that ..a lobster?” “ Would you look at it, our next two items right in front of os, quick, Daniel, take a few shoots of them!” “..uhh guys, I don‟t want to ruin your moment but this thing looks like it‟ll eat us alive.” “ What?Alfred you‟re being silly, lobsters don‟t eat humans.” “ But it‟s glaring at us…” “ Okay Matt, I took the pics now we can go.”

“Oh my god guys, run!”

“What the- Alfred?OH GOD it really is coming towards us and these claws don‟t look to nice!”

“BAAAAH!” The three teens hurried away from the red clawed beast, apaprently furious

that

someone

dared

to

interrupt

it‟s

moment

with

the

glasses.They went to the nearest shop and bought themselves a few drinks, soon joined by the girls who witnessed the escaping scene.

“Hey guys, how was the meeting with Mr.Lobster?”

“Oh come on Em, you shiuld have seen it, it was big, red and angry!You would have ran away too!” Alfred whined, trying to defend their pride.

“Hey Matt what do we have to find now?” “ A bottle of..Faygo..I think the teacher was thirsty when he made the list,

it‟s

pretty

random.”

“But hey, at least he has good tastes, Faygo rocks!I‟m gonna buy us some!” Alfred declared, quickly getting up and going to buy them a whole new round of drinks Emily‟s gazy following him, looking nervous.Daniel noticed this so he moved his chair closer to her, curious what was bugging her.

“What‟s wrong Em?” “Oh, nothing, it‟s just that I save something important to tell Al and I don‟t know how and when to do it.”

Nodding his head even though he had a small idea of what she wanted to tell his friend, Daniel thought up a plan. “You know, I think he has something to tell you too, how about you two talk when we‟ll get to the fair?Me and Matt can find the rest of the items by ourselfves.” When the aftermentioned boy started to complain, Daniel just gave him a kick under the table, almost causing Matthew to fall off his chair. “OW!Ok, ok I got it, geez.”

“Thanks guys I owe you big time!”Now in higher spirits, Em smiled at them before getting up to give each of them a hug before she left just as Alfred was coming back, a confused look on his face. “What did I miss?”

“Oh, nothing interesting, don‟t worry your blonde head about it.”

“Hey! If you make another blonde joke, Dan, I swear to God that I‟ll hit you.” “ Ohhh, come at me bro.”

“AGH!I can‟t believe you used that refference!”

“Guys, guys, calm down, we should get going before it gets too late.”

Rolling his eyes, Matthew grabbed his brother and pulled him away from Daniel, who started making mocking faces at the blonde which only made him angrier. “Oh come on Matttie, just let me at him to show who‟s the boss!”

“Alfred, you don‟t hit your friends” “But what if they‟re being mean?”

“Well th-..Wait. What?No! You still can‟t hit your friends!”

Sighing, Alfred pulled away from his brother and brushed the invisible dust off his clothes even though he wasn‟t dirty, huffed and grabbed his things before walking towards the exit. Iddly, Daniel had a mental image of a girl version of his friend, flipping her hair as she left angrily, thought that amused him greatly.Sharing a look, the remaining boys grabbed their bags and Faygo bottles before hurring after their sulky friend.

The Pier wasn‟t too far so they choose to walk all the way to it instead, well, walking was the plan but when Alfred began complaining that his feet hurt, they ended up waiting for the special bus that took them staright to the Pier.The place itself was beautiful not only because of the fact that it was built above the water, but because of the style and the many attractions in it; restaurants, arcades and what not.

Since It was getting dark,Daniel noticed that the lights were turned on, luminating in the night and making the place seem more lively than in daylight; parents holding the hands of their children who were laughing

and holding some won toys, couples sitting on benches, holding hands and talking quietly or trying the rides the funfair provided.

Basically, everyone was having fun, enjoying themselves and having the time of their life.The smiles and the laughter around him made him grab his camera, quickly snapping a few pictures of smiling strangers he‟s never meet before or will never see ever again in his life, all for the beauty of art. „Making someone smile.‟, thought Daniel, „is art, it‟s a natural thing, not

many have it but when they do, the effect is really beautiful.‟ “Hey Matt, what are the next items that we need to find?”

“Weeelll…A carnival mask, a gold shoe and cotton candy.”

“Sounds like the Mr.Smith wanted us to have fun in a way.”

“Haha, probably!Hey Al, why don‟t you go and talk with Em?We‟ll take care of the rest, they‟re easy to find anyway.”

“What, really?Thank you guys, it means a lot to me!I‟ll go find her now!Good luck!” And with that, their blonde friend was gone.

“And that shall be out good deed of the day.”

“Agreed, now let‟s go, I think I saw a stand of cotton candy around here.”

“Now that you meantioned it, it‟s been a while since I‟ve eaten cotton candy, don‟t you want some?”

“Maybe, but we still need to find it first- Oh, nevermind! I‟ve found the stand. What…that‟s one big line there, shall we go somewhere else?”

“I don‟t know, the whole place is crowded so even if there is another stand, it won‟t be much different.We can just wait for out turn to come.”

“But it‟ll take a lot and we still have two more items to find! Are you out of your mind?”

“Would you relax, the point is to have fun, not to- Ohh…Hello there!”

In one quick motion, Daniel grabbed his camera, quickly turned it on and snapped a picture of a woman wearing a long, black Victorian dress, with a black carnival mask covering half of her face. Unfazed, the woman walked past them and into the night, looking like a venetian mistress who was about to attend a ball. Smiling proudly, Daniel turned around to find Matthew looking like him in amazement.

“Wow!That was ..such a blast, you‟re really good at taking pictures, aren‟t you?”

“Well, I guess I am? It‟s more like a hobby to me, but I wouldn‟t mind making a job of it, it helps me relax and see things others don‟t.”

“Can I see the pictures sometime?I‟m very curious how they turned out.”

“Sure thing, I‟ll upload them to the computer once we get home and then e-mail them to you.”

Suddenly, the sound of someone clearing their throat made them both jump in surprise.Without even noticing, they were in front of the stand, a long line behind them and an amused woman smiling at them. “ Since you young men didn‟t hear me the first time I‟ll ask again, how can I help you?”

Both teens blushed in embarrassment, Matthew being the first to recover and to apologise, ordered the two cotton candies for them.The woman laughed and went to get them the sweets, shaking her head and muttering quietly about „polite young boys‟ and „how it‟s like to be young‟.When she got back, they gave her the money then went back on their way, walking around the fair and looking for anything that would look like a gold shoe.

When ten minutes passed and the show was still nowhere to be found, they decided to take a break and to go back to the other groups.Three groups and the teachers were at a restaurant, talking and some eating.Weirdly enough, any group had yet to finish but it seemed like the

kids gave up on the idea of looking for the items and instead went to have fun at the fair, thing which didn‟t seem to bother the teachers that much.It was the whole point of the trip after all.But Daniel refused to stand still, and let Matthew join the other at the big table, before going back to searching for the last item.He passed by the strangers, fun rides and children running around, accidentally noticing two of his classmates huggling in a more intimate manner than just friends.

Thankfully, they didn‟t notice him so he just left them alone, not having any business with them and already having a quest on his mind.A few meters later, he passed by a random stand full of plushies when something caught his attention.A doll with a rather odd footwear; a gold

shoe and a silver one.Not sure what to think of it, he just snapped a picture of the doll, then went back to the restaurant to tell Matthew the good news.To his surprise, everyone was now gathered at the restaurant, kids complaining back and forth that their items were hard, if not impossible to find.Matthew‟s eyes quickly found him and he lifted up the camera, showing the boy the picture of the doll, who grinned back and gave him the thumbs up.

“You found the last item!”

“Of course, were you having doubts?”

“Well, not really, but still!I guess that makes us the first group to find everything.”

Looking at Mr.Smith and seeing him scold his classmates with a small smile on his face,noticing Alfred and Emily sneaking away and going to a more private place, Daniel then proudly decided that the trip for the treasure hunt was a complete success.

“I don‟t know why you bothered so much, finding the items wasn‟t even the point of the trip.”

Later on, when they arrived at the hotel, Daniel noticed the marker moustache on his face and decided to get revenge on Alfred by giving him the wrong answers for their math homework.

Wonders, Wonders, Wonders‌ It is the Christmas Eve! A beautiful diamond ring shines between the leaves. There is a little seal who lies on the coast of the sea. His mouth is full. Suddenly he opens it. There is something interesting between the teeth. It is a magic shell with soft green grains which look like small painkillers. The seal leaves it on the golden sand and takes the ring with his teeth. He puts the ring inside the shell and‌What a great surprise!

The animal is transformed into a handsome prince. He is in the bedroom of a magnificent palace and combs his hair with a wonderful hairbrush.

It is made by a silver spoon which the father of prince, the king, received as a gift from his fairy many years ago.

Wonders, Wonders, Wonders‌ because of Christmas Eve!

Kokkinos the Lobster (A. Zymaras)

Deep down in the crystal clear bottom of the Aegean Sea there lived a lobster called Kokkinos, which means red in Greek.

He spent his days swimming, exploring underwater caves as well as ship wrecks, which abound in the Greek seas.

He would wear a

pair of swimming goggles

and heâ€&#x;d love to play

with other sea creatures,

among which he had

loads

of

friends.

Heâ€&#x;d

forget to get back in the lobster land. And that was always a reason of argument with his girlfriend, Astakina (=lobsteress).

In one of his exploring escapades he came across an

old

ship

wreck.

It

must

have

been

an

impressively big ship in its time, long, long time ago. He sneaked in and swam around till he found himself in a room with lots of trunks.

One

of

the

trunks

really caught his glance, so

he tried to force it

open with a saw that was lying there. When he did, he

was just breathless….The trunk was full with golden coins and on top of them a golden shoe waiting to be worn. He immediately thought of Astakina and the fight she‟d have with him again for being away so long, so he took the shoe and one coin to offer them to her.

As he turned to leave, his eyes saw a sealed glass bottle with a piece of paper in it, there was something written on it. He couldn‟t make out what it said nor open it because it‟d get wet. He thought he‟d go back home and ask for help. Maybe there was somebody in need of help or a lost treasure map from a pirate ship.

THE END