Term 3 Writers' Circle Booklet - WD - 2025

Term 3 Writers’ Circle Program

Mr Will Duffield - Writers’ Circle Coordinator

Term 3 brought with it a spirit of growth, discovery, and the chance to redefine what it means to be part of our creative community This term, members embraced opportunities to write, share, and connect through storytelling in exciting and meaningful ways.

Highlights from Term 3 include:

Jack Cooper’s 2nd place in the ETAQ 2025 Literary Competition Participating in the Junior Write a Book in a Day Challenge, raising $3,287 for the Kids’ Cancer Project while producing a full story in 12 hours

Two author visits from Tristan Bancks and Maya Linnell, who shared insights into the writing life with our students

The launch of the Maggie Shaw Creative Writing Competition, with the winner to be announced at our Annual College Awards Ceremony.

Freddie Orr (Year 7) and Jake Linde (Year 9)

contributing to our Semester 2 “From the Writers’ Circle Desk” Behind the Stripes edition. Another wonderful service-learning opportunity for students to participate in our Viridian visit

These experiences highlight the creativity, resilience, and generosity of our writers, who continue to grow as storytellers and as contributors to a wider community of readers and learners. As we look ahead, the following stories will demonstrate the unique ways

storytelling can connect, inspire, and transform I hope you enjoy reading this edition If you have any questions about our Writers’ Circle program, feel free to get in touch at: wduffield@nudgee.qld .edu.au

Librarians' Top Picks

Term 3

This term, we asked Ms Miller and Ms Howarth for their top picks for our students!

Junior: You Choose Series by George Ivanoff

They are super fun, quick reads, which you can read different ways to see what all of the possible endings are.

Middle Years: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

It’s a great adventure and survival story. It’s easy to pick and enjoy, and Paulsen writes with great imagery, making it easy to imagine everything happening around the young protagonist.

Senior: One of us is Lying by Karen McMannus

It’s a murder mystery set in a high school where everyone is keeping secrets. Gripping writing. It’s book 1 in a 4 part series, so if readers like it, there are more books which follow on.

The Ranger's Apprentice Series by John Flanagan

It follows Will, a young orphan who is recruited into the rangers guild His story of fighting adversity, learning and not being immediately good at something, becoming friends with perceived enemies

This series is action packed, magical, has some great villains and enthralling story lines Morally very sound and suitable for all ages yr 5 to 12, I actively loved the series as an adult and have read the whole thing

A World Inside the Glass

A group of friends arrived at Sam’s eggshell white Victorian. They travelled up into the house only to settle down for a movie and some popcorn relaxing into the afternoon On her way to the bathroom a book case caught Ellery's eye

Inside was a particular looking European snow globe featuring mountains and landscapes so beautiful they didn't seem real Ellery didn't yet know what it was with this snow globe that caught her eye but now that she had seen it she couldn't look away. Ellery returned to the lounge room insisting they all come have a look. The group got up and walked halfway down the hallway to the cedar oak lined bookshelf where the snow globe sat The group gathered around the book case and started looking at the snow globe. “Look,” screamed Amelia, “That's me, right there on that mountain.”

“She’s right I’m there too and so is Ellery and Sam,” Simon stated puzzled. Everyone peered closely at this odd snow globe examining themselves inside the little glass ball

Suddenly, the clickclock of the clocks

grew silent, and their golden arrows froze in place. The quiet hum of the air conditioning faded into nothing, leaving the room unnaturally still. It was as if the whole world had been frozen. Every sound that could be heard, every movement that could be done, was suspended in a strange and nothingness silence it was frozen. With a flash of light, white snow from the mountains of the snow globe was pouring out surrounding the group. They were in the middle of what seemed like a tornado of snow. In seconds the snow quickly fell and to the group ' s surprise they

were no longer in Sam’s living room in Vermont. The group were on the tip of a mountain high up in the sky. As they looked around the mountain they could see up into Sam’s living room, where the rest of the objects inside the book case were visible They had been transported inside the snow globe, except the snow globe wasn't so small anymore.

“Where are we? What are we doing here? How did we even get here?” Simon asked. “Simon, relax, there has to be an explanation.” Sam said n a soothing tone “You're right, there's a perfectly good reason i you ' re here, that's because I brought you, ” boomed a voice from the sky “Who are you, ” Ellery asked, “Me, I am the almighty guard of the snow globe of power, ” the voice bellowed in response. “Is there a way we can get out of here,” Amelia, asks “Of course, just one of you has been “marked” by fate to inherit the snow globe’s power. To go home and unfreeze time, the person who knows they have been chosen must agree to take on the curse of being its next guardian.” With that the bellowing voice was gone only to return when the decision had been made.

They agreed no one would stay behind and choose solidarity over the sacrifice of someone They searched desperately for another way out. As the sky burned orange and pink, they gazed up at the world they’d left behind the life they knew, the life they had, a world that now seemed so distant. As the dawn rose and the golden shining sun appeared, all members of the group were still present, not leaving unless they all did. Once the group was awake and still discussing other ways to get out that same voice appeared, the voice of the snow globe guardian,

speaking powerful and direct, it boomed , “You have not made a decision and if you do not decide, none of you leave.”

“That’s not happening, it’s none of us or all of us were a team and we stick together,” Sam replied “This could be a decision that you will regret, yet you are stronger than others,” The guardian stated. It continued to say, “You see this wasn't about who would be turned in, yet who would stand by each other You have been strong and kind to each other whilst showing courage Therefore, I shall reward you with the power of the snow globe. This is the power to freeze and stop time You can all go home to your families and leave the snow globe where you can unfreeze time ”

With that the guardian left and the same snow swirl came around the group However, this time they weren't nervous, just happy. When they arrived, they returned to that same spot in the hallway right next to that cedar oak bookcase They all touched the globe and time resumed, nothing had changed - except their friendship, it only grew stronger. The snow globe lay on the shelf, but its power lay in their hands.

The Silence that Spoke

It happened the exact moment the school bell urgently screamed

One second later, the hallway cascaded with a chaotic crowd; a cacophony of sound filled the hall – the slam of lockers, the bark of laughter, and the rubbery squeak of shoes. Then, like a candle blown out, everything was paralysed. An eerie stillness crept over him Frozen in mid-air, a scrap of paper hovered as though the atmosphere had turned to glass His pulse raced as his heart hammered like a hummingbird trapped in his chest. Across the corridor, the clock’s second hand stood still; time itself had been pinned in place. Throughout the school there was not a whisper nor a breath. The hallway had become a graveyard of motion While the world waited, he stood at its silent centre transfixed by the static state of his surroundings.

Pushing open the glass front doors, Tarin was greeted by the world with a deafening silence A bus loomed at an intersection, its exhaust fumes curling like the last breath of a dying giant. Storefront mannequins, who had spent year rehearsing for this very moment, stared at him from behind towering glass

windows People were halted on the footpath with shopping bags dangling like pendulums Even pigeons were suspended in the air, with wings spread wide, like marionettes whose puppeteer had gone on strike Tarin stepped out onto the road; still looking both ways out of habit He still felt uneasy, but a little less so. He passed a man clutching a book with a cyclops robot on its front cover, its pages stuck mid-flutter Curiously, he looked at title of the book - 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' - a story he had read with his father

just the year before Further along, a young street performer was strumming a chord that would never grace his ears. Waiting at the park gate, a boy held a football just before a kick. The city was a gallery of unfinished paintings; a theatre of paused performers Each scene was a memory of his life before the pressure of study set in. Days which were long forgotten Wandering deeper into the city, a street artist’s chalk mural sprawled unfinished across the pavement. Outlines of wings stretched half-formed, shapes waiting to be

filled with vibrant colour, a dream abandoned midcreation In a bookstore window, a novel sat open in someone ’ s hands, the reader’s gaze trapped on a single line, their journey through that story forever suspended Tarin’s chest tightened; now everything he passed reminded him not of what people were doing, but of what they had yet to finish It was as if the world had schemed to show him the magnitude of all things he had left incomplete. Tarin stopped at the edge of a small square. In the centre

stood a man with a brush poised above a canvas, his hand frozen a hair’s breadth from touching paint to surface. The halfformed image was of a forest at dawn streaks of gold already brushed across the horizon, yet the trees remained only outlines, silhouettes without substance. Tarin felt an ache as he stared The man ’ s eyes were wide, intent, as if he had been ready to pour his soul onto the canvas But here he was, forever suspended before his creation

Sinking to his knees, surrounded by the fragments of unfinished lives

The instant he did, the stillness cracked.

Sound faint at first returned The flap of a bird’s wing, the rustle of leaves, whispers of conversation The brush finally touched the surface, multiple colours flooding the canvas in a single stroke. The air shifted. A hum spread through the city, rising with the sound of the world resuming.

Tarin closed his eyes as the tide of time swept forward again. When he opened them, he could not stand still It was time to act.

novels unread, songs unsung, flights unflown he realised that he too had left too much unconcluded The days he had spent convincing himself that tomorrow would be the day. Tomorrow he would begin the book he dreamed of writing Tomorrow he would take the leap, make the call, step into the unknown But tomorrow had become a cage. He had walked through life like these frozen figures, brush raised but never daring to paint. His breath shuddered, and for the first time the silence no longer felt empty but deafening, pressing him to act He reached out, fingers trembling, and touched the edge of the artist’s canvas

When Time Stopped

It was a Tuesday. Not the exciting kind of Tuesday, like the last day of school or when your mum randomly brings home pizza No, it was a boring, ordinary Tuesday. And then time stopped.

I don’t mean that in the “this moment was so important it felt like time stopped” way No

I mean literally, time Stopped.

The clock on the classroom wall froze at 10:17. My teacher’s mouth was stuck halfway through a word, like she was permanently about to sneeze Pens dangled mid-air Even the kid next to me, who had just launched a paper ball at the back of my head, was locked in position, arm still raised, smirk frozen

At first, I laughed. I’ll

be honest, the idea of a world where everyone was frozen except me? Kind of awesome No detentions. No lines at the tuckshop. I could waltz straight into the staffroom and finally find out what teachers actually talk about in there, who knows?

So that’s what I did. I ran through the halls, testing the limits of this new power. The librarian was stuck

mid-shush The principal was caught mid-step, looking suspiciously like he had been about to steal a student’s biscuit. I felt like the king of the world But then… something changed Walking past the frozen crowd, I noticed a kid in my year, sitting alone on the edge of the oval. His head down, hands clenched Everyone else around him was mid-laugh, caught up in their own little groups But him? Still. Silent. Invisible. It hit me then Even before time stopped, he had already been

frozen

That realisation followed me As I wandered through the motionless city streets, I saw more of it. A man collapsed on the footpath, no one moving to help. A woman carrying groceries, shoulders straining under the weight. A little kid crying, face twisted in fear, but no parent rushing over.

Because the truth is, we don’t get big dramatic freezes in real life. We don’t get the chance to walk around a silent world and carefully decide what matters. Time doesn’t pause when someone feels left out It doesn’t pause when someone is struggling. It doesn’t pause when someone needs you.

That’s why service matters Not the kind where you tick boxes or

When time stopped, I could finally see what I normally ignored. And I’ll admit it. At first, I felt powerless. I couldn’t restart the world I couldn’t magically fix everything But maybe maybe that was the point. Maybe when time stops, it isn’t asking us to do everything. It is asking us to notice something. To notice someone

wear a badge I mean the kind that happens in tiny, frozen moments Sitting with someone who is alone Carrying the heavy bag. Stopping to ask, “Are you okay?”

We think time is endless That we will always have more of it

But when it stops, even just for a heartbeat, you realise how fragile it actually is.

So when the clock finally ticked again, when the paper ball finally smacked me in the head and the teacher kept talking as if nothing had happened, I didn’t laugh this time

Instead, I looked around the room. I noticed the kid sitting quietly in the corner I noticed the friend who wasn’t smiling quite as much as usual. I noticed people

And I realised something Time doesn’t really stop. But we can. We can stop to notice Stop to listen. Stop to care. And maybe, just maybe, that is what changes the world.

When Time Stopped

The stadium lights shone so bright they lit up the pitch as if the sun had dropped down to watch us play. The roar of the crowd was electrifying. I found it hard to concentrate.

This was it The Grand Final, it's what everyone dreams of, and now I’m standing here, and it is all up to me. This is it; I can do it.

The score was one all, thirty-four seconds remained on the clock, and my body was aching as if I was about to collapse. The winger put a cross in, and the ball landed at my feet. If I scored, we won; if I missed, it was all over Memories from the season flooded my mind, all the blood, sweat, and tears; it was all up to this one moment. My coach’s advice echoed in the back of my head ‘Keep focused, and don’t let the moment be bigger than you ’ The ball was like a rock, hard and heavy under my foot I took a touch towards the goal. From the corner of my eye, I saw the defenders closing in like sharks sensing blood. Every breath I took hurt; my heart was pounding out of my chest This was my moment; the whole town was watching.

With my head down, I took a deep breath and was about to strike the ball with venom, when TIME STOPPED Everything froze. Twenty-one seconds remained on the scoreboard. Defenders hung suspended in the air, caught mid-lunge All around me, the crowd, the whole town, stood silent, motionless With his whistle pressed to his lips, the referee waited in stillness Thousands of people, all frozen in time, everyone except me; I alone kept moving

died and gone to heaven? It felt real; the grass was wet, the players were covered in sweat, and the breeze was cool against my cheek. I could hear my heart pounding.

going to do when the world starts again?” I was completely confused Who was this mysterious boy? And why had the world frozen? “But I don’t understand,” I said curiously. “Why did everything stop?

“What on earth is happening?” I gasped Had I gone crazy? Was I in a dream, or had I

Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of something moving up ahead. At the end of the pitch, a boy who looked very similar to me but older was juggling the ball at his feet

“Who are you?” I enquired, slowly jogging towards him “Don’t worry about that,” he replied with a smirk, “You’ve got bigger things to worry about. What are you

“Because it needed to,” he said, “You were filled with fear, you were about to choke. Time gives you a breather, so use it wisely. You can either stay here worrying or go and use this time to be ready, to shoot that goal.” I stared at him. His words really hit me

“But what if I miss?” I asked.

“We all miss sometimes, but nobody remembers a missed goal;

however, they remember the one who was courageous and stepped up when it mattered most.” Without another word, the boy had vanished As I turned back to the pitch, the stadium was quiet once again With the boy's advice ringing in my ears, I knew it was time to focus. With grit and determination, I strode back into position, taking slow and steady breaths. A feeling of calmness washed over me like gentle waves lapping against the shore. I visualised striking the ball It was time to focus, not on the crowd or the defenders, just on me, the ball, and the goal. With a deep breath, I whispered, “Okay, I’m ready ” Instantaneously, the crowd erupted, the noise was deafening, defenders closing in. I thought about the boy and held my nerves; the clock on the scoreboard had begun to tick over This was my moment. I took two big strides towards the ball and wrapped my laces around it like a cannon blast, tearing through the air, as if it was in slow-motion, the ball rose from my boot, clipped the keeper's fingers, and slammed into the back of the net. GOAL! The crowd flooded the pitch, and my teammates lifted me into the air. It took a moment to sink in I had scored the winning goal. In the middle of all the mayhem, I couldn’t help but think about the boy Who was he? Was he real? Or could he have been an older version of myself, carrying the wisdom to push my team to triumph? Perhaps I’ll never know However, what I did know was that I had just conquered the biggest moment of my life, and I did not let fear win. Maybe that is the true magic of when time stopped.

Pocket Watch Goes Wrong

“Hey guys welcome back to Jake and Toby’s wild stunts,” Says Jake into his phone whilst it is filming “Today we are going to be dumpster diving and are going to see if we can find anything valuable,” Toby then adds. Jake grabs the phone off the tripod and starts to film Toby as he jumps into the dumpster.

“There is not much other than sealed trash bags and one ”

moldy donut that looks like it is from last week,” Toby said, being covered in trash. Toby then pries open a bag and finds an old pocket watch. “Hey I can give this to my grandad as a birthday present,” Toby says to Jake. Jake then hits the stop button on his phone and says to Toby

“We cannot use any of this footage for any video but I am happy that you found a present for your

grandad ” The boys then hop on their bikes and ride home. Jakes says to Toby, “ see you at school tomorrow

Toby wakes up as normal the next morning however accidentally knocks the pocket watch off his bedside table Click Woosh. Suddenly everything freezes around Toby However, Toby does not notice and just picks up the pocket watch like

nothing happened, He walks down stairs and everything is dead quiet and dead still Toby asks his mum “what’s for breakfast?”

No reply. He asks a second time “Mum what’s for breakfast?”

Still no response. Toby then walks up to his sister and touches her He knows that his sister hates being touched and if this was some elaborate prank she would move. No movement It was like being in a horror movie with everything dead still, dead quiet. Toby rushes to the window to see if what he was thinking was true. It was, everything outside was dead still, dead quite. Then the thought

rushed to his mind, if pressing the pocket watch stopped time then pressing it again would Click Woosh! Then everything became unfrozen. That was when it all made sense to Toby the pocket watch was magical and whoever touched it last when the button clicks it does not stop time for that person However, the rest of the world's time stops. A rush of cool pranks that Jake and him would be able to do came to his head. Toby grabbed his phone, texted Jake and told him to meet at school now.

excited to inform Jake, said “Jake, Jake, guess what?”.

“What?”

“The, the, the,” Toby said, trembling with excitement.

“What,” replied Jake in a frustrated tone

“The pocket watch is magical,” Toby yelled with joy

“Phh, no way, ” replied Jake in a sarcastic tone Woosh!

“Then how did you get that donut in your hand?” Toby asked knowing that he was going to prove Jake right

“Wh wh, h, how did you do that,” Jake asked in amazement

Once the boys met at school Toby, very

Toby then gave Jake a smile and replied “I

stopped time with the pocket watch by clicking the top button, then went to the local donut shop, stole a donut then came back placed it in your hand then went back in the same position and pressed the top button again and time resumed ”

“Thats incredible!” Jake screamed with excitement Toby then said “ you know, we could play a bunch of pranks now that we have this power?”

“Hell yeah,” replied Jake The boys then played a bunch of fun pranks on all their teachers during the day and the h.

pocket watch was used a lot. The next day the boys met up before school again with a big bucket of slime and some balloons filled with different disgusting concoctions the boys had made. In one of their classes the boys pressed the pocket watch and put the teacher's finger up her nose. However, when the boys went and sat back down with all the evidence in the bin outside Toby and Jake clicked the button. Click. No whoosh. They tried again Click Still the whoosh.

“What’s happening?” Jake asked Toby “Don’t know?” replied Toby”

Toby took the pocket watch from Jake and looked at it. Spun it around a bit Then saw a small screen on the back. It read, cool down for pocket watch 20 years That’s when Toby realised something, the pocket watch had a cool down and because him and Jake had used it so much the cool down was very long Toby then had to break the news to Jake, “the pocket watch has a small cool down and we have to wait until that cool down ends to restart time ”

“Yeah I’m sure it’s not that long, tell me how long is it?” Jake asked Toby “20 year, ” Toby replied.

“Are you kidding me, we won’t be able to see any of our family for 20 years And not only that our family won’t even recognize us because we age but they don’t!” Jake screamed in rage. Jake then stormed out of the room and Toby and him never saw each other again.

20 years later Toby and Jake had still not seen each other at all. Bing went the pocket watch as the screen on the back timer was set to zero. Toby then pressed the button and time restarted. Toby rushed home to find his mum and sister eating He swung the door open and said “ mum it’s me Toby ” “Ahh,” Mum squealed. “Get out of my house you freak, or i will call the cops ” Mum added. Sobbing Toby left the house “How could she not remember me, ” Toby thought.

Toby walked down the path in despair. Eyes dripping down with tears He then heard a familiar voice “Toby, hey Toby.” Toby thought he was imagining things But then he heard it again “Toby, psst Toby.” Toby turned to the bush and he saw his mate Jake.

The Verdant Reflection

Deep in the vinechocked jungle of the Congo Basin, a group of five explorers crunched their way through the mist and murkiness of the trees. They weren't hunting treasure-well not exactly They were survivalists and skeptics. They were led by Dr Eliza Grant, an archaeologist with a spine built of iron and eyes as sharp as a steak knife Alongside her, Reed Maddox, a zoologist from Australia, who was always looking for a new challenge to conquer. Amara Toure, a local spiritualist, grounded and sometimes up in the clouds Victor Cho, a brainy type who brought drones into the jungle like he was swatting flies with satellites. And finally, Leon Briggs, a former soldier who fought in both world wars with a story behind every

scar The team came chasing a legend, stories whispered by tribes who refused to come close to the "Reflected forest”. They spoke of a mirror, older than time, hidden away in a ruined temple. They called it “The eye of Mawu”. The locals warned them never to look for it and most of all never look into their reflection

Long before modern boots stomped through t

he Veil Forest, before GPS and drones, before it was even called a jungle , there was the kingdom of Olowanji. Isolated, advanced, and feared. A place where metal sang, spirits walked, and kings didn’t praythey commanded Their last ruler, Kanu the Third, had a fatal flaw, he wanted to be more than mortal Not rememberedunforgettable. Not powerfulunchallengeable He demanded a tool that would let him reshape himself at will A device to edit his being like a potter reshapes clay His high priestess, Sefiri, made it for him She called it, “The Eye of Mawu” , a mirror no larger than a man ’ s palm, smooth obsidian in a carved bone frame At a glance, it looked ordinary. But its power wasn’t in its surface , it was in the gaze. The mirror didn’t show just your face. It showed your self And if you stared into your own reflection, locked eyes with it, and clearly spoke what you wanted to become, it made it real. Man.

Animals God

Concept Fictional characters. Myths. Anyone and anything. But the catch? The mirror only understood intention, not words. It heard what you truly meant, not what you said. And it always took a toll on its users Kanu used it first to become a stronger man, more handsome, more feared Then he tried again. Wiser. Taller. Mightier. Each transformation brought him closer to his “ideal” but every time, something else slipped He forgot names Grew paranoid. Slept in bursts. Forgot his original voice Eventually, he stared into it one last time… and no one knows what he asked for They only know that when his guards found him, he was no one Just a shell of a man. Blank-eyed. Still breathing. But gone Sefiri, horrified, tried to destroy the Eye, but it wouldn’t

break Fire, acid, hammers , nothing harmed it. So she fled into the jungle and hid it somewhere the gods themselves would lose interest in. The jungle took her Took the temple. Took the kingdom.

On the fifth day of searching, the group found it, a temple with vines and roots consuming it colours and identity. Golden walls filled each room on its inside and on a grand pedestal lay the great Eye of Mawu. As a joke, Reed stared into his reflection said “I want to be a jaguar”His body convulsed His bones cracked like gunfire.

His skin shifted His hair erupted. In a matter of seconds, the team was backing away from a very real jaguar blinking at them with the same coloured eyes as reed, a dark green with a tint of blue. “R- Reed?” Amara croaked softly Reed trotted toward them and curled up tucking his nose against Amara’s hand “Hes still got his conscience! “Maybe the villagers were wrong!” This inspired the othersexcept Dr. Grant- to use the mirror themselves Victor used the mirror to shape himself into a stronger man upgrading his muscles to the point where his shirt got to small for him Leon used it to change into his younger self, back when he was in his prime and fought for the wars in tanks. Amara turned herself into an activity master, she could climb mountains with her thinger and swim through rivers as fast as jet soars through the sky. The group always stayed together though exploring the ways of this mystical mirror After about a week of changing and transforming the group started going a little corrupt-well except Dr. Grant who kept herself from the temptation of the mirror. She

believed it wasn’t right to change her form and it may lead to a very bad outcome And with her luck, she was right, the others were starting to have signs of fatigue, they wouldn’t leave their forms that they had changed to They started hallucinating and going crazy. And finally, one fitful night, Reed awoke in his tent screaming, waking everyone up. The others ran in to help their fellow explorer But there was nothing in the tent but ash. The next week, Amara had the same thing happen to her as the group was out hunting Then it was Victor, and then it was Leon. The group

was depleting like leaves falling off trees. Suddenly, Dr. Grant was alone in the vast forest, filled to the brim with animals and plants that could kill you in a minute So, in the end, she packed her bags, took down the tents and set off to venture back home, leaving the mirror in the temple, for another explorer to come and find.

Chemical Collapse

Prologue

` Pshhhhhh ` , the doors for the mysterious lab opened, as John entered, ghostly steam raised around him and the group he was in. BEEP, BEEP the doors slammed closed behind him They were trapped in the lab surrounding them. “what's happening” shouted the guard. BOOM! Chemicals splattered everywhere The walls collapsed John fell to the ground, blackness engulfed him. Glass was everywhere, little animals scurried under their feet.

Chapter 1 - The Journey “Wake up Miles, quickly,” shouted Lulu.

“A lab exploded and 26 scientists, workers, and children died in the explosion. It was "bring you child day ” Miles thought that his friend John was at his dad's work on the day of the explosion It was bring your child day and only one person survived His dad walked out of his bedroom, looking tired. “What happened?"

“Bad news son, your friend John died ” “From what” “ an explosion in his dads lab.” Miles mourned for his friend until he heard an alert so he looked at the bom, what he always did, a storm is coming and its all black on the radar, the world is ending,

and it's gonna be bad “Kids pack your bags, we have to leave now. The only safe place is on the other side of the world ""I live in San Francisco, and in 3 ½ weeks we need to go to a place in the Pacific ocean called Australia It will take us at least two months and the storm will be here in 3 ½ weeks.”

“Get in the car we only have 23 and ½ days till America will be submerged by a storm and who knows what else.” As Miles walked to the car he thought there might be tsunami, cyclones, and maybe even aliens

Vroom vroom, Lulu looked out the window

into a desert town they were in. They had just woken up from a deep sleep They were moving at least fifty kilometres per hour down a deserted street in their dads Hilux The sky was dark as having sleep goggles on, it was gonna rain soon and hard, maybe even cause a flood. “Hey dad, where are we?” said Lulu sadly “Near the river, where the boat is, you know the big boat I won two years ago, I’ve ordered 100, 000 kilos of food that's on the boat all ready to eat ” “ yes I’m starving, when will we get there I’m starving.

Vroom As Miles and Lulu arrived at their boat, their dad swiftly closed the doors, and told them to get out, grab their packs and go to the dock Their boat was there waiting quietly in the water. “ We will quickly have a snack then we will drive out to the ocean ” “Mmmm these biscuits are delicious where did you get them” exclaimed miles. “ I think i got them from the local shop corner, you know down the road from the house” “ oh yeah, these are good” squeaked lulu.

As Miles walked down the boat side to see his new bedroom he would share with his sister and his dad the door opened and the lights switched, on it had

three beds and ⅓ of the boat long, “ wow ” said lulu there were cupboards filled with toys and blankets and even a tv. Miles saw one emergency flare gun, two Nintendos and a TV and three emergency axes and a big hook gun at the front back and top of the ship. It was an ocean boat paradise.

Chapter 2 - Across the Ocean

“Imagine a Kraken which is a giant, cephalopod-like creature, capable of sinking ships ” said miles admiringly “oh shush you nerd, no one has seen a kraken for fifty years ” said lulu loudly. As Miles' family

swiftly drifted across the ocean on their yacht, Miles read his book called the day my but went psycho BANG! What looked like suction cups rose from the ocean and smashed into the side of the giant yacht. Miles jumped out of his bed to see what happened. It was a kraken! It rose from the water like a rocket rising into the sky entering space but it was actually a giant monster rising to protect its territory. “D

D Dad.” lulu trembled in horror as the colour changing octopus-like creature rose from the depths, ready to crush the ship invading its territory. The first ship ever made after the discovery of the kraken had a giant spear gun on it and each ship had 55 spare spears just in case something like this happened.

“AHHHHH” Miles and Lulu's dad screamed in agony. Bang bang bang Miles ran down the boat deck, to get the old cuttles that killed the first kraken that attacked a ship, the ship still sank though He grabbed the cuttles and sliced it through the kraken’s tentacle and it dropped his dad He ran and got lulu inside, and ran back out with a larger cuttles than miles All of his family members

had one and were trained in kraken fighting which is why they had 3 spear guns

One at the front, back and on the top, miles liked the top one the most Miles ran up the stairs to the roof and got in the gun. The kraken grabbed one of the railings and ripped it off. He aimed in between its eyes, which was its weakness. Wushhhh!

The spear sliced through the air and hit the kraken rite on target. The kraken sank below the surface.

“Well we only have 5 more days on the boat till we get to Australia ” BRMmmmm! The boat

slowed down in front of them were two giant boats on the beach of an island “Lets see if anyone is on the boats”said their dad.

“No one here, let's go okay, but let's get the fuel barrels first.”

BRMMMMM, as they drove away from the island, a crab the size of the boats combined started shrieking and diving in the water, it was chasing them.

“Dad slowly loaded all the guns they found on the boat and got ready for the crab. “Get the rockets ready” “fire at the crab” boom the crab exploded into pieces. “That was easy, ” said Miles Chapter 3, Across Australia

“We’re here” shouted their dad, as he walked down the boat “I think we are in Victoria I'll look it up. We are in , lucky we took the car with us, we can ride it to Canberra we are at Shelly beach, it will take 9 hr and 32 min, grab all the books and devices you want to take.” as they travelled down the road miles kept reading the day my butt went psycho and finished Then he had a sleep as it started to get dark.

“Wake up Miles we ’ re here” said Lulu He woke up and saw their car outside a hotel. They unpacked and their dad checked in and were asleep

straight away They woke up to shouting and screaming. Wild looking Aliens poured in from the storm surrounding Australia. they were gonna kill us all The police and the army were ready for the aliens but they were too slow, the aliens took them to their sauces. A giant alien with a crown on its head came down and put a flag and put it in the surface.

Miles sprinted for the queen and he stole her crown then she started chasing them, and so did her army. They got in their dads hilux and they drove to the closest military base, their dad jumped over

to the gun and shot at the aliens killing only one, So they ran and then they saw a map leading to a lab under the base, hoping they could kill the aliens with it As they entered the tunnel the doors closed behind them. When they walked down the tunnel to the lab the doors of the lab opened for them but while they were in the corridor for the two doors it scanned their faces and let them in PSHHH! The doors opened mysteriously, as the family walked through the door they saw alien weapons, stone that were glowing and then in the back of the lab was a giant sceptre

half covered by stone Next to the sceptre was a crown in an energy looking shield

BOOM! The doors exploded and in a flash, we ran to the sceptre. As I picked it up I felt a surge of power flow through me The sceptre fell to the ground and miles floated in the air glowing brighter than the sun, Miles shot the aliens with his eye lasers burning holes in the old walls Miles fell to the ground. When he woke he was in a ship leaving earth and entering what looked like saturn it was dark and hot in the ships so Miles passed out When Miles woke he was in a

crumbled building filled with slaves that were building with what looked like dry poo

RRRRrrr! The engine growled as they landed on the distant world. Miles and his family were beaten until they would leave the spaceship.

As Miles walked out of the ship he realised that the aliens had no noses and no mouths then it happened, he and his family were trapped in a cage.

couldn't breath; they choked to death.

Miles’ last words were “I will get you for this”

The cage sucked up all of Miles’ power and put it into a gem Miles and his family

The Vial of Fragmentation

As Dasmon was about to lay on his bed and start scrolling through Youtube shorts, his doorbell rang. Slowly, Dasmon grunted and walked to the door. He opened the door and to his surprise, there was no one at the door. He went to close the door, but he noticed a small package on the floor. His name was scrawled in black letters He picked it up and walked back inside.

Instantly, he tore the package and he noticed there was only a small vial and a letter. He quickly read the letter, but there was nothing important, except for the location underneath the phone number of the sender He tucked the letter in his pocket, popped the cork on the vial, and drank it in one go. He opened his eyes and didn’t know where he was at first. He

looked up and saw the package wrapping Confused, he looked around and saw the fan and the lights shining around his feet. Realisation hit him hard He was standing on the ceiling Dasmon jumped and he fell back onto the ceiling. His reality just fragmented. He felt like his life was ruined. Dasmon walked around for a while and stayed on the roof. He navigated through his

house No-one was home. Dasmon’s phone rang on his bed. He walked over there, but couldn’t answer The phone rang out after a couple of seconds.

Dasmon knew he had to do something about this He racked his brain for important information from the letter. The address of the sender! It was 61 Gythorn Street.

Dasmon rushed to the door and reached for the doorknob He opened it and slowly clambered over the doorframe The sky stretched below Dasmon. He realised that he would have to hold onto the electric wires, which would

possibly electrocute him. He flung himself forwards and gripped the electric wire

Dasmon slowly shuffled over the wire, his hands became more numb with every grasp of the wire. After a couple of seconds, he reached the other house This progress repeated a couple of times, sometimes waiting for his hands to unnumb

After a couple of painful hours, Dasmon could finally see the address on the letter. On the outside, it looked like a factory

Dasmon slowly entered the old building, unaware of what horrors lie inside He saw a map and rushed to it silently He ripped it off the wall and turned it upside down or right side up for him He followed the map and eventually didn’t find the place he wanted, but he came face-to-face with a Nothic Devourer. Its single eye stared deeply into Dasmon’s eyes. Dasmon ran at it, hoping to play chicken with it, but it grabbed him and slowly its hand started to close, trying to crush Dasmon A crazy man with a long white lab coat came running around the corner, holding a sword. The man threw the sword at the Nothic Devourer’s eye, killing it Dasmon fell back on the roof, looking up at

the man

“Here, drink this.” said the man, chucking a vial up at Dasmon

“How do I drink it if the gravity is reversed for me?” asked Dasmon.

“Tilt your head 180° and try to drink it that way. ” Dasmon did what the man said and he fell back onto the floor.

“Thanks ” said Dasmon

“You can call me Alexander or Alex ” replied Alexander.

“Thanks, Alex ”

“It’s ok. But, just to ask,

why did you drink the first vial?”

“I don’t know, but how do you know about that?”

“I was the one that sent you the package with the first vial.”

“Oh, ok But, why did you send the package?”

“I don’t know.” said Alex, repeating Dasmon And with those words, Alex walked away without another word.

The Green Protocol

The lab had rested silent for over a hundred years

Overgrown with twisted underbrush and crawling moss, it had nearly vanished from existence until Elen's drone picked up a glimmer of heat in the deepest part of the jungle. Now, before the impossible, she stepped across the rusty threshold into a landscape of dreams

Blue lines of faint glow crawled along consoles

on vines, metal flooring cracked by roots, and overhead, artificial lights blinked spasmodically, powered by something deep and still animate.

Breathing She inched forward, sweeping aside leaves. The screen flashed once more "Do not disturb them.

The computer screen pulsed "They left." Then, after a moment: Elen could not blink. There was a soft clicking sound echoing through the vines.

The ground beneath her boots hummed with a low, muffled thud. Dust drifted clear of the consoles. A vine on the wall behind her trembled Elen did not move

The air was charged,

electric with an otherworldly feeling of being watched by ancient eyes The lab wasn't vacant It was waiting.

A file window materialized on the monitor as if out of nowhere It was the Green Protocol Stasis

Maintenance Biological Intelligence Preservation Unit 03 She pressed the keys. They were all mosscovered, but it worked

A diagram appeared in front of her: *ten chambers beneath the floor*, each pulsing with a slow, rhythmic beat Inside them shapes Human shapes

"They're still alive," Elen whispered.

Or at least something close to it

A thrum of croaks came from the darkness. A flower burst on the wall, shooting a cloud of radiant spores Elen stumbled back, gasping. The screen changed once more “You’ve triggered Phase 2 ”

Below her, the vibrations intensified. One chamber door hissed open

And from it, something stepped out Vines curled gently around its limbs, as if still claiming it Its eyes opened - not human, but watchful. Curious. Not hostile yet “Who are you?” Elen asked The being tilted its head. Then it spokethrough the monitor “Caretaker.” Elen’s breath caught. “Caretaker of what?”

The screen did not speak. It pulsed green, and a picture spread: Earth, overgrown with vines and clouds. Cities buried. Oceans blooming The world had been remade, once a long time ago. Humanity had tried to keep itself alive beneath the roots. Now, the jungle remembered The Green Protocol had resumed.

The Lab

Humanity has fallen. I am the last human alive

If humanity ever gets restored, I'm sorry One year earlier, we were trying to design a more intelligent life but then we failed to create a very stupid life. But it learned, but not the key things to survive They learnt how to destroy humans; thousands of innocent people were cooked,

killed. We were sure that we could contain them, but that failed and that just angered them more.

a weakness for them

We tried to contain a few that were alone by using a room that we can insert stuff into it

The military of the world were coming together to try and stop them; in return, thousands of soldiers were killed.

Still, thousands of the other life were killed too I was in one of the underground Labs where we tried to find

We have found the weakness and we can kill them very easily by using poison darts so we ' ve supplied the world's military with these poison darts

They have been very helpful.

Still, we never made the number of babies they have, and how

quickly they grow up, they were reproducing too fast. They were evolving to be stronger

Eventually, we cannot kill them, so we try to contain them one last time. -All the defences are up I tried to stop them, but they did not listen. Defences were destroyed and thousands of people were killed. Thousands of people survived though. A couple years later we found a way to kill them It's by toxic gas so we went underground then we release the toxic gas into the air. They were killed once the toxic gas cleared up which was in a day. They were all and then we started to clean up the city. We could live at peace for now.

But peace never lasts If anyone finds this message, know that the danger may rise again. The world is fragile, and so is our place in it Be careful what you create because sometimes creations don’t stay under control

The Bridge Creek Disaster

It's the early hours of May ninth 2012 when the meteorologist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration discovers a storm system emerging from the south Dark clouds began to churn like a boiling pot in the sky, warning that something dangerous was coming They decide to send out a tornado watch in the surrounding area

Three hours later storm

chaser Micheal spots rotation appearing from the clouds The sky twisted and turned, flashing with lightning as the wind screamed through the fields. Trees begin to lay down as the storm starts to spin Without warning, it plants firmly to the ground. It didn't take long before the rope lifted, and after several minutes later the cone finally dropped to the ground

Micheal realised something: the tornado was getting bigger and bigger until it was bigger than the small community of Bridge Creek. The town was so small that they didn't have tornado sirens installed. The tornado roared like a giant engine as it tore across the land, pulling pieces of houses high into the air and flinging them like paper Without warning the tornado sliced through the

town, ripping homes from their foundation. In three minutes the tornado completely destroyed the town

But the tornado wasn't done yet It sped towards Moore. As the wall of death started to reach Bridge Creek, the forward winds began to slow, basically causing the tornado’s forward movement to stall and almost completely stop The massive cone spun in place, grinding everything beneath it into rubble before slowly moving forward again. It sliced through the town until there was nothing left

Three minutes later the tornado dissipated, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake

The National Weather Service gave a final rating of EF5. Houses were reduced to piles of splinters, cars lay twisted like toys, and the air was filled with silence where a town once stood. Survivors walked in shock through what had once been their community, knowing life would never be the same again

The storm had lasted only minutes, but its memory would last forever.

Three minutes later the

INTRODUCTION

The world ended not with a bang, but a whisper. Within a matter of months 98%of the human race had perished to the virus before they even got a chance to react The virus, codenamed Scorn V-13, burned through cities like wildfire The virus was invisible, and unstoppable. No cure. No mercy One breath and the countdown began.

The Last of Us

Ned was 18 when the virus started and only a few weeks later he was alone in a world of shattered dreams. His parents had fallen to the sickness and his sister had ran with her friends to try to find a community of survivors Ned had not spoken in 24 days in fear of getting the virus, not until the radio crackled. “Hello, is there anyone out there? This is Amy Sherlin. We are making a group of survivors on the border of Texas If you are hearing this do not give up hope come and find us ” The voice was female, worn but strong. Ned dropped the radio in surprise He was not the only one still out there and Texas was only a day or two of walking He packed what little he had including the rest of his rations, a rifle, a picture of his family and set out leaving a letter on his desk “ gone

to find the living"

HOW THE VIRUS STARTED

The virus, known as Scorn V-13, began in a remote bio-research facility buried deep in the Arctic tundra, where scientists were experimenting with ancient pathogens thawed from melting permafrost. It was meant to be contained and studied for medical breakthroughs but a power failure during a storm allowed it to escape. Airborne and nearly invisible, the virus spread quickly through international flights, infecting millions before symptoms even appeared. Within 48

hours, it attacks the nervous system, causing fever, hallucinations, and violent seizures But the true horror lies in its second phase: V-13 rewires the brain, erasing empathy and triggering uncontrollable aggression Those who survive the fever become something else entirely, something human in shape, but far from it in mind.

NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE GOOD

When Ned left the house and got onto the highway it was an unimaginable picture with cars half looted or burned But something was also happening: nature was starting to regrow trees, were starting to rebuild and animals were curiously checking out the roads

When Ned looked at it this way it almost looked like the virus was a cure for restarting life then in the distance he heard a low hum of vehicles

Then as if a plug was pulling his brain a thought came to him "survivors" he looked in the direction of the noise and about 300 metres away he saw men with skull masks and armed to the teeth with weapons on motorbikes. Ned didn’t have time to react because they were already on him pointing mean looking guns and

machetes at him They came to a screeching stop about 5 metres in front of him being smart the chances of survival when Ned only had a rifle with 7 bullets vs 15 men with swords and Ak-47s was not a very promising fight one of them a burly looking man with skull tattoos came up to Ned and gave him an astonishing punch knocking Ned out. When Ned woke up he was badly bruised and had lost his gun and food. All that he had left were his clothes, a few meters away from his he saw on a nearby sign that a town was only a kilometre away and decided to stop for the night there.

When he got to the town he saw that it wasn't completely deserted A number of unlucky victims that had died from the virus were still sludgeing through the streets and picked them off one by one with his knife. It was getting dark and Ned needed to find shelter now. Staying out in the night's darkness would be a death sentence. Ned saw a store that looked pretty safe to stay the night and limped over

THE NIGHT

The automatic doors groan shut behind me, sealing out the howling wind and the stench of death that hung to the streets. In the store, the silence was heavier than the darkness. I looked around for any signs of movement in the aisles of canned goods and shattered glass lay frozen like a tomb I flicked on my flashlight scanning even more dusty clothes and outdated toys lay scattered on the floor at every turn. My heart pounded even though they weren't moving. Somewhere in the darkness a can cluttered to the floor echoing like a gunshot I realised that i wasn’t alone in this damp room i get my knife out and turned right to left then for a second I saw it running past me i spin round I can’t see it it’s too dark then

from out of the darkness it leaps at me knocking me to the ground flinging my knife out of my hand It screams, scratches and tears at my clothes to pieces I fling it and reach for my knife and throw it as hard as I can It flies through the dark store as gracefully as a butterfly and hits the infected smack in the head killing it I limp over to the medicine area and get the bandages and tools and patch up my bruises and cuts then limp over to the cleaning closet and fall down on what looked like the most comfortable spot and from exhaustion fall to sleep.

QUARANTINE CAMP

Stumbling through the ruins of what once was a traffic filled highway, Ned spotted the rusted gates of the survival camp, the first sign of life His clothes were torn, his body weak, but as he approached the gates, the sight of armed survivors and barricades filled him with hope. This camp wasn’t a cluster of tents and salvaged shelters, it was a fortress against extinction, a chance to fight against Scorn. One of the guards led Ned to the leader of the camp. She was in a deep conversation with other survivors she turned to face me I froze in awe. The

leader was my sister that had fled and the people she was talking to were her friends we ran to each other and a variety of emotions flooded through us like waves in an ocean She told me what the point of the camp was here for and that they were trying to restart civilisation even though it was impossible. I couldn't say it in this already heartbroken camp. Then all of a sudden a siren screeched “VIRUS DETECTED”. The world ended not with a bang but a whisper, when something ends it does not end for nothing it just opens a new door to another beginning

Boom! Roar! Whack!

Tom woke in sudden shock He was lying on the floor in an old, crumbling building with a few other people

Suddenly, he was handed a plate of berries

“Eat, you’ll feel better,” said the mysterious figure hiding in the dimness of the room

Tom stood up, leaving his plate on the floor.

“What’s going on here?” said Tom “The world’s been

The Last Survivors

taken over by zombies who rule the streets now, and it’s our turn to try to survive.”

“How long has this been going on for?”

“About three months,” someone replied from the back Tom looked around the room and saw three people: two men and an elderly woman. The woman was sick and struggling to breathe and move around The other two men were

loading bullets into guns and preparing to fight. Tom peered out the window and could see pure fog and darkness glooming below. He could just make out some figures in the darkness They were moving in a weird, cranky way.

Suddenly, one figure jumped out of the dust. A horrifying zombie was leading a pack down the cracked, rigid road. Without a

heartbeat, Tom ran to the centre of the room.

“What are the zombies doing here?” said Tom

“We don’t know,” replied the mysterious man. “I’m Jake.”

“Hi,” replied Tom, stuttering.

“We’re going to run down to the market and get some food Want to come?”

“Sure,” replied Tom.

The three crept downstairs of the building and went outside The zombies wouldn’t stop moving in, and they had to keep running After about ten minutes, they arrived at the market.

They snuck through to the grocer, avoiding and hiding from

zombies The three spread out across the grocer, grabbing anything they could Tom got some meat and canned vegetables.

When they met back up, one of the men was missing Tom and Jake ran back through and found hordes of zombies closing in on him They shot the zombies from behind to save the man.

The three then exited the market and got back to the building, only to find the old woman lying dead on the ground. She had been scratched on the second day of the apocalypse and had been struggling the whole time.

Tom knelt beside the old woman, her pale face frozen in pain.

Jake sighed and closed her eyes gently

“She held on longer than anyone thought,” he said quietly

The other man - whose name Tom had learned was Marcus - stood silently, gripping his rifle The room felt heavier now, the air thick with grief and fear.

“We need to bury her,”

Marcus said. “We can’t leave her like this ”

They wrapped her in an

old blanket and carried her to the back of the building where the ground was soft enough to dig It took hours, and by the time they finished, the fog outside had thickened Tom looked up at the sky. It was a strange shade of greenishgrey, like the world itself was sick. Back inside, Jake handed Tom a small pistol.

“You’re one of us now, ” he said.

turns keeping watch

The groans of zombies echoed through the streets, closer than before.

As dawn broke, a loud crash came from downstairs. The door had been broken open

“They’ve found us, ” Marcus whispered.

Guns raised, hearts pounding, the three prepared to fight

The war for survival had truly begun.

Tom nodded, unsure if he felt ready but knowing he had no choice That night, they took

Fired Up

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Motion heads towards the oven With a click, the oven opens and screams while hot air comes bursting out

Hot air, freeing while the air still screams, is an oven ’ s cry for help Mia Fordham, who recently had her birthday, is cooking up a meat pie.

Once she’s taken out the pie, she closes the oven but doesn’t turn it

off. She walks over to her table and places her delicious meat pie she prepared. Scrape, scrape, she scoops out a piece of the pie and places it carefully on her plate. Once she got to the couch, she turned on the TV to watch the news. On the news, there are many fires caused by ovens. She took a bite of the pie and mmm ’ed at its deliciousness

After the news and her dinner, she jumped off the couch and stood up facing the TV. She wobbled on her broken leg towards the table when it seemed hot. She cleaned off her scraps into the bin and slid her plate into the dishwasher. Walking to her bathroom, she placed her plate in the dishwasher. Once finished, she searched everywhere but the oven After searching, she couldn’t find where the heat was coming

from She gave up and brushed her teeth for two minutes. Because of all the heat coming from nowhere, she turned the air-con and her fan on. Once she finished, she jumped into her bed, nice and tucked in. Fast asleep, Mia wasn’t aware of her oven and what was about to happen. Minutes flew by as the oven couldn’t hold its breath any more. The scream is no louder than a feather falling to the ground from outside, but from the inside it is a top-pitch scream as loud as a rock falling from space The air filling up the oven makes it explode. BANG! BEEP!

BEEP! Smoke alarms and car alarms all go off. Suddenly, Mia wakes up to her house burning in front of her eyes. She makes a smart choice and does the fire safety practice but in real life STOP, DROP AND ROLL. She makes her way to the door Reaching to open it, she burns her hand.

“Ouch!” she screams in pain.

Opening the door, she takes a deep breath

Going to the neighbours, Mia tells them to call the fire trucks immediately. Once called, they come in an instant

Putting out the fire for many hours, there was

finally no flame left After that, no matter what happened to her house, it was what mattered that she was alive and safe.

On a bright and sunny morning, Lily woke and rubbed her eyes

Something felt strange. When she looked around, her house was upside-down! The roof was on the ground, and the floor pointed to the sky Lily giggled "How silly!" she said. She carefully climbed down the stairs that pointed up. It was tricky, like climbing a ladder backwards

The Weird Day

Outside, the trees were upside-down, too! Their roots stretched into the air while the leaves brushed the ground. Birds flew beneath the branches instead of above, their wings flapping in funny loops Lily’s cat, Whiskers, was trying to walk on the sky-floor, slipping and sliding all over the place He meowed loudly, his tail puffed up like a bottlebrush Lily thought she would explore She discovered she could jump from the ceiling and float softly back down, like a feather caught in the wind! She floated and laughed among upside-down flowers with their petals reaching into the dirt. Even puddles hung in the sky like shiny mirrors, and when she touched one, it rippled as though the clouds were made of water.

By lunch, the world suddenly flipped back to normal. Chairs thudded back onto the floor, trees settled into the ground, and Whiskers tumbled into a soft patch of grass Lily ran to tell her friends about her topsy-turvy day, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She knew she would never forget the magical morning when the world turned upside-down.

That night, as she lay in bed, Lily wondered if it had all been a dream. Her room looked normal, but she thought she saw her lamp wobble slightly, as if it might float away at any moment.

She hugged Whiskers close, who purred sleepily, and whispered, “Maybe it will happen again tomorrow.”

In her dreams, Lily imagined a world where not only the sky and ground flipped, but where rivers flowed backwards, fish leapt into the air, and people walked on clouds.

She smiled in her sleep, ready for the next weird and wonderful adventure.

The Devastating War

Diego was a lively university student He absolutely loved to learn. But he never knew what was to come The next day there was a soldier at his door, who recruited him to fight for his country though he never wanted to. He went to boot camp and there he met 4 friends Hamish, Ethan, Ollie, and Jack were their names Soon they would be sent off to war, their worst

nightmare. “ Are you going to go to war like this?”

“You will be bombarded by artillery in the first hour,” yelled General Führer. Their regiment commander “Go to lunch, I will see you in one hour.” Lunch was the same as always sloppy soup It smells as bad as a pig stye. They chugged the horrific soup and returned to the training ground.

Tomorrow you will be shipped to the front lines. Diego and his friend did not get a wink of sleep.

Before they even knew it they were being sent to the french front lines. “Boom Boom Boom!” went the artillery as they arrived. They were petrified at the sound of war Only one hour after they arrived at the front lines they met their regiment

commander He was a kind guy and was not very mean.

The regiment commander told them

to find one other soldier and go on a Recon mission to spy on the Germans. They went and got their rifles and set off to find a person to come with them. Ethan finds a French soldier called Monāl. Diego, his friends, and Monāl creep towards the German front They grabbed their binoculars and started to spy on the Germans 20 minutes into the recon mission the Germans spotted them Monāl got hit in the leg, Jack got hit in the

arm, and Diego got hit in the chest. Hamish and Ethan helped them back Diego went to sleep but thought when the war would end. It was the 9th of November, 1918

The next day was just plain old boring Plain old Boring All they did was watch for German attacks. The most exciting thing that happened was when they got to head to lunch early Monāl, Jack and Diego are not allowed to fight until 29 of December. They were relieved to not have to fight. They woke up on the 11th and were told to bring food to the soldiers from the front line.

They were handing out food when “Blaauuggghhhhh!!!!”

The captain tells them to cease fire They go out to the middle of no man ' s land and meet the Germans General Führer announces to both sides that the war is over and that the allies won Diego went home to his family back in London and celebrated the end of the war. The war was devastating for all the countries involved. Diego retired from the army in 1952 and decided to have a family. He has two kids called John and Leon.

The Green Storm

Vines enveloped me, its green, fuzzy branches scratching at my neck. This was the world now, a ruin and we were all to blame I mean who would’ve thought that science had downsides? Working all those years of education and a thread of it was now devoted to advancing mankind. Intrigued, I was a boy inquisitive and interested in the works of flora and fauna, my fondest memories reminded me of the lushness, the silky texture I think it had got the best of me, the laboratory and the experiments, it was all too enticing. Teachers worried I was going to change the world, too bad now I had transcended us all. We were in the storm, collapsed by the mirage of the threshold we had been in. It all went wayward and now we were here, the world turned upside down Forestry now took over the land, sprouting over everything like a disease infecting all surrounding areas. It was now beastly and prehistoric, animals now trotted the globe and I was of fault. My own curiosity had cost the currency of this world, the only matter now was survival. Melancholy and in denial of my own trivialities I reminisced of what caused my

atrocity

This was the end, the skyfall of my misery, stuck in the nightmarish, passionate dream I always wanted No one was going to thank me for this but I pat myself on the back, it's not everyday you ’ re the one who orchestrated this. Shrouded in my own content, I overlooked the whole world, my consequences had led to the world being my own concoction. Being the villain was never easy, for your time will come where everyone will come to despise you Simply put, I accelerated the process but those fools

would be clueless, shrivelled by the greenery that now had taken over this world

We were in the thick of it and everybody knew it with the forestry having done the damage. Now, the air itself hums with pollen, thick with spores, each breath a gamble

Animals long hidden or extinct now stalk openly, drawn back by the abundance. The globe teems with unfamiliar life, and humanity cowers like prey in the corners where concrete still offers brief defense

And me? My own curiosity, my endless desire to know, had become the cruelest currency of all. I

bargained with the earth for secrets, and it collected its price in human lives I stand at the center of it, guilty and yet alive,

melancholy gnawing at me, denial whispering that perhaps the world only hastened what was inevitable

Perhaps humanity’s age was always meant to end in vines and silence

This is the end, the skyfall of my ambition, the grave I dug with nothing but questions.

Yet somewhere deep, beneath the weight of guilt, a sinister flicker burns within me. No one will thank me for what I have done, yet part of me longs to

laugh How many in history can say they remade the world in their own image? My catastrophe, my orchestration, a living proof of my mark upon time Being the villain is never easy; the world will spit its hatred, curse my name, recoil at the ruin I wrought But in this new dominion of greenery, where trees pierce the heavens and roots choke the bones of cities, I rule in silence This jungle is my legacy, this storm of wilderness my crown. They may despise me, but they cannot undo me. The forests whisper my triumph every night, and though the world suffocates under their

breath, I alone know this simple truth: the earth has been reborn, and it was my hand that delivered it

The Decision

[Paul is sitting at the end of his daughter

Olivia's bed while she is sleeping in the hospital. Olivia has lymphoma and is in palliative care. She is on life supportspecifically a mechanical ventilatorafter sepsis left her unable to breathe on her own The monologue starts when Olivia experiences a muscle spasm ] I’m here, lost in a protracted labyrinth of.

guilt. My beautiful Olivia's motionless body is lying in front of my eyes, while there's nothing I can do. The metronome of the heart rate monitor marks time with my inability to help my daughter; lymphoma has taken over her life and left her in this state of suspended animation. She hasn’t been able to communicate with me for over two weeks and counting. The room ’ s

white walls stand like silent sentinels, watching over my pain, unblinking, scrutinising me, immune to the weight of misery threatening to crush me The soft hum of machines is the only breath in this stillness, a cruel mimicry of life where her own has been so violently stolen. I trace the lines on her face; each one underlines a story I wish I could rewrite. Wrinkles not of age,

but of suffering too deep to name. The sterile scent clings to my skin like a layer of dust covering old memories, mixing with the faint Chanel No. 5 perfume she always wore. It’s now all a ghostly reminder of who she was The scents create a toxic elixir that makes me think of death. Every twitch, every spasm, every convulsion feels like a whispered plea from a soul trapped between worlds, pleading for rescue. And here I sit, imprisoned in this haunting purgatory, facing an unfathomable dilemma that no father should face; caught between

hope and heartbreak, love and surrender, life and death.

[Memory 1: Triggered by a photo on Olivia’s bedside table, a picture from a beach day years ago. Paul picks it up slowly.]

This one was always her favourite The rough-edged, dogeared kind that looks like sunburn and laughter. I remember that day like it had been folded into my pocket - tangible, crackling with sunlight, and exhilarating happiness with hints of salt and sea breeze. She was only ten; a garden of dreams We were at Broadbeach, the sky peeled open in a soft blue yawn, and she ran across the sand like it had never been walked on before, like the world had just begun and it was hers to write upon. Her feet barely kissed the earth, and her hair caught the wind like a sail, all golden and untamed Her laugh, God, that laugh almost made the soothing ocean sound unwanted white noise; a chorus playing second fiddle to her melody She found a jellyfish washed ashore, and instead of shrinking away, she knelt beside it like a Christian genuflecting to a tabernacle, the wonder of life reflected in her eyes. She whispered,

“Look, Daddy! It’s breathing without lungs.” Her eyes glistened with reverence, as if the universe itself had chosen to speak to her through that translucent, gelatinous fish. She always had an inexpressible way of seeing the world as if it were poetry wrapped in skin. A seashell wasn’t just a seashell; it was a cathedral of whispers. A tide wasn’t just water - it was time, pulling the past to shore. I didn’t realise then that I was the one being taught how to live. She was my lighthouse, guiding me through squalls and storms, the light guiding me through the darkness, away from the treacherous rocks. How can the same girl whose spirit lit up that shoreline now lie motionless between pale sheets and machine beeps? How does time twist and tangle joy into grief and turn light into shadow? That day, I was certain she’d outlive me. That her fire would never extinguish. But now, all that vibrancy is quelled by the raw silence of this room Her body is here, but the wondrous laughter is somewhere I can’t reach [Paul looks at Olivia with desperation.] It’s become too quiet in here; Liv, my beautiful girl, please wake up.

[Memory 2: A cleaner enters, wiping the door handles. She leaves without speaking Triggered by the strong scent of antiseptic, Paul is reminded of the hospital hallway during Olivia’s first surgery.]

[He inhales deeply.]

This smell has stayed with me since the day of her first surgery. Antiseptic, bleach, clinical coldness - it burned through the air that morning, chokingly thick I remember the walls then too, white like now, but colder and harder due to the unawareness of what was going to happen. After many surgeries, we grew used to the procedure, especially Liv. She would get a

little sparkle in her emerald eyes and say she liked the surgeries because she got to rest Above her, however, the lights buzzed with indifference, casting a faint pale light, making people look like ghosts before their time [Paul's voice starts to quiver. He takes a deep breath and resumes talking ] She was fourteen. The diagnosis is still fresh and sharp around the edges I tried to be brave for her, standing by the bed, rehearsing strength in my voice But I wasn’t the brave one; that was Olivia. Wrapped in a flimsy hospital gown with an intravenous tube in her

vein, she looked at me and said, “You don’t have to pretend, Dad. I’m scared too ” That completely broke me

Not loudly, not dramatically. After all, I couldn’t show my daughter that I was entirely terrified of the surgery she was about to endure But I still let out a small quiver, a hairline crack through my carefully constructed mask. She grabbed my trembling hand Hers was smaller, but steadier I remember walking beside the gurney, the wheels pattering on the hospital floor like a countdown I couldn’t pause The closer we got to the surgery doors, the more I wanted to pull her back. To wrap her up like when she was little, when Band-Aids and bedtime stories could still fix things. But this wasn’t a scraped knee or a bad dream. This was something much deeper and felt more like a nightmare It had buried itself in her bones and grew silently while we smiled through summer. Just before the doors engulfed her, she smiled weakly at me, but with her whole soul, a beacon trying to guide me through the fog, away from the rocks. And then they took her The doors shut, shattering my being. I stood there for

what felt like hours, holding her teddy bear ‘Billie’, the one she’d slept with since she was three Its ear was half missing and had a blood stain on its nose from when she was eight. I remember thinking that she’s more worried about Billie than herself That was my girl - always worried about everything and everyone more than herself. She didn’t care about the terrible illness growing inside of her. But that same illness is still here. And I still can’t protect her I am a soldier with no weapons, a father whose hands are only good for holding grief

The emotional baggage I bear is weighed down by my mental state. All I can do is sit here in the war zone we keep pretending is a place of healing.

[Memory 3: Triggered by the sound of coins slotting into a vending machine outside the room, reminding Paul of the night he fought with Olivia’s mother over medical costs] [Paul closes his eyes in embarrassment ] That sound Coins clunking into slots. Thuds of cans rolling into the collection tray It takes me back. It was late. The kind of late that makes everything echo That night, the hallway outside the ICU sighed with vending machines and flickering lights that were mocking mechanical reminders that life just goes on I had spent the last of our emergency savings chasing a miracle cure in Switzerland. Cutting-edge treatment that was meant to cure her It failed. Leaving the hospital that night, my card declined at the parking pay station. Embarrassed, I had to retreat to reception

The nurse barely looked up, just handing me a token to facilitate my escape Back in the car, my wife and I screamed at each other Not out of anger, but desperation - like two people

drowning, grappling at each other and pulling each other under. We fought about bills, insurance gaps, the cost of survival and what a life was worth. Her voice cracked when she said, “We’re going to lose her either way ” I remember her stricken face, mascara bleeding down like bruises under her eyes. She looked like someone already grieving a girl who was still breathing And I-I sat there, gripping the steering wheel, knuckles pale, muscles clenched like a soldier bracing for impact. Not because I didn’t want to keep trying But because I didn’t know what else I could give.

I had mortgaged my future, our home and my pride. All of it. For just another week, another whisper of hope. And then… Olivia called. She had woken up after the procedure and asked for gummy bears and Billie. Just like that, reassured of the uncertainty now known, she was delicately still alive. That call silenced the fight. For a second, everything stopped, like the world now remembered how to breathe again. But it’s been weeks, now, since she’s spoken Since she’s opened her beautiful green eyes. And yet the bills are relentless Thick envelopes stacked like tombstones Every letter represents a price tag of life. Her mother stopped coming Said it was too painful to watch while she couldn’t do anything [He looks at Olivia.] It costs thousands to keep her here like this Machines pumping air into lungs that don’t fight back. And yet, every cent feels worth it, and every cent also feels pointless. I would sell the ocean if it meant hearing her laugh one more time. But no amount of money buys back time And no hospital machine can restart a soul when it’s already on its path to another world [Paul watches the monitor.

The line holds still, then flickers briefly. It’s a small sign of life, but enough ] There That pause Brief, almost imperceptible… the world is holding its breath now And in this moment, I understand. She’s already leaving me Not in defiance, but in peace Like the tide retreatinginevitable and beyond my reach Her soul has already started walking barefoot across Broadbeach’s sand again Wind in her hair, jellyfish in hand, laughing at the way the world shimmers when the sun hits the sea just right. I reach for her hand; It’s colder tonight No twitch No spasm. No convulsion.

Just stillness All this time, I thought fighting was love. That if I screamed loud enough at the universe and if I paid enough, prayed enough, held on tightly enough, she would come back to me. But love is not about grasping onto it Sometimes, love is letting go. [He stands slowly and walks hesitantly to the machine.] The plug is right there. So simple. So clinical So final I imagine what she would say. Probably something like, “You can let me go, Dad I’ve had a good run ” . She always made light of things too heavy to carry Always found a way to make grief look like grace [His hand hovers above the plug before he places his hand firmly over it ] You were never mine to keep, Liv. You were a gift. A lighthouse. A cathedral of whispers A miracle woven into seventeen years. And I was lucky so lucky, to be your father [He pulls the plug out of the outlet.] The repetitive beeping stops. The air collapses into raw silence. Then the line flattens A single note that says everything no words ever could. [He sits quietly, still holding her hand.] And in the quiet that follows, I swear… for just a moment I can hear the ocean again.

Weirder Things

It was in the middle of the forest I couldn’t believe it was there, it was there. It was the broken mirror, I desired to see the truth if the myths and the stories were right. The mirror stood against a twisted tree trunk, its frame carved with strange patterns that seemed to move when I looked too long. The glass itself was cracked, spiderwebbing outwards, each fragment catching a shard of fading light. When I leaned closer, I didn’t see my own face. Instead, I saw a forest that was… not this one The leaves were the wrong shade of green, the sky too bright, and shadows stretched in impossible directions. My reflection blinked at me, but it wasn’t quite me, it smiled, wide and knowing, though I hadn’t moved a muscle A shiver ran down my spine.

The stories had called it a mirage, a trick of light meant to lure the curious deeper into the woods. But this wasn’t an illusion. The air hummed, and when I touched the cracked glass, it rippled like water. Without thinking, I stepped through. The world flipped. Literally. I tumbled forward into the other side, landing on soft earth except the trees were growing

downwards, their roots dangling above my head, their branches clawing into the sky below My stomach turned. This wasn’t just another forest. This was a dimension turned inside out, a mirror-land. At first, it felt like a dream Birds flew backward, rivers climbed up cliffs, and even my footsteps left imprints that faded in reverse. But the more I wandered, the more it felt like the rules here had a cruel twist My voice echoed before I spoke, and when I reached into my pocket for my compass, it spun wildly, pointing everywhere at once Then I saw it. My reflection again, waiting at another cracked mirror resting between two upsidedown rocks Only now, it wasn’t smiling. It beckoned. Behind its eyes was something hungry, patient, as if it had been waiting for me all along I froze If I stepped closer, would I trade places with it forever? Was I the reflection or was I the fragment, broken off from something greater? The air thickened The forest tilted. I backed away slowly, but the mirror pulsed, brighter and brighter, pulling me toward it. Maybe the myths had been warnings, not stories Maybe some things aren’t meant to be found. But I found it And it had found me

Flipped House

CHAPTER 1:

He woke up today, but something was off Thomas, who lived in a normal house in a mountainous area, woke up and his house was upside down. “How am I walking on the ceiling?” asked Thomas too himself. “You are in the new dimension,” said God from above “You aren't in a dream” said God again. “Wait so is the sky upside down?” asked Thomas God replied with “No

just your house”.

CHAPTER 2:

“Why are there so many people outside my house?” Thomas said to himself. “Wait, is my house a tourist attraction now?” said Thomas Little did Thomas know that his house was a new tourist attraction and he had to figure out why. Thomas could only speak Finnish and because it is one of the hardest languages

he didn't know anyone who could speak it

CHAPTER 3:

“Get out of my property!” yelled Thomas but nobody understood Snap Snap Everybody was taking photos of the miricalalic upside down house and it attracted global attention.

“President Trump, where would you like to go on the holidays?” asked a paparazzi in the crowd. “I think I just

heard someone ask me that question and I wont tell you but I can that I want to go to the upside down house in what's that place again?” replied Donald Thomas did his research for 10 nights straight.

CHAPTER 4:

News article made by ABC news. Upside down house found after a Cyclone swept up a European cottage home in Germany Tourists have rushed to see the amazing sight and journalists can confirm that this house has received ¾ of the amount of people who visit the Eiffel tower weekly in 1 day The owner has been

begging for the government to shut it down but they haven't because of the profit coming in

CHAPTER 5:

“How will I get the people out of my property, it's my land I want them out NOW” screamed angry Thomas. He ran out the back, paparazzi shooting him with cameras as he dropped to the ground and picked up a huge chunk of snow Thomas pulled it in and put it in a bucket and rolled 100 tinier balls BANG! He chucked 99 at the crowd. The snowballs hit everybody and they were in shock “It's just a house, why are you so mad?” yelled someone in the crowd, probably a young kid.

Ending:

Multiple cops pulled up and ripped the crowd out of their spot An unloaded semi truck that was as big as Thomas' house and builders lifted the house up with a crane whilst Thomas was in it. “HELP!” cried Thomas desperately from his home. All of a sudden, the crowd was gone and the cops were gone. It was just a dream and his house was actually in the sky

The Upside Down Mansion

One day, when there was a cyclone warning saying there would be a dangerous storm, the cyclone hit the house and flipped it upside down, and that's how it became upside down. So everyone that walks past always thinks, why do people still live in there? It was haunted by everyone ' s thoughts because it was old, and it is black because there was a fire there before the dangerous, scary cyclone that happened and knocked the house straight upside down The weird thing is that nobody knew that the house had flipped upside down. When John approached the house, he heard unusual noises that made him feel scared. It sounded like a girl screaming. Since then, no one feels the same walking past the upside down house, because they think the next one screaming will be them They think the man is a bad person, but he is a very good person, just very misunderstood by people because of the screaming They were walking to school one day. He never went past the man ' s house because he was too scared he would be the next So from now on, everyone, including the boy, never ever walked past

that house ever again

But at night, when the moon was full, the house made louder sounds like doors banging and footsteps upside down on the ceiling. People could see lights flickering even though nobody went inside Some people said they saw shadows walking on the roof, as if the roof had become the floor. Everyone in town started to believe the house was alive, holding the storm inside forever. And that is why nobody dared to go near it, because the upside down mansion was never the same again after the cyclone.

Sometimes, when the wind blew hard, the house seemed to move a little, like it wanted to turn itself back the right way up.

But it never did, and the people thought maybe the house liked being upside down because it could scare them more that way.

The World Upside Down

Jimmy leaped out of bed, ready to start a new day Running out the door, Jimmy had a feeling of hope that he would discover something new. Sprinting into the forest, he went to his friend John's house to explore. They had found many things in there before: knives, dead animals, and abandoned houses. Jimmy asked John, “Where should we

explore today?”

John replied, “Let's go to the southwest corner of the forest.”

As they journeyed into the forest, it got darker and darker. Finally, they saw something shiny that looked like a mirror!

When Jimmy approached it, everything went black! When they woke up, everything was upside down. We sprinted back home as fast as we could - we had to get home! When they got back to their houses, they were on their roofs. When they tried to talk to their mom, she didn’t answer Were we dead?

As we sprinted outside, everyone seemed like we didn’t exist. Finally, after hours of searching, they found someone crying in the corner. We approached

him and asked his name. He answered in a sad voice, “Hector.”

We told him what happened and asked how he was there. He replied, “I found that glass mirror you talked about.”

“Let’s go raid the food store,” I said As we headed out, we talked about what we should do I said we should make the best out of the situation and have fun They decided to go bowling and then go for a swim. But as they were bowling, they realised they might have to fix the mirror to fix the world.

searched, I thought about whether I would ever see my mum again It gave me the strength to search harder, and then I found it! I glued all the pieces together, and finally, I fixed it. Everything went back to normal I sprinted home and hugged my mum.

We sprinted back to the forest. As we

The Trip

Preface:

It’s 1990 and you ’ re in a country called Petria, where the president, Tyrak, is winning an election but the other party, Flores, is losing. Tyrak thinks that people who voted for Flores are “people who hate Petria.” You’re a teen who wants to leave Petria because of the election protests and Tyrak’s danger to people who want to leave, especially if they are teens or not a

cargo driver. Every choice matters

The Trip:

“You awake?” another teen asks “Yes,” I say, still sleepy and tired. I look at him. He’s younger than me and has this weird small Gameboy knockoff.

“What’s that?” I ask, curious about the device he’s playing with

“Oh, that’s my PC I code on it,” he told me,

seeming proud of his creation

“Cool, you must be smart?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Not to brag, but I have to be one of the smartest 13-year-olds in Petria!” he replied.

“Hey, could you help me with something?” he continued. “Oh! I haven’t even introduced myself My name is Alex What’s yours?”

There’s a moment of silence between me and Alex. Before I can respond, Alex says, “Oh you ’ re a missing teen.” He seems scared but sad for me. “Yeah,” I responded in a flat voice. “Do you have any advice for the road?” I ask, hoping he has something good to say.

“Stay away from cops, man and call home sometimes… they miss you, ” he said.

The Diner:

I left the bus near a diner as I was starving, and I wanted to watch the news and see if the Sonya Show was airing

“Hi, can I please get a burger and a 7-UP, please,” I told the worker.

“Sur hang on a second have I seen ya ’ somewhere before?” the worker asked.

“Uhm, no? You must be mistaken,” I replied, confused.

“You’re a missing teen!” the worker exclaimed. “I’m calling the cops!” he yelled.

I ran faster than I ever ran. “Where could I hide ” I thought to myself I found a car, hid under the beasty machine, and tried to be as silent as a mouse.

“Where is he?” an unfamiliar voice asked “He’s over there, I think,” the worker said.

“You think?” the officer barked. “Stop wasting my time, you ’ re just trying to get out of working at the diner Tyrak doesn’t like people like you, ” the officer continued I got up from under the car and went behind the diner There I found a little room locked with a code. I kicked it once Nothing I kicked it twice. Nothing. I kicked it three times, and it finally fell under my strength Inside, I found three boxes on the floor and two cabinets I walked around and pried open the door of one of the cabinets, to my success It opened with little struggle. I found

30 dollars and some news about a “terrorist attack in ’87.”

I quickly ran outside and tripped on something - keys.

“Hang on are these keys to someone ’ s car?” I screamed to myself My stomach was doing backflips because I’d never stolen a car before. I got in, turned on the engine, and drove away, heading to the border

weird puncture marks on the side ” I was cut off by a booming voice

“Hey kid! we ’ re gonna need some help…” he said. The stranger looked like a banana with spikes and a… shotgun?

“I don’t want anything, man!” I pleaded.

To be continued

The Trip 2:

I was driving alone at a time I thought was around 4:30 a.m.

BANG! Something in my car had popped

“What the ” I muttered. “This is

Warm, soft, and cuddly, thought Socks as he lay there cuddled up with his owner. Suddenly, a sound broke the silence BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! Then there was fire and screaming everywhere. His owner swept him away; they went through the fire until the roof started to collapse on them, cutting him off from his owner. Suddenly, darkness was everywhere

Survivor

Slowly, Socks’s vision returned as he saw rubble and wooden pillars all around. He looked around, investigating the environment, then remembered the devastating fire that caused this destruction. The bushfire had killed his owner and many of the wildlife around their house. Looking through the rubble, he saw many of the things he knew and loved,

including his owner ’ s bed He crawled up on it, remembering the warm nights and the soft sleep with his owner. Socks missed those times so much; he would give anything to go back to them, but sadly, that was not the case. He had to survive on his own without his owner. Socks came back to his senses, realizing how hungry he was. As he crept through the thick

undergrowth, he listened even for the slightest sign of life. Then he saw a mouse Quickly, he leaped at the small creature, snagging its neck.

“Mmmmmm, mouse, my favourite,” thought Socks as he tore into the meat using his teeth The energy benefited him, helping him find shelter, and as he sat down in a pile of leaves, he quickly fell asleep.

When Socks woke, he was greeted by the sight of the rogue. As soon as he realized who it was, he jumped.

“MAX!” Socks hissed as he leaped into battle

A couple of metres away, Cloverstar, the brown queen, heard the yowling and brought her hunting patrol to help Socks Around him, Socks heard yowling and screeching as the battle raged on Out of all the cats battling, Socks noticed the leader, Cloverstar

Soon enough, Max and his rogues were scared away. “C’mon,” Cloverstar said, “let’s go home.” She turned around and said to Socks, “You too welcome to EarthClan.”

As Socks slept, he thought about all the new cats he had met. He thought about Needleclaw, the medicine cat, Leaftail, one of the many warriors, and the highlight of his thoughts, Cloverstar, the clan leader The next day, Cloverstar asked Socks to come on a hunting patrol with her. As they hunted, they talked about Socks’s future in EarthClan As Socks and Cloverstar chatted, Socks warmed up to her, and before he knew it, they started to meet more often.

After a few more moons, Cloverstar was expecting kits. That moon, the Gathering was happening, and Socks was going to receive his warrior name from StarClan As Cloverstar

announced his new name, he was showered with glory from all the clan cats “From now on, Socks shall be known as Whiteheart.”

As Whiteheart slept, he dreamed about what his kits would be like, when he was ripped from his dreams by an ear-splitting yowl. Whiteheart jumped into the clearing straight into a huge battle between his clanmates and a humongous badger. Almost immediately, Whiteheart was thrown into battle. He slashed and gnawed at the beast as he watched his clanmates slowly defeat the badger. As he watched the other cats drive the badger out of camp, he thought about Cloverstar Quickly, he ran to her den, worrying about her safety, but as soon as he got there, he was relieved - Cloverstar was fine, as were their kits

The next day, Cloverstar and Whiteheart were happily eating a vole when Cloverstar started groaning Quickly, Whiteheart reacted, helping her to the medicine cat den As Whiteheart waited, worrying his tail off, he thought about how much pain Cloverstar was going through. But that didn’t last long Shortly after, the yowls from Cloverstar faded. Whiteheart was then called over to help warm their three beautiful kits. As he looked down at their three kits, Cloverstar muttered, “I thought of some names: Gingerkit, Thunderkit, and Flowerkit.” “They’re perfect,” said Whiteheart, as Cloverstar fell asleep.

The Four Deadly Sins

“Gather around, come in close, let me tell you a story ”

Eons ago, back in the Edo period, there was a small village called Kōrinten. This beautiful village was situated high on the famed Mount Fujii. It had beautiful scenery especially at night, but rumor had it that looking at a blood moon on any given night was bad luck Unbeknownst, the

children of the village thought of the blood moon as beautiful and some even thought of it as a sign of love. So every time there was a red glisten in the sky the children would rush out and sit just outside of the village's boundaries. One day as the horde of little boys and girls settled in their positions, the moon suddenly disappeared The children, all scared of the dark, rushed back home, popping back into their homes one by one, until only one boy remained. This boy lived in a small shack with only his mother. When all of a sudden in the distance he heard a faint squeal and a delusional cackle. The sound making the boy's hair stand up

Sprinting, he flung open the front door, finding his mother laying there on the floor. Her crimson

blood slowly seeped out from deep incisions, down onto the small tatami mats that covered the floor The boy lent down and cradled his mother, tears rolled down his face stinging his windwhipped eyes. His sobbing grew louder and louder His mind raced thinking of how this could have happened Then he remembered an old tale the elder used to tell ‘When the Blood Moon bleeds and stains the sky, Bolt your door and do not spy. Jakku drinks the rivers dry, Joō spreads plague where sleepers lie Ō makes mother’s blade turn

near, While Ēsu comes to deal your fear. They ride as one through crimson light, No prayer can halt their cursed flight. Their whispers creep, their shadows crawl, They take the young, they take them all. So hide away, breathe not, be still For once they find you, they’ll drink their fill. And when they pass, the ground will weep, The Four return… and none shall sleep ’

He now realised the curse he had brought upon him and his mother. Thinking back he suddenly remembered; 9 months ago his mothers well dried up, 6 months ago

many of the family's cattle died and they got sick as well, 3 months ago his mother became so agitated she started picking fights with the other villagers, and now in the 12th month of the year his mother died. In this situation all he could do was cry and cry and cry. All he could do was feel helpless and sad The fact was his mother was dead and with that he was alone

Being alone isn’t an easy feat, this boy had to find work, pay for food, water, clothes, and a roof over his head. For someone so young to lose everything, the hardest thing to do was to was

to stay emotionally stable. The emotional toll that this small boy paid was more of a price that even an adult could handle

could keep a small light alive within him.

But during this storm one thing that stayed calm was the smile on his face when someone walked by to help.

Whenever someone did that, as soon as they left, tears of happiness would stream from his eyes. And so, though sorrow weighed heavy on his heart, the boy learned that even in the shadow of curses, the kindness of others

Raptor Attack

Prologue

The lights flew into labs as the team prepared for the experiment on the new specimen The computer showed the specimen but Lisa didn’t understand it It looked very unusual but she didn’t care. She had not taken focus of the specimen

“Specimen 85 paddock opening for examination ” She and Morris, a colleague of hers,

lightly stepped into the paddock

“Morris, put down the Mars Bar and focus,” Lisa ordered.

“My mistake I apologize.”

The crew held tasers and even pistols This looks like it may not end well. Lisa thought.

The crew held their breath, willing to survive.

Fred stared at the camera of the paddock. He couldn’t

tell what was going to happen yet he assumed the worst. He didn’t know what specimen 85 was but that was not the problem. The lab was full of staff yet the paddock was full of clouds of steam

Suddenly, screaming flew into the camera.

The sound of bullets made Fred's spine shiver with fear. “Open the door!”

Screamed a guard

The screaming guard’s words were blocked by

the sound of horrific roaring. Fred stared at the screen again before blood covered the camera and he couldn’t tell where the people were. He quickly pressed the button opening the door only to be revealed by a horror Lisa ran out of the paddock hoping she wouldn’t get killed The crew had about 15 men and 2 women plus herself Now, only 5 people came out Lisa was worried. Where was Morris?

Please don’t tell me he’s dead. She thought. Suddenly, Morris came out of the red clouds but the blast door had

shut!

“Lisa! Open the door!” He yelled.

“I’m gonna open it in three! Okay? One, two…” but Lisa’s words were snapped as a shadow in the fog appeared about the size of Morris himself.

“Lisa c ’ mon open it!”

The shape held its hand around Morris’s neck.

“Please open the door for me!” Yelled Morris, before the hand pulled him back into the bright red clouds never to be seen again.

This was no dinosaur, this was an unmatched monster.

15 Years Later…

Chapter 1: The Labs

The Green Jeep drove near the old labs. Who would think I’m in charge of Cretaceous World and I didn’t know that this was here. Jarred thought to himself “Mike, Sarah… just keep an eye out. We don’t know what’s out here,” He ordered.

“MORRIS!” screamed Lisa He was gone. Lisa looked closely at the window In the scene of sorrow, all the quiet was broken at the sight of a giant splat of blood that had covered the glass. Lisa screamed in horror

“You got it boss!” Mike said Mike is the Captain of ACU (asset

containment unit) and Jarred was commander. Sarah was in charge of the Paleoveterinarians

Jarred, Mike and Sarah entered the lab. They were unarmed The labs were most likely abandoned but they couldn’t rule out any possibilities At the time, Jarred would've thought that he knew everything that was on the island. He did own it after all.

“I was thinking the lab in the desert was bad,” Mike said.

“Soyona Santos was in control of that lab We don’t know if InGen had a connection to this lab or possibly if Valerie Santos had one, ” Jarred told Mike.

Valerie Santos was originally Jarred’s friend but she had left him when they were foolish teenagers.

After almost 26 years, she had come back but soon betrayed Jarred, taking control of the Saber-Tooth Tiger nicknamed ‘Kanine’ She eventually was slaughtered by Kanine after the control was broken. Her death still haunts him. Jarred didn’t know that

Valerie was Soyona Santos’s daughter. Soyona was a very well known dinosaur-seller She originally owned the island. She was excellent at controlling dinosaurs Raptors especially. The four Atrociraptors, nicknamed Ghost, Red, Tiger and Panthera, were her main dinosaurs until Jarred broke Tiger free from his control but that had a risk Tiger managed to get his pack to follow him. Santos then took control of a well recognised male Yutyrannus named ‘Thrash’. The labs were full of moss and vines. They were yet to actually enter the building I was hoping this wouldn’t look as freaky as it is Jarred thought The outside of the lab was full of tires, vehicles, and other types of materials There were even some

sheds

“What would the sheds be for?” Mike asked. Jarred just shrugged He felt weary The wind made the air stink. It was highly disturbing. All of these types of materials and accessories, what would they have been for? A small shiver ran down Jarred’s spine. Something didn’t feel right This lab didn’t just seem like a lab or a mechanics station. It almost felt like both plus multiple other things. “We should look behind ourselves, just in case And stick together.”

Chapter 2: The Raptor Room

The Labs held a lot of confusion Sarah kept on staring at the incubators.

“So this is how you make dinosaurs, huh?” She asked.

“No. This is how you make monsters,” Jarred answered. “Split up but don’t wander off too far

Mike looked carefully at the ground. Nothing. Jarred looked at all the experiments One picture grabbed his attention and it almost horrified him It was a picture of a human palm but instead of nails, it had almost claws Jarred shuttered. What was that? Sarah stared at all the incubators and dispensers There were so many unusual species Ones she had never seen before. One container clutched Sarah’s attention At the bottom of it It was faint but she could read out the words InGen

“I knew InGen had something to do with this,” She yelled She immediately looked to see something unusual. It was the head of a Raptor. A Raptor she had never seen before. It looked in a very good condition but why was it just a head? She looked very closely at the tube The Raptor had its eyes somehow fixed on her. She looked even closer

One eye suddenly moved faintly. The

head then leapt at her She screamed! Jarred immediately reacted to Sarah’s scream.

“Mike, we ’ re out of here!” He yelled Sarah came sprinting out of the corner. A large feathered Raptor followed her What was this Raptor? Jarred had a giant amount of dinosaur knowledge but this Raptor was one he had never seen at Cretaceous World “Run!” Sarah screamed.

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Mike yelled Mike and Sarah were already running and way ahead of him

“Oh, god damn it!” He yelled.

They all ran to the door but it was somehow locked!

“The other way!” Jarred ordered

The Raptor still followed. Mike and Sarah ran the other direction. The raptor followed. It slammed itself into another door That door shut! The only thing between the Raptor and the door were them! The Raptor started to sprint at them. Mike quickly grabbed Sarah’s arm and pulled her out of the way. The Raptor then slammed into the door

“Mike, Sarah, c ’mon!” Jarred yelled.

All three ran out of the labs The Raptor followed. It let out a screech that echoed through the forest. Jarred looked back.

“My god It’s calling for help ”

Chapter 3: Into the Herd

The Pack was still following. The Raptors feathers made them camouflage They stayed low in the large grassland.

“We’re easy targets while we ’ re exposed in the fields,” Jarred stated Mike and Sarah nodded.

“Any ideas?”

Mike and Sarah shook their heads. Mike then looked forward. Jarred sighed Mike was staring at a herd of Parasaurolophus and

Hadrosaurus

“They could distract the Raptors!” He yelled Jarred agreed The Raptors started to sprint into the grassland

“We don’t have time for this. Into the herd!” He yelled The second the Hadrosauridae saw the Raptors, they started to panic The herd started sprinting forward into the forest. Mike was almost trampled What will happen? What if I was wrong to bring them here? Jarred thought The Raptors started talking to each other. Were these Raptors intelligent enough to kill all three of them? If

so, Jarred, Mike, and Sarah were in danger.

A Hadrosaurus almost crushed Mike's arm as he fell. Jarred collapsed as a Parasaurolophus slammed its head into him. Another Raptor was staring straight at him Its amber eyes shone as bright as the sun. It growled furiously at him A Hadrosaurus smashed its head into its side. It growled and hissed angrily

“Into the trees!” Jarred yelled. Mike and Sarah did exactly that. Jarred followed them. The Raptors retreated out of the fields Jarred looked back. The Raptors were gone Where are they? He thought to himself. There was no sign of the Raptors The Hadrosaurs and Parasaurolophus followed them, stampeding into the trees! All of them except for one, which was limping and so was Mike. A flash of worry sent a shiver down Jarred’s spine How bad was the injury? He only saw a gash on his left leg with blood dripping to the grass. Ouch. Jarred thought to himself. He looked back The car is still at the lab. If we can get to the lab, we’d be able to get out of here

“Sarah, help Mike get

back to the lab,” he ordered. “We’re getting out of here.”

Chapter 4: Raptor Confrontation

Jarred kept on looking back making sure the Raptors weren’t following. He wasn’t sure what to do with Mike injured and Sarah having to take that responsibility. The herd didn’t seem to follow Nor the raptors.

“How far to the lab?”

Sarah asked “Not sure, one more kilometre, maybe?”

Jarred said. He tried to answer but he didn’t seem to know. Which wasn’t really a good thing He had this feeling the raptors were stalking them

“Those were some wild Pyroraptors,” Mike commented Jarred thought about what he said. Those

Raptors didn’t look like Pyroraptors He’d seen Pyroraptors many times. Those Raptors were too big

“Those Raptors, they looked like Dak… Dako… doesn’t matter.” “What? Dako, what?”

Sarah asked.

“I’d be crazy to say this, but they looked like Dakotaraptors We never made any. ”

Jarred was horrified. If there were Dakotaraptors and they didn’t know, what else was made without authorisation?

Jarred was still confused by the time they reached the lab. Mike was able to walk now He looked around before tripping on something. Jarred looked down and was horrified. A skull with puncture holes. Jarred was terrified Dust suddenly flew into his eyes! He clutched them hard. The raptor alpha suddenly appeared and leapt onto a truck. Jarred grabbed a sharp stick The raptor growled angrily He would have to confront it. The raptor smacked its head onto the side of the stick and Jarred swiped across its eye. It growled angrily as blood trickled down and the raptor

screeched It then sank its teeth into the stick and pulled it out of his hands It then started leaping at him and swiped its toe claw. Jarred shut his eyes in pain as the claw sliced into his arm. He quickly grabbed the stick and swiped The raptors growling stopped and the stick was found stabbed into its neck. Blood was falling out of its throat as the raptor collapsed into the ground The alpha drew its final breath and its body fell limp and dead. The rest of the pack didn’t seem to come.

Jarred, Mike and Sarah found their way into the car. Jarred

clutched onto his arm

Blood dripped onto the bottom of the car.

Sarah was driving “You okay about the Dakotaraptor attack?”

Sarah asked.

Jarred didn’t reply Something stumped him. The picture in the lab The palm of a human hand with claws and then the punctured skull. Raptors can’t puncture bone What can though? A T rex or bigger would eat the whole body So what could do that? And how dangerous was it?

Epilogue

Jarred was standing in the jungle in the dark of the night Something was creeping towards him and Mike. He couldn’t see what it was. When could see, he was horrified. The human palm picture It was from that “Now that’s what you call evolution,” Mike said And he was right. This was InGen’s terrible project and the world’s possible destruction

Apocalypse

Dr. Stone was a worldclass nuclear physicist known for his groundbreaking work in antimatter, nuclear physics, and the arc reactor - the machine that no one thought was possible But he did it He managed to create a new element that could rely on itself and was fully selfsufficient. Due to his popularity and intellect, Dr Stone was tasked with a

high-profile and topsecret mission by the Central Intelligence Agency, more commonly known as the CIA His mission was to undertake a task that could potentially end the Earth as we know and love This mission required Dr. Stone to create a secret underground paradise in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This paradise would be used for the most powerful world leaders

to have a safe place to live if atomic bombs started raining from the sky. For this to be possible, Dr. Stone created a drill that could withstand over 7000°C. This ensured that even if the drill reached the center of the Earth, it would still hold. The reason this was all possible was because of the new alloy that Dr. Stone created: Adamantium.

This alloy was composed primarily of iron and a material called Vibranium Vibranium was practically unbreakable, shockabsorbent, and could withstand heat up to 5000°C. When combined with iron at a ratio of 2:100, it created Adamantium. Once Adamantium was created and frozen, it could never be manipulated or liquefied Once it was there, it was there forever. Adamantium also increased the benefits of iron and Vibranium.

receiving the mission The first thing he did was dig 1,000 km into the Earth and start clearing out an area around it. He used a tunnel borer to clear out the area needed for the construction of the city. He dug out a 100 by 100 km area that would be the base for his secret civilisation.

Dr Stone started working on the project immediately after

Dr Stone created a cryo-pod freezer that could preserve any food or beverage for 500 years This system cooled things down to -100 Kelvin and then heated them back to 646 Kelvin, which completely preserved food for 500 years This was extremely important because the residents of this establishment could be there for 100–500 years After Dr. Stone conquered the food problem, and the energy problem using his Arc Reactor, he finally had to tackle the boredom problem

If you spend your life underground with no form of entertainment, you will not enjoy life and will become bored Nobody wanted this, especially when stuck underground. To fix this problem, Dr. Stone developed a theme park in an offset 50 by 50 km square. This had everything from a rollercoaster to a 100 m drop tower.

This eliminated the risk of someone getting bored.

The final thing Dr Stone needed to figure out was medical care. If someone got sick, what would they do?

Dr. Stone developed a software and machine that automatically scanned and assessed anyone, no matter what was wrong with them. It could instantly give results and prescribe a cure within seconds

Russia, the Dead Hand System was put into play, and North Korea was blown off the map After this happened, all prime ministers and presidents were flown to Stone Headquarters for check-in to Stone Establishment.

Unfortunately, countries all around the world started launching their nukes in retaliation to North Korea’s initial attack.

Despite all of this triumph, Dr Stone could not stop the inevitable nuclear warfare After the first atomic bomb was fired from North Korea to

This crossfire accidentally hit the President of America’s jet, the Prime Minister of Australia’s jet, and all the UK Prime Ministers’ jets. This killed all the people who were meant to stay in the Stone

Establishment After all these deaths, every country launched all of their nukes and turned the world black This caused the world to go into complete darkness, with the only survivor being Dr. Stone. This caused deep depression, and Dr. Stone did nothing for over 10 years until he decided he wanted to restore the Earth’s surface, or at least remove the radiation covering it. The first step Dr. Stone took was creating a radiation suit that completely protected him from the dangerous layer of radiation. Then he

created a vacuum that used the power of a black hole to consume anything he wanted by redirecting its absorption to a certain area, just like a vacuum you’d find in your house.

After 2 years and 20 black holes, Dr Stone finally managed to completely clear the Earth’s surface The skies were no longer stained black with ash, and the oceans shimmered once more with faint reflections of light. Forests and grasslands began to slowly re-emerge, tiny green shoots forcing their way through the scorched earth as if nature itself had been

waiting for this moment. For the first time in a decade, Dr. Stone could breathe fresh, clean air

Murder on the High Seas

Chapter 1 - Blood Covered Billions

On a calm cool night in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea the crystal glider yacht sailed calmly through the still lukewarm water The yacht was like a mansion on the water. The vessel, a massive 70 by 20 metre boat, glistened with elegance. Within the walls of this great ship lie 7 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a kitchen equipped with a

private chef, a massive ball room and if not enough already a study. Additionally, On the balcony there was a massive deck upon which lay a helipad that for most of the time stayed empty

The owner of the yacht was the rich and famous Duke Perry Wadsworth of England. Perry's reputation and public perception meant everything to him - it was of the utmost importance In the eyes of the people he was a charitable, generous, friendly person but to those who knew him he was greedy, selfish, and money driven His insatiable desire for fame and fortune drove all of his decisions After his fathers death nearly 3 years ago he inherited millions and his fathers home The Valdior Manner. Making him one of the wealthiest

men in England

Perry's fiance, Madeleine Caroll is the daughter of an English lord and lady who loves the back of wealth and money She cherishes luxury holidays, fancy meals, and a 5 star life Making her and Perry the perfect pair

Perry's close cousin Alexander Butler, who is currently an architect in Paris, has been close with Perry for years ever since their rich uncle Malcolm Butler died. Alexander's girlfriend Ashley Hatton was the valedictorian at oxford law and is the leading barrister in the United Kingdom, making her front and center of the

English legal stage

Perry's hated sister Bridget Hussain is a star on the Hollywood stage and has awards and accolades for her movies and productions

Daren Alderson, the outcast of the family, resents their British nature and moves to New York where he became one of the leading real estate agents in the Manhattan region This will be the first family gathering Darren attended to in eight years Finally, somehow related to the rest of the family, through married cousins and half siblings, Janice Blackburn is a round

the clock sold out creative designer in the floral industry based in Prague

Now this twisted and deviant family gathered on Perry’s yacht for the splitting of their grandfather

Edmund Baskerville’s will He is the head and owner of the leading bank in the world class Baskerville accounts based in almost every major and minor city in the world Their dear, old, and despised grandfather will meet on the boat to announce the dividing up or cutting out of his billion dollar fortune.

Chapter 2 - The Will That Wasn't

Now this twisted and deviant family gathered on Perry’s yacht for the splitting of their grandfather Edmund Baskerville’s will. He is the head and owner of the leading bank in the world Baskerville accounts based in almost every major and minor city in the world. Their dear, old, and despised grandfather will meet on the boat to announce the dividing up or cutting out of his billion dollar fortune As Perry and Madeline left the dock they had no idea the journey or more so travesty they were about to endure Once the yacht had hit the center of the Mediterranean, Alexander and Ashley joined them by helicopter The helicopter's fresh custom paint resembled the million dollar yacht: beautiful, expensive, and eyecatching. The white and gold exterior was jaw-dropping One after another helicopters like these came and went to drop off all the family members. All except one Edmund The old man had a notorious history of arriving in style whatever the cost As the temperature slowly decreased and the water became more turbulent you

could hear the blades colliding with the air as Edmund’s chopper slowly descended onto the yacht's helipad With all the guests gathered in the ballroom dressed for a black tie event you could hear the stomping of metal soled shoes colliding with the wooden steps. The doors slammed open on either side As the wrinkly, old, billionaire took a step into the room it was like a freezing cold gust of wind had just hit the guests with force Eger eyed all the guests form a semicircle around him In his deep slow voice he

stated, “ As you all know you are family to me and I love each and everyone of you so I have decided that each and every one of you will be immediately cut from my will no one will receive a single dollar or item.”

Enraged, the guests shouted as he placed the will on the table and picked up his pen. Alexander tried to remove the pen from his hand so he couldn't sign the will Edmunds personal security detail swept into action removing Alexander from the room Whilst this was unfolding Perry glanced up at the ceiling to see two men with guns up their waiting to make sure

nobody came towards Edmund. If they did they wouldn't have any time to reconsider their actions and that's for sure.

“Bang,” a gunshot, the lights were out, screams erupted from across the room Within seconds the emergency power generator kicked in as Edmunds security guards came running in from all directions.

Encompassed in a pool of blood, Edmund's cold body lay still on the floor. “Quick,” did he sign it Perry asked

“No, he didn't sign it,” Alexander stated in relief.

Chapter 3 - No

Signature, No Salvation

All the guards were equipped with a firearm in case of emergency but not a single guest had even the slightest of a chance to murderer for they were all free of weapons At least we thought It was a straight shot to the bow which ruptured his appendix which assured death in almost seconds. The guards with snipers on the top of the ball room came down and

The guests' pure hatred for the man started to radiate from each and everyone of them Alexander took a long glance at the will and noticed not a single signature on the page.

joined the rest of the guests in the ballroom. All of Edmunds security team had been serving alongside him for almost 20 years, they had stopped countless attempts to kill Edmund and were sworn to protect Edmund at all costs The only evidence they had suggested it was gun misfiring from the mainland The original plan was for Edmund to announce the decision regarding his will at the end of the trip and since nobody cared for Edmund and with no reason to cut the trip short they decided to continue the trip through

Europe

The yacht continued to house the group for 1 more night. A quiet, peaceful night oblivious to danger, a moment that would soon be outlived. The next morning the congregation of people (along with one murderer of course) departed the boat where it stayed in the monte carlo port in Monaco for the remainder of the trip. A line of custom Rolls Royce Phantoms stretched out in front of them. As the party of people compacted into the luxurious cars they streamlined to the Rolex Monte Carlo grand Masters for a day out of deception When the team of people arrived at the grand masters they were greeted by a caucasian looking man named Carlo who led them along with a team of helpers to their private viewing suite. The fresh air in the room along with the scent of delicious handcrafted foods and pastries greeted the guests with a scene of luxury and delicacy

Four sets to none with Alex de Minaur in the lead tension was tight across the world. As the final buzzer blew Alex de Minaur came home with the win. After a massive bet placed by Bridget she was furious that Alex won and set a course

of anger in her body for the rest of the day.

The guests stayed behind for a glass or two of Mohi Henderson and some final nibbles before departing to the airport to catch a plane to the heart of the French countryside

Bridget, still raging inside, stormed off and decided to catch her own car, a crystal wrapped navy Bently to the airport

Leading the way was Bridget's car whitch was followed by the convoy of Rolls Royces.

TuffaBell

The Tuffigent Empire was the most fantastic kingdom throughout all of Tuffago. Puppies were very lucky to have lived there, as the chances of being there were very low. The Tuffigents that lived there were all very powerful, but they still had to work. A single Tuffigent family, living on the border of The Tuffigent Empire, had been there for many generations For work, they had to go to the

Tuffigent mines, where they would mine a cart full of coal There was one Tuffigent living on the planet, who was named Tuffy He was recently born in the Tuffigent Hospital, when the Tuffigent king had been sent an alert message. 100 humans were plotting an attack on Tuffago, and planning to try and destroy the whole planet 3 months later, Tuffy had already finished kindergarten.

He had a great puppy time, making new friends, and going away for holidays, to a remote Tuffago beach At the time of his age being 5 months old, news had spread about 2 bombs hitting either side of Tuffago. The Tuffigent’s were starting to plan a scout to the other side of Tuffago, as their side was the first to be destroyed Tinkerbelly, was on the other side of planet Tuffago. As

all of the Tuffigent’s hopped into their TuffHooptie, the Tinkerbelly’s were starting to make room for the Tuffigent’s. For some reason, the Tinkerbelly’s decided to migrate to another section, but the Tuffigent’s didn’t know why After a while, the Tuffigent’s decided to forget about it. One single Tuffigent was very interested, so one day he sprinted all the way to where the Tinkerbelly’s were living. When he found them, they all stared at him and wondered why a Tuffigent went to the Tinkerbelly’s home. Somehow, he knew exactly where the king was, so he rushed through without answering any questions, and asked the king why they moved to this foreign place. Instead of answering, the king just looked at Tuffy, stared him down, and sent him away. Since night was approaching, Tuffy had to spend the night at the Tinkerbelly’s homes. He used spare treats to rent a puppy apartment for the night. Tuffy stayed up almost all night, wondering why the Tinkerbelly’s would do this, and finding pieces of evidence

Eventually, he figured out that humans were plotting to attack Tuffago He also realised that using another spot of land would be helpful, as the spaceships could be boarded more easily when attacked

That is why the Tinkerbelly’s moved to a different location, for efficient boarding. So in the morning, he wrote down all of the reasons why the Tinkerbelly’s moved, and also wrote the information about the 2 missiles hitting Tuffago. He decided that from now on, every time he mined up a Tuffago ore, he would keep it, so his family could buy a rocket for themselves.

“Hey, where is the Tuffago station?” asked Tuffy “Oh, it is at the quarry, mining

centre ” replied Tinkerbelly.

“Thanks” responded Tuffy As Tuffy was riding the Tuffago train, he noticed that their sun was being covered up, supposedly by the humans, setting up the missiles. He decided to leap out of the train, and sprint as fast as he could back home. As Tuffy leapt for the Tuffigent’s new home, he heard stomping, a Tuffasaur was nearby It roared, and suspected that the Tuffigent’s tried to leave the Tuffasaur behind He stomped so loud that buildings were shaking. He ran straight to Tuffy’s home, where he laid and rested, calmly. He

finally felt like he was at home. Surprisingly, he woke up in the morning before any other Tuffigent’s He was carefully listening to Tuffy talking about the danger So, he decided to set up a base camp, and it went down hundreds of kilometres He did not know whether this would protect everyone or not As he dug, Tuffy woke up and went outside where he saw his pet Tuffasaur digging Tuffy woofed, and his Tuffasaur stopped immediately. He looked behind him, and saw Tuffy, looking at him smiling. Tuffy ran up and hugged the Tuffasaur, which led Tuffy to help work on the project They worked endlessly, never stopping. Although, they did stop for treat breaks Neither of the Tuffigent’s knew if they would succeed, but it was worth a shot By the time they finished, it was already midday. They both sprinted to the king, and told him immediately. As the king was sitting at his desk, the 2 Tuffigents came in and they all started to chat. After about an hour of talking, the king decided that all puppies will be ordered to start building their own rockets, whenever they wanted As the two Tuffigents walked home, they were

already planning about what they would make their rocket look like. After approximately 5 Tuffigent days, the perfect Tuffigent rocket was built. After 10 days of stocking up on food, water, and treats, Tuffy and his family were setting up the rocket Later that day, Tuffy noticed a strange object, hurtling toward Tuffago, at sound speed. Swiftly, he jumped straight into the rocket and scurried to get the family into it. As Tuffo, Tuffy’s dad, was starting up the engines, Tuffy was watching the outside of the back heat shield All he saw was a city packed with millions of Tuffigent’s preparing the rocket ships. As they flew off the ground, a rattling noise could be heard, from millions of kilometres away. Little did the Tuffigent family know, they would be placed in the middle of a disastrous surprise. As every single space ship took off the ground, the ground shook like an Earthquake! Right after the last ship took off, the bomb crashed into the planet, head first Everyone thought that in the smoke, the last rocket didn’t make it. But, to everyone ' s surprise, the rocket came out, in one piece, and in one shape

When Tuffy looked back, all he saw was memories of his home planet, fading away from him. Then, he hopped up, and saw a planet that had good living conditions. He alerted Tuffo to head straight for that planet, which they would now name, Tuffiga! They all landed, and after that day, were always in the underground shelters, which provided warmth and comfort Finally, the Tuffy family, with Tuffy’s dinosaur, all celebrated a happy new year together! After that day, the Tuffigent’s agreed that no work, or jobs, shall be needed for the new times. Once again, the Tuffigent’s lives were back to normal, in the silent peace of home.

Full Turnout

Rampant ran orange and red, collapsing the neighbourhood's tops

A sky of smoke rained down ash onto paralysed children: too stunned–perhaps hypontised–by the engulfing flames Reflective straps shined, their glisten interrupted by thin cylinders spitting water onto asphalt shingles. My body pumped with adrenaline, and yet halted with thoughts of despair; regret.

“Twelve years, kiddo. Ya done twelve years well, and now me and ya mum cant tell you what to bloody do. Not that we ever have ” “Dads right, Sirius, you ’ ve done phenomenal; University will be a great fit for you. ” Mum asserted confidently, a cigarette lodged between her lips. The ashes searched the air for a second chance of life–something to ignite–only to be met with the cold floor we occupied My eyes wandered to the starry night, contemplating if my silence would serve the atmosphere. Marvin Gaye guarded the scenario from awkwardness, my father tapping his boots against the cracked concrete beneath us.

“Firefighting.” The stars turned still Dad smiled, exposing his chipped tooth, glancing at mum for her reaction. Mum

did the same, her teeth grimacing at my assertion. Quickly, “Nahp ” Her head shifted to its side “You’re too smart. Go be a doctor.” My parents hummed Forever I was the softly spoken kid, reserved in conversation only for my family, only now revealing I wanted to share the glory and honour of civil duty Impossible to aspire to for someone like me.

Bright flames bordered me from clipboards wielded by instructors, hoses fighting fires pitting out the concrete facility. Passing them, I was halted by my instructor “Go get a drink, Johnston.” I wiped

sweat from my face, dirtying it with my palm whilst searching for a water fountain; the nearest one in the station. My head hung around the firies, maybe out of respect, maybe fear. I drank like a horse stranded in the desert, my saturation interrupted by a blaring alarm. The firies urgently walked to their lockers, concerned only with full turnout: my attire. A palm pushed against my back, “No time to waste, Probie. Get dressed.” In suit, I followed the men into the truck, excited to see action for the first time Cautiously I scanned for my instructor, negligent of consequence, but excited in the heat of nicknames and flashing lights Tires of the engine flattened charred pine leaves on the roads. Silence filled the interior, the men–suddenly faithful in observation of black clouds of godly proportion–placed their hands together. A hail mary before trying to tame the beast Amidst the smoke, reflective straps glistened, slowly fading in residue Blood flowed through my feet; my instincts warning me of the danger ahead, despite my mind telling me to chase flames ever since the firies visited the RSL I wanted to run. I wanted certainty.

The Echoing Ballroom

The ceiling had begun to fracture, faint threads of plaster dropping like whispers onto the marble floor. The chandeliers, once commanding and luminous, now swayed dimly, their light static and thin Yet for all its ruin, the ballroom still held a strange authority, as though memory itself lingered in its corners, refusing to fade She crossed the threshold with careful steps, her shoes clicking against stone that once bore the rhythm of waltzes. There was silence, but it was not empty. Echoes drifted, subtle as breath the faint laughter of strangers long gone, the ghostly brush of a bow against violin strings

In the centre of the hall lay a mask, velvet torn, its ribbon frayed She lifted it, and for a moment, imagined the room alive again: colours spiralling, faces hidden, joy unbridled But the vision collapsed as quickly as it came, leaving only the fragment in her hand and the gnawing recognition that the splendour had always been fragile. Then she saw it A mirror, cracked, its surface splintered. Yet when she gazed upon

it, her own reflection was nowhere to be found. Instead, scattered across its fragments was the image of another someone she could not name, but somehow knew. Her breath caught. The world shifted Everything she had believed herself to be seemed suddenly uncertain, her life unravelled by a shard of glass. The ballroom’s ruin had not been accidental It was her own inheritance, a truth buried beneath the grandeur. She stood amidst collapse, her illusions broken, but felt strangely lighter

Quietly, she set down the mask and stepped through the far doorway Beyond the echo of the ballroom lay the night air, cold and new. The fragments of the past remained behind, but ahead, there was the possibility of something unshaped, unspoiled

And as she crossed the threshold, she realised that a world turned upside down was not always the end it was often the beginning

Fault Line

No one saw it coming. Not like this It started on a cloudless afternoon in the city of Los Angeles Children barking words at each other in the parks Cars honked in traffic as the thick cloud of grey gas poured out of the car like a flood Laughter and heat shimmered off the sidewalks. Life was loud and thoughtless, like it always is just before it ends. Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from the south side of town. When people saw what it was, it was a deep, ancient sound. It was like the earth remembering it was alive. Birds fled. Trees trembled. And within seconds, the shaking began. At first, it was a rumble. People glanced around, unsure Then the streets buckled.

Buildings didn’t just collapse, they folded, twisted, and exploded in clouds of dust. Screams cut the air for a few seconds… and then silence took over. Kalverin was gone in under two minutes

Underneath what had once been a hardware store, Thomas Holt woke up with blood on his face and concrete dust in his lungs He’d been in his bunker, a relic from the Cold War, long since

converted into his home. Thomas didn’t trust the world. He hadn’t for decades He lived underground because the noise up top made him anxious. He always figured the worst would happen someday. He was right. He didn’t realize how bad it was until he climbed the emergency ladder and opened the rusted hatch Nothing stood. Not his store. Not the buildings. Not the roads Power lines lay like dead vines across shattered pavement. Smoke spiraled into a redtinged sky. The world was broken. He called out Once Twice He shouted names he hadn’t said in years. No

answer Not even a bird. He walked for miles through the rubble, stumbling past bodies half-buried in dust. Cars sat crushed under fallen bricks. The air smelled like ash, metal, and rot. He scavenged food from toppled delivery trucks Found bottled water in the ruins of a grocery store. Slept in the shell of a flipped bus Time lost meaning. On the third day, he found the old radio tower on the hill outside the city It had tilted, but stood enough for him to patch in a broadcast “This is Thomas Holt of Kalverin,” he said, voice rough “If you ’ re out there respond Anyone. Please.” He waited Nothing He tried again the next day. And the next. The silence pressed in like the weight of the sky He told himself others would come. Maybe someone in the next town survived. But when he climbed the highway overpass and looked out across the valley, all he saw was more ruin. The quake hadn’t just hit Kalverin It had taken everything. So he kept moving.

Writing on crumbling walls in chalk: “We were here.”

“Anyone?”.“I didn’t want to be the last ” He buried who he could. Others, he simply covered them with blankets when he found them. There

were too many Too far gone. The animals came back first coyotes, wild dogs, birds with strange eyes. They didn’t fear him. Why would they? He was just another lonely creature. Eventually, Thomas stopped broadcasting He stopped talking at all. He just wandered. Watched. Wrote.“Does surviving mean living?” he scrawled one night on a door still hanging by one hinge He began to wonder if maybe the quake didn’t kill everyone. Maybe it spared him Left him behind to remember. To carry the weight of a whole city’s silence And then, one day, as he passed what used

to be a schoolyard, he heard a sound he hadn’t heard in months. A voice Faint Highpitched A child He froze. “Hello?” he whispered. The voice came again closer And Thomas Holt, the last man in Kalverin, felt something break open inside his chest: not fear, not grief hope. He ran toward it. And the silence finally broke.

Forbidden People

Chapter 1

The way to travel

Hollow ridge was a place of peace, however that has changed friends named Michael and Florence decided to spend the night up in their tree house for a sleep over, but later that night Micheal heard a noise from downtown he wasn't really motivated to go check it out but Michael thought about it for ages stopping him from being able to sleep As the time passed he eventually dozed off leaving the noise unidentified Early that morning they woke up, nothing, not a whisper It was at this moment they realized something was terribly wrong, then Oreo our dog creeped forward.”No! It might be dangerous, let Florence go " Michael said, shivering with fear.

“Oh wow, very mature of you, ” Florence said sarcastically. She lifts the curtain but there was nothing different, the same old morning mist, the only thing different was no people like where's the old grumpy neighbor that complains every morning

“Look at the note,”

Florence, hoping there's a chance for this to be explained

“Well what does it say, ” Michael says, with no

patience

Florence reached for the note and what it said was quite simple, “Its all a lie“Is this a joke, what psychopath would do this,” Oreo barked with frustration, even though no one could understand him but all knew what he meant

“I think they didn't get forced to be there, somethings off, anyway what does it mean. ” Florence scoffed, expecting an answer “How should I know,” Michael blurted out.

“I know, I know, it's a library,” Oreo jumps and acts it out.

“I don't know,” Michael said, “I'm not too sure ”

climbing down from the tree house and sprinted downtown to the town's library, but by the time they got there they expected for everyone to be there, they were wrong, no one in sight.

“Where are they all? They should be here ” Florence said in shock. “Wait actually guys I think I know where they are, ” Michael stutters. “They must be in the fog,” Florence exclaimed “That's not what I said,” Michael mumbles.

All of them started

“You're right we should go now, it's a two day walk so start getting ready” Florence said, completely ignoring Michael.

Michael sighs Unless you have walked all the way from hollowridge to California in the mist you ' re in for a challenge. They wasted a day packing for the journey, and they packed the most useless stuff like a fluffy pen, oil, paint brush and a bucket of salt. As soon as they started this massive journey the sun started to rise, they were going great until they started getting ticks and sunburn Lucky for them the ticks didn't like the salt smell. The sun burn, however, was left for hours, it was painful until they eventually came across some sunscreen They've been walking for 13

hours, leaving them with barely enough energy to keep walking They fell to the ground and fell asleep. How many steps do you think they have?

When they woke up in the middle of the field under a tree they were way behind schedule at 11 am, so with little hope left they started walking to the road to catch a ride to California which took some time because they didn't know where they were going because they forgot about their map they bring but when their finally found it when they where looking for some sort of paper to

draw the cars attention. A day passed in the scorching open wasteland next to the road and still no sight of any cars that passed, they could have made it there in the time that they spent waiting for even a single car Michael grunts and sighs, “for goodness sake can we just start walking there, it's not like a car ' s going to come or at least go home!”

‘’Umm, let me think about that Michael, no!’’ Exclaimed Florence

As they continue to argue a rumbling engine starts to get louder, in the distance a blurry shape starts to

form as Oreo looks at it knowing exactly what it was. He turns his head without looking away, “bark, bark,” barked Oreo.

“Not now, ” Florence and Michael say, paying no attention to what's really happening

“Guys,” barked Oreo, getting louder every time.

“What!” Florence and Michael look around frustrated. They realized what he was talking about Florence Knew the car wouldn't stop so she threw herself on to the road to draw attention towards them. Just as the truck was about to hit her, he stood on the brakes making marks

Slowly the driver lowers the window just to start yelling but before he could speak he calms himself down and says “what do you people want?”

“Could we take a lift to California” Ash says in relief despite the fact of not knowing him

“Sure but it's going to be a long ride if you ' re going the wrong way. It's going to take about a week ” Said the truck driver

“No, I think you made a mistake, it's a two day walk ” Florence said, assuming she must be right.

“ Have you even looked up where it is?” says the truck driver.

“Well no, ” said Florence.

“Wait, what, you told me it was a two day walk ” said Michael, surprised.

“People, people calm down just get in.” the truck driver said.

“Fine,” Michael and Florence scoffed

Two days in, Oreo and Michael still haven't talked to Florence Josh the truck driver gave up 3 seconds after he got into the car cause he didn't understand the fight. The truck driver pulled up to the service station to get fuel and snacks. Florence, Michael and Oreo wake up by the sound of the door shutting.

“Wa, what, huh, what going on ” ,they all say.

“It's just the truck driver getting fuel ” Florence says.

Just then the back boot opens and Josh, the truck driver, points a gun at our head with two other men

“You're coming with me, now stay still or I will shoot you!” Said Josh After an hour we arrived at jail.

“Get out and move slowly, the guard will show you and you will be checked on by the end of the week ” Josh adds on.

“Wait, what happened to our town, was the rhyme real ” Michael yelled just as they were

about to leave

“The rhyme was real but we still haven't found where they are anyway I'm not even allowed to answer questions to people like you because you are dangerous to people like me. ” Josh grunts

“Wait, I still have some questions.” Florence said as soon as the truck drives off into the distance. The guard shouted “Enough talking let's go ” Grabbing her and throwing her onto the ground, she *grunts*. Later as they were being forced to their cells. While Michael was confused Florence had a few theories but couldn't say because

they were separated

It was Friday already so that means checkups tomorrow or today. A day went past no sleep, only thoughts or theories of why we are locked up and what is the checkup for “You little girl get up, get up, ” the dude says louder the second time. She was walking through the hall when another older girl tried to fight back. When they finally made it to this room that look incredibly similar to a dentist, they tied Florence's legs and arm to the chair restraining her from moving, the main guy grabbed this needle and started walking towards her straight after her needle was taken out there was a snap the room look around for what could be broken 2 second

later the scientist falls down with his neck snapped, they looked back at Florence and said loudly “she's a type blue,” *scream* Josh walks in his reflexes were bad anyway and from time to time we are bound to lose a guy. Showing her the way back, they grab her and she screams “ noo ” tears roll down her cheeks while getting dragged out. As the scream fades out Josh looks down and just stares at the doctor's body and says “such a

disappointment you are. ”

Later, Michael goes through the same process but instead of having the needle his abilities were a step ahead and he made the roof crack and crumble and fall on the doctors body bag, Josh yells out, “why does everyone hate him. Remove him and show his way back to his cell.” Two days later they started to do training for our abilities, for example for Florence's training she uses blocks of wood but she says that she can't. As for Michael he has a pot plant to grow and it has thrived from dying

to green and lushes

“Sir we found were kyle has taken the town,” the tech guy said clearly

“Good, now send 20 men to rescue them,” Josh replied.

“But sir,” the guy continued

“No buts now send them or would you like to take a visit yourself,” shouted Josh

“It's a hostage situation, you go, they die, you do know how many people would die, hundreds maybe even thousands.” he says

“Ok then, what does he want?” Josh says with a raised voice

“He wants all the prisoners to be let free ” answered the guy.

“I was kidding when I said we would negotiate to blow him up. ” Josh snapped.

“Blowing up, in, 3, 2, 1,” done

“Thanks” Josh says softly then turns and walks away

The next day Josh had a meeting with his followers and settled on a way to lower the amount of people with the abilities/powers

After a few days of preparation it was ready, they made a lazar border around the nearby forest and it can be edited to make it smaller to lure them into a death trap, so they round up all the

creeps to start as soon as possible to eliminate the creeps. They lined them up in a line and one by one brought them into a room. People were starting to get frightened once it was Florence's turn. She was looking for Michael but his turn had already passed. Florence was being forced in when another doctor walks towards her with two different needles, the two guards behind her chained her to a chair and she closed her eyes and saw something, something strange, it's as though she was looking out of the doctor's eyes, the needle piercing

through her wrist twice, after that she felt tired then everything goes black Flashes of memories pass through her brain such as her getting shouted at and her falling Michael woke up, he looked around and saw that he was on a hill he couldn't remember anything except for being in a cell and his close friends and family. “Where am I,” he thinks All afternoon he spends his time looking for Florence It was nearly dark and he found a cave covered with vines just big enough for him but not for bears and large animals He crawls into the tunnel to see a wide cave great for sleeping But at the same time he's too stressed to sleep he spends the whole night staring into a blank wall. The next morning he decided to keep looking, after a while he decided to play it safe and gather weapons and during that he saw something of a car as he got closer he saw something better, it was food but there was something else, a person. The person walked out from behind the tree and held an arrow straight at him but she turned out to just be Florence “Florence!” Michael

yelled in excitement

“Michael!” Florence said, confused while squinting her eyes

“I found you, ” they both say. Florence and Michael run toward each other

“I’ll show you around and do you want some food,” Florence says, putting her arm around his shoulder.

A day went by, and Florence and Michael were piling the supplies in a circle when they heard a growl and when they turned around a guy was pointing a stick at a wolf when the wolf leaped on top of him and dragged him into the forest Florence and Michael ran

behind a tree in fright and didn't move for 10 minutes. After that when they came out from behind the tree they realized that the wolves ate all their supplies The next morning Michael went to collect food with 10 other people after a while he started to notice that it looked like there were less people for a second he stopped to listen and look and he saw no one anymore he was alone

A saber tooth tiger stalked him for a few minutes waiting for the right moment to attack, then when he turned around the cat leaped from the bush and jumped onto Michael and bit him on the thigh. His flesh was ripped off his leg allowing blood to run down his thigh.

Adrenaline runs through Michael's body giving him energy he's never had before, he gets a grip on the cats tooth making the tiger scratch his neck in a fright he tore the tooth out of the cats mouth and stabs it in the neck with the sharp bloody tooth, the saber toothed tiger jumps back and cries in pain till its death while Michael passes out

Meanwhile Florence starts to worry about him knowing he should be back by now. She

stops sharpening weapons to ask Jamie the leader if she could go try and find him

“Can I try to find my brother,” she asks.

“Sure but i'll have to come with you just let me get my stuff,” Jamie adds on.

“No we can't risk losing 3 people,” she says clearly.

“I'll just be 30 seconds,” he shouts running into the car to get supplies, but when he comes back to start walking she has already left. After 30 minutes of walking god knows where When she comes up to a clearing her eyes widen and seem like they're popping out of her head when she sees a

floor of dead people with flesh ripped out however Michael wasn't there When she looked up she spotted Michael had passed out and she started gaining up speed, Florence dropped to her knees and covered up the cut with her hands She heard a snap and as fast as a cheater turned around grabbed a bow and arrow and aimed at Jamie.

“You seriously thought I would let you go by yourself,” says Jamie with a grin, he dropped his backpack and took out some antibiotics and said, “Eat this, it will make you feel better.”

Michael half asleep said, “what's going on. ”

Jamie raps the neck and stomach around the wounds to hold the blood. They got him up and put their arms around his shoulder to stabilize him and bring him back.

“It's getting dark, we need to hurry,”

Florence says with a raised voice.

When they get back they decide to put him down in a car to rest, immediately he falls asleep. The next morning he wakes up feeling a lot better but still terrible enough he can't stand, Florence walks in with a stick,

“here have this,” she says.

Michael reaches for the stick rubbing his bite mark on the dirt.

“Why don't I just come to you, ” she passes the cane over to him. He manages to get up putting his full weight on the cane.

“Where did you find this,” he says Just outside if you haven't noticed there's a few.” she replies in a sarcastic tone

“He's watching us, ” she said,” where's Jamie and Michael.”

“They went for a walk,” she responded

“Well get them,” she shouted.

“Hey I have something to ask,” Michael whispers, getting cut off by Florence's body thudding on the ground 10 minutes later she woke up with everyone staring.

“What happened,” Collon said with a comforting voice.

Meanwhile in the forest Jamie and Xavair were talking

“No offense but it's Florence single,” Jamie says, acknowledging that there was a very awkward thing to say.

“No It's fine, yeah she's single”, he replies Michael walks ahead, “why do you ask,” he says. While walking ahead

“Jamie,” he says, turning around just to see Jamie with a rag in his mouth In shock, Michael reaches for his knife and throws it at the stranger's head.

“Are you o-, ” Michael whispers in relief, getting cut off by another person knocking them both out. Meanwhile, Collen searches for them He spends around 5-6 hours searching for them without giving up but just before he was going to head back he thought he saw something, as he gets closer his heart stops beating, and it all goes silent, quiet enough to hear the blood dripping from his skull.

Luna, Michael's best friend who has the

ability to talk to animals, asked the fish if they could find them.

While the fish swim through currents for a few hours, Florence finally asks Luna, “I thought people couldn't use their powers in here or on or wherever we are, ” she said

“Well erm I-I don't know,” she replies, getting saved by the returning fish.

“What are they saying,”

Florence whispers in a croaky voice.

“They suspect that they are being held captive in a camping site above that waterfall,” Luna says, trying really hard to understand them.

“But that's ages away it will take days to even get close and that's after packing ”

Florence complains

“Well may as well start

now I need him alive to find-,” Luna stops

“Find what,” Florence says, desperately wanting to know

“Nothing, let's just pack,” she replies.

Florence sighs, limping back into the car to find a bag.

“Where are you, just one bag, " Florence thinks.

Florence lifts an umbrella hoping to find a bag, she searches throughout the car looking in the back of a car seat

Finally a coles bag.

“Thank you for shopping at coles if you have a flybuys card please scan it now ” she mimicked

“All I need now is some clothes and food, oh that's right they were going to come back with food,” she says softly

She roughly takes off the dead passengers shirt and pants

“Don't forget the undies,” Luna shouts sarcastically

“Don't try me, ” Florence growls.

Her hand shoves the clothes into the plastic bag, strong enough to rip the bag.

“Thats a great find they don't make those plastic anymore and

that was fine but then they halved the size of the bag, and like how are you supposed to fold that ”

you ' re a real deep sleeper,” Jamie whispers strongly.

“Shhhh! ”

A guy walks in with a wooden cricket bat.

buddy over there,” the person adds.

Jamie turns his head away from him

“You done?” Florence says

“I guess, There's nothing really to pack,” Luna responds “Ok let's go then," Florence says in a rush.

Chapter 2: Snake escape

Florence, who just wants to lay down, grabs her cane and puts all her weight on the stick to get up, while the girls start the journey to the waterfall, Michael wakes up tied to a wood pole

“Took you long enough

“Where are they,” he shouts

“Who, where's who,” Michael says confused.

“You know who, the girls,” he repeats

Michael, half clueless, remains silent

“Fine you don't want to talk, I'll wait a few days and if your socalled friends haven't come to save you at least you'll die knowing they don't care, ” he said.

“Now, Jamie, I'm assuming maybe you will tell me or do you want to end up like you

“Luna how are you going to get to the other side, no don't do it you could fall lets just go around the giant wide scary ravine ” Florence asks Wasn't it you who just wanted to get there quicker, well here's the answer, ” she says trying to persuade her.

Yeah but also I don't want to die doing it,” she spikes.

“Realax,” she says while trying to cross the fallen tree.

“Aaa, kidding I got you so bad,” Luna jokes

“Stop, wait up, ” Florence shouts running

after Luna who continues to cross the old tree leaving Florence behind

“Oh wait there's Tison,” Florence says to Luna.

Run he screams running away from a pack of tigers with a massive slash on his neck He pushes himself on the tree to start fast walking.

“”Slow down, you'll slip,” Florence warns him.

Tision, who was being chased by tigers, slipped and screamed, fell to his painful death

farther away from the pack. It was getting darker and they needed a place to rest so they decided to set up a little hut near the stream for easy access to fresh water

“Shut up, go to sleep,” Luna says with no reply,” Florence, what's wrong ”

Florence slightly opens her eyes.

“He's not how he said he is,” she muttered sitting up. “We need to leave now ”

“Why, what's wrong, ” she whispers, needing an answer.

“I'll tell you on the way, ” she said.

Even though they just witnessed a death they push through and keep walking further and

Meanwhile the stranger walks into the hut, pulls out a knife and stabs

Jamie in the head, with a shock Jamie wakes up huffing and puffing.

“Just a bad dream,” he said, sweating

“Ok,” Michael looks at Jamie.

“Ok,” he replies

Michael lays back down and sighs.

“I see it, the waterfall, The fish were right,”

Florence says.

Florence notices a spark of light then runs down the steep, bumpy, crooked hill

Florence loses control and runs into trees

scratching her legs and face

“It's not that hard,” Luna shouts.

“I'd like to see you try,” she shouts back

Luna runs down the hill

avoiding any obstacle finishing without a scratch.

“You were saying,”

Florence said, being a show off.

drowsy

Whilst Luna had a bleeding chin, she lifted herself up and started to drag herself up the hill.

A voice wanders inside his head, “ yes he will, do not trust him.”

“What's wrong, ” Mical says ”

“Nothing, I'm fine,”

“Whatever,” Florence scoffed.

They both walked towards another hill

“Wha-what was the point of that,” she stuttered

“Fun,” she replied Florence starts heaving herself up the hill.

“That was not worth it,” she complained Luna trips over a stone and hits her chip when she lands

“Oh my god, just what I need,” she gasps with a low tone She slowly slopes down to Luna

“Get up, ” she mumbles

When both of them finally made it to the top The site was only a few minutes away

The stranger walks in and says, ” you know what this is boring I'll give them one minute and then you d-,” he says getting smashed in the head with a rock

“Michal, is that you, ” Michael splutters.

“You know this person, ” Jamie says frustrated.

“Yeah, he- I met him in the line,” Michael replies ” He won't kill me. ”

Michael blurts out while he unties the knots.

“Just let me get something,” Michael says, reaching into his backpack. Michael grabs his wooden arrow and stabs Michael in the head when he turns around with a knife Florence and Luna run in.

“Mapel,” Jamie shouted.

“Not now, look at weapons, ” Florence says, grabbing all she could carry, looking

down at Michael,” what's the deal with him,” Florence said casually

“He's properly just sleeping,” Xavier says, shrugging his shoulders

Michael picks the arrow embedded into Michael’s skull, holds it out and impales another person, he drops the bodies after ripping out the arrow and aims it at the stranger and lets go.

The arrow flying into his head shoots him, a guy behind him slits the stranger's throat and finishes the deed

“Don't shoot, I want to help,” he says “Who are you and what can you do?” Florence questions him

“My name is Liam, I can shapeshift and I think our parents knew each other,” Liam explains Florence's eyes widen and drops her arrow. “You should probably pick that up, we ' re going to need it,” he says “Behind you, ” screams Luna.

Michael turns around, the guy punches Michael in the nose making it bleed, with anger Michael’s head buts him and makes him fall to the ground.

One by one they kill or injure everyone there after 10 minutes there surrounded by bodies

Jamie, who was trying to be impressive,

kicked a dead body pretending that he had just killed him in front of Florence

“Good job,” we should probably leave,”

Florence says, stepping over a body

“Yeah we don't want to draw any attention, not that we haven't,” Jamie agrees “Lets at least take what we need,” Luna extends

Fine we'll stay for 30 minutes, tops,” Florence hesitates

After 2 and a half hours passed, no one realized because there was nothing to tell the time.

“You know what, we may as well stay the night,” Florence

surrenders

“Yes thank you, ” says Luna pleased.

“But tomorrow we find out where the hell we are, ” Florence adds.

Florence gasps, putting her hands on her stomach.

“This is a test, all this, it's all fake,” Florence says, understanding it all.

“Like the hunger games, ” Liam asks “Can you stop with your fantasy,” said Florence, needing a break “But Josh he's a big part in this, Liam you can shapeshift into animals right,” she says making a plan.

“Yeah,”

“Go to the edge, yeah there's a end to this-”

“Like the hunger

games, ” Liam asks “Sure,” she admits in this case. ” And then you turn into a bat then place your ear near the edge and all you have to do is listen,” she over laps

“Wait I just have one question, what am I looking for,” he asks “An exit,” she responds, shaking her head. “And where is this exit,” he asks, making Florence pretty angry.

“Just over there,” Luna points

“Yeah how did you know that,” Florence says, intrigued “Uh, lucky guess, ” she blurted out as soon as she found an excuse to how she knew that “Ok,” says Florence

softly with suspicion

“That's surprisingly close,” Liam shouts.

“Enough chit chat, let's go, ” she shouted stubbornly.

Michael and Liam raced each other. Liam, who cheated, turned into a bat to get used to it and flew ahead of Michael and by the time that Michael got there everyone else was as silent as a mouse, Florence fainted to a painful drop, but Florence explained that Florence took over his body To hear a voice to enter, found one going from mouse to ant to germ she finally makes it to the technology room.

“Ah, Sir, where was the exit again,” Florence stutters, sweating nervously

“For the last time under the water bank, near the old gum tree and the next time I have to tell you you will be silenced,” he warns.

Florence, frightened, said,” Ok boss ” With suspicion he says, ” your my boss.”

“Oh yes, just testing you, ” he chuckles nervously.

“Ha, ha, ha,” he laughs As fast as she could she left his body leaving him there with no idea what happened. Going in reverse from germ to ant to mouse to Liam to her body

Do you have any India where the river bank is near the gum tree,’ she gasps for breath

“Yeah, over there,”

Liam points to the blue tree in the distance.

“Oh god,” she lets out her breath walking off.

Luna thought,” I need rope and wood, go!”

Florence goes and sprints over towards the tents.

“I got rope but I can't find wood,” she shouts from inside the wooded tent

“Is she serious, the tents literally made out of wood,” laughs Luna and Liam

“At least I got the rope, ” said Florence, shrugging her shoulders

“All right well lets do whatever we ' re doing with the stuff we got,”

Liam said

“Raft, a raft,” Luna said.

“Oh, I knew that,” she says

“Yep sure, ” she agrees.

Running outside holding the equipment, Florence runs down the steep hill dodging all the trees and stones

Everyone else too tired to run just doodles down till they reach the stream

Michael peels the straw and wood off the tent exposing her embarrassment.

“Tie the rope around the wooden planks and then check the stability,” she instructs.

Liam loops the rope around the wood kneeling on it to see if it is strong enough to hold them

“Yep, all set,” Laim nods.

Liam sits on the wood and then Florence then Michael and then Luna to balance the weight

“Lets go, ” said Florence, grabbing around and pushing them away from it

The current drifts them down the stream, with a lot of obstacles avoiding them would be near impossible after 45 minutes to 1 hour, until crashing into a group of rocks flipping them over making them tumble down a rough and

deadly surface scratching and hurting them all when they got to the bottom But it was all worth it when they looked up and saw the river maybe around 100m above them.

“Get up you fools, how might we even get up there,” shouted Luna facing Michael who was looking at a cave then switching, giving her a hint to give her the credit

With Luna not understanding, Michael gives up and says, ” the cave we enter is the cave looking for light from above,” he says with a raised voice

“Oh I knew that,” Luna chuckles nervously

“Sure, anyway let's go, ” he said while entering the cave

The cave splits into two forcing them to pair up separating them.

Florence and Jamie walk into one of the tunnels.

“Um Florence, could I ask you something, but dont judge if it's really cringy.” he says nervously

“Ok I'm listening,” she says, paying full attention

“Oh, well I kind of like you, ” he gasps in relife.

“I like you too,” she whispers confused.

“No, I like, like you, ” he repeats

“And I like, like you too,” Florence

chuckles

“Oh,” he sighs in relief.

Luna and Michael looked at each other and smiled. They ran faster and faster until they reached the light but the light was up and there down. Instead of thinking they yelled out, “ guys over here.”

Jamie and Florence turned around running back and obviously straight after Luna and Michael realised how they were going to get up there voices came from the top, they listened carefully, “down here people,” the people say. The people see them and chuck down a rop to pull them up, Luna

jumps onto the rope but Michael grabs her and says, “how do you know we can trust them ”

“It's either go with them and have a chance of survival or stay here and die,” she states.

He let out his breath and accepted the truth, Florence and Jamie ran in grabbing hold of them pulling them up.as they climbed up they heard the sound of the rope cracking echoing through the cave.

Once everyone was up they stood in the muddy water looking for a way to go, the foggy air hung thick with tension. They

could hear distant whispers but nothing clear enough to make something out of it

The silence stretched on only broken by the occasional ripple in the water Luna shriveled in the cold as the water lapped over her ankles. They stood at the edge of the dense forest, the sound of the birds chirping filled the air. Florence glanced around, her eyes wide as she took in her surroundings

The landscape felt both welcoming and threatening, as nature itself was watching them. The path ahead of them seemed unclear, but there was no turning back now.

Luna squinted in the sunlight, the warmth on her face was the first time she had felt that feeling in forever “This doesn't look like the way we need to go, ” she said, her voice cautious as she looked at the dense forest ahead Florence frowned her hands on her hips, “ we don't have much of a choice,” she said, “the cave was worse at least we have sunlight and some chance ” Jamie took a deep breath and nodded, “she's right we can either wait here and hope for the best or keep moving ” The question is which path shall they take.

“Me and Florence are going to keep moving until you stay here,” Michael states Luna glanced at Michael in confusion,

“wait what do you mean Florence, we can't just-,” she stopped herself releasing this wasn't the time for arguing Florence stepped forward, her gaze meeting lunas with a steady resolve.

“Well we may as well keep going,” he says Luna and Jamie spots a crashed helicopter and yells,” lets see if it still works.”

the helicopter lifts into the air and above the leaves, mud and vines.

The muddy, smashed up helicopter hovered over them, then Jamie yelled out, “It will only fit two, that means two of you guys have to walk because if I drop off someone then I come back you would already be there.”

Florence responds, “ we got that.”

Then Luna yells out, “thanks guys I would be happy to go on the helicopter,” acting like she was chosen to go on the helicopter not fooling anyone.

“I choose Michael,”

Jamie ran towards the helicopter, he put his seatbelt on and started the engine. In surprise

Jamie yells as he slowly lands into the open area for Michael.

It lifts off the ground flying off in the distance, meanwhile Luna and Florence continue to follow the creek. The girls start to talk, “So what do you plan on doing when we escape, ” whispers Florence.

“Why are you whispering,” she whispers back confused.

“We don't know who might be listening,” she answers.

“Oh, well in that case I will properly find my mother, I haven't seen her for two months.”

are you going to do after this?”

“I haven't really thought about that,” she questions herself “Actually I will properly just go home.”

“Nice,” says Luna Jamie and Michael arrives and lands beside the water hole, and after searching for the exit for 10 minutes they finally found the exit as Luna and Florence arrives.

me, ” Luna says, expecting that Jamie tried to scare her.

“I didn't do anything,” he responds

“Then what did,” she worries. Just then Florence gets pulled under the water as Jamie opens the exit door at the bottom of the water hole

“Florence,” Michael yells, stressed for his sister

“Sorry, I wish you luck.”

Florence says feeling sad for her

“Thanks, that makes me feel better. Well, what

“The exit is there,” Jamie said They all enter the water and less than thirty seconds in Luna feels something brush against her leg a slimy scaly worm

“Stop trying to scare

The door opens sucking them all in lucky the snake got swept in first landing on a small area covered by giant nails

as a trap for them and all four of them landed on the andoconder.

Chapter 4

The Crazy Lady “Are we dead,” says

Luna

“No idiot,” Jamie scoffed.

“Luna's eyes widened, “who are you ”

A boy stands in the corridor the light sensors flicker on and he reaches into his pocket and grabs out a knife and says, “I'm winning this game ”

“Wait you don't underwait how did you know this was a game, ” Jamie yells.

“How did you not know,” he responds, “well I was running away from someone and then another guy comes out and grabs a knife they all run away together they turn on a corner to lose him but then he realises and

starts running but when he reached the corner the the floor in front of him rose in front of him

They all say, “hello” but no answer then they hear a scream.

“My turn,” the first guy says “You too,” Jamie says, having enough. They start backing away, and to their surprise another floor lifts up, squishing him and the blood drips down the crack in the roof. They all keep running and the floor keeps lifting up faster and faster and fortunately maple sees an escape exit they turn right into the narrow hallway.

All of them huffing and puffing thought they were safe but they thought wrong Xaviar spots a strange machine black liquid leaking from the roof, one drop landing on Michael’s forehead dissolving when it reached his nose

Florence randomly switches between living things then stops when she goes into the black liquid, but Florence is stuck and she can't go back Out of nowhere the black liquid drops and reveals a giant vacuum sucking anything in.

Luna throws her sock into the substans and before it even touches it disintegrates, Luna

slips as it pulls her in, as soon as her shoe disintegrates the black machine falls into itself leaving nothing but a drop as tiny as the top of a pin, small enough that they don't notice except for florence who decides not to tell *BANG!* a bat strikes them all on the head, a little while later they wake up next to each other tied to a chair. Florence smiles with a grin going into the drop of the black liquid slides across the floor under the cage door and grow disintegrating the chains letting them free and once they got out their heard yelling, “I don't care if you ' re not the bad guy, I want

to gain their trust so I will secretly one by one I will obtain their powers ” Chis yells, Josh's brother “I've made a deal with Luna to kill Michael and get her family back Chis walks away seeing them, omg guys, don’t worry I’m on your side, don’t go thru the door there's guards let’s go to the roof Just before they all got to the roof they saw a room full of captured people on these machines unconscious, Michael tried to free them with vines but all he could do was summon a weed.

“Oh no, did you touch a black substance?”

Chris says

“Yes, why,” he says, interested.

“That removes power, ” she says All of them stand there shocked.

“But it will get better, let me, ” she says, opening the prisoners. They let all of them go down a construction slide then they all go onto the ledge, Luna sneaks up on Michael with a knife but as she swings the knife at Michael Chris, in shock, pushes Luna out the window and she lands on the concrete splatting her brain everywhere. For Xaviar the puzzle pieces in his head fit together and in less than a second he grabs Chris and

chucks her off the building but a helicopter flies under her crashing into the building and giving Chris a perfect platform to stand on once it crashes she jumps off staring at them just before it blows up As they all keep climbing on the edge they come to a construction slide so they slide down and once they get to the bottom they run off into the forest 10 minutes later they all come by a river 2 people go get some water while the rest looks for anything strange and just as their lips touched the water a giant scaled

scorpion's tail reaches from the water and spears them like skewers the giant scorpion reveals itself with black and yellow

strips running down its back, two more emerge from the water and starts to run after them When they got a while ahead all of them climbed into the massive tree but just as xaiaviar was safe a girl came running behind him with them chasing her “Help,” she yelled Michael jumps down distracting them running away into the fields but sees the crazy lady, otherwise known as chis and he stops looking behind him to see them right behind him Ready to accept his fate he closes his eyes but nothing happens Buzz, buzz, a strange noise comes from her controller, “I control them,” she says There was a sudden pause, silence filled the air, “BANG” Madison the girl that wasn't in the tree drove a truck over the lady. Once she gets out of the truck her brown hair blows back from the wind, her freckles bring out her brown sparkling eyes and says, "doesn't my mother suck ” Michael’s eyes widen in disbelief, goosebumps shiver up his spine “Pardon ” “Sorry for not telling

you, ” she says in a natural voice. “Come with me. ” They ran over to where the group was hiding and told them to follow her.

Time past the forest grew colder as they ran, the last of the sun slipping through the trees in red slashes

Michael’s legs ached, Madison’s hair was plastered to her forehead, and even Florence usually the fastest was dragging her feet Then they saw it. Concrete, overgrown, halfswallowed by moss and trees. The letters barely legible on the front:

EMERGENCY SHELTER

– UNIT 14B

Madison stepped forward and swiped her wrist across a small black panel Beep Clunk

The metal door slid open. Inside, it was dead quiet Cold and still, like time had stopped. White lights buzzed above, flickering once before settling. Sterile white walls stretched down the hall Steel benches lined the entryway. The air smelled like chemicals and old secrets

Florence, still wideeyed, whispered, “This place is too clean.”

Michael frowned, pacing the perimeter “Too… ready.” Then something clicked.

A black monitor embedded in the wall above the lockers blinked on At first it was just static. Then: Footage.

Them Running through the corridor Screaming. Luna slipped into the black liquid Madisain screamed. Jamie yelled. Michael’s vines. Florence's transformation Every moment. Every step.

Michael was the first to laugh “We found it Finally, somewhere safe.”He was already down the hallway when he called out, “Guys there’s food! Like… real food!” Jamie collapsed onto a bench. “I never want to run again.”

Recorded

On-screen, the camera pulled back revealing not just one feed, but eight. Eight other groups, in other strange places, facing their own horrors.

Each feed labeled:

SUBJECT SET A

SUBJECT SET B

SUBJECT SET C...

And then, right in the centre:

eventually find us ” willow asked with no worry at all.

“I mean maybe but not any time soon hopefully," Michail responded.

SUBJECT SET D –ACTIVE Prologue

2 years later

“Do you think they will