

### Blame It On September

Montague Intermediate Anthology

2012

Kindle Edition

Copyright 2012 by the students of MIS

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may no be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

***

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

***

Cover art (copyright) by Chloe Jardine. All rights reserved.

Edited by Patti Larsen.

***

Kindle Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

***

### Dedication

The students would like to dedicate this book to

their teachers, friends and family.

***

### Teachers Preface

A wonderful opportunity presented itself in early May of 2012. Patti Larsen, a Prince Edward Island author, was going to be presenting at the Montague Regional High School. With Patti already travelling East of Charlottetown, she was more than willing to visit our school to work with some of our budding writers. A group of thirty-nine students from grades seven, eight, and nine were selected by their English teachers based on ability and interest level in writing to attend a writing workshop run by Patti.

The writing workshop blossomed into an anthology of student stories. With Patti's guiding hand, students have compiled an outstanding collection of short stories for your reading pleasure. It is hoped that through an opportunity such as this one students will have gained an insight into the process of writing a book or novel and perhaps consider story writing as a future career.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Patti for giving up her time and energy to foster the writing spirit in our student body. She has committed a great deal of her own time and energy working with our students promoting her love for writing. Her passion for writing and the energy she brought to the student workshops is one of the main reasons this project was so successful.

I would also like to thank Kevin Stonefield, our principal, and the entire Montague Intermediate staff for allowing our students time to take part in this writing project. The flexibility of our staff and willingness for them to allow students release time from other subject areas is a testament to their desire for student excellence.

Finally, I would like to recognize the students for all of their contributions during this process: the initiative displayed creating their stories, their willingness to accept feedback, and ability to work as a team in the publication process. Without their creative ideas this process would not have been possible and I hope they learned as much about the process as I did.

Sincerely yours,

Mark Quinn

Teacher-Librarian

Montague Intermediate School

***

### The Twisted Ways

Abby McManus

The lamp crashed to the floor. I awoke with a start, glancing around the hotel room for the source of the noise. Seeing nothing but the dying embers of the fire and broken lamp, I plopped back onto my pillow.

Whooshing out a sigh, I picked up the photograph of my sister, my father and I from my bedside table. I looked at it carefully, trying to recall the day in my mind.

I remembered it – not one of my best days, for sure, I certainly cried enough.

My mom and dad had gathered us in the kitchen and were telling us about it, though we didn't fully understand what "Lung Cancer" meant. We just assumed that he would be going away for a while, or at least that's what I thought. My sister was thirteen, and I was eight at the time.

After explaining to us, mom thought it would be a good idea to take some pictures.

But I was sad, because everyone else was sad, though I didn't know why. So when the camera flashed, no one could smile.

But then my sister leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Smile though your heart is breaking," and we smiled, with great effort, for the last picture.

***

Just two weeks later, dad was lying in a hospital bed with only a couple minutes left in his life. He slipped a small package into my hand and said, "You'll never be alone."

Then the machine made the sound that announced his death and my world shattered.

Five years later, as I tried to find sleep, I whispered into the darkness, "You'll never be alone," and drifted off.

Had I paid a little more attention, I would have noticed the dark figure looming in the corner, red, hatred-filled eyes burning holes right through me.

***

The next morning I awoke with a prickling sensation of being watched in the back of my neck, but I quickly shook it aside.

I tried to remember where the kitchen was. The penthouse we were staying in was enormous. Somehow, I found my way, after many wrong turns.

When I walked in the door to the kitchen I saw Mom and Teresa, now eighteen, groggily eating cereal.

"Morning," I greeted them.

They didn't say anything, but I didn't expect them to – we hardly ever talked since dad died. The reason for conversation left along with him.

I grabbed some toast and orange juice and then dropped into my chair. Still no one spoke. Unable to bear the unspoken, unseen tears any longer, I scooted back my chair and stood up.

"I'm going out for some air," I told them.

My mother just nodded, so I went up to my room to change.

Closing my bedroom door behind me, I selected a simple outfit, a t-shirt and shorts, slipped into my jacket, and then went down the elevator into the lobby.

I was finally alone, going through the twisted back roads, pondering everything that happened to me. When all of a sudden, I saw movement to my left and glanced around – but there was no one in sight.

"Hello?" I called out, not really expecting an answer. Hearing nothing, I resumed walking.

But a figure came out of no-where, appearing right in front of me. The figure was dark, and I couldn't see a face or recognize who it was.

I muffled a shriek as it glided towards me, not actually seeming to walk.

It spoke in a dry, rasping voice;

"All alone you stand,

All alone you will land.

Deserted you are,

From safety you are far.

Trapped forever now,

For you to leave, I will never allow."

Then the figure disappeared without as much as a wisp of smoke.

Confused, and a little afraid, I hurried home to find my sister frantic with worry.

"Where HAVE you BEEN? I've been worried sick! You were gone for seven hours!"

"What?" I replied, "I've only been gone for about half an hour!"

Teresa pointed to the clock, and I realize she was right... but how was that even possible?

_This day keeps getting stranger and stranger_ , I thought. But my thoughts were interrupted by Teresa starting to talk again.

"Mom went to look for you an hour ago, but obviously, she's not back yet. And she is going to be so mad!"

Groaning, I sank onto the floor. This day was NOT going well.

The phone started to ring right then, giving me an excuse to get away from Teresa for a moment.

"Hello?" I spoke into the mouthpiece.

There was static, and then, "Hello? Is this Teresa or Rose West please?"

"Rose West speaking, "I replied politely, "How can I help you?"

"This is the New York City Hospital, and I am Nurse Johanna. I regret to inform you that your mother has been in a car accident and we suggest you come quickly."

Everything seemed to go in slow motion from that moment. I couldn't get to Teresa fast enough, explain the phone call, and drive there without getting into an accident ourselves. I rode the whole way, willing Teresa to drive faster, the traffic to clear, for Mom to hold on just another moment longer.

"She's still in surgery," said a pretty nurse at the front desk, "But you can wait in the waiting room for as long as you'd like if you need to."

The waiting was torture, hours on end of not knowing anything, no updates from doctors. We were the only ones in the waiting room, and all the doctors and nurses other than the one at the front desk were in surgery with mom.

It was another couple hours before the head doctor came out with a grim expression on his face. Teresa and I stood up to receive the news.

"I am so sorry. I've done all I can." He told us.

I felt my sister grasping my hand, and I squeezed her hand back, trying to hold on to my sanity. But I could feel myself slipping away from this world, and the last thing I saw before everything went black were the tears in my sister's eyes.

***

I came to in my room, facing the ceiling and filled with a sense of loneliness I couldn't quite place. Until I remembered the events of the previous night.

Closing my eyes, I tried to find the comfort of sleep again, but there was none. Then, out of nowhere, I hear rasping. It sent fear shooting through me, and the air threatened to suffocate me.

"All alone you stand,

All alone you will land.

Deserted you are,

From safety you are far.

Trapped forever now,

For you to leave, I will never allow,

Another has fallen."

The words weren't the only things that were horrifying – every time the words were repeated, they ended with cold, cruel cackle of madness and hatred. Goosebumps began to cover my flesh and I leaped out of bed, screaming. When my feet reached the floor, I could feel sharp talons piercing my back painfully.

I whirled around and faced – nothing. Whatever it was had gone as quickly as it had arrived.

Teresa came crashing in, hollering, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

I just stood there, silently, not answering until I caught my breath. Then I whispered, "Something was here. It attacked me.

And I think that it killed Mom."

"It was just a nightmare, baby girl," Teresa reassured me, "and Mom, well, she died in a car crash. You know that."

I turned to show her my bloody back and prove her wrong, and glimpsed my reflection in the mirror as I did so. There was no mistaking the horrifying long cuts; they had been made by no natural thing.

"It was here! And it keeps telling me this weird little rhyme, and its scaring me Teresa... you have to believe me!"

As I faced her again, I saw fear creeping its way onto her face. It wasn't something I liked to see, but at least it meant she believed me.

"Rose," she said softly, "what's going on?"

"I'm not sure exactly. All I know is that this creepy supernatural thing is stalking us, killing everyone we love, and I don't know why!"

I burst into tears and sank to the carpet. Teresa rushed to hug me, but she didn't tell me that it was going to be all right. Because the truth was, neither of us knew if it actually was.

***

The next couple of days were weird. We were extremely depressed, but nothing out of the ordinary happened since the creature's last visit.

On the third night after I was attacked, I could hear someone calling out to me. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I recognized the voice. It was my father's. He kept calling out to me, saying,

"Rose. Rose. You're never alone, Rose. I'm here."

I shot straight up in bed, and I could see him everywhere. In the stuffed animals on my bed, saying good-night to me. He was everywhere, and he was in my heart.

For the first time in a year, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

I woke up with my sister sitting on the edge of my bed, looking down at me with an odd expression.

"You wee smiling in you sleep," she said.

"Dad came to me last night!" I exclaimed, "In my dreams. But when I woke up I could still feel his presence, you know?"

Teresa just looked at me.

"You'll never be alone."

The whisper hung in the air for a moment, and Teresa's eyes opened wide with surprise. I glanced around, surveying the room, but no one was there. I could have sworn, though, it was my father's voice that whispered it; and there was no denying it.

"Daddy?" Teresa breathed, looking towards the doorway.

I glanced in the same direction and saw a transparent, ghostly version of my parents. They were smiling and holding out their hands, reaching for us with love. They started gliding towards us, telling us it would be okay.

They enfolded us in their cool arms, but darkness was growing in the corner, and the room filled with hatred as the dark figure appeared once more.

"No. They're not real," it hissed, "Simply an illusion of your tortured mind, Rose. You are alone. Now come. You come with me, and you won't be alone," The shadow reached its hand out to me, beckoning. Waiting or me to fall into its trap.

I looked from my parents to Teresa and to the shadow again, still extremely confused.

"I don't even know who, or what, you are," I spat out, "And you expect me to waltz away with you? You're crazy!"

It just grinned horribly at me, and then spoke. "My name is Oderunt." I thought back to my Latin classes, recognizing the Latin—Oderunt meant Hate.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"I am no mere human. I am purely my name, pure hate."

It raised its hand and I watched in horror as it cast a shadow across Teresa's face. Her skin immediately turned chalk-white and she began screaming, a blood-curling scream.

"And hate kills things." Its tone turned mocking and cruel.

"NO!" I cried in despair as I watched the life leeching out of Teresa's face. "I won't let you take away anyone else I love! Once you take them away, you can't hurt me anymore! But even if you did - they'll always be beside me, and in my heart! You can't hurt my family, not anymore! I love them far too much for you to hurt them. So just leave."

I grasped Teresa's hand, now so cold, and my parent's transparent arms encircled me. I looked into those red glowing eyes of hate, and felt no fear. Only pity.

Strengthened by some great power so deep I never knew I possessed it, right there, in that moment, I knew what Love truly was.

Finally, we were free of Hate's twisted ways.

***

A couple days later, Teresa and I found ourselves sitting on the floor, looking at the package my dad gave me before he died.

We looked at each other, and slowly, together, opened the package.

Inside was a CD, and a note. Slipping the CD into the CD player, we listened. On the note there was just the name of the song on the disc, but it was also so much more than that.

"Your Never Gonna Be Alone."

***

### The Dream

Ali White

The alley was dark , the air heavy with the stench of something unbearable. He had nothing to lose. He lost everything... everyone. There was nothing left to love or believe in anymore. People had been warned before about Cos Alley. Whoever went in was said to never come back out. He was about to take a chance that would have cost him everything, if he had anything left.

He grabbed his worn down backpack and headed towards the darkness. There was a never-ending wall of fog just in front of him. He stopped and thought about it. The boy looked down at his cross, kissed it and slowly made his way through the fog.

Beep, beep, beep, beep!

The roar of the alarm clock woke me. I jumped out of the bed and landed on the cool, wooden floor. The boy. I dreamt of him again. I couldn't get him out of my head and the dream never finished. Something always woke me up right before it would; it was like there was no ending at all. And maybe that was it. Maybe I needed to make the ending. I knew this boy was part of my imagination but he felt so alive and real. It seemed as if he was out here somewhere, waiting for me to save him.

I got ready for school, still thinking about the mysterious boy. What was his name? Did he even have one? Where was he and where was he going? I wanted to know about this helpless boy, to understand and help him. Yet, I couldn't do anything if I knew nothing about him or where he was.

I drove to school in my beaten down hybrid and parked by the gym beside my best friend, Blakely and my boyfriend, Tevin. They met me at my lockers before the first bell like usual. Everything was so normal and perfect around me, but all I could think about was that boy and what he was doing.

Tevin must have noticed how pale and oblivious to the world I had been.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"What? Oh yeah, weird dream last night."

"Oh, well you better cheer-up, 'cause guess who's birthday it is today?"

Damn. How could I forget? We had been best friends since eighth grade and we had been dating for two of them and I forgot is eighteenth birthday. How terrible of a girlfriend could I be? All cause of that stupid boy I shouldn't even be thinking of.

"Your birthday of course! How could I forget that?"

Just to show him I didn't forget at all, I jumped up and gave him a long kiss on his cold, soft lips. He lingered there, wanting more, but I knew if I was going to get him his present today, I would have to leave now and skip school to drive to the mall in Turin. I needed to get him something nice and expensive. Just the way he wanted it.

I ran out to the car with my hood over my head just to make sure none of the teachers saw me. I turned on the car and drove off the school grounds. It was absolutely beautiful out, a great day to be outside and just let my thoughts pour out to the fluffy white clouds overhead.

The two-hour drive flew by fast and I could see the shopping centre in the far distance. I drove by the flower stands overcrowding the sidewalks and rolled down the windows to catch the summer aromas. This was my favorite place to be in Italy, right here, with the colors and scents of happiness filling me up with nothing other than the pure beauty of itself. There was nothing like it anywhere else.

I pulled off into the road leading to the mall and quickly picked out the most expensive thing I could find at his favorite store. He wouldn't care what it was, as long as he knew how much it cost. I bought him a new Rolex and hoped they would lead up to his standards, but I knew they wouldn't. I never met his standards, but I was always somehow happy with him, even when he was never happy with me.

I drove by the flower stands again and knew I had to get out and walk around. This was the only place I could be myself and just, well, be. While I was here I thought I should probably pick some up for Mom. She used to love this place as much as I did. I picked her favorites, pink carnations, and baby blue forget-me-nots. Like I could ever forget her.

I paid the little woman selling the flowers and drove off down the valley until I reached an old, run-down cemetery. My mother's grave rested beside an old oak tree we used to lie under and tell stories after we went and smelled all the sweet flowers. We could stay there all day and just watch clouds as long as we were together, it didn't matter if we were silent. Each other's presence was all we needed.

Every time my father got to out of control and we had to leave, we would spend nights here, in each other's arms, crying, waiting for our nightmare to end. It finally ended three years ago.

I was only fifteen when it happened. My father went on one of his drunk rampages and we didn't get out of the house fast enough. He took the bottle and smashed it off the table, holding the broken, jagged neck as a weapon. My mother forced me behind her and tried to shove me out the door but she knew I was stronger. She couldn't defend me from own father; I was the one that had to help her. He came at us with the sharp end of the bottle towards Mom's chest. She didn't no what to do so I shoved her out of he way. The bottle connected with my collarbone and I stumbled back into the doorway...

I sat by her grave and pulled down my t-shirt to reveal my crescent moon scar. I thought he would leave us alone then, but he was far from it. He ran at me with the bottle again but this time it was aimed for my heart. My mother knew what was about to happen next and I knew she couldn't do anything about it, so I gave her one last look before I was gone. Except, she wasn't where I left her. And there was no bottle in my chest.

I looked down. The weapon was lodged in my mother's throat. I couldn't even scream I was so in shock. She looked up and saw me silently crying at the open wound. Her last words she ever said were. "We are forever infinite in our world of purity and love. Goodbye my beautiful buttercup, forget me not, we will see each other again in our field of roses."

Her eyes closed and she was just gone. It was the last time I ever saw my father, too. I later moved in with my grandparents and have loved it ever since.

I looked down at Tevin's watch and checked the time. I had been here for over two hours. School was almost out and I was a missing person! I kissed Mom's grave and sped off into the car. I arrived just as the bell rang. Was I ever lucky. Tevin and Blakey's cars were stilled parked so I ran into school to find them. I cut through the library to get to the gym where they both played softball. As I cut through the library I heard this odd noise. I looked around the corner of the bookcase and saw Blakley hooking up with some guy. Of course, only she would be brave enough to pull that off.

I was about to pretend I didn't see anything when the guy lifted her up onto the shelf, letting me get a better look at him.

It was Tevin. With my best friend. They were kissing, and I was right there, witnessing it all. I coughed loudly so they would look up. As soon as they did, their jaws dropped.

"Rose, I thought you went home," Blakely managed to choke out.

"Rose..." Tevin faltered.

I threw the watch at the wall, watching it smash into tiny glass pieces. "You know what? Save it, both of you."

I ran outside, knowing they wouldn't chase after me. Tevin always said as long as he was happy I would be too. Now I saw how wrong that sounded. I drove off, having no idea where I was going.

I drove for a day it seemed. The sun started to rise when I decided to stop. I looked around and all there was to see was a dark, deserted town.

The uneven stone roads bumped as I drove over them looking for some sign of a person to help me. I got out of the car at an old building that read Cos's Inn above the doorway. The whole building looked burnt down and un-livable. No one could stay there anymore.

I took a tour of the town trying to find a decent place to sleep, but everything was either rotting or so burnt that I couldn't even tell if a chair was a chair or a bookcase.

I jogged around the corner, desperately looking for a place to stay when I saw a movement. Someone just ran behind that building. It seemed like I'd seen this before.

I ran after the person, hoping to find him when I came to an alley. The alley was dark and rusted out. Fog billowed in the distance, coming from out of no-where. It resembled a horror movie. But that's not what made me stop.

The boy. It was him, he was actually real. I couldn't believe my eyes. He didn't notice me yet, but was walking towards the fog. He stopped and looked down. It was his cross. He kissed it and started to step in the fog.

"No!" I screeched.

The boy spun around in amazement and gave me a helpless look. He was beautiful. His thick black hair hung over his icy blue eyes that stared with such intensity that I took a step backwards.

The boy seemed so stunned he stumbled back into the fog. He let out a yell and I knew he wasn't coming back alone. I ran in after him, hoping I could find him.

The fog was thick and heavy and the smell was nothing like my flowers. It smelled of death and decay. The opposite of beautiful. I could see the boy's faint outline in the distance and caught up with him just in time. I grabbed his hand and he didn't let go. We clutched each other the whole way through until we reached an opening. It seemed like there was a light at the end of a tunnel and we had to follow it.

The boy squeezed my hand and we walked through, together.

The end of the tunnel was nothing I expected. We stumbled out, ours eyes adjusting to the sun. It was a bright meadow, filled with carnations and forget-me-nots and roses. A meadow I had always wanted to have. The boy looked at me and smiled. It was like he knew me too.

"I had a dream about you once." He was still smiling at me. "And you were at this meadow, picking flowers and making necklaces out of them. You seemed... happy."

He dreamt about me too? I didn't understand, but I knew it was meant to happen. He turned his head up to the sky, taking it all in.

And then we walked. Hand in hand. Having no idea where we were going, but as long as we were together, it didn't really matter.

***

### Rio

Andraia Gregory

As we arrived at the luxury resort, I could taste the freshness of the air and feel its cool breeze. Brad stood beside me as we took in the sight of the place we'd soon call home for the next two weeks. When Brad told me we'd be vacationing in Rio, I was ecstatic. Finally, we'd have a chance to relax and enjoy the summer together. But of course, he was coming here to work with some rich clients and wasn't planning on relaxing in the slightest. Typical Brad.

"Honey, do you have all your bags? We don't want a repeat of what happened in Florida, do we?" Brad's blond eyebrows raised. My cheeks flooded. I grabbed my two bags from the trunk of the taxicab and lifted them out, trailing them behind me as we walked towards the door of the Resort's hotel.

The place was huge, reminding me of a castle. Inside, the walls were a soft yellow, and the wooden floors were the exact color of sand. There was a huge sunset painted on the far wall. Obviously going for the 'beachy' look.

"Hello sir and madam. How may I help you?" A pretty brunette seated at a crowded desk politely smiled. Brad answered her, just as polite, but I was too distracted to comprehend; I was being watched.

A curious young man across the lobby blatantly stared at me, not trying to be discreet about it at all. Either that, or the wall behind me was absolutely fascinating.

When I looked over at him, he didn't look away-the normal reaction when you're caught gawking at someone. Instead, he met my gaze and continued to stare, almost as if I was the one caught staring at him!

I turned my head, startled. I focused on listening to Brad and the woman at the front desk go over our entertainment options. You'd think there would be more than tennis and swimming for such a gigantic place.

After receiving the key-cards for our room, our luggage was carried for us while we were given a brief tour of the hotel area. Our room was huge, the focus an excessively large, fluffy bed, pressed up against a pale wall covered in abstract art. A few steps from the foot of the bed was what appeared to be a little sitting area, separated from the rest of the room by a decorated divider. The entire far wall was glass, showing off a breathtaking view.

"What do you think, Kate?" Brad beamed, obviously expecting me to be impressed. And I was; It was absolutely beautiful.

"It's gorgeous. Thank you so much for inviting me, Brad." I knew that was what he wanted to hear.

"Of course, darling! You know I'd do anything for my princess!" He wrapped his arms around me for a brief moment, then got straight to business, saying, "So what are you planning on doing tomorrow? I've got a meeting in the morning and then my boss wanted to show me around. I wasn't going to say no to the man. So I hope you don't mind hanging around here alone for a bit. And lets hope you don't get lost! A woman like you could easily get lost in a place like this." Brad could be sweet. But he could also be very insulting. Unintentionally, of course. I just smiled and rolled my eyes. And I didn't see that young man again.

***

I was startled awake by a knock on the door. I glanced at the clock, annoyed to have my sleep interrupted. It was 8 o'clock, and Brad seemed to have disappeared; Must have gone to his meeting.

"I'm asleep. Hello?" I called out towards the door. I heard a deep chuckle.

"I've got your breakfast order." A pleasant male voice answered. He sounded amused, which annoyed me, I shoved my face into a pillow.

"I don't remember ordering any food." I really just wanted to get some sleep.

"Well, it was ordered. And now it's here. So are you planning on opening this door or not?" I could hear a smile in his voice. I sat up and glared at the door for a moment. Weren't hotel employees supposed to be almost annoyingly polite and all smiles every second of the day?

I decided to throw on a white robe, one of those white things supplied by the hotel, and go ahead and open the door. My eyebrows shot up in surprise at who was standing in front of me.

The young man from the lobby. He looked about 21. And handsome. He had long, dark hair, almost reaching his chin, and he kept it tucked behind his ears. His bright blue eyes were fringed with thick lashes, and his full lips grinned at me, exposing a set of perfect white teeth. In his hands was a tray containing eggs, toast, and orange juice, my favorite breakfast. Brad must have ordered it before he left.

I scowled at his grin for a bit, until he said, "Well? Are you going to invite me in?" He raised his eyebrows when I didn't reply.

"Hm. You're a grumpy one, aren't you?"

I relaxed my face and accepted the tray. "Enjoy your morning," I said, my voice dripping of heavy sarcasm.

"I'm Byron by the way." His grin grew wide as he held out his hand. I shut the door on him.

***

After I was finished of my breakfast I trotted down to the lobby, wondering how I was going to spend the day. I wasn't planning on leaving the resort. In a city like this, you never know what could happen, especially without a guide.

I ended up at the beach. The grainy sand between my toes and the salty air, combined with the distant sound of the calm ocean relaxed me. I sat myself down on my thick towel and observed the scene around me.

People were scattered about, some playing with beach balls, some tanning. I even noticed a few surfers. Brad should've been there, but I doubted his ability to relax. Even when I met him almost a year ago, he was obsessed over his work.

"Well look at you, Little Ms. Sunshine. Looks like you've finally got that scowl off your face. This is the kind of weather that could brighten anyone up, I suppose. Don't you think?" I looked up and sighed. Byron apparently decided it was a good idea to make a reappearance. His smile was genuine this time, though. He had a contagious smile, so I could help but laugh.

"Are you stalking me?" I tried to look serious, but his look of mock-horror in response was hard to take seriously.

"Excuse me? How could you think such a thing! I'm simply being a kind and helpful gentleman! And when a gentleman sees a damsel in distress it, isn't acceptable to ignore her." He waited for a response.

"How on earth would I be considered a damsel in distress?" I asked, amused.

"Well, you're in a wonderful place like this. And yet, you're sitting in the sand and you're staring at the sand." He paused and grinned. "So, it seems as though you either have an obsession with sand, or you're in distress." Byron seemed pleased with his explanation and plopped down beside me, stretching his legs. He looked really tan and in good shape. I found myself wondering if he was a surfer. He definitely had that look about him.

"Does that mean you harass every girl who's trying to relax on the beach?" I laughed and he chuckled. "Is there much to do around here, other than swimming and tanning?" I really didn't feel like being bored for the next two weeks, but it looked like this trip was headed in that direction.

"Too good for the resort, now are we? I think there's a dolphin. Everyone likes dolphins!"

"I was actually hoping to find someone who knows the city. I wanted to go see what it's like, and I was really hoping to avoid getting lost..." I doubted I'd find a guide there, though. The only people around were vacationers and hotel employees.

Byron smiled, almost mischievously. And right away I knew what he was thinking.

"Oh no. Definitely not." I stood up.

"I know the city like the back of my hand. I'll let you pay me if that makes you feel more professional about the situation."

I frowned, contemplating. I did need someone to make sure I didn't get lost in the city. And I was almost positive Byron wasn't going to attempt a kidnapping.

"Fine. But if we get lost, you're fired! How much do I pay you?"

Byron chuckled again, "I was just kidding. I'm a gentleman, remember? I'm just helping the damsel in distress, free of charge!"

***

The little shops Byron brought me to were amazing. Rio was filled with so many amazing things! He gave me a wooden charm bracelet called a Kobun. It was supposed to bring good luck.

Over the next few days, while Brad was busy with his business things, Byron continued to show me the interesting things around town. And I eventually made him accept payment for his help navigating through the city. We actually started having a lot of fun!

Brad continued to drone on about his boss and new clients every night. I felt like I was living two separate lives. Every day when the sun started to set, Byron insisted he get me home before dark. I guess I wasn't just being paranoid about the questionable safety of the city.

***

"So how come Brad didn't want to run around the city?" Byron was picking at the park bench seat. This was our eleventh day in the city and it seemed we were running out of places to go.

"Brad's probably running around the city right now actually. Only, with his boss. He'd normally be having fun... I think he's just trying to impress his new boss." As I said it, it felt like a lie. I shivered.

"Are you cold?" Byron asked. He started to shrug his jacket off.

"No, no. I'm fine," I lied. The sun was going down quickly and it seemed to get colder by the second. An orange sunset peeked through the trees.

"Thanks," I said as I accepted his jacket. That's when I noticed what he was wearing for the first time. His plain white T-shirt accentuated his dark skin, and his beige shorts and sandals reminded me of a surfer again. Just as I was about to ask, Byron stood up.

"It's getting dark. I should really get you back to the hotel." He gazed into the colorful sky as he spoke, looking distracted. I felt a wave of disappointment. I only had three days left in Rio and I still haven't experienced the city at night.

My emotions must have been clear on my face because Byron laughed.

"If you'd like to keep sight-seeing a little longer, I suppose we could manage that..." He smiled. So did I.

"Sounds great! Where are we off to next, then?" I hopped onto my feet, excited.

He comically scratched his head as he thought, "Hmm... I think I have a place in mind." I opened my mouth to ask, but he cut me off with, "And it's going to be a surprise!" He laughed at my grimace.

"Fine." I extended my arm out to him. "Lead the way!"

***

The walk to Byron's destination was surprisingly short, but the sun had completely set along the way. The sky was only slightly lit by the pink streaks left behind by the sun. Byron rambled on about how much he loved wherever-it-was we were going, and how he knew I'd just love his surprise. From the way Byron was talking this place up, I was expecting something nice. But not something so brilliant. Not this.

It was unbelievably breathtaking.

In front of me stood an enormous glass fountain, glowing a soft yellow through the constant fall of water. The huge space surrounding the fountain was lit up by dim lamps, and was closed off by tall buildings. The sweet sound of water splashing filled my ears. I couldn't believe it was real.

"So..." Byron spoke gently, adding to the effect. "Surprised?" I was speechless. Byron grinned in response to my silence and led me to sit on the edge of the fountain. The cool, smooth surface of the stone was calming.

"It's perfect!" I whispered. And then I really wished I hadn't jinxed it.

"Well, hello!" A loud, unfamiliar voice boomed, interrupting the silence of the square. Byron and I both jumped, startled. The voice sounded like it was coming from behind, but when we scanned the shadows for whoever our unwelcome guest was, there was nothing but darkness. We stood, facing the possibility of danger. I started to feel sick.

"Who's there?" Byron frowned. He took a step forward, putting himself in between me and the unknown. Through the fountain, I couldn't tell if there was really anyone hiding in the dark. There were suddenly multiple voices, all laughing in response to Byron. And then they stepped out of the shadows.

A gang of six, huge men, some carrying baseball bats, and others were holding metal pipes.

As soon as they came into sight, Byron crouched into a defensive pose. And he growled. The sound was exactly like the growl of a furious canine. I stared, wide-eyed. Byron glanced back at me, and as he did I saw that he had fangs. His nails had been replaced by terrifying, razor-sharp claws. Only one word came to mind; Werewolf.

And then he pounced.

***

### Shadow of Threat

Bailey Brydon

Prologue

Fear is the human's most basic survival mechanism. They fear what is unknown and the more that is unknown, the more that fear grows. They have reasoned it is too unpredictable, and grown too comfortable to their normal routines and surroundings. Preconceived conceptions allow them to assume and think the worst when encountered with the unknown. Fear spreads like an uncontrollable disease, that leads to death.

Humans fear the lack of control, lack of belonging. They fear what they do not have power and knowledge over. The less in control, the less they know, the more the fear becomes unsustainable, and that fear morphs into anxiety and panic. They fear what they do not understand, what cannot be explained. It is because of that fear they do not take chances, the reason they shudder in the dark and are terrified of death. It is that fear that causes conflict, war, and brings them to kill needlessly.

Fear has no limits. Fear imposters all ages, genders, religions and races. It is also because of that fear that I am illegal.

Our whole race is, the Dezdriens, the lost souls. It's the reason I've never met my real parents, the reason we are all isolated, taken from birth and smuggled like packages of frozen food to an unknown location. The reason the government "eliminates" all children imprinted by the Aretha goddess from birth. The reason we are on the verge of extinction.

My name is Trevya Anne, spirit Dezdrien. There are five types of Dezdriens: earth, water, fire, air, and spirit. We live in a location unknown to the outside world. I am writing this not for entertainment, not for interest, and not for myself. I am writing this as a document, one that I hope to spread, to inform the outside world of what our government has been getting away with for decades, without anyone knowing. If by some miracle this letter of documentation survives, I apologize for the briefness of explanation for there is a raging battle approaching us. One we are not prepared for and one that will most likely extinguish the Dezdrien race entirely.

They are onto us.

Dezdriens are a race of themselves; we look human, no tentacles or fangs, just human. The only thing seperating us from the normal human race is the imprint in our blood and the color of our eyes. All because of November 7th, a day you do not want to be born on. Once a year on that date, the Aretha Goddess awakens, and must imprint one child with the Dezdrien blood of either water, earth, fire, air or spirit. It is her means of survival, bearing the blood for 11 months before she must birth it to one physical child.

This is dangerous, for if there is no baby to be born on that day, the baby will be born premature, and usually is unable to take the change in blood, therefore death is the usual outcome.

However, the larger danger is the government. They are afraid, afraid of what we possess because we have never been given a chance to grow, to show we are not ruthless maniacs. We are not killing machines or immortals in search of world domination. No, we simply want someone, anyone, to take a chance, to look past their fear and help every other human to do so.

The government has manipulated parents and society for decades. Keeping eyes on every maternity ward on November 7th and scanning entire areas for days afterwards for that one bearing child. When they find that baby, they exterminate him or her, using an unnoticeable syringe to insert a toxic poison into the infant's forehead, allowing it to travel to the brain in seconds.

Of course they do this all secretly, usually when a babysitter isn't paying attention, or at night when the parents are too wound up in their sleep to detect anything. Of course it becomes suspicious, people suspect foul play. But again their fear drives them away from concluding that the government could ever be responsible for the plotted deaths. And on the rare occasion when that fear is penetrated, the government makes sure they too are exterminated, again secretly.

No, I do not have all of the answers as to why or how exactly we are created, what purpose we possess. But all that I do know, you soon will too, and I hope you spread the word. Or, if your fear overrules, I hope you can find the strength to hide the letter somewhere someone may find it again, and so the domino effect will take place until one human is able to penetrate that wall of fear.

There are five categories of Dezdriens, as I have mentioned. We all have very human like features, although our eyes make it easy to distinguish exactly what blood we bear. Earth bearers have shimmering emerald eyes, almost clover like. Fire, the most obvious is a blazing bloodshot red; the colour wavers almost like a real flame is lit behind their eyes. Water is also quite obvious, a torturous mesmerizing royal blue, lapping at the bearer's eye lids like salty sea waves.

Air is probably the more intimidating for it often looks as if the Dezdrien has no eye at all, nothing but an endless pool of a cloudy white. Spirit bearers, including me, possess a bright flowery violet colour. Each category of Dezdrien has control over their element, each very useful in different circumstances, although we rarely use our powers outside of learning how to simply control them in a safe protected and monitored environment.

Somehow, the government has discovered our location. Whether there is a betrayer among us, or simply the governments doing, we all are in grave danger. Most of our young and elders have been killed off because they were unable to defend themselves. We have done our best to keep up the front, to remain strong and protect each other, but when you're protecting so many people at once in all directions, there's bound to be casualties.

I'm sure if this story gets out they will try to trick you into thinking we implied threat, that we used unnecessary force towards them. But it was quite the opposite. When the government first sent specialists to exterminate us, they told us we would be one way or another, and they were fully equipped with syringes and bottles of toxins that were said to be painless. They asked who wanted to be first. As if we would give up what we had left of our freedom so they could kill us. When we refused, they brought in military troops, hundreds of armed men and women, and they attacked from the moment they hit land. Thankfully, there was no ammunition or explosives brought with them. We think they were simply trying to scare us into submission. When we still refused, they crafted their own weapons, using daggers, knives and any other devices they would use to terminate us with. We did not fight back; we simply defended ourselves in any way necessary. Then it became beyond the point of survival, and we attacked back. We did not use our powers.

Our race depends on your courage to stand up for us, we depend on you to conquer your fear before they conquer us, and numbers are decreasing at an uncountable pace. By the time someone finds this, we will probably be extinct. But at least we will be known, even if we have been living in the shadow of threat.

***

Present Battle

I stopped a moment, bending down to drag the knife along the grass washing off blood the best I could. I hadn't worried about it until now. I think I was just trying to ignore the motionless bodies piling up all around me, and the ones still falling. At the beginning of the week, we had been defending well. Our first orders were to defend each other as best as possible, do not attack. Then it turned to attack your enemies, leave the ones who do not imply threat. Then do whatever you have to, get rid of them. Then kill them. Then, the last then, just focus on surviving.

I could still hear screams from behind me. I drew my dagger, my heart in my mouth, and started running towards the general commotion. As two men had surrounded one of our Dezdriens, her eyes snapped to me pleading for rescue as the men continued to circle her like vultures. I could tell by her general stance, a defensive one, and the shimmering black hair descending down her shoulders that it was Willow. One look into those white disks and I took off towards the enemy, who hadn't seen me yet. I braced myself and lunged forward with as much stealth as possible, hoping by the time the other man saw his partner fall, I'd already be on him.

The dagger did its job well, piercing the man and making sure he wouldn't fight again. He turned to face me, eyes emotionless, dying and wronged. I turned my face away unable to comprehend what I just did, what I had been doing for the past week. It didn't take me long after that. I grabbed the previous mans sword and stabbed at his partner. This man was prepared, having seen his friend fall. I swung again, slicing into the man's ribs. He howled in agony and dropped to his knees.

I looked about me, the whole scene so inhumane, every grain of blood splattered sand traced with the stench of fear. I mentally scolded myself, wishing I could close my eyes for just a moment to block out the scene, knowing the moment I did there would be a knife piercing my own neck. Stop it! Stop thinking about it and just do what you have to!

I withdrew the sword from his side, keeping my gaze up not wanting to look at the fear illuminating his eyes. I looked around for my next move of attack, and as I did I felt a force flying into my back. I fell face forward into the ground before scrambling as fast as I could, trying to get in a defensive position, so at least it would be a fair fight. I finally stood seeing another woman, in her twenties snarling back at me. She had a carved stick, old style but deadly enough.

I started circling her, testing her ability to move, when I sensed a presence behind me, all too late. A hand clamped over my mouth driving my lip into my tooth, until I felt it pierce my skin and my mouth filling with coppery liquid. I drew the hand my dagger was in, swinging it forward then back, slicing blindly hoping to catch my captors leg my only chance to free myself.

He saw me draw it and grasped my wrists, shaking them until I dropped both weapons. He held me still as the woman closed in on me and started pushing her stick towards my neck. I started to close my eyes unwillingly.

Suddenly, the woman's eyes wretched up her mouth opening into a scream and I felt the grasps on my wrists loosen as I heard a sickening thud behind me. I flew forward immediately twisting the stick in her hands and chopping it back against her neck while she was still in shock.

I turned to see my savior. Aaron, a broad shouldered male was finishing off the man he just knocked unconscious to the ground, severing his head at his neck.

His lips upturned slightly as he finished looking up to me. There was an ear-piercing scream from behind me and both our eyes snapped to the voice, an elder woman being beaten to the ground by an unarmed male. The smile faded instantly from Aaron's face.

"I got it," he said simply, starting to run in the direction of the woman, craning his neck to look at me as he mouthed, "You owe me."

I turned away and started walking, stepping over bodies some lying in pools of their own blood. I glanced quickly at the sky noticing it was almost sunset, which meant another night shift.

Exhaustion overwhelmed me as I looked about dreary eyed. As I did, I caught strawberry blonde hair running towards the edge of a cliff, towards the crackling waves whipping the daggered rocks. I watched almost knowing what was going to happen, but unable to process it.

She's going to jump I thought. She's going to end her life because she'd rather risk death than stay another moment witnessing this. I took off running towards the water yelling for her to stop. I screamed until my lungs felt like they were being engulfed in billowing flames. She was completely unaware of me, completely unaware of everything around her, the merciless killing; the only thing she saw was those rolling waves and a chance of escape. She jumped.

I dashed as fast as my feet could carry me and plunged into the water, the bitter cold sending a gasp through me as I clenched my teeth together. I dove back under ignoring my pleading body as it shivered violently. I opened my eyes the salt stinging them as tears mixed in with the sea.

I saw wavering blonde hair at the bottom, almost plantlike. I grabbed it and pulled with everything I was, but there was no fight. I gasped as I broke through the surface and pulled myself and the girl to a rock peeking out of the water. Once I was on the stone, I locked my arms under hers and tugged until she was on her back facing the sky. I pressed my fingers to the cavity in her neck ignoring the blood seeping from her head where she probably hit a rock. I felt nothing. I stood up on the rock and looked down on her, Her eyes were still open, staring at the darkening sky, the misty veil in her gaze telling me she was gone.

I could see now, that her eyes were a daring denim blue. I also knew from those eyes that it was Levana, a thirteen-year-old, who had met up with a cousin here, the only one to ever find someone from their family. From this angle I could also see it wasn't just a wound on her head; an entire proportion of the left side of her skull had been chipped off, exposing all kinds of stomach churning things.

I shuttered looking back ashore, and this time hastily swam back not wanting to re-enter but knowing I had to.

The moment I reached the beach the war began. I quickly picked up a lost blade tied around a stick for more length as someone ran blindly passed me, eyes locked on a Dezdrien already fighting off three humans. I stuck my foot out, simply tripping him and he turned over eyes wide in shock. I chopped down hard onto his neck.

Another human tried to sneak up on me, but I saw him out of the corner of my eye, turned around and thrust the blade into the man's belly. I was almost relaxed now and I hated it, hated I had grown use to the endless killing and gotten used to doing the killing myself.

I noticed another enemy stabbing down into one of our Dezdriens. I ran towards him and kicked the man in the stomach, my rigged shoes with spikes sticking out of them stabbing into his stomach. He doubled over and I brought my sword down hard onto his back as his limb sprayed in every direction before he stilled eternally.

I looked down at the Dezdrien below me, my mouth opened in horror looking into those glinting emerald eyes. Desiree. The named turned over in my mind over and over again. My best friend. I stood frozen knowing I had to move, knowing I was a sitting duck standing here, mourning. Yet I couldn't move. My boots had turned to iron, clamping my feet in their spot.

Her once shimmering and captivated emerald eyes were now faded lusterless shadows of themselves. Her stark black strands of hair turned a silvery metallic color. Her eyes were up, staring at me, seeing nothing. My hands trembled as I bent down slowing closing her eyelids.

I sensed the presence behind me all too late. I rolled forward doing an almost somersault over Desiree. I had set my blade down when I had closed her eyelids, and I was unarmed. He flung forward as I scanned the area for something to use; bad mistake. He started to bring his arm down, holding a shovel, and I grabbed it pushing it back up my hands trembling against his strength. I made eye contact with him. He started back, his eyes a blazing fire of fury. I struggled to free myself, kicking my legs furiously hoping one of them would make contact. He brought his leg back and swung it into my side and I lunged forward, gasping for air as my head made contact with the rusted shovel.

He stood up; I stayed down, not worried about what was going to happen. My body fluttered peacefully, and all the noise and chaos around me ceased. I knew that if I let go, I'd be setting myself free. Free of this hatred and violence. As the shovel came down making contact with me again, a blow meant to kill, this time I felt nothing. Just the calmness of the clouds as they swirled above as I took my last breath, I think, and blackness took over.

***

### The Murder of Amily Knir

Brenna de Montbrun

When Amily Knir was young she used to talk to people. This would be normal, if there were people there. But there weren't, and so it wasn't.

At first Amily's parents thought it was cute. They'd ask her about them and tell their friends funny stories about all the odd things had told them that her 'imaginary friends' had. And why shouldn't they have thought it was cute? After all, many small children have imaginary friends.

As other children outgrew their imaginary friends and made real ones, Amily kept on talking to hers. Soon Amily's parents stopped thinking Amily's 'friends' were cute and started to suspect their darling daughter was not quite so normal as they once thought.

So, one quiet day in December, Amily's parents finally got up the nerve to talk to her. They sat her down at the kitchen table and politely asked her to stop talking to her friends. They told her they weren't real, and so she wouldn't miss them. They told her she would make new friends, real friends. Amily was around ten, and she had been talking to her 'friends' as long as anyone could remember. This is why her parents were so surprised and relieved when Amily took the news easily.

However, Amily's parents' relief was short lived, because after Amily stopped talking to her 'friends' she started talking less and less to everybody else, until one day she stopped talking at all. This made her parents more worried than ever, and so after she'd not spoken a single word in months they rushed her to the doctor.

The doctor ran all sorts of tests on Amily and after finding nothing physically wrong with her, concluded her problem must be psychological. Amily and her parents met with all sorts of psychologist, psychiatrists. therapists. They even tried teaching her sign language but nothing could make Amily communicate.

As time went on, Amily began to remove herself more and more from the rest of the world. She refused to go to school or eat dinner with her parents, and eventually refused to leave her room or eat at all. Amily would stay up there all day, staring at the wall, shaking and on occasion, crying.

Her parents hired doctors of all sorts to try and help her, but to no avail. She'd just sit there, perched on the edge of the bed and staring at the bleak white walls of her bedroom, completely unaware of any other human presence. She was given dozens of different diagnoses ranging from 'rebellious teenager' to 'extreme trauma'. And though there were many diagnoses, all of the suggested treatments were complete and total failures.

So Amily lived in isolation, her whole world consisting of her blank walls and starchy bed sheets. Day after day she sat up in her room while her parents mourned for the child that might just as well be dead. When Amily stopped eating and started wasting away her parents were sure she'd soon die of starvation. Her clothes draped across her shoulders like a sheet on a chair, her thinning hair thick with grease and her glassy eyes sunk deep into their sockets.

She looked as though she were already dead.

Soon she was, but not as a result of starvation. Amily was found expired on her bedroom floor from a gash across her neck and a stab wound to her chest. A large Swiss army knife lay just beyond her spread-out fingertips.

Amily's parents screamed when they found her there, lying in a deep scarlet, metallic smelling pool of blood. Police, ambulances and the fire department arrived. All were shocked to see the body of such a frail girl spread out over the floor, and all were certain it was murder. An investigation ensued and only Amily's fingerprints were found on the knife, so the police reluctantly dismissed it as an unusual suicide. They said she must have been very determined to have killed herself in such a way while being so frail, and due to that and the lack of fingerprints, they were still doubting their judgments.

Whether Amily's death was suicide or murder, we may never know for certain, nor will we ever know why she shut down the way she did, or who she'd really been talking to. One thing is certain though: late at night , when you walk over Amily's grave, voices can be heard whispering through the ground. Whispering to you, calling to you, luring you towards them in such hushed tones that you can only just make out the words: "Let us in"

***

### Blame it on September

Chiane Perrot

He watched me carefully as we walked down the beach. We were silent for a good fifteen minutes before he actually spoke. It was the last summer night we had before he left for school; we had to make it count.

"You know, you really are beautiful," he said.

My cheeks burned with insecurity.

We spent the entire summer together after meeting at a party. We had been inseparable ever since. Always hanging out, swimming, camping; we never did anything without one another . But it never occurred to me he thought of me as more than a friend.

I had a quick flashback of the night we met. He wore khaki shorts and a white polo. He looked so perfect with his golden skin and sea blue eyes.

Those same eyes were staring into mine with a look of both anticipation and passion. I froze. I didn't know what to say. I just stared into those gorgeous eyes of his.

Before I knew it he pulled me in, hands around my waist. His sweet smelling breath slowly blew into my face. He smelled of shampoo and summertime. As his lips slowly reach toward he whispered, "I love you."

Our lips met and a spark ignited within me. My lips slowly moved with his. My heart was pounding so loud that I could hear it in my ears. I wrapped my arms around him and entwined my fingers in his hair. In that moment I swear we were infinite.

He slowly pulled away and I nuzzled my face against his neck. I whispered, "I love you too," into his baby smooth skin.

I could have stayed like that forever.

He slid his hands down and into mine. We walked along the beach hand-in-hand as the sun started to go down. The orange hue of the sky just enhanced the features of his face. He pulled me back in and his time instead of kissing me, he spun me around and we slowly started dancing right there. His husky voice began singing the song that was playing the moment we met.

"You know my first thought when I saw you was 'she's perfect' and I thought maybe it was too good to be true." He took a pause. "But it actually wasn't. I spent all summer with you and still can't find anything wrong with you." He laughed then continued. It's actually quite intimidating," he said in a way that made him sound serious. I only knew that he was joking when he followed it with a laugh.

'I'm not perfect," I said in defense.

"Name one thing imperfect about you, Little Miss Sunshine."

"I...I snore in my sleep, "I stammered out with a giggle.

"I'm sure it's super cute." He pulled me in for another kiss.

Just then it started to rain. Not just any kind of rain, but pouring rain. We didn't mind it. If anything, we kind of liked it.

We walked in the rain on the beach, under the stars for hours.

Talking, giggling and occasionally stopping for a few kisses.

'What's one thing that you want to do, that you've always wanted to do?" he asked me.

I pondered for a moment.

"Skinny dip, "I said suddenly.

He looked shocked. We gave each other a quick look over, then he whipped off his shirt.

"You're serious?" I asked.

"Summer doesn't last forever. Let's do something to make it count.

We both stripped down and ran into the ice-cold water. Screaming and giggling, we splashed around until we couldn't bear the pain any longer.

That night was one of the best nights of my life. We fell asleep on the beach and woke up entangled together.

He walked me home, we said our good-byes. We kissed for what felt like an eternity. I didn't want the summer to end. He was leaving for school half way across the world and wouldn't return home until next summer. He promised to call me once a week, because the price of long distance phone calls was outrageous.

Some nights he called out of the blue, just to tell me he loved me, other nights he didn't call at all. The phone calls went from once a week, to once a month.

Eventually he stopped calling all together. I never knew what had made them stop, but I knew we could never get back what he had that last night of summer.

I hoped we could keep what we had forever, but nothing lasts forever; not even summer.

***

### The Attack

Chloe Chapman

I rolled down the window to breathe in the fresh smell of California air. It was summer and my family was going to our usual cottage on a beautiful white sand beaches, the one I waited for all year long. To feel the warm sun, salty refreshing water and the peaceful silence of the waves hitting the shore would really make it feel like summer.

When we got there I ran up to the house swung open the door and ran to my bedroom. I quickly unpacked my things and ran over to see Kate, my next-door neighbors I hadn't seen her in almost a year, but she was my best friend and when I came to the cottage we always did the craziest things.

When I burst through the door I found her sitting on the couch watching TV. When she saw me she jumped up and gave me a huge bear hug, and from that moment on I knew we would be inseparable for the rest of the summer. She quickly got me caught up on the latest gossip and the up coming parties. She said she and all the other girls were going to go out in the boat to swim. So we got on our bathing suits, and heading down to the harbour.

When we arrived everyone was waiting for us. We were going out on Lauren's speedboat to Seal Cove, it was surrounded by big cliffs and water that looked just like a pool. We all jumped in and quickly sailed off. At the cove we all set out our towels on the top of the boat and jumped in. We swam for what felt like forever, and when we couldn't kick our legs anymore, Kate and I climbed up to the top of the boat and just lay in the sun. It felt so warm on my skin and I could almost feel myself burning. It was a beautiful day.

Kate and I were quietly talking when suddenly we heard a scream from the water. We ran down to the deck of the boat and looked out to the water. All we could see was blood and someone floating in the water. Ali was screaming "H- help, help!"

Shark attack and Lauren's not okay. She was bitten. Quickly I dove in to the water and Ali and I dragged Lauren out, started up the boat and quickly headed for shore. Lauren was passed out on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Her leg was barely hung on.

I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the wound to try to stop the bleeding. I couldn't imagine how much pain she was in.

When we finally reached shore, an ambulance was waiting for us. The EMT's put her on a stretcher and drove off. Ali, Kate and I all just looked at each other in tears and didn't know what was going to happen.

We jumped into Kate's car and drove to the hospital. When we got there, we saw that Lauren's family was already there. They sat in the waiting room, crying. We went up and gave them a hug and asked if she was all right.

They told us that she lost too much blood and she didn't make it. Everyone was silent. We didn't know what to say. We all loved Lauren and we didn't know how she could be just gone. We walked to her hospital bed and said our final goodbyes.

***

### When Jenkins Turned Sweet

Chloe Jardine

You always hear stories about how hard high school is, but that's normal high school. I only wish I had it that easy, but no. I'm not normal, not at all. And neither is where I go to school.

I get it, you're probably confused. Don't worry, my life confuses me too. My name is Molly Micheals and I'm fifteen years old. I used to think my life was normal but I gave up on that, and it's all because I'm a witch.

Let's just get something straight right away, we are not the witches you see in movies. We are everyday people with a 'gift', as my mom would say. I don't have a cat, I can't drive a broom (or even a car), I don't wear a pointy hat and I don't use spells. I don't live in some magical kingdom, either. I live in normal, everyday Springworth, Saskatchewan.

Now back to my school. I go to Jenkins High School. Sounds normal right? Well, it looks normal too, when it's anything but. It is a school for 'special' kids, which is basically just the nice way of saying weird kids with magical powers that no one else wants to associate with. All students and faculty are witches or wizards and we learn how to control our powers along with geometry, chemistry, history and any other dull subject you can think of.

After getting to school today, everything started to seem weird. I arrived at my locker and my best friend, Lila Summers wasn't there, which she always was. I just went to my first class, Transfigurations and as usual I thought my mind was going to explode. I could see Mr. Withers¢ mouth moving, but I had yet to hear one word he lectured. I was too distracted by the faint smell of chocolate that seemed to be coming from the broken pane in the window. The aroma was enough to make my stomach growl, and I could taste it as it began to make me drift off to sleep, though it didn't last long.

"Ms. Micheals. Hello Ms. Micheals!"

"Hmmm, uummm, 63!" I said in panic.

"What do you think you are doing?" Mr. Withers gave me a look of disgust over his round spectacles, before pointing to the door. "Ms. McDougall has asked to speak to you. Feel free to tell her about this little incident while you're there."

I collected my books with twenty-two sets of eyes staring at me. I could nearly taste my embarrassment mixed with the lingering flavor of chocolate as I stood up, and started down the hall.

Sitting outside Ms. McDougall's office panic finally set in. What had I done? I'd never been here before. Was I in trouble? My thoughts were interrupted by Ms. McDougall's door opening.

"Come in, Ms. Micheals."

I entered and took a seat in what felt like a waterbed. I sank into the sofa and looked around. This office was not what I pictured in my head; I had always imagined it matching Ms. McDougall's personality. She was an old traditional witch (yes like the ones in the movies but no other witch is like that nowadays, because she's like a thousand years old and I'm not kidding). She had half-moon spectacles, a pointy, black hat, and a creepy one eyed, black cat named Wilson. I imagined her office like a haunted house scene in a horror movie, but it was actually quite modern. The sound of the printer spitting out sheet after sheet came from behind me, the windows sparkling behind the large wooden desk and a computer sitting next to the large stack of files.

"I assume you know why you are here." She took a seat behind her desk and began to type vigorously on her keyboard.

"Actually, no," I replied.

"Oh. Well, it has come to my attention you may be able to help me solve a little problem the schools been having. I notice this morning that the statue of our schools founder, Mr. Baron Jenkins has been vandalized. Mr. Jenkins started this school many, many years ago as a safe place to teach young witches and wizards how to control their powers as well as what non-witches and wizards are taught. He wanted a place to teach young witches and wizards how to blend into the non-magical society. He put all of his wisdom in to this school. It is charmed so all non-witches and wizards believe it is an abandoned high school." She glared at me over glittering glasses. "Whoever did this is treating his work as a joke. It is not a laughing matter and I'm hoping you will be able to help me find out who did this."

"What did they do?" I asked, though it was not the main question I wanted answered. My real question was "Why me?"

"Why don't you just go see? I can't stand to look at it again."

"Okay..." I said as I struggled to my feet.

Ms. McDougall continued to mumble to herself, shaking her head as I left.

I tried to fight back the urge to laugh, but it only lasted about ten seconds. Whoever did this was genius. There was a reason I smelled chocolate earlier, someone had taken the statue of our schools founder and turned it into a giant chocolate bar. Tears rolled out of my eyes and my ribs were in so much pain that I had to bend over in laughter. I knew I had to figure out who did this but I was too busy wondering what non-witches and wizards saw when they drove past. I couldn't believe some little kid hadn't run up the schools hill and tried to the statue.

After the pain and humor had finally run its course, I began to look for anything that might lead me to who did this. I searched around the base of the statue, and around the side of the hill, but I didn't see anything that might tell me who the culprit was. I was so serious about looking for clues I didn't notice Lila walk up the hill behind me.

"Ms. McDougall told me I could find you up here. How is the search going?"

"Nothing yet. Where have you been all day?"

"Oh, nowhere. Just, uhh, the, uhh, doctor."

"Okay."

"Do you need any help?"

"Sure, do you want to look on the other side? I've already looked over there." I gestured towards the base of the statue.

She went exactly where I told her to and began inspecting a small area of long grass. I continued looking unsuccessfully, until a flicker of silver caught my eye in a small bush a few feet away. I followed the dot of collar, and my heart began to race. If I solved a school mystery, would I get an award to add to my collection?

Standing over my only clue so far, I was shocked. I was looking at a wand. It must have belonged to a student here at Jenkins. It was a metallic metal rod about nine inches long, exactly like the one every student here used. The only difference between every wand used by a witch or wizard was the small engraving of their name near the bottom of the wand.

"Did you find something?" I turned to see Lila standing behind me.

"Uh, this. No, it's mine, I dropped it."

"Oh, okay. I'll be back at the school if you need me then."

I was shocked at the name I saw on this wand. It wasn't possible. According to the engraving, the vandal was Lila. Well, it was the only clue I had so I had to go with it, even if I couldn't believe it.

Word quickly got around the school about what happened to the prized statue and Ms. McDougall was taking it pretty seriously. There was now a magical barrier around the statue and security guards were positioned at each school exit. "I don't want who did this to think they can get away with it." She continued to tell the security guards (though, they seemed more interested at what time lunch was) but that was the least of my worries.

I had been avoiding Lila and Ms. McDougall since I found Lila's wand by the statue, and my anxiety was eating me alive. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to tell someone.

I decided I would just confront Lila, so the next day I noticed her at her locker and decided it was now or never.

"Lila, I need to ask you something."

"Hello to you too," she said, "and sure, what do you want to know?"

"Well, when I was looking for clues out by the statue a few days ago, I found your wand."

The look she gave me was exactly what I was trying to avoid. She sounded ready to cry when she said, "I thought you were my friend. You don't think I would do something like that? I never do bad things, never."

I cut her off by saying, "I don't think you did anything. I just need to figure out who actually did this before Ms. McDougall starts asking questions."

"I'll help, whatever you need I'm here."

"Okay, lets get started. The sooner, the better." We walked out the door and up the hill silently, on a mission for answers.

"It's been hours. Whoever did this was clever."

"Very, but we can't give up now." Lila tried to reassure me, but I had already given up all faith in humanity.

"I guess so."

We started to walk away when an idea popped in to my head. It felt like one of those moments when the flashing light bulb pops up above your head and starts making that dinging sound, but that's even a little weird for my life

"The wand!" I blurted out.

"What about it?"

"Maybe someone else did this, but with your wand!"

"Oh my gosh, maybe! Here, give it!"

She ripped the wand out of my hand so hard I swear you could hear a tearing sound. She waved the wand with a swipe of her hand and a miniature television screen appeared above it. What I witnessed made my jaw fall to the ground.

"Ms. McDougall needs to see this, NOW," Lila said.

"Let's go."

Ms. McDougall was as shocked as we were.

"Why would he? I mean really. He's been such a responsible, well-mannered man for as long as I have been running this fine facility. I think he deserves to share his side of this story."

"But the wand replays never lie," Lila said. "And according to this it was Mr. Withers who turned the statue into chocolate."

"Wilson, can you go fetch me Marshel Withers, please."

"Meow."

"I didn't do it," said Mr. Withers, while unsuccessfully attempting to pry Wilson off of his leg. "I'm innocent."

"But wand replays never lie, Marshel. I've noticed you have been acting weird lately, but I would never think you would be the one to deface the prized statue of our founder. Don't lie to me."

"Fine, yes it was me," he said, defeated at last.

"But why, Marshel? Why?"

"Well, these kids have been driving me insane. They never do what I ask, or even try to behave. I would do anything to get them finally caught for something. They just need a taste of their own medicine, so I thought you would find the wand, talk to Lila and that would scare the rest of them in to behaving."

"Maybe, the children don't behave because your methods of teaching aren't exactly, uh, current. Maybe it's time you take a little leave of absence from teaching to catch up on more current things. What you did is not right, so please have your things packed by tomorrow. Also, you must fix that statue and apologize to these innocent girls."

"I'll be leaving now then," he said, not even acknowledging our existence.

After he left, Ms. McDougall turned to Lila and I.

"Ms. Micheals, Ms. Summers, thank you for your help. Sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you so much for finally giving me a reason to let go of that cranky, old Withers'. We've been trying to get rid of him for years. "The students were never fans of him, but he refused to go."

We both left more confused than ever before, but still happy for our accomplishment. As you can see this is just an example of what would happen in my life every day. It's taken fifteen years but I've finally given up on hoping I will have a normal life. No matter how weird this is to most, this is my normal.

***

### The Motel in the Woods

Cody Taylor

It was to be a normal, boring fieldtrip to an Art Museum.

The ride was uneventful, until the bus broke down. We stalled out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods while the sun was set. With no one knowing where we were, we had to think of something ... or somewhere to go.

Ms. Caps one of the bus supervisors, suggested we send a teacher and a handful of students to walk up the road to see if they could spot any houses. The people chosen to go were Darius, Ashley, Mr. Mayer and I, Joseph Horan.

We walked for about 15 minutes, until we caught sight of a small yellow motel. Mr. Mayer said he was going to try and find the office, he said he'd be right back...

Twenty minutes passed and Mr. Mayer hadn't returned. It was now dark and silent and there was nobody around. Darius said we should go to the office and see what was happening, I was skeptical, but I knew we would have to sooner or later.

We walked slowly towards the dodgy looking motel. As soon as I was about to open the door a man appeared to greet us.

"Step inside children." He had said.

We all walked in and asked quickly, "Excuse me, could you tell us if a man was just here? He is our teacher."

The man slammed the door, as he smoothly responded "No."

Ashley grasped my arm. It was clear the man was cornering us now; I knew we shouldn't have gone near that sketchy, old... motel in the woods.

He suddenly grabbed Darius and threw him to the ground. I quickly dove over the front desk, landing on a small door on the floor, but that didn't matter at the moment. I eyed a knife, grabbed it, knowing I might have to use it. I catapulted myself off the desk and onto the old man's back and stabbed him directly in the back.

He soon lay motionless on the cold, wooden floor. I had no time to feel any sorrow, I knew my friends and I had to get out of the motel and soon! I assembled my friends and we ran from the motel. We couldn't see it was so dark and Darius had a broken leg from being thrown to the ground.

We had no idea where we were any more, there was no light and we were slowed because of Darius's injury. We ran into the woods, our only hope. We lay down in the trees making no sound. Everything was silent, until we heard the snap of branches behind us...

It was the man! He was alive and he was after us!

We ran again. I picked up Darius and put him on my back. The man was right on our trail, I was sure he was going to catch us.

Suddenly we burst out from the thick woods and I saw the bus, our bus! We ran to it, closing the door and ordering the bus driver to drive!

We were saved. While we were gone someone fixed the bus and it was working. We left the old man in the dust.

But then a sickening feeling came over me... Mr. Mayer wasn't with us.

We had to save him. I told the bus driver we had to stop back at the motel, with some negotiation she agreed. When we pulled up to the motel, I knew exactly where Mr. Mayer was. I ran directly into the office, tumbled over the front desk and scurried to find the little door. It was so dark I couldn't see anything. I heard the office door open; I had to hurry.

Finally I found the little door, unlatched the latch, and Mr. Mayer jumped out. We ran for the door, but the old man was blocking our path. We had no choice but to go right through him. Mr. Mayer and I charged him and he fell over... we ran to the bus. As soon as we made it we were driving away. That was the last I saw of the motel in the woods.

***

### The New KGB

Conor MacIntyre

"Valeri! Come here and get to work on that plough."

"But Papa, I want to go with my friends."

"You know we have to work to stay here," Papa says. "President Carter will take us to do a lot harder work than this if we don't produce here."

Ugh! I hate America and President Carter and his stupid little government, I think. Why do we get punished because of Russia? It's not fair! I hate it here!

"But Papa, we have lots of workers."

"Papa! Valeri!" Mama screams. "Come here!"

"Maria what's going on?"

What is Mama talking about? She looks like she's seen a ghost. I hope I didn't do anything or I might not be able to go out anymore.

"We must go at once. I heard on the radio that Yakupov found out about the forced labor and declared war. Carter is kidnapping all Russians in America!"

"Isn't Yakupov the president of Russia?"

"Yes Valeri, must you ask stupid questions at times like this? Go. Hurry. Pack a few things, nothing more, understand?"

"Yes Mama, sorry Mama."

I can barely hear their hushed whispers as I walk up the stairs.

***

"Sergei we must go into the woods to hide. We can make it."

"You are right Maria. I've heard from Vladislav that his brother is part of a Russian group helping other Russians and immigrants."

"I don't know, Sergei. How will we ever find them? We could live by ourselves just fine."

"We can take him with us."

"I don't know. It will be dangerous."

***

"I don't get this damn war Jack. It doesn't make sense to me..."

"Sorry Val, I'm not allowed to talk, bye."

"Oh. Okay. See you."

I hate this. I hate this so much. If I get the chance I want to be the one to kill Carter... I want to move back to Russia.

***

"I wonder how Valeri is taking this; I've heard his conversations with Jack. He says he hates president Carter...and America..."

"Shush Maria. He is coming."

"Mama! Papa! What are we going to do? Where will we hide?"

"Slow down, Valeri, we were just talking about that. We're going to the woods..."

***

"Vladi, what are we doing?"

"Calm down, boy. My brother is part of a group of Russian rebels. Do you know who Ruslan Stalin is? Joseph Stalin's great grandson? Igor Yakupov's brother in law? He's the leader."

"Actually? So are they planning anything?"

"I don't know, boy, my brother hasn't told me much."

"Oh okay, but will there be anyone my age there?"

"I DON'T KNOW! I'm just as confused as you are, boy, now shut up or I'll feed ya to the wolves on the way."

"Yes, Vladi."

***

"Mama, is there actually wolves in here...?"

"Um, yes, but not around where we are, Valeri. Don't worry."

"Okay because wolves kind of give me the creeps."

"Stop talking," Valdi says. "We're trying to walk through one of the densest forests in America so we might want to concentrate."

I wonder how long this will take and I hope there and people there my age. I'd rather not be a loner. Ugh, this sucks.

"Sergei, come here. I think I've found it. This might be the hint my brother was telling me about, a five pointed star on a tree."

"Here let me see that," My Papa says.

"Okay, it's right there."

"Vladi, what were the rest of the instructions?"

"He said to go about two hundred meters southeast and find the boulder, and then walk around to the opposite side. There should be a board you can only partially see leading to the hideout."

***

"Guys! I see it! I see the boulder!"

"So do we, Valeri, just take your time, this could be dangerous."

"Yes, Papa. But look there's the board, let's go!"

I wonder what we will find in here; I hope there's nobody or at least nobody with a gun or something.

"I will get the board, you guys stand back." Valdi says. "I think it might be my brother in here waiting for us but maybe not so we should be careful. Understand?"

"Yes, Valdi. Maria, get back a bit okay?"

"Valeri, come with me please." Mama said.

***

"No Mama. Please can I go?"

"No, Valeri. You must stay with me. Your father and Vladislav will check it out first."

"Okay, Sergei, Valdi said, "can you open it up for me?"

"Sure thing Vladi, but be careful."

"I hope its Mikhail down here."

That should be me. Why can't I be over there helping? Instead I'm stuck here with my mother. Watching them do the job I want to do.

"You good, Vladi? You can get through there right?

"Yes. I'll be right back to let you know."

I wonder what's going on, is it Mikhail down there? I hope nothing happened to Valdi. He might be cranky but he's still helping us.

"It's all good guys, it's Mikhail, you can come down."

"Yes!" I yelled.

"Let's go, Valeri, be careful, it's kind of dark," My Papa says. "You too, Maria, watch your step."

Gross, it smells like cigarettes and vodka down here. I wonder if these guys will go all Russian mafia and whip out there guns, that'd be cool!

"Hello. My name is Mikhail Golovchenko, I am Slava or as you might call him Vladi or Vladislav`s brother. I work for the New KGB, which is the Russian Committee for State Security. We are part of a spy mission to overturn Carter and the rest of the American government. I think we could really use your help and we're glad you're here."

"Thank you," Papa says. "We're very grateful for your help."

"Anything for a friend of my brother. But we have no time to talk, now we sleep, tomorrow we move."

***

"Wake up everyone! We must leave soon, the government might be checking the woods for people."

***

"Is everybody out? Men all have guns? You might need them."

"Yes, we all have them," Papa says. "Let's go, Maria, stay close, okay?

"I will Sergei, don't worry."

"Okay. And Valeri, don't use that unless you absolutely have to."

"Yes, Papa."

"Stop the chatter please, we really must go."

***

Well I'm glad that was an uneventful trip, but what is this? It's just a big warehouse.

"Hey Mikey, let's go meet the big boss."

"Valeri! Don't be rude. You either call him Mr. Golouvchenko, or Michail, not Mikey."

"Yes, Papa."

"But Valeri's right, let's go see Mr. Stalin, he can't wait to meet you. He hopes to have a new recruit in Valeri."

This is going great already. I am going to be a spy.

"Hello, my name is Ruslan Stalin and I'm the great grandson of Joseph Stalin, the great dictator of Soviet Russia. It was his goal to take over Europe, Russia has done that. Now it's Americas turn. We're helping the motherland with this one."

"What do you mean, Mr. Stalin? Are you going to try to overturn the government or something? What do you mean about a new recruit in my son?"

"Sir, I think your son would be an amazing soldier or even an amazing spy and I would like to train him for that," Mr. Stalin says. "If you disagree, you can leave and never come back."

"Papa, I need to do it, and I want to do it. I've been telling myself for the past month that I want to kill Carter. This is my chance."

"No, Valeri," Mama says. "That is too dangerous. And I know you don't actually want to kill President Carter. Besides I'm your Mama so you will listen to me."

"Not this time Mama, I must do this, it is my choice and I've chosen yes".

***

"Mr. Filatov are you ready for your training?"

Not really. I hope I do well; I want a chance to kill Carter. I better say I'm ready so...

"Yes sir."

"Good, let's get started. "First we run, then we climb, and then we lift weights, understand?"

"Sounds good."

"Let's run!" he hollers.

***

Oh my God I didn't expect seven miles. Ugh, I hope I don't have to climb much.

"Valeri! Hurry up, you have to climb now, the wall is over here."

"I'm coming."

Holy frig, this isn't a wall, it's a cliff. How am I supposed to climb this thing?

"Okay, Valeri, this might be the most important test because if you want to be one of the ones to get Carter you need to be able to climb. His secret bunker is located in a cave about 300 feet up a vertical cliff. Here we go."

"Sounds good."

I'm going to get this, watch out Carter. I'm going to get him for everything he's done against Russians.

***

"Mr. Filatov, I must say you did very well in climbing, so now let's go see how you do with weights."

"Do I not get any break at all?"

"No. I want to see how your stamina is."

"Ugh, whatever."

My arms are like rubber. I hope I don't have to lift much.

"We will start off with squats to give those little arms of yours a break. How about 145lbs to start?"

"OK."

I hope I can do this.

***

"Valeri, great job with the squats. Let's go to the bench press and you will be done for the day."

"Sounds terrible, this should be fun."

"How about start with 90lbs?"

"Yeah."

***

"Great job, Filatov. 110lbs to finish off the day."

***

"How did it go, Igor?"

"Great, Mr. Stalin. But there is one thing that alarms me."

"What?"

"This boy is thirteen and really wants to kill..."

***

### Change

Danielle Villard

Chapter 1

The lamp crashed to the floor and I turned around with shock. A masked figure moved as fast as it could, arms stretched out in front of it, heading toward me. I reached behind me, grabbed a book off of the armchair and swung. It didn't do me any good. He blocked my swing and the next thing I knew; there were arms around my waist and mouth. I struggled and fought, but I couldn't break free.

I opened my eyes, afraid of what had become of me and where I was. But I opened my eyes anyway.

I was tied to a chair in my favourite pair of blue pajamas. It was cold in the room and there was very little light. There were no windows and every thin was metal, including the chair I sat on, the one in front of me and even the roof, floor and all four walls.

I was the only one in the room, so I had a quiet place to think for a little bit. I had no idea where I was or even if I was still in Kensington, England. The last time I was awake it was summer, but right then I wasn't sure if that was still the case.

Something crashed outside the door and I jumped. That was the only sound I heard since I woke up. About a minute later, a very good-looking man walked into the room. Personally I thought he looked like Dwayne Johnston.

It turned out that his name was actually Joshua, but he told me I could call him Josh. Josh seemed to be one of the good guys. So I answered the series of questions he asked me as truthfully as I could.

So do you have a job, Lydia?" Josh asked.

"No, I am only 14," I said. "You know that right?"

"Yes, I am aware that you are only 14," Josh said, "But we are just looking for some possibilities."

"Possibilities for what, why am I here? I am tired and I want to go home. My parents are going to be wondering where I am when they get home and I don't want to get grounded for this."

"Well, you won't be going home soon and trust me you are not going to be grounded. This is going to be a bit of a shock to you but your parents are dead." Josh said it plainly, with no emotion or effort.

I felt like I had just had a head on collision with a brick wall. I was sure I was going to burst into tears, but I wasn't going to allow my self to cry in front of Josh. My parents were dead, but how? My head swam with questions. I wondered why such a thing would happen to them, to me. None of us had done anything to deserve this. It had been a whole year since my mom and dad went out on a date. They finally agreed I was old enough to stay home alone without a baby sitter.

After a while, I finally asked "Who are you and why am I here?"

"I am a government agent and I am here to find out who would try to kill your parents and why. Also to see if they might be after you. You are here because I need to ask you questions."

"How did my parents die?"

"Well, your parents were at Momma's Finest, for supper. They were almost done of there food when they made a toast for their anniversary. Whatever, it was they drank was poisoned."

"Do you have any idea who would do such a thing to them?" I asked.

"No, not yet. But we are trying our best and that is why you need to give us as much information as you possibly can. Will you do that for us, Lydia?" He sounded sincere in his need for help to find out who had done this to my mom and dad.

So I said, "I will help you in whatever way I can."

He asked me questions like: did your parents have any trouble with anyone? Do you have any troubles with people in school? I said no to the first question and well, for the second one, of course I didn't get along with everyone, but not to the point where they would kill my parents.

He asked a few more questions and took some notes. When he was about to leave the room, I asked, "Can you please untie me? I'm not very comfortable."

He laughed under his breath a little, and then said, "Sure. I will send someone in right away. Thank you for your cooperation." And then he left.

A few minutes later, another man came into the room and untied me from the chair. He asked me if I wanted anything else. I thought about it a little then asked for a glass of water and some gum.

He pulled a pack of Stride out of his pocket, ripped off the bottom half and gave it to me. He said he would be right back with the bottle of water. I thanked him and with that said he left the room. About five minutes later he came back in with the water bottle. I thanked him again and he left, but this time I knew he wouldn't be coming back.

Now I wasn't actually sure what I was supposed to do because my parents were dead. I wasn't going to be able to go home, and I was in a secret government facility.

I didn't have much time to myself to wonder because Josh entered the room and told me to follow him. I grabbed my water bottle and my gum and followed. When we left the room, we went to the right, down a long hallway. One of the guards who was at the door had moved in front of Josh and led the way. The other one stayed behind me.

I was a little tense, because this was both a little scary and the coolest thing ever. Having bodyguards made me feel a little safer and not so safe because they could protect me, but there was also the reason as to why I needed protection in the first place. I wondered if I would have bodyguards everywhere I went or if I was ever going to go anywhere else, other than the room we were entering.

It was almost like an apartment someone had already put their stuff into. The guards stayed outside the doors again while Josh and I walked into a place even nicer then my own house. It was very bright and colourful with. Polka dots all over the furniture. I was just amazed at the sight. Compared to the metal room I had been in, this was the pent house and it was the basement.

After I stood there and gazed for a while, I pulled myself back to reality and looked at Josh.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Make yourself feel at home. You will be staying here till we are sure it is safe for you to leave." It took me a little while to realize this was my temporary home.

"Oh, okay," I said. "Thank you so much."

"There will be some one come in soon" he said, "to bring a pepperoni pizza for your lunch, will that be okay?"

When he said pizza was for lunch, I realized how hungry I was. I'd obviously missed breakfast. "Awesome, Thanks Josh."

The pizza came about ten minutes later and it was so good. I had to force myself to eat it slowly to make sure I was full by the time I was done. I also got some books to read and movies to watch. Supper was chicken Caesar salad. I was only up until 9:30 that night, reading a book called The Unbelievable, about a girl named Victoria. A jokester who normally told lies when something serious was about to happen, she tried to tell people about it, but no one believed her. So she tried to solve the problem by her self and got caught.

I fell asleep reading the book there because I was so tired.

When I woke up the next few mornings I did basically the same things: read books, watched some movies, do some puzzles, read the newspaper. I also did some word searches, coloured some pictures, listened to music and I even had a few naps.

I was so bored since I wasn't allowed to leave my room for a whole week. I was kind of excited when Josh came and got me and once again asked me to follow him. So I did.

We went a different way than we had gone to get into that room. I was extremely glad I wasn't going back to the metal room. I didn't ask any questions as to where I was going or why. Last time I saw Josh, he said I would be let out when it was safe for me. We turned another corner, but this hall only had one door and it was at the very end of the hall. When Josh reached for the door handle I held my breath, but I didn't see what I was expecting.

I stared at what looked like a T.V. show stage mixed with a clothing shop, a hair dressers and a place where they do your entire make up. I wasn't sure what to think. Josh walked over to a big comfy chair and I followed him.

"I brought you here because it is almost safe for you to leave here, but you won't be able to go to your home. We have found someone who has volunteered to take care of you. You are going to have to change your appearance. You will change the color of your hair, the style of your clothes and are going to half to wear glasses. Lydia, you will also have to change your name. I want you to think of a name and have one by the end of today. So shall we get started?"

***

### A Family's Loss

Emily Brothers

It was a beautiful day on the Gordon's farm in Alberta. It was a Thursday afternoon, and Liam and Summer were both finishing up their homework.

Summer was eleven and Liam was nine, their younger sister Katie only five. Katie didn't have homework so she played outside with her mom, Lori.

When Liam and Summer finished their homework they went outside to watch Katie and go see their animals. Lori went in to prepare supper while Tim was still working on the farm. The kids always fed the animals before and after school. Tim and Lori thought that it was important at a young age to have responsibilities.

One morning while Lori was getting changed, she noticed a bump on her chest. She didn't know what it was, so she didn't take much pass of it. A few days later she noticed it had grown a little bit bigger. So Lori decided to phone the doctor's office, and maybe get some tests done.

"Hello! A few days ago I found a bump on me chest. I was just wondering what I should do?" said Lori.

"Okay, we can try to fit you in, just wait a minute," the receptionist said "Well, we can see you on Monday at 1:00, if that's all right with you?"

"That works for me" Lori answered. "Well, that feels good, Now I have nothing to worry about," Lori thought.

The weekend flew by and it was then Monday morning. Lori got the kids on the bus and left for her appointment. Tim stayed at the house to work on the farm. When Lori arrived at the doctor's office, she waited for about twenty minutes before the doctor took her in.

"So, you're here to have me look at a bump you noticed?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, I found one on my chest about a week ago," Lori said. "I just wanted to get you to look at it."

The doctor looked over the bump and said, "I don't know what it is, but if you can give me twenty minutes, I will do some tests."

"Sounds good," Lori replied.

The doctors put Lori through x-rays, scans, and some other tests. It took them about an hour, because they had to send them away to labs right away. "We will let you know as soon as we find out what the problem is, that could take a few days or a week," said the doctors.

"Thank you, I'm sure we will be in touch," replied Lori.

When she pulled into their driveway, she saw all her kids outside kicking a soccer ball around. That warmed her heart seeing her kids getting along and being active.

"Hi, Mom!" they all said.

"Hello, kids! How was your day at school?" Lori said.

"Good," they answered together.

"Well that's always great to hear!" Lori replied.

Lori went inside the house and started supper. While it was cooking she went outside. She gardened while the kids fed the animals. Before supper, Tim and Lori and the kids all played soccer. When supper was ready they all went inside to eat. Then the kids got ready for bed. Tim and Lori sat in front of their fireplace and Lori explained what the doctor had said.

"When they get the results back, they will call me and let me know what the problem is, Lori said. "I'm kind of nervous to find out what it is."

"Don't worry about it," Tim replied. "You and I know that you are determined and that you will be able to battle through anything."

"Yeah, I guess so," Lori said. "I'm going to have to have a really positive attitude."

That Saturday morning Lori got a devastating phone call. It was the doctor's office.

They said, "We have some terrible news for you. We have discovered you have breast cancer," explained the doctor. I know this is terrible news, but you can battle this off. We all believe in you and you will be starting treatment very soon."

"Oh, that is terrible news," whispered Lori.

Then she hung up the phone and began to cry. That was some pretty bad news. How could she tell her family and friends? Lori didn't tell her kids that day; she thought it would be too much.

When she and Tim were in bed, Lori told him about the call. "I have been diagnosed with breast cancer, they will be starting my treatment very soon," Lori tried to explain.

"That's terrible news," Tim said. "I believe in you and that you can push through it, if you are open to a challenge."

He didn't tell the kids until Lori started her treatment. They both thought their kids didn't have to worry about that. They were too young, and that was a pretty big thing to just say. It was a big deal.

Thursday afternoon Tim told the kids at last. "The doctors have diagnosed your mom with cancer. She has started her treatment; you can try to start helping her out a little more. Do some chores, cook or clean, anything really."

Summer began to cry, and so did Liam. Katie didn't understand.

"Why our mom?" Summer cried.

"We have no control over that stuff. Your mother didn't do anything wrong, it's just one of those things," Tim replied.

"It's not fair," Summer said and then stomped off.

It was a quiet evening. Summer spent it out in her tree house or reading in her room, while Liam and Katie played outside together. Tim did some cleaning up around the house and Lori worked in the garden. It was bedtime, so Lori and Tim read a story to the kids before they went to sleep.

Months had gone by since Lori had found out about the cancer. She was well along on the treatment. Lori was not feeling as good anymore because she had been having so many treatments. She was still determined and she knew she could battle it off. At that point she had been fighting the cancer for six months.

Lori went for a check up and they noticed the cancer had spread to her lungs. Lori had lost a lot of weight because she wasn't eating that much. The kids were pretty much on their own with chores and cooking.

Lori's best friend, Sherri was a big help. They were best friends since middle school. She spent a lot of time with Lori and the kids. She helped Lori with cleaning and cooking and some other stuff. Lori was really sick at that point. The doctors decided to take Lori into the hospital to stay. Tim and the kids went to visit her every day and Katie sometimes went during the day with Sherri or Tim.

About one month later a nurse called Tim and told him to go visit Lori. Tim picked up the kids and they stayed with Lori all day. It was a very sad day for the kids because their mom was dying.

That evening at 8:00, Lori passed away with family and some close friends around her. It was a very emotional time for everyone. Tim tried to tell the kids Lori was suffering, it was probably best and now she would be with her sister who died five years ago. The kids still found it very hard and poor little Katie didn't understand, she was too young.

When they got home everyone went to bed in Tim's bed. Summer and Liam cried themselves to sleep. They were extremely sad, angry and tired. They couldn't do anything about it now.

The next day their grandparents spent the day with them. They went to Lori's brother's house to plan for the wake and funeral. Summer and Liam were very quiet and Katie sat with her grandmother the whole time.

Those few days went by very slowly, full of sadness. Their family, friends and neighbours were a huge help, but still it wasn't easy. The kids found the wake very long and sad. It was their mom's wake, and that was hard to believe. It was very busy, since everyone knew Lori. The funeral was even longer and everyone was crying. Everyone met at the church hall after the funeral to share some memories and have a bite to eat.

School was Tim's last worry, so the kids stayed home for two weeks after the death and he didn't mind. Some days they stayed with family, while others they stayed at home with one of Lori's friends.

Summer was really affected by the loss, as well as the rest of the family. When Summer went back to school she and Liam started to talk with their school counselor. It was a really big help, she was really good with them.

Life was getting better, but it would never be the same and everyone still cried over it and got upset. They began to realize they had to focus on the positives in life, not just the negatives.

Katie, Summer and Liam would never be able to call someone Mom, and that was heartbreaking. Their lives would never be the same. But they would have to make the best of it.

Four Years Later...

Time flew by and Tim had been dating Kelly for five months. She was in the same situation; her husband died from a heart attack three years ago. Kelly had a little girl Clare; she was only four years old. Everyone got along very well, and they were a big help on the farm. Both families lives had changed after the deaths, but they were trying to make the best of it. They seemed to be happier.

It was good for everyone, now they were like a family. After all those years, they had finally listened to Lori. She always used to say you have to live every day to its fullest. They were living a healthy life and they tried to be as positive as they could.

***

### Just add music

Emily Fraser

My name is Alisha. I'm unique with the artistic touch and have a "creative way of living." But nobody knew that about me not even my family did because I would lock myself in and the world out of my artistic world; the old cellar.

There were moments when I needed to get away from pain or society so I'd run down there to escape it all. The walls covered in paintings and collages beautiful to the eye, a pile of paper with my ideas and my favorite; my piano. It may have been old, broken and useless to others but when I found it lying in this unexplored cellar I got to bring it to life.

I'd throw back my long brown hair and gaze my blue eyes upon the keys as my fingers expressed what sounded good to my ear. I thought myself all I know now by ear and my only dream then was to get to play for more then cellar walls, but to an audience of open ears, but I thought I'd never had the nerve to follow through with my dream.

One check up at the doctor changed my whole life around when they found cancer in my lungs; just the thought of stage three cancer frightened me of all that could happen. My lungs seemed to fill with worry and stress after hearing that breathe taking news I never expected to hear.

When I got home I ran to the cellar where I wrote music for hours trying to pretend it wasn't true, while my parents cried and prayed for me upstairs. My feelings about this were controlled as my fingers pounded down at the keys.

I stayed down there until I heard the screaming outside for me so I snuck up, locked the hatch and ran to the voice. I didn't want it to be my mother because she would be the one to remind me of what I've been trying to prevail over.

When I found the source of the voice I found my parents standing with tears in their eyes and I could tell they were worried by the way they slouched and showed signs of unease.

"We know this is hard on all of us especially you, but we can try to stop the cancer before it gets worst if we can raise enough money for an operation." My father said in a quivering voice.

I stood tall and acted brave "Okay, how could we do that?"

My mother finally whipped her tears and spoke up "A benefit concert where the whole community gathers to play music and raise money for your cause perhaps?"

"Okay, it sounds like it could work" I exclaimed.

The benefit concert was being planned while I stayed in the cellar and made music for days. Until the benefit concert rolled around a week later at the wellness center.

I sat and listened to everyone there to support me on stage playing music and fundraising, but the whole time I stared at the grand piano at center stage, I was so tempted to play it but I never thought I could get up and play for them.

Until the stage was empty and everyone waited for someone to get up and perform but they didn't expect that person to be me. I didn't even expect that person to be me; I just got up with no time to get nervous sat at the piano comforting, through my hair back and let my fingers play.

I felt as if I was in the cellar playing my heart out but instead I was living my dream I once had. It felt comfortable and easy to play them songs I wrote and to see the surprised faces in the crowed was the best part. Even my family was shocked of this talent I hid from the world for years.

At that moment on stage I found out that this was what I wanted to do my whole life. I played for the rest of the concert and all the other performers joined in with me. I never wanted it to end.

Once the concert was over and cleaned up my parents walked over to me with excited in their steps and the jar of raised money in my father's hands.

"You did it Alisha; you raised _more_ then enough money for your operation!" My mother said with a smile."

I was overwhelmed with excitement of the news and how everyone congratulated me for my beautiful talent and wished me well. It was an amazing experience that changed my life forever.

The operation was a success and my dreams were slowly getting fulfilled with the help of my family and Lester who recorded all my songs I have written and preformed. The cancer may have been a huge fear in my life that I well never forget but it helped me understand the saying of "everything happens for a reason."

Now that I'm older and can share my story of how I start my journey to success, I may not have my cellar or old piano but I make sure to go back to it when I visit home because that's where everything began to emerge. Without a few troubles along the way I would have never gotten on stage and preformed to everyone, it was a great experience that leads me to where I have gotten to day.

***

Colors

Emily Sibbick

Colors. That's all she thought about. The colors of people's hair, eyes, and the mandatory color of our jumpsuits. Orange. She often thought aloud so we all knew she was crazy. She thought she should have a different color jumpsuit because what she did was much, much worse than everybody else.

In prison there wasn't a lot to do. We'd sit and read, we'd write to our families and hope and pray that those who love us would come and visit so we could have some time away from the other inmates. But for the most part, we listen to her talk.

Nobody knew her name or quite what she did. There were always rumors. Some said she killed ten people, others that when she worked as a teacher she locked the doors, and killed her whole class. Me, I didn't know what to believe. Being in prison has taught me one thing. Never believe everything you hear.

I was only inside for five years, not bad compared to the rest of them, for attempted robbery. Let me explain it to you. I have three kids, one in 9th grade, one in 11th grade, and the last one just starting college. We were running low on money. Always hoping that the paycheck would come faster, be bigger, last longer. It never did. I got this crazy idea that I could... you know...rob a bank.

I never thought it would have been that hard. I didn't even go in with a gun. I got one of my old friend's police uniforms and told everyone that they had to leave. They had to leave because there was official business I had to tend to. They all left. Then one stupid, forgetful person decided to come back in just as I was stuffing the money into my inside pocket. That's how I got caught.

I decided to plea guilty because I did it. No denying it. They had tapes and everything. So that's how I ended up in prison, sharing a cell with the crazy lady (as we called her). Maybe that's why I was so intrigued by her, by her story. I had been here for two years, in the same cell as her. Within those two years I'd learned that she had been giving out her story in bits and pieces.

Every once in a while she'd ask me why I wasn't scared of her. I'd tell her it's because you can't be scared of something you don't understand.

One day when I thought I was going completely crazy, she came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go home. I didn't think I heard her right, so I turned around.

"What?"

"Do you want to go home?" She was whispering fiercely. Of course! I thought. I'm going crazy! So trying to stay as sane as possible; I turned away from her and started writing my weekly letter to my kids and husband. When I looked back she was still there, waiting, expecting an answer. So I gave my honest thoughts. Of course I did! Didn't everyone?

When I told her my answer her eyes lit up like the few stars we could see from our bared windows. I turned back around, trying to figure out what kind of fire I started in her. I hadn't seen her that excited since I walked in that first day. Her first roommate.

***

The day after our conversation, she went back to her normal crazy self, explaining that if she did get a new jumpsuit she wanted it in purple. And if she didn't, she would get someone to sneak her some purple spray paint. By the time the prison guards came around she would be done. My favorite thing to do in prison was listening to her. The way she talked made me curious. She spoke with so much enthusiasm, like she was actually going to get out of this place! So I would sit there and listen: retaining everything she said.

Every night we were allowed to read or write, kind of like quiet time in kindergarten. As I wrote my letter to my kids, I watched her. I didn't know what she was drawing. I could never tell and she wouldn't show me. Not until I was ready she said.

Three weeks later she decided I was ready. Ready to see what she had been drawing...an escape plan! She asked me if I was going to help her. I said "Sure" because I didn't think she was going to go through with it. She was a crazy lady after all. Thinking back though, I should've seen it coming! All her crazy mumbling about escaping. But no, I thought she was some crazy old lady that did something so bad she was here for life.

The very next day though, she proved me wrong.

"Are you ready?" she asked me. Oh man, I thought, what did I get myself into? I missed my kids and husband so bad I decided to say yes. I don't know what came over me then, but I actually thought it was going to work. Then again, I also thought there was no way I would end up in prison for trying to rob a bank.

She showed me her plans. The first one was straight out of a movie. Taking one of the plastic spoons we get for lunch and digging out. I quickly pointed out we were in a concrete building and that would never work. The next one she showed me actually made me think we had a chance. For the last ten years she had been watching the night guards switch shifts. The first night guard always left early and the second one was always 20 minutes late. The plan was to leave as soon as the first guard did. No one would know until morning! By then we could be in Nunavut. The last place anyone would look.

We did it! We got out of the jail in Ontario and made it on to a plane! A non-stop plane to Antarctica! No one noticed! We even had time to get my kids and husband. But I still didn't trust this girl. I didn't even know her name.

When arrived into Nunavut we found a small cabin and decided we needed to buy a TV. Not to watch anything other than news, to make sure we weren't going to get caught. She went out and bought some clothes. Even though we didn't have to anymore, she bought a jumpsuit...a purple one. I think it was to remind me about what she said in the beginning. She should have a different color jumpsuit because what she did was much worse than anyone else. I figured until I knew more about her my family shouldn't live with her.

I know what you're thinking, why would you stay too? Because she was the only other person that knew what we did. After two more years, I wanted to know more about her. I only asked one question, that's all. You would think not so hard to answer but that one question is what has me here right now, writing my final letter to you.

My final anything... Ever. I'm writing to tell you that I love you and that if you ever find this letter, her name is Annabelle and she doesn't like questions. If you ever meet her, run for your life. My running is done. That one stupid question ended my life.

***

### The Killing Hobo

Eve MacKinnon

The lamp crashed to the floor.

"GET OUT OF HERE, YOU PSYCOPATH!"

Some old smelly hobo was sleeping in my bathtub. As I threw my lamp at him, he dogged it and he was coming right at me. I didn't know what to do as he pulled a rusty knife out of his ratty pocket. I ran. I ran until I got to the convenience store four kilometres from my house. My feet were bleeding and scratched to pieces and I'm certain I broke my foot when the drunken lady ran over it. Luckily, that was the only thing that got hurt.

***

"Who are you and why are you staring at me?" Some stranger stares at me.

"I um I drove you to the hospital because you were passed out and bleeding on the floor of my convenience store." So, he's the owner of "Mathews Meat and More". I'm sure I'll be getting the bill for smashing the window to get in. "You have a broken ankle they had to put in a plate and three screws to fix it." It wasn't until just then that I noticed I was in a hospital bed wearing the ugliest Johnny shirt you could ever imagine.

Apparently that hobo was a psychotic prisoner on the loose having a killing spree and I was the only one who survived one of his attacks. I guess this story does have a happy ending.

***

### My Miracle

Gracyn MacLean

Chapter 1

It was nice to wake up to the smell of homemade pancakes on a school day for a change. Even though I wasn't going to school today, because of another one of Dad`s business trips that he was turning into a family trip. We never had `real` family vacations anymore, ever since the accident with Jordan, Mom and Dad were more protective over us.

I was still lying in bed, tired from staying up so late chatting with friends. I rolled over to the right side of my bed and glanced at the alarm clock that obviously didn't go off since it was ten after six. I decided I would get up in another minute, but I must have dozed off, because the banging on the door startled me.

"Katherine, get up! It's 6:15 and we're leaving in 15 minutes!" David managed to tell me all of that while scarfing down his massive plate of pancakes.

David ate more than anyone I knew, but still remained a thin boy. It was funny he didn't like carrots and had glasses though. David had auburn coloured hair, was almost 6`` tall, had a beautiful singing voice, and was very athletic. He liked to keep things to himself, but could always put a smile on my face with his humour. At seventeen years old, he was one year older than me.

I jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. I managed to get all ready and packed in seven minutes leaving me some time to eat pancakes. I pulled my suitcase down the stairs behind me and set it in the porch. Dad rushed past without noticing me while he finished some last minute paper work. I made my way to the kitchen where Mom left a plate of pancakes on the counter for me. I tore them apart and grabbed the syrup pouring as much that would come out of the bottle on top of the pancakes. Then I went to the fridge and chugged the rest of the orange juice. Mom was busy washing the dishes when I noticed little Jordan was struggling to cut his pancakes. I took my plate over to the table beside him and helped him. He looked up at me afterwards with his big blue eyes and thanked me in the most sincere voice.

No one could get angry with Jordan or raise their voice at him; all they ended up doing was hugging him. Jordan was really special to our family. He was a miracle. He kept our family from separating when he was born. He survived an accident and was born three months early weighing less than a pound. Jordan was only three years old. He had chubby cheeks, adorable dimples, the brightest smile and dirty blond hair that flipped out around the ears.

"Can you take Jordan to the van, Katherine?" Mom asked.

"Sure, Mom," I said.

I gathered our dirty dishes and gently placed them in the sink. Jordan was already running to the porch in excitement. I helped him put on his jacket and boots. Then I zipped up my coat, grabbed my purse and lead Jordan to the van. I buckled him in his car seat and went back in to help Dad and David with the luggage.

Dad had light brown hair, green eyes and a bit of a chub around the belly. He was very smart and musical. In high school he was on the football team, just like David. Dad had a big heart for others and always wanted to do what he could for them. Mom was the same way.

Mom was always there to listen. She grew up in a Christian home and taught Sunday school classes ever since her father moved into the community. She had a medium bone structure, medium length blond hair and brown eyes. She played a number of instruments and had a beautiful singing voice. She was an elementary school teacher in Rosewood, which is about half an hour away from home.

Most people told me that I was a "spitting image" of my mother because I had her golden coloured hair and bone structure. However, I had Dad's green eyes and his bright smile. I liked to play soccer not football and I could play piano, but couldn't sing as well as David.

David and I hopped in the van while Dad put the last suitcase in the trunk. Dad climbed in the driver's seat and beeped the horn to hurry Mom, who was probably looking for a CD to listen to instead of our country radio station.

Finally, she came out with a big smile and we were on our way to New York.

Chapter 2

After two days of driving and arguing with David we finally made it to New York. It was almost suppertime and as always Dad surprised us with reservations at his favourite restaurant, 'East Side Mario's.' Mom and Dad met there over thirty years ago. They like to share the story often about how they met.

Jordan was wide-awake looking at all the lights outside the back window of the van when David decided to start tickling him. We all started laughing along with them until we reached the restaurant.

We were starving. Mom and Dad order their usual #1 combo, the steak. David ordered the cheeseburger combo and Jordan ordered the chicken nuggets, from the kid's menu. I was always the last to decide because I was never sure if I should try something new or not. I decided to get a cheeseburger too with no tomato.

Our order came out about 20 minutes later. When the waiter was handing out our drinks he spilt chocolate milk all over me. He apologized and I excused myself from the table. I rushed to the bathroom and pulled out my Tide-to-Go from my purse and wiped as much milk off my pants as I could. On the way out from the bathroom, I was putting the cleaner pen back in my purse, when a guy who seemed about my age, bumped into me. The first thing I noticed was his big brown eyes. He had a huge smile almost as bright as Jordan's and dark brown hair that was sort of spiked above the forehead. We apologized and he reached his hand out to introduce himself.

"Sorry about that, I'm Scott," he said, as he cleared his throat.

"It was my fault, I said embarrassed. "I should have been watching where I was going," "I'm Katherine."

"No don't worry about it! Are you from around here? "

I could tell Scott was curious, "No, I'm from outside of Rosewood in New Brunswick."

"Oh, a Canadian? Nice. Could I offer you a bite to eat?" Scott asked.

"I'm sorry, but I'm here with my family." I told him quietly.

"Oh well, how long will you be here?" Scott asked.

"I'm here for two nights. We leave Sunday evening." I answered him while moving my bangs to the side.

"Oh, cool. Can I show you around over the next couple of days?"

I took a deep breath, trying to think of something to say "Um, maybe. I'll have to see if my mom has any plans."

"Okay, great! I'll give you my number." He grinned.

We exchanged phones and programmed each other's numbers into them. As we said our goodbyes, I turned away, took a deep breath and walked back to where my family sat. I told them about Scott and we finished our supper.

Dad wanted to get to the hotel because his conference was at 5:30 the next morning so we paid at the front desk of the restaurant and hurried back to the van. It seemed like a drive that was literally ten minutes long, took hours.

There we were pulling into the parking lot of Betty's Inn, when David sneezed all over me. Lovely, I thought, I always get the germs. We all hopped out of the van and took some luggage; even Jordan had a mini suitcase.

Mom registered at the front desk and got two rooms. David and I were sharing a room and my parents were keeping Jordan with them in another. We went up the elevator and let little Jordan press the buttons. David and I said our goodnights and kissed each one of them on the cheek before opening our hotel room. As soon as the door opened we both ran to our beds and jumped on them like we did years ago. We jumped from bed to bed and fell on the floor laughing. We talked for about an hour and then we got ready for bed and went straight to sleep.

Chapter 3

The next morning I woke up from Jordan and David jumping on me. Eventually they let me get out of bed and I went to the washroom to wash my face. Mom walked in to take us down for breakfast, but I told them to go down ahead of me while I got ready for the day.

My phone fell to the ground and I noticed the light blinking from the text messages. I skipped most of them until I noticed I received not one, but two texts from Scott! He was inviting me to a community event downtown Sunday afternoon around two. I grabbed my red purse and slid down the railing to ask Mom if it'd be all right to meet Scott at the downtown library tomorrow. After a few minutes of compromising she agreed, as long as I took care of Jordan today.

It wasn't much of a punishment considering David and I loved spending time with him. David decided he'd come along for the afternoon with us while Mom went shopping. We took Jordan to a park that was down the road from Betty's Inn. David and I enjoyed it almost more than Jordan did. We played tag, pushed each other on the swings, song songs and played on the jungle gym. When we were on the swings Jordan started pointing to something on the other side of the park, but we weren't sure what it was until we heard the jingle. It was the ice cream truck.

The jingle meant the truck was going to leave. We hated seeing Jordan disappointed so of course David lifted him out of the swing held him tightly in his arms and ran faster than I ever saw him race before. I ran behind them because I couldn't run anywhere as fast as David could.

The truck was putting his signal light on when David ran up and tapped on the window. The man smiled and pulled over to the sidewalk. I had caught up by now and the man was so kind he gave us free ice cream. David left a tip behind though.

We sat on the sidewalk to finish our ice cream. Afterwards, we decided to go for a walk. I saw the 'Toys R Us' sign beside a bus stop. David and I glared at each other and agreed from the looks on our faces we would be taking Jordan to 'Toys R Us'. On either side of Jordan we each grabbed one of his hands and waited at the stoplight.

The cars drove by really fast and the crowds of people on the sidewalks were ridiculous. I starred at the light until it turned red, signaling the cars to stop. The little sign lit up, telling us it was safe to walk across. The people there were very busy and didn't seem to pay attention to anyone around them. They just cared about where they were going except, for this one girl who was slowly helping an elderly man across the street. I didn't pay close attention, but her red hair caught my eye. She wasn't very tall and had a larger bone structure. She had a pretty face and she had freckles right under her eyes. The elderly man had a few wrinkles under the eyes and on his forehead. He had thin legs, a big belly and silver gray hair. I noticed his jacket because it was similar to the one Scott was wearing. It was black and had two buttons around the neck. We walked past them quickly and rushed to the other side of the sidewalk.

We walked past small boutique along the sidewalk until we came to 'Toys R Us'. Jordan just couldn't stop smiling and every person who looked at him turned away with the same sparkle in their eye and bright smile.

David went to the washroom while Jordan and I walked down the aisles to the toy trucks. The trucks seemed to come in every colour and every size. We were amazed at all the toys. I took my phone out of my coat pocket to check the time. It was already 3:30 and Mom told me to be back at the hotel by 4:00pm sharp. There was no way we'd make it back in time, but as long as we were safe I was sure she'd understand.

David swung around the corner with the time and thought we better get going. I took Jordan's hand and we started walking out of the store when something caught his eye. It was a wallet. A blue wallet that had the name, "JORDAN" written on the front. The letters were white and the wallet opened up into three sections. It had a little zipper for change, cardholders on both sides and a spot for a picture. He looked at that wallet and his jaw dropped. David didn't have any more than a penny left from buying the ice cream so I took the wallet from Jordan and went to the checkout desk to purchase it. David and Jordan stood still by the exit door patiently waiting for me.

"How are you?" The checkout women asked politely.

"I'm great, thank you." I answered in a rush since we were pressed for time.

"That will be $4.56, please" she replied in almost an automatic voice.

I handed the woman the change and grabbed the wallet from the counter. I opened my purse to take out our family picture and put it inside Jordan's new wallet behind all the fake cards. Rushing over to them I handed Jordan the wallet. He cautiously put it in his coat pocket. It was quarter to four.

On our way back to Betty's Inn we cut through the park. The short cut saved us some time and we made it back at 4:05pm. Mom didn't really notice.

Jordan was so tired out from the day he didn't even show Mom the wallet I bought, which was understandable. Dad was late as usual so we just ordered pizza and packed our stuff since we were leaving tomorrow. Right after Jordan took a few bites of pizza, he lay on top of the windowsill, cuddled his wallet in his arms and fell asleep. Dad walked through the door. He apologized for being late again and sat down beside the pizza. Each of us shared stories about our day. Afterwards, David and I excused ourselves and went back to our room.

After brushing my teeth, I put on my purple pajama bottoms and gray tank top. Then I collapsed on David's bed and we both fell asleep watching some teen movie that was playing on television.

Chapter 4

The next morning I woke up at ten o'clock, to a text message from Scott who was just confirming about today's plans. I had totally forgotten it started at eleven and I hadn't even showered. I texted him back and told him I'd be there. Running to the washroom, I stubbed my toe and noticed a note on the bathroom door.

Gone to breakfast with fam. Didn't want to wake you, have fun with Scott and we'll pick you up at the library at 5 tonight. Don't worry about your stuff, I took it all except your toothbrush and bag with an outfit in it. Love you, David.

Glad to know they remembered about today when I didn't. I went into the washroom, brushed my teeth and turned the water on to a warm temperature. The water was just pouring out from the faucet, I was glad to be out of the shower.

I dried off and slipped my dark wash jeans on. Then I just grabbed a simple white shirt from my bag and popped it over my head. I had fifteen minutes left to get ready, so I blow dried my hair, straightened it and put my make up on. David left me ten dollars and a banana on the counter so I shoved them in my purse, put my shoes on and ran out the door. As usual, I slid down the stair railing and walked to the front desk to return my hotel key. The woman said my family had already checked out, which was kind of odd, but David did mention he packed up. I assumed they were just going to tour around New York.

I walked out of Betty's Inn and made my way to the library. Luckily it was only a ten-minute walk from the hotel. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was enjoying my walk down the sidewalk.

"Katherine!" A deep voice yelled in the distance. "Over here!"

It was Scott. I smiled and waved at him as I watched him skip down the stairs.

"Hey!" I said with a grin on my face.

"How are you doing?" He asked, almost out of breath.

"I'm great, let's get a bite." I said.

He agreed since the play didn't start until one o'clock.

We just went to a small café across the road from the library. We ordered the breakfast deal with chocolate milk and started talking about school. It turned out we had a lot in common. We both played soccer, piano, and did well in school. Scott didn't really talk about his family, but I told him about mine. He enjoyed hearing about Jordan and how David and I didn't mind spending time with him. He loved the fact that we hated seeing him disappointed.

Scott was very charming for a seventeen-year-old boy. He paid for my breakfast and seemed to care about my family.

We went to the play put on by the community's youth group and I had a wonderful time. It was 3:30 by the time the play was over and Scott took me to a place downtown.

We had to go up a few flight of stairs, but finally we were at the top of a brick building on Delta Street. He reached for my hand to help me up the last few stairs. When I reached the top, nothing got my attention. Then, Scott turned me around and guided me towards a black door. He dug in his jean pocket for a few minutes and finally pulled out an old silver key. He pushed it in the keyhole and jingled it until it turned. When the door opened he removed the key and invited me in the doorway.

The room we were standing in was dark, but he gently held on to my hand and led me down a dimly lit hallway. When we came to another door at the end of the hallway, he smiled at me and then opened it, allowing me to go through. When he opened the door, I was exposed to an aquarium of fish, cages of rodents and countless numbers of cats and dogs. They were beautiful. Scott explained that there worked her and took care of these animals early before school and late evenings. He showed me all of the animals and we were having some laughs. I wasn't paying attention to the time, but it was already ten to five. I apologized and helped lock up the pet shop.

Somehow, we managed to get back to the library on time. We waited at the steps for an hour, but there was no sign of my family. Rain started to drizzle from the sky and within ten minutes a thunderstorm started. Scott suggested we go inside, but I refused. I was worried about my family. Mom was never this late. I texted David numerous times, but he didn't reply. There was nothing I could do, but worry.

Scott was really comforting. He took me inside and told me the librarian would understand if we stayed over night. He went to the closet to fetch some blankets and he came back with two hot chocolates and blankets underneath his arms. I smiled at him.

"Thanks, Scott. I'm just really overwhelmed. I don't know where my family are, I mean what could have happened?" I started to sob.

Scott placed the hot chocolates on the desk beside him, looked into my eyes and wrapped his arms around me. All he said was,

"Don't worry, everything will work out. Things always work out."

I didn't reply. We sat there and I cried in his arms for hours until I fell asleep.

Chapter 5

"Katherine, wake up! Katherine, you have to wake up now!"

"Ugh" I stretched.

Scott pulled me to my feet and hurried out the door locking it behind us. We crossed the road to the little café across the street. It was nice of him to treat me to breakfast again. I tried not to think about my family possibly being dead because I didn't want to start crying again. I stayed strong until we finished breakfast. I went to the washroom to freshen up, while Scott paid for our meals. I had no idea where to go from here. I took a deep breath and walked out of the washroom, forgetting that Scott was waiting for me.

When I walked out of the washroom Scott was just standing there with a big bright smile on his face, I didn't understand how he could always be so happy. He pushed opened the door and we walked down the road.

I could tell he didn't know what to say, so I broke the silence and suggested we go to the hospital and see if they knew something about my family. He thought that was a good idea, but he had to do some things first.

First we went to the Pet Shop. I fed the animals while he cleaned out the cages and tanks. It was already after lunch, but I was determined to get to the hospital. Scott called in another guy to the Pet Shop and explained that there was an emergency. He left the newbie with a list of things to do and we were out the door in a blink of an eye.

Scott whistled and managed to get a taxi to pull over. We jumped in and Scott gave directions to the nearest hospital. All I could think about was Jordan. His smile. His laugh. His hair. The wallet. Flashbacks of our memories, it was all coming back.

Chapter 6

Finally, we made it to the hospital. I ran inside without waiting for Scott to pay. He caught up quickly though and together we rushed to the front desk. I told them my name was Katherine Stewart and explained that my family didn't show up last night at the library. I rambled on and on, until she asked me to sit in the waiting room for a moment while she went to speak to another nurse.

It was difficult to wait in those squishy padded chairs. The sitting room was packed with people of all ages and the place was filled with a stuffy elderly smell. Nurses and youth workers were walking by in a hurry traveling to their destinations. I was getting all worked up again and tears were starting to fill my eyes when I saw the young boys with their parents. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind.

"Katherine Stewart" the speaker called over the PA.

I hurried over to the front desk with Scott right behind me. I stood there with tears rolling down my face when she informed me that my family has been killed in a car accident yesterday afternoon around 4:30, near Delta Street. Two family members were rushed to a hospital about an hour away from here and the reports were sent to this hospital. They weren't sure what two family members stayed on life support for a few hours, but two of them did. Unfortunately, they died during the night. A transfer truck was backing up when they were about to turn and was hit.

I felt Scott's hand rest on my shoulder as I fell to my knees. I screamed and cried more than I ever have had before. Everyone in the hospital stopped what they were doing and stood there with eyes on me. The nurses behind the front desk came out and helped me to the back room.

Scott stayed outside the door and slid down the wall on his back. A boy I just met had helped me through a tragic accident, buying me food and caring for me. Luckily, I was raised to always receive help from others. But why, why would he help me? I needed to know why he was still here. After I calmed down a bit, the nurses sent Scott into my room. He told me that the nurses thought it would be best if I stayed the night because coping can be a very difficult and emotional process. I didn't want to, but he convinced me to. His reaction kind of scared me when I said I didn't want to, so I decided it wasn't a good time to ask why he was staying with me through this. It was getting late and he told me he'd be here tomorrow after work.

I was dozing off as he walked through the door. I was exhausted and within five minutes I was asleep.

Chapter 7

I realized different nurses were in the hospital room with me while I was sleeping because when I woke up a nurse was just sitting there reading a book. She noticed I was awake and asked me some questions and left the room.

I was tired and the room smelt like an elderly home. I got up out of the hospital bed and used the washroom. I walked out and a tray of food was sitting on a little table over my bed. I didn't feel like eating, but I sipped my juice and ate my toast because I knew how Mom would feel if I skipped breakfast. I went back to sleep until Scott arrived and woke me up.

He told me I could stay with him and his Dad for a while if I agreed to go to counselling every week. As much as I didn't like the counselling idea, I knew it was best. I signed out of the hospital with Scott and registered for weekly counselling.

We decided to walk home since Scott had the evening off of work. I explained that I had no family left to tell about the accident and my best friends moved to a private school last semester and we lost touch over the months. There was nowhere I could go and there was only a week left of school plus I finished exams.

"We'll take things one day at a time," he whispered.

I looked at him, and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I decided to ask.

"Scott, how can you be so kind to me? I just met you four days ago and you already bought me meals, comforted me when I needed someone and now you're taking me in! Why?" I desperately needed to know.

Scott took a deep breath and paused for a few minutes." I know what's it like to lose family. I didn't have anyone there for me when I needed it and my father always taught me to take care of others before myself. When he was first diagnosed with cancer he told me we were just going to take it one day at a time. Well he's the last of my family and he's still staying strong. He usually stays with Sarah she's a foster mother, down the street from Betty's Inn, but I try to visit him when I'm not working. I talked to him about you and he just wants you healthy so you can have the spare room in our apartment and he's going to stay at Sarah's."

"I'm sorry Scott, I'll be here for you th—" He cut me off.

"We'll be there for each other" he corrected me.

It was beginning to rain again and we still had another mile to go so we stopped at a burger joint along the sidewalk. Scott ordered us each a burger and a shake. We ate in silence. After we were done we walked back to the apartment in the rain. He dug in his hand in his jean pocket and easily slid the key through the slot, which opened the door.

I stepped inside. There was a small shoe rack and a mat on the floor. Straight ahead was a small staircase that led to the apartment. We went up the stairs and I took my shoes off after Scott did. He turned the lights on and told me to make myself comfortable and gave me a quick tour.

The bathroom was down the hall first and only door to your right. My room was the second room on the left and his was the first. The kitchen was behind the living room and the living room was an opened room connected to everything.

I thanked Scott and told him I'm going straight to bed. He went to the shower and I found my way to my temporary room. It was nice. The room had a bedside table, dresser, double bed and a plant in the corner. I lay down on my new bed, softer than it appeared to be. I closed my eyes, and I was out.

Chapter 8

It had been two months of counselling and I felt it was time to start looking for a job. I had to move on, my family was gone and investigators were working on the case. I wanted to know the truck driver who killed my family. I wanted to face him and just hear him apologize.

Scott had been working a lot more during the summer trying to pay for the medication and support needed for his Dad. He didn't like to talk about his Dad, but he did tell me that he had been getting a lot worse. He was expected to die anytime now and was sent to the hospital a few days before.

I decided to take a shower since I had the apartment to myself. I turned the radio on and finished getting ready. It was ten o'clock by the time I was out the door. I went to the library to photocopy my resume.

The librarian was so kind to me, but I think it was because she knew Scott really well. I talked to her for a few minutes and she gave me a few places in the community that were hiring. I traveled around town all day handing out my resume. I was hoping to get a call as soon as possible to help Scott.

I was on my way home when an ambulance went by. It reminded me of the night my family was killed, but I just kept walking. When I got back to the apartment I checked my phone. Something happened. I missed ten phone calls and fifteen texts from Scott. Just when I was about to call him back he called again. He told me not to worry, but he was at the hospital and didn't know when he'd be home. I wanted to question him, but knowing Scott that wouldn't be a smart decision.

I was worrying all night and couldn't fall asleep until 1:30 in the morning. It was almost lunch by the time I woke up and I still didn't hear from Scott. I made some breakfast and when I was heading out the door to find Scott, the phone rang. It was "Little Tots" daycare not far from the Pet Shop. They wanted to hire me for about three or five days a week and have me come in today. The children weren't there today so I would just meet my boss and co-workers. I was so excited. This was the job I wanted.

I made my way to the daycare and stayed for a few hours. My boss and co-workers seemed so kind! I couldn't wait to start work on Monday. It was almost four and I remembered Scott, I had to find him. I thanked the ladies at the daycare and was out the door.

I was walking along the sidewalk towards the hospital when I noticed a man crying on the park bench. It looked like Scott, but my legs wouldn't move toward him. I tried, but it was almost like a force was keeping me away. Hearing him cry broke my heart. Right then I knew it was Scott.

Suddenly, it was as if the city went silent and time was frozen. It was so painful to watch him suffer. He was such a tough kid and he deserved more, much more. I wanted to help him, but there was nothing I could do. I finally broke the force and ran to him. He opened his arms and I wrapped mine around him. I squeezed him as hard as I could and we just screamed. We cried and we cried. We were broken, but together we were strong.

After a while we sat on that park bench and listened to the city traffic. Scott confessed that he had been keeping some important things from me, but he didn't want to explain details so he jumped to the end. His father passed away this afternoon.

"I knew he was going to die. I just didn't want him too. He wanted to meet you, but if you got to know him then it's just someone else you'd have to say goodbye to. I couldn't do that to you. I'm sorry." Scott wept.

"Don't apologize. You were just trying to do what you thought was best for me. I'm really sorry about your father Scott, I really am. We'll be okay. We'll stay strong together. Only one year left of school and I'm done." I barely held back my tears.

"You're right, I think I should start going to counselling too, but I'll have to figure out some way of getting more money." Scott said.

"Oh, yeah! By the way... I got a job working at "Little Tots" today for three or five days a week." I said.

Scott just smiled; we both knew if we worked together we could get by.

Chapter 9

Not a day went by without thinking about my family. Working at "Little Tots" reminded me of Jordan with all the young boys so full of life. I had to cut back to three days a week since school started last fall and Scott picked up some extra shifts. Thankfully things had been working out and we'd officially started dating.

Sarah, the foster mother, had helped us out quite a bit too. She invited me to a few youth events at the community church, but I wasn't interested until one night she just wouldn't drop it, so I went. That night was life changing. I became a youth leader at the church and worked with children and teenagers. A few months later, Scott got involved and things just kept getting better. People from the community were very interested and helped us when we were struggling.

Graduation was coming up and I decided I wanted to become a social worker. Scott and I were looking into moving to Edmonton, where he could get more pay and I could go to school with a part time job. We finally got in the door from work, when the phone rang. It was Sarah, she was inviting us to her home, (big deal, I'd never set foot in Sarah's home and Scott was rarely asked to go over.) She wanted to celebrate with a graduation supper next weekend after the ceremony. I excitedly accepted the invitation and thanked her. Scott and I were exhausted so we said goodnight and went to our rooms.

Chapter 10

"Katherine! Hurry up! You're going to be late for your ceremony!" Scott yelled.

"I'll be out in a minute Scott!" I knew how excited he was for the graduation, the supper at Sarah's house and our future. I took a deep breath and walked out of the washroom to find Scott waiting in the porch.

"You look beautiful," he said breathlessly.

"Thanks." I blushed afterwards.

I was wore a strapless red and black cocktail dress with black heels. My hair was highlighted and curled.

After Scott finished taking pictures, we rushed to my graduation ceremony, which lasted two hours. Then we took more pictures with some friends and classmates. It was 7:30 and we had to be at Sarah's house by eight o'clock. Scott wanted to make a surprise stop somewhere though, so, he blindfolded me and led me down the sidewalk. Ten minutes later he stopped me and removed the blindfold. We were standing in the middle of the city in front of the park bench.

Scott gazed into my eyes smiled and took my hand.

"Katherine, the moment I met you at that restaurant I knew you were different. You are the nicest, strongest and most confident women I've ever met. We've been there for each other, when things were tough, but together we got through it and I'm ready to start a new life. I want us to start a new life together."

Right then Scott was on one knee and digging in his jean pocket. His hand came out holding a ring case with a gorgeous ring inside of it.

"Katherine, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

At this point I was speechless. My heart was just filled with happiness. I pulled Scott to the ground looked into his eyes, and we kissed. Scott and I were engaged.

We were running late, as usual, but arrived at Sarah's on time. When I stepped into that house I just felt so welcomed with community friends all around and the foster children all about. We told everyone our news and all night we were congratulated.

Scott and I were thanking the last guest for coming and saying goodnight when I noticed a blue wallet sitting on a side table by the staircase. I excused myself to take a closer look at the wallet. When I reached the staircase, I looked down and starred at it. The wallet was small and blue. With white letters on it and spelled "JORDAN". I picked up that blue wallet and a tear slid down my cheek.

"Excuse me, but can I have my wallet?" a young boy's voice asked.

I knew that voice. Scott was walking down the hall towards me as I turned around. This little boy had dirty blond hair that flipped out around the ears, adorable dimples, the brightest smile and big blue eyes. I looked at this little boy with tears and a smile.

"Katherine?" the boy asked holding back his own tears.

"It's me buddy. It's Katherine." I cried as I knelt down to hug him as hard as I could.

"I couldn't find you, the hospital people didn't believe me! I missed you!" he yelled.

"It's okay, I'm here now. I won't ever leave you again!

"Katherine, what's going on?" Scott asked confused.

I turned around to face Scott with Jordan in my arms and cried "Scott meet Jordan, my brother."

Scott just smiled and joined our hug.

Chapter 11

A few weeks later, Scott and I had custody over Jordan and we sued the social agency. That summer, after our small wedding, we moved to Edmonton and Scott got a job working construction, like he always wanted. I was accepted into the University of Alberta not far from Jordan's daycare where I worked some evenings and weekends and we finally started new. Jordan is my miracle.

***

### Friends Forever

Hannah Aitken

He simply... "appeared" there one day, by the creek near my house. The creek was my secret hiding spot, and a sort of time killer, as I hadn't started school yet. It was a spot where I could be alone with myself and the world around me. However when he "appeared" I seemed to have no problem with that.

We simply sat on the edge of the creek, a pregnant silence around us. It was awkward, but felt strangely inevitable, almost as though our meeting couldn't have happened any other way.

As quiet as he was then, the more we met at that creek, the less we couldn't stop talking. We met there more and more frequently, and eventually it progressed into every day.

This continued for four months, only stopping for bad weather, or busy days when we couldn't make it, until one day he just plain didn't show up. I figured he was simply late, or maybe had some chores to finish before his mother would let him play outside, but after waiting for hours, he hadn't arrived.

I waited for what seemed like forever, until I eventually saw him running towards me through the towering green trees. "Took you long enough," I said with a laugh.

"Sorry, I was feeling a bit dizzy, so my mum took me to outpatients. Of course, there was a three -hour wait, and then it took another hour for the doctor to tell me that there was practically nothing wrong. Because that's just how life works," He smiled with his usual happy-go-luckiness. A sudden silence fell.

"What would you do if I never came back?" I was surprised by his sudden question.

"What?"

"If I never came back, what would you do?"

"I dunno... I guess I'd be sad."

"We're friends, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Forever?"

"Yeah."

"Promise?" I looked over at him, him already looking at me. He looked almost worried.

"Yeah, friends forever."

We sat in silence until he finally got up, saying he had to go home. In my mind, I continued to wonder why he'd ask such a strange question. It wasn't normal for him to ask such a thing.

Once again, we continued our usual routine without fail. After a week I'd forgotten about his unusual question. Things were normal; I was going to start school in a month. I'd never been inside a school before; I had no siblings, so I never went to any concerts or fairs. I wondered if my friend would be in the same class as I would be. We were the same age after all. I decided I'd ask him.

When I got to the creek, he hadn't arrived yet. I knew that I had probably just gotten there before him, but still, the events of last week couldn't help but pop back into my mind.

Maybe he's just sick I thought to myself. If he was sick last week, he could easily get sick again. Maybe he wasn't feeling well all week, and decided to go back to the hospital.

Once again, after hours, he hadn't arrived. This time, I knew where he most likely was, which calmed me down a bit. Still, I couldn't help but wonder. There couldn't be anything wrong, could there be?

Of course not. Soon I'll see him running through the trees, apologizing and smiling like he did last time.

He never came.

It became dark, I knew I'd have to go home soon, but I didn't. I waited, but I couldn't leave. This was important. We're friends, friends forever. I promised.

The sun continued to set, and my worry grew more and more. Eventually I couldn't wait anymore. I had to go home, I was tired and Mum will be worried.

Although I didn't want to, I left for home. Different possibilities of what happened rushed through my head. I couldn't decide on a theory, this was just too out of place. I would just have to ask him myself.

Again the next day he never showed up. The longer I waited, the more worried I became. I wanted to leave, but at the same time I didn't. I knew I had to wait for him; it was too important.

He never showed for a week, but I still did every day. That week eventually turned into two weeks, what was two weeks turned into four weeks, and finally, this turned into a month of coming everyday to wait for him, him never coming. I couldn't just stop coming, I knew he'd come back, he had to, but the question he had asked me before still rang in my mind

'What would you do if I never came back?'

I arrived the next day, still hoping to see him there, sitting by the creek, waving at me to show me something he'd found in the water. Instead, a woman sat there, most likely in her late thirties. She looked up at me. I examined her face. She looked sad, like something was missing.

"Are you Campanella?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you?"

"I'm your friend's Mum, the one you've been meeting here."

"...Where is he? "

"...Campanella."

"Yeah?"

"...He's not coming back."

***

### The Ballad Of A Suicidal Man

Jacob Lava

June 2nd, 1984

Dear Diary,

I feel even more pathetic than usual writing this. I don't know if others can help me, let alone myself. The dreams are becoming more prominent now, and much more vibrant. I can always see myself, there, crying, in a cemetery usually, sometimes in my own bedroom. And her.

She glows like an angel.

She touches my hand.

She smiles.

I cry some more.

She turns around, pulls the gun from the waist of her pants.

She turns her head, raises the gun to her temple.

Our eyes lock.

And she smiles, this horrible, sad, beautiful, helpless smile.

And then she pulls the trigger.

She falls, and I scream.

Death comes, with a black cloak. Scythe in hand.

"Don't you lay a finger on her!" I run towards her, but my feet feel like lead, and I can't lift them up. I scream, an agonized, fed up, pathetic, hopeless, terrified, torn up screech.

He bends over, picks her up, with his horrible cold skeleton hands, and walks away.

And then Death looks up, removes the hood covering his face, to reveal a terrifying burnt face, as if from a terrible fire, and horrible hollow pits for eyes.

And he tilts his head ever so slightly.

And then he smiles at me.

And then I wake up.

But the nightmare doesn't end.

***

June 3rd, 1984

Dear Diary,

Her name was Melissa.

She was so, so beautiful.

Loved everything, and everybody.

She blessed this world for 29 years with her presence.

Do you want to know why she killed herself? Do you want to know what possessed her to shoot a piece of lead through her brain?

She thought she was useless.

She told me every day.

And guess how many damn things I did about it?

Her husband.

Her soul mate.

Did nothing.

Till death do we part.

Well, I can tell you myself, Death may have parted us, but I'm bringing him back to get us back together.

***

June 4th, 1984

Dear Diary,

Rehab isn't helping.

I'm smoking, snorting, and injecting more crap into my body than I ever had before. I figure if I don't know what's going on in the present, I won't know what happened in the past. Does it work? As long as I have a loaded syringe in my hand at all times, yes.

Incredible, isn't it, almost killing myself with drugs eases the pain

Imagine just ending it all.

I'm having those thoughts again.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

***

June 5th, 1984

Dear Diary,

And now, it's been 6 months after my wife...

Left.

I can't even bring myself to say the word.

But good news.

So me and my mates today go out for a pint of beer or two and go to see a music group that came into a bar and I spy this lovely lady looking at me from across the room. Her name's Chelsea. She's 31, around my age. No children. Single. Not even a prostitute.

Things are going up.

So we talk a little bit and she doesn't really seem like your average bar doll, but a rather civilized woman. She also has this beautiful American accent that I love. So we decide that, as she's opposed to me bringing her home to my place tonight, to go for a nice dinner the next night. So her and her mates and mine and my mates go our separate ways, and here I am writing this down on this antique old desk that I have, holding this nice little shopping bag full of overpriced brand name dress shirts, and I'm happier than I've been in a long time.

***

June 6th, 1984

Dear Diary,

And after an incredible night, I think that this relationship will go far.

And I can't wait for more.

Its nearing midnight and I'm standing on the tiles surrounding in ground pool, lighting a little bit of weed up to clear my mind. My eyes and brain are glazed over with alcohol, and seeing and thinking straight is becoming difficult and I wish I could stay in this moment forever.

Because I'm having a feeling that I haven't felt in a while.

Hope.

***

June 8th, 1984

Dear Diary,

I didn't write last night, sorry, but I was... Filling out my... "prescriptions".

And I got completely wrecked.

I figured that if I'm going to get crunked I'd save you the pain of listening to me.

But today I went out with Chelsea again, and like the other times, I had a great night. Perhaps I can consider starting my life up again. Getting my old job of being lawyer back. And I very well could, I was the best in the business. Maybe even get off drugs.

Well.

One thing at a time.

***

June 9th, 1984

Dear Diary,

I can't believe it.

I don't deserve this kind of life.

She left.

She's gone.

I'm alone.

Again.

She didn't even bother to stop by and say goodbye.

I'll pretend to give you my heart.

And then when you're least expecting it.

I'll take your heart.

And break it.

So full of pain, my life has been

Taken away, my wife has been,

Now I had a second chance

That left without a second glance

I'm not sure if I can take anymore

If had known what pain was in store

I would have taken my life at the age of three

And now I can only imagine how happy my life could be.

Sadness and woe

Why must it be so?

***

June 10th, 1984

Dear Diary,

Now, more than ever before, I am having serious problems. You may be thinking to yourself, wow, he's an idiot.

Well I'm not.

I fully and totally accept my depressing take on life and my shaky at best state of mental heath. I realize there's something wrong with me.

And besides, what would you know.

You're a bunch of paper.

You know what? This isn't working for me. I'm done.

***

June 21st, 1984

Dear Diary,

So, it's been a while, and I know realize writing my problems down regulates them.

I'm in the hospital with serious injuries to my wrists and massive amounts of blood loss.

They say I'm lucky to be alive.

I'm not lucky.

It just happened to not kill me.

Of course, I didn't slip and slit my wrists on a jagged piece of whatever.

I took a knife to myself.

And, albeit the doctors don't know, my throat is really rope burned and my lungs still feel like their full of water. I don't understand why I'm still here.

I only want to be with her.

In eternal bliss.

But apparently, killing yourself is tougher than I thought.

But I've got a plan.

And if I'm not going to get any better.

I might as well face it and take the easy way out.

***

June 23rd, 1984

Dear Diary,

And let it be known that this.

This is the day it ends.

And I want to go out like she did.

Happy.

Accepting.

Quick.

I have the gun loaded on my bedside table, the barrel is looking the other way, as if it's disgusted with me.

Well, I say to it.

Get in line.

It looks cold.

I take it in my hand to warm it up.

It's the same gun she used.

The bullet is still missing from the clip.

That one bullet that brought me down to hell.

My finger touches the trigger.

I'm trembling.

But yet, I'm smiling.

It has to be done.

I can see her, standing in the doorway.

My darling.

My sweet.

She's looking at me.

Smiling.

She holds out her hand, and I take it.

And then, she starts singing to me.

A song from her mortal life.

To be with you, is like a fire in my heart.

To be without, is like being torn apart.

Oh why, oh why, must this life be so cruel?

Oh why, oh why must I have been such a fool?

Take my hand, my sweet, and we'll fly away.

Together forever, is the only way.

I grip her hand tighter.

Put the barrel of the gun to my head.

Tears stream down my face.

My finger curls around the trigger.

She nods her head, as if with encouragement.

And I pull.

The.

Trigger.

***

And then I fall to the ground.

I hit it hard, but feel nothing.

I look up at her.

She tilts her head, ever so slightly.

She smiles.

This horrible, sad, beautiful, helpless smile.

I've seen it before.

And then, she helps me up.

We leave together.

Forever.

I hope you cried.

***

### The Bomb

Jacob McSweeney

**Prologue – May 2** nd **2093**

As of right now, I am on my way to a bunker built of solid steel, five metres thick, the thing will probably end up being my tomb. The bunker is in the northern most part of the Nevada desert. My family is well to do, that's how we got this bunker. Took twenty-three years to build. I have sixteen hours to meet my family at the iron tomb. All because of a nuke.

**Chapter 1 – Just Found Out – March 30** th **2093**

It just came on the TV that Japan has lashed out at the US. They made a bomb that tears through any natural life in its way. The bomb burns ANY plants, heavily accelerates the evolution of ANY animal, mutating them beyond genetic repair, and burns through the skin of ANY human, but leaving them alive, although, they don't have to fear skin infections. The humans just look like they came straight out of hell.

**May 1** st **2093**

They have prepared to launch the "The End of Western Civilization". Mom called me and told me to pack up and get to the bunker. I have no choice, I want to stay here and live out my life to the fullest, but it looks like I am going to Nevada. I am going to start packing. I leave tomorrow.

**Chapter 2 – On My Way – May 2** nd **2093 – 1:07am**

I have a twelve-hour drive, the bomb hits in sixteen. NOTHING can go wrong from here to Nevada or I may as well say "hello" to shriveled skin and people being repulsed by me.

**May 2** nd **– 8:09am**

I have nine hours left to get to the tomb, and of course, a guy runs a red light, and now he runs his mouth. I t-boned his car and it is totaled. My truck has no damage because my dad put the fancy grill on the front. Hopefully this guy will calm down and we can come to an agreement. I don't think he understands what happens in nine hours, but I need to get going.

**May 2** nd **– 10:53am**

Six hours left and motor mouth just let me go. I explained the nuke. It only took me three hours. I now may not make it to Nevada because of this guy. I may as well at least try to get to the bunker. I guess I am speeding up.

**May 2** nd **– 11:29am**

I made I to the desert in time, but now to my luck, I am now lost. Mom sent me the coordinates but the GPS in my phone died. The desert doesn't have great reception. I guess I will need to keep looking.

**May 2** nd **– 5:02pm**

I see the bunker entrance. I may be less than a kilometre away. Unfortunately, the bomb is double that, and will get here in no time at all. The bunker door is still open; it looks big enough that if it starts closing now, it will close just in time. My family is either waiting for me, or didn't make it, either way, dead skin or not, we will all make it. Dead skin isn't preferable.

Either way, it won't be good.

***

### The Flight

Jenna Schellekens

"Ding. "

I take off my seatbelt as the light turns off.

I look out at the cloudy blue sky through the tiny airplane window. The fumes of the cleaners they use to clean the plane fill my nostrils and flip my stomach upside-down more than it already is. I somehow managed to stay calm throughout the takeoff, but now the butterflies in my stomach are beginning to come alive and fumble around aimlessly in my intestines.

Some may ask, why am I so nervous? Well last month I turned seventeen and my family has this abnormal tradition to travel by plane for the first time at the age of seventeen. To make it worst, I must travel alone. For other seventeen-year-old boys and girls, this would excite them. If you are like me, well then...it is the worst thing that you would have to do.

When I was little girl all I did was dream about this moment. But now that it's here, suddenly I wish it were over. After hearing about so many disastrous plane crashes that end with almost everyone dying and the movies like "Snakes On A Plane" it's a wonder anybody wants to get on a plane anymore.

I take a long dragging deep breath. I tell myself that all I need to do is think about the positive, calm down, and think about all the times people have gotten on and off planes without harm. I guess you could say safety flights are in my favour.

"Hi, my name is Ali!" I look beside me at the girl I've been sitting next to for the past hour. She's younger than me, maybe fourteen. Her hair falls just past her shoulders in a mess of blond curls. Her dark brown eyes seem to bore into me, waiting for me to introduce myself.

I smile. "Hey, I'm Natalie" Plain old Natalie as my friends would say. Same long curly chocolate brown hair with grassy green eyes and the same old wardrobe that I've had for years that only consist of hoodies and skinny jeans.

"Are you going to Toronto too?" She asks, turning to face me. Her lips form the perfect smile.

"Yeah, I'm going to see my aunt. This is my first time on a plane." I let out an uneasy laugh in an attempt to give her the idea it's no big deal and that my nerves are not swirling around in me like a world wind. By the look on her face I know my shield has been broken.

As if knowing what I'm thinking Ali says, "Don't worry, this is my fifth time on a plane and my second time all alone. There's really nothing to worry about They don't let just anybody fly a plane and they always check to make sure everything is working perfectly before they take flight."

I look at this girl now next to me and feeling silly for ever being afraid of this flight. Most of my devilish butterflies began to fly away and start to feel like that little girl again who has always looked forward to this very moment.

"Yeah I guess." I laugh again only this time it is a true laugh. "Why are you going to Toronto?

"I'm going to see my cousins; they never get the time to come to see me so I am always the one spending the money so we can still see each other." We talk for some time about what we liked and what our hobbies are, but eventually we both fall asleep.

It seems I had been sleeping for only seconds when I am jolted awake and hurled to the ground next to Ali. There are passengers screaming everywhere, you could smell the amount of fear in the air. I struggle to get up and get back in my seat. Both Ali and I click on our seat belts as do the other passengers and as if I am too terrified to speak, I just sit there clutching Ali's arm without uttering a word. I listened to the static sound of the speaker the air attendances uses to talk to us and give us directions in moments like these but no words are heard.

Ali's eyes are now wide with terror and she is shaking my arm viscously. "What's happening?" she screams at me. I look out the window to avoid seeing the fear in her eyes and I am completely caught off guard to see we are closing in on a group of trees below at an indescribable speed. I can see smoke rising from the wings of the plane where the engine is and it is clear that it has blown.

More screams of terror are let go into the empty air. G-masks fall down into our faces. Few people actually put them on, we all know they won't help us; nothing we have can help or prepare us for what is about to happen. I grab Ali's hand and wait for the blow and pray for a miracle.

I open my eyes and am blinded by the bright light illumination off the snow and the crystal like blue sky. I stare at it for a moment and enjoy its peacefulness and calm. The air smells fresh and full of life and it seems I can almost taste the thin layer of mist in the air. I get up onto my feet and grunt the pain and effort it takes. My body is covered in cuts and bruises burning with pain that becomes unbearable whenever I move.

A shock wave of agony shoots through my foot up through my leg as I hit something sticking up out of the ground. I look down at a piece of a white airplane wing, and that's all I need to remember the plane crash and me gripping Ali's arm praying everything will be all right. The seconds I want to forget and that I wish never happened, but they did and here I am.

I look around at my surroundings. The plane is scattered everywhere! My eyes force me to look at the remains of the now lost souls of the passengers, their bodies scattered with the plane fragments, some hung limp from tree branches others mangled and missing arms, legs, and other limbs. Their eyes are clouded over and mouths open in mid-cry.

I fall to my knees and start to cry myself for everyone who lost their lives on this flight and for the luck I had for my own life to be spared from this unthinkable crash that came upon us all. I'm not sure how long I cry for, minutes, maybe hours until my eyes are puffy and red.

"Na-Natalie?" A voice calls from behind me. It's not just anyone's voice, yet I am still shocked as I turned around to see Ali running over to me arms outreached for me.

I can't believe it! We have both survived the crash. I am overwhelmed with joy to see her and stand up on my feet not caring about the protest my body makes with the movement. I open my arms wide as she ran into them and I gave her the biggest hug I have ever given.

We both cry with joy of being alive and fear for what just happened and for what is to come next. We are in the middle if a huge wide spread of trees and snow with no food and no material to help protect us from the cold. The sun is beginning to set and with it being winter it will be dark very soon.

I look down at Ali and noticed a gash just above her eyebrow; caked with dirt where it crossed from one eyebrow the next. I become nervous at the sigh to it. "Are you ok, Ali you have a cut on your forehead." I sit her down.

Ali looks up at me and smiles. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's only little cut anyway. Oh and I have a pile of wood over there." She points with her hand to a small pile of twigs not far away from us. "I tried to make a fire, but it didn't work. I only got splinters and one of the smallest sparks that can be made."

"I'll try it, I've done this before with my dad in a camping trip. It took me forever to get it started, but now I'm actually pretty good at it." I hope it will make her feel a little better having someone around to start a fire that will be key for our survival until someone can find us.

When we reach the pile of sticks I pick out two to start the fire and place them in the middle of the pile sticking up straight and took them in my hands and quickly rubbed them together. After a while with no result I become discouraged and wonder if I am even doing it right. I try stroking the two sticks together also, but with no result in the end.

"Why can't I do it?" I throw my hands up in the air in defeat. Without this fire we might not make it through the night.

We both try to get the fire going for another hour, but it becomes too dark to do anything. We give up and huddled together in the cold wet snow. Ali begins to cry and I hug her tightly to my chest reassuring her everything will be all right and that someone would find us in the morning.

I wake up and right away the pain in my body has increased overnight to a whole new degree. I can hardly move a stiff muscle. I turn onto my side with a silent cry and see Ali still asleep. Knowing it will be better for both of us to move around and get warmed up and to get our muscles moving, I decided to wake her up.

I shake her once with no luck, so I shake her a bit harder and turned her over saying, "Ali, wake up we have to get going." She still hasn't wakened and as I tilt her face towards mine I scream and jump up onto my feet.

Ali's eyes are clouded over identical to the ones of the dead. I sink down onto the snow next to her and cradled her body, now cold and stiff and ghostly pale, unlike the warm rosy of yesterday before any of this crazed agony and fear and this tragedy became real. I lose faith in that moment sitting in the snow with my friend now passed like the rest of the passengers of our cursed flight. I wish Ali had taken me with her.

I bolt upright with a sweat-covered body. I am back home in my own bed safe and sound; it has all been a terrifying dream. It had been so real, I am still shaking now I as I get out of my bed and head into the kitchen to meet my parents at the table. Never in my life have I been so glad to see them.

"Hi!" I say giving them both hugs. They hug me back and I swear I never want them to let go ever again. I'm just so glad it was all a dream and that I'm all right.

My mom walks over to the door and puts on her coat and purse. Beside her is a pile of luggage. "Are you ready for your flight? We have to leave very soon or you are going to miss it!" She pushes me with her hand at the small of my back to my bedroom to get dressed.

I get sick to my stomach as I remember I still have a very real flight to catch today and I can't help thinking as we pile up the car and drive to the airport. It was so real, but it also showed me how wild my imagination is. When we arrived at the airport, I am feeling more confident and now I am sure I am ready for this flight as I say good-bye to my parents and board the plane.

I smile at the attendant greeting us at the front of the aisle with a newly found confidence and truly feel I have overcome my fear of flying. I continue to walk down the aisle until I find my seat and I sit down. The fumes of many varieties of different cleaners seem invisible to all senses I may have. I take in a long deep breath and smile.

After a few minutes someone sits next to me, "Hi" She says. I look over and am frozen with fear. There sitting next to me it Ali.

***

### The Fight

Jenna Smith

Hi, I'm Mary-Lou and I'm eighteen. I'm also a professional soccer player. I have been playing soccer ever since I was five years old, and I absolutely adore the sport. It's also a big part of my life. But that's not why I'm writing this story. I'm writing this to tell you about a life-changing event that happened to me when I was thirteen, and it made a huge impact on my life.

My mom was yelling at me to hurry up or I was going to be late for school again. So like usually I ran down the stairs and ate my breakfast and ran down the driveway to try and catch the bus. When I got to school I ran to my friends, Grace and Lucy and started to talk to them. One of the subjects that popped up in our conversation was the "Big Game' that was happing that night. You see I loved to play soccer with my friends! But anyways we were talking about who was going to win and who was the best soccer player and stuff like that. But none of that mattered to me because all I cared about was playing soccer with my friends and having fun!

Later that night after the very violent soccer game, which we had won! I started to get a sharp pain in my leg. It was almost like someone was kicking me in the leg again and again. But I just thought that I probably pulled a muscle in the game, so I forgot about it and went to bed. But the next day I woke up and the pain was still there, in fact the pain was getting worse. Every week it seemed like the pain was getting stronger until I had got to the point were the pain was so excruciating that I couldn't handle it any more.

So the next day I sat down with my parents and told them about my leg and how it was seriously sore. First they asked me how long I have had the pain for and I told them about two months. Then they asked me what leg and I said my left leg. So, of course my mom said that we should go to the hospital right away. We all got in the car and dove off. When we got to there a very nice nurse examined my leg and then told me that the doctor would be right in. When the doctor came in he said that I needed an x-ray and sent me straight to the room. When I was done he looked at my x-ray for a few minutes. But I could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong. So I asked him if everything was all right and he just answered me in a depressing voice saying that he wanted to speak to my parents, in private. I knew something was up so I rushed to the door and pressed my ear against it, but sadly I couldn't hear them.

When my parents walked in the room they told me something that would change my life drastically. They told me that I have bone cancer in my left leg, and that the doctors need to amputate it. They said that the surgery would be tomorrow. At that very moment my whole life flashed before my eyes. I don't believe it! I yelled. I can't believe it! My whole life is ruined! I'll never be able to play soccer again, let alone walk. I'll never be able to accomplish my dream of becoming a professional soccer player now!

Later that night I called one of my best friends, Grace and I told her about my leg and how that pain I had was bone cancer. I also told her that I am going to have surgery the next day so they can amputate my left leg. She told me there was nothing to worry about and that she and Lucy will always be there for me. About an hour later my other friend, Lucy called and said that Grace had explained everything to her and she just wanted me to know that I am going to be ok and that they are going to come and visit me as mush as they could. She also said something that made me believe that I can still follow my dream. She said that as long as I believe in myself and never give up I can be or do anything I want. I can even become a professional soccer player.

I woke up that morning and was covered in wires and IV's. The doctors came in and said that it was time for me to go to the OR. I was so petrified that I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I love you, those were the last words my parents said to me before I was wheeled in and put under anesthesia.

Then the next I knew I was back in my hospital room. When I looked around I saw my mom, dad and my two best friends Grace and Lucy. I didn't even realize my leg was missing until I looked down at my feet and saw I only had one foot. Thankfully I wasn't as sore as I used to be, thanks to the doctors. But before I knew it I was falling asleep a sleep again.

A few weeks later my leg was healed over and I was finally aloud to get my artificial leg. The doctor strapped on my new leg. I was ready to try and walk again. I was so excited!! I tried it on and started to walk around until I feel over. Then I tried it again, I stayed up for about five minutes and then I feel over again. The doctor told me that I had to go through rehabilitation for a few weeks, maybe even months.

So after I had started I was done before I knew it. It was hard and sometimes very painful but I stayed strong and never gave up. So now I can finally walk again, and the doctor said that I could even play soccer again if I was up for it. Then it could be just like it used to, me and my friends playing soccer again! And to make things even better I could go home that day! I couldn't wait to see my friends!

When I got home I ran straight to my room and looked in my mirror but then I realized that my hair was almost all gone from all the chemotherapy the doctors gave me. But that didn't matter all that mattered was that I was there without the pain and still able to walk. But I couldn't believe that I was back in my house with my family and I had an artificial leg. Wow, this has been quite a year for me.

Well I got to play soccer again after all that time. I finally got to go back onto the field! I was so overwhelmed that I could barley breath. As soon as I got there I saw all my friends. But there was one person there that I didn't recognize and they looked to old to be a player on our team. So I rushed over to see. Then I had finally found out who it was it was Alice Macdonald! The worlds best soccer player. I ran up to see her and she told me that my friends told her about me and that she was here to teach me some tricks! Later on when I had got home I ran to bed and said to myself, "I can be a professional soccer player all I have to do is believe in myself!"

***

### The Mysterious Door

Jesse Annear

Crick, Crack, Crick, Crack.

Vladimir Fippula woke to the floorboards of his new neighbors deck creaking as they carried furniture into the house next door.

Vladimir was a 13- year- old boy, fairly tall and skinny for his age. His long blonde hair was slicked back and from his icy blue eyes. He lived in a small suburb in Stockholm, Sweden.

Vladimir went downstairs to get some breakfast. He was eating a bowl of cheerios when he heard a knock on the door. Vladimir had to get the door because his parents were away on a business trip (Vladimir never got much more information from them than that).

Vladimir opened the door to greet his new neighbor, a tall yet stocky man with short black hair and a cleanly shaved beard.

"Hey, kid. Are your parent's home?"

"No, they're on a business trip for the week."

"Well my name is Jack and I was wondering if you could help me move some furniture into my house. What's your name?"

"Sure, my name is Vladimir."

Vladimir helped him move couches, tables and chairs into the large old house. He couldn't help but notice a mysterious door in the middle of a hallway with a big old lock on it.

Vladimir always got himself in trouble by being to curious and yet again he had to ask right before he left "What's the door for Jack?"

"That's none of your business." Jack replied in a rude tone.

"Sorry, sir" Vladimir replied.

Vladimir just couldn't get the mysterious door out of his mind. He was looking out the window when Jack left his house, sliding a spare key under his welcome mat.

Without even thinking Vladimir ran to Jack's house. He took the spare key and opened the front door. He jogged down the hallway where it was cold and he could see his breath. He jogged until he reached the mysterious door. He quickly realized that the lock used the same key ass the front door.

With no hesitation, he inserted the key and opened the door. Vladimir gasped trying to catch his breath while chills went up his spine. The room on the other side of the door was filled with pictures of Vladimir from cameras, newspapers and etcetera. There was just about every picture ever taken of Vladimir all over the walls around the square dimly lit room.

Vladimir felt a cold hand come down on his shoulder. He swung his head around to see Jack in the middle of a swing with a golden axe aimed straight at his head. Vladimir quickly ducked, ran out the door and into the hall.

The hall just seemed to keep on going and going but nothing changed. It was like he wasn't even moving; he was running as hard as he possible could. And yet, he stayed in the same place.

Jack just watched Vladimir struggling as he slowly walked up with the heavy axe dragging behind him and a grim look on his face. Vladimir suddenly had an epiphany and realized there was an open window right beside him... He ran and miraculously jumped through it.

Vladimir never looked back, just ran as fast as he could down to the police station. When he got there he explained everything to them.

The police went and checked out the house but they quickly realized there was no one there. There was also no furniture, no nothing in the house. The police did find out that the new neighbors weren't moving in until later that week.

Who attacked Vladimir and why the mystery remains unsolved.

***

### Realm

Justin Li

KABOOM!

Smoke filled the whole room but it quickly dispersed out the new hole the explosion made through the school building.

"Hey what did you do?" the girl yelled while balling her fist.

"What do you mean? You're the one who did it," I screamed back while fanning out the remaining smoke through the broken down wall.

You might be wondering what's going on and who's this girl who caused this explosion? But first I'd like to tell you who I am. My name is Wes and the girl is Jenna and we've been friends ever since elementary school. But since the start of middle school, she's been nothing but cold towards me.

Now we're in high school and we've grown up. My jet-black hair is slightly spiked, not like when I was younger and I was forced into a bowl cut by my grandmother, over my brown eyes.

As for Jenna she was the only one who actually changed. A lot of people think that she is the most beautiful girl in the entire school with her amazing blonde hair and her dazzling blue eyes you can never seem to look away from as if you were in a trance.

That's only 'cause they don't know her as well as I do.

She's the devil, forces me in to doing anything she wants and that explosion was just another one of those things. Jenna asked me to help her with school but the thing that makes everything even better for me is that we go to a school for magicians in training. Some people may think magic doesn't exist, but there are many schools around the world that teaches magic. Only those who have magical talent can see: without it, your eyes can't pass the school's barriers and you can only see the trees around us and an empty lot.

"All right, let's not use that spell. I found this old one behind the book shelf anyways." Jenna brushed at her hair where it stuck up after the explosion as if nothing happened.

"Hey, are you sure we should use that thing? The scroll's got a magic seal on it? Besides you already messed up that last spell." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Shut up that was your fault! And don't worry. You're always a baby about these things. Look, the seal is worn down so I can break it with no problem."

This was the worst thing she could have ever done. As she broke the seal the scroll instantly opened up and the words lit up like stars so bright it I could barely tell what the words said. Somehow Jenna was unaffected. Before she was able to recite the spell, everything went dark and a deep raspy voice spoke.

" _You have unleashed a forbidden spell. You have no authorization and you will be punished!"_

The voice bellowed at us as a dark hand reached out of the scroll. Without thinking I ran up and pushed Jenna out of the way and was grabbed by the hand instead. I was dragged through a dark void. As I swirled around, I eventually lost consciousness.

When I woke up I was in the middle of a dark forest, where the trees were all gray and dead with branches ready to fall with their withered leaves, hanging there, swaying back and forth. I looked around to get a better understanding of where I was.

When I looked up at the sky, it seemed different. This one was red and had an overwhelming feeling to it, as if it was sizing me down. I finally realized I was not in my world anymore. As if on cue, to prove my thought, snickering surrounded me as goblins with green leathery skin and wearing nothing but cloth, walked out of the shadows with clubs at the ready.

"We found Alpha worlder! We found Alpha worlder!" A goblin yipped as he jumped and clapped his hands.

"Hey, hey, we can get out of this place if we eat him, right?" Another goblin spoke up, jumping from one leg to the other just as excited as his friend.

"I heard that too. Plus he smells good. Let's do it!" The biggest goblin charged.

I didn't go to magic school for nothing; I instantly blew him away with my wind magic and sent him flying into four other goblins. They stared at the toppled pile and turned towards me again, this time ready to attack. They all charged me at once, but Jenna didn't get me to help her with magic just to blow me up. I was the top mage in school and I wasn't going to let some small fry goblins kill me.

I erupted fire out of the ground and turned half the goblins into ashes. Taking out the rest was even easier. Earth magic was my specialty, so opening the ground and pulling in the rest wasn't even a challenge.

Now I was the only one left standing, or at least that's what I thought. It seemed like this new world didn't want to leave me bored.

All the noise I'd made attracted something even bigger. A fiery, red-scaled dragon roared in the sky above as it dived down towards me, but this wasn't going to stop me. A little ice magic and I could beat this thing easy. But of course that was only a thought. The void that threw me here must have drained a lot of my magic and now I was just a sitting duck.

When the dragon was only inches from hitting me, a giant spear of ice skewered through the beast, turning him into a giant icicle. I leapt out of the way, dodging the falling dragoncicle that exploded as it hit the ground.

"Don't move!" Shouted a voice from behind. "What's another Alpha worlder doing here?"

I turned around to see a girl with magic ready to kill me. She had gorgeous straight brown hair, stunning green eyes and she also looked to be the same age as me, I was still awed at what just happened and found myself speechless.

"Do you not understand?" She raised her magic. "What are you doing here? This time she sounded even more irritated.

I quickly told her what happened and she seemed to actually listen. Unlike Jenna who would just look the other way and rolled her eyes. But it might have been because she was deciding whether or not to scorch me.

"All right I'll accept your answer," she said, finally dispelling her magic.

"So what did you mean when you said I was an Alpha worlder?" I was relieved to be still alive to ask. "The goblins were saying the same thing."

"An Alpha worlder is someone who comes from the human world. And seeing as you can use magic, it seems the magic you tried to use was a high class forbidden spell. Now you're being punished for trying to use it and that just means we're in the same boat." She must have used a forbidden spell too, though I wasn't sure if she just stumbled onto it like we did or if she was trying to do something. But whatever it was it didn't really matter. Now I was safe.

"Thanks for helping me. I'm Wes." I stretched my hand out.

"Glad to help. My name's Mai." She shook my hand.

After our little intro, we started encountering monsters like crazy.

"Man, why are there so many guys coming out?" I huffed.

"It's 'cause now that we're together our scent is stronger so more monsters are showing up. They seem to be getting stronger too." Mai explained as she took a breather.

"Dang, this is gonna be tou—" Before I could finish, a troll burst through the trees and roared.

"Hah! I finally found you and you're going to be my ticket out!" The troll ripped a tree out of the ground to use as a club. As the troll charged, two more rushed out of the forest, but Mai was already set for a fight and slicked the ground with ice, tripping up the trolls and sent them sliding. I used a tidal wave and smashed the trolls with water. As it hit, Mai assisted perfectly by encasing the trolls now with ice. We were the perfect team.

"Looks like we won." I said with growing confidence.

"Ha, won? You're not even close!" The troll sneered. "You can never leave and even if you kill one of us there are many more behind them! We already have an army coming this way! You can't keep us from your world and eventually it will be-" Before the troll could finish, Mai crushed him.

"C'mon let's keep going." Mai said "I'm not letting any monsters into our world."

We kept running into more and more monsters but we had to keep going. We were losing mana and we couldn't keep up fighting forever.

"We need to rest somewhere, I'm getting too drained." I said.

"There's a little entry way into a cave over there." Mai pointed it out "But the monsters will easily find us if we're not moving."

"Don't worry, I got this one, follow me." I made my way to the cave.

"What are you going to do?" Mai asked.

"We should be fine if I hide our presence." I said.

"But if you do that, you'll have to stay up to maintain it."

"It'll be fine. Just rest and we'll be out of here soon."

"Bu-"

"No buts!" I said pointing my finger at her "One of us needs to be fully rested. If anything goes wrong, it'll be better if you have all your mana. Okay?"

"All right, fine." Mai sighed, finally giving in. As she went to sleep, her head slowly tilted and rested on my shoulder, her beautiful brown hair falling over her delicate face. I couldn't help but smile. Even with everything around us. I still felt happy. But I began to wonder if both of us will get out of here, and if we would get out together.

***

After Mai woke up, we began moving again and not long after we hit a wide open field. Right in the middle was a large magic circle that looked incomplete. Something was strange. It felt like it was pulling me in and I didn't want to ignore it. I moved towards it.

"Let's go."

"Wait. This doesn't look right." Mai tried to argue. When we came closer to the circle, Mai's eyes widened.

"Hey what's up?" I asked seeing that Mai was shaking her head.

"I recognize those patterns. That's the spell I was sent here for. Why is it here?" She looked concerned and shocked. Then a horde of monsters charged out of the surrounding forest.

"So this is the army they were talking about." I said, nerves finally showing up. A large figure walked past the cluster of monsters. He looked like a ghoul or a demon with a dark mist surrounding him and a very large sword to his side.

"I knew this would lure you out. And now that were in this open field there is nowhere for you to try and escape. You both will fall here and we will claim your world!" The demon roared as he raised his arm and the other monster shouted in unison. "I am known as Reaper, and your world will be mine."

"Mai," I said, "listen! If you can complete the circle we can get out of here."

"But there's too many here. We're out gunned and you're already drained on mana. You won't survive!" Mai continued to try and convince me, but I just shook my head.

"This is the only way out." I attempted to sound confident. "I'm not going to be done in that easily." I used summon magic and from the ground rose the monsters we had already killed. But this time, they were on our side, ready to fight. I walked forward and conjured my special weapon; a steel staff charged with lightning.

"All right, I'll buy you some time, just finish the circle." I turned to Reaper who grinned at me smugly "Okay let's go!"

I charged forward, my own monsters doing the same, causing the other side to charge as well. I cracked three goblin's ribs and charged them with chain lightning, hitting several others in the process. Then Reaper plunged forward and slashed at me with his sword, but I deflected the blow and sent a charge of lightning through his blade. The demon roared in anger and the ground shook, his blade now engulfed in fire. He slashed at me and again I blocked, but the fire was so blistering hot I couldn't concentrate my magic through my spear.

I had to jump back. With the distance between us I took the chance to look back at Mai who was still working on the circle. I only need a little more time.

"It is inevitable. You cannot stop fate!" Reaper's voice rose above the sound of the battle. "I still have a few tricks of my own." He and his sword grew in size and the flames of his sword grew even greater I could feel the searing blaze, but I couldn't back down. I charged forward and tripped him up with earth magic and took out his flames with a tidal wave. Before he could get up I put everything I had into my staff and launched it right through his chest. As he hit the ground the opposing monsters began to dissolve and everything was over.

***

I walked over to Mai and the circle.

"I can't believe you actually did it." She seemed completely astonished

"I don't know but now... I'm completely drained... I don't think... I can do anymore" It was hard to catch my breath. " Did you finish the circle?"

"I did, but I'm not sure if this will work. I used this spell to try and travel to a different world. I guess I got what I wished for. I don't even know if we can get back to our world or just sent to a completely different place." She was almost breaking down. "To even be able to use it we need a giant surge of magic."

"Well, it might take a while for me to charge my magic back up but it might be safe now, so we should be able to wait." I was just trying to make her feel better.

"What do you mean? We can't take that risk. It's too dange—" Mai stopped, staring passed me. When I turned around, I saw the Reaper slowly staggering towards us.

"I've still got one last trick and it will wipe out this entire area. I will not be defeated by some kids. I will be the one to destroy you both!" He started to charge towards us. I was already out of mana. But I knew I couldn't let this happen. I lunged at him, but he fazed through me and headed to Mai. He grabbed her by the neck. As she tried to kick free, he turned to me and grinned.

"I will self-destruct and right before you die you will see her die first!" The demon started flashing red and the dark mist around him grew even larger. He was too far, I wouldn't make it in time.

Something inside of me opened up and I felt an overwhelming power of mana. Everything around me froze. I realized I unleashed a monstrous wave of mana and I wasn't going to waste time. I knew time wouldn't be frozen forever I had to save Mai.

I materialized in front of the demon and grabbed Mai right when time resumed and I sent him flying into the magic circle.

"I won't let you take her away from me!" I shouted in the moment.

"No! This wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to win!" The demon screamed. He started to explode. I created a barrier around us as a flare of light appeared, but was instantly drawn back. I dispelled the barrier and walked towards the circle. A ripple appeared in the middle of the circle and I saw an image of Jenna.

"Come on! Why won't this spell work anymore?" Jenna cried out. "Wes, I'm sorry, please come back!"

I was stunned and just stood there in a daze. Time must have been different here for Jenna to still be there. Mai came over and nudged me, but she didn't seem to notice what was happening in the image.

"The circle must have absorbed the explosion's power. Now it's finally time to go home." Mai smiled at me. "Thanks for saving me, Wes." Then the most unexpected thing happened. She kissed me. While I was even more stunned, she took me by the hand and we went through the ripple.

***

I blinked and we were now in my school, in the room where it all started. Jenna looked up and saw me standing there.

"Wes you're back!" She cried as she gave me a hug. "I missed you! Don't leave me again!"

"It's great to see you again, Jenna," I said, finally relieved to be back. That joy went away pretty quickly.

"Who's this?" Mai asked staring in awe at Jenna who hung off me.

"And who's this?" Jenna asked, realizing Mai was there. When she saw her holding my hand, I instantly knew I was in trouble.

It seems I wouldn't be able to get good rest any time soon.

***

### The Power of Two

Katie Davidson

Chapter 1

Kathrynne was sixteen and in grade twelve, only because she was really smart, almost as smart as Sheldon.

"Kathrin Wood?" Mr. Blue (Mr. Henry's usual substitute) said aloud.

"Kathrin Wood?!" Mr. Blue said again.

"Kathrin Wood?!" Mr. Blue's words faded into the background of Kathrynne's thoughts. What if she was a spy? Or detective? or both...

'Maybe that's why I'm a spy/detective, because I'm almost as smart as Sheldon Cooper'. Kathrynne thought.

After school Kathrynne took Mahgaun out for a long walk. Of course Kathrynne was on a diet for bathing suit weather (she finally got her mom convinced to buy her a bikini) but mom always hated diets.

"You're skinny enough!" She would say, while shopping.

"You don't eat enough." She would say while making toast.

"You'll be too skinny for a bikini." Mom said at a store.

But Kathrynne didn't care.

Chapter 2

Saturday.

"Kathrynne, are you still in bed?"

Uggh! One problem, mom always gets up early.

"Mom my hair is still asleep!"

"Well Mahgaun's not, go walk him!"

Oh, no Kathrynne forgot to close her door last night! That means Mahgaun was up all night!

She ran downstairs to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. Oh no!

"Mahgaun come for a walk. Mahgaun?" Kathrynne's voice was still very sleepy. With no answer she tried again "MAHGAUN!!"

'WHAM!!' Oh... that hurt! Mahgaun didn't understand the 'no jumping' rule, especially on people.

"Oh, Mahgaun... that hurt..." Kathrynne's head was pounding, as she looked into his dark sleepily eyes.

"Come on, Mah, let's go for a walk that might wake us up."

After the walk Mahguan and Kathrynne went back to sleep for about an hour or two.

'RING! ... RING!! ... RING!!! ... Rrrriiiinnnngggg!'

Kathrynne answered the phone feeling dizzy.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kat!!"

"Janie? Why you yelling?"

"Long distance!"

"I can hear you fine when you talk, Jane..."

"Oh... listen to this the police call they want you at the church... Julie's there..."

"I'm on my way... bye."

She hung up and ran to the door "Mah let's go! We have work!" Mahgaun came running with her black bag, the one full of her spy/detective gear. She put it on. Then Mah and Kathrynne ran to her pink convertible.

Chapter 3

"Jane?"

"In the basement!"

Kathrynne and Mahguan headed for the basement, where Janie's studio was.

"Hi, Kat! Hi, Mahgaun!"

"Hi, say hi Mah, be nice..."

"Woof, Ruff ruff!"

"Here is your new suit and Mah's..."

"Grrrrr!"

"Mah! Sorry, Janie, he only likes when I call him that, so what's this church thing about?"

"Sorry, Mah...gaun, Well something about Julie. But you better get going...."

"...bye..."

Mahgaun and Kathrynne arrived at the church around 8:30am.

"Kathrynne, over here!" Officer Paulo called.

"What's going on Jeff?"

"Well as you know, Julie is in the church, and some officers think there might be hostages. But we can't get in 'cause the door is locked and the door breaker makes to much noise..."

"Julie? Is this a joke?"

"No! This is not a joke... are you helping or what?"

"Okay, okay, I'm going... come on, Mahgaun."

Kathrynne hooked her black bag to my belt on her new suit. Then she got the climbing set ready, she hooked the harness on her but when she had to put it on Mahgaun, he freaked!

"Come on, Mah, I need your help in there. Come on boy..."

After the commotion with Mahgaun they were finally ready to climb. They climbed to the nearest window, about twenty feet above the ground. When they reached the windowsill Kathrynne hooked the safety clip to it, then hauled Mah in, then herself tumbling after. Kathrynne unlatched the climbing gear and proceeding onward.

"Come, Mahguan, but be careful and quiet." Kathrynne whispered as she and Mahguan walked down the darkened hallway, trying to find the 'hostages' if any.

When they heard voices coming from one of the doors.

'CRASH!'

"What the...?"Kathrynne waited "How odd? The voices don't stop talking unless...."

She ran inside the door (forgetting Mahguan was with her so they awkwardly tripped in)

"I knew it!"

Chapter 4

"Maah, hahahahaha!" Julie laughed "They'll never find me here, they'll never get me now!"

'CRASH!'

Julie jumped at the noise, "Who's there?" She said moving closer to the exit door. "Well if you won't come out, I'll 'go in' and find you!"

Julie grabbed a thick stick and searched the small room. Nothing, not behind the bookcase or in the chest, still nothing.

"Curse it!" Julie mumbled, then looked at the door that led out of the room, "Hmmm," Julie wondered. 'Should I check out there?'

She quickly ran to the door, holding the stick tighter, swinging it like a bat, running faster each time her foot hit the ground, faster, faster, faster!

As she reached the door she could see the doorknob wiggling, 'STOP! STOP! STOP!' She told herself 'STOP! STOP! STOP!' but each time her foot hit the ground her body went faster, faster.

'SMACK!'

The door flew open, Julie could hear a scream only realizing it was her own. 'Stop it!' she thought. 'Stop it!'

"You!" Julie screamed "What are you doing here?"

Chapter 5

"Julie! What are you doing here?" Kathrynne screamed.

"Answer my question!" Julie snapped.

Kathrynne answered her questions before she snuck behind Julie hand cuffing her!

"You can't..." Julie spat out but Kathrynne interrupted her with the old "But I just did." She said each word like it was something delicious in her mouth.

Mahgaun barked in praise.

They took Julie out to the police, where Officer Paulo waited to talk to Julie.

After he talked to Julie, they found out she wasn't an evil mastermind, just a little kid with a big imagination.

To big for a three-year-old girl.

Chapter 6

"Kathrynne Wood?!" Mr. Blue's words cut through Kathrynne's thoughts.

"Kathrynne? K.A.T.H.R.Y.N.N.E? Are you here or not?" He asked again.

"Aaah... um... here?" Kathrynne's voice broke the repeating drone of Mr. Blue's harsh tone.

"Are you all right Kathrynne?" Janie's voice came from behind her.

"Sure... I guess..." Kathrynne was unsure if she was ok... 'could I have fallen asleep or just day dreaming...' she thought. "Just day dreaming I guess."

"Okay, Julie was wondering if you wanted to come over to her house after school... I'll be there too..."

"Sure why not, I'll be there." Kathrynne waved her hand at Julie.

Kathrynne grabbed her books from her locker and with Janie and Julie she headed for class.

After the first two classes Kathrynne was hungry so she headed for the lunchroom where she and her friends had two slices of pizza, cream soda, salad and an apple each.

Kathrynne warmed herself in the sun she could hear people in her dream chanting...

'Yeah! Kathrynne you're the best!'

"Kathrynne?" Angel-Ellen asked.

"Uh huh..."

"Kathrynne?"

"Uh huh..."

"Hello! Kathrynne!"

"What's your prob?"

"My prob? What is... does prob mean?"

"Problem. Duh."

"Fine then, and I don't have a prob... the bell rang!"

Kathrynne rushed(pushing Angel-Ellen out of the way) back to homeroom to get her books, then hurried to class.

Oh, Kathrynne you fool!

***

About the Characters

Kathrynne Wood: Has long blonde hair, blue eyes, red lips, and is very smart and very beautiful. She is also a spy/detective.

Mahgaun: A beautiful longhaired German shepherd, whom helps Kathrynne with her spy/detective work.

Mr. Paulo: The local policeman.

Julie M.: Evil mastermind.

Janie D.: Kathrynne's spy/detective clothes designer.

***

### Tonight is the night

Kattie Cook

"Oh, hi, Ally."

"Hey Austin."

"So, what are you doing today, Ally?"

"I'm not doing anything... so, are you going to the beach party tonight?"

"Oh yeah... Are you going?"

"Umm, no." I shake my head.

"Why not, Ally? You're my girlfriend. You have to come...come on, Ally, please."

"Umm ...you know I would but ... I don't have anything to wear."

"Ally, you have all day to find something to wear. Since you're not doing anything else."

"Umm, yeah. I guess I can do that."

"Good. I'll pick you up later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"K. Love ya, Ally."

"Love you too, Austin."

_I'm so not ready for tonight!_ I say to myself. _Oh whatever. Austin wants me to go, so I'm going and I'm going to have a great time!_

"Hey, Mom. I'm going to a party tonight with Austin!"

"Okay...Where's it at?"

"At the beach."

"Okay have fun," Mom says.

"I will."

I run up to my bedroom. I wonder what I'm going to wear...? I'll find something to wear. Maybe I should text Austin and ask him what he's wearing. Then we can match, everyone will still know we're a couple. Yeah that's what I'm going to do.

"Hey, babe. What are you wearing to the party?" I ask.

"Hi Allygator...Yeah, umm, I'm wearing my light blue t-shirt and my dark blue board shorts, why?"

"Oh, that's prefect."

"Okay, see you soon, Allygator!"

"K, see you soon."

Okay now I have to find my dark blue bathing suit. Yes I founded it! I need something to wear over it. Austin said he's wearing a light blue t-shirt...so I'll wear my light blue summer dress.

By the time I am done getting ready, I look out my bedroom window to see it is sunset. Which means it is time for the party. So I bolt out of my bedroom and down the stairs and out the door, right into Austin's arms.

"Oh my God, you're beautiful!" Austin says.

"Well, thank you, Austin! I love your outfit too."

"Thanks, baby girl. I love you, Allygator."

"I love you too, babe!"

Chapter 2

We get to the party and all of our friends are there. I hop out of Austin's truck. Austin and I hold hands. We are walking down to see our friends, when all off a sudden... Austin grabs me and kisses me!

"OMG, Austin!" My face turns bright pink.

"Ha, yeah. I knew you would do that."

"But why did you?"

"Did you not want me to?"

"I did, but I wanted to know why you did."

"Yeah... because, I love you. That's why."

"Oh, he he... I love you too, Austin!"

***

### LILY

Kayla Dawn Marie MacLeod

Story Note: Hiddies are like guardians. They protect the vampires from zombies.

Chapter 1

On her eighteenth birthday, Lily got up early and went straight to the Principal's office and dropped out of school.

The principal, Deadra, told her that she couldn't stop her, but she should stay in school. Then she asked her why she was leaving. Lily said it was because she was under too much stress.

With that she left and made her way to the gates that led off of school property.

When she got to the gates, she didn't realise Mikayla was there too until she said,

"Where are you going Lily?"

"I'm leaving, okay?"

"I know you probably can't deal with seeing the zombies drag your boyfriend off like that, but there was nothing we could do. You know that."

"I know, but I am going to track them down and kill them, if they changed him to a zombie I'll kill him too!"

"I know, but why can't you wait to graduate? Then you will become my Hiddie and we won't have to worry about zombies our any thing because we can move somewhere they won't find us."

"Well, Mikayla, I will come back as soon as I can to graduate and then I will become your Hiddie. Then we can do what you want. But I HAVE TO DO THIS!"

Chapter 2

Mikayla

I'm Mikayla Laird. Lily is my best friend.

Lily is—or was—going to be my Hiddie after she graduated. It is her last year in school, but I still have two more years.

A couple of weeks ago, her and her boyfriend were walking back to our school from the library near curfew when this huge group of zombies attacked our school and dragged him away. No one would let her go after him.

Now she is going to get herself killed. She can't take on all of those zombies by herself.

Chapter 3

Lily

I have been walking for ever it seems.

Tonight will be my second night and I hope some one will eventually stop and pick me up. If those stupid zombies hadn't attacked us, Carlos and I would be eating supper with Mikayla right now.

That's why I'm going to kill them, every one of them. Unless they kill or change me first. But if they change me, then I can be with Carlos.

Chapter 4

Carlos

When I awake I am lying on a cold floor. My back aches so much. I am starving. While I am trying to figure out where I am, I realise I am surrounded by zombies. I finally clue in. I am now a zombie

Chapter 5

Mikayla

"Hey, Mikayla!" I hear my boyfriend, Peter, call behind me.

"Yeah?" I sigh.

"What's wrong?" Peter asks as comes up and takes my hand.

"Lily."

"What about Lily?" Peter asks with a confused look on his face.

"She left to go find the zombies that took Carlos and killed him, so she can kill them."

"Oh. Well, Deadra wants to talk to you."

Chapter 6

Peter

I'm Peter, I am Mikayla's boyfriend. Lily was a senior until she left this morning. She was training to become a Hiddie, so they let her be my guardian just for practice. Now that she is gone, I guess she isn't anymore.

Chapter 7

Deadra

Hello, I am the principal of the school, Deadra.

Six months ago, Lily was a mischievous student. I would have suspended her in a heartbeat, but now she is one of our best seniors.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Mikayla asks politely as she takes a seat in front of my desk.

"Oh, yes, Mikayla. How are you?"

"Fine, and how are you, Deadra?"

"Good. I was wondering if you knew why Lily resigned from school."

"It was about Carlos being dragged off by zombies. I think. I'm sorry, but I have to go, I am meeting Peter in the cafeteria."

"Okay. It was nice to see you, Mikayla."

"You too. 'Bye."

Chapter 8

Lily

Finally! Some one stops to pick me up. I didn't know walking could be so hard. The roads in Montana are so long.

Once I get in the truck that stopped, I realise, "OH MY GOD! Carlos!"

"Lily! I got away from them as fast as I could. I staked them all. There weren't that many, but I got away as soon as I could."

"You're not a zombie. Why didn't they change you?"

"I don't know. I think I killed them before they could change me."

"We need to get back to the school before they start telling people that you're gone."

Chapter 9

Lily

When we get back to the school, I tell Deadra he picked me up and drove us back. She tells us we are allowed to stay, but we need to be better behaved and act like mature vampires.

Then I run up to Mikayla's room and Carlos goes to his room.

"Mikayla! Wake up, come on. WAKE UP!"

"Lily! I thought you weren't coming back."

"Well, I'm back to stay and so is Carlos, and I am so happy that he is alive!"

"Wait—he's alive?"

"Yep, and so am I. Well, let's go get an early breakfast."

One Month Later
Chapter 10

Lily

"I can't believe I actually graduated and tonight is prom night!"

"How does this dress look Lil?"

"Great. How does mine look?"

"Awesome! Okay let's GO!"

"Kay! Prom is going to be great! And in the next couple of days I will become your Hiddie!"

"I know right? Well, come on. We are wasting time! We have to meet Peter."

"Oh yeah. Let's go."

Chapter 11

Lily

That was the best month of my life! I came back to school, graduated, and they let me bring Mikayla to prom even though she wasn't graduating! Right now my life is great and I hope it stays like this forever.

Until next time!

***

### The Legacy of Loss

Koltan Compton

This is the stupendous, horrific story about a little boy and girl, whose names were Xaiver and May-Belle. They had suffered a tragic loss of all their prized possessions. For Xaiver it was his Encyclopedia of Carpentry. May-Belle, she lost her golden barrette encrusted with diamonds

As for their parents they lost everything.

However it doesn't start there, let's begin two weeks before, in school with Xaiver and May-Belle.

Xaiver, with his ravishing long blond hair with bright red streaks, he was sort-of vigorous but he didn't know how to use his strength to his advantage. He was mainly afraid he would lose his beloved girlfriend and his astounding friends who were with him every step of the way.

He loved math and science, in fact he was in math that day even though he had his head buried in his encyclopedia. This was peculiar, for he usually paid attention in math class. Now wasn't the time to worry about math though. Xaiver and May-Belle had found out that morning there were crazed people that wanted to burn their house down.

May-Belle she of her flowing electric-blue hair, extravagant tan skin, beautiful red tank top with a striking blue cotton half sweat-shirt on over it and blue short-shorts, had implied on one test to distinguish the flame as soon as it would touch the invisible barrier. This test had failed, imploded, and they were sent to the office for playing with fire in school.

"What if we create an invention that distinguishes the flame and absorbs the explosion?" May-Belle asked Xaiver after they escaped the principal's earshot.

"That will take a lot of experimentation," Xaiver said "I'm in."

He wore a wide grin on his face every time he thought of creating such a powerful invention.

As soon as the bell rang, they burst through the doors and sprinted home. They had created the perfect machine to prevent the people from burning their house down, but there was one flaw it had to stay exactly in the middle of the house.

If you thought their parents removed it, you're wrong. Xaiver walked down the stairs reading his encyclopedia and bumped into the little stand they made to protect the FIRE (Fire Incident Re-builder Errhad) and that's when it happened, the people burned the house down.

***

I told you it was a sad story.

Don't say I lied to you.

***

### The Gift

Kyla MacKenzie

Hu Hu (heavy breathing)...

My side is killing me. The ground is mushy and cold. I look around I can't see or hear a thing. The moon is piercing through the trees when I hear the howl of the werewolf! My heart starts to feel like it is going to jump right out of my chest.

When I look up, all I can see is this big red eyed, hairy, drooling monster. As I run this huge wolf comes barreling towards me. It has me now; I have nowhere to go.

I give up. I yell out, I stop and the werewolf pounces like a cat. I start to scream and cry.

All of a sudden the wolf goes flying at a tree and I see this tall human like shape fighting with the werewolf. A few minutes after the shape slashes off the wolf's head with its nails. I am so terrified.

The shape starts walking over to me. I push myself back but I hit a tree. The shape says, "Don't be scared. I will not hurt you."

"Yeah right you won't." I say. The voice of the shape sounds like a man. As he comes closer I can see him better. He has lightning blue eyes and muscled broad shoulders.

He puts his hand out and says, "Don't be scared. Just take my hand."

I put my hand out he helps me up. I am bleeding and my clothes are torn. As he helps me up, he says, "My name is Zan. Sorry if I scared you."

"How did you do that?" I ask him.

He mumbles to himself for a minute and then he says, "I am a vampire."

I step back in fear. He says. "It is okay, I am good. I would never hurt the gift."

"What are you talking about, the gift? What is that?"

"It is you," Zan says.

"I'm not a gift. I'm a loser," I say.

"I must take you to your father now," Zan says.

"What father? I'm adopted. My parents died in a fire," I say.

"No, they didn't. You must come with me now."

"Dude, I think I'm going crazy, this is all a dream and I will wake up NOW!"

"You a wake yet?" Zan asked.

"Ha ha, really funny," I say. "So if this is not a dream then you really are a vampire and I'm the gift, whatever that is?"

"Will let me take you to your father now?" Zan asked.

"Why not." I say. "O.k."

"So get on my back, Jenna," Zan says.

"Why?"

"Vampires can run faster than a speeding bullet."

"Okay."

So I jump on his back and he says, "Hold on tight."

I wrap my arms around him and he smiles back at me, making butterflies in my stomach. He starts to run. It begins just like he is a normal person, but then he runs faster and faster.

All of a sudden we are somewhere else. It is very dark and gloomy. There is a giant castle with a little village around it.

"Would you like to go into the castle right now?" Zan asks.

"Umm, okay," I say. As we walk through the village, all the other vampires are gasping and bowing down." Why are they doing that?" I ask.

"'Cause you are the gift, "Zan says.

We reach the castle door. It is a big wooden door with a goblin's face as the bell. Zan presses on the goblin's face and it makes an eerie, screaming noise. The door starts to open slowly. Behind the door is a very pale looking woman.

"You must be Jenna," the woman says. "You look so much like your father."

"Is she here, Mary?" Zan asks.

"Yes, come on in," Mary says.

We walk into the dark, gloomy castle and as we climb the stairs we enter a dark room with cobwebs on the curtains. There is a big wooden antique desk in the room. There is a man standing behind the desk who turns around to face us.

I think to myself, _Oh my goodness, he does look so much like me._ We both have light blue eyes with shaggy, dirty blond hair. He looks to be about thirty-six years old, but because he was a vampire he is probably 220 years or so.

"Jenna, oh my," says the man behind the desk. "You are more beautiful and amazing than I ever imagined."

"Thank you, sir", I say.

"You are so very welcome," the man says. We stand there in silence for a minute, but then the man known as my father, and I guess the vampire king, says " So, let's get down to business."

I say, "Okay."

"I am guessing this is a little shocking," says my father.

"Not really, because earlier I got chased down by a werewolf," I say.

"Oh I see", he says. "Well I guess I'll get started then. On your eighteenth birthday you will become...the Vampire Princess."

***

### The Crash

Lauren MacConnell

I still remember that night. We were dropping off my older sister at the airport. It was on the way home and I was sitting in the back seat all alone. I sat there watching the rain tapping against the window.

I could hear my mom and dad arguing in the front seat. My mother thought it would be a good idea to stay in a hotel over night, because the weather was getting worse and it was late. It would take us over an hour to get home. Dad said they shouldn't waste their money on something that wasn't necessary. And of course mom listened.

We all sat there in silence.

We came to a red light, and waited there until it was our turn to go. Just as dad put his foot on the gas, another car ran through the red light. Dad tried to swerve off the road, but the car was going to fast.

That was last time I ever talked to either of my parents.

I woke up the next day in the hospital, my leg was bandaged up. I had a few little scratches on my face as well. The nurse told me I had a concussion, and I was going to be out of the hospital later on that day. Everything was still a little blurry. I could only remember before the accident, and seeing the lights just before they hit us. When the doctor came in, he told me my parents were gone.

Then, all I wanted to do was sleep, and to forget everything. I wanted it to all go away. As I slowly closed my eyes, I thought I could hear my mom saying my name.

"Chloe," I jumped, hoping to see my mom standing beside me, telling me it was just a bad dream. But it wasn't my mom; it was my sister, Ali.

I was so happy to see her. Now that she was here, I didn't feel so empty. She held me in her arms, we sat on the bed and we cried. She told me everything was going to be all right. I still couldn't believe it, my parents were gone. No last words, no goodbyes.

There was a knock at the door; it was my nanny and poppy. They said that we would be staying with them. Ali wasn't going back to school for a while, she said she didn't want me to feel alone.

Finally, we were dismissed from the hospital. I was really nervous driving to my grandparent's house, but I guess that was normal.

When we got there, they showed Ali and me to our rooms. I lay in my bed and stared at the ceiling. I could hear footsteps coming towards my room; Ali opened my door and came in. I asked her if she would spend the night in my room, to help me sleep better.

***

### Asterion and Fukayna

Leanna Hambly

"You idiot!" King Minos, a short fat bald man, yelled at his wife, Queen Pasiphae. Queen Pasiphae, a tall, thin woman with fiery red hair, began to sob, tears flowing from her smoky gray eyes. "You were supposed to take the maids and youths to the labyrinth!"

I closed the door, for I did not want to hear anymore. But I could still hear the Queen's sobbing. I turned my back to the metal door and walked towards my chambers.

Daedalus, King Minos' skilled craftsman, hobbled towards me. His back curved slightly, from old age, hair gray and neatly trimmed beard slightly brown at the edges.

"Little owl" he said, referring me to the animal my mother, Athena the goddess of wisdom, had upon her shoulder "Icarus is waiting for you to teach him." I nodded, and smiled at Daedalus.

As I walked into my chambers, I saw Icarus, a tall youth with curly brown hair and bright brown eyes; look up from his writing tablet and smile at me. Icarus was an inventor, like his father, but had a more childish spirit.

"Lady Fukayna, you look lovely today" Icarus handed me a narcissus. I smiled and sat next to him, picking up my scrolls from my table.

We studied until Apollo's chariot was setting on the horizon. Icarus left: Princess Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, came to see me before I went to sleep.

Princess Ariadne was a tall, flat girl with olive skin, ruby red hair tied with light green ribbons, and sky blue eyes. She wore a deep green chiton.

"Fuka, today's suitors were all old, and boring. All I want is a strong, young man." She complained, sitting at the edge of my bed. I dressed into a thin white chiton, and lay in my bed.

"You will find the perfect man for you, Ariadne" I said softly, taking the ribbons out of my hair.

Ariadne looked at me. "Do you not want a husband?"

I laughed. "No man ever attracts me, and if one ever did, he should be above normal." I said, closing my eyes.

***

I woke to the sound of shouts, and the cries of seagulls. I walked onto the balcony to see a familiar ship with black sails at the docks. Seven youths and seven maids walked onto the land of Crete.

Each year, Athens sent seven boys and girls to the island of Crete, but I never learned why. I just knew they lost their lives. Pity tugged at my heart as I watched the children walk through the gates of the palace, lost forever to the sun's rays.

I then walked into the hall, dressed in blood red, to go finally ask Daedalus about the children. When I neared his workshop, I paused at the mural of the White Cretan Bull, a bull given to King Minos by the gods.

I heard rumours that Queen Pasiphae fell in love with the Bull, so she begged Daedalus to help her find a way to spend time with her love.

As I ran my hand along the mural, a found an odd bump along the wall. When I pressed it, I heard clicking. Then the mural moved to reveal a narrow stone stairway.

I stood in a dusty stone hallway. I walked around, exploring but soon found myself at a dead end, lost.

"Hello?" I called. I received no answer. This had to be an abandoned labyrinth. I looked at the stones. They appeared eighteen years old, a year younger than me.

"Who are you?" I heard a deep voice growl. I turned to see a tall man in the shadows. I could see the outline of his body. He had long, muscular legs, big muscular arms, and a hard, flat stomach. But something about his head was not correct.

"Answer me!" The man shouted, stepping out of the shadows. I bit back a scream. He had a bull's head, a white bull's head, with black eyes and curling horns coming from his temples. The monster's eyes rested on my face.

"Hair the color of darkness, eyes the color of the sea, and lips the color of blood." He whispered, walking towards me. I backed up into a wall. "Skin the color of death and lashes so think they tangle..."

This thing was complimenting me.

"Does the pretty face have a name?" the monster asked.

"Fukayna, it is Egyptian for intelligent," I croaked out, shaking in fear.

The monster threw back his head and laughed.

"I am Asterion, it means star, but most people call me the Minotaur" the monster said. "My mother is Pasiphae and my father is The White Bull."

Then it hit me. All the rumours were true.

"Tell me more," I whispered.

Asterion looked me in the eyes, sadness filling them, and said "King Minos ordered for Daedalus to build this labyrinth so the people they send for me to kill may not escape, for they are my prey."

"And am I your prey?" I asked, lifting my chin slightly.

He shook his head. "No, right now, all I want is a friend."

***

I visited Asterion more frequently, and started to teach him math and spelling. Asterion was a quick learner, and was imaginative. Sometimes we would talk about travels we would like to take one day, and the family we wished to have.

I would bring him food and flowers, to add color the cold, gray labyrinth. And I learnt something myself. I was falling in love with him.

We discovered I was pregnant not too long after. The year was almost over and the Fates had decided our happiness would not last.

One morning, the starting of the New Year, I walked into the throne room. I told everyone Zeus had fathered my child, so no suspicions would rise in the palace about Asterion.

I saw the new sacrifices sitting in the center of the throne room. Only one youth, a tall, handsome man with golden hair and blazing green eyes, stood in front of King Minos. He announced himself as Theseus, the son of King Aegeus.

"And why are you here, young prince?" asked king Minos, laughing. Ariadne was looking at Theseus with a dreamy expression.

Theseus grinned and said, "I will kill the Minotaur, and free my people!" King Minos went red, and the whole room went silent.

I threw myself to Daedalus' feet, weeping, and begging for his aid. I had just finished telling him the story of Asterion and me, and about Theseus wanting to kill him.

"I will try to buy you time, but you are sure you love this monster?" Daedalus asked, his eyebrows pulling together.

I nodded and whispered, "He and I are one."

***

I rushed to the labyrinth, hoping I was not too late, but then I saw Ariadne at the top of the staircase, holding a golden thread leading into the labyrinth. "Princess," I cried "W-what are you doing?!"

Ariadne looked at me, and then beamed. "Prince Theseus promised to marry me if I helped him kill the Minotaur."

I cried out and slapped her hard, so hard her head snapped back and she stumbled.

I rushed into the labyrinth and followed the thin trail. Soon enough, I was going to witness the Fates cutting Asterion's life.

I saw Theseus reach up to Asterion's neck, and heard a snap. Just beside the two men, three young women appeared. All of them had long dark hair and pale skin. One spun golden thread on a loom, another held a golden thread straight, and the last the one held a pair of scissors. The woman with the scissors cut the golden thread, and Asterion fell down in a heavy heap.

I cried out and sank to my knees beside him. Theseus cried out in victory and rushed out of the labyrinth, to take the cursed princess with him. The three Fates all looked at me, and then smiled.

"You can get revenge, you can change their fate," they whispered in union.

I shook my head, and held Asterion close.

"You were more of a daughter to me, more than Ariadne." I looked up at Queen Pasiphae, who also cried. We wept together.

"I wish I could just get those two to suffer..." Pasiphae whispered.

I looked at Asterion's body, and something in me snapped. I stood up at walked out of the palace gates.

***

I strode to the shipyard, wearing a black chiton, and blood red himation. On my head rested a gold helmet, my pale face in full view. I carried a gold spear, and a gold shield with a golden face of Medusa on it, and on my shoulder rested a snow-white owl.

I knew I appeared like my mother, Athena. I watched the traitorous couple climb aboard the black sailed ship. They looked out at the ocean, where they would soon be headed for their doom.

"I curse you!" I screeched. The couple jumped and looked at me. The wind began to blow hard, and the dark moon grew slightly brighter. I knew Hecate, the goddess of magic, the dark side of the moon, and blood was helping me. I set my helmet on the sand.

"I curse you, Princess Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, with grief for Theseus will abandon you!" My voice rang strong and echoed slightly.

I turned to Theseus. "And I curse you, Prince Theseus; son of Aegeus, with eternal grief, for everyone you love will die!" Power pumped through my veins. My owl flew towards Theseus and scratched along his arm, then flew back to me.

The wind blew harder, gripping at my clothes like sharp talons, as it pushed the black sailed boat into the open ocean, carrying the pale couple away.

***

I lit Asterion's funeral pyre, and stood next to Pasiphae, watching the body turn to ashes.

"Dear, you must leave, for my husband will soon find out the child is Asterion's" Queen Pasiphae had warned me. I kissed both of her cheeks and walked towards the beach.

The White Bull stood there, waiting for me. His eyes were full of sorrow, but he playfully nudged my round stomach. I giggled and climbed onto his back. He waded into the sea, towards Athens, so I may go into the comfort of my mother, so I may watch Theseus die of grief, and so I may raise my child in my mother's temple, where he will never face the cruel treatment that his father received.

My son, who I would name Lucifer (a Habiru name); destined to grow powerful and legendary.

***

### Attack of the Skeletons

Logan Kennedy

As I stepped into the room, I was greeted with a smell. A smell of death. The room was lined with skeletons wearing leather armor. I thought nothing of them, thinking this was just an old tomb. I was sadly mistaken. As I took a step forward, their cold, lifeless eyes popped open, glaring into my soul. When the skeletons simultaneously lifted their arms, I knew I was in for a fight.

All of the skeletons slowly advanced on me, surrounding me. I had my trusty sword in my hand, ready for battle. I heard shuffling behind me and turned around just in time to see one of the skeletons come at me with an iron mace. I sidestepped, dropping to one knee, in a whirlwind. The attacking skeleton, along with four of his buddies, were sliced clean in half.

This might be easier then I thought.

As I stood up, trying to regain my balance, two more skeletons come towards me. I didn't have enough time to deflect the butt end of one of their swords. It caught me right in the stomach.

The other skeleton grabbed me. I was being beaten to a pulp. The repeated blows to my head and stomach were really taking a toll on me. I crumpled to the ground, unable to fight back. The skeletons let out a mighty roar, hit me one more time for good measure, and retreated into the dungeon behind the room in which I was surely going to die. I remember staring into the dead eyes of a skeleton. Then everything went black.

When I woke up, I didn't want to open my eyes. My head throbbed. My stomach felt like it had imploded in on itself. I never wanted to move again in my life, but I am a warrior. I would not back down from any challenge. I was determined to defeat these skeletons once and for all.

"All right, I may be outnumbered, but I will not go down without a fight!" I stood up with my sword in my hand.

But it wasn't a sword. It was a foam flotation device.

"Uhm, excuse me? Sir?" I heard a voice behind me. I turned and saw a woman, wearing which looked to be a Wal-Mart employee's vest. "Hello, my name is Susan," read the pin over her heart.

"Yes?" I said.

"You have been passed out on the floor for three hours, thrashing about, screaming AHHH SKELETONS! We were not sure if we should call an ambulance or not."

"No, that should be fine. Did I hurt anyone while I was thrashing around?"

"Well, at one point you stood up and started hitting a guy with that foam floaty, other then that, I think you only scarred a couple of children for life."

"Well. I think I'm fine now. Can I go buy a drink or should I just leave?"

"As long as you don't pass out again, you should be okay."

I went up to the cold beverages section, grabbed a drink, went to the counter and purchased it. As I walked back to my car, I saw someone sitting in my passenger seat. I tapped his shoulder when I sat in the driver's seat. His head slowly turned around. It was a skeleton. I only saw an arm lash out at my face before the world went black.

***

### The "It Crowd"

Maria Ferguson

It all started the summer of grade eight. My best friend forever and ever, Emma, got her first boyfriend, Evan. Emma and I were just normal girls, we liked to go shopping, text and gossip about the popular kids all night long. We were just average girls, we weren't geeks that's for sure. We weren't popular though, either. We always had this theory that everyone was jealous of us, that's why we weren't always in the "It Crowd". After all, my mom was a model and Emma's mom was too! We certainly got our looks from our parent, that's for sure. Emma was a beautiful petite brunette with stunning turquoise eyes that pierced right through you. And me, I was tall, skinny and people told me I was a gorgeous girl. My best feature for sure were my luscious goldilocks that the boys drooled over when I walked down the hallway. Now you see why we were never popular. None could compare to how beautiful and how extraordinary our lives were. We were basically drawn to each other at birth, meant to be best friends because we just had such a similar life.

Now I'll get to the point.

My mom, Amy, (she always wanted me to call her Amy, not Mom because she wanted to be more "hip". Yes weird. That's my mom) picked me up in her smokin' red porche, on a Friday afternoon, the start of summer break, and announced that we were going to Fiji for the summer on a trip! That meant, of course, Emma would be coming too, because when our parents went on trips that meant they had to work. Emma and I would always stick together and have fun at the beach getting tans, or checking out what was "in" for their country at the mall. But things felt different this time. My mom actually looked excited not stressed, and she had a little spark in her eye like she was hopeful and trying her best to impress me. It was sort of odd because my mom usually always has a routine when she picks me up after school. This is how it goes.

"Hey Ashleypooh, how was school?"

"Good," I'd answer.

"Great. Well I should head to work soon or I'll be late, I'll drop you off at your Nanny's. (FYI baby sitters. Uggh. I'm thirteen and, yes, I still go to the babysitters. Mom calls her Nanny so I'm not embarrassed.)

She didn't say that this time though.

"Ashleypooh, I've been thinking. I realized I'm not spending enough time with you. I'm always sending you to your nanny and you're probably closer to her, than me. Unfortunately, I'm just realizing this now when you're thirteen. It's been tough for me though ever since your dad left. I had to work so much to pay the bills. Now that I have some extra money in the bank, I took two months off and I thought we could take a trip! Just you and me, mother and daughter. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Umm, sure I guess, but can Emma come too? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Please, Ashley. I really want to spend some quality time just with you. Emma sees you 24/7. I think it would be a good thing to do something without each other for once."

Ashley crosses her arms over her chest and pouts for what seems like five hours long. After a while, her mom not budging at all on her decision, she gives in.

"Fine then, but it better not be like a trip when you're working."

"Trust your mother, Ashleypooh, it'll be fun! Anyway, I got the tickets for tonight, we're leaving for the airport in an hour, I don't want to waste my precious vacation time."

Emma stares at her mom frustrated and bug eyed she can't believe it! It's like her mom changed completely over night!

"But Mom! I need to say goodbye to Emma!"

"But Amy," she corrected sternly. " And I already left a message with Emma's mom. She'll know when she gets home from summer cheerleading tryouts. It's only two months Ashleypooh. It's not like we're going for the whole year! I think you'll survive."

So that's how it happened, I was swooped off to Fiji in the company of Amy for the whole summer. Yay!

I'm being sarcastic, I hope you know.

Part 2

It turns out Fiji was sort of fun. I got to know my mom, oops Amy, a lot better. We were much closer and we made a promise that we'd always do something together for an hour a week once we returned home. I got a better tan too than I'd ever get back in L.A. But our little excursion came to an end. School started the next day and we were arriving home late and getting unpacked, so I guessed I would just see Emma at school the next morning.

"RING, RING, RING" screeched my alarm clock.

"Shoot!" I yelled.

It was the first day of school and I over slept! I only had half an hour to get ready. It was tradition every year on our first day of school for, Emma and I to wear pink and of course look absolutely fabulous. How was I supposed to do that when I had a half an hour and my skin was peeling from my sunburn!

"Amy! Come upstairs, I have a fashion emergency!" I scream at the top of my lungs. There was no answer, so I ran downstairs and into the kitchen. Just my luck there was a note on the fridge from mom explaining that she had to go to work early and she was so sorry she couldn't help me get ready for the first day of school.

Then she told me to walk to school. This could not have happened to me, seriously! On my first day of school, great! I was using sarcasm again just to let you know.

I ran back upstairs as fast as I could. I went to the bathroom and debated whether I should get a shower or not. I ended up getting one but I didn't have time to dry my hair, so I just left it be. I applied lipstick to my lips and put on a pink sundress, pink sandals and my signature Gucci pink and black polka dot purse. Then I looked around for my contacts and just my luck, I was all out. It was either be blind and look stupid or to be ugly and be able to see. I wanted good marks so I threw on my disgusting old-fashioned glasses so I could see the board and also how my best friend looked.

I turn around and look in the mirror!

"Why me?" I screamed.

I started to cry and my mascara started to look droopy.

I took one last look in the mirror and it sank in that I look like a lobster, my eyebrows were starting to form a slight unibrow and I didn't have enough time to get waxed off. My mascara sucked and I had huge purple bags under my eyes from not getting enough sleep. To top it all off, it started to pour outside so my hair would not only look greasy it'd look like a bush too!

When I arrived at school, I looked at my class list. Oh my gosh, my eyes bulged! Emma wasn't in my class this year. I was in 8B and she was in 8E.

Wait, how could that be if we both requested each other to be in the same class? It's always a guarantee we would. The truth sank in. Emma must not have requested me. She requested someone else.

No, that couldn't happen, there must be a screw up!

I sat through all my classes lonely and bored. I barely knew anyone in my class, they're mostly all geeks anyways. Finally the bell rang for lunch. I raced up to the cafeteria. It took me a little while to find Emma. Usually we sat alone, but this time there were a whole bunch of POPULAR people crowding around her. Well I guessed that was where I'll be sitting for lunch. I made my way over.

"Emma! Hey! I missed you. Did you miss me?" I ask her.

"Uh, hi Ashley. You look umm different."

Emma completely ignored my question.

"You're not wearing pink, Emma! That's a tradition! Were not in each other's classes either. They must have made a mistake." I said practically yelling at her.

"Calm your horse! Ya, Ashley it's kind of babyish to do that now, we made that up in grade one. I also noticed that were not in the same class. Oh well! When you were gone I found other friends, better friends. Friends that would actually send me a postcard or a letter if they went away on a trip without me," says Emma glancing over at Evan, "And FYI I requested my boyfriend Evan to be in my class."

All the popular kids snickered, rolled their eyes then turned their backs in the other direction and ignored me like I wasn't even there!

As soon as she said "my boyfriend, Evan," I froze, then my body filled with anger and confusion. We were supposed to hate him. In grade 3 he overheard my mom calling me Ashleypooh and then he started a rumour that I pooh my pants. So now everybody called me Pooh except Emma. At least Emma still calls me by my first name.

Then Evan chipped in "Ya, Pooh you look sort of desperate, you don't look to hot either and I think you forgot to spray yourself with perfume because we smell your pooh," Everyone at the table starts laugh. To top if off Emma said " Pooh, get going. I'm a cheerleader. I can't have my past (cough cough) getting in my way. Don't come over here again."

So then the tears started dripping down my face like a downpour. I turned around and left. I found myself eating lunch in a bathroom stall.

That lunch I made a promise to myself that I'd never be hurt like that again. Emma helped me in a way, as she made me stronger and she also helped me find my true friends Kate, Lily and a lot more too. We aren't popular but we are happy and we always have a lot more fun! I'm glad I found a variety of friends, so I'm not obsessing over one person all the time.

I have friends at school, friends close to my house, friends from my mom's work and friends from art and sports. I think technically I'm more popular than Emma because I have more friends than her. The "It Crowd" is so narrow minded about who they can be friends with they'll never make any new ones. So someday if they get in a fight just like Emma and I, someone will end up with no friends.

It's stupid and I learned that the hard way!

Sometimes I catch Emma sneaking longing peeks at us. She always looks bored with the "It Crowd". I think secretly she wants to be with us. I know someday when she gets older and gains enough confidence to go against the "It Crowd" we'll find our way back into each others lives once again. We'll be able to make new memories along with the old.

***

### Remember When

Michaela MacSwain

This night was like no other. This night I will always recall as my most amazing memory.

His name is Nate and, he is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I've known him most of my life, but I've been in love with him for over two years and we've been dating for six months. I never regret all the effort it took to get him, because when I got him the wait, work and, pain was worth it. He is the most perfect person you could ever imagine times a thousand, romantic, funny, crazy, and again, perfect. His eyes are like no other, deep brown and strong and the way he looks at me, I could watch him for a lifetime. He smells of the most addictive cologne. When I smell it, I crave to be close beside him tucked into his safe arms forever.

The night started like a normal mid-summer night, rain pounding down on Casey's house. Casey Sara and I all huddled up talking and laughing, and of course, gossiping. Sara was in the middle of explaining how some girl in our school was moving, I didn't really care so I wasn't listening very attentively. That's when I got the text. My mouth widened in happiness and excitement, apparently too wide because they noticed.

"What is it?" They both questioned in sync.

"Nate just texted me," I blushed, the corners of my mouth curled up again I couldn't control it anymore.

"Annnnd?" Casey said.

"Read it!" Sara leaned in attentively.

"Um well" I started. "Hey, babygirl, I miss you. It's been such a long stressful day, I don't care how late it is I just want to see your precious face, and embrace your soft body. Do you think we could meet or something? I'm begging. It hurts being away from you for so long."

"Awwww!" The girls sighed together.

"Would you mind if I left Casey? I know it's three in the morning, but look at that. I have to." I paused. Seeing the look of doubt on Casey's face I added, "I won't wake your parents, they could sleep though anything, we all know that!"

Casey let out a large breath of air. "Oh I guess so," then let out a tsk tsk and said jokingly, "You young kids and your love."

I was overwhelmed, I hugged Casey almost knocking her over in excitement. Nate would be here in around ten minutes since he had to walk across town to reach me.

I went upstairs and threw on a blue tank top over my black and white bathing suite, and put my hair up. It was only Nate, I really didn't have to try hard for him to love what I looked like. I was never insecure around him, a very rare thing for me around guys. I peeked out Casey's bedroom window to see Nate walking slowly walking up the driveway, hands in his pockets.

I ran down the stairs faster than I ever had before, surprised I managed not to fall on the way. I said bye to Casey and Sara and I was out. The muggy air rested on my skin and the warm rain dripped down on me. It took me a minute to take him all in, his school soccer jacket and khaki shorts, my favourite. Slinging around his tanned neck was a dog tag necklace. His buzz cut hair was dripping wet, and when he held his arms out for a hug, I found out the rest of his body was soaking too.

"You're lucky I love you girl," Nate said.

"Luckiest girl out there" I replied, watching Nate smile as the words came out.

He kissed the top of my head gently, when he pulled away he brushed the strayed hair off my face, and stared into my eyes.

"So where are we going?" Nate asked.

It took me a while to realize he had spoke because I was so engulfed in his beautiful eyes. "F-follow me" I stuttered.

I slid my fingers down his arm and placed my fingers though his, where they fit perfectly. Almost like our hands were meant to be intertwined. I looked up at him then pulled him out onto the middle of the road in the pouring rain.

"Where are we going?" Nate asked me again.

"It's a surprise," I answered.

"Oh you're no fun, can I have a hint?" He tried to persuade me.

"Nope, still a secret" I said.

We walked in the middle of the road for a couple minutes hand-in-hand enjoying just being in each other's company until we reached where I had been wanting to take him. I held him and started skipping and dancing around a little, excited. We walked along a path that became narrower and narrower until it stopped. The path ended by a pond a little off the main road. We just stood on the grass in each other's arms, where I could stay forever. He tucked his head into my neck, his breath sending cool shivers down my spine and out my feet.

"You know what?" He asked. "You are honestly the best thing for me. There is no one who could possibly make me feel like you do and your beauty just blows my mind." He stopped for a second and kissed my cheek, then tucked into my neck once again and continued. "If I had a choice I would stay here, with you forever. I'd never ever get sick of you." He took another pause and lightly whispered in my ear "I love you," sending chills through my whole body.

Nate could put together words so perfectly. He could turn an insult into a compliment easily. I could never put them together like he could. I always tried but I couldn't compare to the way he made the words sound like poetry.

"I love you too" I managed to push out, still speechless from the chills I just received from his breath tickling down my neck, and his passionate words flowing though my brain.

He ran his fingers though my damp hair, untangling all the imperfections. His soft hands slowly moved to my face and, he leaned in, carefully touched his lips to mine. When his lips left from mine I couldn't stand it, so I quickly moved in and stole one more kiss. I wrapped my arms around his hips, and we stood forehead to forehead looking madly in love into each other's eyes. Even though we weren't talking we could both tell exactly what we were thinking.

He took his jacket off and laid it out on the ground for me, I sat down and he lowered himself beside me. He put his arm around my waist pulling me closer, I lean into him resting my head on his shoulder. He kissed my cheek and started to talk.

"Do you remember when we were little? And you used to stay at my house while your parents were away. I liked you then, a lot. I crawled up next to you one night, and started playing with your hair, I was just so mesmerized by you. I still am too." He continued "Well I remember you got up and went and slept away from me. That really hurt you know?" Nate winked.

"I remember that too! And I remember how awkward it was the next day because I thought I was a dream, I always thought it was a dream until just now!" I throw my head and laugh. "But don't worry, I wouldn't move away if you did it now."

"Yeah, that's because I'm not fat and ugly like I used to be!"

"So true" I said with a wink.

I check my phone and realize it was five, the time flew by so fast. I never wanted this to end, it was perfect, kissing in the rain, just us being together and, being ourselves. There was no where I'd rather be than tightly wrapped in his toned arms, feeling his body heat radiate off mine and smelling his sweet, sweet cologne. Those are the moments I'll never forget, the moments that will make me look back and smile insanely.

"We should head back, it's already five" I said.

"Do we have to, I don't ever want this night to end." He was so cute when he pouted.

"Probably should, I don't want Casey to be mad!" I said.

"Fine, I expect a goodnight kiss when we get back though"

"I guess I'll think about it" I winked at him.

As we were walking he slid his hand slowly into mine this time, squeezing just a little and smirking at me. It was still raining but I didn't mind, as long as I was still with Nate nothing else in the world mattered. He was all I cared about, and all I wanted. I felt the need to be closer to him for the time we had left walking back to the house.

"Oh Nateee," I whined.

"Yes, Michelle?"

"Can I have a piggy back?" I sounded like a little kid.

"Jump on!" he stopped and getting ready for me to leap.

I thought it was a good strategy to get close, and it defiantly worked. We walked with my arms wrapped around his neck, and his arms holding my legs, keeping me on his back with his strong frame. As I start to see the house I felt my stomach drop, I couldn't believe this was almost over.

But then I thought there will be lots more memories like this one we could make, considering we were inseparable. When we reached the drive way I slowly hopped off of Nate, not wanting to let go. He turned to face me, and kissed me again, this time more desperate, like he was telling me he'd miss me. He pulled away and I wrapped myself around him, he squeezed me tight. I laid my head on his chest listening to his calming heartbeat. After another five minutes of us just being close we stepped away a little more from each other, still holding hands.

"Thank you for the best night of my life, Michelle" Nate rested his eyes on mine, giving me a thoughtful look.

"No thank you. I'll never forget this for as long as I live," I confess.

We embrace one more time, and then we back away. I kept looking back and so did he. By the time I reached the door, he was already at the end of the driveway.

"Nate!" I yelled.

He turned towards me, even as I was already running full speed at him. I ran into his arms one last time, almost tackling him, and gave him another kiss, just one more. He held my hand and I slowly start to walk away. When we were not in arms reach anymore our hands drop back to our sides. When I made it to the door again, he was waiting for me to go in. I blew him a kiss, and disappeared into Casey's house.

The living room and kitchen were all empty, so I headed up to Casey's room. I found Sara and Casey just sitting on her bed, obviously waiting for me to get back.

"Details, details, details!" The girls questioned me intensely.

I spilled everything, from the kissing in the rain to the piggyback on the way home. They "ooooh'd" and "awwww'd" through the whole thing. When we finally get into bed I texted Nate one last time, even though was probably had already fallen asleep. As the girls fell asleep, I could hear them snoring.

One tear of joy, followed by another streamed down my face as I recalled the night. The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was that I would always love that boy no matter what happened between us. He was always going to be the one who made that one night so special.

And even now, months and months later I still remember everything, and I'm still in love.

***

### The Girl At The End Of The Hall

Nicole Mills

It was just an average day in the town we all grew up in. No one too loud or out of place. It was a simple, small place where honeymoon couples would come to relax, or elders would come to have a get away from teens around the block.

It was early fall, the trees changing to beautiful colours as they decorated the ground, the sounds of the crisp leaves crunching under scuffed up shoes echoed around the dimming area, light vanishing from the cloudy skies, night creeping amongst the tall tress that foreshadowed a rather large place.

This was not just any ordinary place though.

This was home for children who didn't have homes, a place no one truly knew existed. Normal people would just glance and drive off, dismissing it as some building that hadn't had life in it for years.

Oh, they were wrong.

Inside were small children, older children and everything in between. Ages varied around nine to sixteen. Only the best of children were allowed to be in such a place. Mystical children, children that don't deserve to be called children from the public eyes point of view. It was almost impossible to even comprehend such a thought.

Werewolves, vampires, fairies, witches, all lit up the scene, every-where you looked. It would be rare for a creature that took shape of something more than a human appearance.

However, there was this one girl, who recently showed up. She wasn't your average everyday person you see on the streets, she was where she belonged now. Instead of embracing her power like everyone else, she considered it something trivial and bothersome, dismissing even the thought of being something so... special.

The girl at the end of the hall was certainly interesting.

She had long auburn hair that curled at the very tips, and icy blue eyes, bright and shining. And they weren't some shadowed or pale colour of blue. Her eyes matched the very colour of the sky on a gorgeous day. She was fair sized and thin, her ivory skin shining and twinkling against anything luminescent that dared to illuminate her.

She reminded the other kids of a sort of pixie. However, she reminded herself of a monster that lurked in the depths of sewers and brought shame upon the very existence she bared.

Her name was unknown to everyone whom dared to learn more of her, kept blank and sacred. As if discovering it would reveal a deeper. Darker secret that lurked within.

The children just called her number Nine, for she was the ninth in place to go to the orphanage, and even with her cold, diminishing behavior the children loved her, all except one young man.

She was not like them, she was a rare case, a human who dared to have mystical features, telepathic powers could almost be the term to describe her abilities. She was able to stop time by simple touches, to wilt forbidden beautiful flowers with such a thought, it would turn them into a dying black mess that sent them to the land of the abyss.

Nine often locked herself into her room, hardly coming out until she was positive no one was around. She kept to herself and, when someone was around, would run back into her solitude where she felt safe, untouchable. Alone. Animals often took a liking to this girl, ravens would fallow her, vicious animals would almost act as if they bowed down to her, their queen in a glass palace.

But even glass can be destroyed. So fragile, so weak, Even with the strongest army defending the queen's land, one wrong move and it can shatter, the game lost and all the pawns sacrificed left without justice.

The girl at the end of the hall was guarded. The most treasured piece of the game. If she fell everyone else would crumble.

I despised the thought of everyone fallowing her when not even she could understand the power she held. She wouldn't act, she wouldn't train herself. She wouldn't do anything but sit and hate herself! We didn't need that garbage around here, We didn't need anyone so weak. And that was exactly what she was, weak... depending on her silly pawns, the fools who acted as if they could protect her.

Someone needed to take a stand about this. Who cared if she was adored or loved? Someone needed to win this game she played.

The question was, was she even aware of the rules? The lives she staked for being so vacant? Someone needed to show her who exactly she played against, to teach her a lesson.

It was I who would just have to put her, the beloved queen, in checkmate.

***

Take the Stage

Sarah Davidson

Chapter 1

"I, Judge Melanie Mcphee, here by state the punishment of seventeen year old Scott Connors. He will volunteer his time this summer at Spotlight Summer School for Teens that excel in music, as a..."

"Blah, blah, blah." The sound of Judge Mcphee's voice is drowned out by the pounding drums in my head.

This is just great. I get to spend my summer as a janitor at some stupid school for rich kids who think they are musically talented. All because I smashed a window out of an abandoned building. I mean come on, no one uses it anymore. Hence the word 'abandoned'.

Oh yeah, this is the best part, they describe me as a troubled teen. If I'm a troubled teen, how is spending my summer cleaning some school suppose to help?

"Come on, Scott, hurry up and go get packed. I'll drive you up there tonight." I stand up and look at Jeff my social worker.

"That won't take long. I live in a foster home, remember? Not a lot of things to take."

"Come on, man, don't get smart with me. You got yourself into this mess so just go get your things."

I'm standing in the old farm- house's driveway when Jeff pulls up, in his rusted green pick-up. Making more noise then a herd of elephants. As I open the passenger door it makes an unbearable squeaky ruckus. My knees tremble and I jump in, taking my one small bag with me. Jeff drives down the driveway and turns right, heading out of town.

"At least this beats working on the farm all summer and cleaning up after animals."

I ignore him and put in my headphones. I blare the music and put my seat back so no one sees me in this heap of junk.

When I wake up and look out the window we are pulling into the parking lot of a huge building.

"This it?"

"Yep, sure is!"

Jeff sounds like he just won the lottery. I look the building up and down.

"I'm supposed to clean this thing everyday? It's gigantic."

"I'm sure you'll get along just fine. Now come on, let's go tell them you're here."

I take one more look at the school then follow Jeff inside.

"This is going to be one long summer."

Chapter 2

After Jeff left last night, I unpacked my bag into the dresser in my room. That is really the only thing in there. The room is beside the janitor's closet so there is always the smell of bleach floating in, my bed is a cot by the window and the dresser is on the other side of the room. The bathrooms are at the end of the hall I have to share one with two other people. The upside about this is that the janitors get our own floor so none of the students will ever get in my way.

They put me to work right away as soon as the students went to their classes. I have to sweep every hallway in this building before they get out for lunch. There is barely a speck of dirt on the ground, but I do it anyway because its better then being sent back to the courtroom for not completing the given probation. Judge Mcphee would love that she could send me away to some disciplinary camp and never have to hear of me again like she wanted to in the first place. It was the jury that sent me here to New York. They thought it would help me strive towards good citizenship. Yeah right!

I hide out in my room at lunch so I don't have to talk to anyone, especially the students flooding the halls.

After lunch I go around the school and empty all the garbage cans. I have to do this twice a day; after lunch and at the end of the day. The other janitors say it is worst after lunch because the bags are bursting with garbage.

I grab the garbage trolley and get started. The last room I walk into has music playing. A girl starts singing. The beginning verses of 'Man in the Mirror' by Micheal Jackson.

I look up at her and we lock eyes for a second, but it feels like forever. Her voice is so.... I turn my head and walk out the door.

Chapter 3

Everyone's gone off to their rooms early. From the sounds of it every single student here is practicing right now.

I take the broom down to the cafeteria lay it against the wall and start folding the tables and pushing them to the end of the room. I take out my I-pod and unplug the earphones so the music fills the whole room. Then I pick up the broom and start sweeping. The music starts off slowly and I sing along with Troy from 'High School Musical'.

I start using the broom as a mike.

The electric guitars come in and the music gets faster. I drop the broom and slide across the floors on my knees. I pound my fists on the floor and jump on to my feet. "Voices in my head tell me they know best." I think about all the teachers and principals that bossed me around even the judge. They thought they knew everything about me. But they didn't.

I run along the top of the tray counter and flip off the end, slap my hands on the wall and shout out the words.

I pick up the broom again and sweep the rest of the dirt up, my every move belonging to the words being sung. I spin in circles and lean against the wall, press my cheek against it, then jump back and sing. " Can't choose so confused what's it all mean"

I finish the song with a big scream.

"Aaughhhhhh!"

I'm out of breath and trying to suck all of the air back into my lungs. I hear a thunderous sound of clapping and cheering. I turn around and stumble backwards at what I see. The whole cafeteria entrance is full of students and teachers. I wipe my face, noticing for that the first time that my eyes are watering.

The girl I heard singing earlier comes up to me.

"That was amazing."

Her big round eyes sparkled, the colour of the sea.

Well so much for staying invisible this summer.

"Uhhh, thanks. You were really good too, I mean, umm, when I heard you earlier while I was, uhhh, emptying the, umm..."

She looks like she's about to burst with laughter.

"I know what you mean, and thanks."

"Dude, what was that? Those moves were killer, man!"

A dark guy bigger than me comes over and slaps me on the back, pushing me forward a little.

"Uhhh, thanks. I guess."

A teacher comes up to me. At least I am assuming he's a teacher, although he doesn't really look like one with his shoulder length brown hair that looks like it hasn't seen a brush in a month and light washed ripped jeans and a plaid button down top.

"Hey I'm Mr. Smith. Are you a student here?"

"Umm, no I'm Scott Connors sir, I'm here for probation."

"Right. Who's your social worker?"

"Jeff Gray"

"Ok what do you say we give him a call? Because from here on out you are Spotlights newest student."

Great.

Chapter 4

"No way, I'm not doing it."

"Come on, Scott. Judge Mcphee thinks it will help you with becoming a good citizen. Besides everyone here saw you perform yesterday and said you were amazing, even the teachers."

"First of all, I don't care what the judge thinks, I'm not doing it. Second, I was not performing I was working. They shouldn't have made a big fuss over it. And third, the teachers are not going to turn me into a circus freak like everybody else here."

"They don't want to turn you into a circus freak, they want to help you get better."

I jump out of my chair at the sound of her voice and turn around, the girl from yesterday is standing in the doorway.

"Beth Hanley, sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself last night."

My face is on fire and my hands are getting sweaty. I wipe them on my shorts and hold one out.

"Umm, Scott Connors nice to meet you again."

I offer her my chair, but she shakes her head. I wipe my hands on my shorts again.

"You should give the singing a chance, maybe even acting. You've got the voice and a lot of the moves. The teachers really aren't that bad and you will probably be with Mr. Smith most of the time. He's the best."

"Mr. Smith does seem pretty cool. I don't know though I have a lot of work to do."

Jeff laughs, but pretends it's a cough and takes a drink of water.

"Oh come on, if you start coming to classes and maybe be in the concert at the end of the summer. I will help you with your work."

I look over at Jeff. Could I really split my work? Jeff must have understood why I looked over at him and nodded. I turn back to Beth.

"Well umm, I guess maybe that would be all right."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah, I guess I will."

"Really, thank you, thank you. You won't regret this, Scott. You will be glad you gave it a shot."

She jumps up and down and gives me a quick hug then runs out the door. I turn and look at Jeff. He's grinning from ear to ear then winks at me.

"Shut up."

This just makes it worse. He grabs his stomach and starts laughing almost falling over. I shake my head and walk out of the room.

Chapter 5

"Okay, everyone take a seat. This is Scott Connors. He will be joining us for the rest of the summer."

I lift my hand in kind of a half wave. It seems like everyone's eyes are glued to my head.

"You can take a seat over there by Jake."

The guy that slapped me on the in the cafeteria lifts his hand up and smiles at me. I walk over and sit next to him.

"Great now let's get started. Scott, you came just in time to get ready for the end of school show."

I look around the room. Everyone seems to be falling out of their chairs with excitement. After everyone quiets down, Mr. Smith tells us to line up at the front of the classroom. This class is going to be the opening for the show. We are going to be singing 'Man in the Mirror'.

Beth starts off singing with her beautiful voice hitting all the right notes. I close my eyes and it takes everything I have not to start singing with her. When we get to the chorus I let my voice soar out into the room giving every word my all. We were only practicing, but I sing as if I am performing.

I don't know where I got my voice or my love for music. My whole life I kept it to myself just singing along with my iPod or the radio, but it feels nice to show everybody a different side of me, rather than the foster child who is always getting in trouble.

When I return from my own mind I realize it is only me and Beth singing. Her with a beautiful sounding melody and me giving it a soft harmony. When the last note on the piano sounds everyone turns to me. Great now I've done, I got myself kick out of class the first day.

"Scott, you are going to be closing the show singing a duet with Beth."

Whoa, what. Okay I did not see that coming.

Beth looks back at me and smiles her eyes sparkling. I smile back at her and nod yes to Mr. Smith.

When class is over, I meet Beth in the janitor's closet and we get buckets, soap and sponges. I tell her I don't mind doing it by myself if she has something else to do (but really I'm hoping she will stay).

"No, I don't mind. That was our deal you come to class and sing in the concert and I help you with your work."

I smile at her and we take our buckets and fill them up with soap and water.

"What are we doing with this anyways?"

"We have to wash the off the outside windows. I think we only have to do the first floor though. The janitors that have been here longer do the top floors."

"Okay."

She pulls her hair up and takes her bucket outside. We go around back and start washing the windows. It's quiet at first, neither of us talks. Then the question comes, it always does.

"Why are you here, Scott?"

"Umm, I got into trouble back home and they sent me here to work on being a good citizen."

She doesn't question me on what I did and I am thankful for that, just where I am from.

"Maine. I lived in a foster home my whole life because I have no clue who my parents are."

"Oh. I'm really sorry, Scott, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's ok. I am actually lucky I didn't have to keep switching foster homes like most kids do, and Jeff is a pretty nice social worker."

We go around to the front of the building and finish up. Beth doesn't ask me any more questions, we just talk about the concert and what we are going to sing. Every so often our hands brush against each other as we get our sponges wet again.

After we are done we go inside and grab a snack. Beth says she has to go practice so she gives me a hug and says she will see me later.

Chapter 6

The summer has gone by in a blur. I've been practicing with Beth while we have been cleaning and Mr. Smith takes us to the auditorium to practice on stage. When Beth joins in with me after I sing the first verse I get the shivers. Her voice is so pure, it captures me every time. She isn't like any other girl I've seen or known. She's very kind and understanding, but likes to take control, while all the other girls are gossiping and giggling over something the guys say. She is studying her music and running the parts she finds difficult. I hope this summer isn't the last time I see her.

The night before the concert Beth, Jake and I go to Dairy Queen and get a pre-show treat. I can barely eat my chocolate sundae because my stomach is about to over flow with butterflies. I rerun the lyrics in my head so much that I zone out of the conversation, thinking of all the ways I could mess. Jake waves his hand in front of my face and I look up at him.

"Did you hear what I said, Scott? There is going to be Julliard scouts at the show tomorrow."

"Who are they?"

Both Beth's and Jake's mouths drop open.

"Are you kidding me? Scott! Julliard is the best performing arts University in the world. Scouts are the people who come and check out how good someone actually is, if they have heard good things about them."

"Well I have nothing to worry about then. They definitely won't be looking for me. I didn't even start taking classes till half way through the summer."

"What? Oh man, Scott, have you got it wrong. Do you even know what you do to the people watching when you sing?" Jake says finishing his ice cream and pointing towards mine.

"Yeah. Sure you can have it. I'm not that hungry."

"Yeah Scott I think I even saw Mr. Smith's eyes watering the other day while we were practicing." Beth gets up and throws out her garbage.

Well then. No pressure.

When we get back to school, Jake says he has to go talk to one of his teachers and leaves Beth and me in the cafeteria.

"I think I am going to go take a shower and go to bed so I can have a good sleep."

I nod and brush my hand through my hair.

"Yeah, I think I will too."

"Scott? Are you all right?"

"Yep, just really nervous. Aren't you?"

"A little. But I have done this loads of times."

I rub my face with my hands. Then Beth takes them in hers.

"Look at me, Scott. There is nothing to be afraid of I am going to be right up there singing with you."

"Nothing to be afraid of?"

"Nothing."

"Promise?"

"I promise you, Scott, there is nothing to be afraid of."

She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and then leaves to get ready for bed. I put my hands in my pockets and watch her go.

Chapter 7

After we warm up, I go to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face and look in the mirror. I give myself a little pep talk consisting of 'don't mess up, don't mess up, don't mess up...'

I get through the first act just fine, but mostly because I am in the back row. I close my eyes when Beth sings and listen to every word, smiling when she hits every note beautifully.

When we return backstage I give her a big hug and tell her she did brilliant.

"Thank you. Now see? There is nothing to be afraid of."

I just smile and nod, going over my pep talk again in my head. We go sit with the people waiting to go on. I lay my back against the wall and close my eyes going over the words in my head. I must have lost track of time because before I know it Beth is pulling me onto my feet.

We get into the wing and wait for the curtains to open. Beth looks up at me.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be I guess."

"You'll do great, I know it."

The curtains open up and the music starts slowly. Beth kisses me and gives me a little push onto the stage. I lift the mike to my mouth and look out at the audience I start singing the first verse of 'Start of Something New'.

Beth walks on and winks at me then looks at the audience and starts singing.

Then we both sing together and let our voices ignite the room.

During the next verse I walk around Beth and spin her into my arms then back out we use the complete stage and sing feeling every word within our souls. Then we walk back to the center of the stage and look out at the audience for the bridge. The music slowing down.

The back stage curtains open up behind us and everyone steps out and sings the chorus with us.

Everyone drops out so it is just me and Beth. And we sing back and forth.

"The start of something new"

"The start of something new"

Then we finish off together.

"Start of something new."

Our voices blend together on the last note and I take Beth's hands. When the music stops everyone in the audience is on their feet. Even the scouts in the front row are giving a standing ovation. Looking out at the audience with Beth at my side, know this is the start of something new.

***

### The Last Witch

Sierra MacDonald

My bare feet were cold against the wet moss as I walked through the graveyard. It was dark, but the moon was bright enough to see the shadows of the trees on the ground. My only thought was that I had to get to the church before it was too late, or else my chances of surviving would be limited. I knew somebody followed me and I had an urge to run, but I knew that I couldn't. I had to wait for the right moment.

I finally reached the church. As I opened the double doors, I had a chance to glance behind me quickly, but I saw nothing. The doors slammed shut loudly so if anyone were to come in, I was sure to hear them and would have the chance to get out of there. I shut the doors behind me and began searching for a light.

There were no light switches, but I found an oil lantern and a lighter sitting on a table at the back of the room. I lit it and moved it to the center of the room, setting it on a table so I could see the whole area. I walked up the aisle, passing all of the bare seats once filled with religious families celebrating god; that's when I heard a crashing sound and everything went dark.

I prayed the lamp had just fallen off the table, but I knew the odds were slim. Somebody purposely knocked the lamp over and I knew because I heard light footsteps approaching me fast. I sprinted up to the altar, tripping on the stairs on my way, bumping into various objects including a huge pack of candles, which I hoped that the person would trip on.

When I reached the top, the moonlight shone through the window and I could see the figure of a tall broad man, but it was strange because although I couldn't see much of him he looked oddly familiar.

I glanced around the room for something, anything I could use as a weapon. I looked up to find him standing directly in front of me, holding a gun to my head.

I heard a loud gunshot and thought it was all over. But to my surprise my eyes opened to the man lying on the floor, dead. I saw the shadow of a second man standing in the entryway of the door, holding his own gun pointing directly at the man on the floor. He was as tall as the first, though seemed close to my age. There was just enough moonlight I could see his black hair and glowing blue eyes.

I had no time to think. I wasn't sure if the man was helping me or not, so the only thing I could think to do was run. I made my way to the emergency exit and half way back down the graveyard when I realized the second man was not following me at all. And while I know it sounds stupid, I had to go back. He didn't chase me, so I figured the man had no intension on harming me and I still needed to retrieve the key located somewhere in the church. The key unlocked an ancient chest, a chest that got me into this whole situation.

You see I'm a descendent of some sort of witch. My kind were always supposed to wear a certain necklace to protect us from danger when we turned sixteen. It was circular with a picture of a sun and a moon together; they call it the necklace of majestical power. My necklace was locked in that chest and since my mother and father died when I was only a young age, I had no way of knowing I was a witch; until I started to have those visions...

I snapped back into focus when I reached the church, looking everywhere I could think of. I finally found the key in the most cliché place-underneath the floorboards. I snatched it and took off as fast as I could.

I didn't even know I could run that fast.

When I reached where I had left my car it wasn't there. Great. Without even thinking I took off up the hill, my bare feet slamming against the pavement. I just got to my aunts wedding when I started to feel woozy so I went to the bathroom and blacked out in a stall and awoke in a vision.

That was the vision that explained how I needed that necklace before I turned 16 and I figured that since my birthday was the next day that I should probably find that necklace. I unlatched my high heel shoes and started running toward the church. Those visions that I'd been having were getting more confusing, though, when I had my first one it was clear as day.

I was lying in a field of grass in a meadow somewhere and I heard voices. I looked up and saw my parents. They obviously couldn't see me, because they didn't even acknowledge me. My mother held a book with the title "Witch Craft and Wizardry" and was wearing the necklace of majestical power and a long robe. My dad looked completely normal, like he had nothing to do with magic. I tried to listen to their conversation, but all I got out of it was that there was going to be this big rivalry among the villagers and the magic folk.

As the visions came more frequently, I figured out what they meant by all this. The day my parents died there was a big war between the villagers and magic folk because the people thought it wasn't fair that only some have powers and others don't. My parents were killed by the leader Zavion. I saw the whole thing and went through the pain of watching Zavion kill my parents.

It felt like I was actually there. The worst part was there was nothing I could do to help. In the background all the little houses of straw were all set on fire and everyone was attacking each other with pitchforks and knives. The feud between them had been going on for many centuries and they figured the best way to end it was by war. But as time went on my visions grew more blurry and it was hard to figure them out, until I rarely had them anymore.

I was still running along when I came to another graveyard, but not just any graveyard; the one where my parents were buried. I knew my time was short, but I had to visit them. There they were, right in front, buried beside one another connected by one headstone. I started to get all teary eyed and wished I brought flowers or something.

At that exact moment I was sucked into another vision. There I was standing in a long hallway, with pictures covering every inch of every wall. I looked at this one particular painting calling out to me, but when I looked closer I realized it was a family tree. Then I moved even closer and saw Zavion was at the very top of the family tree. I began scanning the following faces until I got to the bottom until I reached the bottom. I was shocked to see the dark man who held a gun to my head before getting shot himself. Then I stopped when two older men walked down the hallway.

"He was so close! If he would've just killed her like we asked, we would have been witch-less," one man said.

"Really? She's the last witch?" The other man asked.

"Sure is! We just need to get her before she gets that necklace!" That's when my vision went blurry and I snapped back into reality.

I kissed my palm and touched both of my parent's gravestones before running again. I reached my house and I knew I was alone because my adopted parents were away on a business trip. So I ran inside and up the stairs into my room and slammed open the closet. I let out a huge sigh of relief, because for some reason I was expecting the chest to be gone.

I jabbed the key into the keyhole and turned it, I opened it slowly and there was the majestical power necklace that my mother had once worn. I immediately put it around my neck and felt instantly safe.

My attention left the chest and turned to the sound of a rock being thrown against my window. I grabbed the lamp off my desk to use as a weapon and slowly peered outside. To my surprise it was the man from the church who had saved my life; I think. I wasn't sure what to do, but I opened my window anyway and before I could even get it half way opened he began to talk.

"Bridget, before you get too scared, I want you to know that I'm here to help you. My dad was best friends with your dad and he was killed the same day as your father. I found a letter in my dad's old desk drawer written to me saying to protect you." I had nothing to say to that. What was I supposed to say? Could I trust him? When I didn't answer, he said as if reading my thoughts.

"You can trust me."

"If you are who you say you are then I know I can trust you," A big smile appeared on his face as I said this as if I'd just made his dreams come true. "Come to the front door and I'll let you in."

As soon as I opened the door he and gave me a huge hug. It scared me at first because I thought he was attacking me. Then he whispered in my ear.

"It feels like I've known you my whole life." I had a lot of questions to ask him, like do I have any magical powers? Why are they coming after me? Do you have any magical powers? Do you have a girlfriend? I knew that last one was kind of off topic but it was always nice to know.

"So why are they coming after me?" I asked

"You're the last witch on earth, at least that they know of, and they want to wipe your kind out once and for all; every last one. But as long as you're with me and have that necklace on, you're safe for now." I was definitely okay with that. "When do your parents get home?"

"They come in on a flight at 2:00pm tomorrow."

"Do you think you'll be okay here until they get home?" I wanted to say no, but changed my mind at the last second.

"Yeah I should be fine," I lied.

"Well here's my cell phone number just in case." He said as he handed me a slip of paper.

"Thanks!" Then he waved goodbye and walked out the door.

I was up all night tossing and turning. I didn't even close my eyes in the chance that I might fall asleep, because I was scared of what I might wake up to. In only a couple of hours I could go pick up my parents at the airport.

As soon as the clock hit 12:00pm I was out the door. I ran out to my car, very aware of my surroundings, and started the engine. The drive was relaxing and I had time to think, and I don't know why but I felt safer as soon as I saw the sign 'Airport 10km ahead'. Maybe it was because there were more people around or maybe it was just the fact my parents would be here soon.

As I walked through the airport doors, I saw the guy that was apparently trying to help me. I realized that I didn't even know his name yet. "How am I supposed to trust somebody when I don't even know their name?"

He laughed and said, "Sorry, I guess I had too much on my mind yesterday and forgot to mention it." I turned to the sound of my mother. No! They weren't supposed to see me with him! Were they?

"Hello darling, I've missed you so much!" She gave me a hug, but all I could see was the death stare my dad gave the guy, whose name I still didn't know, so I took this time to introduce them.

"Dad, this is-" I was cut off by the guy as he took my father's hand.

"Brendon, it's nice to meet you. I'm a friend of Bridget's" He looks exactly like a Brendon, I thought. My dad smiled and replied,

"You can call me James." Brendon and I helped carry some bags out to the car and as we were putting the bags in the trunk he whispered, "Can you I get a lift back to your place?"

"Yeah," I replied a little too giddy, "sure!"

He smiled and we waved goodbye to my parents as we got into my car. It was about five minutes of silence before he said, "Hey Bridget, there's this band playing at Michael's pub tonight and I was wondering if maybe you might want to come with me?" I was staring straight ahead, my eyes totally focused on the road and I could tell he was looking right at me. I really wanted to go with him, but I was almost positive my parents would say no. Not just because they just met Brendon, but because Michael's was not the safest place either.

"Yeah I would love to! But I still got to ask my parents." A big smile widened across his face. I liked his smile because I could tell he was really happy and it was cute because he got these little dimples on his cheeks.

"Great," he said. "Can't wait!" When we arrived at my house, we helped my parents unpack and I think he caught me staring at his cheeks because he looked at me and smiled more. That was the last thing I saw before I slipped away into another vision.

Before I even opened my eyes I knew I was at the beach. It was windy and I felt the sand blow against my leg and see the mist off the water, hear the loud crash of the waves. But to my surprise it was dark and there was no light in sight other than the moon and stars. I could see the outline of a rocky ledge in the distance and the long flowing grass growing on top. I must be in this vision for some reason, I thought, so I decided to look around. I walked for what seems like miles, but I couldn't find anything or anyone. Then I felt myself coming back to real life.

I opened my eyes to find Brendon leaning over top of me. "Bridget? Bridget can you hear me?" I started to sit up and Brendon had his arm around my back, "Do you know where you are?"

"Yes, I'm at home right?"

"Yes, you just kind of passed out or something, do you remember?"

"Not really, I just remember that we were helping unpack."

"You're right, I'll call your parents." My parents had to leave again to go and get groceries, and I liked being alone with Brendon.

"Eh... no I'm fine." I said, "It was only a vision."

"Oh? What was it about?" He leaned in closer.

"Well, I was at the beach and it was really dark, but nobody was there, so I walked and walked then after a while I slipped back into reality."

"Maybe you'll have another one that will explain it."

He was exactly right because later that night when I was getting ready to go out with Brendon to Michael's, I heard a knock on the door. I knew it was Brendon and went to answer it but blacked out right there in the hallway.

I opened my eyes. I stood at the exact same place I had been standing in my last vision, but this time I immediately saw someone. It looked like a girl about my age from the back so I started following her. I ran to catch up and realized that, that girl was me. What was I doing there? I watched as I saw myself walk to a hill of rocks. I moved a rock and underneath I saw was a button. I pressed it before covering the button back up with the rock.

I watched as a door composed of rocks closed behind me and that's when I saw a man wearing all black lift up the same rock and push the button and walk in. I followed him and as we went further down the cave, he approached vision me with a knife.

Run! I tried to yell, but it was no use. She couldn't hear me. I heard a scream and immediately looked away. I heard the man make a run for it back out of the cave. I ran up to the vision. She lay on the floor in pain. She pulled the knife out of her chest and threw it on the floor. I was crying, because I realized I was watching myself take my last breath and when her chest wasn't moving anymore I knew it was all over.

***

I opened my eyes to find Brendon leaning over me once again, but with a lot more worry in his eyes. I was crying more than I think I ever have before and Brendon took me in his arms and I began to cry even more.

"What did you see?" He asked with a very soothing voice.

"I saw," I began, but I could barely get it out, "my own death." He squeezed me even tighter.

About a half an hour later I stopped crying, but I still couldn't stop thinking about what I had seen.

"We don't have to go to Michael's tonight you know," he said.

"I know, but I want too,"

"Yeah, I do to but there's tons of other stuff that we can do here."

"Okay," I said, because I heard the worry in his voice. We chose to watch a movie make some popcorn; we settled on the couch and started the movie.

I had no idea what was going on in the movie because I had so much on my mind. I grabbed the remote and paused the movie. He looked at me.

"Yes?" He asked as if there was something he could do for me.

"I'm just wondering, but do you have any magical powers?" I could see the shock on his face.

"Well it's a long story," he said.

"Well I've got all night."

Brendon explained to me that the people who killed my father wanted all of the magic folk dead, and I was the last one. But apparently they don't count half blood types, because that's exactly what Brendon was. Brendon's dad was magic folk, but his mom wasn't and she didn't know his dad was a wizard until the day they died. He told me that if they ever found out that he was part wizard they would kill him too. We didn't start the movie again, we were too busy talking, and after hours of talking Brendon had to leave because it was getting late. My parents had gone to bed hours ago.

"Well, I best be going now." He said as he stood up.

"Yeah it's getting pretty late," I stood up too, "and I think we both need a good night sleep."

"Bridget?" He asked in a nervous voice.

"Yeah," I said. "What is it?"

He leaned in and kissed me. That moment was in fact magical. I had never been kissed like that before and I'm glad it was him. We broke apart and I began to talk.

"Where did you come from?"

He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear, "Manitoba." Then I laughed and he walked backward out the door with that amazing smile that I loved.

I actually fell asleep that night and had a dream Brendon and I were on the run, which I didn't mind because we were together and they never did catch us.

When I woke up, I changed into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair, and then I went down stairs. Mom was making breakfast like always and dad sat at the kitchen table reading the daily newspaper. I sat down next to him and he put down the newspaper and looked me right in the ey.

"So, what did you and Brendon do last night?" I should've known he was going to ask me about that, he was probably up all night thinking about it!

"We watched a movie and made popcorn."

"So are you two like an official couple now or what?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?" I heard my mom give a little laugh from the kitchen.

"Don't be smart with me!" Dad laughed.

Later that night, at around 1:00am, I got a call from the police saying that Brendon was attacked and was in the hospital with a lot of scratches and bruises. I drove down to the hospital as fast as I could. When I walked into the room I was shocked at how bad his face actually looked. I lay beside him on the bed.

"What happened?"

"I was walking back home last night and I thought I heard footsteps behind me so I turned around and there he was."

"There who was?"

To my surprise he said, "Zavion."

I gasped and he stopped talking because he saw the horror in my eyes. This meant Zavion knew Brendon was magic folk and that he was with me. We were no longer safe here and neither were my parents.

Brendon and I decided to just up and move to somewhere far away and we settled on a little island just off of Africa.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked as we stood in line to get on the plane, but really what choice did we have?

"Yeah, I'm sure." When we were settled into our seats Brendon looked at me. "This will all be over soon." I didn't really know what he meant by that, and I guess he saw the troubled look on my face because he said, "We need to kill Zavion, and the feud will be over." I was okay with that. After seeing him murder my parents I would have no trouble killing him. I was just a little worried he might get to us first.

We settled into our cozy little home and as we were unpacking our stuff I began to cry. I think it just hit me I would never see my parents again. So Brendon picked me up and carried me to the bed and, to my surprise, I fell asleep. I dreamt that Brendon killed Zavion and we all lived happily ever after, but then I woke up.

I got up and walked to the living room. Everything was put away and it looked like we had been living here for weeks. Brendon sat on the couch watching T.V,

"How was your sleep?"

"Pretty good," I said. "Thanks for putting everything away."

"Oh it was no trouble." He smiled and gestured his head toward the empty space beside him, so I walked over and sat down. He put his arm around my shoulder and pushed a button on the remote and the T.V turned on.

"Everybody better get out their rain jackets, there's going to be a huge tropical storm coming tonight! No one should go outside in this condition. Any running around you have to do, get it done now." The weatherman on the T.V was definitely not a local. He wasn't tanned enough and didn't have that same looks as everyone else.

"Looks like it's going to be a big one," Brendon said. "Is there anything we need in town?"

"Nope, nothing that I know of. Is there anything that you need?" He shook his head. It was getting dark and was terrible outside, the trees blowing so hard we thought they were going to fall on the house. It poured rain and was really cold. The power even went out. Brendon and I decided to play cards. I had a blanket wrapped around me and Brendon had a heavy sweater on.

"It looks like its stopping." He looked out the window and he was right. The sun was starting to come out and the rain was stopping.

"Do you think you could drive into town and get something for supper?" He asked.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

I grabbed my raincoat and the keys and headed out the door. I was about to get in the car, when my necklace unlatched and flew across the beach onto the sand. No! I need that necklace or I'm not safe! I ran to get it when it caught on the wind again and flew another fifty feet ahead. When it landed on the sand once again, I bent down, picked it up and put it back on. When I stood up I had this strange feeling of familiarity. Then it hit me. I was at the exact same beach as in my vision and I started to panic.

I was curious to see if the button was actually under that rock, so I walked over to it and picked it up. The cave appeared as well. I glanced behind me, but nobody was there so I walked into the cave.

I heard footsteps behind me and I knew exactly who it was. Zavion. I turned quickly to find him approaching me with a knife a little too quickly for me to react. He jolted for me and I screamed, but I opened my eyes to the sound of grunting. Brendon was on top of Zavion, holding him to the ground. Zavion threw him against the wall as if he weighed nothing. It was the most terrible moment to be sucked into a vision, but it was worth seeing.

We were still all in the cave and Brendon was used all of his force to try to push away Zavion's knife, while I just stood there. I don't know what happened, but I felt a sudden surge of anger and suddenly Zavion was just lying on the floor in pain. And when he stopped moving Brendon ran over to him to check his pulse and then looked at me.

"He is dead." Brendon walked over to me while I had my first close look of Zavion. He had black hair and looked to be about thirty with scars all over his face.

"How did I do that?" I asked, hoping Brendon would know the answer.

"I guess you're discovering your powers now," he said. "If I'm lucky I'll discover mine soon too." Then he took my hand and we walked back up the beach.

We started packing up, because now that we were safe we could move back home, although my parents would be angry with us for leaving and not telling them when or where we were going; they were probably worrying sick about me. When we got home we knew we had to tell my parents the truth, so when they asked where on earth had we been we explained everything. At first my dad's reaction was just anger.

"Do you think we're stupid? You can't lie to us. Now tell us the truth."

"No Dad, you're a very smart man and a great father so I want you to believe me and I can prove that we're telling the truth."

"Okay then, go ahead." He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. So I looked at his coffee mug, sitting on the kitchen table.

"Want some coffee?" He looked very confused when he saw his mug floating over to him, my gaze following it the whole way.

"H-h-how are you doing that?" His voice was all shaky and scared.

"I told you, I'm a witch." They believed me and after a while using my powers around the house and constantly passing out for my visions the whole became casual. Brendon discovered his powers and he used them around the house too. My parents were used to having him around all the time, so when Brendon and I moved into our own place they were really lonely; even though our place was just down the road and we visited all the time.

Six Years Later

Brendon and I are now happily married with 2 kids of our own; our little witch Rebecca who is four years old and is just beginning in Witch craft and Wizardry school along with other magic folk who survived Zavion. And there's our little wizard, Jason, our smart 2 year old who already knows his alphabet. They have this special bond with my parents. We visit them all the time and my parents spoil them rotten with all the toys and stuff they buy them.

I don't know what the future will bring, but I'm pretty happy here right now. It's nothing that I ever expected my life to be like. My life changed the day I turned sixteen and so will the life of my daughter. Of course she won't have to go through all the trouble I did to get that necklace, because I will be here to hand it down to her.

This is my life now and I'm happy to be living it.

***

### The Monster Under the Bed

Sophie MacLean

The sun went down and both the indoor and outdoor stars started to glow. Emily grabbed her stuffed rabbit from the floor and jumped onto her bed. It was always a good idea to be on the bed before the lights went out. Having Fish with her was also very important. Her rabbit was called Fish simply because it was fun to name things after what they weren't. However, she supposed Fish could be a fish if he really tried.

Emily snuggled into her bed, listening to the fish tank burble. The wind had stopped whistling.

"Mmph."

Emily rolled over on her stomach, coccooning herself into her purple blanket. Minutes passed.

She jerked awake. What was that sound?

She sat still in her bed, listening. Where was Fish? Oh. He was lying on the floor, silly thing. What was he doing down there?

Aha! There was the sound. It was a glittery sound, like in Mommy's songs. What was the word? It wasn't 'laugh' . . . 'Giggle'! That's it! The giggles were coming from the underneath of her bed. Maybe it was a monster! No, that's silly, monsters don't giggle. A mouse? She was fairly certain that mice giggled. Emily hoped it was a mouse. She liked mice. They were soft and had lots of little bald babies who didn't open their eyes until they got older, which Emily thought was funny. It was funny because baby _people_ had their eyes opened and had lots of hair. It would be fun to have mice friends.

"Are you a talking mouse?"

There was no answer. Emily frowned. She didn't want a mean mouse, even if it did talk. Better fetch fish.

She looked over to where Fish was, but he was gone. Her eyes scanned the room.

Emily spotted Fish. He was almost underneath the bed, with just his ears sticking out.

There was a pitter-patter sound coming from under the bed.

Like little feet.

She heard more giggles. More talking mice! Emily burrowed her way under the pillows from excitement. After a minute or two she peered out from the end of the bed and swung over to look underneath.

There was Fish, lying in a corner with one ear torn off.

The last thing she saw was a pair of dead eyes. Shark eyes.

***

### Psychotic killer strikes again

Emily Marchwell, age 4, was murdered last night in her own home. The suspect is an unnamed killer who has claimed many other victims, all within the province of Nova Scotia. The killer has been known to lure his victims using various tactics, including 'teddy bear abduction' and the use of candy baiting. Emily's parents have organized a hotline for the sole use of finding the killer. If you have any information regarding the killer, please call **1-888-555-2940** toll-free.

***

### Friday Night Madness

Tara Llewellyn

Prologue

As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I could tell something was wrong. The beautiful, dark green grass I carefully mowed into the perfect pattern just hours before was all torn up and covered in tire tracks. My mother's hundred-dollar vase was missing from its place on the dining room windowsill. And the worst; the house seemed completely silent. As I stepped out of my car into the darkness, I saw nothing. Not a light was on, and only the soft hum of the cricket's songs played in the distance.

There was only one explanation.

Demi.

Part 1

My name is Tiffany. Some people say I'm everything they ever wanted to be. Tall, blonde, drop dead gorgeous, and popular. I couldn't disagree more. Some people just don't understand that even though I may seem ideal on the outside, my life cannot compare to others. It sucks.

Like most people my age, I live at home with my family. My mother works late night shifts as a nurse and my father is a police officer, so they're barely home at the same time as I am. As for my sister, most times I would rather she wasn't there, but of course she's always around somewhere.

If Demi was anything like me, maybe life wouldn't be so bad. But she's not. While I'm a straight A student, cheerleader, and future prom queen, Demi is...well... Demi! Last week, she dyed her hair an electric sort of blue, and so far I swear she has never missed a chance to party. I'm not so sure her group of friends are exactly what I consider charming. I tend to think of them a bit more like child delinquents. At least she had no trouble fitting in, right?

When Dad was transferred to California for his job, we had to move out here to stay "connected" like "normal" families, as my mom puts it. Demi and I had to start fresh at a new school. Being as beautiful as I am, I fit right in as a new cheerleader, student president, and hopefully prom queen once the year ends. Demi, on the other hand, had a bit more difficulty. Because of all the jerks in her grade, she was made fun of a lot and constantly came home with puffy red eyes from a day full of crying. I attempted to help her by bringing her to a party.

Instead, I just ruined my own life, because that's where she met Ken.

Ken is like most of the people in his little posse; loud and obnoxious. He is the one that got Demi hooked on going to all his dark, loud, devilish parties, and somehow she manages to have fun. Since she met Ken, Demi has been out partying every Friday night and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Since Mom and Dad work on Fridays, I have been staying home so I can protect the house from any unexpected parties she might try to throw.

My friends don't seem to be that supportive. They have invited me time after time to go out to the movies or even just hang out with them on Friday nights, but I just can't bring myself to do it. With Demi being so wild and all, I'm not going to risk some strangers entering our home and robbing me of everything I own. They have enough time to do that while I'm at school.

Part 2

Just like every other day, I drove Demi down the long roller coaster of a road to Gracewood High. She used to go to Mountain View high with me, but she begged mom and dad to let her go to Gracewood with Ken. I like to let myself believe they only let her go because she had a rough start at my school; I hate to think they might actually trust Ken!

"Are you going to be home Friday night?" Demi tried to act casual.

I immediately pulled over to the side of the road. "Am I going to be home? Are you joking! Of course I am! Why would I chance leaving, to come home to a mess bigger than the California street dump? I know what you're planning; no way."

And just like that she hopped out of the car. I watched her as she pulled out her cell, dialed a few numbers and started for the school, her phone pressed against her ear.

"Good luck getting there," I screamed. "You still have a good hour of a walk ahead of you and your first class starts in twenty minutes!"

When I rolled my window back up and was about to drive away, I saw a familiar puke green 1970's Chevy truck pass by. As I leaned forward to get a closer look, I quickly learned my prediction was right. In my lifetime, I have only seen one truck like that which makes the same horrific sound; it was Ken. He slowed down and pulled over just a few meters ahead. A huge grin spread across Demi's face as she waved towards the piece of garbage on wheels.

I rolled my window back down as quickly as my arms would let me.

"Don't you dare get in that car with—" And she hopped right in. She must have seen the anger on my face because as they drove away, she turned around and waved at me through an evil smirk.

With all the stress Demi had been causing, I forgot all about my science test after lunch. The plan was to sneak in some extra study time while I ate, but I was so focused on being angry at Demi, I forgot all about it.

As I sat down to write the test, I felt a bit more comfortable; it was only seven pages long. The stack of paper I meant to study at dinnertime had at least fifty pages, so Mrs. Applebee must have removed some of the new stuff that could easily be forgotten.

As she handed out the tests, I realized something was wrong, very wrong. Instead of cutting out the new stuff I didn't know as well, Mrs. Applebee removed all the older stuff I spent all of my time studying last night. Beads of sweat started trickling down my face as I looked around the room. Nobody seemed as nervous as me; in fact, some were even sighing in relief!

_Try your best,_ I thought. _It can't get any worse than this._

Boy was I ever wrong. That night, I didn't fall asleep until 3:00AM, and I accidentally slept in. When I woke up, Demi was gone. I immediately started panicking and didn't know what to do first. Call Dad at the police station, or use the bathroom. I really didn't want to risk getting my favorite white and pink striped PJs stained with pee, so I ran to the bathroom. As I ran past the mirror, I noticed my forehead was blue. Was that normal? The answer was no. As I approached the mirror to get a closer look, I learned my forehead was not blue at all; Demi plastered a sticky note on my forehead.

It read:

You sleep too much. I'm going to school with Ken. Don't bother telling Mom and Dad, because I'll just tell them you wouldn't get up and I was going to be late for school. Remember, they like me better.

Demi

Sometimes, that child drove me crazy! But there wasn't enough time for that. In five minutes, I would be late for school.

As I bolted out to my car, I took a good look at myself. My clothes didn't match, my hair was all greasy, and, in general, I was a mess. I've always been the neatest, best-looking girl in school and now I was no doubt the ugliest. I took a quick look at the clock; two minutes, no time to change. I really had to put the pedal to the metal!

I ran out of my car into the dirty, old, brick school. As I walked through the door, the 9 o'clock bell rang. I sprinted to my locker and decoded my lock; or at least I tried to. After about ten minutes of failure, I heard the familiar buzzing that meant there will be an announcement. They never made announcements during learning time, so even I found it quite odd.

"Tiffany MacDonald to the office please, Tiffany MacDonald."

Mr. Maddox our new principal must have heard me banging my head off my locker. Well wasn't that just lovely!

After a two-hour session about destruction of school property with Mr. Maddox, I was really getting annoyed. But it wasn't until I went to the fountain after school that I lost it. I was on my way to cheerleading practice and decided I should probably grab a drink before. The fountain by the east doors was normally the quietest, so I took out my school map and started down the maze of bright white, sweaty walls.

Once I arrived at the fountain, I knew something weird was going on. There was a long line up that went down past the science room doors. Using my cheerleader authority, I made it to the front of the line within five minutes. As I walked to the front, people started to laugh. It wasn't until I bent down to get a drink that I realized why. That morning, Mrs. Applebee must have posted our science test results and she put one page above the fountain. Normally, I would be fine with that. I have always been at the top of the list. But now, I was thoroughly embarrassed and frustrated. I was at the bottom of the list with a mark of 42%, all because of Demi. I must have turned beet red, as there was an explosion of laughter as I stomped down the hall to the football field.

"Number one rule of cheerleading; no matter what is going on in your life, cheer practice is a happy time and grumpy humour will not be tolerated." I had to remind myself of this, as I skipped onto the field. I was ten minutes early, and there was almost nobody there. Josh, the head cheerleader's boyfriend, sat off on the bleachers reading a book. Now, he's not the brightest light bulb in the pack, if you know what I mean, so I went to go check it out.

He looked up as I started over.

"Hey Tiff! Come here for a minute; I want to show you something!" He probably wanted some study help or something; hopefully he hadn't seen the poster.

"I saw the poster... and no offence, but you don't really look like yourself today either." He noticed. Actually it didn't surprise me, everybody had. I didn't know who I was fooling when I reassured myself nobody would notice I look horrible or that I flunked my test.

"You're right. I slept in this morning and forgot all about the test." I figured confessing everything to somebody would make me feel better, and so far, he was the only one listening.

"Figured. Here, I bought a joke book the other day and I think some of these might cheer you up." Sometimes I envied Jordan; Josh is so nice and positive. Any time I need somebody real to talk to, I find him and he cheers me up within seconds. I've never told him about Demi or my family, of course, just little things like bad hair days, or 95% tests.

Normally joke books suck, and this one was no exception, but somehow Josh made it somewhat funny. We laughed and we laughed until I turned around and saw the team was ready to start.

"It looks like we're going to start now. Thanks for cheering me up." I giggled as I ran over to the cheer squad.

"No problem, see you around!"

Cheer practice went well, although when I thought about it later, I realized Jordan wasn't there. Kaitlyn, my best friend, directed all the routines. Oh well!

I pulled into the driveway just in time to see Ken pulling out and guess who was with him? Demi. I rolled down my window, but as I did so, Ken speed up, and they went off into the distance. As I walked into the kitchen, there were two notes waiting for me.

The first one was from Demi:

I'm going out. I might go see House of Horrors 2, but no guaranties. Your friend called. I didn't want to answer, so I let the answering machine go off.

Demi

Well isn't that nice? The second note was from Mom:

Hi girls, I know I'm supposed to be home tonight, but the hospital has been very busy and they called me in. I'm sorry. On the bright side, they promised me the whole weekend off. Again, I'm sorry. Take care and there is leftover meatloaf in the fridge.

Love you guys! Mom.

Oh well, not the first time this happened. Like every other Thursday night, I was home alone sitting on the couch eating meatloaf. When I finished, I washed my dishes and made my way over to the phone. Looked like Kaitlyn called. She probably wanted me to go see another movie tomorrow night and I would, yet again, have to decline. Like a new tradition, Friday nights had to be spent protecting the house. Well, I guessed I might as well listen and see what she wanted.

"Hey Tiff, it's Kaitlyn. This is very awkward for me but you're off the team. Today Josh broke up with Jordan and she thinks you caused it. Nobody could argue because you guys have been together a lot lately, and we all saw you flirting and laughing with him today. Normally I would argue for your sake, but it's pretty obvious you like him. Anyway, I have to go. Bye."

I'm off the team? They can't do that! Can they?

I didn't sleep at all that night. Was it really my fault? Why did he try to cheer me up anyway? I was just a pretty new girl and now I'm not even on the team. I really didn't want to cause any trouble. Why me? I had all these questions swimming around in my head and for all the time I've thought about it, no answers came to mind.

This time, I was the one leaving a note on Demi's forehead. At 4:15AM sharp, I snuck into her room and stuck a sticky note square in the middle of her forehead. It said:

Hey Demi, I just threw up. You can call Dad and get a ride to school this morning. I doubt I will be going. Have a good day,

Tiff.

Sometimes, whenever I just needed a moment to think, faking being sick was the way to go. After everything that had been happening lately, it was a no-brainer to take a day off.

As I lay on our comfy, but ugly, tan couch, I almost drowned myself in tears. I think I finally understood how Demi felt when she wasn't fitting in; just plain rotten. I had to find something to do to take my mind off of this horror. It hit me. Dad was complaining about not having enough time to mow the grass. It would look good, take my mind off of things, and I might even earn a few extra bucks.

Demi calls me an extreme perfectionist when I do things like this, but I like to think of it as doing a job to the best of my ability. It was the front yard too; so I had to make an extra big effort to make it look really good. Up one row, down one row. I was definitely getting the hang of it. I was even having a good time. I might even say the loud hum of the lawnmower was somewhat calming.

"AAHHH!" A rock flew up and hit me in the eye! I was getting a bit dizzy and my eye was swelling shut. I had to go get it checked out.

I cautiously turned off the lawnmower, being careful not to cut my hand off. Next, I slid into the driver's seat of my car and put the gear into drive. This was probably not the best idea, me being half blind and all, but there was nobody else around to take me.

When I arrived at the hospital, I gave the lady at the front desk all my information and took a number. As I walked into the waiting room, I realized it was full. There were people all over the place coughing and gagging on one another, and even some with mini buckets that I assume were for... well, you know.

I took a look around and finally found a chair. Shortly after I sat down, I learned why the person sitting there before me had left. There were big, fat guys on each side of me. One was wearing a chef outfit and every time he sneezed, spit flew _everywhere_.

The guy to my right was a bit tougher looking; I think he was a construction worker, although I couldn't figure out why he was there. He had a teeny, tiny scratch above his chin, definitely not in need of stitches, but other than that, he seemed perfectly fine.

I was getting really dizzy now. The two fat guys were gone and there were two people left; me, and some old guy with a cold. I really hoped they would take me in soon. I had been here for six and a half hours already and I was feeling the heat.

"Number 99, please come to room five." No! I watch the old man make his way to the front.

The doctor gave me some sort of a shot, and immediately my vision came back into focus. He told me I have a concussion and then he quickly ushered me out the door. He said to go home, get some rest, and it should be better in a week. When I left, I looked at the clock; 10:30PM. Wow! Time flies when you're having fun, eh?

As soon as I pulled into the driveway I could tell something was wrong. The beautiful dark green grass I carefully mowed into the perfect pattern just hours before was all torn up and covered in tire tracks. My mother's hundred-dollar vase was missing from its place on the dining room windowsill. And the worst; the house seemed completely silent. As I stepped out of my car into the darkness I saw nothing. Not a light was on, and only the soft hum of the cricket's songs played in the distance. There was only one explanation.

Demi.

Part 3

It was a Friday night! How could I forget? Demi must have seen I wasn't home and had a party!

I ran through the house. Everything was trashed. Even the kitchen table was in two pieces. But that's not what I was worried about.

"Demi! Demi!" No answer.

Where could that child be? I ran around the broken house screaming her name, and when she didn't answer; I bolted down the dark street.

"Demi! Demi!"

Where was she? Was she hurt? Did the party get out of hand? Where was my little sister? Who would she be with? I know! Ken! Ken might know where she is!

As I whipped out my phone, the old 1970's Chevy that I've hated with all my heart wondered into my sight. But now it wasn't hatred I felt; it was relief. I ran towards the truck, tears in my eyes that was when I noticed it.

Demi wasn't there.

Ken rolled down his window.

"Have you seen Demi anywhere?" I was once again in tears.

"No, she held a party at your house and immediately regretted it. She asked me to kick everybody out, and then she left."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks." I bolted down the street once again, on the path of the unknown.

Next thing I knew, my phone was ringing.

"Tiffany, it's me, Ken. I'll go look down the roads in my truck; you run ahead and knock on all the doors asking if they've seen her. Everything will be ok."

I did the best I could to say yes, but the word wouldn't come out. Instead, I hung up and ran to the first door I saw.

An old lady dressed in pink opened the door.

"Hi, dearie, would you like to come in and see my pretties? I love cats! I have about 129 in total. Do you know where I can get another one? They're so cute and fluffy; you can never have too many!"

"Sorry, but I don't have much time. My sister went missing. Have you seen a girl, about the same size as me with electric blue hair?"

"Sorry dear; I haven't... Maybe Mr. Snuggles knows." She went back into the house. I was assuming she was going to get another cat, but I didn't hang around to find out. I bolted from door to door, desperate for at least a sighting of my little blue-headed freak.

After about an hour, I met Ken.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Other than I have a neighbour with over a hundred cats, nothing. She shouldn't be that hard to find, with her hair and all. I don't know how no one saw her."

"I don't know... Maybe we should call your dad? It's already 11:30PM and we haven't found her."

"Ok, I hate to admit it, but your right."

As he drove off towards the shady part of town, I ran home to call dad. When I got there, I took one last look around before I made the call.

"Hi Dad, Demi ran away. Ken and I have been looking for her for the past I don't know how long. You might want to file a missing person report and send out a search party."

"I'll be right there."

As soon as he hung up, I made another phone call without even thinking.

"Hey Josh, my little sister went missing, can you come help me look?"

"Sure thing, I'm on my way."

The next few minutes happened in a flash. There were sirens everywhere. Neighbours were knocking on the door and finally, in the middle of all this commotion, Josh arrived along with the rest of the cheerleaders.

"What are you guys doing here?" I wasn't expecting the team, but it was a delightful surprise. The more people the better!

"Josh called us. We're not here as the team, we're here as your friends. Now let's get cracking!"

Next thing I knew, everyone was put into teams. I was paired with Ken, Josh with Kaitlyn, and the rest of the cheerleaders teamed together. Mom and Dad stayed home and answered questions, while the rest of us were handed posters and assigned our search areas.

"Town Hall, let's go." Ken started for the door. I struggled to keep up as we ran full speed ahead. After all, I was the one who walked for the past hour. Ken had taken his truck. About halfway there, I received a phone call. It was Carmen and Grace, my other two best cheerleading friends.

"We just found a hat that looks similar to Demi's. She dyed her hair blue last, right?"

"Yes!"

"Perfect. There is a strand of electric blue hair still attached to the hat. We're at the park. This is a huge territory; maybe you guys should come and look with us."

Before we knew it, we were both running faster than our feet could carry us. We tripped a few times, but when you're running to save someone's life, it's worth it. After midnight, the park becomes a dangerous place. As I looked at my watch, I found out it was 12:14AM; time was running out!

"Demi! Demi!" We screamed in chorus. We ran through the thick branches of the wooded area in the park. We saw Carmen and Grace, but didn't stop.

"What did Demi like about Tennessee?" Ken asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"Demi is constantly telling me about Tennessee, but she never told me what she liked the most. Maybe she came here to try and feel back at home. It is slightly calmer and peaceful back here."

"The pond!" I screamed and suddenly I knew exactly where I was going.

When Demi and I were young, Grandpa used to take us fishing at a little pond in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. After he died, Demi would go down there every day and talk to him. He never answered, of course, but she felt comforted by telling someone she trusted all her fears and stories from a long day at school. The only pond in Town was in the middle of this enormous green space. It would only make sense for Demi to be here; she had nowhere else to go.

I ran through the final set of trees, hearing a muffled cry.

"Demi!" The figure turned towards me and I could see a little head of electric blue hair. "Thank goodness you're safe! I missed you!" I whispered, as I pulled her into a big hug.

"It's all my fault," she whimpered.

"Shhh. It's okay. Nobody's angry. You're safe. That's all that matters."

When Ken burst through the bushes a few minutes later, he took the clue and called home to let them know she was safe. Then he joined us until the police came to pick us up.

When we got home, everybody was there crying tears of joy, including Josh and the squad. I ran over to them and we mushed together in a group hug.

"We're so sorry!" Kaitlyn said, as the other girls nodded in agreement.

"For what? Everything's okay now! Demi's safe and we're all one big happy family again. Why would you be sorry?"

"Josh explained everything to me. Jordan broke up with him, just to get you off the team. She was scared you were going to replace her as team captain."

"No captain I know would do that," Carmen added.

"And that's why, with all the power invested in me, I announce Tiffany our new cheer squad captain!"

By the time the night of the Mountain View High prom rolled around, my life had finally returned back to normal, with the exception of Ken and I being friends. I know! Strange, eh?

Kaitlyn, Carmen, Grace and I were standing at the back of the room, munching on cookies as we waited for Mr. Maddox to announce the King and Queen of this year's prom. I saw Josh making his way towards us; a huge grin spread across his face.

"It's going to happen any minute!" He seemed barely able to breathe.

"First off, I would like to thank everybody for coming tonight. It has been a great year for our school; all thanks to you people. Give yourselves a pat on the back." Everybody moaned as Mr. Maddox said that, but we all knew we had to do it.

"Good! I know you're all anxious to know this year's King and Queen of the prom! The results are based on votes by who the student body thinks represent our school and show great determination. These two individuals show great leadership, and..."

"Will you just tell us already!" Some random guy in the crowd hollered.

"Okay then. Like good old tradition, we will do the boys first... This year's King of the Prom is... Josh Clarkson!" We all screamed and clapped as a beaming Josh took his well-deserved spot on stage.

"And now, for our newest Prom Queen... Tiffany MacDonald!" I stopped breathing for a moment. Was this really happening?

"Go on!" Kaitlyn screamed over the applause, "That's you!"

As confident as ever, I made my way to the stage. When I arrived, Josh was there, a wild grin across his face, barely visible tears in his eyes.

"I announce to you; this year's King and Queen of the Prom!"

When Josh reached for my hand, there was no hesitation as I let him lead me to the dance floor.

###

###  Acknowledgments

Creating an anthology takes time and effort. The students would like to acknowledge those who helped them bring this project to life:

Computers and machines in the world just in case. I want to be on their good side. (Brenna de Montbrun)

To my mom, Hilary, for her support while writing it. (Bailey Brydon)

Mr. Morris for helping me be a better writer. (Emily Brothers)

Joesph Richard for being a great friend. (Chiane Perrot)

My mum, Sherry, for encouraging to continue writing. (Michaela McSwain)

Everyone who reads our book! My dear friend Laura (aka Bookie bear). Without her support I don't know where I would be. (Nicole Mills)

Our teachers over the years, and my brother. (Logan Kennedy)

My uncle JD. (Conor MacIntyre)

My best friend Mikayla Laird. (Kayla MacLeod)

To my sister Kaitlin, who showed me that even through horrible times, love make the darkness disappear. (Abby McManus)

Many thanks to Mrs. Van Dyke, Mrs. MacKenzie, Mr. Stonefield, Mrs. McIntosh and Mrs. Coe

And to Mr. Quinn, Patti Larsen, the students involved in writing the book, thank you for making this happen.

***

Postface from the Writing Chair

I knew from a very young age I wanted to be a writer and, through hard work, a bit of luck and a long time trying, I now make my living with words.

It was my greatest wish as a teenaged writer to have guidance, some kind of road map to lead me where I needed to go. So when I arrived at this place in my own career, with a plan and the knowledge I sought for so long, I wanted to share it.

The students at MIS, along with their wonderful librarian and teacher, Mr. Mark Quinn, welcomed me and the idea of creating a student anthology, a way to not only teach them the things I wish I'd known, about structure and what goes into writing a book, but to help them see and feel the process by actually doing it themselves.

The result is fantastic. I'm very proud of each and every one of the students who participated. Anyone who says today's kids are losing their ability to write, to create, haven't met these writers. Their enthusiasm for the project, their story telling abilities, amaze me still.

I hope you enjoy their imaginations as much as I did.

Patti Larsen
