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The Escape Of The Loop

"Goodnight, ma."

Joe let himself sink into his mother's hug, embracing the warmth of her clutch. She softly pecked a kiss on his forehead, and then both his cheeks.

"Goodnight, kiddo."

That was the last night Joe had in the real world.

Joe felt a violent tug on his right sleeve. His mother’s face was beaded with sweat, an urgent look on her face - she seemed to be really desperate. She was yelling at him to get up for school, as he was incredibly late. Still half asleep, he stretched his arm out to where his alarm clock should be, but as he clenched his fist and felt nothing, his heart stopped.

His mother was looking at him with a puzzled reaction.

“What were you reaching out for?” she asked.

Joe sat up and looked at his bedside drawer. The antique alarm clock his grandfather passed down to him wasn’t there anymore. He then stood up, quickly pushed the curtains aside, and looked out the window. Joe saw the school bus waiting right in front of the front lawn. The calendar on the wall was missing too.

Wasn’t it a Saturday?

From that point on, he realized he was dreaming because there was no school on weekends. Perhaps he could consider it a lucid dream now. Joe decided to play along and got ready as he usually did on normal school days half-heartedly - because school was always boring. He walked down the stone pavementpavers and the wind whistled into his ears. It was quite the unnerving sensation he felt - he turned around and his mother was gone. Joe felt a chill run down his spine and glanced through the transparent-non tinted bus windows

As usual, there were children from both elementary and middle school, but the thing that caught his eye wasn’t them. There was an old lady - or rather, a young grandmother - squinting her eyes at him. Joe felt as if his eyes were playing tricks on him as she looked old, yet there was that young luster in her eyes, and she wore clothes of such young and trendy fashion. He blindly hopped on the steps into the school bus as there were no doors, and took a seat three rows in front of her.

It felt like the bus just wouldn’t stop. Uneasiness crept over Joe, and he started feeling like something just simply wasn’t right. He turned over his shoulder, and hey! Why did the number of kids seem to dwindle? He then started counting how many children were on the bus before turning back to his original position again?

Nine children.

He turned his back against them and waited for a few minutes before he reversed once more. How strange. The kids who were playing rock, paper, scissors in the backseat had disappeared.

Seven children.

Again, he turned around after distracting himself by observing the surroundings outside. There was a road of a great length ahead and, apparently, the vehicle was driving straight.

Wait a second. Who was driving?

Six children.

It felt as if the children were disappearing faster, and faster. The vehicle was getting quiet, and quieter.

Three children,
One child - and eventually, none.

Joe panicked and grabbed the back of the driver’s seat. He hurled himself forward and was ready to start yelling at the driver as if he were going insane, but there was a problem.

“Hey! Where are all the kids goin-”

There was no one driving. He watched in horror as the bus progressed forward into the seemingly endless path ahead. He felt his face turn pale. Then it hit him - Joe remembered the exotic woman who was squinting at him from the very beginning. He turned a blood curdling 180 degrees around at such speed it hurt his back.

She looked back at him as if she already expected this. The youthful grandmother lowered her shades and cleared her throat. Joe stumbled and steadily sat himself down on the seat on the opposite side of her instead of the one next to her as it would be quite awkward.

“Hey, kiddo. How have you been lately?”

He was so confused and couldn’t seem to piece all the information he had together - none of the dots connected at all. As if the particular granny had read his mind, she then cleared her throat once more, and brought forward a few stern and clear words.“Still trying to piece it together?”

Joe was struck and shook by her words, and he realised that he wasn’t completely paying attention to what she had said.

“Ah, my apologies..” Joe started.

“Hush. This time I won’t tell you anything, but you’ll see what’s going on in a bit.”

‘In a bit’? Joe felt all the more puzzled.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

He watched in shock as she pulled out a real bomb out of her designer handbag and planted it into the metal floor of the school bus.

“What are you doing!?” he exclaimed.
“You’ll understand later on.” she reassured him.

Joe found himself completely stunned and paralysed with fear. He watched as the timer ticked itself down.

Three.
Two.

A blue bird that seemed to be glowing caught his eye, flying right beside his seat outside the window.

One.
Boom.

-

He woke up again.

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’I hate her!’ Star thought, to herself. Every single day, Cherry would bully her because Star LOVED reading. Cherry and her gang (April and May), would always grab her book and bully her.  Star hated going to school because of them and, she did NOT want to tell her parents.

The next day, Star went to school and into the classroom.  Usually, Cherry sat 2 seats behind her. April sat next to Cherry and May sat on Cherry’s other side. Today, when Star went to class, Cherry was not in class. Star gasped. Then, she smiled. She could read in peace. Finally. Then she thought of April and May and sighed.

The whole day, she was reading.  She didn't even play with her best friend, Sky!

“I need to read when I have the chance, Sky!”

“I guess…” Sky said, a little disappointed.

Star was surprised.  She thought that April or May would come and disturb her.  Luckily, they didn't.

After school, Star walked home.  After a while, she walked into a strange place.

‘This is not my home!’ she thought, ‘I must have taken the wrong turn!’

She looked around. There was a library. Walking in, she saw rows and rows of books. She had never been here before.  There were as many books as a school of fish. Colourful, story-filled books stacked on the hard, wooden shelves called her name.

After glimpsing around, she finally chose the perfect books for her. As she read the blurb, she strode to the front desk.  Looking up, she saw April. Thinking that April had followed her here, her heart started pounding rapidly.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?”, April said, angrily, ”Go AWAY!”

April told Star that she would make everyone in school, even the teachers hate her if she told anyone she saw April in the library.

After April had gone, Star borrowed her books.  Before she went, she asked the old librarian if April came often.  The wrinkly librarian said that April came every day.  Star gasped.  Did… April like books as much as she did?

After school the next day, Star went to the same library.  April was walking there too.  Star wanted to call April but she was scared.  She really wanted to talk to April and ask her about yesterday.  April turned around and saw her.  She glared.  After a while, Star mustered the courage to talk to her.

“APRIL!”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?” April screamed at Star.

“I want to talk!” Star replied.

After begging, April finally talked to Star.  April said that she also liked books a lot.  She also said that she was only part of Cherry’s gang because she didn’t want to get bullied herself!  After talking for a while, they became friends.

A few days later, neither Cherry nor May was at school.  So, April, Sky and Star talked, read books and became close friends!  All three of them went to the library and they were enjoying themselves so much that the time flew by in a blink of an eye!

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“Peter, John, Colin,” the teacher said, while passing out the midterm examination papers for Mathematics. Colin looked at his score. 100 out of 100! “Yay!” Colin thought. The teacher announced that a new student will be joining the class tomorrow so the students have to be on their best behaviour.

The next day, Colin woke up feeling excited because he wanted to see who the new student was. When he entered his classroom, he was disappointed to find out that the new student was a girl. “Girls are terrible," he muttered to himself. “They only like flowers, unicorns, rainbows and pink girly stuff!”

To his chagrin, the only empty desk was the place next to Colin’s desk so the new girl was asked to sit there.

“Hi, my name is Elizabeth,” she introduced herself to Colin waving her hand. Colin groaned softly so that Elizabeth would not hear it. “This is going to be a long day,” Colin said under his breath.

Colin waited impatiently until the school bell rang. “Ringgg!!” Finally, he couldn’t tolerate Elizabeth’s nonstop chatter.

During art class, Colin painted a nice elephant joyfully as he was good at painting. As Colin was about to show his completed painting to the art teacher, Elizabeth accidentally knocked over the water container for dipping paint brushes causing the dirty water to fall all over Colin’s beautifully painted elephant.

“Elizabeth!” Colin yelled.

“Sorry.” Elizabeth quickly apologised. “Let me help you paint a new elephant. Then the teacher came and said, “Colin, why is your art so bad!” The teacher turned to Elizabeth and said, “Your  artwork is really good.” Colin felt furious.

The next day, Colin went to the classroom grouchily because he did not want to meet Elizabeth The Troublemaker. He went to take out his pencil case and books. He realised that he forgot to bring his bag as he was too busy thinking about his spoilt art. Just then, he spotted Elizabeth.

“Why aren’t you taking out your things?” asked Elizabeth.

“None of your business!” Colin barked.

“You forgot your bag, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Colin admitted feeling worried.

“Good thing I always bring extra stationery. You can write notes on this blank piece of paper and I’ll share my textbooks with you.” Elizabeth offered, as she took out a pencil, eraser and a ruler from her pencil case. Then she tore a few papers from her exercise book and gave it to him. She also put her textbooks in the middle of their tables.

Colin felt grateful and relieved. He didn’t want the teacher to scold him.

During lunch, Colin sat on an empty table in the cafeteria alone not eating. Elizabeth the Kind Girl came and shared her food with him because she knew that Colin did not bring his money.

From that day onwards, they became bff, i.e best friends forever. Colin discovered that they both have ADHD, except his ADHD was inattentive type whereas Elizabeth had ADHD hyperactive type. They also had a lot of things in common, They both enjoyed art and were both extremely good in mathematics despite having ADHD. They both can hyperfocus on stuff they like to do such as reading and playing chess. Now, Colin always looks forward to going to school to see his best friend.

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Hermione, Harry, and Ron were visiting the wand shop when Harry spotted something furry. “I see something in the distance!” Hermionie said. “What is it now Hermionie?!” Ron said, a frustrated tone evident in his voice. “I was actually talking to Harry,.” said Hermionie, she turned around and nudged at Harry. “W-What?” yelped Harry, whirling urgently to face her. “Sorry I was looking at that cat over there, it keeps on staring at me.” “WAIT WHAT CAT??!!” cried Hermionie, her head darted around, eager to spot the feline. “I DON’T SEE IT WHERE HARRY! WHERE??!!” she looked around desperately. “Oh over there…” said Harry gesturing to the Petskonny Shop. “CAT!!!” Hermione squealed, darting towards the Petskonny shop. “SO ADORABLE!!” “Its just a cat Hermionie…” Ron muttered nonchalantly, looking like he was about to yawn. “Nothing to be so eager about.” But the words fell on deaf ears as Hermionie had already purchased the cat. “Oh gosh,.” said Ron, slapping his face. “She was crazy enough to buy it.”

Soon enough, the three of them went back to the Weasley's house. “Awww! Who’s a little cute ball of fluff!” gushed Hermionie as she cuddled her new cat which she had christened Crookshanks. But suddenly, Crookshanks leaptlept out of Hermione’s arms and started tackling and scratching Ron. “AHHH!” said Ron trying to escape from Crookshanks but couldn't. “GET THIS BLOODY DEVIL AWAY OF ME!” Ron looked like he was about to cry, Harry and Hermione wanted to laugh so hard. “Chill down! It's not like he’s going to tear you up into little shreds of flesh and meat!” said Hermionie, teasing Ron, letting out a little giggle. “Come here, Crookshanks!” she said drawing Crookshanks with some cat treats. “He’s quite cute not gonna lie,” said Harry looking a bit in awe of Crookshanks. But the Crookshanks went back to Ron and almost ripped off his pants. “AHHHH! WHEN WILL THIS BLOODY CONTRAPTION EVER STOP! AHHH MY TROUSERS! THEY’RE TEARING APART! “said Ron, looking way more frightened than before, he even cried a bit. “BLOODY HELL THIS THING IS A MONSTER!” Harry and Hermionie burst out laughing, they couldn’t keep it in anymore! “HAHAHAHAHA!!” said Hermionie and Harry together, laughing until their bellies hurt. “YOU SHOULD SEE THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE, RON!!” said Hermionie, shedding a tear. “THAT REACTION WAS PRICELESS!” said Harry, with a big grin on his face. “WE COULD SEEL THAT FOR BILLIONS OF GALLEONS!” “But I bet 1 day you and Crookshanks might get together someday,” said Hermione.

All 3—oh, I mean 4 of them (including Crookshanks) went to sleep. Since Mr and Mrs. Weasley went out for a 2 week vacation and the rest of Ron’s siblings went to summer camp, Ron, Hermionie and Harry has the Weasley’s house all to themselves. Little did Ron know, Crokshanks has been sleeping with Ron the whole entire time! “Ahwwwh! Morning guys!” said Hermionie, yawning and stretching at the same time. “O.M.G! RON WAKE UP NOW!” She was VERY SUPER DUPER surprised when she saw Ron and Crookshanks sleeping together! “What’s going on?” said Harry, putting his specs on. “WHAT IN THE BLOODY WORLD IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW??” He was very shocked and almost had a panic attack when he say Crookshanks and Ron! He never knew that this will ever happen in like a million years! “Awhhhhh! Mornin, anyone want some te-AHHHHHHHHH!” Ron literally jumped out of bed and wiped all the fur off his pyjamas. “WHO PUT THAT THING ON ME???!!” He was very smoking hot angry but when he saw Crookshanks still sleeping peacefully on the bed he stopped. “No one did…” said Hermionie watching Ron in awe over Crookshanks. “Yup it's true,” she was thinking of something. “What’s true?” asked Ron with a very curious face. “The phrase! I remember in a book I read yesterday, it says “A furry friend will keep you smiling,.” said Hermionie with a warm smile on her face. It kind of warmed Harry and Ron too. Ron went on bed and cuddled with Crookshanks.

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Tom was reading his favourite book on his bed when he heard the sound of the doorbell ringing. When he went downstairs to check, he saw his mother talking to his aunt Tetra.

“Yes, I’m sure Tom would be happy to take care of your cat, Tetra don’t worry,” Tom’s mother said.

“Take care of Steve?“ Tom thought “I hate cats! I thought mom knew that when I got scratched by one when I was two. Besides, I haven’t even met him.”

“All right, remember, his toys are in the red bag, his food is in the blue bag, and his bed is in the white bag,” said Aunt Tetra, placing the bags she was carrying. She then closed the door, and yelled before she left, “Remember, he likes to go out and hunt for birds at two in the evening, he usually comes back an hour later, but if he doesn’t come back by then, you should go and check in case he got stuck somewhere.”

When he saw Aunt Tetra drive away through the window, Tom opened his mouth to speak, but his expression gave him away.

“Tom, I know that you don’t like cats, but you really need to get over it. Just because one cat scratched you doesn’t mean that all the cats would hate you,” his mother said, “Steve is sleeping now, all you need to do is to put his food and water in the cat bowl and check on him if he comes back late from hunting every day. Your father and I won’t be able to help because we have work. Anyway, you’re pretty free since you are on summer holiday, so I don’t want to hear any complaining!”

For the next few days, Tom just put the food and water in the cat bowl for the cat. One day, Steve went out to hunt for birds but did not return home by 3.00pm, as was his usual routine. Tom was so busy reading his book that he forgot the time. When he finally checked the time, he realised it was already 5.00pm but Steve was still not back yet. Tom half-heartedly decided to go and look for Steve outside because it was his responsibility to take care of Steve. He finally found Steve on top of a tall tree at the end of the road.  As Tom was quite strong, he climbed the tree with ease and brought Steve down.

While they were going home, Steve suddenly meowed loudly causing Tom to turn around to see a huge dog about the size of Tom, chasing them! Tom quickly picked up Steve and ran back into his house. After that, Tom and Steve became great friends because Tom had rescued Steve when he was stuck on the tree and Steve saved Tom by warning him that the dog was coming.

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“WHAT?!” said Brinila Browns. She had been paired up with her enemy, Namali Falls, for a sports event that offered $8000. “No friggin’ way! Of ALL the poeplethings I could’veI’ve been paired up with— HER?!”

“Well, put up with it. I paired y'all up the best I could,” said Professor Spark. She wore a red T-shirt and a pair of black pants. She was also wearing her signature scarlet coloured sport shoes. Professor Spark shrugged. “Either lose or win, it’s up to you,” she said. “Alright,” Brinila pouted. She looked at Namali. She hadn’t said a word so far.

After class was dismissed, Namali turned to Brinila and glared. “What?” said Brinila. “I didn’t ask to be with you.” Namali held out her hand. “You want that prize? Then let’s work together.”

Brinila hesitated, then reached her hand out and shook hands with Namali. “Alright, but the minute it’s over, we’re done,” she negotiated. Namali smirked. “Deal,” she agreed. “Actually, let’s go ask the professor the details.”

“We are doing running, basketball, tennis, badminton, gymnastics and javelin throw,” Professor Spark said. “You can only choose one. The running, basketball, gymnastics and javelin throw are singles, but tennis and badminton are doubles,” she informed them.

“Great! Let’s do badminton!” said Namali. “If you say so,” Brinila said reluctantly. “Let’s go practice right now!” Namali excitedly said. “Now?” asked Brinila. “Yeah, now!” Namali rolled her eyes.

They went to the school’s badminton court and practiced for one hour. They did that for a whole month, and signed up for badminton.

The day had arrived and everyone was looking forward to it. “I’m so nervous I can barely stand,” Namali said. “Take a chill pill,” Brinila laughed. “It’s alright.”

The pair anxiously waited for an hour. At last, they heard their names. “THIS MATCH IS BRINILA BROWNS AND NAMALI FALLS VERSUS JACOBSON JO AND ALLISA LEE!” the commenter’s voice boomedshouted.

Brinila and Namali nervously went out to the court. Their competitors were on the other side of the court. “AND…… START!” the commenter shouted.

Brinila served and the battle began. After an intense setsets of badminton, Brinila and Namali won!

“WE WON!” Namali cried, jumping about their side of the court. “WE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!”

When they came up on the stage to claim their prize, Brinila and Namali beamed from ear to ear. They were given their $8000 and split it between them.

“OK, now you can get away from me,” said Namali. “The thing is, I’ve gotten used to you! Let’s be friends, shall we?” asked Brinila. “Sure!” Namali smiled.

Together, the two went off to see what they could get with their prize money.

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Riiiiiing! Riiiiiing! The school bell rang loudly over the chatter of the many students heading outside for recess.

“So what do you guys want to do first?” Mia asked her small group of friends. The suggestions started coming in but the group was rudely interrupted by another student.

“Yeah! What do you guys want to do first?”

“Mind your own business Jason,” Mia told the other student darkly. However, he just kept talking as he forcefully led Mia’s friends away. They looked over their shoulders at Mia with apologetic looks before they disappeared into the crowd. Just great, Mia thought, When am I ever going to get an actual opportunity to play with my friends? Mia slumped and headed to the swings by herself. This went on for the next couple of weeks until Mia finally decided to confront Jason about it. Her plan was to follow him home after school and really give him a piece of her mind!

The following day, she put her plan into motion. After reaching Jason’s home, Mia carefully peered into a random window and couldn’t help but notice something peculiar. On almost every surface of the wall were pictures of Jason with his family. They were all different but there was one thing they all had in common. Every single picture was of Jason and his parents - just the three of them. Suddenly, Mia now had a theory for why Jason had acted the way he did but she still needed to confirm it.

Mia cornered Jason the next day at school and began talking at a rapid pace.

“Why did you keep trying to steal my friends?” Mia asked, “Was it because you were lonely and didn’t have anyone to play with? That was because you were an only child ri-?” Before she was even finished tears started rolling down Jason’s cheeks.

“I’m so sorry!” he wailed. “I didn’t mean to! I was just very lonely at home and even in school! Nobody likes me for any apparent reason! When I saw you had a lot of friends I didn’t know what else to do!” His tears were crashing down like a waterfall now. Mia, who was a kind and warm-hearted girl,  comforted him with a pat on the back and told him “It’s okay. I should’ve asked you sooner. Anyways, we’re friends now. Right?”

Jason agreed and from then on, Mia would invite him to play with her and her friends every day. As time went by, both formed a beautiful friendship and found that they shared many things in common.

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Listen carefully and I will tell you about the story of Apollo 13.

Apollo 13 (April 11–17, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Centre,  on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module (SM) failed two days into the mission. The crew instead looped around the Moon and returned safely to Earth on April 17. The mission was commanded by Jim Lovell as Command Module (CM) pilot and Fred Haise as Lunar MOdule(LM) pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for Ken Mattingly, who was grounded after exposure to rubella.

A routine stir of an oxygen tank ignited damaged wire insulation inside it, causing an explosion that vented the contents of both of the SM's oxygen tanks to space. Without oxygen, needed for breathing and for generating electric power, the SM's propulsion and life support systems could not operate. The CM's systems had to be shut down to conserve its remaining resources for reentry, forcing the crew to transfer to the LM as a lifeboat. With the lunar landing cancelled, mission controllers worked to bring the crew home alive.

Although the LM was designed to support two men on the lunar surface for two days, Mission Control in Houston improvised new procedures so it could support three men for four days. The crew experienced great hardship, caused by limited power, a chilly and wet cabin and a shortage of potable water. There was a critical need to adapt the CM's cartridges for the carbon dioxide scrubber system to work in the LM; the crew and mission controllers were successful in improvising a solution. The astronauts' peril briefly renewed public interest in the Apollo program; tens of millions watched the splashdown in theSouth Pacific Ocean on television.

Everybody thinks that Apollo 13 was very unlucky. If you add up the dates of launch, it is 13 and if you look at the time, it is 13:13. But the humans survived. Apollo 1 blew up and killed everybody. So why is one not an unlucky number?

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Jenn and Anne had been enemies since forever. Or since they could remember. They hated the way their names sounded the same. They hated the way they always dressed alike somehow. They hated that many of the things they liked were the same, and hated the same. But they both forever agreed on one thing: THEY—WOULD—ALWAYS—BE—ENEMIES—FOR—LIFE!!!

One day, Jenn and Anne’s teacher decided she had had enough. She told them: “I want you to be friends, no matter what. Be fake friends if you must, but stop fighting!” So Jenn and Anne became fake friends and stopped fighting. For now. But 3 months later, they got sick and tired of being fake friends, or anything with the word friends in it. That day, they were fighting while crossing the road.

“I hate you! How can we even be fake friends?!” Jenn screamed at Anne. Anne screamed back, “You are just trash! I won't be anything but your enemy! You should be honoured that I am even your enemy!”

They didn’t see the cars that were coming. The cars smashed into them. They were brought to the hospital and the doctor announced that they had both suffered severe brain damage. He was right, because when Jenn and Anne woke up, they jumped out of their beds and hugged each other and cried that they would be BFFs forever and they had no idea why they ‘dreamt’ that they were enemies.

The brain damage was so amazingly severe that they thought they were BFFs. How sad for them. Really! And the worst part was that THEY NEVER EVER RECOVERED FROM THE AMAZINGLY SEVERE BRAIN DAMAGE!!!

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Samuel and James were bitter adversaries, rivals or any other iteration of the word. No one was sure why they hated each other with such a passion, but regardless, they fought everyday. They often fought by doing one of a few various things, sabotaging each other at school, stealing each other's stuff and so on. Most of the time, these follies and tricks were pretty minor, however sometimes, they escalated, escalated to the point where they got suspended or grounded severely. This just boosted their hate for each other. A vicious never ending cycle, that seemingly nothing could break.

The aforementioned sentence was true, up until a devastating event occurred. An event that would change everything. Their parents decided to get divorced. A simple act, having dire consequences. The only similarity the brothers shared was their love for their parents and now that was gone too. They were sent to their aunt and uncle's home, a rather large home by the sea. It was luxurious but it lacked their parents. Their aunt and uncle were kind folk, but they were not really that close, so the brothers' days were boring and bland.

Their aunt's home was really far from their old school, consequently they had to go to a new school. It was alright but they lost all their friends and they were bullied quite a lot. It was alright at first, but then it got a bit too serious. One day, James decided to step up for his brother against the school bully, Corky. James was slightly bruised, but the brothers' relationship was healing. Upon returning home, the arguments stopped and the home was now more silent and peaceful.

After several days, the brothers were much closer, bonded together because of the events of the world, their parents divorce, school bullies and how boring life was. Eventually, they started playing together again, like what they used to do many many years ago. Life was no longer a drag, during the day they went to school. It wasn't boring anymore because they had each other and they met some new friends. After school, they did homework and once they were done, the fun began.  Their house was massive, perfect for games of hide and seek and even better the beach was near their house. At any time they wished they could go play inat the ocean and sand.

After a month, they had fully adjusted to life at this new home, they were closer to their aunt and uncle, they had many close friends and they now had each other, they were the best of pals. Life was off to a good start. The only thing missing was their parents, but they had a feeling they would see them again some day.

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Fox saw it first. The tall, spotty giraffe named Spotty. Lonely and afraid, he roamed around the burning hot desert. The sun was blazing at him making it harder to move. He hasn’t drank any water for days, making him dehydrated. Only after two days Spotty noticed that he was in a foreign land. Searching everywhere for a way back home was no use. Finally, he found a den to stay in for the time being.

Day by day, he met animals that shunned him. Foxes, crows and even small, tiny lizards! No one wanted to talk to him. He tried to introduce himself and make friends with them, but all they did was ignore Spotty.  In his den, he heard the other animals talking about him. Spotty started to dislike them. Back home, everyone would greet each other and easily make friends. He felt left out.

One day, Spotty had enough of this. He dashed to pick leaves from huge trees nearby. He picked small leaves to big leaves. The other animals hid behind huge boulders spying on him. After Spotty picked which leaves he wanted, he crafted all the leaves into wings. He attempted many times. He jumped almost a thousand times but failed. He tried to fly back home to where he belongs.

The next day, he tried again. This time, he added bigger and better quality leaves. Spotty pounced and jumped as hard as he could but failed once again. On the bright side, the other animals slowly approached him. They looked at each other. Fox spoke first but Spotty just ignored him the same way they ignored him at first. After attempts to talk to him Spotty finally spoke back. They let him talk and found out that they had made a huge mistake.  After hours of talking, the animals slowly became friends. They laughed, they joked, they talked. Spotty was grateful. As the sun set, he thanked all the other animals and headed back to his den. For another wild day awaiting.

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“Hup hup hup, let’s go!” comes Dad’s voice. Charlotte groans. “Five minutes,” she moans. “Nawsir, wake up now!” “Alright alright!” Charlotte sighs. “I’ll get dressed for school.”

10 minutes later, Charlotte appears at the bottom of the stairs. “Hi, my baby!!” Mom calls from the kitchen. “Mum, I told you, I’m not a little baby anymore! I’m thirteen!” “Alright then, old woman!” Charlotte’s brother teases her. “Charlie, you get ready too!” says Daddy. Charlie pulls a long face. “OK!”

Later, they’re ready for school. “Bye, dears!” Mom calls. “Byeeeeeeeeee!” the siblings call.

Charlotte’s day at school wasn’t that enjoyable. She forgot to bring her exercise book and got scolded. She was down in the dumps on the way home from school. But that all changed that afternoon.

Charlotte and Charlie were in the living room watching Minecraft shows when the door had a knock and a pitiful squeak. “I’ll go check,” said Charlie, getting up and going to the door. He gave a shriek and Charlotte jumped. “YOU’RE JUST OPENING THE DOOR YOU FOOL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” she yelled. “LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK!” Charlie was too excited to speak. Charlotte went to see what her brother was so excited about. “Oh my,” she gasped.

It was a squirrel, with an injured paw. “It’s injured,” Charlie said, picking it up. “It’s fainted too,” Charlotte said. “I know what to do!” Charlie brought it to the dining table and laid it down. He got some bandages, two matches and some string. He proceeded to wrap the injured squirrel’s paw in bandages and tied the matches he brought to it with some string.

“Wow, you’re awfully good at this,” said Charlotte in surprise. “I saw Mom doing this for another squirrel when we were little. Oh look, it’s waking up!” Charlie gently picked it up and held it. The squirrel woke up and looked around and back at him with big, pleading eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ve gotcha,” Charlie whispered. The squirrel, comforted by the boy’s soothing voice, promptly relaxed and fell back to sleep. He picked the squirrel up and fetched a cage for canaries. “You’re using Budgie’s old cage?” asked Charlotte. “Yep!” said her brother. He got a little bowl of water and acorns and placed them in the cage along with the little squirrel.

When Mom and Dad came back from work, they were amazed to see a SQUIRREL, of all things, in their house. “What’s this squirrel doing here?” Mom asked. “It’s injured, Mom,” Charlie explained. “Well, I’ll treat it! I know how!” said Mom. “There’s no need to, Mom!” Charlotte exclaimed. “Charlie already did it!” Mom looked at the bandage. “I must say, it’s pretty neat,” she said, impressed.

Charlie went red with pride. “Of course!” he said proudly. He stopped to think, then said, “Can we keep him?” “Of course not!” said Mom. “We have to let him go back to his friends!” “But we could still let it out sometimes,” Charlotte implored.

Charlie and Charlotte frowned. “Please~” they begged. “Hmm… alright,” Mom sighed. “What do you want to name him?” she asked.

Charlie thought. “How about… Bushy? Or Tails? Or Squeak?” Charlie seemed to be deep in thought. He slapped his hand on his thigh. “I know!” he exclaimed. “I’ll name him Buddy! Buddy the squirrel!” The squirrel woke up just in time to hear that. He scampered out of the cage and cuddled against Charlie.

Mom’s heart just melted. “Aww… he’s gone and taken my heart completely!” she said. Mom stroked him. Buddy the squirrel scampered around the whole room, squeaking in excitement.

From then on, Buddy was a part of the family, living in peace.

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The deer lay down on a soft bed of leaves and looked up at the starry night sky. Where it was lying was one of the only places in the forest where you could look up and see the night sky above for the rest of the places, the leaves of the hundred old trees would cover the night sky. The deer stayed still for what felt like hours , both of the deer’s ears perked up, sensing danger. The deer heard footsteps coming nearer and nearer.  Before the deer could react, there was a huge bang and the deer jumped into action.

The bang knocked the deer forwards, and it ran for its life and as it slowed down to rest, it turned its head to see the threat. The deer immediately recognized the threat: a hunter. The loud bangs became more and more fainter as the deer ran. When the bangs were no longer audible, the deer stopped running.

“Zip!” came a noise from behind. Suddenly, a man appeared behind the deer. The man wore a long purple cloak and hat. The man also wore a pearl-black ring with a glowing white line in the middle.

When the man saw the deer, he said in a soft voice “Don’t worry. I’m not going to shoot you. I only wanted to shoot that lion.” The deer turned its head, being cautious in case it was a trick. “I’m just here for a little visit-you are the Deer Of Wishes aren’t you?”the man said. The deer blinked, recognizing its name. “I’ve heard that you could grant wishes. Do you mind granting me some?” the man asked. The deer blinked again knowing why the man had come and after a few seconds of silence, the deer vanished.

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The afternoon had turned dark, the sky turned an uninviting hue of grey and the clouds roared with thunder. Olivia could sense that it was going to rain and hurried inside the house. Once she was inside, she took out a bowl of cookies and a glass of milk.

An hour slowly crawled by, the storm increased and raindrops bounced off the house. As a flash of lightning ripped across the sky, Olivia suddenly noticed a pair of illuminated eyes staring through the glass door. It belonged to an adorable milky white and inky black dog. Soooo cute! Olivia thought. The puppy was drenched in water, so Olivia quickly brought it inside and dried it with a towel.

Olivia toyed with the idea of keeping the puppy, but she would need to ask her parents first. However, something was bothering her, but she couldn’t point her finger at it… What could it be? And then… Aha! It must be the fact that I’m sneezing so much. Olivia realised. But why was she sneezing? Was it because of the dirt and dust that the puppy brought along with it? Was it because she was getting sick? Was it… Olivia stopped her train of thought. She didn’t want to think about it. No, Olivia told herself, You must not run away from this. If it’s that, then you will have to face it. Was it because Olivia was allergic to dogs?

When her parents came back home about 15 minutes later, they took Olivia to the clinic. A doctor confirmed that Olivia was allergic. Olivia and her parents had no choice but to put the dog up for adoption a nearby pet centre the following day. However, Olivia made sure to say goodbye to Oreo, the name that she had given the dog, before leaving him behind.

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Imagine yourself alone in your room fast asleep. Then suddenly you woke up in the middle of the night and knew you weren’t alone. Have you ever experienced that? Well, I have. It happened 4 years ago. One night and I already went to bed. I kept tossing and turning in my bed because of the mosquitoes that I can’t sleep. I have already turned on the ceiling fan but still, they won’t go away. Finally, I got tired and I fell fast asleep. Then, in the middle of the night, I suddenly felt conscious.

It seemed like somebody was staring at me. A little, I opened my eyes to see who it was. As I opened them slowly, I saw a figure. It was like a man standing in my room near the door. I thought it was my father but on second thought it wasn’t. I started to have goosebumps and my mind is freaking out. The man that was standing right in my room was blocking my door and I couldn't go out. As I glanced at him once more, I realised that he was something else.

My mind started to think that this is not just a human but something else. A bad entity has entered my room and it was not a very good sight. Fear was all over me and I couldn't cry for help. It seems like there is something in my throat that I can’t shout out. I turned my back and faced the wall and calmed myself to sleep. As I woke up the next morning, I didn’t tell anyone about what happened and just kept silent.

Pretending nothing happened. I prefer not to talk about it because I know no one would believe me. I know that this sounds crazy and may think I made it all up but it’s what I really saw that night. If I’d ask you, do you believe what I have seen? I’m pretty sure you don't. Maybe you are thinking that I was just imagining things and I over reacted about it due to my young mind. Well , I guess as many people say, “To see is to believe” right? Then maybe, he’d come to visit you as well.

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“Are you sure no one is going to steal the precious tablet?” Tambewe asked John.

“Yes, the police are surrounding the place!” he replied. “With high security no one can try stealing the tablet unless he is an art thief who wants this magnificent artwork!” Tambewe relaxed but was still alert, as he turned to the part where the tablet was located, crowds were staring and taking pictures while security kept them away from the tablet. John looked at the tablet but then a look came across his face. Tambewe looks at him and groans. John walked toward the security and flashed his card towards them. He picked up the tablet and said, “This is fake!”

Suddenly the lights went off. The security doors slowly close the room shut. Soon a man slid through and John started chasing. The man was carrying a satchel. John started running. As the man went down the stairs full of people rushing up and down. John found a metal pole with the flag of Italy and slid down the pole. He landed with a thud. “Ow… that hurts!” he muttered to himself before getting up.

The man stared at John, John smiled. “Stop and stay where you are!” shouted John “This is the FBI!” The man was grabbed and pushed against the wall while three security guards pinned him. “Name? Occupation? Age?” questioned John. The man smirked and replied confidently “Nolan, Spy for the S.W.A.T and 26.”

“Nolan, I see.” John said suspiciously before being handed a laptop. He keyed in Nolan, 26, S.W.A.T.  A picture of a man was shown exactly like the man they caught. The security guards unpinned him before snatching the satchel. John opened the satchel only to find the gold tablet. “WHY DID YOU STEAL THIS?” John shouted angrily “You know very well that there are punishments for members to steal.” Nolan looked at him and quietly said, “The Bishop…”

“The bishop what?” questioned John. Nolan didn’t answer. He walked away leaving John puzzled. John had fourteen miss calls. The bishop was all he thought all night.

Suddenly, there was an unknown call. John picked up and answered. “Hello, John or should I say John Dartly?” said a mysterious woman's voice.

“Who are you? What do you want? I am trying to find the bishop… If you help me find the bishop I will give you what you want,” John said slowly.

The woman laughed and cried, “I am the one you are trying to find.” John's eyes were wide open. He knew he had to track the woman. Just then John overheard a conversation with the bishop and a man.

“Are you ready to get the golden tablet that is still in the national museum of Italy?” said the man. The call ended.

John thought hard. He took his coat and rushed towards the museum. John sped and called for backup. It was 30 minutes till the museum closed, John could hear the eerie and whispers of the mummies from the tomb. John hid by buying a newspaper and reading it. Just then a suspicious woman and a man dressed in balck entered the museum. John took out his handcuffs and pistol. He walked carefully and closely to them. Just as the bishop walked towards the room. The police captured them. John hurried and pinned the bishop towards the ground. “Sister!?” asked a confused and stressed John.

“You are going to pay for this by paying with years of your life in jail. Hope you don’t escape or try to rob again,” John said, still unconvinced. Back at the headquarters “Wow, I can’t believe you caught the bishop, but I am sorry for you. For capturing the bishop you can get the rest of the week off!” said the captain. John smirked and saluted. He left the office and went to hang out with Nolan and Tabewe. “Man, I just can’t help thinking that y-you’re… a hero!” said Tambewe informally.

John looked at him and said, “Wow… that’s the first time and maybe the last time I will hear you talk like that.” Nolan, John and Tambewe laughed. “Tambewe, Nolan, do you want to go to Las Vegas? That’s where I was born.”

“Heck ya!” said Nolan.

“Ditto,” said Tambewe. John flashed three tickets at them. They took off into the sky on a long journey to Las Vegas.

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It was a summer morning on Pivot Drive and Mr Jones woke up, ready for another happy day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and Mr Jones was making his morning coffee when there was a strange knocking on the door. Mr Jones opened the door and saw a minuscule boy.

He looked so very skinny and was probably starving. ‘Hello,” said Mr Jones softly, ”What do you want?” “Can you please give me some food? My mommy and I are very hungry”, said the boy and pointed to a woman who was sitting on the pavement. Mr Jones got to work. He gave the little boy a loaf of bread and a carton of milk.

The little boy and Mr Jones walked across the road. He gave the food to the starving couple and dropped the mother some money. Then, he walked back home feeling great for helping the little boy and his mother. But little did he know that from that day onwards, the little boy would never forget what Mr Jones did.

Years later, Mr Jones fell ill with cancer., He was brought to the hospital while the doctors inspected the severity of cancer. It was almost in its final stages. The doctor, Doctor Wilkens, said that there was nothing the hospital could do. They could only slow it.

Until a doctor arrived and recognized Mr Jones. It was the boy. The doctor tried everything to save the person who saved his life. He succeeded and saved Mr Jones. However, when Mr Jones woke up, he knew that the bill was going to be tremendous. Then he saw what was written on the bottom of the receipt: "Paid by a loaf of bread and a carton of milk.”

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It just turned midnight and Ewen was still awake. He kept tossing and turning in his sleeping bag because of the mosquitoes that kept buzzing in his ear everytime he stopped moving. You must be wondering where he is. Ewen was on a school trip in the middle of a forest. Who knows what could be out there. Each person had their own tent so none of them would disturb each other but the quality of the tent was horrendous. Soil so thin could just slip in and make your skin itchy, a broken zip could lead to insects flying in and many more which won’t sound that great.

Ewen probably had about five minutes of sleep before waking up again from a crunch he heard from outside his tent. He popped his head out and saw one of his teachers who looked like a zombie walking outside of her tent probably for some fresh air. Ewen collapsed back into his tent and closed his eyes hoping to sleep longer without any distractions. It was peaceful outside with nothing but the sounds of crickets. That was until he heard a louder crunch right outside his tent. Ewen immediately woke up frustrated. “Hello?” an unfamiliar voice greeted him. He quickly grabbed his torchlight and shined it onto the stranger’s face. An old man who looked like he had just been in a fight appeared. “What do you want?” Ewen whispered. “Help,” the man replied.

Approximately five minutes had passed and the two of them said nothing. Ewen was confused. ‘Help?’ he thought to himself.  He brought the man outside and let him talk. The stranger explained how wild animals chased after him and tried to kill him when he was just cycling through the forest.  The wrecked man asked Ewen if he could sleep in his tent for just one night. Ewen dumbly accepted it and they both headed back to the tent. Ewen was proud of himself that he finally did something kind. Following that, he slept wonderfully for the rest of the night without even a flinch of waking up.

Morning appeared and Ewen woke up tired. It seems that he needed more time to sleep. He turned around to check on his new friend but found he was missing and so was his bag. Ewen couldn’t believe it. Everything valuable that he owned was in that bag. Ewen knew it was wrong to trust strangers. He was going to get into trouble big time. Just as he was about to approach the teachers, he saw the man talking with the teachers. Did he get caught? Will he get his bag back? Suddenly, Ewen knew what was happening.

It was a test.

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There was a slight rain, the weather was incredibly chilly, incredibly foggy and James was incredibly bored. He had just finished his homework, and was now staring into the ethereal fog surrounding his quaint home. Unlike most kids, at his age, he had no television and no digital phone, so he had to rely on himself and other things for entertainment. Eventually, he got bored of staring into the rain and decided to go visit his grandparents in the other room.

They were sleeping. Great.

Now he had absolutely nothing to do. He sat on his bed, just thinking, nothing else. But, thoughts are like rows of dynamite, a volatile chain reaction, one thought led to another and, boom. He revived a depressing thought, why did mom and dad never come home? He occasionally  pondered this question, but it wouldn't do him good. He would cry, he would have to hide the thought away. He swore not to rethink about it, he believed his parents were good people, they never left him, they were just unfathomably busy.

But, thoughts, if bottled up, can explode, like air.  He couldn't hide the  thoughts and force them away anymore. The bottle shattered. He cried and questioned more, where were they?, why are they gone?, do they not love me?, why were they not there for me when things were tough? His parents were never there for him, he was often bullied and scolded by teachers, and had a generally tough life. He couldn't tell his grandparents about his troubles, their hearing was bad, they were very judgemental and their blood pressure was often very high, But he still loved them.

During dinner, he had some tasty warm porridge, he often enjoyed eating, the taste and warmth of the food felt like a nice hug, something much needed. James could feel the effort and love his grandma put into the food. But despite this he wished there was someone there for him, a give and take relationship, he would look after them and support them and they would watch his back when he was in trouble.

His wish came true.

After dinner, he was tending to his family garden, the air was thick with humidity. He was trimming some plants when the shear made a weird noise. He paused, inspected the shear and carried on. He heard another sound, this time it was distinguishable. It was a small whimper-bark sound. He looked outside the house compound and he found a medium sized dog staring back at him.

The dog was a mess, his fur was dirty, long, filled with ticks. James was unsure what breed of dog this was, but something subconsciously clicked, the dog ran to James and smiled at him. James patted the dog, he felt strange that his heart warmed. There was news of a heavy storm approaching, he could just leave this poor fellow alone in the rain, he brought the dog into thein the house, and excitedly called for his grandparents.

His grandparents were delighted by the discovery, they both loved dogs and this fellow seemed to irradiate joy to them. Before long they were all cleaning up, feeding and grooming the latest addition to the incomplete family.

Epilogue: After a good wash, it was revealed that the dog was a cute golden retriever, its fur did shine like gold. The whole family sat in the living room, teaching the dog tricks, petting the dog and naming it. They decided to name it cookie. Cookie was an energetic dog, spreading her energy and joy to everyone in the room. Thanks to Cookie, the whole family had fun together, doing all sorts of things they never ever did before, going to the park, going on a shopping spree and many others. Cookie truly was something they needed.

James was a little sad. He sat in his room doing his homework forlornly, no one suspected anything but a dog knew. Cookie walked over and did what he normally did to cheer people up, Cookie licked him and gave an encouraging bark. He did some of the tricks his owners taught him, accidentally doing a backflip, causing some laughter from James. Cookie had succeeded. James gave Cookie a hug and thought, with a strange feeling of serenity, a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was loved by his dog, his grandparents and his parents somewhere far away. He did not hate them, he knew they were trying their best to finish whatever they were doing.

He was supported and loved.

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”NO!” the mum (Olivia) screamed.

“WE ARE GOING!” the dad, Liam, argued back.

They were fighting about the family going on an adventure in the cave.  Liam decided that they would go, after a lot of screaming.  Ava hated her parents.  They were always fighting!

A few days later, they went to The Cave of Secrets (C.O.S).  When they got to the cave, Olivia humphed.  She still didn’t want to go.  She thought that caves were full of dirt and mess.  She also HATED bats!  When they walked in, Ava looked around.  It was as dark as black ink and it looked like there were many secrets hidden around.

“Ew.  This place is GROSS! I'M GETTING OUTTA HERE!” Ava’s mum’s voice screamed in the shadow.

Suddenly, rocks started moving unexpectedly.  As if it was magic.  Then, the grey, wide rocks collapsed onto the entrance of the cave.  They were trapped.

“Uh oh…” Ava gasped.

“HOW DO WE GET OUT NOW?  IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!”  Olivia shrieked.

Liam said, calmly, “We have to move the rocks.”

Olivia sighed.  She sat down on the cave ground.

…

One day later, they were thirsty and starving.  Ava and her dad had tried and tried to push the rock away.  Fortunately, they could move it for 1inch.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for anyone to fit through.  Many times, they asked the mum for help, but she said she was tired and hungry.  Liam and Olivia now had another fight.  This time about Olivia helping.

The next day, while the dad and Ava were sleeping, the mum woke up early, starving.  Out of the blue, she looked up and there were millions of bats.  She was as scared as an animal being chased.

Looking at the rocks, she walked hastily towards the collapsed boulders.  She tugged for a few minutes.  It was super heavy.

While the mum was pushing the heavy rocks, the dad and Ava woke up. They saw the mum trying to push the boulders.  They stood up and helped her.  With 6 hands, this time, they managed to nudge the boulders.  They pushed it just enough so that everyone could fit through.

When they went home, Ava thought that her mum and dad were not quarrelling with each other anymore. ‘I hope it stays like this…’ Ava thought to herself.

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One busy Monday morning, in the heart of Manhattan, two sisters were busy playing with each other within the white walls of a small but cheery orphanage. A year earlier, due to an unfortunate accident, they had lost both their parents. Ava, the older sister, was thirteen years old while her younger sister, Eve, was eight years old.

The two loved each other dearly and they both hoped that they would both be adopted by a lovely family one day. “Eve?” called the kind caretaker, Livvy. “I just want to inform you… This kind lady over here has just adopted you!”

A tall-black hair lady entered the room. “Hello,” she said gently. “Are you ready to go to your new home?” Eve smiled widely, excitement twinkling in her eyes.

“Are you kidding?! Let’s go!” She got up and let her new mom pull her gently away. “Come on Ava!” Eve’s sister was just about to get up when Livvy sadly told her that only Eve only got adopted. By the time Livvy said that, her sister had disappeared.

That night, Ava cried her heart out. Her sister was gone, and she had no way to contact her. She didn’t even get a proper chance to say goodbye to Eve! Over the next few months, Ava watched all the other children in the orphanage get adopted one by one.

One day, a man doing a report on adoption came to interview Ava. The man asked her if she could have one wish, what would the wish be. Ava somberly told the man, “My wish would be to be adopted by a lovely family.” The man was sorry for Ava so he decided to write a story about this and post it online. Within days, the story went viral. At the same time,the orphanage received hundreds of applications to adopt Ava.

The day Ava went to meet her new family, she found herself wishing that her sister could be here. After Livvy rang the doorbell a lovely couple came outside.

“Hello Ava…” her new dad said, “Before you come in, we have a little surprise for you.” He held out his palm, and there lying in it was her sister’s doll, the one Eve had taken with her when she left.

“How?” Ava asked with wonder.

“Ava?” asked a voice from inside the house. Ava’s mom and dad parted to show Eve running towards Ava. Ava embraced Eve with a gentle hug and repeated her question. Livvy, who up to then had been quiet, told Ava that it didn’t exactly work out with Eve’s previous family and that she managed to pull a few strings to make this happen.

Ava gratefully thanked Livvy and went to join her new family.

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Dear Grandma,

Ain’t no fun in Chicago. All the folks are very uppity like you said. I ain’t used to all of the noise at night. The city lights so bright, it hurts my eyes.  I can hear the cars rollin’ about, the people in the street talking laughing. I can hear people above me, below me talking, shouting, laughing, crying. It makes me think of Mama. I wish you were here with me.

Daddy doesn’t talk anymore, he is always very strict and angry. It’s like his spirit was tucked away and buried with Mama. I can’t make a single mistake in front of him. He doesn’t talk much. He goes to the market once a week to buy fish. I don’t tell Daddy anything that might make him more upset than he is.

The bullies at my school are one of those things that I don’t want to tell him. They never stop bullying me. After school, they push me around. The school lessons are fine, though. Not all folks here are uppity. My class teacher is very kind. But mostly, I don’t like school. All of the other students always call me ‘Country Boy’.

Finally, I want to tell you about the library. There are librarians. It’s a new word I learntfound, librarian. It means someone who lets you borrow books in a library. In the library, there was a book that was written by Langston Hughes. Do you know why Mama named me after him?

Your grandson,
Langston

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I sat out on the shore, watching the pleasant, blue water and the sea gulls gulping their fish. I sighed out of depression as I really couldn’t fulfil my wish, giving my ‘parents’ a better life. The memories suddenly started filling in, the time when I was in a basket on a rainy day in front of an orphanage. Sobbing was what I started to do as living with my foster family was rather frustrating because……well, it's just that my family isn't really the best. I got up feeling better and ready for the next shift.

Holding my $89, I opened the door to my flat. As usual, father would always snatch the money away from my hands and buy liquor or toys used for collecting. Both me and my mom couldn’t really understand why dad would buy toys instead of buying necessary needs like groceries. All of a sudden,  mom came home which was surprising because it was 2 hours earlier than the usual time she would arrive. Apparently, she got fired for shoplifting in the local store. Mom didn’t even care about the fact that now we can’t afford all our expenses anymore because she lost her job but she just started babbling to dad about not spending money wisely.

I locked myself in my room during the commotion. The flies and cockroaches bothered me. I cried and felt my blood turn cold which made the amount of anger I had enough to one punch a whole skyscraper. I had no friends as the people at school would stay far away from me because of my pungent smell so there was really nobody there for me. I laid down on my air mattress trying to relax myself but I just can’t! I didn’t even want to live in this flat, there were cheaper homes better than this but they chose to waste their money on this shitty home.

After a while, I woke up. It looked like I cried myself to sleep. It was somewhere around 2 a.m. but I could hear the TV on. I went to the living room to check what was going on there and sure enough, dad was watching his football game and mom was doing the dishes. I volunteered to help mom but she refused and told me some news which was not what I was expecting to hear early in the morning. The sentence started off something like “ Josh, me and your father decided to get a divorce because we don’t think it’s working out between us. I'm sorry.”

Two days later, I found myself in a court filled with my grandparents, aunties and uncles, cousins, relatives and of course, my parents.  Both of them told the judge all the reasons and agreed to be separated and sign the papers. I can’t believe all this is actually happening. The judge told them that I was to be in an orphanage as neither my parents nor the others wanted to support me. It really broke my heart and made me want to end myself as I realised that no one loved me but atleast the orphanage caretaker was kind and loving.

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Everyday was a hectic day, I woke up, I ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, ran to the bus station with my siblings and missed the bus- Wait, Miss the bus!? “Oh no,” I yelled, “Dad’s gonna kill us!” My dad was really busy, my mom passed away years ago and he works at a chocolate factory AKA Willy Wonka’s factory. I knocked on the door, and my dad opened the door. I asked, “Hey dad, can you drive us to school?” “We missed the bus.” My dad sighed and drove us to school

At home was my grandma, she had Alzheimers. Every Time we talked to her she would get our name wrong. One day I was Daniel, the next day I was Bob, My real name was Preston Jr. Yes my dad's name is Preston like in a show called Grey’s Anatomy. Today we learnt about fractions, my worst subject, great. My younger sister has addition for homework.

Today dad came home a little later than usual, grandma said, “Welcome home, Robert!” My dad's name is Preston. He usually comes home at 9 but he came home at 11 PM. I'm supposed to be asleep by then but it was a Friday night. He was texting on the phone, but it was intense and he couldn’t take his eyes off the phone until he got a migraine. I then quietly crept up to his phone and took it with me to the room. There was a name on the person who he's texting, Larry.

I'm going to yell at him for not telling us! I confronted him! In my dream, I think it's a bad idea. Today we had scrambled eggs and bacon, with a side of orange juice. Usually Saturdays are my dad's off days. Grandma said, “Hi Preston!” “Why aren't you at work?” Sigh, poor grandma. I then asked my dad, “Who’s Larry?” He froze on the spot. He asked, “How do you know about Larry, Prestion?” I replied, “Oh... uhm I guessed?” My dad replied, “That's not an excuse.” I dashed straight into my room and locked the door shut. “This was bad” I thought.

Dad said to grandma, “I’m gonna get groceries see ya later.” Grandma replied, “Ok deary!” I was wondering who Larry was. My dad seemed to be really close to him. My dad said he was a “friend”. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I did some research on Facebook. (I know I can’t have facebook but lying about age is a thing) It turned out, him and dad were mutual friends and they were oddly close. Then it came to me, my dad could be in a relationship with him!

After he came back, I told him what I saw. He kneeled down and whispered, “Preston Jr, Me and him are really close friends.” “Nothing more, just, don't tell grandma or your sisters, Ok?” I replied, “Ok.” Keeping this secret was a chore! There were times I wanted to just let it out, but I know I can’t. It could cause big chaos in the family! Until, I let it out by accident. Right there at breakfast. Grandma’s jaw dropped, Dad panicked, my sister did understand luckily and all eyes were on me. I could feel the terror coming. But nothing happened dad said, “Well, I was about to say it anyways,” I sighed a huge relief, my stress was gone, I can sleep at night now!

It’s been 3 months, dad and his boyfriend live in our house now! He (Larry) makes amazing breakfasts! His waffles were spot on! And well, grandma is forever in our hearts, rest well grandma.

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Sam and his family were a tight knit bunch. They did everything together and lived in an incredibly cosy 3 floor house. They shared many close memories in this house. Sam stayed with his grandparents, parents and his younger brother: James. But, all this was about to change, in a way none of them was ever prepared for.

One sudden unexpected day, an unexpected occurrence occurred. The impossible became possible. Delusion became reality. Their beloved grandma fell ill. Grandma Stacy was loved by all the members in the family, she played with the kids, was a loving wife to her husband, Sam's grandpa and cared for everyone when they were sick, using mystical arcane medicines to remedy illness. She also was a cooking prodigy. This illness would affect everyone. But  no, of course not. Grandma was a strong soul, she had been through tough times, and was very fit for her age, the old age of 91 years old.

Ignorance isn't always bliss.

The illness was nothing at first, just some muscle aches here and there, akin to the flu, something they have faced before. One faithful day it got worse, grandma could feel it, something wasn't right. She had a suspicion, but no. She couldn't do this to her family, she couldn't leave, everyone needed and loved her and she loved and needed them. But it was inevitable, eventually everyone's time comes.

She denied, she couldn't weight this burden on her family, she just had to stay strong.

Her family noticed, there was a cloud of sadness, something wasn't right. Grandma's usual charming allure was gone. Replaced with an abyss of unpleasant emotions. Sam's parents asked Grandma, Sam hid behind the door with his brother, was grandma really ill? “Is grandma alright, Ssam?”his brother asked. He looked back, the young pure soul, he replied with barely any hope. “Yes, she will be fine.” His brother wasn't convinced. Their parents saw them, they gave Sam and his brother a hug, it felt empty, devoid of love,  what was wrong?

Sam's parents were worried, they consulted a doctor for help. The results hit them like a train. How could life be so unforgiving?. It was dementia and cancer, a horrible duo.

The dementia was already taking effect. It was slow at first, but it soon became a rapid torrent of confusion. Sam watched in the distance with his brother, it hurt his heart to see his mighty Grandma, stumbling through life confused.

Susan woke up. Wait, that wasn't quite right was it, her name wasn't Susan, was it Ssally? ,no it was Stacy. What was happening, why was she forgetting, no. Not dementia, the doctors were wrong. She was just above the wheat-weat- no, under the weather. Just acti- Tired, Tired, tired is all… She could remember, she had 2 lovely grandsons, Dylan and Joshu- no Sam and James. Yes, she remembered nothing was wrong, nothing at all. The whole family watched in worry.

It happened so quickly. No one had time to react. Before they knew it, she was gone. Of all things, why dementia. Grandma passed without any memory of her family, she couldn't remember them, her family never got a chance to spend her last moments with her, the dementia was a vampire, stealing the last joy away. If it weren't for dementia, they would have had some wholesome last moments. These thoughts rang through the family's heads everyday. Haunting them

--------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue: Many years passed, after the loss, the family banded together, they were happy again, closer than ever but they never forgot grandma. After all, she would have wanted them happy.

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Saeko looked around.  There were trees with lime-coloured leaves. Nothing like the cherry blossoms in Japan. It was burning hot. Not even close to the coolness in her home country.

Walking to her new home, she took in the surroundings.  Saeko knew she was going to hate New York. Even though she hated the new environment, she was determined to make it work.

…

Two days later, it was Saeko's first day of school. She had prepared the best she could for the past few days and thought she was ready. As she walked to school, she saw children riding to school. Back home in Japan, people had walked with their friends, talking, laughing and sometimes eating their breakfast. Now, she had no one to talk to.  Everyone just zoomed past her. After what seemed like a long, long walk, she caught her first glance at her brand new school. It had red bricks and black tiles. Saeko thought that this was very dull.  In her old school, there were bright colours and the sight of children having fun.

Walking in, she wandered to class. She stopped, right outside of the door. ‘Oh no,’ she thought, ‘this is going to be a nightmare.‘ All of a sudden, a thought hit her. Saeko considered it. Then stopped. If she skipped school, her parents would kill her. She stepped in. Abruptly, the loud noise in the room faded away. She glanced around, looking for a friendly face. All of them were either staring blankly at her or didn’t even notice she was there. The teacher walked in.  “Hello. We have a new student today! Her name is Saeko,” the teacher said.  As the teacher introduced her, she heard a boy in the second row whisper to his friends: "psycho". She knew she wouldn’t be able to make friends with her new classmates.

After the lesson, she ran out to the playground, thinking that it was a disaster.  She knew a lot about Math but Saeko hadn’t understood anything the teacher had said!

When she got home, she took out a book from a bookshelf titled: すべての数学 (Everything Math in Japanese.) When she was told to go to bed, she switched off her light, grabbed her flashlight and started to study. Saeko studied until she fell asleep on the book.

The next day, she went to school. The teacher had planned a surprise pop quiz. Saeko smiled as she read the questions.  She knew all of the questions! After the test had finished, the teacher marked all of the papers. Out of the blue, he stood up and announced. “There is only one person who got 100%.  That person is… Saeko!” Suddenly, one person burst out in applause. Then the others followed. ‘They aren’t as hostile as I thought!’  Saeko thought, ‘Maybe I can make friends with them!

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Brad trudged through the thick snow, hugging onto his scarf. He was shivering all over, it seemed that his coat and scarf couldn’t keep him warm. Fighting to survive, he took off his bag and hugged it. He was in the North Pole, trying to find the ancient woolly mammoth. But he obviously didn’t pack enough supplies and necessities for his “little” adventure to the North Pole, that was why he was freezing to death.

Trying his best to survive, he walked towards the east, and somehow managed to find a cabin. Seizing his chance, he rushed to the cabin and hid himself in it. Ah, the warmth that spread around the cabin felt so nice. Brad slumped down on the wall sighing. “Wait. Why would there be warmth in the cabin unless someone put a heater here.” Brad suddenly thought. He opened his eyes, and his eyes darted to something sharp. It was a knife directly in front of his neck, an inch away from saying hello to death. “Get out of my cabin. Now,.” a man’s voice spoke. Brad couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from, and tried to find where the main voice was. Immediately Brad was hurled out of the cabin right before he spotted the man. The door slammed shut, and he could hear sounds of clicks from locks. He hit a rock nearby, and howled in pain.

“HOOOO!” someone roared. Shocked, Brad turned around and spotted 4 thick and hairy pillars. The pillars moved and the ground shook. “HOOOOO!” it growled. Brad looked up, and saw the legend. The woolly mammoth. “Woah…” Brad muttered. “HOO!” the mammoth roared. It raised its right leg, and stomped on Brad. Thinking fast, Brad took off his bag and rolled out of the way just in time. “The woolly mammoth…” Brad kept whispering. He reached out his hand to touch the fur of the ancient animal, and to his unsurprise, it backed off. “It's okay.. I won’t hurt you! I promise!” Brad exclaimed, still holding his hand out. The woolly mammoth seemed to understand his words, but still backed off further. “HOOOOO!” it said. In a split second, the mammoth ran away, and Brad couldn’t find it anymore. Brad sighed sadly, and finally reacted to the deadly cold, and shivered uncontrollably. He reached out to his bag, and realised that the mammoth had destroyed his belongings.

He screamed in frustration, and begged for the person living in the cabin to open the door, but the man wouldn’t budge. Brad grabbed the remaining of his belongings, and hid behind the cabin. “What a struggle and a hassle to get all the way to the North Pole just to be disappointed..” he thought regretfully.

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Bump. Arthur lands on soft ground. “Where am I?” he asked himself. “You are in the Dark Woods,” says a soft, poisonous voice behind him. Arthur turned his head around so fast he almost broke his neck. A beautiful lady stood behind him. She wore a glittery dress of black and white with sequins, bracelets on her wrists, a necklace made of silver, and silvery high heeled shoes. She had a sly look about her. Arthur shivered. He wasn’t sure if he liked her too much. “Who are you?” he asked. “And what is this Dark Woods nonsense? Am I not in New York?”

“Nay,” she replied. “The Dark Woods is exactly what the name states. In the centre of the woods, there is a creek named Dead Crow’s Creek. It’s said to carry coffins and sometimes, you will see things worth saving. Like this one, for example.” She took a ring of gold and silver from her pocket and waved it in front of Arthur. “And yes, my name is Morgana,” she added.

“B-b-but wasn’t the Dark Woods a legend? It is said that those who venture here never return. How come I’m here, Morgana? “WHY AM I HERE?”

“I do not know,” said Morgana, blinking at him. “I just saw you falling from the sky and that’s all I know.” “But there is a way out of here, though many men have died trying.”

“What is it?” Arthur asked desperately. “You need the finest spool of thread in the woods, a ray of sunlight, the horn of a unicorn, a bark of wood from the enchanted tree, and a treasure from the Dead Crow’s Creek. However, the spool of thread is guarded by the undead weavers, while the sunlight is blocked by the thick trees. A unicorn is very protective of its horn, a bark of wood from the enchanted tree is hard to cut, and treasures from the creek come by once a month. You can then create a potion to send you back home.”

Arthur was determined to get all the ingredients and get back to New York. Little did he know he was going to embark on the biggest adventure of his life.

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I stared at the building, reading the words at the front in big bold capital letters : BRIGHT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL. As I entered the assembly hall,  the smell of body odour and sweat hit me in huge waves. I looked around, seeing the three tall walls that were painted blue—or at least I thought so, for it was hard to tell since the paint has peeled so much that on your first glance you’ll think that the walls were white. At my left, there were rows and rows of students sitting on the smooth stone floor facing my right where all the teachers were. The students were making a lot of noise, talking to each other all at once in a manner that you couldn't really hear what they were saying because they were all talking at once.

I sit in the back row at the left corner so that no one sees me and also because I’m quite shy. After the principal finishes telling the rules in the school, he dismissed us to our classrooms. The teacher introduced me to the class and asked everyone to tell me their name then began the lesson. By lunch, I was starving. I sat at a table where nobody was on when…

“Hey! New kid,” a voice from beyond me shouts, “You’re not allowed to sit on my table.” I get up and turn around recognising the voice. It was the voice of Hasin Hondo, the biggest student in class. I tell him,“There is no rule saying that I should not sit at this table."

“Yeah but if you don’t go I’ll punch you,” he says back. Just then, the bell rang for class. I guess he was angry because he didn’t get to eat his lunch because he scowled at me before walking to class. Great. First day in school and I have an enemy already.

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I'm Billy Brodie. I’m 10 years old now and I live with my grandparents in Los Angeles, USA. My father and mother passed away when I was just a few months old so I don’t remember what they looked like. My grandparents and I live in an old, small, rundown house.

My house has nooks and crannies that are filled with cobwebs and piles of dust. Spaces under things like book shelves and sofas have a lot of old junk and dirty bits of food. The walls have cracks here and there, and 100 year old, grotty paintings hanging everywhere. Outside, we have a garden full of weeds that are overgrown, but grandpa and grandma never bothered to cut it because they said it was “pretty”. Our gate is also old and rusty, the pale, white paint is falling off slowly, revealing the colour of rusty metal inside.

I feel lonely here living in Los Angeles. Nobody ever plays with me. Not grandpa, grandma, and not my neighbours. My neighbours aren’t friendly at all, whenever I greet them they just ignore me. I've got one friend in school only, and he’s my best friend. When I’m feeling lonely, I don’t go straight back home. I make a stop at my friend’s house for a round of board games first.

At home, there ain’t nothing to do other than doing housework, homework and playing the violin. Whenever I ask my grandparents if I can go to the park and play, they always say that I shouldn't go out and play because studying is more important. Playing the violin is the only thing that has kept me interested.

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Lily clutched the straps of her new backpack tightly. The bell rang somewhere in the distance. Today was Lily’s first day of sixth grade and her first day at a new school. After passing through the front gates, she gasped. Around her was full-fledged mayhem. Students of all ages were shouting and squealing, running and pushing. Lily couldn’t believe her eyes.

Over the next few hours, Lily learned everything about the school with the help of her school buddy, Jacob. She learned about the school’s founders, how the school operated, how the school sessions worked, and met most of the teachers. Something she found absurd was that there were different times and periods for lunch. The more she learned about this new school, the more differences she spotted.

That day, Lily went home miserable. She felt as if she was an alien. She wanted to transfer back to her old school - where things were recognizable to her. Lily sulked all throughout dinner until it caught her parents’ attention.“What’s up, kiddo?” her dad asked. Lily sighed and replied, “It’s about my new school. Everything is so different and I feel like a stranger. It makes me want to transfer back to my old school.”

“I know, sweetie,” Mom said after a moment of complete silence, “But you need to understand you can’t have everything you want. You also need to learn how to adapt to things. Life is undeniably unpredictable, so you need to be ready for whatever it throws in your direction.” Lily nodded acknowledgedly.

The next few weeks flew by and Lily became happier at school. She became closer friends with Jacob, and thanks to her parents’ counseling, she realized that her new school wasn’t so bad after all. Now, she would wake up and look forward to another, exciting school day.

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Tupber was a person who always moves to a different school, every year. Now he is in 4th Grade, in his new school, and he is starting to get a fresh new year. Tupber doesn’t know about everything and everybody in his new school. To be honest, Tupber was a bit shy when he first saw a student talking with her friends. The school bell rang, he got lost by the stomping and chatting sounds crawling over Tupber’s ears! All the students just disappeared right in the corridor. After Tupber looked around into classes, he saw a cleaner but he is not sure if she knows where Class 4HN is. Tupber slowly walked in front to the cleaner, slowly reached his hand to the cleaner’s shoulder and asked her. The cleaner told Tupber where Class 4HN was. When he approached Class 4HN, his teacher scolded him for being late, but it was not his fault.

After the day of Tupber’s school he decided to stay at school and take notes of the entire school. He even wanted to take notes of the early year's classes because he thought it might be helpful for him. The bell rang and it’s the end of school and it was now 4:00 PM. Everyone started saying goodbye.

All the teachers went home, except for Tupber’s mum. Tupber was trying the best he could, but it still took Tupber super long. Tupber’s mum thought he went home, but eventually he was still in school.

The next day, the teachers went to school again, and saw Tupber drinking lots of Monster (a type of enery drink) not looking tired at all, like an active monkey!

“Today we will be taking a tour around the school,” announced the teacher while everyone nodded. “I will be asking questions, remember.”

They started the tour, Tupber answered almost every question that the teacher asked! No one could answer what the teacher said, only Tupber could. The teacher congratulated Tupber on answering all the questions, now it was not that hard for Tupber’s life in 4th Grade!

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It was a boring day at my new school, I still had no friends. ‘Rrrrrriiiing’, the school bell rang, I shoved all my stuff into my bag and ran home as fast as I could. Dad was going to the hospital to meet Mom and if I was a few minutes late, Dad would have left already. I saw Dad’s car backing out of the driveway, I ran even faster towards the car. I opened the car door and jumped right into it. “Hi, Dad,” I said while panting.

“Oh! Hi, Laney. I thought you were not coming.” Dad answered.

“Of course I would come, anyway let’s go. Mom’s waiting,” I said.

I looked out of the car window to see a sea of buildings. It seemed to take forever to reach the hospital. When we reached the hospital not too long later, I finally saw Mom. Her face was pale. Although she tried to smile, the smile never reached her eyes. I instantly felt sad to see Mom like that. I tried to put on a brave front but I felt like crying. I wish that we were in the hospital back home so Grandma, Grandpa and Mom's friends could visit Mom too. But instead, here we are in a big city where it’s noisy and dusty. I know Mom misses home. So do I. Soon, Dad and I had to leave the hospital so he had to drop off at the school library to study while he went back to work.

In the school library, I dug into my pockets for some money to buy a snack but I couldn’t find my money. Suddenly, I remembered that during recess this morning, the bullies, Jessie, Carrie and Cheryl, had taken all my pocket money. I was wondering why they took my money. I truly disliked them for being so mean to me. Now, I will be hungry till Dad picks me up. The move to the city has been tough on me but we have to do it for Mom. I hope she recovers so that we can go back home

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Lisa looked at the necklace, sitting there on the counter.  It was made of shiny pearls and diamonds.  She knew that she could sell it for so much money, and afford that dress for prom.  Lisa’s bright green eyes darted around the shop.  No one was looking!  But, she knew that stealing was wrong. ‘Should I go for it?’ She asked herself.

Lisa thought about what she should do.  ‘People would know… right?’ she thought, ‘I have to take the risk.’

Lisa carefully touched the luxurious and grand surface of the necklace and moved away.  Hesitating.  ‘This is wrong’, Lisa thought, ‘but if she didn’t snatch it… she wouldn’t be able to wear the beautiful dress she wanted to wear’.  She wanted to look her best for prom.

Again, she reached out and felt the smooth surface of the necklace.  Lisa paused again.  She had to.  She took a deep breath and grabbed it.

All of a sudden, sirens rang.  Red light filled the room.  She was caught.

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Devon stared at the phone inside the closet where his mother had hidden it. One part of his brain whispered, “Come on, it's your only chance. Both your mother and his father are at work.You can finally defeat that boss level that you wanted to finish yesterday. Once you tell those kids about it they'll be so impressed.” Another part of his brain had other plans ”Remember, you have that maths homework due tomorrow at 12 am. If you don’t do it I bet that you’ll have detention.”

Devon thought carefully about these thoughts. They were both correct. If he defeated that level he could impress those kids and maybe they’ll be so impressed that they’ll be his friends! But, if he did that he’ll have detention and the principal would probably write to his parents that he had not done his maths homework five times in a row!

“Would I rather have friends but have detention and probably be grounded for a week, or stay the same and never have this chance again because the boss level event would end?” he asked himself.

Suddenly, Devon heard the sound of a key opening a lock and he knew it was too late to do any of the options.

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KRING! KRING! KRING! The bell echoed throughout the hallways and classrooms. “Don’t forget class - tomorrow is prom day!” Ms. Russell called as her students rushed towards the door. Lisa pouted as she headed to her next class. Already? I could’ve sworn that prom wasn’t until a few weeks later!

Lisa had been trying to come up with a plan on how she would get some money for a gorgeous gown she had seen at the mall. She had tried asking her parents but they couldn’t spare any money.

After school, Lisa visited one of her favourite stores - a small jewellery shop. “Oh hello, Lisa!” Crystal, the cashier, called and Lisa smiled. Lisa merilly spent the next 15 minutes browsing and trying on jewellery.

“Lisa? I need to run to the washroom. Do you mind watching the store for a bit?” Crystal asked. Lisa nodded eagerly and took Crystal’s place at the cashier counter.

Then… she noticed it. There, on the cashier counter, glistening in the sunlight was a pearl necklace! OMG! If I sell that, I would have enough to buy the gown and more! Lisa thought. But no - I shouldn’t. If  I steal that would be wrong. And Crystal has been so kind to me, I don’t want to do this. Lisa thought long and hard.

Finally, she decided that she wouldn’t steal it. Sure, I may regret it later but what would I regret more? Stealing it and maybe running from the law or not stealing it and knowing I did the right thing? She told herself over and over again.

Little did she know, when she got home a big surprise would unfold. “Lisa! There you are! We’ve got a surprise!” her mom exclaimed, pushing a wrapped box into her hands.

“Open it,” her dad told her. She carefully tore off the wrapper and inside the box, was the gown she wanted!

“MOM! DAD! OH THANK YOU SO MUCH!” she exclaimed “But I thought you couldn’t spare any money for the dress?” Her mom smiled, “It was meant to be a surprise.” She swooped Lisa up in a hug. Tears of joy began to form in Lisa’s eyes and she thought, I’m glad I didn’t steal the necklace. This is the best present anyone can ever give me.

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The necklace lay on the counter. The jewels refracting the light into streams of glowing colours, into Lisa’s eyes. The glint of the jewel was an incessant reminder, the jewel was just within reach, just a simple grabbing gesture and she could sell it. A thing of such beauty certainly would be worth a lot. Oh what  things she could buy with the money she would gain, a fancy dress, maybe even a car! With just a simple action all the things she wanted would be hers, no one would know.

No.

She couldn't. It wasn't right, the necklace was someone’s, how would they feel, they would be devastated. Even if she did, while indulging in her luxuries she would be haunted by the memory, a reminder that her indulgence was based on another innocent soul's loss. And what would her aunt Dorothy say if she found out, she was such a kind aunt, giving up everything for her. She couldn't steal her beloved aunt's only possession, her aunt would be devastated, betrayed, even angry.

But you need it.

The value of the necklace alone would be able to raise her out of debt and grant her the gift of luxury. She was suffering because of her debt, skipping lunch everyday. Her aunt wouldn't mind… After all her aunt loved and doted on Lisa, she wouldn't mind, she wouldn't mind at all.

I can't.

Would she be arrested for stealing it? Would she be sent to hell, or would she escape free of trouble, enjoying the rest of the foreseeable future with money. It wasn't right to steal it. Her aunt's only material possession, a keepsake, reminds  her aunt of her husband who passed away long ago. It would be cruel, after everything her aunt gave up, she can't keep taking and taking. Yet she was drawn to the necklace, she picked it up and felt a strange euphoric feeling, a strange inexplicable feeling that felt pleasant.

I refuse to do it.

She slammed the necklace on the table with surprising force, she felt torn apart, such a simple decision was draining her. The sound of car wheels in the distance reached her ears. Subtle at first, but rapidly growing louder. Her aunt was arriving home. Steal or not.

Choose.

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Dear Grandma,

This is something about my life and I am here to tell you about it. I want to talk about daddy... he's been very strict with me for entirely no reason whatsoever. I've been really missing mama ever since mama has gone to heaven. I feel like nobody will ever like me again.

I discovered that a library is a place where there are lots of books to borrow and you can borrow five books once every two week, isn’t that amazing. I mean there are free books you can borrow.

In school I have been bullied by three kids and their names are Lymon, Erroll and Clem. I haven’t talked about that to daddy yet since I have caused him so much trouble.

Me daddy’s apartment is like this: broken-down stairs and walk hallways smelling like two-day-old garbage and fried onions. There were also two beds, two old rickety chairs, one table, the bureau missing a drawer—nothing. And walls covered up by the last tenant with old newspapers to hide the holes.

Sincerely,

Langston

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Dear Grandma,

How have you been? I hope you are in the pink of health. Greetings from Chicago. It has been awhile since I communicated with you.

Daddy has been weird. Since Mama passed away, Daddy ain’t patient with me, he always gets frustrated. When I wanted to read a letter to him, he scolded me.

One day, when I was running away from the bullies, I saw a library, it was named after George Cleveland. I remember Mama saying to me that the library doesn’t allow colored folks into the library. I went into the library anyway, I found a book of poems written by Langston Hughes. I ain’t heard of a person sharing the same name with me.

I am always very lonely in school because ain't anyone wants to be friends with a country boy. When my teacher, Ms Robins, asks me to repeat something, that's when the class starts to laugh and whisper behind my back. Lymon, Clem and Erroll, the bullies always wait for me after school.

I ain’t like my new apartment, there are the broken-stairs, the hallway smells like two-day old garbage and fried onions.  I have a neighbour, her name is Miss Fulton. Folks call her “Uppity”.

I miss you very much Grandma. I hope I can go back to Alabama.

Love,

Langston

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Dear Grandma,

It’s been a long time since me and Daddy saw you. Chicago ain’t nothin’ like ol’ Alabama. But the library here’s so big, so nice, the floor cleanly polished, Just feels like I belong there.

School ain’t too bad, except for a few subjects I ain’t too good at. Our dingy apartment ain’t nothin’ compared to our old house back in Alabama.

Daddy keeps forcing me to work like a man, but I ain’t likin’ any of that. Books keep me busy at night when Daddy sleeps in bed.

I ain’t knowing how long till we’re comin’ back home to good ol’ Alabama. It feels better there except for the library.

Wish to see you soon!

Langston

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Dear Grandma,

What's new with you? If you're curious about how I'm doing, I'm OK. Daddy doesn't speak to me as much as he used to. I'm very sure it has something to do with what happened to mom. I miss her terribly, but daddy always slaps me when I weep over her.

The flat that Daddy purchased for us wasn't very pleasant, with holes in the walls and a slew of other obnoxious characteristics. I don't know what else to do here but explore. When papa isn't around, I go out and help the other neighbours, but they aren't fond of black people. Furthermore, the idea that the entire complex must share a single restroom is strange and disgusting. Hair had clogged the drain and I had to clear it in order for the water to drain.

It's also lonely for me here since no one wants to be my buddy. It's quite aggravating to receive hatred and no support. Alabama is one of the places I miss the most since it was so simple to make friends there. They were all incredibly nice and helpful, and the food was delicious. In the meantime, I'm missing mom's grits, which Daddy always cooks with a little burnt piece of toast.

School has been difficult. Because I'm from the country, everyone always makes fun of me. Teachers also make fun of me! As you know, I read slowly, but they all keep disliking and guffawing. I have bullies of my own, and I ain't going to tell daddy about it.

Daddy told me a few days ago about this location called a 'library,' where they have books to read but only white people are allowed to attend. For your knowledge, I did enter one, and it was rather large. I was not shooed or anything, and there was this library lady who was really nice to me, as if I'd never met someone who was more pleased with me. I also came upon a book authored by a person named Langston! Anyway, Chicago has its ups and downs, and don't worry about missing me too much, Grandma!

With love,

Langston

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Dear Grandma,

How’s it going in Alabama? Everyday I think about being back. I miss the red dirt roads. I miss the hot sun on the back of my neck. I miss how the racket of cicadas seemed like no sound at all. I really miss you too but I miss Mama most of all. I just miss everything in Alabama. Honestly, I just really want everything to go back to the way it was before.

The apartment we have here is a disaster!  It’s dingy, the bathroom stinks and the cracks on the walls are covered with old newspapers. What I really don’t like here is that it doesn’t have the same comfort and cosiness as our old home.

At school, everybody keeps making fun of me. I can’t walk through the main entrance without somebody yelling “country boy” at me. That’s been my name since I first came and it will be as long as I stay here. The way they look at me when I’m walking down the streets makes me feel small and unworthy. Worst of all, there’s Lymon and his gang, the school bullies. I wonder if it’s too much, just to have at least one friend

Oh Grandma, can you guess what is the most interesting thing that happened? I found a book with my name on it. I felt specially connected to the book because I could relate to it so well. It was as if, the book was about me! When the librarian remarked the name coincidence, I was suddenly intrigued to know whether Mama and Daddy named me after that book.

When I got home, I asked Daddy but he said that Mama was the one that chose my name. He mentioned that he would’ve liked it if I was named after him - Henry Junior. I was wondering if you knew why Mama picked this name?

Yours truly,

Langston

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Dear Grandma,

How have you been? I’m not doing so well. I ain’t like it here in Chicago, though I’m doing fine. There were some bullies that often picked on me. I really don’t like them but I dunno what to do. Should I fight back? I don’t think so. Daddy ain’t like it. My classmates always call me names and even my teacher doesn't care. I badly want to ask Daddy to change schools but I think Daddy doesn’t want to but I’m fine. Teacher says I’m good at spelling and a librarian let me borrow some books. I want to visit the library again! 😆

Daddy doesn’t know that I visited the library but someday, I’ll tell him. I found a book with my name in it. During yesterday’s dinner I told Daddy ‘bout it. He said he wished I was named after him but I still like my name Mama chose for me. I haven’t gotten a school uniform yet. I’m still waiting for Daddy to get me one so I can look like the boys in Chicago.

See you!💞

Langston

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Dear Grandma,

How are you? I hope you’re as healthy as the day I left ! I missed your warm hugs so much and the dishes that you cooked.

I missed the freedom of air and the happiness in Alabama.. People in Chicago were different,most of them looked very rich and arrogant. I was excited before the day I entered my new school,but then I felt ashamed with my own outfit when I first stepped into the classroom. My peers called me ‘Country Boy’ just because my clothes and accent were unfamiliar to them. To avoid being teased and mocking, I do not dare to make new friends,I know they all look down on me — a poor country boy from a remote village.

I get to school earlier than everyone in my class and go back home as late as everyone has left. Lymon,Clem and Erroll,who always wait for me after school just to make fun of me.They hit me and shove me back and forth. When they get bored,they leave me alone and I can continue my silent walk to the apartment. Grandma, can you imagine it ? The apartment was full of rubbish and the stairs smelled like two-day- old garbage and fried onions.

I couldn’t express my sorrow and feelings to daddy. I know he is as hard as life could be. Sometimes I couldn't help thinking about Mama that I couldn’t stop my tears flowing down. I didn’t want Daddy to see me crying if he did, he'd be furious at me yet I knew Daddy missed Mama badly. He was once calling Mama’s nickname in the middle of the night and talked to Mama in his dream. Mama will not come back to life no matter how desperate we all wish she is here.What shall I do, grandma?

I guess the only luckiest thing I’ve encountered in Chicago was that I discovered a library . I’ve never been to a library before and I remember Mama telling me that the library is only for white people but not for coloured people . When I accidentally first stepped into the library, I saw there were lots of coloured people choosing books! The librarians were very welcoming and I borrowed some books. I will treasure this chance to enrich my knowledge by spending more time in this library.

It is 9 PM now and I am going to bed.I wish I could visit you very soon, Grandma .

Lots of love,

Langston

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Thump.

As my eyes scanned the floor, searching for what had caused the light bump, only to meet eye contact with a book.

“Must have placed it wrongly,” I thought to myself.

This was my third year working as a shelf organizer at the National Library of New York therefore, books slipping down were not new for me. As my hands slid down on the spine of the black coal book, my eyes began to wander.

“Diary. DO NOT TOUCH” was written in bright, gold cursive letters.

I am, a very curious individual, and proceeded to flip open the hard cover of the book. Inside, there was a poem, written in typewriter font, coloured in deep crimson red.

One page makes you feel glee
Two shall make you flee
But if thou remains still
Trapped in the book shall be

An uneasy wave rushed through my skin, but I was filled to the brim with curiosity. What if this was just superstition? I’m turning twenty two this year for heaven’s sake, there is no way a ghost would just appear and take me away to the depths of hell right? I mean, I am even an atheist, why would I believe in this poem?

After a solid ten seconds flew by, I decided to carry on. Who knew what or who could have written this book right? For all I knew, it could have been some undeniably bored twelve year old kid who desperately needed attention and just decided to create this book to scare people in the library, and it is my job to get rid of unnecessary books too. How would I know if I should really throw away this book if I don’t read it?

I took a deep breath, and slowly picked up the next page. Inside, there were photos, of my childhood? Stunned, my eyes blinked furiously. Why was my childhood photos in here? Who did this? And most important why do I have this in my hands right now?

That same worried waved kissed my skin once again, except this time I was terrified to the point I was sweating wet to the bone. However, there was this feeling of warmth, like a mother’s embrace which forced me to carry on. The photos were arranged chronically like a cinema. From my first vacation in Hawaii to my first day at high school even to- David’s birthday photo is even here?

As petrified as I would, thinking of all the possibilities of someone stalking me, no to be more precise, detailing every event of my life since I was a newborn till this very date. I flip to the second page, the exact same pictures but with my face colored out with deep charcoal. What is this? Why is my face gone? Wait, could this be that- No, there has to be an explanation, there is no way I’d-

“Denise? It’s time to go home.”

“Coming Mr. Stevens!” I exclaimed almost instantly, as my body jolted to her voice.

I dropped the book and dashed for the library counter. This was seriously terrifying, must I live on with this, knowing someone is always on my tail? Tracking down my daily schedules and pasting polaroid photos of all of my special occasions? I swiftly shake my head. This is not the time to think about negative stuff, it’s time to go home, take a lovely bath and play with my poodle Daisy before heading to a well-deserved good night’s rest. However, my mind kept playing back the moment of when I first opened the book to when I closed it, playing on and on like a recording, traumatizing me. And just as I was going to scream at my brain to put an end to the whole memory, I lost my breath.

I collapsed. My whole body lost itself towards the laws of gravity. I gasped atrociously, my soul felt like it was going to ascend to heaven. Was this how I was going to die? I gave up, there was no way I’d survive this, shut my eyes tightly closed, and prayed for my family, my mom, sister, everyone. Please. Live well for the rest of your lives. But my sea of thoughts was interrupted as I heard whispers of a deep voice circling into my head.

“I’ll love you forever Denise, since we were in kindergarten until now, I will always. Love you.”

“Denise? Why didn’t you put the diary back in position?” Mr Steven grinned…

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THE NARROW ESCAPE

There have been stories of heroes. Who do we know as heroes? People who save lives, who are in the light of this world, or people who save lives and are bent into darkness? I am not talking about doctors here. My question is, is it necessary for heroes to belong with the light? I know that everyone is a hero and a villain. I know, because I was saved by one.

I had a narrow escape with death. But I’m still not sure who saved me. My story goes like this:

I was out with my friends to watch a movie. The movie was over by 9:30 and it was dark. We went our own ways. My house was a few blocks away so I decided to walk instead of taking a taxi or an auto. I was at my house but before I could raise my hand to knock at the door, I remember having trouble breathing. Something, or someone was blocking my airway. After that, I remember being in a tower. It had a dome and a bell. I tried to get on my feet and run for my life but I couldn’t stand up. I was tied to a chair. ” Sit," said a rough voice. I turned back and saw a person. He had pale skin, red hair, and green eyes.

I kept looking at him. He picked up a piece of chalk and started writing on the wall.

"What?” he asked.

“Nothing “, I answered. Not in a way one should say an answer though. I looked around and saw medals, certificates and equations on the walls. ”Are you a scientist?” I asked.

” Physicist."

The clock struck midnight. My stomach started to grumble. ”I am hungry,” I demanded some food. Then my kidnapper put a sandwich in front of me.

“Eat your fill.”

”Ha ha very funny. How will a sandwich fill my stomach?

”I wasn’t joking,” he commented a returned to his equation. I saw picture of a girl on his desk. She looked a lot like him.

"Sister," I thought. I asked him why he brought me.” You are a daughter of a rich person, and I want money," he answered.

“Why?” I wanted answers.

“None of your business.”

”I want to know.”

After a lot of heated arguments, I got it out.” My sister has cancer and I need money for her treatment, so your father better bring it by dawn or I will kill you.” I could feel his rage. "And I mean it when I say that.”

The more I talked the more I came to know about him, the more I came to understand him. It was 5:30 and the sun was rising. I was surprised how much fear was needed to keep me awake . What if he killed me in my sleep?

”Time’s up.”

He released me and put a knife across my neck. "Walk.”

I had to do what he said, I didn’t want to die. When we went outside, I saw that we were in the outskirts of the city there was a lake nearby. “Do you swim?” he asked.

“No. Why?” I asked but he didn’t reply.

The cops finally came .What took them so long? “You’re late and my bait failed me. As a result she has to… well, drown.”

‘Drown? ‘It sent a chill down my spine, the cops knew what he was doing and why. So, coming back to my ‘murder', no, sorry, ‘death’, he pushed me into the lake. I tried to keep my head above the water but failed. I was ready to say goodbye to the world. But something caught me. Something pulled me up and brought me back to life. I was shocked, I thought I almost died! But whoever saved me, I would give them all the money I had!

I remember being in the hospital after that. My parents and siblings were there too.” I thought they allowed only two people to visit.” I said and my parents hugged me and asked me a thousand times whether I was okay. Suddenly, I remembered about my kidnapper . My parents said that his name was ‘Hubble’, weird, I thought and that when he pushed me into the lake the cops said that his sister had died. The cancer had spread everywhere and she was no more. Then he jumped into the lake and pulled me out. And disappeared.

The next day, I saw in the news that a man had committed suicide and it was… Hubble.

So, in the end who saved me , a hero? or a villain? I had a narrow escape with death. But not all of us have the luck.

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Carlos is walking home along a tree-lined road. Darkness is already falling. Soon, the only light will come from street lamps. Apart from Carlos, the road is empty ... or so he thinks. Suddenly, he hears a strange, shrill voice coming from the darkness behind the trees.

Carlos decided to be brave and bold so he ventured out into the darkness. He was glad to be having a torchlight on him because the darkness was completely pitch black. As he switched his torch on, it flickered for a while but then started to stream out a huge beam of light like a million fireflies clumped up together.

As Carlos ventured further into the forest, the voice started to become clearer. “Awwwwooo” came the voice. It was a strange thought because Carlos found it quite familiar. “Huh? That sounded very familiar, it’s as if I‘ve heard this creature yelp before?” questioned Carlos to himself. “Weird?” mentioned Carlos to himself.

It sounded like a wolf was nearby him. As he continued walking, the sound became louder and louder. This sent shivers down his back. Carlos reached a cavern, where the sound was coming from. “Here goes nothing,” Carlos said to himself before entering the cave carefully. He made sure he didn’t make any noise so that the creature wouldn’t get startled.

There it was again, the sound “Awwoooo!”. Then a strange creature caught his eye, it was big, it was grey and it had sharp ears. “ A Wollllfffff!”  Carlos screamed at the top of his lungs and started to sprint out of the cave as fast as a cheetah. He kept on panting continuously until he reached the tree-lined road and back to his home.

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I flew downward from the tree I was standing on and landed on the tree next to it. Growing from the tree were six black berries hanging on the edge of the branch I was standing on. I rushed to the berries and swallowed them in one gulp. They tasted sweet and juicy and immediately filled me up with energy. Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound coming from the trees. It was an eagle!

I flew away as fast as I could from the eagle but I knew it was no point. The eagle had much larger wings than me. It was only a matter of time before it would catch up with me. Nearer and nearer it came. Then, everything went in slow motion. The eagle lunged forward, missing in its first try. On its second try, the eagle managed to grab my leg with its talon but it was not paying attention that a big branch was coming its way. On its third try, it managed to grab my leg again and unfortunately, I had no support from incoming branches!

The eagle dragged me backward while I struggled in its strength.

“It's going to bring me to its nest!” I thought. I began to lose hope. The eagle was too strong and fast to escape from. When suddenly…

“Bang!” came a noise from below. The eagle fell to the ground. I looked down to see the weirdest creature I have seen in my life. It had no feathers except for on its head and a little bit around the eye. The feathers looked much different than original feathers. They were thin and long; just black lines that overlap each other. Its eyes were both in front of its head, not at the sides. Instead of a beak, it had a bump with two holes underneath. It had no wings but two pole-like things with claws-like things at the end. As for the legs it was the same as the things instead of wings just much longer. It was about 30 times bigger than me. The weirdest thing about it was that the pole-like thing was holding another pole-like thing with two holes at the end.

I did not know this creature but I was thankful that it had saved my life.

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...Kate touched the wall for any clues such as a secret button or etc, nothing. “Perhaps the floor,” Kate thought, but nothing. She didn't notice a bump on the wall and went to sleep.

The next day, Kate sighed and continued to search the wall. There was nothing still until she felt the bump on the wall next to her. The bump was oddly unusual, Why? Well because it was a perfect circle unlike other weird bumps on the wall. It was behind hard wallpaper so she needed something to cut through the wall like scissors.

The kidnapper usually came back and forth in the basement to make sure she didn't escape. Kate was caught 5 times trying to escape and her punishment was nasty. However instead of scissors she found a dull blade., It wasn’t much help but better than nothing. After what seemed like forever she finally carved for the surrounding wall and pressed the button. It must've triggered something because a blackout had happened.

This gave Kate some time to find out a glowing thing behind the chair. It was never there. Perhaps it was a bluelight switch. The kidnapper barged in and choked her screaming, “WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Kate sobbed and replied, N-nothing” The kidnapper stormed out. Kate then grabbed the glowing thing and unlocked the door. It seemed to have caused something because the house was unusually empty. She took advantage and ran away.

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When I was in college I had no home- just a tiny, puny room- shared with my 5 mates- Benjamin, Ben (coincidently, because it was random), Almond, Bacon and Coconut (we refer to them as A,B and C). I left them and the hostel for an apartment and rented it for only $400 a month. I was more than happy to leave them- they hogged the bathrooms for almost half an hour to get ready to go to college and occupied the table for themselves to do their homework so I had to lie on the dirty floor to do my homework.

I gazed at the towering skyscraper punching the clouds right before my very eyes. It was my first time entering my new apartment unit- a 500 square feet area and on the 5th floor of the apartment. I took the elevator up and saw it- my unit- E107. I slowly walked to the going-to-be-almost-forever-home of mine. As I walked across the cool, red, fluffy mat, I could feel my excitement bubbling up in my body.

I finally turned the steel handle of the dark oak door- the portal to a beautiful universe. The kitchen at the far corner of the room was spick and span complete with a 5e electric stove number 705 and an orange Heatven, the toilet with a spacious showeroom and a white-as-snow table, all ready to prepare me for my life ahead of me(good thing I told them to install it that way).

To solve my problem of loneliness, I brought my 2 kittens with me- namely a thin toyger Almond and a fat ragdoll Oreo. They quickly adapted to the place and loved stretching and brushing themselves against the white wall- they never left that place! I also brought along a small mouse toy to add to some decoration at the wall- I guess that’s why they never left the place.

I also bought a small IKEA® lamp to put by my side when I study and a tent at the far left corner for me and my cats to sleep in- it was fun because we felt like we were camping! In addition to the tent, I bought a small glow-in-the-dark campfire next to the tent and it glows yellow, giving it a great feel! All of the above cost me 5000$ in total- but I am delighted to have an apartment of my choice!

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I’m running, running away from the ferocious monster chasing after me. I bump into a dead end. “I’m done for now!” I scream in my mind. I turn around and face the monster. The monster’s facial features were all smudged together. It looked like it was a human once. It began closing in on me, slowly, slowly, until the space between me and it was scarcely enough for even a finger to fit in.

I woke up in bed and sat up straight, sweating. I realised it was all only a dream. I laughed sarcastically, “Haha, what an interesting dream.” I looked at my alarm and saw that it was half-past eight. “Oh crap, I’m late!” I frantically got ready and rushed out the front door without even eating breakfast. I ran to school as fast as I could although I was no athlete.

Unconsciously, I came to a dead end. “Eh, what’s happening?” I pushed the wall as if looking for a secret door. I turned around to find another pathway but was met by a wall. “Wait, what? Didn’t I come from here?” Just then, I recognised the wall. It looked exactly like the one in my dream! Uh oh, will the monster be real too? I wondered. But I didn’t have to turn around to know. A distorted voice came booming from behind me.

“Hello, fellow human. You look delicious.” I shuddered. “D-don’t you dare come close to me, y-you disgusting thing.” The monster laughed maniacally. “How cute of you to think I would listen to such a little thing like you.” I turned around. “I SAID DON’T COME CLOSE TO ME, YOU REPULSIVE FREAK!” I yelled. It looked as if its intestines were about to burst out any moment. Its eyes bulged like a crackpot. Oh wait, it IS a crackpot. “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?” It came charging at me. I’m really done for now. I thought.

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It was another tidy Tuesday for the Scindars, a rich family with a spoilt son named Durkey. They also had an adopted child named Sikaro.

But because of her personality and because she was adopted, her family treated her like rubbish in the cleanest house in the world. Sikaro always had to wash the dishes, make the beds, tidy the rooms, clean the chimney, polish the floor, and lots more! While her half-brother, Durkey could get anything he wanted.

He didn’t have to make food for himself, he didn’t have to eat himself, he didn’t have to do chores, and he was always spoiled by his parents, Aunt Daisy and Uncle Verbon. That night, Sikaro had to eat her family’s leftovers for dinner. She took a piece of bread and crept to the creepy broken attic, it was where she slept and spent most of her time in.

She had one bed, a box, and nothing else. She used the box to put whatever she found outside when she had free time. She ate her bread and wished the moon goodnight, then she went to sleep in her ragged old bed.

That night she had a horrible dream, she was first on normal ground, then people said mean things to her, and suddenly she fell down a never-ending hole and everything she didn’t like surrounded her, she was about to get sucked into the darkness when “SIKARO” woke her up.

“SIKARO, THESE DISHES AREN'T GOING TO WASH THEMSELVES, AND WHERE IS OUR FOOD!!!!!!!!!!” shouted Aunt Daisy. Sikaro rolled her eyes and dashed downstairs. She served the food and washed the dishes, and then she went off to hang up the Scindars laundry.

As she hung up the laundry, she thought of her original mother and father. She couldn’t remember anything of them. But there was one thing, she remembered that her mother and father hugged her (probably goodbye) and gave her to a person with shining armour and golden eyes.

She took her and ran away leaving her family alone. Suddenly, her Aunt Daisy shouted, “SIKARO, ARE YOU DAYDREAMING! FINISH UP OUR LAUNDRY AND GO TO YOUR ROOM!” Sikaro fell out of her imagination and quickly continued hanging up their smelly clothes.

That night, Sikaro could not sleep. She kept thinking what would happen if she stayed here forever, if her family treated her like this forever. She could not bear the horrifying thought of it.

She decided to escape from her house, she packed up her things and snuck out. For years, she had not seen the moon physically. She gazed in wonder. After watching the moon for some time, she left and stumbled away from the Scindar’s home.

That night, she couldn’t fall asleep. She had no food and no home, she had to rest at an alleyway in the bustling city. The next morning, she checked her bag and amazingly, it was piles and piles of gold in it! Sikaro was overjoyed! She jumped up from the freezing cobblestone ground and happily walked into the streets, finding the necessities she should buy.

She bought some necessities and food, then she rented a stay at a hotel. She was living a pretty good life then, but it couldn’t last forever. Soon she didn’t have much money left and could not afford to stay any longer in that hotel.

With her remaining money, she put herself in an orphanage as she wished that someone would come to adopt her.

One day, Sikaro saw a couple talking to the manager of the orphanage. Sikaro was extremely curious, so she just had to know what was going on. While she was eavesdropping, she heard the name ‘Sikaro’ being mentioned. She wondered what it was all about.

Then, the manager came up to Sikaro and told her “Sikaro, good news! You’re being adopted by this lovely couple, Mr. Kanso and Ms. Sorin”. Sikaro couldn’t believe her ears, she was finally being adopted!

She walked over nervously to the couple to talk to them. As they introduced themselves, Sikaro knew that they were a better family than the Scindars. Soon, she was taken into a car and was driven off to her new home.

She loved it! There was not much, one king bed in the bedroom, a couch in the living room, and a small table in the dining room. But best of all, there was a warm fireplace, crackling with heat.

After recognizing the place, Sikaro offered to make dinner for the family. Sikaro made a steak dinner for her family. Her new mom and dad each ate two giant steaks and had large helpings of mashed potatoes. When the meal was over, everyone's plate was empty and licked clean.

Sikaro felt lovely in this new home. She never wanted to leave, but that just couldn’t happen.

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Sam was panting and coughing after he had surpassed the guards and slipped away. He was so relieved that he had escaped prison. He stole a random, white Ford and sped away into the distance.

They are probably still on my tail, I should shake them off, thought Sam.

Sam took a right turn then a left turn…then he ended up in a strange, peculiar alley. He killed the lights of the car and set off on foot. He ran away behind all the city areas.

Meanwhile, the police are on the trail of catching him. They had found the Ford. The superintendent, Mr. Johnson was the one on the escape case. He had brought many police cars filled with lieutenants and officers.

“Secure the area,” said Mr. Johnson.

Meanwhile, the officers are in a hot pursuit with Sam. The police chased him down in the alleys of the city. Sam was tired and couldn’t run any further. Just as he lost hope, he saw a sewer lid. He swiftly removed the lid and jumped down inside the sewers. It was so stinky that you could die by just smelling the awful smell. He had no choice; he went even further in the sewers then his shadow faded into the darkness…

Mr. Johnson received news that Sam had gotten away. He was furious. How could he let him get away just like that? He ordered the officers to kill him when in sight. It was brutal.

The sewer was worse than getting chased by a million cops. Sam couldn’t stand the smell. He got out and made his way out of the city. Mr. Johnson spotted him and shot a bullet out of his revolver. Sam took a look back at him and saw a whole army of police officers taking out their guns and firing at him. Sam took a deep breath. "This will do."

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Samuel was happily cycling down his neighbourhood. Cycling was a pastime he enjoyed. Everyday after school, he would take his faithful bike for a quick joyride and back just in time for dinner. However his ventures were frequently halted by an absolutely appalling hound.

The house just 4 doors down was a quaint little home, filled to the brim with all sorts of antiques, some possibly being a few hundred years old. The owner of the home was a nice little old lady called Winne with a passion for baking, antiques and dogs. Winne was a nice person, but her dog, Rockie, was vastly different. Rockie barked and growled, with the intensity of a jet engine.

Samuel dreaded crossing that part of the road, but it was necessary. He readied himself to pedal with all his might, and with some words of self motivation he took off. The instant his ears heard the dreaded vocal sounds of the canine, he peddled beyond any speed he was aware he could peddle.

He did it. He escaped the dog! Snap! The gears of his tires dislodged and his bike grinded to a halt. Samuel, surprised by the loss of momentum, flung off his bike, laying on the road like a pile of leaves in the autumn. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, but another danger was pummeling into his view.

Rockie the dog was rapidly approaching him, drool dripping down from his mouth, overflowing with rotten yellow teeth, some of his lunch was still nestled comfortably between his teeth. Disgusted, Samuel lifted up his bike, he fumbled with the gears, he hopped back on his bike and he took off.

“Not today Rockie, you aint getting this hot rod today!” he taunted. His tone did not match his emotions.

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The Dragon World

Lila was in an obscure corner of the library. ‘I have never seen this part of the library before…strange,’ Lila thought.  ‘This corner looks neglected and dusty.’  Suddenly, her bright blue eyes caught a gold and red book.  ‘Dragons’ was the title.  It smelt like old paper and looked as old as a dinosaur.

When she opened it, a big red picture of a portal was on the first page.  Out of the blue, she heard a WRWRWR.  Lila suddenly felt dizzy.  She was spinning around.  Somehow.  When she finally got out, Lila found herself in a strange world.  Her green dress got ripped on a tree branch.  She was in a world with trees, leaves and moss.

Travelling out of the forest, Lila saw something.  It was a bright red and orange creature.  It was scaly, with yellow spots. It was a dragon. When it saw Lila, it roared. ‘Oh no…’ she thought. It was heading straight for her. Its teeth were stained with something red. Blood. The dragon was advancing. Lila was going to die.

All of a sudden, there was a swooshing sound. What was it?

A ferocious beast.  It scooped Lila up and flew away.  The beast was purple with splotches of purple and blue. “HELLO! My name is Galax.” Galax said, gently. Lila sighed, relieved.  Then, Lila told Galax her story. Lila told her about the book, the portal and the library. Galax decided to help Lila get back to her world.

“The portal is in the forest, right?” Galax asked. Lila answered “Yes.” When they reached the forest, Galax turned to look at Lila. There was a book on the ground. The same book that brought Lila to this strange, weird world. She turned a page and touched the picture of the odd portal.  Like before when she touched it, she was spinning around again. She looked up. She was back in the library, as if nothing had happened.

If there was one thing Lila had learnt, it was that dragons were horrible.

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Adam walked towards the local library, about to escape reality and jump into a world of fantasy. Quietly slipping into the library, Adam reached out to take a book and read the contents of it. Silence was ringing as he flipped through pages of words.

Suddenly, a loud shriek rang through the halls of the library, as more and more mutters started. Adam turned to his right and to his own surprise, one of the most famous movie stars came into the library! Adam gasped in shock. It was Miss Sarah Silva! She was wearing a pair of custom made sunglasses, a shocking colour of a pink handbag slung over her shoulder. A golden brown coloured hair with matching coloured nails. Her high heels made clicking sounds as she walked towards my area, bodyguards surrounding her as she did.

“Child, do you by any chance wish to come with me? My boss told me to pick ya up and bring you to him,” Miss Sarah said.

Adam stood there, gasping. “Miss Sarah was talking to me, of all people?!” he thought. He nodded his head multiple times, and the rest of the people in the library were snapping pictures with their phone, and there were alot of people begging for Miss Sarah’s signature. “Sure, I could sign for everyone here!” Miss Sarah smiled. Cheers erupted from the library. It was so loud, Adam thought that the shouts were going to shake the library down. It took awhile before Miss Sarah was done with the signatures and took Adam to her limo.

Ding! The lift signalled that Adam and Miss Sarah were already at the top floor of the “COOL MOVIE STARZ” building. Apparently it was where Miss Sarah worked. “Hey boss, I'm back!” Miss Sarah said cheerily while knocking on the wooden door. “Come in.” A deep voice replied. Adam was spooked by his voice. The doors opened, and Adam slowly walked in the room. Suddenly, two people roughly took Adam by his hands. “HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Adam shouted. Another person karate chopped Adam’s neck, making him unconscious. “Perfect, we can make him ours now.” Miss Sarah said.

“I agree,” another girl said.

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As I carried the heavy box to my uncle's workshop, (he hates me and gives me hard work) my uncle appeared from behind the door and shouted, “Move faster!”

My mother died when I was a baby and my dad works 24 hours so I had to live with my uncle. It was horrid living with him. I have to wake up early in the morning everyday and work for my uncle. I put the box on the table and waited for my uncle. I saw a strange book. It was old, rusty and very thick. I was curious to see what was inside the book. I opened the book.

Dragons

Dragons are powerful creatures they do not like to be harmed. They are very hard to catch because they camouflage in their different habitats. Tips for catching a dragon:

You must be gentle

When dragon try to harm you don”t harm it back

Give it something to eat, play etc and make it happy

Always bring a saddle

Types of dragons:

(fire, sky, lightning, wind, planet, space, time, light) habitat:fire, burned down forest, space

(water, ice, sea, rain, ) habitat: ice/water

(forest, sand, mud, earthquake, mountain, lava) habitat: forest/desert/land/mountain/volcano

(all animals like: bee, horse, cat, etc) their animal habitat example: for horse dragon in a horse stable (SXXXX big)

I only read dragons but there were also a lot more strange creatures, maybe a thousand, maybe a million? I skipped to the end part because there was too much to read.

Witches control natural disasters which destroy villages, towns and kingdoms. The leader witch is the sandstorm witch. Allies: tsunami witch, earthquake witch, tornado witch and

As I finished the book, there suddenly was a flash of light and I found myself in a mediaeval looking town.

I saw a man in weird robes and asked him where I was. He said that we were in a town called Abramadon. Then he said, “You look weird. What kind of creature are you?”

I was confused but I still answered, “A human.”

The man looked surprised and said, “ We need to get you to the chief.”

As we walked down the long hallways full of books and dusty pictures in the chief's house I asked the man why he had looked so surprised when I said I was a human. The man said that humans couldn't cross the barriers of the land and the last human that tried to teleport here got stuck in time.I Then I introduced myself and asked him what his name was. His name was Daniel.  We entered the chief’s room. Danial announced, “A human.”

At the same time a witch (probably the Sand storm witch) controlling a quicksand tornado busted through the wall and bellowed, ”Ha Ha Ha! An impact from the human made me free! Too bad I can’t kill you now but I shall take the human.”

I opened my eyes and realised I dozed off. I was in a dark room with no doors. I walked forward but I came back! This was a magic never ending room! I tried going out the open window but I just went to the opposite window. Suddenly, a dragon appeared, I guess that's how the witches put people (or dragons?) in the room. I remembered what I read in the book that brought me here.  I guess this was a light dragon because I had shining light spots and it went to the lightest place in the room. Since I didn't have food I took a torchlight out of my pocket and made patterns with it. The dragon's body followed the patterns I flashed at the wall. The dragon seemed happy. A voice spoke through my head, “Don’t be afraid, I’m Flash.”

The voice was Flash the dragon. “If you point the light at you and me I can teleport us out and make the witch's castle explode,” Flash said.

I pointed the light at me and Flash and a flash of light covered us at the same time I heard a BOOM!.

I found myself in front of a cottage. Flash was gone. I knocked on the door of the cottage. It was my dad. “Dad!” I shouted.

My dad explained to me that my mom was actually a creature in this magical world and my dad managed to go to the land. After my dad went to the land nobody could go to any land and the book that I thought brought me here was actually my notebook. It appeared when I explained about the book. I was the teleporter of the worlds. I had the power to change things. That's how I transformed my notebook into a magical book. I lived with my mother and father. Flash came everyday to play with me.

# data[].attributes.body
“Lisa, don’t stay up too late!” the manager calls. “I won’t!” Lisa yells back. She waves ‘till the manager is gone. She takes a chair and sits down near the door.

Lisa, aged 19, is working as a part-time assistant in the library. She has a little sister named Lucy, who is 15 years old, and loves her big sister very much. Everyday after Lisa comes back from her work, Lucy will run to her sister and hug her hard.

Lisa sat down and opened her phone. She found WhatsApp and started to chat with Lucy.

Lisa: Hi! 👋🏻

Lucy: Whassup?

Lucy: Are you coming back?

Lisa: No… I’m on a night shift so I’ll be coming back at about 11:30.

Lucy: Aww… I wanna play. But I understand.

Lisa: Thanks! You know what, I better get back to my work, or the manager will be         after me. 🤣🤣🤣

Lucy: OK, bye! 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

Lisa: Bye! 👋🏻

Lisa closed her phone and looked around. Everything seemed normal. She went back to surfing the internet with her phone.

After an hour, she looked around. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in front of her then vanished, leaving a mysterious book behind.

Lisa backed away, frightened. After a moment or two, she went up to the book and picked it up. It was a dusty old book, with tears along the pages and a stain on the spine. On the cover it said: “The Secrets” with a picture of Death on it. It certainly was a creepy book.

She opened the book and the musty smell of the book wafted. She started reading and immediately knew why the bookwas called “The Secrets”. It was full of secrets!

She read on further and found some history and started to read:

Long ago, there was a city full of monks. They lived happily, occasionally going to visit each other.

Then, someone invaded the city and created chaos. They murdered and hurt people. Soon, everyone was very worried and soon had pale cheeks and bloodshot eyes. They evolved to be immortal and soon they found the culprit and jailed him. But they grew sad, angry and always snapped. So a little monk sent to the God Of Emotions to ask him to make everyone happy again. The God Of Emotions agreed to restore happiness to everyone on one condition: he had to become Death. The monk agreed without thinking and he changed form: he was a skeleton, wearing a black hood and cloak, holding a DeathStick. The God Of Emotions told him he had to kill 100 people every year to keep the world stable or bad things would happen. The monk went back and saw everyone smiling and laughing, red cheeks and eyes bright. He went over to greet everyone but everyone screamed and ran away from him. He tried to explain to people he was the little monk that was sent to the God Of Emotions, but no one listened. He soon saw that people would be afraid of weirdos like Death. People like him.

He saw more hardship and sadness that the God hadn’t managed to heal, and his heart began to harden and soon he felt no emotions and became True Death.

But his wife was still determined to find good in him, though she was also afraid of him. But then, she had bad news.

She was falsely accused of robbery and murder. She was sent to prison where she was kept guard over day and night.

Death was upset to find his wife imprisoned and went to see her everyday, though he treated her like an enemy. His wife was happy to see her husband and glad to see some good in him.

But Death could not bear to see his dear wife imprisoned. So, one night, he went out to free her. But the guards saw him and caught him and gave him a death sentence. His wife was shocked and the night before he was beheaded, she went to rescue him.

But at the cost of her own life.

As she died in Death’s arms, she smiled and said: “I’m glad you came to see me everyday… I’m just sorry I didn’t get to see you…”. She shut her eyes and her hand that Death was holding dropped down to the floor.

Death gave a scream of devastation and sadness. His scream killed millions of people around the world. He gave another sob and carried his wife’s body to her home, placing her on her bed.

His rage is fueled by the loss of his beloved, and he feels the whole world must pay. He started a war and won. He is an unfair ruler, doomed to be forever alone in the world.

Lisa stopped reading and flipped to the last page. It said in bloody words: THose whO rEaD tHIS pagE MuSt PAy witH dEaTh.

# data[].attributes.body
It was a cold winter day, I was in the library on a night shift. I grew bored and decided to take a book to read. The library is enormous, but there are only four rows of books. I walked along the empty library and I tripped on a loose tile. Just as I was about to call the other librarian, I saw there was an old diary inside the tile. On the front page I saw that it was titled “The Secrets of the Library”. I opened the book and began to read.

Dear Diary,

I have found the secrets of the library, but I hid it from someone who is trying to prevent me from unlocking it. Find the secret switch among the books and you will find a clue.

Harry

I finished reading the first page but when I turned to the next page it was blank. All the pages in the diary were blank. I was puzzled. I decided to follow the clue in the diary and looked among the books. I pulled a similar-looking diary out of the book shelf and opened it. This diary only had one page. It said “Next to me”. I looked at the book next to this diary and found a switch, when I pressed the switch, another tile popped out. Inside, I saw an iron and a slip that said “lemon”. I realised that the blank pages were written out with lemon to make the ink invisible. I put the hot iron on the diary and words started to form. It said,  “Look for the tile of salts. An amulet that glows at night, and vanishes during the day”.

I realised now that only the amulet can unlock the library but I do not know how. I decided to ask my friends, Kelsey, Matthew and Olivia for help. I showed them the diary. Matthew thought for a moment and said, “There is a place of salt in the country Bolivia called Salar de Uyuni. But what is the tile of salts?” We continued to read the diary and found another clue, “Turn to where the sun appears, take fifteen steps, and bow down where he nears”.  Kelsey, who is good at directions, said, “The sun appears to the east, so we go to the front of the library and turn east, then take fifteen steps and then we should be able to find the tile.” “The amulet should be in the tile!” concluded Matthew.

We decided to find the amulet the next day , we went back home and had a good night's sleep because the next day will be a long one. After we ate breakfast, we met at the library . When Olivia remembered something and said, “ Doesn’t the amulet only glow at night?” So we decided to meet up at night again. Meanwhile another person also wanted the amulet - not to save the library, but to keep it for his own private collection. That person was the grandson of the person who wanted to do the same during Harry's time. That person's name is Luke Van Daykin. He was spying on Kelsey, Matthew, Olivia and I. Soon it was nightfall, we went back to the library and met a woman, her name was Sally. She said: “The library is closed at this time, you’ll have to come back tomorrow morning.” Being a staff member of the library, I said, “The library is open for 24 hours.” So Sally reluctantly let us go. We did as Kelsey had said earlier. When we reached the place,  Olivia took out the tile carefully, then took out the chest and opened it……

A blue amulet shone in front of us. It was stunning! Just then a voice commanded behind us, “Give me the amulet!” We looked back and saw that it was Sally. She was wearing an evil smile on her face. I asked in surprise, “Why did you follow us?” Sally answered, “You’ll see!” Then we saw a helicopter in the sky and a man stepped out of it. It was Daykin!“Who are you?” Matthew asked. Daykin answered: “My name is Daykin, now give me the amulet!” Kelsey quickly took out her phone and messaged the police whilst the others distracted Daykin and Sally. Five minutes later, the police arrived and arrested Daykin and Sally. We looked around the library and found a hole that is similar to the amulet.  I put the amulet into the hole and waited……

Suddenly there was a flash of blue light and a few dozen rows of books appeared, a fireplace for warmth, dozens of tables and chairs to study - everything was back as it was. Just then a voice said, “Thank You!”  The four of us smiled and went in different directions heading to our respective home.

# data[].attributes.body
It was my day of the night shift in the library, I heard rumours of some magical things that happen during the night of the Friday. I came prepared, what if it could be an attack? I walked nervously and excited that day it was my first job. I got down to the desk and switched on the table lamp. I took some books from the shelves and read. As I was scrolling through the pages I found a page: I discovered many secrets of the library.

The library was filled with many secrets at midnight. I looked at my watch and it was 11:59, I counted the time I saw some shadow and continued to count 2 and 1. The clock chimed and mysterious fiction characters appeared from thin air. They were mumbling and shouting and waving their weapons up in the air. More people appeared and stores with trees turning the library into a wonderful biome.

Suddenly, I heard loud gunshots and men shouting in Spanish, I turned around realising it was El Cid, a ferocious warrior from Spain. I ducked down, all the villagers around the stores turned around not looking surprised. They waved their weapons and El Cid rushed to attack. It was a horrifying scene seeing many villagers and warriors die in front of my eyes.

Then, I found an axe that was laying on the floor and threw it at El Cid but he dodged, I knew I was in trouble. He walked up to me pointing his sharp polished axe at me. I gulped. He raised his axe and brought it down. Clank! A man in shiny armour and a french moustache saved me, he blocked and carried me to safety. I saw him fighting, I knew I had to do something. I just couldn’t stand and do nothing to someone who saved my life. I looked at my watch and it was 5:30 am.

I remembered I only knew when the secret happened but not when it ended. I flipped the pages vigorously trying to find the page. I scanned the pages and read ‘all mysterious creatures and characters will disappear. I looked at my watch, I had to thank him but I couldn't, my mouth wouldn’t open. I wanted to scream and shout at them but I just couldn't. It felt like my lips were superglued.

It was 5:59. I quickly wrote “Thank you” on a piece of paper and suddenly they disappeared in seconds. They faded away like ashes flying in the wind. I was relieved and disappointed, I couldn’t say thank you and got to know my rescuer well. I looked at the big mess that was created by the fight, I had to start picking up books. Soon enough, I was fast asleep on my desk.

My manager entered, the bell and I instantly woke up and she said, “What a spotless library!”

# data[].attributes.body
Today was the last day of school at Arcadia Oaks High. And also the day when the library had a 50% OFF discount. After school, I met up with my friend Ethan and we headed to the library.

“Hey, James!” Ethan shouted. “I think today is the day Iron Can is comin’ to visit.”  “It's Iron Man, you’re only Iron Can in your head,” I teased.

Not long, after we reached the library. It was surprisingly empty, even though they had a discount. There was only one staff working. “Hello, welcome to The Book Paradise!” the staff said. There weren't a lot of books to form a paradise but I just shrugged and searched for a book.

Just as I was picking up a book, a red Ferrari skidded to a halt in front of the library, followed by five armored vehicles. A man with black hair, a black goatee, and brown eyes stepped out of the Ferrari. His bodyguards formed two lines between him.

"Holy cow! It’s Ion Man!” Ethan cried.

The staff immediately stood up and bowed. Welcome sir, to The Book Paradise. Iron Man made a gesture of shooing the staff away. A bunch of questions suddenly flowed through my head.”Was that really Iron Man? What would he be doing here? Why does he have bodyguards?”I thought. The staff handed Iron Man what looked like a contract paper. Iron Man signed it and handed it back.

Ethan immediately ran towards him and hugged him. “Iron Man!”He cried. ”I’m a big fan of yours! Can I have your autograph?” Iron Man signed it and handed it back. Suddenly, a huge crowd swarmed in the library. The bodyguards tried to keep the crowd out but they swarmed in like a tsunami. From reporters to ordinary people, they started taking photos and asking for autographs.

Iron man signed a few and then returned back to his car and drove away along with his and his bodyguards. A chorus of ‘Aww’ and ‘Ohh’ echoed inside the building. Everyone left except me and Ethan. “Wow, I didn't know that that guy was so popular. ”I said, jaw dropped. And then we resumed searching for books like nothing happened.

# data[].attributes.body
It was late in the afternoon, Samantha the librarian was announcing in through the speakers that the library would be closing soon. Samantha is the local librarian and is known around the library staff and visitors as a "Karen". She
always asks for a raise and if she doesn’t get what she wants she throws a fit and starts screaming. She also wears too much makeup which isn’t even allowed but like she always does she began screaming and demanding to
get what she wants. She works at one of the biggest libraries in the country but hardly anyone visits because of her.

While she was beginning to arrange the checked out books she overheard some kids calling her the biggest fool in the library. She dropped the book and fury was etched along her face. She looked like a grape that was about to
explode! But she decided to call her boss to get them banned instead of interfering, suddenly a book caught her eye. It read “The Mystery Of Witches.” The spine was withered from age and the pages were yellowed like pee. She took it out and examined it forgetting about the kids. She sat at her desk and read the first chapter called “Baba Yaga.” It showed a wrinkled old hag who would curse or cook children if they got to close to her territory. Samantha wished she had that kind of power, little did she know as she continued reading in peace she was being transported into the land of Baba Yaga.

As she looked up she noticed she wasn’t in the library anymore but in a deformed bog. Samantha was shocked but caught sight of a lady as wrinkly as the trees come towards her. She inspected her and gave her a sniff. The witch who Samantha had now recognised as Baba Yaga asked her if she wished to become her apprentice because the witch had sensed a hatred of children in her.

Samantha gave a twisted grin and said, “Where do we begin?”

# data[].attributes.body
It was another normal day, kinda. you see, I was at the library finding a book to write about in my school essay, I couldn’t find any good books so I spent the whole day there, then the whole night. Now, you’re probably wondering how I spent the whole night there, well dum-dum, I am a member and I work here. Sadly, I am a cleaner. Yup, a boring old cleaner, a janitor. So, I have been working there for 10 years, and nothin’ like this has ever happened. Let me tell you the story of The Book of Dimensions. Remember, it was a normal day, and I was looking forfinding a book at night, I couldn’t find anything and I just sat down in grief. But then, I found a strange, whooshing sound in the storeroom.

Then it stopped, I just had to know what it was. I quietly crept through the old room, my eyes darting everywhere, and just when I was about to give up, there it was, an old book lying on the dusty floorboards. I gently picked it up and ran out of the storeroom. That place was really creepy, bbbbrrrrrrrrrrr. As I sat back down next to my favourite shelf, I opened the book.

I started reading the book, there seemed to be strange ancient languages written down, I couldn’t read them so I just watched the pictures, I thought it was a pretty normal book and nothing was strange, I thought maybe the whooshing sound just came from the rain outside but little did I know that this book was going to change my life forever.

As I read further into the mysterious book, I could feel a sudden change around me, I started to feel dizzy, and (I might have gotten nausea because I vomitted on the floor). But then it stopped, I thought it was just my imagination and continued reading.

Suddenly, the library manager, or my boss, came to tell me that they were closing and they needed me to go home, I looked outside, just my luck, the heaviest storm in the history of storms. I had to dart throughout the rain, trying to escape the giant drops of water.

Once I got home, I shoved my jacket into my cupboard and dragged the heavy book up to my room, boy, it was as heavy as a truckload full of pineapples, anyways let’s get back to the topic. I flung myself down on the bed and gently left to book on my bedside table.

But then, I heard a shout, “KIRA!”. I instantly knew it was my mom. I had just remembered how late I had come home, she was going to kill me for sure! Wait, no she is not actually going to kill me it was just an expression, and, back to the topic!

I hid under the blanket and hoped she wouldn’t find me, but then it happened. I heard her footsteps slowly approaching my room. “KIRA, COME OUT NOW." I was terrified, then I felt her lifting the covers of the bed.

When she lifted the blanket, I shouted, “I’m so sorry mom, I had to finish my school essay and I couldn’t find the book and-and”. “What do you mean you’re sorry?” interrupted my mom. I was confused.

“You mean you’re not mad?” I asked her. She replied “What? Of course not why did you think so?” I said, “because I came home late”. “No, why would I be mad at that!”

As she led me down to have dinner, I thought of her personality. She would never say those things, as far as I can remember she has always scolded me for being late to come home. I had no idea what she was up to, or what had happened to her.

The next day, strange things happened, everyone was acting the total opposite. Ms. Corna, who is usually quite nice, scolded me for dropping her sewing materials. And Mr. Cornelius, who is usually quite strict, did not scold me even once that day!

I knew that something was going on. I decided to go back home and do some research about this. But once I came home, the ancient book caught my attention, it was glowing very brightly in a pink sort of light. I grabbed it and ran upstairs holding the book tight in my hands.

I started to read it and I realised that there wasn’t any more ancient language, it was now all English! I started to read every single page of the book, but I saw a bookmark inside a page, I found out that it was the page that was glowing, not the book!

I flipped over to the shining page and was shocked at what I had read. Inside were the words ‘Read this book and turn the page, look at it once and you will fade, into a dimension that is, opposite, than the one which is his.’

Then, I was really confused. What did it mean, I mean I knew now I was in a new dimension but what did it mean by than the one which is his. I really didn't know. I wanted to tell my mom all about this but I couldn't. I had to keep this a secret, besides, she would think of it as nonsense.

But then, I heard  a voice.

“Hello Kira.”

# data[].attributes.body
The local library wasn't much, many of the books were in a horrible condition and the library itself was quite dilapidated. However, John still enjoyed visiting the library after work. He found reading to be an extraordinary method of entertainment and pleasure, with a book you could visit other worlds, other planets and even find out something new with a non-fiction book.

Little did John know, the latter would soon become a reality.

It was a rather chilly evening. John was, as usual, in the library. He was scouring the halls of the library in the hopes of finding an interesting novel or tome to engage himself upon, until he stumbled upon a book on the floor. The book looked really old, even older than the ancient librarian, Mr Higgins. The book gave him a strange feeling, a feeling that the book didn't belong here, something wasn't quite right.

John really wanted to walk away and move on with his life, but it felt as if there was a magnet attracting him to the book, reckoning him to pick it up and read it.John reached for the book, and picked it up. The cover was in a language John could barely understand. Wait, never in his life had he seen this language, why did he have a feeling of a strange inexplicable knowledge of this language? John sat down in his favourite spot and opened the book.

His nostrils were blasted with a smell of mildew and the pleasing old book smell. All the pages were filled with titles and text made of the strange language on the cover. John read out a random page.He blacked out.

John awoke many hours later. Based on what he could discern, he was in the library at night. John got up. He headed out of the library and into the night. John searched for his home, but it was incredibly difficult due to the streetlights not working. On closer inspection, the street lights emit darkness instead of light.

John's beloved town was… wrong. Everything felt wrong, looked wrong and was wrong. The town was in eternal darkness, sounds of roars and screams echoing in the distance, weird roots which were the colour of blood blossomed everywhere. The sun emitted dark, all light sources emitted dark.

In the distance John could make out the silhouette of  a figure, it was rapidly approaching him! John's innate animal senses roared to life and he ran.The creature roared, it appeared to be a strange amalgamation like creature, with what looked like bones sticking out of it.

John consulted the book, he had a suspicion that this strange reality was the book's fault. John found the page he was last on and read the words. The creature was only mere metres away from him, John prayed that it would work and…

Smash! He ran bang splat onto a wall. John's heart was pounding, his vision was dilated and he still saw afterimages of a shadowy sun, and the strange creature.John snuck out of the library, aiming to avoid attention and to sneak out of the line of sight of the librarian.

John went straight home, straight to bed. He locked all the doors and windows and got into bed. His mind was still racking with thoughts. He was lucky to escape that place.

Epilogue:

The book reappeared in another dimension. It settled itself on a floor, hoping that another bookworm would stumble across it, this time it would not allow its victim to use itself to escape, it heard footsteps in the distance.

# data[].attributes.body
It was a quiet Friday afternoon when my school had just finished. I decided to go to the library to read some books and then go home. When I reached the library, I spotted my friend over there and I decided to greet him.

“Hello Christopher!” I said to him.

“Hi, Jaden!” he replied.

We both took a book from the shelf and sat down to read together. After we finished a book, we wanted to take another one but we found a diary among the books.

“This diary is about the night shift of the library,” said Christopher.

“I wonder what’s inside this,” I thought, “But we do not know about this diary. I’ve never seen it before here.”

Both of us decided to open it and we saw notes about the night guards of the library. After we had read it, we were dumbfounded; all the guards died due to cancer. I said, “It’s evening now. We should probably go home now.” So both of us left the library and went home. The following afternoon, we came back to the library and opened the diary again. To our surprise, another page has been added to the diary. It said: “To whoever is reading this, come back here at midnight.”

“What is going on at midnight?” Christopher asked. I answered, “I feel like a page is added every midnight.” So we left and came back at midnight.

The inside of the library is so dark, so we hid behind a rock and saw ghosts that looked exactly like the guards from the diary that we had read. We snuck into the hallways and into the bookshelves. We quickly opened the diary because the ghosts of the guards were roaming around. We have discovered the secret of the library.

The diary then suddenly had another page. It said: “If you are reading this page right now, get out!” I nervously said, “Christopher, quick! We have to get out of the library before it’s too late!” Christopher then replied, “Okay! Let’s get out of here!”

Both of us went for the door and ran back home. We never came back to the library ever since.

# data[].attributes.body
Finally I reached 9033 Ramstreet Willingburgh. I took a great deep breath before entering the apartment. I need to do so because it smells like rats and rotten fish. Our landlord says it’s luxury but I suppose he has a different point of view🤢🤮… I tried my best to balance on the rickety, rotting wooden stairs and I made it up alive.

I took a left, then a right and there it is our so-called ‘luxurious apartment room’. I don’t take it that way… The last tenant must have left even before I was born because I can findfine a few newspapers from 1700-1800. While waiting for my parents, I decided to look around for any old newspapers which haven’t been eaten by rats, I hear my parents trying to unlock the broken door when I quickly put my books up as if I am doing my homework. When I sat down, the chair crashed to the floor and it blew my cover.

# data[].attributes.body
It was raining heavily and I was soaked from head to toe. I rushed up an old rusty and creaky metal staircase. I heard gunshots in the back, and my father rushed me up. I had to come for shelter. I continued walking to go to an old dusty and smelly apartment that my father rented. I sat down on the filthy couch only to find garbage hidden between the pillows. My father stressfully looked around the apartment and threw away rusty cans of soda.

The room doors were covered with graffiti that looked like it was sprayed by teenagers. My room was a mess of rats scurrying the floor nibbling on the mouldy food left on the floor attracting ants. Only at a corner of the room was a bed, as I sat down on it I noticed red stains and ran out of the room. The lights started to flicker, the door started creaking while I opened cabinets exploring this apartment. My dad laid on the ground helpless and tired from the heavy rain and war that was ongoing. There was absolute silence until I heard a grunt coming from my dad.

# data[].attributes.body
I whistled as I lazily climbed up the stairs. As I reached my kitchenette apartment door, I casually took out my key. I slid it into the lock and turned it. Click.

I was first greeted with the cool breeze. It was blowing in through the window I left open. The sound of merrily chirping birds filled the air. For dinner, I decided to make spaghetti, my favourite dish. I pulled out the ingredients from the cabinet and prepared dinner. My mouth watered as the smell of the almost ready spaghetti wafted into my nostrils.

After I was finished, I set down the spaghetti and munched contently. Yum! Just the right mix of sweet and salty, I thought. After dinner, I climbed into the hammock. I pulled over the cosy, cotton covers and listened to the sound of crickets floating in from the window. Chirp, chirp, chirp. Instantly, I was fast asleep, dreaming about the wonders that tomorrow will bring.

# data[].attributes.body
We had finally arrived at the place where we’d be staying... 3479 Night Avenue. The tall apartment building was a decent looking building with a parking lot a cosy lobby and a small nearby cafe. Nonetheless, it still looked eerie with a door like a gaping mouth and windows like glowing eyes staring into my soul. We went to our room which had 2 bedrooms which I presumed was for me and my parents, there was also a small living room with a tv and a kitchen. But there was a door at the very end of our stretching hallway which my parents forbid me to enter, but every night when we turn off the lights and I want to go out in the hallway.

The apartment looks haunted. Either way that doorways always on my mind and sometimes I hear garbled roars and moans from it and quickly bolt to my parents to ask what
it is they just give me a look and tell me not to worry. Now that I look closer. There is a lot I don’t know about the place we’re living in and what the people in the hotel are doing now.

# data[].attributes.body
I took out my keys and unlocked the front door to my apartment in Bandar Kinrara. As I opened the door, I whiffed at the smell of something freshly baked from afar. I went inside my apartment and was greeted by the peaceful colours of my living hall. I admired my beautiful vase of leafy plants sitting atop my console table, set against a giant mirror that only made my apartment look bigger, wider and brighter.

As I headed to the kitchen, I passed the balcony giving a sense of peace and tranquillity. The balcony was my favourite spot in the apartment as I could hear the sound of the fountain and watch my guppy fish swim happily in their pond. I also love to care for all the potted plants on the balcony.

When I finally reached the kitchen, I found the source of that amazing smell! Freshly baked chocolate chip muffins! My favourite dessert of all time and just what I needed after a long day at school! I grabbed three of the muffins, put it on a plate and dashed into my bedroom. My bedroom walls were painted light blue in colour, a single bed next to a wall and a closet. I sat in my comfy armchair and happily devoured the muffins.

# data[].attributes.body
It was quite late when Hank finally arrived in New York. He checked his humble watch, it wasn't much, but it got the job done.That was all Hank needed. It read 11:48. Hank realised he was feeling rather weary, and it was quite late.

He trotted across the road, it was still very busy, even this deep into the dead of night, like a river of automatons. Hank was searching for an apartment to stay in. He had relatively low standards, parallel to his budget. A cheap motel would be fine. Hank found a decent apartment to stay in with a very ideal low rent.

He entered the lobby of the apartment. Hank's poor nostrils were blasted to heaven with the appalling smell of mould and mildew. The lobby was slightly unkempt, but otherwise fine in all aspects except for smell. He headed over to the receptionist, dodging a few stinky stains on a putrid carpet that covered the entirety of the lobby. Hank politely asked the rather obese receptionist for a room. The receptionist replied with an extremely unmotivated tone. He held the grimy room key by the edge of his fingers, and climbed up the cramped stairs.

He searched for his room, room 512. He opened the door of the room and turned on the lights. All but one of the lights worked, leaving him in near total darkness. “Oh well,” he sighed to himself. The apartment would have to do. He set down his things on a sticky table and went to check out his miniscule room. He had a table, a sofa with chewed gum stuck on it, a cramped bed and a bathroom which gave off an ominous vibe and smell. Hank headed to the  toilet to wash up. While brushing his teeth, the singular light flickered off. Hank sighed, he tried to turn on the light but it refused. Hank complied and brushed his teeth in the darkness.

Hank then went to bed, at least the sheets were mostly clean. During the night he just couldn't seem to get enough sleep, the torn curtains in front of him made ghostly patterns, he simply ignored those.