Do you believe that your life could change for all eternity by one thing, for good or bad?
  Well, my life did and has never been the same sense.
  It all started in September 1918, in Chicago Illinois. I had just arrived by the house from shopping in the market square in town, where James had told me about the Spanish Influenza and how my Father had visited his sick Mother.
  My house was a modest, two story, with a yard in the front and back. The back had an herb garden that was my mothers. The house was better then most, but not the richest. My father was a well off businessman. My mother stayed at home, as was customary.
  I opened the white gate door that surrounded the house and yard, and walked along the stone path to the house. It was a short walk and then I was inside the warm house. The warm air and sounds of cooking reached my face, welcoming me home. I walked to the kitchen and wordlessly put down the bread and cheese beside mother. I started toward the door headed for my room.
  "Edward, I hope you are just putting your coat away, but if you are about to do any thing else you'd best stay here and don't go off. Supper is almost done, is your Father here yet?" Mother said calmly.
  "Yes ma'am, Father is upstairs" I could hear him pacing upstairs. I turned and walked out for a moment to put my coat away, only to come right back to the kitchen. I sulked behind Mother watching her work on supper.
  "Edward would you like to help, instead of just standing there?"
  "Yes ma'am" I said again, the only thing I could say.
  "Then cut those beans into small pieces and when you are done put them into the stew"
  "Yes ma'am" I took a knife, and bowl, and then moved to the far corner. I started to chop the beans, the way mother wanted, just right for a stew.
  It was a short, but boring process, only your hands were busy, not your mind. Near the end of the beans Father called "Elizabeth, come here right now!" He sounded agitated
  "Edward stop what you are doing, put those beans in the stew and keep it boiling, I have go speak with your Father" said Mother clearly upset, he was calling in the middle of the supper process.
  She marched out of the room, lifting up her skirts as she climbed up the stairs. I went up to the stove and added the beans, then kept it boiling, trying to hear what they were saying. I heard Mother reach their room and say, "What is it? Supper is almost done" Still upset.
  "No" Father replied, "It's about the Spanish Influenza. I climbed through a window to cheer up Mrs. Johnson, who has the influenza. I'm sorry." Father's voice seemed regretful.
  "Oh!" Mother seemed shocked.
  Their voices lowered to a murmur, so low you could not hear. I studied the stew, thinking about what I had heard. I thought James's mother only had a slight chance, why did Father climb through a window just to cheer up Ms. Johnson? All these questions popped into my head like bubbles ready to burst.
  After awhile Father said loudly enough that I could hear "And I don't want Edward working a women's job in the kitchen" It seemed that they had changed the topic and were talking about me.
  "Well I need help and we don't have a daughter, so Edward will have to do" Mother replied frostily. Mother came down quickly and said "Edward cool that off and put it on the table, did you add the beans? Add the bread and cheese to the side also."
  "Yes ma'am" I took the pot off the stove and put even proportions into three bowls and added the bread and cheese to a plate silently, knowing supper would be mostly serious discussion.
  Father came down and sat at the head of the table, fidgeting now and then. Mother and I sat on the sides of him.
  Mother gave the prayer, "Oh lord in heaven, we ask thee to bless this food and us. To help this dreaded war end before more blood is spilt. Amen"
  "Amen" Father and I agreed quietly.
  We started to eat in silence, enjoying mother's good cooking I think or at least I was. "Elizabeth? Do you think it is time?" Father asked uncertainly.
  "Anything can happen, now that you have made the biggest mistake yet, better now then later, though it is your fault" Mother replied mysteriously leaving the secret from me.
  Father sighed and said, "I visited someone who has the Spanish influenza"
  I tried to be sympathetic and not give away what I had heard. "James told me you visited."
  "Oh he did?" and Father started to mutter to himself saying something like "That boy knows to much.”
  "Ahem." Mother coughed pointedly.
  "Oh yes, the American troops are going to every household in a months time. It is the law that one healthy man must go with them. They won't even consider people who have a slight chance of any sickness," Father explained his voice getting stronger with every word.
  I could see where he was going, so I politely took a bite of food.
  Father continued, "Sense I went to meet Mrs. Johnson, I can't go, there is no other man in the house besides you. I have decided that in one months time you will go to war."

Click here for chapter 2

 Samantha Kish-Levine

Gaudi/Originality                                              

 

Chap.1

 

 “On your mark, get set, GO!’

Gabriel’s loud scream pierced the cold night air.

“Mush!” screamed Rebecca. “MUSH!” the team leaped forward. Thump. Thump Thump. The sound of paws padding along on top of the hard-packed Arctic snow. Swoosh! The sound of the sled gliding, along, hurtling forward at a break-neck speed. “Faster!” she shouted. “FASTER!” Rebecca’s team pulled ahead. Behind her she could hear Gabriel’s frustrated cries. Then, there it was. The finish line loomed ahead of her. “Halt!” she commanded. The sled pulled smoothly to a stop behind the line. A minute later, Gabriel pulled up beside her.

“No fair!” he complained. “You got the better team!”

“In case you didn’t remember, you chose your team!” she retorted. “Anyway, don’t be a sore loser.”

“Fine”, muttered Gabriel sullenly. “Let’s have a rematch.”

“No way!” cried Rebecca. “I won, fair and square. Anyway, it’s dark out. We could get lost.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Scaredy cat!” he crowed. Then he took off, racing across the snow before she could protest. Rebecca sighed. “Mush”, she commanded the dogs. As they raced across the snow to join Gabriel at the start, Rebecca leaned back in the sled. She could hardly believe they were here, in the Arctic, with their mother and father. Rebecca’s father was a glacierologist, meaning he studied glaciers. He was writing a book about them, and had come to the arctic to study them better. Her mom was helping him. They often went on such trips- but they never took their kids’. However, due to a month of careful begging and pleading on behalf of Rebecca and Gabe, they had convinced their parents to bring them along. Rebecca and Gabriela were having a great time- and their favorite occupation was racing each other using the two dog teams their parents used for means of transportation.

 Rebecca’s lead dog, J.D., whined, breaking into her train of thought. She looked up, startled to see that they were almost at their destination. “Halt”, she commanded, pulling up next to Gabriel.

  “Gabe, I really don’t think this is a good idea”, she urged. “It’s getting dark out, and mom and dad will start to worry.”

 Gabriel shrugged. “You can go inside if you want to. I don’t care. I’m going to go for another run, whether or not you come.”

  Rebecca sighed. She knew she couldn’t leave her younger brother out here alone.

  “Fine, I’ll race you, but you owe me big time.”

  “Whatever.” He grinned. “On your mark, get set, GO!”

Rebecca leapt forward, but slower this time. She would let Gabe win. She shivered-the temperature was starting to drop. It was starting to get darker. With a start, she realized she could hardly see.

  “Gabe?”

  “Over here, Becky.”

She guided her sled toward the reassuring sound of his voice. Finally, she found him. “Cummon, Gabe, it’s time to go home.”

  “S-s-s-sure”, he replied, teeth chattering. “Let’s go.”

They started to head back the way they came. But after 20 minutes, they still weren’t home. She told Gabriel.

  “Let’s see where we are”, he said. “I have a flashlight in my pocket.”

  “Why didn’t you say so before?” demanded Rebecca.

   “I forget! Do you want to see where we are or not?”

   “Rebecca glared at him. “Turn. On. The light.”

Gabriel flicked the switch and shone the light around them. The bright swath of light cut through the darkness, illuminating their surroundings. Rebecca looked around, and her fears were confirmed. The house was no-where in sight. They were in a totally unfamiliar area. She groaned.

 They were officially lost.

Chap.2

   “I’m really, really sorry, Becky. I should have listened to you.”

 “It’s okay, Gabe. The important thing now is to stay warm. We should try and make and igloo.”

 “How?” demanded Gabriel. How are we going to make an igloo? How are we going to stay warm? How are we going to get home? We could be here for days!”

 His voice broke and he began to sob.

 “Shhhh, Gabe, shhhhhhhhh.” Comforted Rebecca. “We know how to make an igloo, remember? Dad showed us that video. You cut out big chunks of snow and stack them. How hard can it be? Go get your safety kit. It’s in the back of the sled-there might be something in there we can use.”

Gabe nodded and went to retrieve the kit.  

    “Wow”, said Gabe. “I never thought I would actually use this. I’m glad dad made us carry this around.”

  He opened the kit (which was hard since he was wearing mittens) and pulled out a small pocketknife.

 “Here!” he exclaimed. “Go get yours and we can start building.”

Rebecca got herself a knife and together they started cutting large, rectangular pieces of icy snow and stacking them on top of each other to form a dome.

 “In the front we have to form a little wind tunnel”, commanded Rebecca. “It helps keep the cold air out”

 Soon the igloo was done. It was a little lopsided, but at least it was shelter.

“Cummon”, she called. “Let’s get inside.”

“What about the dogs?” asked Gabriel. “We can’t just leave them outside!”

Rebecca thought for a moment, and then grinned.

 “I know!” she cried. “Let’s take them inside the igloo with us! They’ll keep us warm.”

She unhitched the dogs, pushed the sled inside, and coaxed the dogs in after her. Gabe brought up the rear. The dogs curled up together, and Rebecca and Gabe joined them. She snuggled closer to Sasha, a husky with light gray fur. She felt comforted by the warmth of the dog’s fur and the steady, rhythmic beating of her heart.

 We’ll make this through, she promised herself. We’ll survive this. Soon mom and dad will find us. Comforted by this thought, she closed her eyes and let oblivion take over.

 

Chap. 3

   In her dream, she was all alone. It was dark, and she was cold. Someone was calling her name. Her father? No, Gabriel.

 “Wake up, Becky, wake up.”

Rebecca sat up, blinking sleep from her eyes.  Where was she? At least she had been right about the cold part.

“Becky? Are you okay?”

Oh. Right. They were in the arctic, and they were lost. “I’m okay, Gabe”, she replied, Shaking herself awake.

“Good, because I’m starving.”

“Bring me the safety kit!” demanded Rebecca. Gabe opened up one of the kits, and she opened it up. Inside was some energy bars, a few small boxes of raisins, a box of matches, some dog kibble, and a mini first-aid kit. Rebecca’s stomach growled, reminding her that she had missed dinner that night.

“Here”, she said, handing Gabe an energy bar and taking one for herself. “Breakfast.”

“That’s all?”

“We have to make it last.”

They chewed their energy bars in silence, savoring every bite.

“We have to make ourselves a better igloo, build a fire, get some water, and feed the dogs”, said Rebecca once she was done.

“Right”, agreed Gabe. Let’s feed the dogs first.

And so they did. When that was done, they got to work building a better igloo. They cut out the chunks of snow using the pocket knifes. First they built the snug little wind tunnel, then the dome. Finally, they were done. They stood back, admiring their handiwork.

“Not bad”, remarked Gabe.

“Not bad”, agreed Rebecca. “Now for the fire.”

“How?” questioned Gabriel. “We have no wood!”

“The sled. We’ll burn down the dog sled. It’s wood, and besides, we won’t be needing it. Now help me dig a pit.”

Gabe got out his knife and started softening the snow. Rebecca scooped it up and away with her mittened hand. After a while, they had a hole about a foot wide and a few inches deep. They put one of the sleds runners in the hole and lighted it with one of the matches. Then Rebecca dumped out all the band-aids from a band-aid box she had found in the first-aid kit and filled it with snow. She set it near the fire to melt. When it had melted, she drank about half the water, and then gave the rest to Gabe. They spent the rest of the day playing with the dogs and sitting around the fire.

*****

That night, sitting around the fire and eating raisins, they had a talk.

“I’m worried”, began Gabriel. “How are we going to get home?”

“Mom and dad will find us”, said Rebecca firmly.

“But how will they find us?” demanded Gabe. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of the Arctic.”

“They’ll send out search parties. They won’t stop until they find us.”

In her mind she was thinking it happens all the time in movies. Why shouldn’t it happen to us?

Gabe sighed. Rebecca melted some more snow and gave it to Gabe. Then they called in the dogs and went to sleep.

 

Chap. 4

 

 

The next day, the dogs woke them both up early. They were all standing outside the igloo, growling and yapping at something. You didn’t need to speak dog to know something was wrong.

“Come on”, Gabe muttered groggily. “Let’s go see what’s bothering them and then let’s get them back in. It’s cold without them.”

The dogs were all barking at a blurry white shape in the distance, hard to see because it blended in with the snow. As it moved closer, Rebecca grabbed her brother’s arm.

”Gabe”, she whispered. ”Gabe, it’s a polar bear! And it has cubs!”

“Oh no”, moaned Gabriel. “That’s bad. Normally she wouldn’t hurt us, but she might if she thinks we’re a danger to her cubs. And with all the dogs barking…” his voice trailed off.

“We have to stop them!” said Rebecca grimly. Then she smiled.

“I have and idea!”

She ran inside the igloo and stood back a little ways from the entrance, shaking the dogs’ feed bag. Distracted by the sound of the food, the dogs trotted inside for breakfast, the bear forgotten. As the dogs ate, Rebecca and Gabriel watched, breathless, as the bear and her cubs passed by.

*****

   The next few days passed in a daze, one after another, each one so alike that when Rebecca looked back on it, she could hardly distinguish one from the other.

 The two siblings sat side by side next to the fire, dozing on and off, eating little. Rebecca knew that they would run out of supplies soon.

  She was right. By the end of the fifth day they were all out of food, dog food included. By the end of the sixth day, the only had one march left.

 Rebecca sat in front of the fire pit, staring at the match in her hand.

“Go on, Becky.” Said Gabriel. “Use it. We won’t last much longer without food. If the search parties don’t find us soon, we’re goners.”

Rebecca nodded. She didn’t trust herself not to cry.

 She lit the match and set the wood on fire. The flames shot up into the air, bright orange and red. It seemed to laugh with joy as it spiraled up and up, illuminating the night sky. How can it be so happy, Rebecca wondered, when it knows soon its bright flame will be extinguished?

  That night she curled up with Sasha, her favorite dog. Her stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged. It growled for food. shut up, she told it. I’m trying to get to sleep. I don’t have food.

She fell asleep.

That night she had a weird dream. There was a bright light shining in her face. All around her the dogs were barking. She caught snatches of conversation spoken in unfamiliar voices. Things like “half frozen, needs food, parents.”

Rebecca opened her eyes. Two men were standing over her, shining a flashlight on her face.

“What?”, she managed to croak. “Where…”

“shhhh, honey.” Said one of the voices. “It’ll be okay.”

Rebecca closed her eyes and let blackness creep in.

 

Chap. 5

 Five hours and a good meal later, Rebecca and Gabriel were back in the hands of their parents. At first it was all “ Oh-my-gosh-my-poor-little baby-I’m-so glad-to-see-you”, but then the “Oh-my-gosh-don’t-you-ever-do-that-again-you’re-in-huge-trouble” took over.

“Mom”, interrupted Gabriel. “Dad, I want you to know that this was all my fault. I wanted to stay out late, and Rebecca couldn’t leave me. It was my fault. Really.”

 Rebecca’s mom looked at Gabriel’s face, then pulled them both into a hug. “I’m just so happy you’re home!” she exclaimed. Rebecca buried her face in her mom’s shoulder.

“Trust me, mom” she whispered. “Trust me. The feeling’s mutual.”

 

 

            PROLOGUE

 

The crayons stood rigid in their places in the box, for someone was coming to look at them. They were silent as the visitor picked up the box and looked at the back.

“Comes in dark red, light red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, brown, and multicolored” read the visitor. The crayons scowled at the harsh mispronunciations of their names, but kept silent.  The visitor read on.

“Three dollars for a twelve pack of crayons-that’s such a great buy! This will make a nice little addition to Crayola’s birthday presents.” With that, the visitor picked up the box.

The crayons tried hard not to squeal. They were finally being bought! Finally, their days of being looked at, and still not being bought were over! They were going to be used! Finally someone wanted them. And just in time, too. A few crayons had overheard the manager saying that if they didn’t sell in another month, they would be thrown out. The crayons were so excited.

And thus, the adventures began.

 

 

               And 6 years later, the adventures were still going on…

 

                 THE ADVENTURE OF THE WORK OF ART

 

Giggles and whispers of excitement streamed from the closet of Crayola’s bedroom. All the crayons were extremely excited about Rose’s big meeting. So excited, that, even the fact that Rose was standing at the podium couldn’t bring them to give her their attention.

“Hello!” Rose screeched for the third time. No one listened. “SHUT UP!!!” she screamed, using a wind so horrifying it blew the waxy leftovers across the closet floor. The crayons shut up. Satisfied, Rose felt safe to continue.

“Today,” Rose announced, “Today is special. Today is special because we are going to do something grand and exciting.”

“What, what?” yelled her audience. Rose grinned, enjoying her power to hold them in suspense.

“Today, we are going to-“she paused dramatically. “DRAW!” The crayons squeaked and shrieked, laughing excitedly. The crayons joined arms and skipped in a circle. Ebony looked on in disgust.

Rose quieted them down. “What will we draw, Rose?” asked uncertain Pearl. Rose beamed.

“I’m sooo glad you asked, Pearl.” She turned to the group. “My fine ladies, today we will draw whatever we like.” The crayons cheered.

Revealing a smooth, white, HUGE piece of paper, Rose felt like a goddess. The crayons dropped to their knees in worship. Satisfied, the crayons set to work.

Rose began drawing a huge field of pretty pink flowers. Ruby was sketching a beautiful red rose. Scarlett and Saffron were working together to create a warm, feisty, bright fire. Lemony contentedly sat with her friend letting out pictures of warm, sunny days. Emerald depicted pastures full of perfect sparkling green grass. Sapphire drew a dazzling blue sea under a sparkling blue sky. Violet sketched closets full of pretty purple dresses, while Pearl shyly worked on some fluffy white clouds. Amber drew warm mugs of hot cocoa, while multi-colored Opal drew dozens of rainbows. Sitting away from the rest of the group, Ebony sketched as many little goth girls as she could, then decided to do something else.

Ebony walked slyly over to Pearl. “That’s ugly.” she remarked, and scribbled all over it. Pearl burst into tears and ran for Opal’s comforting arms.

“I cannot believe you said that!” Amber challenged, walking towards Ebony.

“Whatcha’ gonna do about it?” Ebony taunted.

“Now girls,” clucked Sapphire, “Let’s not fight!”

“I’ll show you!” cried Amber, exsasperated, giving Sapphire no attention. She scribbled on Ebony’s drawings.  Saffron leaped up.

“That was mean, Amber. I should do the same thing to you!” Saffron threatened. Violet stormed up.

“Are you threatening my best friend?” she challenged.

“Now I’m threatening both of you!”

“Girls!” shrieked Sapphire. No one paid her any attention.

“All right.” said Emerald, obviously picking her side of the situation. “I dare you!”

At these words, the crayons leaped into battle-not with each other, but with each other’s drawings. Everybody drew over everybody else’s drawings. The battle raged on, and only about an hour later did each soldier drop to the ground. Amber was the first to apologize.

“I’m so sorry, Rose.” She groaned. “We must have ruined the whole thing. Your big night went to waste.” At that, the crayons realized what jerkfaces they had been, and began apologizing.

“Let’s see how bad we wrecked it,” said Ebony, who wasn’t particularly sorry. The crayons crawled over to their battlefield to look at the sorry sight. But the sorry sight wasn’t so sorry. In fact, it looked kind of…good.

 

 

            MELTING

 

The crayons squealed with delight at the sound of Crayola’s snoring. The flimsy box opened, and all the crayons ran out.

“Weee!” sang happy Ruby, giddy with excitement to be let out of the box.

“Ok.” Said the box. “You can go out now.”

The crayons ran out of the closet and danced around the room “Ssh!” hissed pessimistic Ebony. “You’ll wake up Crayola!” The other crayons paid Ebony no attention. Daring Scarlett hopped up on one of the chairs and continued to climb up to the windowsill.

“Look at me, everyone!” All the crayons, eager for an adventure, even Ebony, raced up after her. Scarlett hopped onto a big metal box. Sweat poured down her one-minute-ago-excited face.

“Don’t come up here you guys,” she warned, starting to drip.

“Why not, Scarlett?” asked the crayons.

“I think,” she replied. “I’m melting!”

“Scarlett, no!” screeched loyal Amber, rushing to help her friend.

“No!” Scarlett cried just a few seconds too late. “Now you’re melting, too!”

“Amber!” yelled Violet, Amber’s best friend, climbing up to the radiator, and not realizing that she would get stuck as well. One by one, all the crayons followed their friends up to the radiator-that is, except for Ebony.

“We’re melting!” they shouted at her.

“I noticed.” Ebony remarked sarcastically. She quietly walked over to the window, and pushed the draped aside. Cool air flooded into the room, and the crayons stopped dripping. One by one, the crayons slowly stepped down.

And they never went near the radiator again.

 

 

            SNOBBY COLORED PENCILS

 

“Well, Crayola!” The crayons heard from outside the closet. “I just wanted to give you your Christmas present. Have a good break! Bye honey!” Crayola took the package. “Bye, Aunt Rosa! Thanks!” As soon as her aunt was out of sight, Crayola ripped open the package.

“Colored pencils?” Crayola remarked to herself. “I’m not a baby anymore.” The crayons hid as Crayola walked towards the closet to put the box inside.

As soon as Crayola left, the crayons gathered around. Suddenly, the lid of the box sprang open. Tall, thin, sharp, new colored pencils jumped out. “Did you hear that?” said one to another. “She doesn’t appreciate us.” The crayons went up to the pencils. Violet went up to the purple pencil.

“Hi, I’m Violet!” she introduced herself.

The pencil sniffed. “Violet?” she said disapprovingly. “That’s almost as bad as being called ‘Purple’! My name is Majestica.” Violet looked at the floor. Amber and Emerald rushed to defend their friend.

“Her name is nicer than yours!” Emerald said. “And my name is Emerald!”

The green pencil laughed. “Please!” she said. “Emerald? I’m Sparkla!” Amber laughed.

“Sparkla? That’s even funnier than Majestica!” The pencils grew angry.

“We are shinier, newer, and better than you are!” Sparkla said.

“Oh yeah?” asked Violet, who had regained her confidence. At once, the three brave crayons leaped at Majestica and Sparkla. The rest of the crayons leaped onto other pencils.

Violet started chewing at the end of the pencils. “Hey!” the pencils yelped. “That hurts!” Emerald broke the tips of the pencils so they couldn’t be used without a sharpener. Amber peeled the paper wrapping off. The pencils weakly tried to fight back, but they weren’t any good, and the wax of the crayons allowed no pain.

Finally, exhausted, the pencils crawled back into the box. The crayons went to sleep as well.

The next morning, Crayola opened the closet door. “Where’s those pencils-oh here!” Crayola picked up the box, and took of the lid.

“What-who-Lola!” Crayola marched down the hall to Lola’s room.

“Lola, did you ruin my new colored pencils?” Crayola accused.

“No.” the crayons heard Lola say.

“Oh,” said Crayola. “Well, you can have them anyway. I don’t want them anymore. Crayola thrust the box at Lola, and came back.

The crayons silently cheered. The crayons had won!

And Lola kept the pencils, until they got so old she threw them out.

 

 

                        MOGGY EATS

 

Once again, the crayons of Crayola’s bedroom were ready for a night of fun. One problem-Moggy, Crayola’s dog, was sitting on their trampoline.  Saffron walked over to Moggy and gave him a nudge.

It’s not that the crayons were afraid of Moggy, it’s just that he was a lot bigger than them. Saffron pressed her skinny arms up against Moggy’s hind legs, a technique that Crayola’s sister, Lola had used.

“Come on, Moggy!” she complained. “Up!” Moggy grunted in response, and rolled over onto his side.

“Ugh.” Ruby groaned. “He’s so fat and huge. We’ll never move him. Up!!!”

Ruby pushed harder. “Help us.” Saffron cued the other crayons. They rushed over and pushed on Moggy, but he didn’t seem to mind. Truth be told, Moggy was actually enjoying it. It felt kind of like a back massage.

“Pearl!” Ebony yelled. “Why aren’t you helping?”

“Sorry.” Mewed weak Pearl, easily intimidated. “I’ll help now!” Moggy was getting kind of annoyed. He was locked in Crayola’s room, and now he couldn’t get enough peace to sleep. He growled a little, and picked up Pearl in his mouth; not in a mean way, but in a get-off-my-back way.

Pearl, being scared of everything, screamed. “HELP!” she shrieked. “HELP me please!”

“Coming, Pearl, said Saffron dutifully, who was used to “rescuing” Pearl from these kinds of situations.

She hopped onto Moggy’s now outstretched leg, and began climbing up. She climbed onto his back, and carefully walked up to the top of Moggy’s head. She reached her arms down to meet Pearl’s. Pearl grasped them, but Moggy’s grip was too tight. Instead of the other way around, Saffron found herself dangling from Pearl’s arms, under Moggy’s mouth. Saffron thought for a moment.

“Girls, will you bring me Crayola’s math textbook? It’s the fat blue one.”

As the crayons struggled to shove the heavy textbook over, Saffron gave instructions to Pearl. When the textbook, got there, Saffron stepped down. Pearl, with the crayons help, bent her arms up to Moggy’s nose. She tickled it, and when Moggy opened his mouth to lick his nose, Pearl jumped down.

“I think I need to bathe.” she said quietly.

So Saffron and Opal, who also looked after Pearl, (Pearl being the youngest) ran Pearl a bubble bath in the sink, and none of the crayons ever tried to bother Moggy again, unless he wanted them to.

 

                       

                        CIRCUS NIGHT/CONCLUSION

 

In Crayola’s bedroom, late at night, the circus was going on. Not literally, but it was just about the greatest circus ever known to crayons.

“Yaaaaaa!” screamed Scarlett, as she swung down off Crayola’s desk chair, rocking back and forth on a piece of dental floss. Lemony, Rose and Saffron quickly walked across the room on the same floss. Emerald, Violet, and Opal screeched as Moggy, who they were riding on, bounced up and down around the room. Pearl, Ebony, and Sapphire sat in amazement looking at them, and munching on goodies.

“Popcorn! Get your popcorn!” yelled Amber, walking around and giving each crayon one, huge, fluffy kernel.

“Graaaa!” yelled Scarlett, as she came barreling towards them.

“Yaaa!” shouted Amber, Ebony, Pearl and Sapphire in response, as they dived under their seats for protection.

“Thanks,” Scarlett giggled, as she whisked a piece of popcorn out of Amber’s hand, and zoomed back in the other direction.

“You owe me a coin!” Amber screamed angrily after Scarlett. “I mean it!”

The circus grew louder, the cheers grew harder, and all of a sudden, someone knocked on the door. “Crayola?” asked a small voice. The crayons froze.

“Hide!” shrieked Emerald, rushing to get under Crayola’s bed. The door opened a crack. 

“Crayola?” A little brown head asked curiously.

“It’s Lola!” shrieked Rose.

“Shut your mouth!” muttered Ebony.

“Who said that?” asked Lola, suddenly frightened. She reached for Crayola’s broom. “I’ve got a broom,” she threatened. Scarlett snickered.

“Is it a burglar?” asked Lola, who was too young to know that you should call the police if someone is in your house. “Mommy says burglars are mean. I don’t like you, Mr. Burglar! Where are you hiding?”

Lola lifted Crayola’s blanket to check under the bed. The crayons winced. Now she was sure to find them. Lola ran a flashlight over the contents of the bed. Notebooks, dustballs, an old stuffed animal-shivering, whispering crayons!

Lola reached out and grabbed them, prompting shrieks of pain from a few crayons.  Lola noticed something weird that wasn’t on most of her crayons-these had little legs, arms, and faces! Lola squealed over her find. She crept down the hall to her room, and took the crayons with her. The crayons eyes were all wide, and they kept silent for fear of what she might do to them.

Lola stood, her fist full of crayons, wondering what to do. How did she get them to talk, she wondered. Would they even talk to her? Did Crayola know they were alive? How come no one had ever noticed this before? Questions flooded her mind.

“Talk.” she said, unsure. Ebony spoke up first.

“Would you let go of us?” she complained. “Lemony’s feet are smushed against my nose, and it’s all very smelly and uncomfortable.” At this, the crayons took off.

“Pearl, you’re scratching me!”

“Amber, would you get your head off my shoulder?”

“She pushed me, it’s not my fault!”

Lola’s eyes were wide. She had had no idea that crayons were better at complaining than people were. Eventually the crayons toned down.

“Please don’t tell.” begged Scarlett. “They’ll shut us down if you do.”

“Humans might make us perform.” Lemony added.

“And we might even be de-alivitized!” broke in Emerald. All the crayons started wondering what might happen, and begging and pleading Lola not to tell.

“I won’t tell.” Lola said quietly. The crayons cheered.

And from there on out, the crayons played in Lola’s room, and she never told.  

 

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

Normal
0

false
false
false

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

Inbal Klein                                                                                                                  Gaudi Imaginacion                     
 
Dear Diary,                                                                                                  3/08/09
Hi, I would like to introduce myself to you because I will be writing in you almost everyday! My name is Stephany and I was born in Israel. I am in 6th grade, and am about to turn twelve on March 11th! I go to Columbia Secondary School but I like to call it CSS. I have brown hair, which I personally hate because it is just one shade of brown and it is so frizzy. I have very pale skin and people say I look like a stick but I prefer to say I’m skinny. I prefer to say that I’m skinny because sticks are easily broken and that is not very good when you play soccer. Now, you might be thinking so…, but the so part is that I love to play soccer and it’s pretty much my life! But, I also know if I do poorly in school I will make myself quit soccer.
Today I had soccer practice, and we had to run a mile. I ran my fastest mile ever, which is now 6 minutes and 43 seconds! My legs felt like bricks once I finished running the mile, and the tips of my ears were red and hurt because of the cold, crispy, wind. After the mile, we did this really cool drill that involves fitness and skill work. You have to keep passing the ball among your team mates without the other team getting the ball away from you. In this drill, my team won, because we had the most passes.  
When I got home from soccer practice, I got into a nice, warm shower, which made my spine shiver. After I get out of the shower I realized that I was limping and that everything around me seemed like it was spinning. I decided to skip dinner and just go to bed.

Dear Diary,                                                          3/09/09
Today was like every school day, exciting but yet boring at the same time. But today there was a twist, a scary twist.
The beginning of the day was like a normal day. What I mean by a normal day is that most of the people in my class were not paying attention. An example of when they were not paying attention today was in math class, which is first period. My math teacher, Mrs. Wenderoff, tells me to go up and answer the math problem on the board, while pointing to the place she wants me to go. I remember looking around and seeing if anyone was paying attention, but getting a negative response I sighed and went to the board to do the problem.
            After math class I went to English class. But, before I got there I talked to my friends in the hall. My friend Miranda is the first to speak. She said, “The science test was so hard”.
            I looked at her puzzled. “What science test?” I remember saying.
            She looks at me in amazement and said, “Stephany the unit test, the one she told us to study for.”
            I looked at her, and realized that she was not joking with me, but in this situation I wished she was. I look around and see that barely anyone is in the hall, I sigh and than say bye to Miranda and Kathy. I walk into English class a few minutes late. I slide into my seat and realize that everyone’s eyes are on me. I sigh, now of all times everyone has to pay attention and stare?
            Once English class it over, and I have a red slip saying I have homework detention, I find myself walking really slowly to science class. Once I walk in I see the science teacher holding a pile of papers. I scream as quietly as I can and than take my seat.
            Once I had my test and looked at the questions, I tensed up. I don’t know all the answers and to make it worse it was the unit exam that was worth 100 points!
            After that period was over, everything was fine except for the fact that I was freaking out for the rest of the day and still am freaking out. And, to make matters worse, I have to go to detention.
 
 
Teeth shattering together as if I was freezing,
Legs thumping against the ground,
Hands squeezing my pensile and shaking furiously,
Voice in my head screaming at me,
Why did I have to forget about this test,
 A unit test,
That will decide if I fail or not…?

Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/10/09
            Today was probably one of the worst days of my life. I got my science test back and let’s just put it this way, I got a failing score.  I don’t know how to tell my mom. She will be really mad because she is a scientist and she thinks I should do well in that subject. And, she will say Stephany if you had any questions then why didn’t you ask me, you know I could help you. Plus, this failing score will bring my grade down a lot and then maybe I will fail this subject and then I will have to quit soccer. Oh no! That would be horrible. Oh god, what should I do? I think I am just going to wait till my mom comes home and see how she reacts and see what she tells me to do, but meanwhile I can’t think so I am just going to watch T.V.
            Oh man, it is 6:00 p.m. and my mom is still not home. I guess I will just continue watching T.V. and start my homework later…
            My mom just came home. I am so scared, what am I going to tell her?
            I told my mom and she is not too pleased, but she didn’t scream at me! I am so happy, but I don’t think I should be.
            Oh no, It’s 9:00 p.m. and I have not started my homework, but I am so tired. You know what, I am going to skip homework, I mean there is no point of doing well in school anymore, and I am probably going to fail anyway. Plus, if my mom asks why I didn’t do my homework I can always say I was not feeling good and I didn’t want to get sick so I decided to go to sleep early.
 
Dear Diary,                                                                                              3/11/09
            Hi! Guess what, today is my birthday! I am 12 now, and I love it! Today I woke up and my mom gave me a present and a hug. The present was a sheet of paper that had converse on it and she said pick the one you want. I was really happy because I love converse and I only have black ones because that is the color shoes I have to wear to my school. My brother also gave me a present which was a $20 iTunes gift card!
            I gave my twin brother, Sam, $20 to buy a book that he wants. It was kind of lame, but I kind of forgot and only decided to get him a present when my dad asked me if I am getting him a present because my brother is giving me one.
            Since it was my birthday, my dad had bought my brother and I doughnuts. I had a maple doughnut and my brother had a chocolate covered doughnut for breakfast!
            At school a lot of people said happy birthday to me, and when I got home from school and I checked my facebook, there was like 20 people that wrote on my wall and said happy birthday to me. I was surprised that even my cousins in Israel said happy birthday! They wished me luck in school and said to keep up my good work. This made me kind of sad, because I’m not doing that good in school anymore.
            After dinner I had two tiny cakes because it was my birthday. One was a fruit cake and one was this sugar cream cake. Both of the cakes were so good, but I felt like I was going to puke afterwards because they were so sweet.
            The bad part of my birthday was that I got homework, but I decided to give myself a break and not do any homework, because what girl deserves to do homework on their birthday? So, instead of doing homework I spent time with my family and watched T.V. till around 10:00 p.m., but then I got tired, so I decided to go to bed.
 

Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/12/09
            I am so happy! My soccer coach just emailed my whole team telling us that we are going to have a tournament on Saturday and that we are playing teams that are a division higher then us! My coach also wrote in the email to spend at least an hour practicing and getting into shape.
            I decided to start practicing today instead of doing homework because I would prefer to do well in my tournament then do well in school. So, I went outside and ran a mile, I timed myself and I ran it in 6 minutes 57 seconds. I then did some stretching so I wouldn’t hurt or pull a muscle before the tournament. Then I did pushups and suitcases – a harder style of crunches – and I did a drill called 1,000 touches, which took up most of my time.
            After my mini practice I went into a warm bath for the first time this year. I never take baths because you’re sitting in your own filth, but I did it today because I needed my muscles to relax. But after the bath I took a shower because I felt disgusting from sitting in my own dirt.
            When I got out of the shower it was around 9:30 and I realized I didn’t have dinner yet, so I had dinner and then I decided it was late and that I should go to bed.
            Before I managed to go to sleep I realized that doing homework was out of my schedule now, and because I don’t do homework anymore my life has become a lot more relaxing.
 
Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/13/09
            Oh my god! Today I got my report card back on Friday the thirteenth, and who would have guessed that not doing homework for less then a week would bring my grade down? Well, I didn’t. I failed science by one point and I got all really low B’s in the rest of my class’s.
            I have decided not to tell my parents till after the tournament because I want to play in the soccer tournament that I practiced for yesterday.
            Oh my god, my brother betrayed me. He told my mom that we got or report cards, so of course my mom asked to see mine, and I tried making a lie but I couldn’t think of one quick enough, so I just handed it to her.  
            My mom scans it and then before she even says it I knew what she was about to say, “Call up your coach and tell him you’re off the team”. I chocked up, and couldn’t do anything but cry. I know it’s my fault, but couldn’t she let me at least play in the tournament. But, I know my mom feels really bad that she’s making me quit soccer because she knows it means everything to me.
            I woke up in the middle of the night and asked my mom if I improved could I rejoin the team, and she said, “yes, but that would take a lot of effort.”
           
WHAT I’M GOING TO DO TO IMPROVE:
1)     Do all homework before watching T.V. or going on the computer
2)     Study for all test even if they are small test because the points will add up
3)     Do all extra credit assignments
4)     Pay attention in class & participate
Hopefully if I do these four things my grade in all my subjects will improve and then I will be able to rejoin my team. Oh, that would be great! I am going to start tomorrow on Saturday and do all my homework on Saturday so I don’t forget to do any.

Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/14/09
            I awoke at 9:00 a.m. to see my packed soccer bag ready for the tournament that I was going to go to. I look down, but erase soccer from my mind. I reminded myself that the only way I would be able to play on my team again is if I do good in school which involves doing homework.
            I first went into the kitchen and had some orange juice which always wakes me up. Then I had two waffles and decided it was time to start homework. I first made a list of all the homework and wrote how long I predicted it would take me. I predicted that it would take five hours to finish all my homework.  
            By lunch I finished my ELA homework and science homework! I told my mom but she didn’t seem as happy as I was. I was happy because my predicted time showed that I only had three hours left!
            Before I started homework again I called one of my friends on my team called Maggie. I asked her about the tournament and she said it was not fun without you, and we didn’t win, but we did pretty good. The only thing that went through my mind is that I let my team down, and that I have to join my team soon because I really miss everyone.
            Once I finished talking to my friends on my soccer team I got back to homework and I am proud to say that I finished all my homework and even did some extra credit assignment that I asked for!
            When I told my mom, she didn’t seem as proud and happy as I was, but she realized that I was actually trying to change and do better in school.
 
Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/15/09
            Today is Sunday and I feel great! I finished all my homework yesterday and I double checked it today! I know I will get good grades on those assignments and now I have time to go to the park and play the sport I love, soccer!
            I called my friends and they said they would come down to the park and play soccer with me. My friends Miranda, Kathy, Samantha, and Rebecca all came. We played a small scrimmage, which my team of course won! The losing team – not mine – had to run around the field four times!

            We (my friends) then all went to the ice cream shop near by and got some cold, yummy ice cream! We started to talk and I found out that my friend Kathy has a boyfriend. I’m so happy for her, but she couldn’t stop talking about him. She started to get so annoying. The funniest part was when Kathy started to mention her boyfriend all my friends and I screamed at her and said, “Stop!” Then, all of us started to crack up and no feelings were hurt!
            Today was a great day, and I realized that doing homework was not that bad. It actually made you feel good once you were finished! I promised myself that I will always do my homework from now on and if I don’t well then my grades will go down and then I will be were I am at now, no soccer.
 
Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/16/09
            Today was one of my favorite school days. I did all my homework over the weekend and now understood what everyone was talking about during class discussions. My teacher’s in all my subjects checked my homework and said I got a 100%! But, before I get over exited, I need to remember that I need to keep doing my homework, so bye for now. (I will write in you when I am done with homework)
            I just finished my homework at around 7:00 p.m., which means I only did homework for three hours! I only had to do an ELA journal, a math sheet, and a social studies essay. I though my homework would take me all night, but it obviously didn’t. Now, I have till 10:00p.m. to have fun!
            It’s only nine and I have finished all my homework and have talked to my friends! I am so proud that I am following up on my goal, and I can just see my mom telling me soon that I can join soccer again! I have been talking to my soccer friends to see how the team is doing and have found out that they have won all their games except for one that they tied. I was really happy to hear the good news, but I wished I was there with my teammates on the field. I have continued to practice, so if my mom says I can join my soccer team again, I will be in shape and will be able to play with out getting tired so easily.
            I am going to go to bed now, because I am exhausted.
 
Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/17/09
            Today I have a ton of homework because I asked for extra credit in all my subjects, but I know that I can do it –or at lest I hope. The extra credit packet for science requires me to read unit 2 in the science textbook. Reading unit 2 and doing the extra credit packet will probably take me an hour and a half. My math extra packet is just 30 math problems, and my ELA extra credit is to write an essay about a book I just read. So, since this is going to take a while, I am going to start now.
            I just finished homework at around ten. All I can say is at least I am done! Even though it took me forever, I am so happy because I know a week ago, I wouldn’t have even taken the extra credit packet and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t have completed it.
            It’s time for me to go to bed, because I don’t want to be tired in school.

Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/18/09
            Today I handed in my extra credit and I got it back by the end up the school day! I got everything right, and they said all my grades have turned to A’s! I have decided to tell my mom and ask her to see my teachers for proof so I could rejoin my team!
            My mom just came home, and I’m going to tell her right now, so bye for now.
            I told my mom. She didn’t seem to believe me, but she is going to talk to my teachers tomorrow and see for herself! I can’t wait! I can already see her telling me I can rejoin my soccer team! But, before I get over excited I need to remember I need to continue doing well in school, so I should go and do my homework for today which is a journal, a math packet, and to write a reflective response. I predict all my homework will take me about two hours, so I will write in you before I go to bed.
            I actually finished my homework in an hour so it’s only eight! I have time to work on soccer, which I really need to do if I want to rejoin the team, because I don’t want to be too far behind in fitness.
            I spent 45 minutes doing fitness and I am so tired now. I did 50 push-ups, 200 crunches, 250 toe-taps, etc. I think I am going to go to bed early because I am so tired.  I will write in you tomorrow, but bye for now.
 
 Dear Diary,                                                                                               3/19/09
            My mom went to meet with my teachers today and called me after school to say how sorry she was for not believing me and how she is so proud of me! I felt like crying, but I held it in, I was waiting for her to say one other thing. She then said, “Stephany, get ready to play in your game on Sunday!” I must have jumped three feet in the air because I was so happy. That’s when I cried, but for joy.
            I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I can do is jump and scream because I am so happy! But, so I wont have to quit soccer again, I am going to stop being so happy and start my homework, so for now, bye.
            I had a ton of homework today. It took me three hours, and it is now 10:30. I am so tiered; I am going to go to bed. Good night.

 

Dear Diary,                                                                                   3/20/09
            I feel like my old self, smart and in control of my own life! I can’t believe I ever stopped doing my homework, it feels great to get work done and to get good grades, especially if you get reward from it like being able to play soccer.
            Today is Friday, which means tomorrow I have soccer practice at 8:00 a.m. in the morning! I can’t wait to see all my soccer friends again as well as play on an actual field with my friends! But, so I have time to finish my homework I am going to start my homework now by finishing all my ELA homework which will probably take me about an hour. Then I am going to go to bed, so I can wake up for soccer tomorrow and not be tiered, which anyway I will most likely be.
            I finished my ELA homework even though I kind I procrastinated, but yet ELA homework was easy for the weekend.
            I’m going to go to bed, so good night.
 
Dear Diary,                                                          3/21/09
            Today was great! I woke up at 7:00 and got ready for practice not even feeling at all tiered. Once I got to practice everyone hugged me and said they missed me. I didn’t want to let go of my team mates, but practice was about to start and we needed to warm-up so our mussels wont be sore for tomorrows game. We had to run a mile, which was not to easy for me because I had not been running, but I still did fairly well. I came in 3rd even after being away for a while.  We then played a little scrimmage as a “present” of my returning, and my opposing team won, which was not so great, but at least it was fun!
            During practice we also worked on our moves as well as our fitness, which I am proud to say was not as hard as I thought it would be because I was not there for a while.
            Once practice was over and I returned to home, I felt excused, but I felt so good that I finally joined my team that I wanted to go back their and play some more soccer, but I knew I had tomorrow to play with my friends, but this time instead of a scrimmage we would be playing a game!

 
Dear Diary,                                                                                                3/22/09
            Today I played in my first real soccer game in a while. We won 3-1, and I even scored two of the goals and made an assist that lead to the third goal! During the first half the score was 2-0, which is proven to be the worse score to go back into a game with. But, we made a promise before we went into the second half that we would prove those statistics wrong and win this game. We ended up getting another goal, but we also gave one up. I was so happy to win this game and kind of felt the feeling when you win the first game of the season.
            Playing the soccer game was so much fun. I loved the feeling of beating the defender and then coming face to face with the goalie. I loved placing the ball in the net and hearing the crowd cheer and scream! I also love playing on the field with my teammates and seeing their smiles on their faces. 
            Today was a great day! Other then soccer, I felt free! I felt good about myself that I completed my goal. And now I’m making a promise that I will always do my homework, so the idea of quitting soccer will never come up again.
 
 

 

Chapter One

Ready

 

  The morning spring air did not smell of flower and bees, and birds chirping. It smelled of donkey radish, and was deafening with the roar of thunder overhead and the donkey’s feet splashing and clattering.

  I shivered so hard, that the whole, black world seemed to be shaking slightly. Even though the base was in view, it didn’t seem to be getting closer. I could see dots which I thought were those German planes my father told me about on the base. I was ready…

  Or was I? I had waited all my life for this moment; for the ultimate success and respect. I was ready to join German’s proud air force. I had already imagined myself coming home one day to my wife and kids. I would have 50 medals around my neck, and all of Germany following behind me. I thought too soon.

  By now, I was wishing I’d never come here. Faint lighted glowed from the camp as I turned the last corner. Eager to make my destiny, I hopped out of the wheel barrow, and waved good-bye to the donkey and his driver. He just looked at me and muttered something under his breath. I pretended not to hear.

 I turned on my heels, and stopped. The olive green tents to my left were ugly, old, and cramped. The main building on the right was made of brick. A few windows were broken. The hangers looked like they were made and used since the time of the first flight of the Wright Brothers. Was I really ready?

 

Chapter 2

Surprise

 

 I stood where I was for a full five minutes. I didn’t notice the rain washing over me, or the thunder laughing around me. This wasn’t a place where you would have a picnic. It was not pretty.

 “Hey you!” a man’s voice yelled from the base. “Wha’ do you think you’re doing; having a shower? Come in!”

 It took me a minute to find the man in the darkness.

 “Well, are you coming or not?” the voice asked.

 “Uhh… Oh!” Umm. Yeah! I just-uh…” I stammered. Suddenly, the cold dropped on me. I ran to the man to warm up.

 “Look at you! Ha! Someone could mistake you for a stray dog!” I looked at myself and my saggy clothes and hair hanging over my eyes. He was right. I could even fool myself into thinking that I was a stray dog.

 “Umm… uhh… I need… wanted …uh, to… tooo know if I coooould ssssign up for the airfffforce here?” I stammered, my teeth chattering.

 “Yeah… Sure,” was the reply. “But first you gotta com in and get yourself dry! You’re gonna drown us all if you don’t.” The man managed a smile.

 The man held the door open as I walked into the bright, humid room. People in front of me were bustling about.

 “Go on down there,” the man said, pointing to a hallway. “And go to the fourth door to your right. Then come out, and go to the door directly to your right.” I nodded a small “OK” and walked down the hall. The building suddenly got quit. I could feel a hundred eyes staring at my back. No one moved. I just wished I could get into the designated room, and hide forever.

 When I got inside the correct room, I found a towel and a drier. I hung my clothes on a rack, and tried to wring out as much wet rain from them as possible. Then, I worked on getting myself dry. In half an hour, my clothes were mostly dry, and I was all clean. I put my clothes back on. The small amount of moisture made wearing my clothes slightly uncomfortable, but I could bear it.

 I rushed out of the room, and slammed into a big, tall, statue of a man in a green uniform, and a tight frown slapped on top.

 “Well, surprise, surprise!”

 

 

Chapter 3

The Magic Number

 

 “You must be our newest member. Come with me.” the man said in a gruff voice.

 “Well, actually, I would like to know If I could join,” I corrected nervously.

 “Well, excuse me. The man that waited for you at the door must have said the wrong thing to me. You said you wanted to join?” the man exclaimed.

 “Uh, yes,” I looked down on the man’s uniform, and the stripes told me that he was a captain. “I am very willing to join Germany’s elite air force,” I replied with confidence.

 “Then all you need to do is follow me into my office.”

 The Captain led me into his door, which read “Captain’s Room”, and asked me to sit down before he took his own seat behind the tidy desk.

 ”All you have to do is sign a few questions. But first, do you have any skills in aviation?” the Captain asked me politely.

 “Of course. I’ve been flying since I could, and my father knew all about the war, and flying tactics, because he has a friend in the air force,” I gave back with insurance.

 “OK then. Here are you’re papers. Sign here, here, and here.” I hastily signed my full name, and started building up excitement. I was a signature away from joining the air force.

 “You’re all set.”

 I sighed in relief, glad that the most boring part was over.

 “OH! And just one more thing! PRINT your name right here. This will be for your cap, uniform, and suit.” The man startled me into a quick state of shock.

 The deed’s done. I thought.

 “You’re clothes will come tomorrow, ready to wear in your tent at noon,” said the Captain.

 “Thank you very much!” I said, gratefully.

 “No need to!” the Captain replied with a quick smile. As silence fell over the room, I concentrated my eyes on the wall behind the Captain, burrowing my vision into it.

 “You’re tent will be number 29,” he said, piercing the silence.

 I nodded, and head out the door, and into the cold. The rain had stopped, but the thunder still hung. I ran around the tents, searching for that one magic number on a tent, covering my ears.

 I found my tent, my one-way ticket to freedom from the noise, and went inside.

 

Chapter 4

Just Do!

 

 A notebook slammed shut, a lamp light clicked off, and a furl of blankets was followed by silence.

 What a great way to greet a new-comer. I thought to myself. I looked around at my new living space. The walls seemed squeezed in, a lamp on a table and chairs, hooks on the wall, and a bunk-bed were all the furniture in the room.

 A heap of body was already on the bottom bunk, so I took off my shoes and jacket, and climbed up the ladder-less bed to the top. I covered myself with the cool, crisp blankets, and before long, I was dozing off.

 

 

 “Surprise, surprise!” a devilish looking British pilot in a plane said to me. It chased me around, and I ran fast, but defiantly not fast enough to beat 120 miles per hour. The plane dove at me, and charged.

 I was panting and sweating. A thunder clap laughed at my helplessness. The plane descended. Black.

 I woke with a start. Perspiration was pouring from me.

 “Get up!” a voice yelled from bellow. I jumped down the bed instantly, and looked outside. The sun was just about to rise.

 “You’re already ten minutes late!” the mystery man yelled.

 “For what?” I asked unknowingly.

 “Don’t ask! Just do!"

 

 

Chapter 5

Black

 

 I jumped into my shoes and sprinted out of the tent. I didn’t know where I ran, I just did.

 “That way you-” The mystery man was cut off by a roar of engines coming from above and the West.

 “British bombers! Get down!” a man yelled from the field. I turned around and fled, not knowing what was going on. A sharp pain.

 Black again.

 

Floating above me were white cotton clouds. Rolling under me were green farms and meadows of all shades. To the right of me was a bird. Did it just wink at me? Aww well.

 “Wait!” I thought this couldn’t be happening. I looked down again, and realized I didn’t hear the roar of any engines! I was flying without a plane! But not for long.

 I instantly plummeted, falling hopelessly to the earth. The ground zoomed closer by the second. I flapped my arms wildly, but I just kept falling.

 I could see the base by now. Yes, the tents, the planes, and the main building were all there.

Then I saw a man. A big, buff one that was looking up. Did he see me? I hoped.

 “Help!” I yelled. I received no answer.

 “HELP! HELP!” I yelled again. The man materialized, and became the Captain.

 “Hey, over here!” I yelled again. The man said nothing back. The Captain turned around and headed back to the main building of the base.

 Well, that was the third time the world went black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Come on everybody, the dinner for the guests, and most of all the King, needs to be wonderful!” screamed Palo Ortega. He is the head chef at Risna Kingdom. The whole Kingdom loved his cooking. Chef Palo smelled the soup that Chef Thomas made. “It needs more basil. Work with me people! Don’t forget, we are making this for the King and Queen.”

“Relax, everything will be fine.” Chef Thomas said calmly. 

“No, it won’t be okay, it just won’t!” Chef Palo stomped away with anger. 

“Okay, sorry,” he mumbled.

The waiter quickly walked in and said,”The King is getting mad, so you better get the food to him as fast as possible.” His face looked worried. 

“Let’s bring out the soup now so the King does not throw a fit,” Chef Palo said calmly. “Bring out the soup!” A cart rolled out of the floppy kitchen doors while the King’s eyes tracked the pot as it rolled. 

The waiter took a ladle and carefully stuck his arm in the pot and poured the soup into a clear glass bowl. He had a spoon in his hand ready to try the soup. The King had a straight face. His eyes drooped down to the glass bowl. 

The Queen put a smile on her face ready for her delicious treat. “Your dinner is served,” Chef Palo said as he gulped. The waiter slid another bowl of soup infront of the Queen. 

The King just sat in his chair staring at the soup. “Come on and eat darling,” the Queen grinned. His hand moved slowly toward the bowl. The King took a bite, and the room grew silent.

                                                         ◊                 ◊                ◊

The King had a smile on his face. “Yeah!” everyone in the room cheered. Chef Palo’s nervous grin turned into a wonderful happy face. He started to dance around in a circle and chained arms with others. 

“Wait!” the King yelled across the dinning room. Every single person was quiet. He stared at Chef Palo. 

“It’s okay,” Chef Palo interrupted while grinning. “I still have 15 more dishes to give you. All of the other Chefs scattered back into the kitchen. Once they came out, they were each carrying a different plate of food. 

“WAIT!” the King screamed even louder. Everyone froze again while staring at the King. “I’m sorry Palo, but you are just too much for me to handle. I need a chef that does not beyond what is expected. That is why I am firing you, and making Chef Thomas the main chef.” Chef Palo stared at Chef Thomas while he grinned. “Please pack your belongings and leave Risna Kingdom.”

“But I don—,” the King cut him off.

“NOW!” Chef Palo followed his order. He left the dinning room with a glum look. 

“Dear, don’t you think you were a little to hard on hi,” the Queen whispered looking a bit sad.

“No. I know what I was doing, and I will not take it back. It is best for us anyway because we are not fond of him. Maybe it will be best for him too,” the King replied with his eyebrows curved diagonally. 

                                                        ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

Palo moped as he walked up the stairs. He was walking slowly to absorb his last moments in Risna Kingdom. His black hair did not reveal his teary green eyes. Palo started to pack his bag. He walked out of the castle doors and paused. He turned around and a tear dropped down his face. Instantly, he wiped it with his arm. Now what was he going to do? His life long dream has finally ended. He might never get another opportunity like that one. 

Palo arrived at the dock so he could take the next boat to his mother’s house. “At least she will like my cooking.” Palo said under his breath. There was a huge boat that had people boarding it. A man was standing on the boat ringing a bell. 

“All aboard!” he yelled across the dock. Palo realized that this must have been his boat. He took his suitcase and hopped up the ramp onto the boat. Right when Palo set foot on the ship, the captain greeted him by giving him a nice. “Hello and welcome. I will be your captain for today, so we might as well meet each other,” he said with a grin. “I’m Maxwell Rowenson.” Palo stood still, there was a slight pause. “And your name is?”

“Oh yeah, I’m Palo Ortega.”

“Nice to meet you Palo.”

“You too . . . Wait what is your name again?”

“Maxwell Rowenson.”

“You too Maxwell.” Palo walked away looking down because he felt embarrassed. He took a seat and put his suitcase down. Palo took a glimpse at the amazing scenery. The view was the best thing he has seen today. The sun was setting and it included many shades of blue, orange, and red.

                                     ◊                 ◊                ◊

      

The next day Palo was going to turn over a new leaf. Finally, the ship arrived at shore. Palo grabbed his suitcase, and left immediately. Once he got off the boat there was nothing infront of him but sand. It looked like the sand would go on for miles. “This does not look like my mother’s village. Wait a second, that’s because it isn’t.” Palo abruptly turned around and realized the boat was departing the dock. “Wait! Please!” I don’t know where I am! Please help me!” Palo kept running. Then he got to the point where he could not take it anymore. 

Palo had all, but given up hope. “What am I going to do now?” he said. “I might as well walk a little bit to see if I can find anything else besides sand. He started to walk on the sand while the sun was beaming down on him.

                       

             ◊                 ◊                ◊

Palo became really tired and had no clue where he was. It felt like he had been walking for ages. He was worn down and sweaty. His feat were so sweaty, his feet were like a magnet to the sand. Suddenly, Palo came across a broken gate. He pushed it open and walked through it slowly. Now he was in no rush. There were very few houses. They were all colored brown. Some people were sleeping on the streets. Most of all, there was dead silence. Clearly this village had no personality at all. 

Suddenly, a boy ran up to Palo He looked abut 12 years old. “Hi, welcome to Oasis. You must be here to stay, we have not had a vi—” The boy sounded excited, but Palo had to cut him off.

“Actually, I’m not here to stay.” The boy’s face turned from happy, to sad. “I was just going to ask where I was, and how far from anywhere I am.” 

“You are miles away from anywhere. That’s why this village is called Oasis.”

     

                                                        ◊                 ◊                ◊

“Oh I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Joseph Eastman, the son of the Mayor of Oasis.” the boy said. 

“Good to know. I’m Palo Ortega. I use to be the Top Chef at Risna Kingdom. Cooking for the King and Queen was my specialty.”

“Interesting.” Joseph started to walk away.

“Wait where are you going!?” Palo yelled out to him. 

“Well aren’t you leaving?” Joseph asked.

“Actually, do you have enough space for me to stay a few days? I have no where else to go,” Palo admitted.

“Of course, but first answer this question. Why are you here if you have an amazing job as a chef at Risna Kingdom?”

“Well I got fired.” Palo said looking down at the ground looking while kicking a rock near his foot. 

“Can you tell me why?”

“Sure, whatever. The King said I go way over the top with my cooking.” Palo blushed. His cheeks were the color of red rose petals.

“That’s why. Wow.” Joseph chuckled a bit. “The King must be pretty picky.”

“I’ll say,” Palo agreed.

Anyway, we have plenty of room for you to stay. Trust me,” Joseph said happily. Palo wondered why Oasis was so empty, and how it got the name. They started to walk. 

“Why is this village called Oasis, and why is it so empty?” Palo could not resist to ask. 

“Well, it is called Oasis because we are miles and miles away from anything, but sand. Also, Oasis is empty because no one knows we exist. As a result, people don’t come. Oh, and by the way, do you mind if I take you to see my father?”

“No, not at all.”

                                    ◊                 ◊                ◊

Knock, knock, knock, “Father are you there?” Joseph tapped his door. 

“Not right now son, I’m doing work,” Mayor Eastman said with his glasses pushed all the way down to the tip of his nose. 

“But father, we finally have a person that wan— that needs to stay in Oasis.”

Once Mayor Eastman heard those words, he got up right away and said, ”Well let me meet the guy.” Joseph walked through the door followed by Palo. Palo waved at the Mayor. With a crooked smile the Mayor said, “Please sit down. You are welcome anytime in Oasis. Wait here a second, while I talk to Joseph alone.” 

Palo watched as they walked to the corner. It looked as if Joseph was telling his father everything Palo had said. Clearly, he wanted to find out everything Joseph knew about Palo.

“Well it is nice to meet you Palo.” Mayor Eastman shook his hand nonstop. “Why don’t we give you a tour, even though there is not much to see.” Mayor Eastman took the lead as Palo and Joseph followed. “The first house is ours because we have to be close to the office.”

Suddenly, a woman walked straight out of the brownish-white little house. “Dear, why are you out of the office so early?” She was holding a cup of steaming tea, Palo was not vivid to the woman until he walked away from behind Mayor Eastman. “Oh my goodness!” The woman flipped. 

“Yes, yes. We finally have someone who wants to stay in Oasis.”

“Hi there. I’m Jenny, but you can just call me Mrs. Eastman. It’s wonderful to meet you. 

“I’m Palo Ortega.” He tipped his hat. “Top Chef.”

 

                   ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

“Moving on,” Mayor Eastman said rolling his eyes. You are our first visitor in a long time.”

“People use to come here?” Palo asked with his eyebrows curved. 

“We were once the hot spot.” He became sad. “Everyone loved Oasis. It is a bit hard to believe, but we were known for our great foods.” 

“Now many people don’t find Oasis appealing anymore,” said Joseph.

  “I can see that.” Palo muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?” Joseph asked.

“Oh, I said how did Oasis get to be this way. Didn’t you say that people liked coming here?” Palo asked stumbling word after word.

“One day there was a man who barged into Oasis. He was telling everyone how bad we were. He only said bad things about Oasis which were not true at all.” Mayor Eastman became sad. 

“Why would he do that?”

“Well, after that happened, we discovered that he was a Mayor of another village, and he was jealous of us. He wanted all of these people to come to his town. Soon everyone believed him, and our popularity slowly faded.

“Wow,” Palo said absorbing the story and taking a deep breath.

“Father,” Joseph said “go on with the tour its getting late.”

“Oh that’s right.” He forgot. “Ah, now we have Claudia Chase’s house. She is an extremely sweet girl.” His smile did not wipe off his face until he got to the house Palo was staying in. Palo walked toward the door with his luggage. “Not so fast, we are not done with the tour.” Wow he is a real talking machine Palo thought. 

“Wait can I quickly drop off my suitcase so my arm does not break.”

“Fine, but make it quick because we have to get a move on.” the Mayor said.

“Okay,” Palo retorted.  He just wanted to get away from him for a few minutes. He was a nice guy though. Palo walked up the stairs with his luggage. It was so heavy, it felt like his arm was about to fall off. All of his cooking tools were in there, but that was not all. Many different foods were in there too. Once Palo reached the second floor, he threw his suitcase on the squeaky bed and looked out the window. He saw Mayor Eastman waving to tell him to come down. Joseph was just staring at the brown grass on the ground. 

Mayor Eastman went on with the tour, but Palo was not even listening. He was making faces with Joseph the whole time, which made it go really fast. Even though he did not want to  pay any attention to the faces, Palo thought it was better than listening to Mayor Eastman.

 

                 ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

The next day Palo woke up in his rough squeaky bed. Palo’s back was hurting like crazy because his bed was as hard as a rock. He looked out the window. There was no one there except the bum sleeping on the street. “At least it is quieter than Mayor Eastman talking,” Palo said to himself. Birds were not even chirping outside. 

Palo grabbed his jacket and left his house. He noticed a little restaurant with one person inside. He walked through the door and saw a girl who looked like a chef sitting at a table by herself. She was tapping her fingers on the table. “Why are you here?” she suddenly said not even turning around. Palo paused. 

“Um well, I just wanted to take a look around.” Then a question popped into his head. “Are you the chef here?”

“Yeah I am, but I don’t need to work because no one ever comes.” This town needs a lot of help, he thought. Palo was about to walk out of the restaurant until the chef said something. “Wait!” she abruptly said. “My name is Liza. I just cannot believe I stayed here in Oasis. There is nothing for me to do,” she sighed. 

Suddenly, another girl slowly walked in. She was wearing brown sandals with a green and pink skirt. She had a blue T-shirt that matched her eyes perfectly. Her hair was a silky black. “Sir, sir, SIR!?!?” Liza yelled trying to get Palo’s attention. Palo was staring at the girl, but he snapped right back to Liza. “This is Claudia.”

“H-h-hi Claudia,” he stumbled. “I’m Palo.”

“Are you okay?” Liza asked. Claudia waved her hand in his face. 

“Oh, I am good as ever. I should get going now.”

“Bye.” Claudia said with a sweat voice. Palo quickly left and thought what an idiot he was infront of her. 

Palo started to realize that food might be a way to make everyone happy. He ran home and took out a book of recipes. Palo flipped through the pages that had a simple dish of food. Penne in Vodka Sauce. It took him 30 minutes to make. 

He ran to Mayor Eastman’s house. Maybe his tour was a bit useful. He rang the rusty doorbell. Joseph quickly opened the door. “Oh, hi Palo.”

“Hi Joseph, I made Penne in Vodka Sauce for your family to have for dinner. It’s to thank you for letting me stay in Oasis.”

“Yes! Now we can finally have a great dinner. And by the way,  Penne in Vodka Sauce is my father’s favorite!”

                     ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

The next day, Palo went back to the same restaurant, but no one was inside. There was a note on the door. It said, Going out of business if anyone cares. There is no one else to help make food, and if someone did, there would be no customers. - The lonely Chef, Liza. I have to think of a way to bring this town back to life. Palo thought. He took the note off of the door so no one else would read it. He ran over to Liza’s house. He saw that she was packing her suitcase. Palo leaned against the door and waved the note around so it made that clicking noise. “Oh, hi Palo,” she said nonchalantly. “It looks like you have read the note already. There is more to add. I am leaving Oasis.”

“Where will you go?”

“Anywhere else, but here,” she sighed and sat on her bed. “There is nothing to do. All I ever wanted was to pursue my dream by becoming a famous cook. Clearly, staying here isn’t helping.” Liza stood up, packing more of her clothes in the suitcase. Palo quickly closed it before she could put another set of shirts inside. 

“Look, what if we can change Oasis. Change it to make it better,” Palo suggested. 

“How would we be able to do that?” she asked.

“Maybe more people would be in the mood to eat your wonderful food,” he said with a big smile on his face. “with my help.” Liza thought for a second. She looked up at Palo,

“Maybe we can.” Liza said slowly.

“But first, you better start unpacking your bag.” Liza nodded her head and Palo left her alone.

                                    ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

Liza met Palo early in the morning to make signs about the big feast that was going to take place in two days. They needed way more help than just themselves. “Palo are you strong?” Liza asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Okay, go to Claudia’s house. Here are her keys.”

“Wait, why do you have her keys?”

“That’s a different story. Run to her house and get her out of bed. I will tell her what she will do when she gets here.” Palo shrugged and ran to Claudia’s house. He quickly put the key in the lock. He was confused as to which room Claudia slept in. He finally found it, picked her up and ran outside. She abruptly woke up in his arms. 

“What are you doing? You can’t just take me out of my house.”

“We need you. Liza will explain everything when we get to the restaurant.” As Palo jogged to the next block, he put Claudia down. “The restaurant is around the corner.”

“Wow, you are strong,” Claudia said in amazement. At that moment, Palo saw her eyes sparkle. They were staring at each other while smiling. Love was obviously in the air. When they reached the corner Liza saw them.

“Come on! There is no time for romance right now. Let’s get to work!”

 

                     ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

“Here’s what you are going to do Claudia. You are going to make posters, signs, and flyers for the entire town. Be creative. Understand?

“Yeah. Now lets go!” Claudia started to stare at Palo in a loving way. Liza had to push her away in order for her to get started.

“Well I was hoping we can make some Italian dishes for the feast. They are simple. Don’t worry I have them all in this cook book.” While it took Liza and Palo hours to make multiple dishes, Claudia was handing out flyers to the rest of the town. When she first started to deliver them, Claudia went directly to Mayor Eastman. If there was anyone to please first, it was Mayor Eastman. 

When she arrived at his office, she barged right in breathing heavily. “Why hello Claudia, how nice to see you. It has been a long time since your last visit,” Mayor Eastman said with his one of a kind smile.

“Yea, hi. Um, would you like to come to the big feast in two days? There will be loads of food. And you are not the only one invited. The whole village is. I need to spread the word, and fast,” said Claudia. 

“Wow I would love to come. I assume that Liza is the one who is preparing this.”

“No. Palo is really the main person behind this.” 

“I’m impressed. Palo just got here and the young man is already doing something big.” Claudia gave Mayor Eastman a flyer. Then she disappeared into the fog.     

 

                                                        ◊                 ◊                ◊

Palo and Liza were going to cook until their arms came off. They were not going to let Oasis down. For the feast they were making Italian food. Hopefully, the town will like there food. Palo and Liza made Tortelli of Potato, which includes potatoes, Parmigiano-Reggiano, chives, eggs, nutmeg, basic pasta dough, sage, brown butter, and lemon. There was als Tortellini with Goat Chese and Scallions. This dish included goat cheese, scallions, eggs, nutmeg, Parmigiano-R

eggiano, salt, pepper, chicken stock, and basic pasta dough. There were so much  more, so do not think these were the only two dishes.

 

                                                       ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

Finally the day of the feast was here. Dish after dish lined up on each table. Claudia took Palo outside before everyone came. “Wow Palo, this looks fantastic, all thanks to you.” Claudia smiled. Her eyes lit up with the stars in the night sky. 

“Thanks Claudia! You know you helped too. We could not have done this without you.” Palo complimented. They started getting closer to each other. Suddenly, a kiss laid upon Palo’s lips. 

“What a romantic moment, but you guys should not be kissing right now.” Liza sounded calm. “We have a feast in four minutes!”changing tones by suddenly shouting. Claudia and Palo abruptly moved away from each other as if nothing ever happened. Palo walked back into the restaurant waving at Claudia. She waved back. 

Mayor Eastman was the first one there. “I hope you don’t mind son, but I have told all of my friends and they wanted to come to the feast too.” Palo looked out the door, and there were so many people waiting outside. He gulped. 

“That’s great, bring them in.” Palo said. All the people piled into the tiny restaurant. As soon as they were seated they started eating. 

 

                                                       ◊                 ◊                ◊

 

Once everyone was done their mouths dropped open. “Well,” one man said “that was amazing!” Palo was breathless. As everyone left they thanked Palo for the wonderful dinner. Mayor Eastman was the last one in the restaurant with Palo and Liza. He wiped his mouth with his napkin. He placed his hand on Palo’s shoulder. “Palo, you could be famous!”

“Than—” Palo got cut off.

“ But you have to make the right decisions.” That was all Mayor Eastman said. Then he left. What did he mean by that? Palo thought . . .                                                                                                               

 

  

Chapter One
    “Dr. Co, Moo the Cow is here to see you.” Dr Co’s secretary said over the intercom.
    “Ok, send him in.” Dr. Co replied. Dr. Co was, of course, a moose. After all, cows say “Moo.” That’s most of “Moose.” So why shouldn’t the moose do the same?
    Anyway, Moo the Cow walked through the door to Dr. Co’s office that instant.
    “Sit down,” Dr. Co said. “Make yourself comfortable.”
    Moo sat down on the psychiatrist sofa.
    “So, what seems to be the problem?”
    “Well, I hear muffins talking whenever I see them,” Moo said. “I have conversations with them.”
    “Well, what do they say?”
    “At first they were astounded that I could talk,” Moo said. “And I kept them around for a time because they were interesting. But then they got lonely and started threatening me, which made me mad, so I threw them into the lake near my house.”
    “Hmm,” Dr. Co said, “this sounds like Udder Madness.”

Chapter Two
“Yes, I know it seems like I might be crazy,” Moo said. “Can you tell me what I’ve got?”
“Yes I can,” Dr. Co replied. “The name of the disease you have is Udder Madness. It’s a disease contracted at birth in the, er, down there regions. It makes you believe that certain objects can talk, like a lesser version of schizophrenia.”
    “But Doc, what can I do?!” Moo franticly asked. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life with cake-like breakfast snacks whispering in my ear!”
    “Well,” Dr. Co replied, “for permanent results, we could amputate said region—”
    “NO!!!”
    “I guessed as much. Well then, the only other thing you can do is face off with your mental insanity. Get some muffins, listen to them talk, and while they’re talking, ‘record’ their voices. Bring the tape recorder to my office, and we’ll listen to it. Then when you hear that there aren’t the voices of any muffins on that recorder, you’ll be cured!”
    “Thank you so much! How much do I owe you for today’s session?”
    Dr. Co named a price.
    “For this much, this is going to work or else!” Moo growled through his teeth.

Chapter Three
    After receiving some very expensive advice from Dr. Co, Moo is taking the first steps to confronting his mental insanity. That is, he tapes a tape recorder to the bottom of a table, and gets out a box of Mr. Human’s Muffin Mix (the reason for the brand name was so a human’s picture could be put on the box, the mythological creature’s opposable thumbed, dexterous hands reminded you to approach the packaging with brains, instead of running it over with your lawnmower to get at the mix inside).
    Moo mechanically went through the motions of preparing the muffin mix. He put the muffins inside the oven, and set the oven timer for twenty minutes. His mind was filled with uncertainty. He had “killed” (they’re inanimate, it’s not killing, snap out of it!) muffins before. What if these were mutant muffins with strange powers? They’d want revenge.
    Throw the muffins out the window.
    Go through with the experiment.
    Turn the oven off.
    Go through with the experiment.
    The oven dinged. It was time for Moo to confront his fears. The muffins were ready.
Chapter Four
    Moo grabbed the handle of the oven’s door with his flowery oven mitt and pulled. The door slowly and menacingly opened, revealing THE MUFFINS!!!
    “So, we meet again, Mr. Bond,” the muffin on the left said.
    The muffin on the right loved his brother above anything else, so he liked to copy and imitate him.
    “So, we mee-“
    “Shut up! You just ruined the dramatic entry! Idiot!” Muffin left said, cutting off Muffin right.
    “Yes sir. Sorry sir.” Muffin right replied, crushed.
    “Well, it’s been nice to chat,” Moo blathered. “Now I’ve heard you talk, but really, you haven’t talked at all, because it’s all in my head, and there won’t be anything to hear!”
    With those parting words, Moo grabbed the tape recorder, shut it off, slammed the oven door shut, got in his car, and drove to Dr. Co’s office, ready to prove his sanity. The muffins would now bake until the door was opened, reducing them to a burnt mess. Moo had absentmindedly condemned them to their doom. He would probably feel very guilty if they were real.
Chapter Five
    After arriving at Dr. Co’s office and standing in the waiting room for what seemed like until the end of time, the current patient exited and Moo was allowed entry.
    “Back so soon?” Dr. Co asked. “I assume you have the tape.”
    “Yes.”
    “Well then, prepare to be cured!”
    Dr. Co pressed the PLAY button. Static played for a few seconds. Then- “So, we meet again, Mr. Bond.”
    “THE MUFFINS!!! They’re there! They’re real!” Moo screamed, diving to the floor and cowering under the table.
    “Moo, it’s just static.” Dr. Co said, puzzled. “There’s nothing on that tape.”
    “Can’t you hear them?!” Moo screamed.
    “Oh dear. You’ve got a more serious case than I thought. Your mind refuses to let this go. There’s nothing I can do now, but come back tomorrow and I’ll have something set up.”
    “Moo walked out in a daze, got into his car, and drove off as if in a dream.
    The drive home was uneventful (other than four knocked-over fire hydrants, much to the horror of the dogs that had staked them out as their own over many years, but this was of no concern to Moo’s dazed mind) but while ascending the last hill to his house, Moo smelled smoke.
Chapter Six
    Moo arrived home to a wonderful welcome: his house was on fire. The muffins had caught on fire during their prolonged cooking and set the oven on fire as well. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out what happens next.
    The fire trucks arrived, having been alerted by the neighbors, and cats in firefighter uniforms started pouring out of them. After all, cats love to be in warm places. They understand heat and fire on a deep level, so they know what to do against it. Plus, who better to rescue a cat from a tree than a cat itself?
    They found the customary burning building, and also some nutball cow outside screaming “THE MUFFINS!!! THEY ARE ANGRY WITH THIS UNBELIEVER!!! THEY ARE TAKING THEIR REVENGE!!!”
    Once the problem of the burning building was addressed, the firefighters took a closer look at the crazy. He was still repeating his mantra.
    “Completely off his rocker,” the fire chief, a Russian Blue, said. “Let’s take him to the loony bin.”
Chapter Seven
    At the clinic (loony bin) Moo had been brought to, Dot Co, Dr. Co’s sister, was watching over the gibbering cow. Thirty minutes after Moo’s arrival, Dr. Co burst into the room where his sister and the mad bovine awaited him.
    “I got here as fast as I could,” Dr. Co said, out of breath.
    “Cliché,” Dot Co murmured. “Anyway, it looks like he’s gone off the deep end into a pool filled with landmines, piranhas, sharks, and crocodiles, all wielding chainsaws. If you’re confused, the chainsaws are simply crazy glued to the landmines.”
    “Your metaphors certainly are extensive,” Dr. Co said, receiving his chance to murmur.
    “I recommend electroshock,” Dot Co advised.
    “Good idea!” Dr. Co cheerfully remarked. “If nothing else, it will help me. Giving electroshock to someone is like some wonderful stress-ball, relieving the tensions of the day.” He happily strode to the operating room.
    “Sometimes I wonder why he’s the psychiatrist and not the patient,” Dot Co muttered. She sighed and went to the storage room to get the electroshock equipment, and busied herself setting it up, as she was proficient in all things technical.

Chapter Eight
    Dr. Co held up a picture of some muffins. Moo screamed, ran to a corner of the room, and curled himself into a fetal position.
    “Moo, are the muffins talking to you?” Dr. Co gently asked.
    Moo nodded.
    BZZZT! “AARGH!!!”
    “No they aren’t!” Dr. Co snapped. “They’re muffins! They can’t talk! Now, let’s show you the picture again.”
    This medical torture went on for some time until Dr. Co called a snack break.
    “Moo, which kind of cookie would you like? M&M, or chocolate chip?”
    Moo pointed to the M&M cookie.
    BZZZT! “AARGH!!!”
    “No, Moo, I’m sure you want the chocolate chip cookie. M&M cookies are my favorite, and I’ve only got a thousand of them left. Now, which cookie do you want?”
    Moo shakily pointed to the chocolate chip cookie.
    “There we go. Just a little communication error.”
    Dr. Co sat back, grinned, and munched on his cookie.
    “If I can dissuade him off M&M cookies, this one’s in the bag!”

Chapter Nine
    The doors of the clinic opened, and Moo’s third cousin twice removed, Buff. A. Lo, walked in.
    “So, Cousin Moo went wonky, but he’s better now, and yet he can’t be trusted to drive and nobody knows his address, so you called me in?” Buff asked Dot Co, who was there to meet Buff, getting straight to the point.
    “Yes,” Dot Co replied.
    “Okay then. Anything I should know about?”
    “Yes.  Keep him away from muffins, M&M cookies, and moose. He has a deathly fear of all of the above. Oh, and he’s mute.”
    “Hmm. That’s a lot. I don’t think he was like that before he came here. Any idea if anything here could’ve caused it?”
    “None.”
    “Okay then.” And with that, Buff took the catatonic cow by the arm (foreleg? If he can talk, who knows?) and led him out of the clinic.
    Before the door stopped swinging, it was pushed open by a large group of miscellaneous animals wearing blue.
    “Are you Dot Co?” a Labradoodle in blue with a sparkly thing on the front of his jacket asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Could you get your brother?”
    Dot Co left and returned shortly with Dr. Co.
    “Dasher and Dot Co, I have warrants for your arrests, for maltreating patients and being an accessory to the aforementioned crime. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.” Other police (for of course, that was who the animals in blue were) swiftly cuffed the two.
    “No,” Dr. Co raved, “this can’t be happening! You can’t do this to me! You’ll live to regret this! And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!”
    “Bro, at the risk of repeating myself,” Dot Co screamed as she was shoved into the cop car, “cliché!”
    “Meddling baby goats? I didn’t know anyone was meddling, let alone baby goats,” a hippo commented to himself.
The End
 

 

Valentine, a young lady still in her teens is taking the responsibility of an adult. She is living in the suburban areas of Connecticut with her grandmother. Her father passed away in her very early childhood years. Her mother ran off as soon as she had Valentine, therefore, leaving her daughter a life so different from others. Valentine never really got to know her family except her grandmother, Ella. Now that Ella is sick, Valentine dropped out of school to care for her grandma. Valentine acted as of an adult all her life after she turned 12. She was never given much of an opportunity to just play and relax in the summer, or to hang out with a couple of friends on the weekends. She never even got a chance to have some actual friends, except referring to them as “just classmates”. Leaving for school early in the morning with breakfast and lunch prepared for Ella, then returning in the late afternoon. She quickly finishes her homework, before starting her chores and helping with dinner. That was Valentine’s schedule before she dropped out of school. Now, she stays home just with chores, and supervises her grandmother’s activities.

       Whenever there are opportunities, she tries to take them. The opportunity for her to go to night school is very limited. She could try to finish all of her chores during the day, which she always does, but she can’t leave her grandmother alone in the house. What if she fell? Who would she call for help? They also can’t afford a caretaker for Ella. One day, Ella realized what she is doing to this poor child. So she said, “Valentine sweetheart, I really thank you for all of the things you have done for me. But now, I want you to take the opportunity to just go finish school. I will ask a friend to come take care of me.”

    Valentine hesitated, and then said, “Grandma, I really do wish to complete school, but I know my responsibility is to take care of you.”

    “I know you do very much Valentine. You also know that I need a caretaker and that job is filled by you!” replied Ella. *Sigh*

       “Sometimes, I just wish I could be a regular teenage girl.” She muttered under her breath.

     The next day was the same as ever. Get up, get dressed, prepare breakfast, and then start on chores. Nothing ever happened at the Wilson’s. Valentine always daydreamed during her work. Daydreaming about how a school day would be like: with friends, classmates, and teachers.

 

   Journal:

       Dear Journal,

           Why? Why must my life be made into a miserable one? Everyone around me has parents, parents that love them. They would also protect them to the extreme that they are willing to sacrifice themselves. Yes, it is true that my grandmother would do the same for me, but it is just a complete different feeling. I can't exactly describe it. One thing I can say is that as far as I can see, there is a tight bond from parent to child, not grandparents to grandchildren. There are some children out there that just don’t appreciate the love they receive. They just take things for granted. I think if they were to be in my position, they would cherish everything they own. I wish I could experience that feeling with my biological parents. Why? If only my mother could be understanding and be at home to watch me grow, like every other mother.

                                          Still dreaming,

                                                                                    Valentine

 

    Dear Journal,    

         Today was an even more miserable day, compared to others. I was raking the yard right next to the fence after eating breakfast. I heard the next door neighbor’s daughters Lillian and Marie back talking about me. They were often referring to me as “Cinderella” because I am always doing housework and I don’t get to hang out with friends. Lillian and Marie have always been the mean girls since elementary school, but it was middle school when it all started. My first day of middle school was a nightmare! Suddenly, when I came back to school, everyone hated me. They started trash talking about me. That night, I just wished I could have run to my mother and cry in her arms and everything would be better.

                                             - Valentine

 

“Yet another day passed without drama. Sigh…..sigh…sigh…”Valentine was sitting next to an open window listening to herself breathe. “I wish I could be anyone else for a change. Even Mr. Fields who works in the bakery in town will do.” She sighed for the 4^th time this minute. Suddenly, Ella called for her from the book room on the opposite end of this floor. I dashed out of the room wondering what could have been so urgent. But, when I looked inside the room, she was only sitting calmly beside the window staring out as I did just minutes before. She curled her finger at me, signaling me that she wanted me to come over. She then gestured to the chair that was sitting beside her. I did as I was told.

   I honestly didn’t know what she was trying to accomplish. I was somewhat hesitant. She pointed out the window. I saw a bird couple, perched next to each other on a small branch, slightly in the shadows. They were singing happily. Then, a few branches up the same tree, I saw a mother bird chirping to her young as though she was saying, “It is time for you to fly, to take off.” There was silence between us when we looked out the window.

    After what seemed to have been hours of silence, Ella finally said, “It’s a good sign.” I didn’t ask any further questions and returned to my bedroom. I think my grandmother saw my puzzled face, but she didn’t explain.

 

     Journal:

         Dear Journal,

              I keep thinking about the moment when my grandmother called me into the room. I still don’t quite understand what she meant when she said, “It’s a good sign.” Is she trying to tell me that something good is going to happen to me? To us? How long? My head is swirling!

            From the past, I know my grandma usually has a meaning or purpose behind strange things she would say.

            This time, I hope it is for the reason that either her health gets better and/or I get to go back to school!

                                                                                   

                                                                                     With Love,

                                                                                         Valentine

        

            P.S.  Oh! How I wish you were a talking journal. Then, you could suggest me with ideas to help me solve my problems!

 

   One day, two days, three days, a week has passed. Everything is the same as always. Is this what my grandmother meant by “It’s a good sign.”? The weather has been nice and nothing bad has happened? I don’t know. She started with her chores once again.

      <2 hours passed>

    “Ding-dong, Ding-dong” I suddenly bounced up, awakening from my nap. I was so exhausted for some reason. *YAWN* “What time is it?”

        I ran to the door. It was unusual, the only time the doorbell rang is when the mailman stops by to greet us and give us our mail which is at 1:00pm, but now, it is 6:00pm!

    When I opened the door, I saw a lady in her late 30’s in the doorway. Something sparked. She in some perspective resembled my mother, but I wasn’t 100% sure.

    “Hello,” she said, “Is this the Wilson Household?”

    ”Um…,” I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t too sure of these women, therefore, if she was trustworthy or not. She did look friendly.

     “Yes.” I finally replied.

    “Oh good! My name is Alice Wilson, the mother of Valentine Wilson.”

     My jaw dropped so wide! My whole body just went into shock! “You, you…” I stammered. It was just too much to take in. I couldn’t finish my sentence and almost fainted.

    “Does her father Andrew Wilson live here?” she continued to ask. Ella didn’t know what all the commotion was about and was slowly making her way down the stairs.

   “Mother!” the lady yelled. From her look, it is as though grandmother also went into shock.

    “What on Earth are you doing here?” Ella finally said. “You’ve been missing for 14 years now!”

     “I know it is sudden, but I finally realized what is wrong and decided to come home.” She replied. “I felt it was wrong to abandon my daughter at such a young age. She never really got to know me, so now, I hope is still not too late.”

     “I have raised Valentine very well on my own, thank you very much! You might as well not exist in her life any farther than before.”

    She said in anger, “Mother, I know I haven’t been a good mother myself, but now I can change. I don’t think Valentine has completed school, so why not I take care of you in substitute?”

    I first thought mother could have been a fraud or something. She didn’t really act the way grandmother described her. But, by acting with the person she described, I put the pieces together and came up with a conclusion that she was my real mother. She stayed at the house for a week. She could cook, do the dishes and laundry. Things I wouldn’t expect based on Ella’s description of her. She did lift some of the weight off of my shoulders. I actually feel that I can bond with her.

    At one point, she said to me, “Valentine sweetie, I would really hope to see my only daughter to graduate as I said before. Can you fulfill that dream of mine? I can take care of my own mother, but I can see that you have already done a very good job—Thank you.”

    I thought long and hard and replied by saying, “Yes, I will!”

     She went to her room for at least what have felt 3 hours. Then she appeared once again.

    “Valentine,” she began, “this year’s semester is about to be finished, so I enrolled you to next year’s fall semester. I couldn’t hold it back; I dropped to the floor and started crying. She pulled me up and walked us to the couch. I soon fell asleep on her shoulders.

 

 

       Four Months Later……

 

    Dear Journal,

         Here I am again! Today was the first day back in school! I was enrolled in the town high school. As soon as I walked in, I met my very first “friends”. (Wait! Why am I still using quotes for the word friends? They are my actual friends!) It was a nice feeling, a new feeling, one that I never got to experience, and will remember forever. Their names are Madeline and Katie. We share some commonalities. We were raised by people other than our parents.

    After school now, I might hang out and gossip with them. We go to the movies on the weekend. That is the positive side, but the negative is that I have homework—lots, so there is a lot of pressure on me. I need to have the stamina to stay up late every night to finish my homework. After a while, I eventually adjusted to the “harshness”. My grandmother and mother are both doing very well, so I’m really happy.

                                                                                         

                                                                                Always Well,

                                                                                    **Valentine**

  

To Be Continued…..

Introduction

 

It was a pitch-black gloomy night: the night just before Friday, October the 13th. There was a myth that Friday, October the 13th only occurred once every 402 years, and on that day, unusual events were inevitably going to take place. To some, this was only a fable, but over by the Heridan Graveyard, the atmosphere was beginning to stir. The wind was blowing in both directions, but everything in between seemed mysteriously still.

 All of a sudden, a green eerie rose from one of the graves. A thin layer of fog crept across the entire graveyard, as the whispering began. The soft, near silent whispers turned into chants just as the fog got thicker. The entire ground became shrouded in such profuse fog that you would not be able to look down and see your own two feet. You wouldn’t need any sight, however, to know that something was about to go dreadfully wrong.

 Suddenly one of the graves—the one right in the middle of the graveyard—began quavering. There was a groaning sound, and all the fog slowly navigated to that one grave. The groaning became louder, and the shaking became rougher as the gravestone was upturned just as the grave was completely covered by fog. When the fog cleared away, IT was standing perfectly still in the silence of the moonlight. IT was an undead creature, and by the looks and smells of IT, IT had been undead for quite some time. IT’s name fit perfectly, for it was Zwart Versterf, meaning Black Death in Dutch.

The Black Death stood up straight, with impeccable posture, as he reawakened himself from his slumber.

            The graveyard was in a large, circular field that held over 500 graves. Unlike most graveyards, there was no church anywhere nearby. In fact, the nearest church was about five miles away. The people there were had died unknown or shameful deaths. They were the kind of deaths that no one talks about—only the family knows what really happened. Some of the graves dated as far back as 1206, and some weren’t even dated at all. It’s needless to say that the graveyard had very few visitors. With no one to clean it up, the ground was littered with dead leaves and garbage that had been blown by the wind. The graves were situated in concentric circles starting around the perimeter of the circular field. The outer-most circle was located just inside the graveyard fence, with smaller circles of graves until there was just one grave at the center.

            From the center of the graveyard, Black Death recollected his thoughts, and started to slowly and confidently stride to the graves. He started with the inner-most circle, and moved out from there. He stood on a grave, waited for fifteen seconds, whispered an incoherent phrase, and moved on. Despite the fact that Black Death was an undead creature, he looked like a pretty normal human being from far away. His black suit was not the slightest bit torn, nor did it look worn out; his face had some scars on it, but they weren’t severe; he was a bit pale, but so was everybody else in the town, so no one would have noticed or said anything.

            It was only when you got closer that you noticed something strange. His eyes were not the normal color that a person’s eyes should be. They were BLACK; fully, completely black. Though, sometimes, if you could get very close, you would see that there was also a hint of red in his eyes. It was a little, tiny dot that glowed a rich, deep blood red. Every time he whispered on a grave, the dot got bigger. His eyes turned a frighteningly stunning mixture of the deep black, and blood red; each color swirling around the other.

            When Black Death stepped off each grave, the fog had clouded them, just as they had before. And every time the fog on the grave had cleared away, yet another foul-smelling, undead creature presented itself.

            When Black Death had finished summoning the rest of the undead, he raised his hands for attention.

“Tonight is the night we must fully power up and prepare for our revenge!” The Black Death croaked. “Tomorrow night is the night where our revenge on the humans makes them suffer the most! That night will be a memory the human world will never be able to erase! We get revenge on the humans for what they did to us, and we will make them feel our wrath!”

With that, they all vanished, leaving a seemingly still night to pass.

Prologue

 

Henry McAdams lived 810 years ago. He lived in a small town called Heridan, located in Western Europe. When Henry was a little boy, he had a best friend named Ziahara Cerberus. He and Ziahara did almost everything together. They were inseparable; they acted like brothers. The only real difference between the boys, in fact, was their families. While Henry’s family was just like any normal family was in the 1200s, everyone thought that Ziahara’s family was a bit odd.

The Cerberus family lived in a house that was about a mile from the town, and they were very quiet all the time. Whenever the community got together to plan something, Ziahara’s family never showed. No one ever went to Ziahara’s house, because there were rumors of lethal poisons, and fatal rituals there.

When they were little kids, Henry didn’t know or care about the difference between their lifestyles, but as he got older, he became more curious as to what made the Cerberuses seem so foreign.

Ziahara had become quieter as well, and started to keep more to himself. Henry often caught him muttering strange things to himself, or staring off into space. Whenever Henry asked what was wrong, Ziahara insisted that Henry was delusional, and then walked away. But while Henry was only curious, his parents were scared. They thought that Ziahara was just as bad an influence on Henry and the town as his parents.

One day, when Henry and Ziahara were talking, two men grabbed him and carried him away. Henry followed the two men who snatched Ziahara. He watched in terror as the burly men shoved him down on the ground next to his parents. All three of had their hands tied and their mouths gagged shut.

         “I hereby sentence each of you to be death by hanging for possessing devil-worshiping materials, as well as practicing witch craft!” the town leaders boomed.

          Everyone cheered. Ziahara and his parents were given exactly five minutes to say their good-byes to each other before the nooses were thrown around their heads. Ziahara’s parents seemed resigned to their fate, but Ziahara was infuriated. He turned to Henry with the outer ring of his eyes completely gone red. It made him look more insane.

         “You!!” he started off saying. “You and your family are the reason why I am going to die very soon! I will pay you back for this when you least expect it too! I will—”

         Ziahara wasn’t able to finish his sentence before the men grabbed him again and tied him and his parents to the oak tree with only a stool to keep them standing. One, Two, Three. Then Henry heard stools being kicked out, and the agonizing, thudding sound of bodies falling and necks snapping. He The crowd cheered as the nooses tightened and bones cracked. What terrified Henry most though, was Ziahara, and what he had said. It was the look and color of Ziahara’s eyes that made Henry want to run. But he couldn’t. He just stood there and watched Ziahara. And just as Ziahara was starting to cease all movements, Henry heard a voice in his head that he was confident wasn’t his own thoughts.

         “I am dead now, but I am not gone,” the voice whispered in a calm, raspy voice. “I will be back, and this entire town will pay for what they’ve done to me. But I have a special plan for you and your family…Oh yes, something very special indeed. You will just have to wait and see what I am going to do.”

            Henry could not remember what exactly had happened next. All he could remember later was opening his eyes and finding himself in an unrecognizable place. He looked around, feeling more confounded then he could ever remember feeling. Ziahara’s clothes, Ziahara’s toys, Ziahara’s shoes...Then Henry realized he was in Ziahara’s room. This meant he was in Ziahara’s house. He was too astonished to be curious how he got there..

Henry lingered in Ziahara’s  room for a little while until he had gathered enough courage to walk outside. When he did though, Henry noticed that in the Cerberus house, there was one long hallway, and at the end of that hallway, there were five more. The hallways looked like forks in a road. Henry decided that he would start from the right and move to the left. The first hallway led to a big room with adult clothes, and a large bed in it. Henry decided that that room had belonged to Ziahara’s parents. Henry had just been in the second hallway, which was where Ziahara’s room was located. The next hallway led to the kitchen, and the hallway after that was the dining room. The last hallway had an empty room at the end of it, and Henry guessed that it was a guest room. Henry was confused and slightly disappointed. The house was just as normal as any other house! Just as he was about to leave though, something caught his eye. It looked like a crack in the floor. Henry reexamined the crack, and saw that the crack outlined a large square.

Henry also noticed that it wasn’t part of the regular floor; it must have been cut out from it. He ran into Ziahara’s parents’ room, where he saw a tool that would help get the floorboard up, and then ran back. It took Henry a bit of time because the floorboard was heavy, but he finally got it out. Even though it was dark in the hole that the missing floorboard made, Henry could still see a ladder there. That’s weird; I wonder where it goes… A rush of adrenaline rushed through Henry as he slowly began to climb down the ladder, with no idea of what would happen next.