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The Pedestrian

When the police car didn’t stop at my house, I panicked. “We passed my house, Sir.” I said with as much calmness as I could. It was hard when you didn’t know what could happen to you in this corrupt society. I hope that they were telling the truth with that psychiatric center. For all I know this could be my last night of living. I guess that would be ok though. As bad as it sounds, dying would be better than living in a society like this. But at the same time I would rather go to the psych ward because there are bound to be people like me who know what's wrong with this society.

[Time change]

We arrived at said Psychiatric hospital and so far it looks pretty normal. I act skeptic as I come in so they don’t see the excitement in my eyes. I’m hoping that I see my brother here. He got taken a week before I started taking my nightly walks. As soon as I come in I immediately notice the hundreds of other people sitting down eating dinner. I was confused though because the last time I checked, it was 10 pm. As one of the workers gave me my clothes to change into, I saw a familiar face. I don’t know if I’m giving myself false hope but I sure hope I’m not.

I came into the cafeteria where they put me in an assigned seat and gave me something to eat. Before I even look to see what they served me I turn my head in disgust. That was the type of smell that I couldn’t believe anyone could take. Looking at the person next to me, his food looked almost gourmet. So why was mine so much worse than his? When I tried to talk to the guy next to me he shut me up real quickly. Made me wonder what these people go to on a day to day basis. Later on when dinner finished EVeryone went to their respective rooms. While I was led into what would be my new quarter I was quickly stopped by that same familiar voice. “It’s been a while little brother…”

[Time Change]

After the initial shock my brother introduced me to his group of friends and his plan of escape. I was skeptical at first and rightfully so. Last time he tried something like this he got stuck here. But the last plan was just plain reckless. After seeing this one I could tell that he put in all of his free time when planning this. After filling me in on the plan and how things work here I was excited to see the outcome of this plan.

[time change]

After about a week in this place of torture I figured out that people who follow the rules of the society we were all once in, they get better treatment (and food). So I played pretend and watched the viewing screen without restraint. But I won't have to do this for much longer. Were leaving this horrible city tomorrow. We have food to survive and clothing to wear. We also have an escape route. Just have to get through today and then were leaving at night. I Haven’t been this excited about anything since I was 15.

May 18, 2053 at 2:28 AM. The time we escaped the psych ward without setting the alarms off. I walked with surprise as we exited the psych ward. Now our only obstacle was the gates around this wretched place. There were titanium gates around the city and so far, no one has been able to escape it. But I have trust in my brother and his plan.

As the days went on we became even more desperate to get out of here. I could hear the sirens a few days ago the day after we escaped. Those didn’t matter though. We were so close to escape. Luckily last night we made it to the gate. Now my brother's ingenious plan to get us out was about to prove us correct. My brother stole a weapon from one of the guards at the psych ward. It was a laser looking thing. He made sure he learned how to use it before using it on the gate so we trusted him on that. Then it happened. He carved our escape out. We all got out one by one just to see a small village on the other side. My brother made sure to reseal the gate and made it good as new. It felt so weird. We were about to start our new lives outside of that gate. We could finally be normal people.

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"The Veldt" - Garrett Z

The door was slammed shut behind us, we tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. We tried to kick it open, we tried everything but it wouldn't move, at all. We heard the kids' laughter, it was an evil kind of laughter. We were still in the veldt but the lions weren't where they usually were, they were closer, too far to see what they were doing still but it kind of lookes like they were walking closer to us. We didn't mind it at first, we kept on trying to open the door, then we realized the lions were right behind us growling with hunger. One lunged at us but nothing happened, nothing at all. The house shut down and the windows showed. We tried opening the window and it worked, we got out, alive.

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“The Pedestrian” - Blake Melin

The car continued through the road with a robot looking figure in the driver seat driving the car, the robot kept going up and down the street looking for people breaking the law. I saw the lights flash on the car through a reflection of a window in one of the stores downtown.

I turned around and saw the Police car parked behind me. The robot opened the door of the police car and walked up to me and said “hey are you good? It's kinda late outside and you're walking alone”. Yes he said i'm doing all fine the cop robot said “ok” and got back in his car and drove away.

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Mr. and Mrs.Hadley, darted out the doors of the nursery. ¨PETER,WENDY!!!!¨  George hollered at the top of his lungs. ¨Wahahahaaaaaa¨ Wendy began to cry. ¨Stop it George!!!¨ Peter karate chopped kicked George, and shoved him through the hallway. ¨QUIT TELLING US WHAT TO DO!!!!¨ Peter growled. ¨Aaaaaaahhhh¨ Lydia ran through the halls, her hair as puffy as a lion's mane. She grabbed Peter and began stomping on him. ¨Stop it Lydia¨ Peter began to cry. ¨YOU DON´T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!!¨ Lydia screamed. She grabbed Peter by the collar of his shirt and threw him out the window.  Mr.Mclean walked past Lydia. ¨My Lord, Lydia what are you doing?¨ Mr.Mclean asked. ¨These children need a punishment.¨ Lydia snarled and scowled at the same time. ¨You look like a snarling tiger¨ Mr.Mclean began to chuckle, and Lydia threatened to punch him. ̈ Hey Mommy, I'm going to Disney World¨ Wendy tells Lydia. ¨YOU AIN'T GOING ANYWHERE YOU BADDIE!!!!¨ Lydia starts to growl and roar like a listen. ¨Wow I'm so scawed¨ Wendy says in a baby voice. Lydia grabs Wendy´s wrists and squeezes them as hard as possible. Wendy let out an ear piercing scream. ¨THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOU LITTLE BADDIE!!!¨ Lydia throws Wendy out the window. Wendy gets thrown into someone´s empty chimney. ¨Lydia, I think you´ve gone a little overboard¨ Mr Mclean asserted. ¨Overboard? George and I went overboard with spoiling them, and buying this stupid Happylife home¨ Lydia replied. ¨Honey, I shut the nursery and all the devices and systems.¨ George said as he walked by Mr.Mclean and Lydia. “Oh thank you, God bless you¨ Lydia puts her hands on George´s cheeks, and kisses his lips. ¨Let's leave this darn dreadful place. Go pack. And once we´re done packing, we´ll burn this horrible place.¨ George nodded. As George and Lydia began to pack, Wendy was thrown out of the chimney from the neighbor´s across the street´s home, and woke up from her brief sleep. ¨My God, what are you doing her sweetie?¨ asked a blond woman who lived in the house. ¨It´s my parents!¨ Wendy began to cry. ¨Oh sweetie pie, what did they do to you?¨ the woman asked. ¨They got rid of the nursery and all of the automatic devices in the house.¨ Wendy was now wailing. ¨Oh sugarplum don´t worry. You will be alright. Go and sit on the couch, and press the softie button for a blanket, and then press the health button for some medicine. You can watch whatever you want on tv.¨ the blond woman remarked. ¨Oh thank you, so, so much!!!!¨ Wendy gave the woman a bear hug. ¨By the way, what's your name?¨”Wendy asked the lady. ¨You can call me Mrs.Wenton.¨ Mrs.Wenton answered. ¨Okay¨ Wendy answered. Wendy propped herself on the couch, pressed the softie button for a blanket, and went to the kitchen for the health button. ¨Mrs.Wenton¨ Wendy called. ¨Yes, honey¨ Mrs.Wenton replied. ¨Do you have a nursery?¨ Wendy asked. ¨Why, of course we do darling. Everyone has a nursery these days. Let me take you over to the nursery.¨ Mrs.Wenton holds out her hand. Wendy grabs it. Mrs.Wenton and Wendy walked through a long corridor, like the one the Hadley´s had, and at the very end of the hallway, on the right, was the nursery. Mrs.Wenton pressed the button. ¨Nursery door. Open¨ chimed the button. Wendy ran joyfully into the room. In her mind, was a mystical forest with singing birds, chipmunks, fairies, and Rima. But, the nursery´s walls weren't projecting her thoughts. ¨Is there something wrong with this nursery?¨ Wendy asked Mrs.Wenton. ¨What do you mean honey?¨ Mrs.Wenton responded. ¨It's not projecting.¨ Wendy explained. ¨Projects?¨ Mrs.Wenton asked, confused. ¨This nursery doesn´t project. But it has a lot of fun toys and games.¨ Wendy began to agitate. ¨How there you lie to me¨ she hollered at the top of her lungs. ¨Sweetie, I didn´t know what you meant-¨ Wendy began to attack and throw chairs at Mrs.Wenton.

While that was all happening, Lydia and George immediately began to pack, to move to Iowa in a normal home. As they were doing that, Peter, who had landed across the street by the electrical transformers, decided to go and take revenge on his parents. Peter sprinted back to his home. ¨THINK YOU COULD GET RID OF ME!!!!¨ Peter hollered. ¨ Lydia gasped. She ran to the door, where Peter was. ¨ Peter ran into Lydia and pushed and pulled her to the nursery. ¨Safari, and hungry lions¨ he shouted, for the nursery to project. But nothing was projected. Peter then began to kick and punch Lydia. Then Mr.Mclean walked by and saw Peter beating up Lydia so he told George, and George called the police, and also started to attack Peter.

¨Aaaaah¨ Mrs.Wenton screamed. ¨WHO ARE YOU!??!?!¨” Mr. Wenton asked as he came to the door, and witnessed Wendy hurting Mrs.Wenton. ¨WHY DON´T YOU HAVE A NURSERY!?!?¨ Wendy screamed. Then Wendy began throwing chairs at Mr.Wenton. ¨You know what!?!? I´m not gonna tolerate you!! I´m gonna call the police.¨. ¨NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO¨ Wendy began to kick and scream and wail. ¨Darling, I don´t think you should call the police. She's just a child-¨ ¨Erica, I´m not going to let myself, be abused by some little kid.¨ Mr.Wenton replied. Wendy began to kick and punch Mr.Wenton. But then he took Wendy and tied her to a chair with duct tape, until the police came.

The police arrived at both houses. ¨Please don´t take me away!!!!¨ Wendy screamed. ¨I swear, I´m innocent?¨ ¨She was literally abusing me¨ Mr.Wenton told the cop.

¨You know, we couldn´t let Peter remain this way¨ George told the cop. ¨ I´m not guilty!¨ Peter cried to the police officer. ¨Hah. Yeah right, you tried to kill your parents smartie.¨ The policewoman replied.

The kids were taken to jail, and were put into a cell. ¨DON´T LOCK IT!! I'M INNOCENT¨ Wendy was screaming. ¨ Shut up¨ her parole officer inside her jail cell told her. He slapped her across the face. ¨Waaaaaaaaaah¨ Wendy began to wail even more. ¨You know your parents requested harsh punishment. And you two will be locked up in here forever¨ ¨NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO¨ Peter and Wendy screamed and hollered. They continued to get hit and insulted by other prisoners.

After that, George and Lydia packed up their belongings, burned the house,

and moved to Iowa, where they hoped to live in harmony for the rest of their lives.

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The next morning Lenard Mead woke up in a well lit room, and with weird padded walls. There was one thing in the room that Mr. Meed despised TV’s. He sat there and wondered when he would get out, and when this would all end.

“Mr. Meed your breakfast is next to the door.” a service robot had stated.

He had gotten up to go grab his food, and out of the blue the TV turned on. Mr. Lenard had already hated this place enough, but now he has to watch TV. He continued to walk to the door and again another service robot started to give him orders,

“Mr. Meed if you want to get out of this place any time soon you have to watch the television.”

Mr. Meed again refused to respond. After he had picked up his food he walked to the bet in front of the TV to begin eating. There was something off about the food, he had noticed before he had taken a bite. There was a white powder coating everything on his plate, although he knew he was being drugged he was too hungry to refuse eating, so he went on. An hour had gone by and he had finished eating, but he had felt different, calmer.

“Can I get anymore of this stuff?”

“By lunch you can have more food, Mr. Lenard.”

He continued to watch TV for multiple days, without taking his eyes of the screen. The only times Mr. Meed looked away from the screen was to grab another powder coated meal.

“Mr. Meed, your treatment is over.”

“Yes I would like to go home.”

Mr. Meed had walked out of the hospital with his cloths and belongings, but with everything exept for his books. Mr. Meed had just gotten home, but when he had gotten home all of the lights where off, with the exception of the glow of a TV in the living room.

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The pedestrian - gaby

“Where are we going."

Mr. Mead asked the Car. No answer. The car kept driving down the cold and smooth road. “Excuse me, Car, sir-when are we going to get there.”

“Please remain quiet while in the car.” The car said with no emotion

“I just want to know how long I am going to be in the car for.”

“Please remain quiet while in the car.” The car repeated with no change in its voice.

Mr.Mead gave up trying to ask the car any more questions. Mr.Mead started to look around the car to get a better look and what he was in, he saw a camera in the back of the car. It was not a big one but very tiny, about half the size of your palm. Underneath the camera was a little clock that read '9:47.' He decided to rest for a little while since he was getting tired and he was usually in bed by around this time. As he was resting his eyes he saw a glimpse of trees and streams of water, he saw for a second what looked like a tiny fluff ball with tall ears and a short round body. Darker eyes than the night sky, 4 tiny fluff balls for feet, and some buck teeth. What he did not see was any sign of human life.

He felt the car came to a stop and would have fallen for and if he did not have his seatbelt on. He took a look outside and saw a huge white and gray building with the words on the front that said 'Termination Unit.' He then saw two giant men walk out of the building towards the car. Mr.Mead felt horrified and calm. He knew this was coming, but he couldn't accept that it was happening. His head flies back to look at the clock. It read 2:13. He could not go back home; he was too far from anyone. All he could think about was the white creature, and how it looked so peaceful, that made him less scared as the men came closer to the car.

They opened the door violently and grabbed Mr.Mead, he was dragged across the pavement and did not resist his fate. They pulled him into the building with a thin and tall hallway that reached to the other side of the building. They turned halfway arccos and went into a very small room. As they sat him down in a white room with only a chair that he was using and a table with bottles and needles, He thought about his life and what he's done and he wished he had gotten to do more but he didn't regret doing anything, especially the light night walks. A lady walks in with a white gown That covers her whole body except her face, which was covered by a mask, the bottom part of her arms, and her feet were covered in black high heels covering her toes.

“How are you doing?” She asked, sounding like she cared.

“I’m doing well, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing just fine”

“I have a question-what's going to happen to me?”

“Nothing bad is going to happen, we just have to give you some medicine so that you feel better”

“What do you mean so that I feel better, I feel great.”

“You're sick Mr.Mead. We have to give you medicine.” She was serious. She was not joking at all. She started to pour liquid into a needle.

“But I'm not sick.” Mr.Mead slowly got up from the chair and then bolted out of the room. He heard the lady yell,

“Help! Figure 29 ran out!”

His heart was beating out of his chest. As he was running he saw from the sides of the hall more rooms, with people. He was not the only one who had disobeyed the rules. He was not alone. Before he even got close to the exit, the two giant men grabbed him by the arms and pulled him back into his room. As he passed the other rooms, to the other people, he could see them getting engaged with a needle. He wanted to run to the door and stop the other lady, but he was too weak. When he got back inside his prison. The lady locked the door. The men flung Mr.Mead to the ground hitting his head and everything started to go blurry. The lady took the needle and put it to Mr.Meads arm.

“This will only take a second”

Mr.Mead went home, and did what everyone else did. He never went outside for any other walks late at night. He would stay in and watch as the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared before him.

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The pedestrian- Madilyn Schumacher

Life seemed to not exist, the only thing that showed Mr. Mead some signs of life, was the glow. That bright, color changing glow as the scenes change. The characters, the actors flow to keep their victims trapped in a zombie-like stage of living. Encasing them inside their cold, blank lives.

The car stopped. There he was alone, parked in front of a tall gray building. The door opens. Crisp air, cold as the voice that followed. “ Leave the car now. Someone is waiting for you inside.”

“I guess this is goodbye.” Mr. Mead was alone. No response from the driverless car that he sat inside of. He slid down and off the cushion seats that carried him away from his home, his life, his walk.

In the gray building he sat in the waiting room. Outside the car pulled away. After what seemed like hours later a tall, lanky man called his name.

“Mr. Leonard Mead follow me please.”

Reluctantly he stood and followed. They walked past room after room in a dark gray hallway. The air, cold and crisp, attacking his lungs. Most rooms were empty. Neatly made beds with white sheets, giant viewing screens in every room. Most people just sat and watched. The endless movies and shows captured them, seemingly taking away the ability to do anything else. Soon the pair ended at a clean dark room just like the others. Anything but homely to Mr. Mead. He set his gaze on room number 313. His new home. The man introduced himself as Dr. Smith. “ We are going to work together to make you better.” said the now cheery doctor.

“ What if I’m not the one that is sick.” Mr. Mead started, “ What if you all are the sick ones.”

“ As I said we are going to help you see.”

“ This whole viewing screen stuff is a plague! When I would write, when people would read. Everyone was happy.”

“ Mr. Mead, have you ever looked at a viewing screen?”

“ No! And I’m happy for myself that I haven’t.”

“ Just take a look at your very own then.”

They walked into the gray boring room. Mr. Mead sat on the white sheets that spelt of bleach and harsh chemicals. Dr. Smith turned on the extremely large screen that took up a whole wall of the bedroom. Mr. Mead tried to block out the harsh lights dancing on the walls. Almost forcing his eyes open and his ears to listen. He gives in. Watching, meeting new characters, finding the plot of this movie. “You’ll enjoy this one!” so sure that he as a doctor is helping.

“Ok.” Mr. Mead now in that trance focused on those pixels. The plague has spread to another healthy soul lost. Unable to fight the battle that doesn’t exist for any other person in this world.

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The car moved down the empty river-bed streets and off away, leaving the empty streets with the empty sidewalks, and no sound and no motion all the rest of the chill November night. When I woke up the next morning, I wasn’t in my room, instead, I woke up in a cold, empty, jail cell. I couldn’t tell what time it was, but I could tell that it was still dark out from my one tiny window. As I got out of bed, the floorboards underneath my feet creaked, which woke up the guards.

“Hey!”  Said the police officer

I slowly turned around to see a police guard staring at me with his bright blue eyes. We stare at each other for a long minute before I turn back around and face the tiny concrete window in my cell. The moon shone brightly on my face, and it made me feel the same way I did at home when I walked the empty streets.

The morning comes around, and the sun blinds me. I step onto creaky floor boards and try to get the guards attention, I want them to let me out of the cell. Once they do, I sprint to the cafeteria, I need to eat.

“Yuck. This tastes disgusting.”

The rancid smell and taste made me more distracted than my plan to escape, and it’s only been a day here. As we clean up, I see out of the corner of my eye, the doors to the yard opening up, that means it's time to go outside.

We got outside and a wave of fresh air hit me, the smell of the old jail cell completely blinded me, and it was time for me to go outside. I see the top of the gates, that cover the perimeter of the yard, fly up into the sky. I slowly make my way over there, to sit on the benches. When it is time to come in, the guards turn their attention over to some other guy, making a scene. It's the perfect time to escape. I hop on the table of the benches, and quickly pull myself up over the fence, being careful not to hurt myself by the wire that covers the top of the gates. I look down at the high drop and try not to think about what would happen if I jumped down, but I do it anyway. As I hit the ground, my legs shake. I thought I hurt them, but I didn’t, I actually made it.

I get up, and start sprinting, wherever I can to get the furthest away from the cell. I ran all day and all night until I got to a small town that looked just like mine, and I walked the streets for the rest of the night.

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THE VELDT - Brissa V. Gallegos

“A cup of tea?” asked Wendy in the silence. David stood in shock, unable to believe what he witnessed. The children, Peter and Wendy, had just killed their parents in the nursery. The same nursery that he had been warning them about for weeks.

He looked at Wendy, who was holding out a cup of tea to him. He couldn’t find the words to speak. He wanted to scream at them, to ask them how they could be so calm after what they just have done, but the knot in his throat kept him from doing so.

“David, please,” Wendy said softly. “Take a seat and this tea.”

David took the tea from her, still in a daze. As he sipped it, he tried to process what had just happened. How had everything gone so wrong? How had he not seen this coming?

“What will you do now?” David finally asked.

“We’re going to leave,” Peter said, walking out of the shadow. “We can’t stay here. They'll come looking for us.”

David looked at Peter, feeling a mix of fear and anger. “Why did you do it, Peter? Why did you kill your parents?”

Peter looked at him, his expression unreadable. “We had to. They were going to turn off the nursery.”

David was in disbelief and shook his head. “But you killed them, Peter. How can you live with that?”

Wendy and Peter look at each other. Silence filled the room.

“We’ll manage,” Wendy said, putting her hand on Peter's arm. “It’s not like we loved them.”

David looked at them with unease. He knew that he couldn’t let them leave. They were dangerous, and he couldn’t let them hurt anyone else.

“I'm sorry, Peter and Wendy,” David said, standing up. “But I can’t let you leave. I have to call the authorities.”

Peter and Wendy looked at him with anger. “You can’t do that,” Peter said. “You’re supposed to help us.”

“What you did was wrong. You need help” said David, picking up the phone.

As David dialed the number, he heard a growl from behind. He turns around to find a lion about to attack. David threw the phone at Wendy’s head, which caused Wendy to stop thinking and for Peter to get distracted.

As the holograms stopped working, David left the nursery and locked the door from the outside, so the kids wouldn’t get out.

“HA,” David exclaimed “You’ll be sorry for this.”

Peter and Wendy beg to be let out, but the authorities arrive. David quickly explained the situation and led them towards the kids.

As the kids were being taken out of the nursery, the authorities shut the house down, but before doing so, they took the security cameras with them, and the kids were sent to prison.

A month later, the camera securities were revised. The kids were released and were sent to a foster home.

The parents' bodies were never found. The parents were never killed by their children. The parents took off for their anniversary to Africa and never came back. The kids thought they were killed by a lion. The kids were only recreating what they thought happened in the nursery. That’s when David walked in.

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William and Oliver

"But you haven't explained for what purpose."

"I explained; for air, and to see, and just to walk."

"Have you done this often?"

"Every night for years."

The police car sat in the center of the street with its radio throat faintly humming.

"Well, Mr. Mead," it said.

"Is that all?" he asked politely.

"Yes," said the voice. "Here." There was a sigh, a pop. The back door of the police car sprang wide. "Get in."

"Wait a minute, I haven't done anything!"

"Get in."

“No.” I said

The car door then closed and the car drove off into the distance.

Leonard then sprinted home knowing there were going to be more cops coming after him.

He packed up his bags quickly and left.

While he was running he was being as quiet as possible because he knew that people were looking for him.

In the metallic voice he heard “Searching for … Leonard Mead”

“If found, there will be a $10,000 reward.”

Eventually he saw blue and red lights surrounding him but didn’t worry.

He was wrong.

He was trapped.

They used the cameras in the town to find him and made sure that they surrounded him.

He suddenly heard, “Come out Leonard Mead, we know you're in there”

Leonard then opened a door that leads into someone's house and he sees someone sitting on their couch staring at the TV, being brainwashed by the fake news.

Leonard just stared at it until he realized he would become just like them. He ran outside and just kept hearing the same words repeating in his head.

“Leonard Mead missing, if found, 10,000 dollar reward.”

He started to go crazy, and the sun had just risen. It was also currently 5:00 am.

He had been hiding for 6 hours ever since the incident.

Leonard had decided to run into the woods to create a shelter to live in until this whole situation ended.

Leonard had just escaped the cops he thought, but soon he realized that the forest was surrounded by surveillance cameras and there was no way out.

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The Veldt

“George, go get the kids.”

George headed down the  stairs

“We have to leave in half an hour to get to our flight in time. Pack your bags for a two-week break from this horrible house!”

“We don’t want to go!” Cried Peter

“You can’t make us, we want  to stay in the nursery” Sobbed Wendy.

“Listen to your Father, kids”

There was a ring at the door.

“That must be David Mclean”. Exclaimend Lydia. “Be on your best behavior”

“Come in David. We were just packing for our vacation and are planning on going in about 20 minutes so you can’t stay long but you are welcome to stay for some tea if you would like.”

“Well thank you, but I must be on my way, I was just stopping by to see if there had been any updates on the nursery,” Said David

“Where are we going anyway.” Cried the kids.

“ Good-ol Colorado”. Said George, heading up the stairs.

“Why yes we are going to get rid of this awful Nursery”. Lydia answered.

“Get in the car kids! We are off to Colorado!” Yelled George happily

“I’ll take the bags out,”said George.

“Can we get Ice cream?”asked Wendy

“Sure,” George replied.

“Ok I guess i’ll come,” said Peter unenthusiastically.

The two weeks flew by and it was the last night at the hotel.

“I’m glad we did this,”said lydia.

“Me too, I feel like I actually know the kids now. Peter can play baseball really well .I never knew Wendy was an artist till this trip.”

The family enjoyed the rest of their trip without technology doing everything for them.

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Kole Aebly - The Veldt

“Well, here I am,” said David McClean in the nursery doorway, “Oh, hello.” He

stared at the two children seated in the center of the open glade eating a little picnic lunch. Beyond them was the water hole and the yellow veldtland; above was the hot sun. He began to perspire. “Where are your father and mother?”

The children looked up and smiled. “Oh, they’ll be here directly.”

“Good, we must get going.” At a distance Mr. McClean saw the lions fighting and clawing and then quieting down to feed in silence under the shady trees.

He squinted at the lions with his hand tip to his eyes. Now the lions were done feeding. They moved to the water hole to drink. A shadow flickered over Mr. McClean’s hot face. Many shadows flickered. The vultures were dropping down the blazing sky.

“A cup of tea?” asked Wendy in the silence. “It’s still warm. Not hot, but it is sufficeable.”

“Why, yes, thank you children. Now, may I ask you, where are your parents?”

“Oh, over there somewhere.” Peter said without looking up from his cup, pointing his finger absently towards the lions’ direction. David McClean put his hand to his eyes and looked once more, at the bones, then at the lions settling down beside the water hole for a rest, their stiff tails swishing the air, and vultures were stripping leftovers from the bones laying on the open veldt.

He could feel the perspiration from his forehead on his hand where it rested against it, and he pushed down a shudder. When he looked down, Wendy was standing there, a small ceramic teacup in her hand filled with a dark, viscous liquid, to the likes of that of blood.

“Thank you… Wendy.” He said, taking the teacup. He again looked up at the veldt, and saw the lions stirring, and standing up, still swishing their tails and swishing their great manes. All except for the females that weren’t moving, but seemed to be deep in sleep. Wendy just stood in front of him, an innocently solemn expression on her face.

The lions advanced slowly at first, but advanced faster and faster, breaking into a trot, and then into a run.

“They’re hungry.” Was all Wendy said, her face still innocent. She turned foot, and walked calmly back to the table, picking up her teacup and taking a tiny sip, sitting down daintily.

“Door Locked.” came an electronic voice from behind David McClean. He whirled around and ran at the door, banging and jumping at it with his shoulder. The lions were right at the wall, walking slowly, fur bristling and mane trembling. Their tails stiffened as they crouched, their muscles bunching up to make the leap. Dave McClean let out one last cry of horror, before he felt the hot, steamy breath and the warm, sticky saliva touch the side of his head in less than a second before the lions even touched him.

***

“Y’know, Wendy, I didn’t really like David. Always so bossy.”

“Yeah, I’m glad he’s gone.” The humming of insects over the open veldt seemed to grow ever so louder, and in the noise, Wendy asked,

“A refill for your tea, Peter?”

# data[].attributes.body
We got to the To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies. It was a sad dark looking place. The car pulled into the garage and told me to walk through a door. I thought for a second and walked in. what i saw blew my mind. It was people walking around a track. No one looked at me tho. Im guessing it was because i was an outsider.

I walk down the hall and the nurse registers me in. I was kind of excited to meet these new people. I haven't seen anyone in forever. I walk down the hall and walk quietly. U ntil i hear a mans voice next to mine. How long have you been walking for. I said i just got here today. And he said oh then your missing out. All of us have been caught walking out. And thats when i knew i have found the other side.

# data[].attributes.body
The Pedestrian

… "Mr. Mead." He walked like a man suddenly drunk. As he passed the front window of the car he looked in. As he had expected, there was no one in the front seat, no one in the car at all.

"Get in."

He hesitated. Mr. Mead wondered what would happen if he did not get in; what would happen if he took a stand. His hands shook like pebbles on the road during an earthquake as he spoke, “No.”

The car paused for a moment, as if it was astounded anyone would dare deftly it. Then, the car door popped open with a thud. The lights on top of the police car started to glow a blinding red. It hissed in a warning tone, “It is not a request.”

Mr. Mead started to reach toward the car in defeat. But, just as he was about to step into the car, he turned and bolted. The echo of his heavy footsteps reverberated through the eerily vacant city. Behind him he heard the unfamiliar sound of a police siren. He had not heard that sound since he was a kid. It seemed like the sound carried through from another life.

He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He seemed to not only be running away from the car and the siren but from society. He was tired of being suppressed by technology. Mr. Mead did not care about the consequences of his actions. He just needed to run.

As he sped past the ominous buildings, he noticed figures move up ahead. As he approached them, he realized people had gathered on the side walks. They had torn away from their TV screens to assess the comotion. They had torn away from the oppression of technology, even for just a moment, because of Mr. Mead’s actions.

The police car caught up to him. It started to say, “Mr. Mead, I will only ask you once more…”

“I’ll get in,” Mr. Mead interrupted, still staring at the concerned crowd of people ahead of him.

As the police car pulled away from the crowd, Mr. Mead could not help but smile. The people were talking with each other, they did not retreat back to their TVs. The police car asked him in its metallic voice, “Why are you smiling?”

Mr. Mead simply replied, “Because this is the start of great change.”

# data[].attributes.body
Tyler, Armando and Ethan

A shadow flickered over Mr. McClean’s hot face. Many shadows flickered. The

vultures were dropping down the blazing sky.

“A cup of tea?” asked Wendy in the silence.

“What is all this?” asked Mr. McClean.

“This is Africa, a beautiful place where zebras can run free, Lions can eat till they can't anymore, a place where cheetahs can sprint at amazing speeds.  That is what Africa is Mr. McClean.”Explained Peter

“So Mr. McClean, I am going to ask you again, a cup of tea?”  shouted Wendy.

Mr. McClean took the cup with a tad bit of suspiciousness on his mind, but he still drank. His mind went blank as he drifted to sleep.  A couple hours went by, but for Mr. McClean it felt like a second.  He woke up to a moist sensation on his face, as he lifted his eyelids up he saw a baby zebra licking his face.

He stood up as quickly as he could and wiped his face with his sleeve.  Mr. McClean saw the mama zebra getting closer, so he backed away from the baby zebra.  He tripped on a  stick and bonked his head on an acacia tree. The sharp pain went to the back of his head almost as quickly as he fell down.  He stood back up with his hand on the back of his head.  Mr McClean took a small glance at the acacia tree and saw droplets of blood trickling down the wood.

Mr. Mclean realizes that he is severely injured and starts to run.  He calls for help, but no answer, he calls again, no answer.  The sun is starting to set and Mr McClean is losing hope, as the sun goes down he sees a silhouette of two people walking towards him.  Mr McClean is happy, but still suspicious.  He waves his hands hoping the shadowy figures notice him.  As the figures got closer Mr McClean realized that they were humans, they got even closer and Mr McClean realizes they are kids.  It is Peter and Wendy.

“Mr McClean, I can see something is bothering you, do you want to take a nap?” asked Wendy

“How did I get here, why am I in the African Veldt?” replied Mr McClean.

“You brought yourself here, you wanted to shut off the house, now you have to pay the price.” Stated by Peter

Mr McClean heard a loud roar coming from the East,” We must go, the Lions are out hunting!” Mr McClean shouted.

“Why should we run?” asked Peter

“Yeah, they aren’t coming for us, they are coming after you.” exclaimed Wendy.

Mr McClean heard the roar getting closer and louder, Zebras, giraffes, and  monkeys all started to run west away from the screams,” Get him.” said Wendy.  A Lion jumped out of a tree and mauled Mr McClean down to the ground, he is dead.  Other lions and cubs came to feast on Mr McCleans lifeless body.  As he was being taken apart the kids stood there and watched,” I love Africa.” Wendy Stated.

The End,