2015-16 Short Stories (one per student).

The short stories below are in no particular order. 
At the top of each story is the title of the story (if it has a title) and the author's name. 
I hope you enjoy them all, and thank you to all of the young writers from my sixth period class who contributed! It has been a joy working with you all this school year. Write on!

    

"Saving the Mustangs"   By: Abbi Tripp

        Harper stared out into the vast landscape that laid  out before her. She used her sun kissed hand as a sun visor to shield her blue diamond eyes from the Sun’s bright brilliant rays of pure light. “Arizona is so beautiful,” she said aloud even though the only living thing that could hear her words echo off the canyon was the Cactus Wren that was perched on a prickly Cholla limb. Harper stared intently at the small, peculiar bird, wishing more than anything that she could trade places with the bird that had not a care in the world. She chastised herself for even thinking such a thing, she had a destiny that needed to be fulfilled. She would not let her childish dreams get in the way of that. 

     Just as the golden Sun started to fall asleep, Harper slid down from her thrown of red rock and started to head back to the house. Well technically it was not “her house”. It was a small, tidy vacation home that at the moment was vacant, but that was not written in stone. Summer was coming and soon the family's and young couples looking for a romantic getaway would hop into their nice cars and drive south for the beautiful, hot summers Arizona were known to have. Besides Harper had a slight tugging feeling deep down in her soul telling her that it was time to move on. Harper made her rounds through the house, making sure it was even cleaner than she found it. Pulling the door behind her, she locked the door and put the key under the “welcome friends” rug where she had found it when she had arrived a couple of days ago.

     Harper did not travel alone to Arizona, she was accompanied by her best friend, which so happened to be a horse the color of coal with a coat as slick as oil. His name was Atlas, which suited him perfectly. Atlas had found this cottage out in the desert when Harper needed it most. She had been severely dehydrated and near a heat stroke, but yet some how Atlas had found this place and saved her. Harper knew that her stud was a major part in why she was put on this Earth, but she didn't know exactly why just yet.

        The wind was whipping in her hair as she saddled up Atlas. He knew, she knew something bad was up ahead. She stuck one foot in the raw hide stirrup, and pulled her tiny, bird like body up on to the horse of pure muscle. Atlas took off without warning,Harper had to cling to his slick black mane to keep from falling face first in the clay. Atlas was not to be stopped, he had that gleam in his eye and Harper knew that it would be futile to stop him. His energy never failed, he was a live wire running full speed across the dry, desert plain. Sweat glistened on his neck, Harper knew that if he kept running like a freight train he would soon become dehydrated and to weak to walk, and on top of that no water was in sight. Suddenly without warning, Atlas stopped. It was a stop that left skid marks in the ground, and left Harper with a bloody upper lip. Atlas snorted and pawed at the ground. Something was definitely wrong. Atlas’s ebony black ears swiveled toward the west listening intently, he looked back at Harper as to tell her to,”be quiet”. Then Harper heard the commotion.

      Wild horses galloped across the plain. Dust and clumps of red clay flew from behind them as there small, pointed hooves struck the ground with a force that made the Earth rumble.Trailing not far behind was a group of horse rustles, with whips in their hands and hatred in their eyes. Above them, helicopters swarmed like a bunch of bees looking for their queen. “Atlas, they're going to push the horses off the cliff.” Atlas snorted in agreement. “We have to save them, they haven't done any harm, but  eat some of the cattles grass. But what do they expect, the cattle pens took up all of the land that the horses once called their home.” Atlas seemed to know what to do. He took off again at a speed that Harper knew would soon wear down to walk.

      Harper’s eyes stung from the coarse dirt that flew straight into her eyes. Her hair was knotted behind the nape of her neck in an unattractive lump. Atlas seemed to be a whole lot better shape than her, even though he was still running down to the valley where the Mustangs where. Atlas pushed even harder, he hopped over logs like they were sticks, he ran down the hill in no time. At the bottom of the valley horse and rider came face to face with the horses and rustlers. Atlas took off again. The rustlers looked at Harper and Atlas as if they were sent from Lucifer. Atlas lunged at one of them knocking him clean off his little gray mare, he did the others the same way. Atlas whinned to the horses speaking an ancient language, telling them to stay still. The horses stopped, it was so quiet except from the hum of the helicopters up above. Knowing that they had been beaten, they turned around and head back across the desert. As if to thank him the horses all called to Atlas telling him they were grateful. He nodded his muzzle in thanks.

    Harper had fulfilled her destiny with the help of Atlas. He saved over sixty mustangs from tumbling to their deaths. Sweaty and tired the pair headed back toward the cabin to spend just one more night, they deserved a good night sleep. In the morning a new destiny would need to be completed, and both Harper and Atlas need to be well rested.

"Wrecked"      By Adam Belflower

May 25 , 1993. That was the day I would finally get my license. All of my friends were older than me so I had to ride with them to school because Mama and Daddy would not let me ride my bike to school since the streets were so busy that time of morning. That has been the worst part about moving to Atlanta. Back in ‘89 we, being Mama, Daddy, and I, moved here here from a small town in Florida called Flagler Beach. Flagler is a very small town and it is fairly quiet. My family and I moved to Atlanta since Daddy got a job with some airplane company, and Mama got a job at one of the local schools. I have enjoyed Atlanta and the best part is that we found a brand new Corvette parked in a shed by our apartment.

7 days. Exactly one week until Daddy would give me the keys to that brand new Corvette sitting outside our apartment. That car was my dream vehicle with the leather interior, brand new radio system, and best of all the bright red paint job. Mama had always told me that driving in Atlanta was nothing like driving in Flagler but I hardly believed her. All I could dream about the days leading up to my sixteenth birthday was all the freedom I would have and all the places I could go in that car. The part that i avoided though was the fact that with being able to drive brought on a lot of responsibilities with it like getting a job to pay for gas. Also I tried to avoid my biggest fear which was getting into a wreck and messing up that beautiful Corvette.

Everyday Daddy and I would ride around the neighborhood and down to the school so I could practice driving on those busy streets. As we rode around he would always show me the roads not to turn down and where the worst traffic spots were at. I really liked those trips with him, it made me even more excited to finally be on the road all by myself. Every so often I would be allowed to take the Corvette on the roads and get to experience the power of that beautiful car. Daddy always told me about how fast the car could go and how dangerous it could be to go that fast on the congested roads in Atlanta. The worst part about driving is going to be that I am going to have to drive on the interstate to get to school and it is crazy how much traffic is on the roads at that time in the morning.

2 days. I was about to go insane I only had two more days until I would turn sixteen and finally would get my driver license. My friends and I had already made plans to go to the Braves game that night and then out to eat at our favorite restaurant and of course we would be riding in that Corvette.

1 day. Tomorrow was the big day. The day I would finally get my license and be able to cruise the busy streets of Atlanta with my friends. I had been practicing driving and knew the test was going to be a breeze since daddy had taught me so much. All I had to do was make it through the last few hours of school and I would be halfway through with my day which would be halfway closer to the time I would get6 my license.

0 days. It was the big day the day I would go to take my test and finally get to drive. I had already planned on what time to meet my friends that for the Braves game and was ready to go. It was nine o’clock sharp when we left the house to go to take my test and we only had a short drive to get to the office where I would get my lisence. I made this drive every morning to go to school and everyday we passed under that old red light when daddy let me drive, but something was different that day. Something felt strange about that trip this morning, maybe it was that next time I passed under it I would be in the car driving by myself. Whatever it was something was weird.

I could just see the building we had to go to as I topped the hill driving. I pulled up to a stop sign and looked both ways before going and did not see anybody so I proceeded forward. However one thing I had not noticed was a side road that went just behind a warehouse and all of a sudden it happened. A car came flying out from behind the car and plowed right into us. The impact hit us so hard that both my parents died on impact and before the ambulance even got to the scene the driver of the other car and I were dead.

As I tell this story from a beautiful place in the clouds were the ones that have passed on go, I would like to leave you with one thing. Never take a single second for granted and learn to cherish all the good times because one day they will come to an end. 

By Aliyah Avery

        Harry ran through his house. It didn’t look the same. The furniture was all different, but the house still held that sense of familiarity. The foot steps behind him grew louder and closer with each step he took. Knowing the house by heart, he maneuvered through it quite well with someone chasing him. “You can run but you can’t hide”, the deep, oddly familiar voice called out behind him. Harry quickened his run at the sound of this. He started up the stairs, and felt the man grabbing at his ankles. He kicked his foot backward and hit something hard. Having the man off his heels, he finished the stairs. Then, he ducked into the bathroom and closed the door, locking it behind him.

    He sat up quickly. Even though he was used to this same dream every night, it scared him every time. He was always struck by the fact that it doesn’t end. He always woke up right then. Harry did everything he could to keep himself from having to go to bed, then he tried his hardest not to fall asleep. This was an everyday thing, or at least it had been an everyday thing since the move. He knew that after sleep forced itself upon him, it – the dream he feared more than anything - would happen later on. Then all he could do was wait for it to end.

    Two years ago, Harry’s life was everything that made him happy. He got along well with Maggie and his parents, he was a straight A, honor student at Cato’s High School, and he was well liked in his 9^th grade class. Today, he treats his sister and parents worse than any seventeen year old should, he is hardly even a student at Walden’s High School, and he has no friends. Well, unless you count the paper girl, then he has one friend. Actually, I don’t really know if you could call her a friend, they’ve never said one word to each other. They only just look at each other from a distance.

   Harry is always eager to wake up in the morning, because it means it is over for the night. Once he wakes up, he curls up in blankets by the window, and waits. Still dark outside, he waits for the paper girl. Then, right on schedule, just as the sun peaks over the stretch of trees and houses and fences, there she goes. She rides her bicycle, almost transparent. Her long, blonde hair blowing behind her. The sunlight glittering through the spokes of the wheel as she pedals up the street. Her eyes remain straight ahead as she throws paper to each house, effortlessly, as if she had been doing it a hundred years. When she gets close to Harry’s house, she slows down, not completely stopping. Her eyes find his house, then his window, then she spots him. He does not take his eyes off her, and she doesn’t him. He traces her up and down. She is dressed like a fogy, more old fashioned for her age. Not that he knew her age, or even her real name. She comes to a full stop, her eyes still on Harry. She sets the paper on his driveway, smiles, and begins to ride again. Taking her eyes completely off him, his window, and his house. This is what calms him down. This paper girl soothes him. She is what brings Harry back to the real world, or at least his world. He calls her June. He doesn’t know why, it just felt right.

    “Harry”, a loud voice from downstairs broke his train of thought. “You have two minutes until the bus gets here”, his father’s voice called through the house. He rolled his eyes, grabbing his book bag off his computer chair, and throwing it on his shoulders. He started down the stairs, and his father added, “And don’t let me get another call from the school saying you’ve skipped again”. Harry mouthed the words, mocking his father as he said them. Harry walked out the door without saying a word to anyone. He started down the street to his bus stop. He tossed the hood of his jacket over his head as he saw the crowd of people there waiting for the bus. Harry’s cheeks reddened, and his palms became sweaty. Back at his old school if he were to walk up to a crowd of people like this, he would join them and eventually become the object of interest within the group. So many things have changed since then, though. He stays at the back of the group until the bus gets there. Then when all the other kids pile into the back of the bus, he sits by himself up front and stares out the window.

    Harry enters the school building, and among the crowds of people, he notices the paper girl move through the hallway with a swiftness almost phantasmal. He immediately realizes he has never seen her at school and quickens his pace in pursuit of her, bumping into everyone along the way. As he speeds up, she seemed to speed up as well. He followed her around a corner only to realize she was not there. He stopped, curious as to what happened to her. He had just saw her, how could she have disappeared that fast? The tardy bell for first block interrupted his concentration. The thought to continue his search for her crossed his mind, and before he could fully think out the consequences, his body was already following the path he thought she might have taken. He knew that this being the first time he has seen her at school had to mean something. The halls, so empty compared to the masses of bodies they held just minutes ago, left no hint to where June was. He continued looking for her, but felt there was no hope. He thought for just a second he might have someone to talk to, someone to carry on a full meaningful conversation with. He wanted some human interaction with someone other than his parents. Plus he didn’t even interact with his parents because he had a choice, it was involuntary. The lights in the hall flickered for a few seconds. A wave of chills swept up Harry’s spine, and his hair stood on end. A whoosh of air blew behind him and he turned quick to see a blur of blonde hair. The flash seemed to go right through the wall. The lights flickered some more, and harry began to feel cold sweat. Curiosity and fear cursed through his body, his spine tingling with panic. A loud, domineering voice made him jump. He felt his heart almost beating out of his chest.

     “Mr. Stevens”, his principle bellowed, “What do we have here?” Harry suddenly felt relieved that he was no longer alone in the now creepy hallway. Harry refused to reply, and even though he was frightened on the inside, he was not about to let his guard down. He looked at the floor, not meeting the man’s eyes. “I see”, the principle stated after moments of silence, “I guess I’ll be calling your father, for the hundredth time this year.” Harry knew that he would be in trouble if his parents got called up again, but what could he do now? On the way back to Mr. Bradford’s office Harry remembered the last time his parents were called. He distinctly recalled Mr. Bradford saying that if he caught Harry trying to skip again, he’d be expelled. His words were, “We don’t want any students that doesn’t want to be here. If your son doesn’t show any effort, or wanting to be here, there’s nothing we can do for him. I’m sorry”. Harry sat quietly outside the Principal’s office as he parents talked with Mr. Bradford in hushed tones. He waited outside for what seemed like hours, when finally they exited, shaking hands with the principle. They gave Harry a look of disappointment and began their way out of the building, without saying a word to him. In the car they later told him he only received a minor, 3 day suspension because the principle believed he could do better. They also told him that they were taking a vacation, without him, to further his punishment. So Harry had to spend the next few days alone in his big house.  And even though Harry never left his room, he was still comforted by the thought that he was never alone in that house. He never wanted to be alone. He had a really bad feeling about his parents leaving him, but yet again, he refused to look vulnerable. So, he acted like them leaving was okay.

    Harry watched through his window as the car pulled out of the driveway, and then down the road. The loneliness of the house settled in around him. He looked around his room, trying to find something to occupy his time. Finding nothing, he decided to go downstairs to cook some instant noodles, turning all the lights on, on his way there. It started to rain. The sounds of the rain tinkling on the tin roof of his house sent a sort of pleasure through his body, and took him off edge. Harry loved the rain. He was reminded of his old school, and his old friends. Then his thoughts moved to his June. So mysteriously beautiful. He pictured her riding her bike, delivering paper, her long blonde hair blowing in the wind. That feeling only lasted for a little while, because soon the weather turned violent. The thunder and lightning began a fight in the sky. He tried to tune it out by focusing on his noodles. The small, blue flames shot up from the stove, licking at the pot, heating the water. He watched them for a moment listening to the boom of thunder and cracking of lightning. He heard a creak come from upstairs. His body became rigid and a few seconds later he felt as if someone were standing behind him. He could sense their eyes burning through him, and their warm, moist breath on his neck. He mustered all the strength he could to bring himself to turn. It was a slow turn, and the presence seemed to follow his back. It stayed behind him, the breath still clammy at his neck. He glanced back down at his almost boiling noodles. The flames immediately stopped. He didn’t dare move to turn them back on. His body still stiff, and the presence still there. A loud pop made him jump, the battle of the thunder and lightning still raging. Then, he heard another creak. This time from close behind him. He broke free of the tight grip his feet held to the floor, and ran upstairs to the safety of his room. He tried to go to sleep. He didn’t want to, but the fear of staying up this night was greater that his fear of going to sleep. He’d rather dream something scary than actually live it.

     Harry ran through his house. It didn’t look the same. The furniture was all different, but the house still held that sense of familiarity. The foot steps behind him grew louder and closer with each step he took. Knowing the house by heart, he maneuvered through it quite well with someone chasing him. “You can run but you can’t hide”, the deep, oddly familiar voice called out behind him. Harry quickened his run at the sound of this. He started up the stairs, and felt the man grabbing at his ankles. He kicked his foot backward and hit something hard. Having the man off his heels, he finished the stairs. Then, he ducked into the bathroom and closed the door, locking it behind him. He crouched in the corner of the dark bathroom, and held his breath. “You’ve been a bad, bad girl”, the man said. “You don’t deserve to be here, you ungrateful child”, he added pacing back and forth down the hall. “Your mother doesn’t want you, and I sure don’t”, he kicked open the bedroom door right beside the bathroom door. Harrys’ heart skipped a beat as he neared the bathroom, “Where are you, you little …. “His voice stopped as he tried the bathroom door, noticing it was locked. “Aha, I see”, the man added as he slid the key in the locked. Click. Harrys’ heart dropped to his stomach. The knob turned. He closed his eyes tightly.  Creeeaaakkkk. The man slowly opened the door. He walked over to Harry, and knelt down. Harry opened his eyes, noticing a knife in the man’s hand. He grabbed at something behind Harry and said, “A girl like you doesn’t deserve hair as pretty as this.” Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the man pull his long blonde hair, and cut it. The long blonde locks falling to the floor. The man grinned at Harry. “A girl like you doesn’t deserve life”, the man smirked, placing the knife at Harrys neck. Harry felt warm blood running down his throat.

    Harry awoke, panting, sweat dripping down his face and arms. He threw the blanket off him. He thought to himself, I’m used to this dream every night, but it has never been this vivid, this clear. And it has never gone that far. Harry’s had this same dream every night for as long as he has lived in that house. He just wanted to know the message of the dream, like why did it keep happening to him, and he just wanted it to stop. He looked out the window, and noticed the sun peaking over the trees. He jumped out of bed and ran to his spot. This time the paper girl was just standing there, no bike, no paper, just her. June stared at him. Harry stared back. They stayed like this for a while. Until finally, Harry thought June…

    Harry…, a female voice spoke in his head. Harry face showed surprise. He didn’t know what to think.  I know you don’t know what to think about this..., the sweet voice continued, but I need your help. I’ve been giving you this dream hoping you could solve it.

  Solve what, Harry thought, and wait, you are the reason I have been having this dream? He began to get upset.

  I know you are upset, the voice spoke in his head, but he killed me, his own daughter, and I want others to know what he has the strength to do.

  Wait who is ‘he’ and what am I supposed to do, Harry thought back to the dream. Last night was the only time it went all the way.

  Just Think and I just want someone to know, June whispered in his head.

   Harry made himself go through it again. Squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to picture the man’s face. He knew the voice sounded familiar but he just could not match it with a face.

  Think harder, come on you know this, her voice a little louder that time.

  Why can’t you just tell me who he was, Harry said back.

  Because I can’t. Please think harder, June was desperate.

  He thought harder. Picturing every little detail. Reliving the dream from start to finish. He listened closely to the voice. His eyes shut tightly as he flinched and grimaced through the whole thing. His eyes opened. June had disappeared. He thought back to the day he saw her at school. It had to have some significance to it. “What do we have here?” “You can run but you can’t hide” Harry finally matched the voices. It was Mr. Bradford. He had a daughter? Harry thought to himself. This time with no response from any voice from inside his head. The sound of police sirens startled him. He ran downstairs, and swung the front door open. He saw two police officers, with confused, surprised expressions. “Um, we had a call of suspicious activity, from a neighbor by the name of June?” the tall officer asked.

  “June. Kev, isn’t that the name of the girl who was murdered a few years back?” the short, stocky officer, whose name tag said Kyle, asked the tall one. “I think she used to live here, right?” he continued. Kev gave Kyle a look that said ‘shut your mouth’. Kyle ignored the look and asked Harry, “Hey, you know a girl was murdered in your house? Too bad we never caught the man.”

 “Principle Bradford. It was him. He killed his daughter”, Harry answered them without thinking first.

  The officers gave each other a look of what seemed to be victory, then turned and ran to their car, cranking it quickly, and sped off leaving tire marks on the ground.

    Later that night, Harry went to bed without worry of having bad dreams. Actually, he dreamt of vacationing with the rest of his family. His heart ached from missing them and not just while they’ve been gone, but since he has been gone too, in a sort of way. Harry woke up to the smell of pancakes like no one else cooked them. His family must have been back. He looked at the clock on his bedside table. It read nine o’clock. He hadn’t slept this late since his old house. The sun already shining bright in the sky, he didn’t even bother to go look out his window. He knew June had not come, and he knew she wasn’t coming anymore. He ran downstairs to see his family sitting down, eating breakfast, watching the morning news like they did every morning. He gave Maggie a hug, then his father, then he kissed his mother’s cheek. “I’m back”, he told them.

   “It’s about time. We’ve missed you”, Maggie replied. Harry sat down with his family, and grabbed a piece of toast. He began eating it as the news reporter said, “After many years of searching, the killer of June Bradford has been found, and imprisoned. Sources say it was ….” Harry turned the television off and instead, asked about his family’s trip. He smiled as he listed to Maggie go on about the water slides, and for the first time in two years, actually felt content with his life.

By Allison Graham

     When someone’s heart breaks, so does a piece of the world. The size of the break depends on how horrible the heartbreak is. This can range from a tiny crack in the sidewalk to a valley. She was seven years old when her teacher told her that the most beautiful insects were also the most venomous ones. She was seventeen years old when she looked into his deep green eyes and realized that her teacher had been right all along.

     “I wish I looked like her.” Emily said to her best friend Lucy. Emily watched the junior girl, longing to look like her, to be as skinny and as tall as her, to have the long, sleek blonde hair and ocean blue eyes that the older girl had been blessed with. Instead, Emily had brown hair that never laid the way she wanted, and her brown eyes were dull.

     “Come on Em. She’s two grades above us. You’ll look like her one day. You just haven’t hit your growth spurt yet.” Lucy snickered, but Emily heard the mocking undertone that Lucy spoke to her with. Of course, Emily did not say anything because Lucy was her only friend. She was afraid that if she stood up for herself, Lucy would leave her. She wanted to have at least one friend during her freshman year.

                                                                      *****

     Emily and Lucy walked into their first class, and as soon as Emily sat down, the blonde girl who Emily had been so envious of walked in and made her move to a different seat.  Emily looked down at her feet and moved to the opposite side of the room. 

     When class started, the teacher, Ms. Lovette, walked into the class with a boy. Emily was busy sketching in her notebook until Ms. Lovette cleared her throat. At that time, Emily looked up and laid eyes on the most beautiful guy she had ever seen.

     “Class, this is Wilson Evans. He is a freshman, and he just moved here. This means that someone needs to show him around. Any volunteers,” Ms. Lovette asked. Every girl’s hand shot up, except for Emily’s. “Hmmm. What about you, Emily?”

     Emily’s head shot up with her mouth open and started stumbling over her words. “B-b-but Ms. Lovette-“Emily stuttered.

     “No buts Emily. You are to show Wilson around,” Ms. Lovette looked at Wilson, “and since Emily is showing you around, you can sit behind her.”

     Wilson strode over to the desk behind Emily and sat down. Emily slouched over her notebook, hoping that he would not talk to her.

     “Hi, Emily.” Wilson whispered.

    “Hi.”

    “So I was thinking, since you have to show me around, I should give you my schedule.”

    Emily turned around and saw Wilson holding out his schedule to give to her. She took it and he smiled.

     His smile is gorgeous. Emily thought.

     Emily turned back around and compared his schedule with hers.

     Emily turned back around to Wilson and declared, “We have all of the same classes.”

    “Good. I can get to know you better.” Wilson smirked.

                                                                   *****

     After the bell rang, Emily and Wilson were in the hall outside of their next class. They were joking around and getting to know each other better. Suddenly, Lucy walked over to Wilson and put and arm around his waist.

   “So Wilson, I was just thinking, I know the school better than Emily since I’m a teacher’s kid. So, maybe I should show you around instead.” Lucy insisted.

    Emily bowed her head down, knowing that Lucy was prettier and any guy would easily say yes to her showing them around, but then Emily heard Wilson reply with, “Actually, Emily and I are getting along pretty well. She’s pretty and fun to be around. Thanks for the offer though.”

     Emily looked up in time to see Wilson peel Lucy’s arm off of him, and Lucy marched away with her hands in fists.

      Wilson and Emily exchanged phone numbers and finished their first day of school together with no problems.

                                                                  *****

     Two months later, Emily and Wilson had been on a few dates, but they were not officially in a relationship. During school, Wilson and Emily were talking and Wilson said, “So I really like you, Emily. I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend?”

    Emily smiled and tried to stay calm while she said, “Of course I will.”

                                                               *****

     Wilson and Emily had a good relationship for around year, but by the middle of their sophomore year, Wilson began getting jealous about almost everything, and he accused Emily of cheating any time she glanced at another guy. 

     Emily did not see anything wrong with what Wilson was doing, but everyone else saw that Wilson was becoming violent.

                                                                *****

    By the beginning of junior year, Wilson always yelled at Emily, but Emily refused to leave him. She loved him and she thought he loved her. Emily thought she was lucky that a guy as cute as Wilson was her boyfriend.

     One day at school, about three months into the school year, one of Emily’s classmates, Patrick, had a question about homework. Emily was talking to him about it when Wilson saw them. He marched to where they were standing and roughly grabbed Emily by the arm. He practically dragged her outside the school.

     “Why were you talking to another guy?” Wilson raged.

    “Wilson I was just-“

   “Are you cheating on me?” Wilson demanded, stepping closer to Emily.

   Emily backed up into the side of the school and stuttered, “W-Wilson I promise I wasn’t.”

      Wilson stalked off into the school. Emily ran to her car and locked the doors. That was the first time she had actually been afraid that Wilson would physically hurt her.

                                                             *****

       Two weeks later, it was Emily’s birthday. She invited Lucy and Wilson over because Wilson would not allow her to invite anyone else.  As they were eating supper, Lucy announced that she would be back to the table soon because she was going to get Emily’s present. A few minutes later, Wilson told Emily that he was also going to get her present.

     Emily waited and was beginning to become impatient after five minutes. She stood up and walked around to find her best friend and boyfriend. As soon as she walked into the hallway, she wished she would have stayed at the table.

     “Oh my gosh.” Emily whispered as she saw Wilson, her boyfriend of two years, and Lucy, her friend for six years, kissing in her hallway on her birthday.

    Wilson and Lucy jumped away from each other. Wilson looked into Emily’s eyes like there was nothing wrong, and Lucy looked down at her feet.

     “Lucy, get out of my house right now.” Emily warned.

     Lucy ran out of the house. Emily covered her face with her hands and began crying. She heard Wilson walk toward her, and she backed away. She felt Wilson’s hands on her arms and flinched.

     “Don’t touch me.” Emily whimpered.

      “Fine.” Wilson said, shoving Emily.

     Emily fell against the hallway wall and began crying harder.

     “I trusted you.” Emily wailed.

    Wilson grabbed Emily’s hands and threw them off of her face. She could barely look at him, but she was not going to look away. She was hoping and internally begging to see at least a little love in his eyes.

     “Well then you can’t exactly blame me can you, Emily? It was your mistake.” Wilson snarled. There was harshness in his voice and hardness in his eyes that Emily had never heard or seen before in anyone.

      Wilson walked out of Emily’s house, slamming the door behind him. Emily heard his truck crank up and heard him leave her.  Emily slid to the floor and bawled.

    Suddenly there was a huge earthquake in Arizona. Everyone walked out of their houses to see what had happened. There was a huge canyon that had been formed. No one had ever seen a heartbreak as horrible as this.

     A seventeen year old girl in high school, on her birthday, had her heart broken by her boyfriend and her best friend. This was the biggest heartbreak ever seen, and it caused the Grand Canyon.

       

By Allyson Burke

          “Kimberly! No means no!” Anna’s voice cracked slightly; she threw her arms up in the air and stormed out of the house with her hands in the air.

          Anna climbed into the car and slammed the door. She turned the keys and left. The moon cast a dim light upon the world simultaneously calming her, but she could not cool off. “What am I supposed to do,” Anna huffed.  Anna went back and forth inside of her head imagining the conversation a million times over.

          I’m not eleven anymore! If mom and dad where here they would let me go tonight.

          Well mom and dad aren’t here are they?

           Yeah Anna!?! Tell me more about why mom and dad aren’t here!

         

“God! I literally hate her! Can you believe her!?! You would think she would understand. She’s only twenty-three! Did your parents say you could go Emily?” Kimberly put her phone on speaker laying it down on her dresser as she spoke to Emily.

           “Yeah. I don’t know what your sister’s problem is. I mean you’re sixteen. You should be able to live your own life.”

          “I know right!?! You would think she would let me live! Ugh I literally cannot stand her. Why does she even get to be in charge of me? She’s only seven years older than me! How is that fair? Literally hate my life.”

          “You right. Well, I got to go ‘cause Jason is here and I have to go to the party now. Text me. Bye.”

          “Bye.” Kimberly flopped down on her bed and sighed.

          Kimberly sat up in her bed and yawned. She grabbed her phone. It was eight AM. “Anna!?”

Silence.

          Kimberly quickly dialed Anna’s number, her fingers dancing across the screen as she typed hastily. No answer. Maybe she over slept? Kimberly kept calling and calling, but it was futile. I hate when she ignores me! Why can’t she answer the phone for once!  

Once Kimberly became exceedingly frustrated she walked downstairs and crabbed the cereal box. She quickly ate her bowl of fruity pebbles and tossed her bowl in the sink.

          Rinnnnng! Rinnnnng!

          Kimberly grabbed her phone only to be greeted with an unknown number, regardless she answered.

          “Hello this is Doctor Brown. I need to see you at the hospital immediately.”

          “Why…? What’s happening?!?”Kimberly’s face turned green and she felt herself cracking.

          “There has been an…. accident.”

          “An accident!?!” Kimberly’s face immediately dropped. “What do you mean, an accident!?!” Kimberly shrieked. Her stomach dropped and she felt horrified.

          “We need you to identify a body.” His voice was cold and metallic. This was not the first time he had uttered this sentence. This was too rehearsed, too robotic.

          Kimberly collapsed into a crying heap. She wailed and sobbed uncontrollably. She was completely unable to pick herself up off the floor. She was instantly reminded of her parents’ death. They were on the way to pick Anna up from a friend’s house. It was raining and cold. She never got to say goodbye. Kimberly threw her phone at the wall and hollered. She had no one. She felt increasingly lonely, and hollow.

          As Kimberly sobbed and shook all she did was whisper, “ Goodbye.” For the first time ever she was truly alone.

By Darci Maxwell

“Do you have everything you need for the trip Mykie?” My friend Jenna asked. We were about to take a trip to Disney World for spring break, and we could not wait. “Yeah man, let’s hurry and get out of here, I’m ready to see some Disney princesses.” I said. I had always wanted to go to Disney World, so I kind of freaked out when Jenna asked me if I wanted to go with her.

We were about an hour into the drive when I decided to take a nap for a little bit. I woke up to the sound of Jenna screaming, “We’re here! We’re here! Mykie wake up!”

“Yay I’m so ready for this!”

“Well actually, we are about 15 minutes away, but I wanted you to be awake at the first sight of Disney we got.”

“Oh okay, thanks.” I said half-heartedly.     

After I fully woke up, I decided to turn the radio on. The first thing we heard was a frightened news reporter making an announcement. “Attention, this is an emergency. There has been a virus outbreak that reanimates the dead. They are severely aggressive and cannibalistic. You are strongly advised to stay in your homes and lock all of your doors. Thank you, and stay safe.”

“Do you think this is real?” Jenna asked me. Concern spreading across her features.

“Well, technically an apocalypse is scientifically possible. So I’m not saying it’s completely stupid to think that this might be real.” I said matter-of-factly. “Even if it’s real, this will not affect our Disney trip.”

 After riding for what seemed like hours, but in reality only minutes, we finally got to the parking space for the parks. “Only a few more steps until we reach the best few days of our life.” Jenna squealed. On our way in, I saw a tent in the parking lot that had one of those nuclear symbol type things that you see in movies plastered on the front. Without thinking much of it, I squinted to get a closer look. What I saw sent shivers down my spine. You could barely tell, but there was a faint crimson red handprint on the side of the tent. ‘Could the news reporter have been telling the truth the whole time?’ I thought to myself, shivering at the thought of having the living dead roaming around the Earth. Whatever. I do not care. I will not be paranoid this whole trip. We are going to have the time of our lives. Of course I didn’t tell Jenna, because that would just make this whole ordeal worse, right?

 We got into the parks and the first thing we did was head straight for the line for The Tower of Terror. But when we got there we noticed the line was long. Really long. “I don’t care if we have to wait four hours, this is the first ride we are going on!” After a few minutes of waiting in line, I noticed something. The line was not moving, like at all. Almost as if something was holding the people up. “Jenna, have you noticed the line hasn’t moved an inch.” I whispered hesitantly.

“Yeah, I noticed that. Weird, right?”

“Very.”

All of a sudden, my stomach dropped. Something inside me told me something was definitely not right. “Hey,” I said, fear lacing my voice. “I think we should get out of here. My gut is telling me that something isn’t ri-” A piercing scream interrupted me. To my left, I saw a group of people running away from something. Right when I saw what there were running from, my heart stopped. At first, I thought that it was just a person. An alive, healthy person. But then I saw it stumbling around and opening its mouth like it was growling. Then I saw its’ eyes. Those eyes I will never forget. They were a sickly green that stood out against the “whites” of its’ eyes, which were now solid red. “We have to go now!” I whispered, knowing from watching zombie movies that are extremely attracted to sound. “Okay, I see a gift shop not far from here. We can hold up in there. Looks safe enough.” Jenna whispered back.

 Right then, we started running toward the gift shop. I immediately noticed that around the corner there was around forty of those things. My eyes grew wide with fear. “Jenna we have to hurry. Look! She turned her head towards where I was pointing and immediately started walking faster. We got into the gift shop and immediately bolted the door shut. It was dark in there and oddly enough we were the only people inside. We both just stood there and stared at each other, catching our breath. There were a few moments of silence, when all of a sudden Jenna’s phone goes off as loud as it possibly can. Right at that moment I knew we weren’t alone because like five of those things came out of the shadows and got Jenna. “Jenna no!” I screamed. Dread filling my body.” Me yelling got their attention. They came after me, and I discovered it was too late. “No! No! I can’t die! I need a weapon!” I screamed. Tears streaming down my face. Right before I thought it was the end for me, I heard a machine gun. All of the dead around me instantaneously fell to the ground. Dead, fully dead this time. I looked up, and out of the cloud of smoke I saw a group of people carrying really big guns. A man came up to the front of the group and said to me, “Come with us, and we all can survive this thing.”

“My Piece of Paradise”    By: Cade Jones

          We still had a good hour and a half before sunup. Light wasn’t even showing over the horizon yet. I got out of the truck and put my waders on and loaded the decoys, calls, shotgun and the most important thing, my dog. He was about and year and a half old, black, hardheaded, and loyal. He was the best piece of equipment I had and the hardest working.

          I sat down in the boat that was tied to the half sunken dock that creaked at the slightest breeze.  There was a small radio I left in the boat when I was fishing this summer; I turned it to the A.M. weather channel. The dull voice droned over the fuzzy signal,” Winds coming from the southeast and with a high of 20 degrees, it will be a chilly day”.

“Sounds good wind shouldn’t affect the birds much”, I said to myself as I turned the radio off. I turned around in my seat and pulled the cord to the motor. It took a few times but it did start, I untied us from the dock and we were off. We made our way across the open water and into the back of the flooded land. I slowed down as we got closer to the flooded timber. “Well I guess this is where the work comes in”. I hopped out of the boat and pulled the boat through the shallow water. Now that I think of it had to be colder than 20 because half way there I had to bust through ice. Yeah, definitely had to be colder than 20, “it sure felt like it at least”. After going for what seemed like a year we arrived at the spot. The bad part was that while pulling the boat with all the warm clothes I had on, I had worked up a sweat. For those who don’t know 20 degrees, damp clothes, and wet hair aren’t exactly perfect matches. Yes, that’s right I was even colder, not to mention I had ice in my hair.

          Whatever, I didn’t have time to waste, I still had to latch up to a tree and throw out my decoy spread. The sun was coming up I still needed my light to set up the decoys, but I could just see a tad bit of light coming over the horizon. Once the spread was set up I secured the boat to a big cypress, the spot was good because the water was between my waist and chest. I reached in the boat and grabbed my lanyard with my calls on it and put it around my neck. Then sat my dog on a spot on the boat where he was close to me and had a good view for finding fallen birds. I loaded my gun slung it over my shouter and tried to think of anything I forgot to do.

          I only had to wait a few minutes because in the process of preparing everything time had snuck up on me. It was there, the perfect time was there. The time in which the sun is just about half way over the horizon and there is just enough light for shooting. Then it happened, the sound echoed through the maze of flooded hardwoods and Spanish moss. First one then another and then another, and another, first starting off low then louder and louder. Now no longer an echo but a boom reckoning though the timber consuming any other noise but of its own, it was time. I looked at my dog his head perked up and his ears twitched. He knew what it was; it was the thing he trained for most of his life, the thing he desired most in life. It was what all the commands, the conditioning, and the sweat were for. He and I both knew what it was; it was the sound of a mallard duck. All the countless hours of work and saving money just to hear the sound of a duck, but it was worth it. Nothing could replace the sound and nothing was as exciting as it.

          I called, they came closer I called again and closer. I could see them now between the treetops, and they saw the decoys. They committed, they broke through the canopy and slowed down preparing to land. I shot Boom, Boom, Boom two folded up and the others flew.

“Get em boy”, I heard the splash and saw him swim out to the fallen birds. I reloaded, he came back with one dropped it in my hand and went for the other. I watched him closely now making a little trail through the ice on top of the water.

          This is it, this is what I live for; I have it all right there with me. The things that matter the most in my life, my dog, my gun, and my boat, that is it all right there, and in one place. It couldn’t be better I have a boat full of ducks and kinda warm,” hey what more can you ask for”? This is my sanctuary, my escape from the world, my hide away, my own piece of paradise.

         

         

 By Camryn Jones

“You better be back here by dinner time, or you are going to get the grounding of a lifetime,” Mrs. Murray yelled across the yard.

“Okay mama. I’ll be back in plenty of time. See you later alligator,” Jacob replied.

Jacob loved the spring. He loved all the flowers, butterflies, and the way that the soft, plush grass felt on his bare feet. He loved the baby blue color of the sky, and the wind wrapping its fingers around him when he walked. However, his absolute favorite part of spring was the fishing. Jacob had a secluded fishing spot in the woods. The lake was huge, and it was home to a diverse population of fish. Jacob was the only person who knew about the lake. He found it about three years ago while he was taking a walk. The lake’s scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Jacob sighed at the thought of his lake. With that thought in his mind, he took off like a bullet to the woods.

It was not long until Jacob arrived on the familiar trail that lead him too his spot. As Jacob walked around the last tree, he saw something that made his eyes look like saucers. There was a bear right on his spot. The bear was unlike any bear Jacob had seen before. The bear was humongous. However, that is not what stood out the most about it. Its fur was silver and white. It almost looked to magical to be real. Its eyes were an icy blue. They looked like the color of Jacob’s favorite shirt. He wanted to get a closer look at the creature. Jacob stepped on a branch as he was walking toward the bear. The bear turned its head and stared right at Jacob. Jacob took off running, and so did the bear. The bear had the advantage seeing as it had four legs while Jacob had two. Jacob tripped over a tree root and fell on the ground. The bear stood over him with a hungry gleam in its gorgeous eyes.

“Please don’t kill me Mr. Bear. I promise I will leave you alone, and I won’t come back. Ever! Just please don’t eat me,” Jacob pleaded with tears going down his cheeks.

Then the unimaginable happened.

“Why would I kill you? I have no intention of causing you harm. I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Bart. What is your name?”

Jacob gaped at the bear. The bear stared right back with a kind smile on his face. This was not possible. Animals could not talk in real life. They could only talk in movies and fairytales. This had to be some crazy dream, but Jacob found himself talking back to the bear.

“You can talk! How can you talk? I can’t believe that an actual bear is in the woods talking to me! I have got to go tell my friends and family,” Jacob said in an excited whisper.

“No! You must not tell a soul that we met. If you do, it will put me and my family in grave danger. Do you understand?”

“Why can’t I tell anyone? It’s not every day that our town sees a talking bear.”

“There are people who want to kill us. They want our fur and our meat. There is not many left of our kind. If my kind dies off, the results will not be pleasant for your kind. If we die, the curse comes out, and there is no one to stop it. I need your help to prevent this from happening. First, you need to meet the rest of us. Follow me.”

Jacob was far to intrigued to say no. He got up and started brushing his self off. There was a part of him that said to go back home and never come back. Jacob put that thought aside and followed Bart.

Jacob’s legs were just beginning to hurt when Bart told him to stop. Jacob studied his surroundings. The trees were nice and bushy. There were berry bushes all around, and there was a small stream behind a tree. Jacob got snapped out of his daze when two cubs came running up to Bart. A female bear came chasing after them. Jacob saw ten more bears come out from the shadows of the trees.

“Jacob, I would like to introduce you to my two cubs, Bella and Brandon. This is my wife, Brittany. This is the rest of our group. There are only fourteen of us altogether. Kids, go get ready for dinner. I’ll meet you over there soon.”

“So, are you going to explain this curse and how you need my help? If I am being quite frank, I would like to know what I am getting myself into.”

“The curse is brought by the trees. Many years ago, a tree fell and killed a man named Tim Williams. When he died, his spirit entered the tree. The tree shed its seeds and decomposed, but many more popped up in its place. These trees contained the spirit of Tim. My species fends off the curse. Our kindness cancels out the curse’s badness. If we die, the curse gets out. The curse would kill all of you by dropping on you, just like it did Tim. You need to warn your people not to kill us. Your job is fairly easy. Just make sure we stay alive, so we can make more of our kind. Can you do that?”

“I don’t want to die because of a tree falling on me, so I will try my best to help you. I need to get back home, or else I’m grounded. I will see what I can do.”

“Bye young friend.”

Jacob went home and started making all kinds of signs and posters warning the town’s people about the endangered species living in the woods. The next day, Jacob put the signs up all around town. He even gave a speech about the bears at the City Hall. Jacob saved the bears and the town. He was a true hero.

“Now you know the story of your heroic grandfather,” Jacob’s son, Nate said.

“He sounds like a really swell guy dad.”

He was son. He really was. You remind me of him in many different ways. Now it’s time for bed. Goodnight Daniel.”

“Goodnight dad,”

 By Carlie Peavy

The rain came down in sheets and the trees offered no protection from the wind. Bunny cowered underneath a small bush praying the storm would end soon. She had been lost for just over six days and the elements had taken their toll on her body. If the rain did not stop soon Bunny had a great chance of becoming hypothermic and even dying. Bunny’s supplies had long since diminished and she was soon approaching starvation.

          Just then the sun broke through the clouds sending bright rays in Bunny’s direction.

Now you may be wondering what got Bunny into this situation in the first place. Bunny was camping with her family in Helen, Georgia when she disappeared. She had grown up in Georgia and been very adventurous all her life. So the last day that they were there she decided to go on a hike. Her parents had gone fishing earlier that morning and left her at the campsite. She was fifteen and could take care of herself so her parents were not worried about leaving her alone. She gathered some supplies and left, leaving no trace of where she had gone.

Bunny walked for some time looking at the birds, picking flowers, and enjoying nature altogether. After hiking for four hours Bunny became tired and started to head back to the campsite. Too bad she had wandered off the path and could not find her way back. Bunny remembered that if you ever got lost you were supposed to stay where you were, until help arrived. So Bunny sat and she waited and waited. Soon the sun sank behind the horizon and Bunny knew she would have to spend the night in the woods. She dug through her backpack looking for anything useful. In her bag she had four bottles of water, sunscreen, two granola bars, a trail guide, a flashlight, and a compass. Why had she not thought of it sooner she could use the compass and trail guide to get back to her campsite. She would have to sleep here for the night and as soon as the sun rose she would be on her way. Bunny curled up against the tree she had been leaning against and braced herself for the night.

Before the sun rose Bunny was awake. She had tossed and turned all night and eventually gave up on the idea of sleeping. As the sun started to break through the clouds Bunny started on her way. She took out the trail guide and compass and began to plot a path to follow. Bunny did not know where she was now, but she determined that if she were to continue north she should run into one of the hiking trails which she could follow back to her campsite.

Bunny walked for most of the day heading north, hopefully in the direction of a hiking trail. Soon she became hungry and decided to munch on one of her granola bars. She took out one of the granola bars and opened it up. She would eat just a little and save the rest for later in case anything were to happen. Before Bunny could even take a bite, sleep took hold of her and she fell into a deep slumber.

Bunny arouse face to face with a squirrel. The  squirrel scurried away before Bunny could even process what was going on. But, the squirrel had not left unnoticed he had taken something of Bunny’s. The squirrel had taken one of her granola bars and left the wrapper of the other lying on the ground next to her bag. There was nothing she could do about it. The squirrel had one and she had been left without any food.

Three days passed and no one came for Bunny. She was worried about what the future held and if she would make it out alive.

Bunny watched a bird in the distance. It hopped around as if it had no care in the world. If only she could be like the bird, carefree with nothing to worry about. But this was not the case, as Bunny had to figure out some means of food. Just then the bird flew into the air and seemed to pluck something off a nearby bush. The bird was eating berries! Now many wild berries are poisonous to humans and animals alike. She thought that she might as well take the chance and eat the berries. Bunny’s only options were to eat the berries and possibly die or die of starvation, and eating the berries was a risk she was willing to take. Bunny strolled to the bush and snatched off a berry. The berry was almost black and she recognized it almost at once. The berry was a wild blackberry and perfectly edible and harmless to humans.

Bunny sat and ate as many blackberries as she could and when she was full her face and hands were stained dark purple.  She felt sticky and gross, but she had to save her water for drinking only. She had two full water bottles and a half left, and she did not know how long she would be in the woods.

After filling up on blackberries Bunny once again started her journey home. She walked for the remainder of the day pausing every now and then to take a sip of water or just rest. When the sun began to sink behind the trees Bunny decided to call it quits and turn in for the night. She found a tree and sat beneath its massive trunk and slept.

Bunny rose to the soft pitter patter of rain. Well at least she would not run out of water. If the rain kept on for too long she might become sick. The rain continued on for hours never letting up. Finally the sun peeked out from the clouds, six hours after the start of the storm.

She had been stranded for six days. Bunny was tired, hungry, filthy, and sweating. It had to be at least 70 degrees and it was only nine o’clock. The trees overhead blocked some of the sun, but the sun managed to filter through. The heat was rising steadily throughout the day and by noon it was so humid and hot that Bunny was constantly wiping her brow. Unlike before, Bunny strode on at a brisk pace as if she knew where she was going.

And then it happened. Bunny stepped out of the woods and onto a road. Not just any road, but the main paved road which would lead her to civilization and eventually home.

“The Machine that Tested Time”   By Christopher Wright

          It was a dreary night. The clouds were nonexistent, but the fog was all around. Wolves howled from deep in the valley at the moon which sat perched in the sky. All around the wood was quiet. Owls perched on tree limbs silently watched a group of four humans creep through the woods, like they did not belong. These humans try as they might could never be as stealthy as the place they were looking for. No, they were not like the local hunters the owls would watch creep silently through the woods, they were much noisier than that. Several hours into their marvelous adventure they suddenly stopped, peace fell onto the wood and the wildlife finally got the quiet they get every night.They never returned back to the city of Anchorage. They did not board the plane which left the following morning to take them back home to their home town of Little Rock, Arkansas. Weeks later a missing person's report was filed for each of the individuals. The town was shocked that four teenagers could disappear without a trace, but slowly their memory faded and eventually they were forgotten all together.

          Overtime a discreet manhole cover was found by an old hunter close to the last known location of the missing people. The world went into shock, not for the missing people, but for the discovery of a vast underground tunnel system. No one knew or cared why these tunnels were built or what their purpose was. They just explored. The tunnels went on for miles and motorized transportation was brought in to find the end of the tunnels as fast as possible. After days of traveling and months of exploring the end could not be found. Eventually the community got bored and left never to return. The vast majority of people knew nothing of this tunnel, where it lead, or why it existed, but a select few had already been here before. These individuals stayed behind when no one else did. It was their rightful home, as it had taken years of research to find it.

          The vast tunnel system was nothing more than a dozen circles dug deep beneath the earth. Its creators gave it no name. It was never spoken of outside of itself. This place was the most secretive place on Earth with only 15 people alive knowing what it truly was, and they had all arrived here within the past three years. The people inside the facility had everything they wanted luxurious food, modern entertainment, highly advanced guns for those that are into those things, laptops with the power of supercomputers, and a supercomputer that could power the world. The facility had all of mankind’s advancements for the next century in its walls, but it was never shared. The creators used their technology to preserve and protect what was in the walls of their creation. It was used to keep mankind alive even if everyone on the surface disappeared. The computers were used to power the drones that protected the facility. Robotic owls gave vision to the outside. Wolves patrolled the boundaries of the woods. No one knew however why such an advanced array of drones and computers were used to simply protect some kids with high tech weapons in a nearly impossible place to find. The drones protected the time machine. The time machine could only be found after the surface had been destroyed and would be used to try to prevent the disaster that destroyed the Earth.

              The disaster came sooner than ever expected. It was not an asteroid or climate change, it was the launch of nuclear weapons from the middle east. Soon everyone was firing missiles everywhere and the only survivors were inside the safest place on Earth. The time machine was opened and informational videos and tutorials were activated to prepare the 18 year old kids on the task ahead. The computers prepared the war rooms, attack drones, and warplanes all contained in the very facility that had survived everything. Everything eventually went through the time machine and 15 days before the first turn of a key the war began again. After 14 days, the war had been won. The terrorists which possessed the nukes had been defeated, but the computer had been programed to make a perfect world before leaving. The drones turned on the kids firing into them with every weapon they had. Every war had to be ended and the computer calculated the very nuke it had come here to stop was the answer. Keys were turned and buttons pushed and the nukes flew again.

The creators could only try to change time, but what they could not know is that time calculates for changes in time. Time can never be changed. Humans did survive however, their technology saved themselves as they had downloaded their brains into the supercomputers of the underground bunker half a planet away. Humans had survived in the machine that tested time.

By Dawson Greer

          “Get out of the way newbie!” someone shouted right before I got shoved into a locker. Papers went flying everywhere, nobody stopped to help. Sighing I bent down picking up all my forms and belongings. Day one of starting this new school has been worse than I could ever imagine. I felt tears brimming the edges of my eyes as I saw people start to laugh at me as I ran from the embarrassing scene. It was almost time for the bell to ring and I was so ready for this day to be over. Since this last period was a free period for me, I snuck into the auditorium and sat on the edge of the stage. I looked down and the tears began to roll down my face. “My senior year is really gonna blow if it doesn’t get any better than this.” I said out loud to the empty space around me. Suddenly I heard the sound of a door closing and footsteps coming up behind me.

          Scared that it was one of the administrators about to bust me for being in here when I wasn’t supposed to be, I was about to make up some excuse for being in here, when I was met with a soft spoken voice and chill bumps on my arm. “Uh, you do know the bell rang right?” I turned around and was met with a boy standing tall in front of me. The look on his face altered and concern flashed across it. “Hey are you okay? Have you been crying?” he softly spoke and lowered himself down onto the edge of the stage. I wiped my face and felt the tears sitting there. “Oh yeah, I’m fine, it’s just been a long day.” I said wiping my face and not making eye contact with his ocean blue orbs. He nodded showing that he understood and then didn’t say anything. We sat in silence for a good 30 seconds before he spoke again. “Are you like, new?” He questioned, glancing down at his palms, then back up at my face. I sighed and said the words “Yes, sadly.”

          “Well what’s wrong with being new?” the mysterious boy asked. Without skipping a beat I replied, “What’s wrong with being new? Everyone here that ive encountered today has been a total jerk. Nobody wants to talk to the new girl here, nobody wants to show me where to go or help me with anything. I’m all alone and it blows.” He let out a jagged breath and softly patted my back. When his hand made contact with my skin, cold chills appeared everywhere on my body and I jerked away before he could see. “Well, I haven’t been a total jerk to you, have I?” he said with a sarcastic smirk, “So new girl, what’s your name?” When he said this he smiled with the biggest smile I had ever seen in my life. His teeth were perfectly straight, not a single one crooked. His eyes had a shine in them that made them glow like the sun. He had acne but it wasn’t the first thing you saw when you looked at him, you had to notice it. His hair was perfectly styled upward, it almost had the look of an ocean wave. A look of confusion crossed his ace again and he looked deep into my eyes and started waving his hand in front of my face. “Hey, new girl! Are you in there? I asked you a question.” He said with a smile creeping up on the edge of his mouth.

          Embarrassed, I looked away quickly and tried to cover up my face and red cheeks. “Uh, my name is Emily,” I stuttered trying to compose myself. The beautiful boy left out the most adorable giggle. The sound rang over and over again in my ears. “Well Emily it’s nice to meet you, can I see your class schedule?” he asked holding out his hand. I leaned over to my bang and pulled out my wrinkled schedule. “Here,” I said giving him the piece of paper, accidentally brushing my hand across his. His eyes scanned my paper, licking his lips every few seconds. Suddenly his eyes lit up and his shoulders bounced. “Hey we have the same classes!” he said excitedly. At that moment he reminded me of a small child when their parents agree to get them ice cream. “That means I can help show you the classes and stuff!” he smiled.

          Two more hours went on of him and me talking about anything and everything. We shared stories that made us laugh until we had tears streaming down our face. We also shared some personal stories about our life. I knew this boy better than I knew some of my closest friends back home in Miami. When he was in the middle of telling me another story I felt a vibration in my back pocket. I pulled out my phone to see that my mom had texted me asking me where I was. “Oh dang, it’s 6 already? I gotta get home.” I told him, starting to stand up. “Oh yeah I guess you do, sorry I kept you so long Em,” he told me scratching the back of his head. We began walking over to the door that leads to the parking lot in silence. All I could think was how I would actually have someone this school year, I wouldn’t be alone. I was so caught up in my thoughts I hadn’t realized id followed him out to his truck. “Oh sorry, it was nice talking to you I’ll see you tomorrow,” I spoke quietly. He smiled and gave me a hug. “Okay Em, I’ll see you then.” He said and got into his truck. I was about to walk away when I realized I hadn’t even gotten this boy’s name. “Wait, wait!” I shouted. He rolled down his window and asked, “Yes?” I breathlessly spoke, “I never even got your name, mysterious boy.” He winked at me and spoke the single word, “Christian.”

“Flight #13”   By: Evan Thomas

          It was the spring of 2016 and Jerry had just arrived for his flight to Chattanooga, Tennessee. He could feel the spring in the air as his parents dropped him off at the John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. Jerry had got into a fight at his high class New York school, and his parents thought it would be a good idea to send him to stay with his grandparents for a week in Tennessee. His grandparents had the entire week planned full of outdoor, mountain activities to get Jerry’s mind away from the city life.

          Jerry gathered his luggage and walked down the terminal to his plane. The intercom rang out, “Delta Flight #13 to Chattanooga now boarding,” as he reached the plane. Jerry got on the plane and sat down in his seat which was between a woman holding her baby and an elderly gentleman. The stewardess came by and said that the flight was delayed half an hour due to a large hailstorm. Jerry slid on his headphones and drifted off to sleep.

          When he awoke, they were already half-way through the five hour flight. The movie “RV” was playing on the tiny screen, but most of the people onboard were asleep including the ones beside Jerry. He laid his head back to go back to sleep when all of a sudden there was a loud crash on the window. Almost everyone woke up including the baby who immediately started crying. Soon more crashes could be heard all over the plane. Chaos erupted inside the plane with stewardesses trying to calm everyone down. The crashes continued with large dents and cracks appearing on the plane. An alarm began blaring with a voice shouting over the intercom to assume crash positions, but the voice could barely be heard over the screaming, chaotic passengers.

          The plane began dropping altitude quickly. Jerry almost lifted off the floor, but the plane soon stabilized. Another alarm began with a robotic voice repeating the words “Low Altitude” over and over. The plane began rapidly vibrating and increasing speed which was a last resort for the pilots to avoid crashing, but would soon realize this would make the crash even more devastating with speeds over 500 miles per hour. The alarm began blaring more urgently now and Jerry could see the ground getting closer and closer through the window. The stewardess ran by shouting to get in crash positions, but Jerry was too shocked to even move. Then the plane crashed.         

          It was 7:30 PM when West Virginia First Responder Sandy Upson received the jumbled call of a large aircraft crash possibly in a lake just outside of the city of Signton. Sandy was about ten minutes away so she turned around, turned her hazards lights on, and sped to the scene. Sandy listened to more calls coming over the scanner relaying more information and confirming that the plane was in the lake. Sandy arrived first on scene to Lake Bluestone at 7:39 PM with a half an hour left of daylight where she could see the tail of the plane sticking out of the water with debris strewn around it. Sandy read the tail which read ‘Delt’ and realized this was a major catastrophe. More emergency units arrived, but were helpless on the shore without a boat. It was pitch black when the emergency dive team arrived, and they immediately got in the water with Sandy on board. They sped to the middle of the lake, but the plane or debris was nowhere to be found.

          It was night by the time Jerry woke up, aching and throbbing in many places. He was soaking wet laying on the shore. He slowing sat up with a throbbing headache, and saw flashing red and blue lights on the opposite shore with several boats in the middle of the water. He checked his watch which was stopped on 7:29 and then checked his pockets where only a flashlight was left. He clicked it to see if it worked and it actually did. He flashed a S.O.S. signal to the boats in the middle of the lake with one turning and traveling towards him after a few seconds. The boat came to the shore and a young woman on the front helped him on the boat. She radioed in and said,

          “Rescue One, One survivor on route to base.” Two other men helped him onto a small stretcher and began checking his medical statistics as Jerry slowly drifted off to sleep.

          Jerry awoke the next day in a hospital bed. The tiny television was turned to CNN which was scrolling breaking news of a plane gone missing without a trace except for a lone survivor. There was a knock on the door and his parents, grandparents, and a woman who said her name was Sandy walked in the room. They all reunited and Sandy introduced herself to Jerry as the woman from the night before. Jerry was released from the hospital that same day and he traveled back home to New York City. Jerry’s and Sandy’s lives soon returned back to normal with Jerry attending school in New York and Sandy responding to emergencies in West Virginia. This was not the case for the people of Delta Flight #13 whose lives would be forever changed.

By Jetta Hattaway

          I knew when I awoke that something was wrong. It’s that feeling that you get at the pit of your stomach; that feeling you’re about to throw up but yet I couldn’t think of anything I’d done wrong. Nothing could go wrong when you’re in your senior year of high school and you’re on your senior trip to Paris with thirty of your closest friends. Little did I know that I was about to get a rude awakening.

          I sat up in my bed the morning that we were scheduled to leave feeling sad that I couldn’t stay forever. I looked across the hotel room that I’d been staying in for the past week to see if my friend Hayleigh was up yet, but oddly she was gone. Hmm. I thought to myself, where is she? But I didn’t think anything else of it, she could have just gone to breakfast down in the lobby. We had put our entire luggage into the bus we were taking to the airport last night, so I had only a small change of clothes and some toiletries in a bag with me. I got dressed slowly, taking my time. In retrospect, I wish I had hurried at least the slightest bit because then I might not be where I am now. I finished getting ready and just as I was grabbing my bag to leave and walk out of the door to go to breakfast, panic rattled my bones. It was already 12 o’clock, and we were supposed to be on a plane at this time! OH, NO! Did anyone else know that we were late? As I went to open the door to my room, I came face to face with one if the most handsome men I had ever seen. He had an unruly curly mop on his head with brown eyes that I could stare at for days… WOAH! Snap out of it Anna! I told myself.

          “Oh, I’m sorry; I must have the wrong room.” He said with a voice smooth enough to make any girl go weak at the knees.

          “Yeah, sorry, I’ll be going then,” I replied having no time to stare at him, I went running down the hallway in search of any familiar faces, nothing. I checked all of the rooms that I knew my  classmates would have been in, nothing. I even went down to the lobby of the hotel to check for the bus wehad been traveling in, and you guessed it, nothing. Surely they could not have forgotten me. Surely they did some kind of roll call and realized I wasn’t there. But there they were, the facts, staring me right in the face. I was just to stubborn to face reality. I was stuck in Paris… ALONE!

          I walk up to the front desk with m y head hung low. I then asked the lady what I already knew to be true and she confirmed my fears. My whole class had left at their scheduled time and left me behind. I plopped myself down into a chair in the lobby as endless questions went through my head. What am I going to do now? How am I supposed to get home? Then, as if the answer to all of my problems, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to see the same handsome young man that I had met at m y door.

“Hey, are you o.k.? You look like you’re about to cry.” He asked, concerned.

“Well maybe that’s because I am.” I said choking back tears.

“May I ask why?” He asked.

          And that was all he had to say for me to completely break down. I sobbed into his shirt for at least an hour. In between sobs I told him everything. I do not know why, but I felt like I could trust him to not turn out to be a psychotic serial killer. After I got done pouring my heart out to him I just sat in his arms, the arms that I did not know at all. I did not know a thing about this man, but I guess when you are alone you find comfort in the strangest places.

          “Are you ready?” He asked after we had been sitting there for who knows how long.

          “Ready for what,” I asked not knowing what he was talking about.

          “To go home silly,” He said like it was simple.

          “What are you talking about? I barely even know you. I do not even know you’re name.” I said all of a sudden cringing away from his touch like he was on fire.

          “Hi, my name is Travis. I am twenty-two years old. My mom and dad both died in an airplane crash when I was 10. I inherited all of their money, and their company. I also like pizza.” He said, sounding like a robot.

          “I’m sorry.”

          “For what?”

          “About your parents...”

          “It’s fine it was a long time ago. So how about we get you home now?”

          “How do you suppose we do that?”

          “I’m going to get you on a plane of course.”

          “What? No! I cannot allow you do that!” I said incredulous.

          “You can and you will” He said basically dragging me to his limo that was parked outside. He even had a chauffeur and everything. While I could have ogled the inside of the limo all night, I was still conflicted about wether or not to let him do this.

          “Alright we can go, but when I get home the first thing I’m going to do is mail you a check to cover the cost.” I said not taking ‘no’ for an answer.

          “That really won’t be necessary, as you can see I have plenty of money to spare.” He said, to which I just huffed and slumped back into the seat. As we pulled into the airport, Travis was talking to someone he knew who worked here trying to get a ticket to America for me.

          “Alright, It’s all settled your flight leaves from gate C in ten minutes.” We then made our way through security and everything until we came to a stop in front of the door leading to the plane. I turned around and we stared into each other’s eyes for an eternity.

          “Thank you for everything.” I said, still not believing my luck.

          “Anytime, and here,” He said handing me his contact information, “Contact me when you land.”

          “I will.” I said silence hung in the air. We stood there again suspended in time until I could see him inching towards. Was he about to kiss me? At that moment I started to lean in too, but then it all disappeared with a slap to my face

          “WAKE UP ANNA! IT’S TIME TO GO!” My roommate, Hayleigh said. And all at once I was back in the hotel in my room and it was still early in the morning, and my class hadn’t left me after all. It was all just a beautiful nightmare, Travis being the beautiful part.

“Catching Unity”   By: Joseph Stewart

          Randy was a kid who lived in a small town in Texas. He went to Willingham High School where racism was at its peak. The town was trying to bring the two races together, but there was one big problem in their way. The African Americans did not want to be there, and the white’s didn’t want them to be at their school or in their town.

          During the first week of school he had his first football practice. He had decided to sign up after running and lifting weights all summer. He was nervous because he knew that he was going to be picked on and pushed around. There was a team meeting in the gym before practice and it turned out that Randy was the only black guy on the team. He was the only guy who had the guts to sign up and play on the team.

          Randy was super-fast and could catch the ball really well. He had feet of lightning and hands made of glue. He was by far the best wide receiver that the team had, but by the time game day rolled around, Randy was not on the starting lineup. He was upset because he knew that he had been doing better than the other guys at practice, and he was clearly the best choice to get the job done.

          After three games lost and zero minutes of playing time for Randy, he decided that he was going to go talk to the coach and see why everybody else was getting to play, and why he was getting left out. Randy walked into the Coach’s office the next day before practice. He knocked on the door and said, “Hey coach do you have a minute?”

          “Yes but make it quick. I don’t have time to waist.”

          “Yes sir, I will get straight to the point…”, he took a deep breath, “…I feel like I have been doing really well at practice, and I was hoping that you might could give me some actual playing time with the guys out on the field.” He said this very carefully.

          There was an extremely awkward moment of silence from where the coach was thinking about what he was going to say next. The coach finally broke the silence when he said, “I should have known that sooner or later you were going to ask me this. The thing is, as you know, is that the town doesn’t want people like you here, and I am aware of what you as a player is capable of doing. I have just been thinking about when the best time would be to show the town what you can do on that field.”

          “Yes sir I know about what is going on, but I just think that it is my time to shine. I’m ready for whatever comes my way.” Randy said this very confidently.

          “I’ll do the best I can to help you get out on that football field Friday night. Randy, I want what is best for you, and I think it is your time to step up and be a part of the starting roster for our Willingham Hurricanes.” Coach smiled after saying this and shook Randy’s hand.

          Randy was so excited that he could barely spit out the words,” Thank you so much Coach I won’t let you down.”

          Sure enough on Friday before the game when Coach released the starting roster for the night, Randy’s name was on there at wide receiver. He was excited but nervous at the same time, but more nervous than excited. The players were not too happy with the decision of Randy starting, but they were just going to have to man up and roll with the plan, because Randy was starting, and there was nothing they could do about it.

          The game started slow, but Randy quickly brought the team to a 21-17 victory over the opposing team with 5 catches, 132 yards, and 2 of the 3 touchdowns. When he got into the locker room his teammates were giving him hi-fives and patting his back. He was happy that the team was being nice to him.

          After a few more games of Randy starting he brought the team to a 6 and 3 record and a playoff berth. The team they had to play in the playoffs was a big school in Houston. Randy was extremely nervous because this team has a record of beating the team they are playing really bad and it was making him nervous.

          Coach came over to Randy before the game and told him, “Look son. Don’t be nervous. Football is football, and you just so happen to be really good at it, so just go out there and do your thing.”

          “Yes sir” said Randy as he ran out onto the field.

          The game started slow until Randy was able to catch one in the back corner of the end zone to bring the score up to 7-0. The score stayed the same the rest of the game and the Hurricanes to a victory.

          Everyone on the team loved Randy, and you could actually see the town changing. They were not being so critical about the problems they have been having. They have been socializing with each other and being nice and kind.

          The Hurricanes made it all the way to the state championship against the best team in the state. The Hurricanes were number 2 in the state and the other team was number 1. The other team also had a star player like Randy named Miguel Alonzo who was a running back that was said to be the fastest kid in Texas.

          The Hurricanes scored first with a quick pass to Randy, but the Giants were quick to return with an outside run to Miguel to tie the game. Nobody scored again until the end of the 3^rd when Miguel ran 67 yards for a touchdown. Randy and his team was scared that they were about to get beat. Randy had to the something. The team had to do something together as one if they wanted to win this football game.

          Randy made up a play that he was sure would fool the other team. They lined up with 14 seconds left on the clock. The play was for Randy to draw 2 guys on the other team to the middle so that the man in the slot could run an inside post route and be wide open. Sure enough Randy’s play worked and they tied the game.

          There was only 7 seconds left now, and they were going to have to try an onside kick. It was going to be tricky but they had to try. The kicker kicked it. The ball was coming straight for Randy, so he jumped up, grabbed the ball, and took off down the field. All he could see was green grass in front of him. Touchdown Hurricanes! They had won the Texas state football championship. Randy was so excited to see that the entire town had ran onto the field, and were running towards him. They picked him up, and he was so happy that the town was finally together as ONE.

         

“Ghost Town”   By: Kendall Morton

Before we moved,

 life was great, I was happy, and I was noticed. I know this is a little confusing just jumping into my life like this, so here’s the flashback.

“Ashlyn, I have BIG news! We are finally moving!!” Momma yelled this at a high pitched scream as if I was supposed to be excited. My jaw dropped to the floor, my eyes starting to water as I yelled “Wait wait wait, this has to be a joke….right?! Momma I cannot move now. I’m just starting to fit in here and I’ve lived here for a year.”

Okay well, that’s the short version of our whole conversation…the nice version at least. The point I was trying to get across to you was, I COULD NOT MOVE. I was 16, I played lacrosse, I ran track, I was a huge nerd, and I had a severe case of social anxiety. Not something that goes together very well. But, I guess you could say that I use to fit in at Cloverleaf, Virginia (Where I use to live), better than most. Anyways, enough about before we moved and on to when we were moving (that’s when the real story begins).

Driving to Durham, Georgia,

was an experience that I’ll probably never forget. We had to drive for about 14 hours to get to our new house. Being on the road with a mountain of luggage and a trailer overflowing with furniture, was slow and dreary for the most part. Until an enormous explosion happens behind us (it turned out just to be our tire though)! It was insane to say the very least. This delightful man stopped to help us without asking for a thing in return. He was such a sweet man, and he reminded me of Daddy when he was alive…weren’t those the good days?  We didn’t have to move as much so Momma could have a new job every few years. Sorry for the off topic comments, although I know this is just a reminder to myself that I’m not crazy, and this actually did happen. I mean, I guess we’ll get to that part later, but right now I’m trying to remember it all.

The town was excessively smaller than I expected,

and quieter too. No one played outside although it was a bright and sunny day. It seemed as if the whole town was holding their breath to see how the two new people were going to act. I remember Momma saying something along the lines of “Wow what a quiet town, the perfect place for a shy girl like you”. I knew she was trying to stay positive, but this town was so small that you could blink and you’d miss it. I still have that feeling of pulling up to the house for the first time and thinking “Oh my gracious, what kind of house did she buy us?” It was old and shabby looking with broken shutters and an old looking roof. But hey, it was somewhere to live and that’s all I needed in my life.

The first day of school

is really vague for me. I tried really hard to forget it considering how bad it was. But, I’ll remember as much as I can considering this is just a jot list for myself. It was probably 7:00 when I arrived at Durham High School, I wanted to get there early and find every class I needed. I walked in and realized that this town might have been small, but wow they had an enormous amount of kids. I could feel my social anxiety getting the best of me, so I decided to just go to my first period. As I walked by a small group of girls, I remember they did not even give me a second glace. On the other hand, I was glad they didn’t. Girls just stressed me out too much back then, but now I’m lucky to have anyone. Anyhow, back to the dreadful first day of school. I walk down the first hallway I see hoping it would be the hall I was on, and luckily it was. That was about the only good thing about that day… I walked into my class before the bell ever rang, and I saw a boy about my age sitting there looking at Sudoku puzzle. I kind of laughed considering I had just finished that exact puzzle the day before. So, I decided to give him a small hint. “You know, if you change that five to a three you’ll be in better shape.” I whispered while slightly leaning over his shoulder. He seemed kind of shocked that I talked to him, but thinking back now I realize he was just stunned I could see him. Not knowing then why he was looking at me like he had seem a ghost, I said kind of awkwardly, “What? Never talked to a smart girl before?” “Ummmm…I have to go, goodbye” the boy said frantically and left. I didn’t really think anything about it, I just thought he might be anti-social like me. After the boy left, the bell rang for everyone to get to class. I sat in the back of the class hoping maybe one person would talk to me. Well, I was somewhat right about one person talking to me, but it wasn’t in the way I expected. Sadly, being the new girl at school wasn’t something everyone completely understood. I was sitting down, just getting out a piece of paper when this girl came up and said some choice words about me sitting in her seat. Considerately, I got up and moved seats. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t dealt with before, but being in this school was different. I had one mess up in the morning, and it lasted the rest of the day. That girl was relentless. I’ve never met anyone like her, she wanted to make my school life miserable. She tripped me in the hallway, slammed my hair in my locker door, and geez she even tipped my tray on me in lunch that day. Long story short, the first day of school was probably one of the better days.

Half way through the school year

is when things start getting ten times worse than they already were. Momma was bogged down with piles of papers, and I wasn’t having the greatest time at school. I didn’t make the lacrosse team because the team was “already full” (no try outs were held), I didn’t make the track team because my two mile time wasn’t fast enough (it was faster than five of the girls on the team already), and I didn’t get into honors because I wasn’t here to fill out the form for it and they didn’t have any forms left. I never complained or anything, looking at it from what I know now, I guess I should have. Momma didn’t mean to ignore me, but her job was just too much for her already. She always asked about school, I always told her it was going great. I told her I had lots of friends, and I couldn’t be happier. She never paid attention enough to tell I was lying…

May 21^st is when it happened.

What I mean by it is when I finally understood why this town was close knit. People that live here, and fit in, have always lived here. People that moved in, like me, don’t really get the chance to fit in. This town has something wrong with it, and I don’t mean just with the people. I mean the actual town. It has something supernaturally wrong with it. I never really believed in that stuff until now, and sometimes I still think it’s just some bad dream. I was at school, the last day actually, and I was sitting in first period like always. The devil, or better known as the most popular girl in school, came in and said, “finally that little wierdo isn’t here.” I turned around and glared at her, but she looked right through me. She got better and better at that every day, but that day was like I really wasn’t there. I was so tired of her, so I finally decided to say something. “You know what, I’m SO tired of your attitude. This town is so toxic, and you’re the biggest part of it!” I said screaming at the top of my lungs. I thought it was the weirdest thing that no one looked at me when I said that. Usually people look at me crazy if I even talked. “They can’t hear you” said the boy from the beginning of the year… He still looked exactly the same, hadn’t changed a bit. “What do you mean they cannot hear me? I just yelled louder than anyone was talking.” I said looking at him frazzled. “You were right about what you said. This town is toxic, but not just in your mind. If you don’t start to fit in within a year, you disappear. That’s what happen to me, and it just happened to you.” He said in a firm voice while he motioned me to follow him. “I don’t understand, I saw you on the first day of school. You weren’t invisible.”

“I know. That was weird, I’ve never met anyone who was able to see me. I’ve been invisible for three years now. I tried to stop you from getting to the point of where I am, but it never works. Most kids tell their parents that they aren’t fitting in, but you loved your mom so much and wanted her to be happy that you dealt with it. I respect that.”

“Well thank you, but it turned out not to favor me very much I guess. This really just seems like a dream” I say while pinching myself. He laughs and gave me a hug. He was serious, it actually was not a joke.

It is now a year later,

I still am invisible, and I live throughout the school with Samuel, the invisible boy. I’m happier than I was when everyone else saw me, and I know that sounds crazy. Maybe I’m crazy, and I’m somewhere in a coma waiting to be waken up. But I doubt it. I needed this jot list to tell myself I’m not insane, and these events did happen. Samuel and I keep other kids from becoming invisible by helping them fit in with one group of kids. We’ve made the school better little by little, and we are concerned to keep it that way. Momma still works here, sadly, this town got to her too. She doesn’t remember me at all, my whole life with her just faded away like the rest of me. But hey, maybe she’s happy, and that’s all I ask for. Maybe this ghost town is not so bad after all..

By Landa Dominy

“Don't you dare ask for anything in public again! After all the money we spend on you, you just can't get enough, can you?! You're such a little brat. This ought to fix you..” His dad said as he pulled his belt from the loops of his jeans. He gripped the belt tightly in his enormous, muscular hands and loomed over Sam like some sort of tall, eerily human-like demon. Sam looked within his father’s brooding eyes to see nothing but hatred towards himself. His father stared back malevolently, raised the belt above his head, and whipped him. He struck fifteen, sixteen, seventeen times. He had usually stopped by now, but now he was just starting to ease up. Eighteen, nineteen, twenty…

This is all Sam could think of now as he watched the other children in the neighborhood outside playing football. He wanted to play so badly. He always had, but he didn’t even own a ball. Sometimes whenever his dad would watch games on television he would sneak downstairs and watch from a distance, dreaming that it was him on that screen. But he knew now that if he even asked to go play with the other children his age, he would get beaten to the point of bruising, even bleeding, just like every time before. But perhaps this time would be different. Maybe they would be in good moods and let him go play this time. He pondered the thought for hours upon hours until he finally summoned the courage to ask his parents if he could go outside with the other kids.

He backed away from his bedroom window reluctantly and turned to face his bedroom door. He traipsed toward the door with high hopes and gripped the handle. His hand trembled in fear as he twisted the knob slowly and delicately. He listened for a hushed click as he twisted, but heard nothing. He tried again. Nothing. He struck the door with his fist in anger and flung himself onto the bed. Why had his parents locked him in his room? They had never done this before.

Before he knew it, he found himself crying. He normally tried to hold back tears for fear of appearing weak, but now he found himself alone, locked in his nearly empty bedroom, with nobody to disappoint but himself. He laid there for hours, shedding more tears than ever before. And suddenly, he had his mind made up.

Sam sat upright on his bed and looked at the door. He walked back over to it, put his ear to its old, chipped wood, and listened. He heard nothing but the hum of the air conditioner and the settling of the creaky wooden house. No footsteps. No television.  Pure, eerie silence.

  He flashed back again, this time to the end of fourth grade. Sam’s favorite teacher, Mrs. Williams, called him after class to talk to him. Sam was afraid that he may have been in trouble and immediately started trembling, worrying that his father would find out. Mrs. Williams, being the kind-hearted woman she was, assured Sam that he was definitely not in trouble.

“I've noticed that you haven't turned in your permission slip for the field trip to the museum. Are you still planning on going? You seemed so excited when we discussed it as a class. As smart as you are, you should be attending. You would enjoy it.”

“Oh, I- um- oh- uh- I think I may be sick- I mean-” He glanced around the room, searching for some sort of justification for why he hadn't turned in his permission slip yet. He couldn't tell her about how Mother doesn't allow him to go places with anyone but her.

“Samuel, you know if something is bothering you here at school, you can tell me, right?”

“Oh, yes ma'am. Of course! It's just that… I think I have something going on that day. Um… I have to go. I can't miss the bus. Father will be mad.”

Sam knew he was intelligent. His teacher had even said so. He ran his fingers through his hair, sighed, and lied back down. How would he find a way out of his room with nothing but a bed and some raggedy old clothes?

He began to frantically search his room for something, anything, to get him out of this room, this house, this prison. He looked under his bed, in the bottom of his closet, behind his empty bookcase. He looked anywhere and everywhere that an object could hide. Suddenly, he saw the vacant clothes hanger and snatched it off the rack from which it hung.

He contorted the end of the thin, metal hanger to fit the tiny keyhole that had been mocking him for hours. He jammed the end into the keyhole, twisted the hanger in multiple different directions, and suddenly, finally, miraculously, he heard the click of the lock. He pushed the door quietly, stepped out into the hallway, and tip-toed down the stairs. He crept past the empty living room, into the lifeless kitchen, and out the front door. He was finally free.

Sam sprinted down the street, past the neighbors’ house, past the bus stop, all the way to the school building. He pulled the door, and to his dismay, found it locked. Exhausted, he collapsed onto the bench beside the door, laid his head into his hands, and began to weep.

To Sam, hours seemed to pass, but in just merely minutes, Mrs. Williams was driving past the school on her way home from the grocery store.

“Samuel,” she asked, “Is that you?”

“Oh, hi Mrs. Williams… I was just..”

“Are you okay Samuel?”

“Not really…” he walked over to her car and told her everything. The beatings, the neglect, every missed opportunity.

“Come on Samuel, let's go to my house.”

 By Lane Kitchens

          It was on a cool summer day when that strange incident happened in the old cow pasture. If you were to ask me why it all started I couldn’t tell you because it was simply that quick and deceiving. I had been out mowing the grass and feeding the cows in the pasture. Nothing seemed unusual about the day. It was just your regular old summer day that just came and went, this was until the ground started shaking. It was a shaking unlike I had ever experienced beforehand. Huge cracks  started forming in the ground around me. Trees started off in the distance started cracking and falling to the ground in massive heaps. Then it stopped. All of a sudden a great big hole opened up under me and I immediately fell, and I kept dropping and dropping until I fell upon what felt like a huge cloud.

          My eyes had been closed due to the fear of the drop, but when I opened them I soon became amazed of the sight before me. All around me were things I would’ve never thought could happen in real life. Chocolate rivers, cotton candy bushes, gingerbread houses, and live gummy bears were just a few of the many things before my eyes. Gummy bears and gummy worms were coming up to me left and right greeting me with nice gestures like ‘ hello little fellow” or “ how are you doing today”. Bewildered by the fact that candies were talking to me, I ran until I could not run anymore. After I ran I started to feel bad about the previous incident because the little creatures meant no harm. So I walked back and started a nice conversation. Little bitty gumdrops started to fall from the sky during the conversation I was having. The gummy bear explained to me that everything that happened here was pleasant. The place that I had just discovered seemed to just get better and better by the minute. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to stay here for as long as I could and I planned on doing everything in my power to accomplish that.

          After a couple minutes my world around me started shaking again, and it wouldn’t stop. It went on just like that until a voice started saying “ come on its time for practice’’ like a principle announcing over an intercom. I had no understanding of what was happening but the view I front of me started to become blurry until it was eventually dark and I could no longer see. And then I opened my eyes

          Somehow that day, I had fallen asleep on the front porch of my house. My parents told me that I had been sleeping for hours in my hammock. They also told me that I had been smiling for the entire time I was asleep. Crazy couldn’t even describe the phenomenon I had just experienced. The worst part about it all was that, it was merely a dream

“The Fortune Cookie”     By: McKenzie Jones

Cool air rushed past me as I stepped into my favorite Chinese restaurant. I strode past the numerous available tables until I reach table number seven. I sit down, order the same meal I always eat, and ask for fortune cookies. This had become my routine. Every Thursday I came to Wendy Wu’s China Town and went through the same steps. This Thursday shouldn’t have been any different… but it was.

“Thank you, sir, come again.” The unenthusiastic waitress droned as she took the ticket and dropped two fortune cookies in my hand.

I walked out to my car and opened up the cookies. The first fortune said, “The best year-round temperature is a warm heart and a cool head.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. I tore open the second cookie, expecting to see a corny message, but quickly dropped the cookie in surprise when I saw what it said.

“Harper, your life is in danger. You must depart. Watch out for the man in the----“

The fortune was hand written and the person writing it had obviously been stopped from writing the rest. Panic and dread began to form, beginning from my head and seeping down to my toes. An unsettling feeling makes my stomach drop. Chills began to form. The realization that someone was after me started to settle within me.

Suddenly feeling nauseous, I continued to drive to my house with my hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel. What should I do? Should I even drive to my house? What if there was someone there waiting for me?

When I finally arrived home, there was nothing that appeared unusual. I quickly got out of the car and sprinted to my front door. Although the outside appeared completely normal, the inside was destroyed. The chairs in the kitchen were torn in half. There were newspapers, books, and miscellaneous papers strewn throughout every room. Every drawer throughout the entire household had been open and rummaged through.

All of a sudden, I feel hands grip my arms tightly and yank me into a chair. I try to scream for help but my efforts are futile.

“Where is it?” A low baritone voice growls at me.

“Where is what?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

“The crystal.”  The man said laconically.

“What crystal are you talking about?” I moaned, feeling rather frustrated.

“It’s a small red crystal. The lady at the restaurant stole it from me and gave it to you and I need it back.” He rumbled, pacing back and forth.

I racked my brain, trying to figure out when this could have occurred. “I don’t remember anyone giving me a crystal.” All of a sudden my eyes widen as I realized that the crystal was in my possession. A few weeks ago, the owner of the restaurant gave me a small chain with a ruby red crystal attached to it. She had (supposedly) given it to me as a gift for my birthday with the warning that it was extremely valuable. It was too big for my wrist so it was currently circling my ankle. Fortunately, I was wearing pants so the crystal was safely hidden.

“You don’t have the crystal?” The man sighed with a hint of resignation. I shook my head fervently. He sighed once again. To my surprise, he began to undo the knots in the rope.

“Wait, what are you doing?” I ask hesitantly.

“All the information I know on who has the crystal is that it’s someone who frequents the restaurant. Wendy Wu’s is a very popular place and I don’t have time to waste,” I nod my head. “But I better not find out you have been lying to me.” He said with dark eyes boring down at me menacingly.

“Okay.” I say, licking my lips nervously. He walks out and slams the door behind him, almost breaking it off its hinges. I jump up and run to the window making sure the man is gone. Twisting the lock on the door, I pull out my phone and quickly dial the number to the restaurant.

“Wendy Wu’s China Town, how may I help you?” A woman answers.

“This is Harper. I need to speak to Wendy. It’s an emergency.” I hear the woman call for Wendy and the phone being passed from person to person.

“They came for the crystal, didn’t they?” Wendy asked, jumping straight to the point. She asked me several questions about my experience and the man who had come and wreaked havoc on my house. “Come to the restaurant at ten o’clock tonight. Tell no one.” She said cryptically as she hung up.

The rest of the day dragged on as I waited anxiously for ten o’clock to roll by.

As the clock chimed ten, I drove up to the doors of the restaurant and quietly creeped up to knock on the door. Wendy quickly scurried to the door and let me inside.

A lot happened on that late night in my favorite restaurant. I discovered that the small red crystal adorning my ankle belonged to a fancy museum in New York and was stolen by a jewel thief, who brought it all the way to Chicago, where he misplaced it in Wendy’s restaurant. Luckily Wendy, a big fan of jewels, recognized the item and planned to return it. But the thief caught on to her plan. So the ensure the jewel’s safety, she discreetly gave it to someone the crook wouldn’t suspect (me) until she could contact the museum and let them know it was missing.

The next day, the burglar was caught and arrested along with everyone else who assisted him. The jewel can now be found (along with several guards surrounding it) in the museum, where it should have been all along.

"Forbidden Love"     By Madison Willard

It was a rainy Sunday morning. Morgan and Eric had just broken up the day before. It was exactly a week before Valentine’s Day. Morgan was at her friend Lori’s house, yet all Morgan wanted was to be alone. So, Morgan went home, of course no one was there, so she went to her room and laid down. Morgan did not know what to do. She did not understand how this was happening. Everything was going so well with her and Eric. She did not know what could have possibly gone wrong.

Two weeks later, Morgan gets a text from Eric apologizing for leaving over something as stupid as her being over protective. He told her that he felt things were moving too fast, and he just need a little space. But, MOrgan did not want to hear it. She would not speak to him Lori told Morgan she understands the way he ended things and what he ended it over was not the best, but at least he was trying to apologize and give her an explanation. Morgan did not want anyone telling her she was wrong for not accepting the apology from Eric.

Morgan called her friend Carrie and told her everything that happened. Carrie understood the way Morgan was feeling and said, “It’s okay to be upset. No one expects you to be over things that quickly. You cared about him and he let you down. You don’t have to accept his apology until you’re ready to.”

          Morgan was just glad someone understood and would not try to tell her she was wrong for what she thought.

          Six months later, Morgan saw Eric at a store and figured it was time to accept his apology and let the past be the past. But, it was too late. Eric had lost all hope in Morgan forgiving him, and he had started dating her old friend Ally, who she had not seen since way before her break up with Eric. Ally, now, hated Morgan because of her history with Eric. Morgan, then, stooped her friendship with Ally, for good, and decided to never speak to Eric again.

          Months later, after the Christmas holidays, they were back at school and had new class arrangements. Ally went to a school a couple hours away, So morgan knew she would not have to worry about having any classes with her. Though, she would still see Eric in the halls but she knew she could handle it.

          Morgan walked into class and there he was. Eric, just sitting there. Morgan seat just happened to be right next to his. This was really awkward for Morgan, considering they had not talked since that day at the store and now practically hated each other.

          Eric and Morgan eventually became friends again. But, then Morgan started flirting with Eric’s best friend JR. When Eric found out about Morgan and JR he was furious with her. He did not want anything to do with Morgan until she  quit talking to JR.

          Morgan and JR eventually quit talking a few weeks later. Eric was still pretty mad at her for talking to him in the first place. He had asked JR not to talk to her from the beginning, unknown to Morgan. It broke Eric’s heart to see Morgan with JR, and for him to see how happy she was with him. But, he knew deep down it bothered her that it himn she was with everyday. He could tell by the way she looked at him in class.

          Morgan began to miss Eric more and more as the days passed. A friend of both Eric and Morgan, named Jenna, sat both of them down and asked them if they missed each other. Which, they did, but Eric was still dating Ally and did not want to leave her.

          Jenna, then, talked to Morgan alone and told her to tell Eric how she feels. Morgan questioned that idea and said, “But, what if he doesn’t feel the same? Or, what if he does feel the same, but he won’t leave Ally?” She began to cry.

          “Now,now.” Jenna says. “No one said you had to have him back. I’m certainly not saying that by telling him how you feel that he’ll change his mind, but he needs to know how you feel. There’s no need for you to be scared to tell him,”

           All Morgan could think of was how much she messed up by not forgiving him when she had that chance. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to tell him how she felt. But, she did not want him to let her down, and she knew that was exactly what would happen.

           Morgan looked at Jenna with tears in her eyes and said, “I don’t think I can do it. I care about him, but I don’t believe he still cares about me. I don’t want to tell him how I feel and him not feel the same way.”

Jenna looked at Morgan. She could tell how upset Morgan was about the whole situation. She knew all Morgan wanted was to be with Eric. They were the perfect couple. They always got along, and they were always fun to be around. So, Jenna looked at Morgan and said, “Look. I know how much you can about Eric, and I want to help you get him back, I really do. But, I can't help you if you don’t want to help yourself. You've pursued guys before. Why is this time any different? Not to mention, he's your ex. So, he already knows you and cares about you. There's nothing to be scared of. The worst he can say is the he doesn't want to leave her, or that he feels like it's a bad idea to try again with you. I'm helping with as much as I can help with, but at a certain point you have to do some of it for yourself.”

Morgan knew Jenna was right. Though, Morgan just could not seem to shake the idea that she should just keep it to herself. The last thing Morgan wanted to do was start an argument between her and Eric after they had just finally become friends again. She was confused she just wanted someone to give her advice on what to do. Everyone had a different opinion on the situation. Some people thought she should go for what she wanted. Some thought she should wait to see if Eric and Ally broke up, and others thought she should not say anything at all to him. She was beyond confused.

A few weeks later Morgan finally came to her decision. She had decided that she was going to ask Eric about what he thought out him and her. She knew his initial response would be that he's with Ally and he doesn't really know. But, she found a way to work around that. She thought she could just tell him how she felt and then let him know that he did not have to respond, but that if he wanted to be with her, he would need to break up with Ally.

Morgan decided that there was no real point in it though. She decided that she would just leave it alone and see where things went. MOrgan knew she could not push for something that was not there. She also knew that if it was there that they would be together when the time was right. So, Morgan gave up on the idea of her and Eric. She knew that they were better off the way they were and she had done all she could, without ruining his happiness with Ally because that would not help her at all. 

The Case of the Missing Diamond
 By: Noah Shedd  

I poured the delicious, brown tinted liquid; some call a Cup-of-Joe into my mug. It was a Saturday, and my only day off for the week. Chasing down criminals in New York can be a tiring occupation. I walked into the living in my downtown one-bedroom apartment, and threw my self onto my retro sofa. I attempted to relax (which is not easy for me). Turning on the television, I began to wind down while taking a sip of my hot to the touch coffee as the six o’ clock news began. The morning anchor began to report.

“In breaking news, the Fidali Diamond has been stolen from its rightful place in the Museum of Natural History.” I began to stare at the T.V. in disbelief as I heard my landline begin to ring. I knew who the call was without even having to answer the call. Oh well for my day off. Just the life of a regular detective.

I am Detective Andy Jones. I have been part of the New York Police Department for about twelve years. I have solved over one hundred cases and am one of the best detectives in New York (not to sound arrogant). When someone has a problem, I am usually the first one they call for help. Pulling up to the crime scene at the museum was a thrilling moment, with people standing behind the famous yellow tape. I made my way through the crowd and under the police tape. While walking up the stairs to the doors of the museum, I was welcomed by shards of glass covering the floor. My chief was the first one to confront me when I carefully came through the door frame.

“We were called this morning by the museum’s director, Ms. Sylvia Day, “said the captain filling me in on the case, “She says she was walking up to unlock the door to the museum when she noticed the horrific scene. She was waiting outside when we arrived on the scene.”

I thought to myself as I asked the captain to take me to the exhibit with the diamond. Upon arrival, the scene was filled with DNA analysis and other members attempting and some fingerprints and any other evidence on the scene.  The case that held the diamond was no more, as it was smashed when the thief stole the diamond.  The evidence on the scene told me that the diamond was the only thing taken from the museum, which told investigators that these thieves knew exactly what they were looking for. I made my way back to the front of the complex so I could verify Ms. Day’s story. While interviewing her, she gave me the same details I heard from the captain.  Even though she was an awkward cat lady (as she explained when I asked about the claw scratch on her hand), I made the realization she was not the culprit.  By asking her if she did know anyone that she think might try to steal the diamond, she revealed to me that she had to let go one of the custodians, his name was Slim Shovensky, that worked at the museum. I think it is time that I had a chat with this guy.

I was able to locate his address and drove to his rundown apartment. Walking up the steps to the apartment, a feeling of suspicion overcame me.  As I began to knock on the door, WHAM!  A sharp sound of what sounded like a screen door being slammed rang through the air.  My instincts told me to run to the back of the building. Upon arrival, I noticed there was a fence surrounding the back yard. I leaped over the fence and scoped the surroundings of the backyard.  Suddenly I noticed a pair of legs attempting to shimmy their way up the back fence. Flying to the fence with all my might, I grabbed his legs and threw him down on the filthy ground.  As I brought him to his feet, I asked, for his identification.

“Slim Shovensky,” he stuttered “but you have the wrong guy.”

“But I didn’t even tell you why I was here.” I remarked.

“Yeah, but I didn’t do it.” (Do what?) I thought to myself.

I arrested Mr. Shovensky for fleeing from the police. Mr. Shovensky was sitting in investigation room as I gathered my notes and evidence to question him.  I opened the door and walked into the “hot box”, as we detectives call it.  I began questioning Mr. Shovensky, and as we were about ¾ the way through our interview, we hit the most important question.

“Where is the diamond?” I demanded.

“Diamond? What diamond? I don’t know what you are talking about.” Mr. Shovensky replied.

“The Fidia Diamond from the museum you worked at. It’s been stolen in the middle of the night.”

“I didn’t steal that diamond, I swore to myself that night that I would never return to that dreadful place. I have an alibi; I was working at my new job at the convenient store. I worked the night shift.”

I was dumbfounded by this confession. I walked out of the investigation room not saying a word calling the convenient store where Mr. Shovensky claimed he worked; I was able to confirm his statement. I knew I would have to find a new lead, as we let Mr. Shovensky go. I decided to go to my one true source, Ms. Days, so that I would hopefully be able to get a stronger lead.

On my way to visit Ms. Day, I went through my head the evidence we were able to get from the crime scene and Ms. Day. When I arrived at her street side house, it was about 7:00pm. The sun was nearly set; the sky was cascaded with colors of red and orange. I knocked on her front door and waited a few moments. When there was no answer, I tried again and this time the door slowly opened from the force of the knock. I called out a few times before entered her home. I looked around the house and found nothing out of place, except for no Ms. Day.  As I began to get near the stairs, I felt a presence of someone. Because I was not sure I froze.  Then all of a sudden a sharp noise rang through the air. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder and was blown away by the hit, from a bullet.  I drew back a little away from the stairs clutching my wound. Reaching for my gun, I approached the stairs once again with a gun in hand.

“Ms. Day,” I called, “Are you okay?”  I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and that’s when I saw her.  Ms. Day descended down the stairs and was carrying a hand gun. She let out a little laugh as she came face to face with me.

“Well detective, now you know I stole the diamond. I was the culprit all along.”  Ms. Day said.

I was shocked by what I heard. I asked her why she had done it.

“Well you know museum managers don’t make much money.” She stated.

She pulled out the diamond and began to flaunt it around. When I saw my chance I raised my gun slowly where she really was not able to notice. She kept rambling on and on about she had done it. She even told me that the scratch on her arm was not even from a cat, it was from when she scratched herself on a shard of glass. When I saw how engrossed she was in her story, I fired a shot in her arm. She immediately dropped the gun and grabbed her wound. I approached and was able to apprehend her. Another case solved.            

                  

"The World to Remember"    By Jillian Green

        Magi Meadows had always despised tornadoes with their heavy, thrashing winds , destroying everything in their path only to the detriment of others around them. This wasn't always how it was, though, prior to the devastating tornado strike of 2005 Magi had always thought of tornadoes as something she would never encounter for the last tornado to hit her hometown was way back in 35'  it was so long ago that in 1945 the mayor of the beloved town of Sandersville decided to toss the tornado drills in all the public schools because he figured (just like everyone else in the town) that it would never happen again. But they couldn't have been any more wrong and in fact exactly 60 years later it was to happen again and this time even worse than before.

April 21, 2005:

       "I know the answer Sarah I really do!" I exclaimed in agony, realizing I had to memorize what seemed like a million vocabulary words in exactly three minutes and twenty-two seconds or at least before the next class period. "Well not to brag, but if you had studied like I did last night this wouldn't be a problem I mean really Magi you're in the 9th grade you need to start getting your life together if you want any future." Sarah summoned. I knew she was right, but I was running out of time and soon my mind came to the only reasonable possibility there was. "As much as I hate to say it you're right Sarah, but now is really not the time to be saying this so I'm going to have to use my emergency escape plan, but I need you on board." I conferred. "No! I'm not doing it I told you this from the start it's a bad idea I mean what if we get caught?" she answered objectively as we walked into the classroom . At that moment it was like I could see into the future and I saw myself getting my vocabulary test back with a big red "F" in the left corner I thought of what my friends would say, my mom, my dad, my peers and even my teacher Mrs.Shutland and decided I wasn't going down without a fight,  so I decide to take things into my own hands and go with emergency escape plan B.

        "Good morning Mrs.Shutland." I smiled and said politely as she walked into the classroom. "Please take your seat Ms.Meadows we need to start this vocabulary test as soon as possible so everyone will have the whole class period to finish it." she answered sharply and in a tone that was very unpleasant (like always). She was a short lady with peculiar looking hair that was invaded with gray and having not one strand of brown left it was always in an updo , but it paired well with her enormous glasses that seemed to slouch down the ridge of her nose making her look as mean as ever. She always dressed in old tattered dresses leaving my classmates and I wondering where she got them from always pairing them no matter what the color with a pair of polished tan flats. She was the kind of teacher who was always so harsh and strict about everything and made having fun in school anything but possible.

       "I really would Mrs.Shutland but you see I have a problem…" I answered and kept talking in a low whisper as Sarah was staring at me with curiosity in her eyes "I need to use the restroom it's an emergency." Suddenly Mrs.Shutland just waved me out the door and said,  "go." I waltzed down the hallway and into the bathroom grinning because my plan was going accordingly. I made sure to enter one of the bathroom stalls before pulling out my phone and texting my mom to come and get me saying it was an emergency. She replied immediately stating she was on her way and would be there in about five minutes  but little did I know at the time something else was on its way too but this thing more horrendous and devastating than my mom and I could ever imagine.

         I waited in the bathroom for about two minutes then returned to the classroom giving Mrs.Shutland no suspicions and also making sure Sarah didn't get too worried about my absence. When I entered the classroom it was as if Mrs.Shutland didn't even notice my reappearance because she seemed to be studying something on her phone and so I decided to take my seat as I looked towards Sarah who was too focused on the vocabulary test to notice my reappearance too. Mrs.Shutland finally noticed I was back and quickly handed me a test to which I filled out to the best of my ability watching the clock every second and hoping that my mom would be there soon. That was when I finally heard someone come onto the intercom so I gently grabbed my bookbag but quickly put it down when I soon realized this wasn't a call for me to go home this was a full-fledged tornado warning initiated by the principal himself. As we heard the fear in the principal's voice my whole class was at a loss for words because we didn't know what to do and neither did our teacher.

      This was when I remembered that Sarah had just recently moved to Sandersville from Kansas the year prior and I remembered her telling me about doing tornado drills every month and how she felt like it was all a waste because she moved to our school that didn't even have tornado drills and so I did the only thing I knew would make her speak up and I yelled out to the class, "Sarah moved here from Kansas last year she knows what to do!" Mrs.Shutland looked at Sarah surprisingly and asked eagerly , "Well Sarah what is it you do in Kansas when there is a tornado coming or at least in your tornado drills?" Sarah sat there for a second not saying anything and then spoke, "Well … in Kansas we usually all crowded up into a corner where there were no windows."

"Alright, class you heard her the corner to the left of me it is and move!" Mrs.Shutland commanded with a stern voice as she picked up the phone that was hanging on her wall and pressed a few buttons.Our whole class jolted to the corner Mrs.Shutland was pointing to and paired up with our friends as soon as we got there.

      We sat in silence as Mrs.Shutland started talking to someone who was on the phone. "Hello, this is Mrs.Shutland.", she spoke with a soft smooth voice "yes" she continued "We have a student who moved here from Kansas last year who somewhat  knows what to do during tornado drills." then there was a short pause and she said , "Yes I will get her on the phone for you one second." At that moment she put the phone on her chest,  darted around and facing our class and asked calmly yet crisply, "Sarah dear , will you please come and tell Mrs.Dyle our office clerk what you just told the class?"Sarah stood up and I whispered to her with pride,  "It's now or never Sarah." at that moment it was as if Sarah broke out of her shell and perhaps she did. She strode up to the phone with confidence and her head held high , she grabbed the phone out of Mrs.Shutland's shaking 53-year-old hands and spoke, "Yes this is Sarah Silverstone." After this she began explaining all about the tornado drills and a little about tornados themselves and as our whole class watched in awe she ended the conversation with , "No , thank you I was wondering when all those drills every month would come in handy." and hung up the phone without giving it to Mrs.Shutland who had her hand out and thereafter quickly put it away.

       Mrs.Shutland watched wonder struck as Sarah made her way back to where the class was. As I was in the middle of congratulating her the intercom came on again and this time, it was Mrs.Dyle saying I was to sign out so I got up, said goodbye to Sarah, grabbed my stuff and was about to exit the door when Mrs.Shutland stopped me and said meaningfully, "Stay safe."

"You too." I replied and left the classroom.I walked as fast as I could up to the front office where my mom was supposed to be but wasn't so I asked Mrs.Dyle, "Where did my mom go?"

"Oh, she will be here any minute she had to use the restroom real quick you can go ahead and go to your car she said it was unlocked or you can take a seat and wait if you want."Mrs.Dyle replied pointing to a chair next to the exit.  The job fit Mrs.Dyle she was very tall and slim and always looked professional she was one of those office clerks that was very relaxed about their job, but still got it done and we all wondered how this was her being so young and all, but none of us complained because whatever the reason it worked.    

     I dropped my book av next to the seat Mrs.Dyle was pointing to and sat down. The first thing I thought was that my mom must have gone to check on me and so I waited until Mrs.Dyle was out of sight and once she was I darted for the door. First, I ran into the hallway and made it into the first bathroom I could find, but my mom wasn't in there and so next I decided to check the three other bathrooms on that hall because she would surely be in one of those. After checking the last bathroom and having no luck I decided to lastly return back to the office where I found my mom waiting for me relief filling her face. When asked what I was doing I simply said I was in the bathroom which wasn't completely a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

    My mom quickly thanked Mrs.Dyle and hurried me to the car. That's when I realized just how close the tornado was because as we entered the car you could hear the wind beating against the windows and as my mom started to drive you could feel the wind resisting the car to move forward, but somehow the car pulled through and soon we were in the safety of our own home, but I couldn't get Sarah off my mind and the possibility of a tornado striking the school with my best friend inside of it."Hey mom!", I called from the couch in the living room trying to catch her attention."Yes , Maggi?" She answered sounding a little irritated because she was trying to get the laundry done."Do you think Sarah will be okay?" I asked hesitantly sorrow filling my voice.

   "Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine honey… I wouldn't worry about it Mrs.Silverstone has probably picked her up by now.", she answered  but I could tell in her voice that she was a little unsure just like I was. "Well, do you think it would be a good idea just to call Mrs.Silverstone just in case I mean what if she's trapped in her house and can't go get Sarah and she needs us to go get her or something?"  I asked eagerly panic starting to fill my voice.You could hear my mom's footsteps as she walked down the hallway and into the living room to where I was sitting and she spoke in a calming voice, "Stop worrying so much about it so much.  I'm sure Mrs.Silverstone would have called me by now if she needed a favor. Now like I said Sarah is probably safe at home and out of the tornado's path so there's absolutely nothing to worry about." With that, my mother started to make her way back to the laundry room when I jumped up and exclaimed, "but what if your phone is on silent and you really are getting calls from people I mean surely dad would have called you by now to see if we were okay." My mom stood there for a minute seeming to question her actions as to whether or not she actually had turned her phone on silent and I watched her as she quickly etched over to her phone and checked the screen.    

    My mom became wide-eyed and murmured, "13 missed calls.".The next hour was strictly phone calls for my mother as I sat on the couch eating Original Pringles(my favorite) and watching Friends(also my favorite) on the Television to keep my mind occupied. After my mom got off the phone she asked if she could watch the news and told me I didn't have to if I didn't want to, but I stayed anyway and watched as she flipped to the local news and that was when I saw just how enormous this tornado was. My mother and I watched in awe as the local meteorologist explained to us that we had an F5 tornado headed straight down Sanford road which was where a bunch of homes were and also right where the school was.About halfway through the next hour my dad walked in and took a seat next to me and continued to watch the news with us.

   A little while after my mom got up and she finally made the phone call I was waiting for. There was silence as she spoke, "Hello Mrs.Silverstone… Yes, we are all safe at home… Yes, he did get home safely… She's right here…." She spoke for the first five minutes leaving no clarity or relief in her voice.  As the conversation kept carrying on she finally spoke the words I had been needing to hear the whole afternoon , "Well that is such a relief to  hear, thank you so much and you are welcome to come over if the storm gets too bad over there…yes… Yes... Okay bye now.” Although I had heard my mom say what I wanted to hear I wanted to hear confirmation from her as well.My mom entered the room and let out a big sigh, smiled and asked, "Guess who's best friend is safe at home?"

   At that moment I was overjoyed with happiness as I felt a weight being lifted off of my shoulders and my heart starting to beat again, but this feeling only lasted for two seconds after I heard the newsman yell out from the television, "Oh, no Bob it looks to me as if the school has been hit!" At that moment I dropped to my knees and started weeping and praying  for everyone who was in that building and their families , everyone I knew and didn't know, everyone whose lives would be touched by the tornado that day as it was mine and I was that way until I had no tears left and finally fell asleep.

April 21, 2012

    "It's been seven years now and this place still looks the same as the day it came down." I stated to Sarah in sorrow. "I can't believe it's been seven years and I still think about it every day." Sarah replied to which I agreed. We walked over to where Mrs.Shutland's classroom used to be which was now just a pile of bricks and I reflected on the pale surroundings trying to remember all of the fun memories I had in the class and not the devastating disaster that took every single one of them except a select five including Sarah and I. "Do you remember how many casualties there were?" I asked Sarah already knowing she did. "125 total 85 injured and 45 losses."she stated and then gazed with affection at something that was lying on the ground,

    "What do you see?" I asked questioningly. "That can't be what I think it is." she murmured as she walked toward a desk in the corner that had been left undiscovered. It was all the way where the back wall used to be and it was upside down its legs standing straight up with what seemed to be a little white index card shoved into a crease between the desk and one of the legs.Sarah approached the desk with a caution of the debris and any wildlife that might be hanging around and wiggled the card out from under the desk. "Come look Magi!" , she yelled as she held out the card laughing as I ran over and took the card from her hand. It was old and stained with rust from the leg it had been stuck in between  , but was still readable and soon I picked out what it was and started laughing.

    "Sarah it's one of your vocabulary cards we were studying in the hallway!" I exclaimed in between my laughter. We continued to laugh until Sarah stopped laughing and asked, "Do you remember how important and detrimental you thought that test was going to be to your life and how you just had to skip it and so you came up with emergency escape plans for a test when the school needed one for an F5 tornado I mean the irony." It was quiet for a second and I answered, "I know and  it's crazy how things can just change in a blink of an eye and the only thing you can do is be prepared for it." We walked to  where the Commons Area used to be which was our most favorite spot within the whole school.  We visited it every year because the vegetation growing there was just absolutely stunning.

  "It's crazy how something so sad can turn into something so beautiful" Sarah expressed as we gazed upon the new and old vegetation that made that place thrive and I replied, " Yep, now let's get going you're mom is cooking dinner tonight and I heard it's going to be good."

By Will Collins

    RING RING! RING RING! The alarm woke The Doctor awoke. He looked at the time. It was 5:00. He had to be at the airport at 6. He rose out of bed and went to fix his breakfast.

“Cereal it is,” he said with a sigh. He glanced at the time again to see that it was 5:30. He scarfed his cereal down and quickly got dressed.

“I’m going to be late,” he thought out loud. He hurried out the door to his car and zoomed to the airport. The Doctor arrived at the airport with 3 minutes left to spare. Still, he jogged to the boarding area and gave the attendant his ticket.

“Thank you sir. We’re about to lift off so you can take any available seat, we don't have many people on board today,” she said with a smile. She obviously thought The Doctor was very handsome.

“Okay, thank you.”

The Doctor was boarding the plane for a very important surgery that he was very nervous about. The Doctor took a seat next to the window. He noticed an older woman struggling to get her bags in the luggage carousal.

“Let me help you with that,” The Doctor said.

“Thank you so very much young man.”

The Doctor sat back down, suddenly feeling sick. All of the sudden, the captain’s voice came on.

“ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF, SO PLEASE FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS AND REMAIN SEATED. THANK YOU.”

The Doctor fastened his seatbelt and gripped the arm rests. He was nervous and, even though he wouldn’t admit it, scared. He hated planes and had been scared of them ever since he was a little child. The Doctor looked out the window. He saw the plane’s wheels lift off the ground and he felt the whole structure shake. He closed his eyes. The plane stopped shaking. When The Doctor looked out the window again, all he saw was water. Rich, blue, beautiful water. They were now over the Atlantic Ocean travelling across the waters to Australia. The Doctor was a little calmer now. The flight attendant passed by and offered him a drink.

“Would you like anything anything to drink sir?”

“No thank you,” The Doctor replied. He had been sweating and he felt very hot. He saw an air vent and reached to turn it towards him. He struggled with it for a minute and as soon as he turned the vent, the pilots lost all control over the plane. The ‘Please Fasten Your Seatbelt’ sign came on and many people were murmuring nervously. The captain again came in over the intercom and told everyone to remain calm. The plane was descending very quickly now and The Doctor closed his eyes again. He heard screams, and gasps. Right when he opened his eyes, the plane broke in half from the descent. He felt his half of the plane hit the ground. He was thrown out by the impact of the plane smashing on the surface of an island. The Doctor blacked out.

    When The Doctor finally awoke, he felt his body throb. He looked around and saw broken trees and scattered fires. He got up slowly. He could see where the plane had slid across the ground. He followed it. When he reached the plane, many people were hurt. Hurriedly, he searched the area. He saw that the other half of the plane was in the water and he saw a person trying to swim back to the shore. He swam out to rescue the guy in the water. He brought back the man who was now unconscious. The Doctor immediately gave the man CPR. The unconscious man coughed up water and started to breathe. The Doctor took a sigh of relief, but that relief was soon gone after he heard a loud explosion. He looked up and saw part of the plane in flames. Luckily, no one was hurt, or at least that what it looked like. Everyone got up and ran over to what was left of the plane. Everyone stood in awe, even The Doctor. Suddenly, everyone started panicking and he heard someone in the crowd say, “What do we do now?” The Doctor looked around and finally, he spoke.

“I'll tell you what we’re going to do,” he paused, “we’re going to get off this island.”

“How are we supposed to do that?”

“We’ll figure that out in a minute. What's important right now is that everyone is okay. I'm a doctor so if anyone needs me I'll be setting up a camp over on the tree line.” He turned around and started to walk off but he heard someone calling for him. It was the man the he had saved from drowning.

“Hey Doc, I just wanted to thank ya for saving me back there,” the man said.

“No problem,” The Doctor replied. He started to walk off again but the man kept talking.

“My name is Russell, but most people just call me Russ.”

“Nice to meet you, Russ. My name is Charlie, but you can call me Doc or Doctor,” The Doctor said in an aggravated tone.

“Okay Doctor. I just wanted to come thank you for saving my life back there. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be alive.” The Doctor walked to the tree line and set up a blanket to make a tent. The sun was going to be setting soon so he knew if he was going to try to contact someone by tonight, he would have to go now. He followed his steps and went back to the other half of the plane. He searched around for half an hour and found nothing. Right when he was fixing to turn back, he saw a radio. He dashed for it and turned it on. Static. He turned the dial to see if he could pick up any signals. He heard voices. The Doctor stopped turning the dial. He held down the PTT button and anxiously asked if anyone was there and if they could hear him. He got no response. He tried again. Someone must have heard him because he got a response. He could barely read what the response said, but he made out, “What's your situation?” He told them about the plane crash and where the plane was headed. He told them that most everyone is okay and that they're on a deserted island.

“Copy that. We’re tracking you right now. Help is on the way.” The Doctor ran back to camp and gathered everyone together. The Doctor told them the whole story. When he was done, everyone was crying tears of joy. Everyone was hugging each other, even if they didn't know each other.

“Get a good night’s sleep. Help is coming in the morning,” The Doctor said proudly. Everyone headed back to their camps. The Doctor fell asleep soon after he got to his tent. He was awoken by gusting winds. He heard the helicopters. He jumped up and ran outside. He looked up to see about five copters flying overhead. Soon everyone was outside and the helicopters landed. The Doctor told everyone to gather their things and get in one of the helicopters. The Doctor turned back to get his own stuff and realized that all his stuff was missing. His tent, his bags, everything. He walked over to find out what happened to his stuff, when he heard the helicopters lift off. The Doctor turned around, confused, to see that all of the helicopters were flying off in the distance. He ran after them, screaming and begging for them to come back. All of the sudden, out of nowhere, he felt what he thought was a metal pipe hit the back of his head. The Doctor fell to the ground, and blacked out.

    RING RING! RING RING! The alarm woke The Doctor awoke. He looked at the time. It was 5:00. He had to be at the airport at 6...

By McKinley Cranford

         Two pennies, three dimes, and a quarter were dropped back into the little girl’s hand. Thank you Mr.Sucho was said by the little girl with a mouth full of ice cream. Next in line was the famous actor Tommy Bunt. He talks to Sucho Wild about the ice cream truck and if he needs to get any more supplies for it. Sucho answers, as always, in his very hateful voice because he would rather still be sheriff than work in an ice cream truck but that was the deal that was made. Oh wait you do not know about the deal do you? This is how it all started for Sucho Wild and how he got to where he is...

          In Chillsburg, Alaska, on June 11^th, 1987 a stranger came into town, and new visitors never come to Chillsburg. It is as if a movie star has come to town because all of the women start cooking and all of the townsmen come to greet them. This stranger just so happened to be a man all by himself who was in his upper twenties. He said that he had looked up the ten most rural towns in the United States and that this was one of them. His name was supposedly Tom Burns and he had planned to start and ice cream truck business in the nearest big city. This was not a big deal because Tom said that he had no family and hardly any friends. Some of the town folk saw this as really suspicious, especially the sheriff. The sheriff’s name was Sucho Wild and he was known as the meanest man in Chillsburg. I mean that would be acceptable if there were a bunch of crooks, but there had not been a crime committed greater than a speeding ticket in fifteen years. All 3,811 residents of Chillsburg were still just as nice as they could be to him.

           All of the people that lived in the town got to know Tom very well.

          For Chillsburg to be such a small town, there were a lot of businesses with customers from all around. This little town was known for its famous jewelry, metal crafting, and homemade pastries. The one thing that Chillsburg did not have was any kind of homemade ice cream. Even though it was in Alaska, it could still get pretty hot and everyone would love some ice cream. So when everyone heard that Tom was going to start an ice cream truck, the whole town rejoiced. The weird thing was though, that no one knew where Tom lived and they did not see him around very much. One day Tom just came rolling through town in his ice cream truck that had in big letters on the side: Do you want some Ice (Cream) for that Burn? Owner- Tom Burns. Mrs. Purch, the owner of the famous jewelry store, got a huge laugh out of it when she saw it. Tom started off just serving the town folk and all of the children. His business was a big hit and his ice cream was extremely good. After a while, he figured out when his busiest time of the day was in Chillsburg and went to the nearby city of Rolline during his non-busy hours.

    Everyone got to where they loved Tom. Everyone except Sucho Wild. Everyday when Tom parked his truck in the park for all of the kids in the neighborhood to get ice cream, Sucho sat on an old black and white bench and just watched. Little did he know that that bench was going to get him in a whole heap of trouble along with some more people!

    One day Sucho was sitting on an old black and white bench when he noticed that the grass around the bench looked to be different than all of the other. He was wondering why it looked so different. Then he put his hands underneath the bench so that he could look under it. That move would change his entire life. The second he put his hands underneath the bench he pressed a button and was flipped into the ground. It was pitch black dark for like five minutes and then when Sucho moved a whole tunnel lit up. He was scared to death, because he had no clue where he was. He slowly walked down the tunnel until he heard voices. They talked for the longest time until one of them noticed that the tunnel was lit up. The two men and woman walked up to Sucho Wild and told him he had ten seconds to explain himself. Sucho launched into this long spill of how he got down there basically because he did not like Tom Burns and that is why he was on the bench.

     After a while, surprisingly enough, the woman, Sucho, and the two men were very good friends. It turned out that they were in this secret underground tunnel because they were wanted criminals. They suspected that Tom Burns was not who he said he was. They thought that he was very rich and trying to hide something. The criminals, along with Sucho, were in for a treat when they tried to mess with Tom. So, during the day Sucho would work and scout out Tom. At night he would plan with the other three how they were going to rob Tom. They decided that they did not need to start with Tom. The four of them decided to start doing small robberies at night from the stores in town.

      So about ten weeks had passed since Tom first came to town and robberies started taking place. Nothing like that had happened in fifteen years and it was like a natural disaster had taken place. The whole town went crazy! Everyone started locking their doors at night and some people took it to an extreme and got dogs. A lot of people were suspicious of Tom because they knew that he could have just came to Chillsburg for burglary. Also to try to trick them all into believing that he was a good person.

     The woman, Sucho, and the two men traded places every night on who did the robberies. First, they started with taking all of the coins out of the fountain. They only did that once a year in Chillsburg and so the people knew something was up. Next, the pharmacy was robbed and some flowers, cards, and candy were stolen. The townsmen got a little worried after this because the sheriff did not seem to be worried at all. So they went and talked to him and he had to start acting like he was actually looking into the robberies. There were also two cops of Chillsburg and they were swooped out on night duty each night. This made it harder for the criminals to do what they wanted to. After a few more store break ins over the course of a few weeks, one night they finally hit the jewelry store in town and raided it very good. They took over nine thousand dollars worth of jewelry. The people of Chillsburg were outraged and scared at the same time. They did not know what to do. They decided that since the cops and sheriff were not doing any good that they would assign a few people each night to stay up, keep watch, and try to figure out who the criminal was. This completely ruined the plan for the robbery of Tom Burns house because meanwhile each night while one of the four were gone the other three were working on finding out where Tom lived.  After weeks of searching they finally found out where he lived. He lived on the very outskirts of Rolline on an old grown up dirt road. The house he lived in was not even marked on any kind of geographic map because it was a top secret house were some famous people used to live.

     The people of Chillsburg were still trying to accuse Tom of all the robberies because they did not know of anyone else that would do it. Except Mrs. Purch, she just so happened to be a retired detective. She kept all of her thoughts to herself and never once thought it was Tom because she could tell that Sucho Wild was jealous of Tom Burns. So she had already figured out that the sheriff was somehow in on all of this. She had recorded every time a break in happened and where they went afterwards. She realized that there were three different entrances to the underground tunnel. So one night she knew the one they would come out of because they alternated every night. So when all four of them came out at the same time she was really confused, but that did not matter she still followed them. She might have been old but she could still move and they were not moving fast anyways because they were trying to sneak around. Mrs. Purch did admit to herself that they were pretty good criminals but they just were not to the level of great yet. She eventually figured out where they were going to because she and Tom had become good friends and Mrs. Purch was the only person that knew where Tom lived at.

      So the robbery happened and they stole a whole bunch of money and fine items. Just when the four criminals thought that they had gotten away with it, they were stopped in there tracks by sweet little Mrs. Purch. They immediately tied her up and taped her mouth shut. She did not try to squirm because she had a brilliant plan in place. They took her straight on back to the underground tunnel and to their surprise, five state officers were waiting for them underground. Mrs. Purch had called in some of her old partners from her workplace. The four criminals immediately knew that they were caught and were baffled at how this little old lady could have caught them.

     The woman and two men were taken off to prison to await their trial and Sucho Wild was sentenced to one year in the Chillsburg jail. After that he was supposed to work the ice cream truck every day for fifteen years. He was no longer sheriff and never again would be. The big shocker to the people of Chillsburg was not that the sheriff had betrayed them but that Tom Burns was actually Tommy Bunt. He was a famous actress from Hollywood and everyone knew about him. They just did not know that he was in Chillsburg, Alaska hiding out. Tommy was tired of the press and paparazzi and so he decided to change his look and get away for a little while.

    When he found out that he had been robbed, he did not react very bad. He was actually very calm about it. He told Sucho that he wanted him to repay him by working in in the Burn ice cream truck for fifteen years without being paid.

    So here we are fifteen years later on Sucho Wild’s last day working in the ice cream truck. The truck closes at seven o’clock and at 6:59 p.m. Sucho dropped two pennies, three dimes, and a quarter back into the now not so little teenage girl’s hand.

“A Better Life”    By: Macey Haley

When a person is alive, their choices can affect many people, yet when they die, their absence continues to change the lives of people around them. Although the death of Katy Digger’s mother was depressing, her absence opened up a whole new world of opportunities for Katy and her father.

          Katy was born and raised in the country of Kweniz which covered the entire southern hemisphere of what was previously Earth. Katy’s mother also grew up in Kweniz, but it was not a place of anarchy and fear before Katy was born, so in hopes that it would someday have peace again, Katy’s mother refused to leave.  Kweniz had turned into a horror story by the time that Katy was 12. She could not even walk down the street without fear of being attacked. Everyone had to watch their back, wherever they went, but one day Katy’s mother let her guard down on the way to the ‘store’ and never took another breath.

          Katy did not know why her mother was taking so long, so Katy went out looking for her, had no luck, and came home only to see a news report about a 39 year old woman named Dina Digger who had been shot and killed in the midst of a fight. Katy fell to the floor crying, she cried for her mother, for her shattered country, and for her dad… who still thought that his wife would be at home when he got off of work.

          There were no phones in Kweniz, so Katy had to wait until her dad got home from work at about 4:55pm to deliver the devastating news.It was 4:53pm, only seven more minutes until her dad would find that he was alone. Now it was 5:00pm, and Katy heard her dad walk through the back door from her room. She could hear that the news had begun. When Katy’s dad saw the segment, he froze. He fell. He cried, but no so loudly that Katy could hear in case she did not know the news.Then he picked himself back up and walked to Katy’s room with tears dripping down his face.

Katy’s father opened the door to her room only to find Katy’s shirt drenched with tears, almost like she had gone swimming and forgot to change. They locked eyes, but it was to much for her father and he fell beside Katy and cried. They cried for minutes. Those minutes turned into hours, and almost days. They were lost without Dina, but they had to make it.

          It had been exactly two lonely months since Dina was gone. Katy’s dad had to get out of Kweniz, he had to leave the horror story. He was tired of being the victim of the story, so one day, he packed up all of their belongings and the two were off to the country of Enezilla. Enezila was the complete opposite of Kweniz, it had a queen who ruled over everything, and there was peace. It was a kind of peace that provided relief and hope. When Katy and her dad settled into a house that they bought, her dad went to the castle to meet with the queen who had requested him. Katy’s dad was the most well known treasure hunter in the entire world, and the Queen had lost something that she desperately needed to be found.

          At the meeting, Katy’s dad, Dan, pertained all of the information to retrieve the Queen’s most prised possession, her coronation crown. If Dan could successfully locate the crown, he would be guaranteed a check that was worth more than the entire country of Kweniz and he could move into the castle with Katy. As the meeting came to an end, Dan was filled with excitement and fear all at the same time. He was excited about the rewards, and scared that if he could not retrieve the crown, that he would have wasted a lot of time that he could have been working a steady job somewhere else. Yet being the adventurer that he was, Dan accepted the challenge.

          The day after he met with the Queen, Dan took his list of locations that the Queen gave him of where she last had the crown, and he was off to work. He traveled almost 100 miles a day, digging as far, wide and deep as his shovel would let him. He was required to report back to the Queen everyday about what he found, where he went ,and how long he was digging. He spent many hours with the Queen and they became the best of friends. One day, when he was with the Queen, she began to ask him about his family, more importantly Katy. Dan was so happy that he still had Katy after what happened with Dina that he blabbered on, and the Queen let him. The Queen liked to be around Dan, and she knew that Katy was loved dearly by her father. The Queen wanted to get to know Katy, so she invited her to the castle while Dan was at work. They spent the day together, getting to know each other, and having fun. They both enjoyed each other's company, so they continue to spend time together, and before anyone knew, it had been three years since Katy and Dan moved.

Over the three years, Dan had searched at 50 of the 55 locations that were left for him. He was so close to finding the treasure that he wanted to take Katy with him for the rest of the hunt so that she could experience and adventure for herself.  The Queen was so used to Katy being around that she was lost without her, so she took time off from being Queen, and she became Ellie the treasure hunter. Ellie and Katy dug for hours, laughing with Dan as they did. They had searched at four of the five remaining locations and started celebrating before they even searched the last place.

It was day 1,125 on the job and hopefully the last for Dan. Dan, Katy, and Ellie left the castle just as the sun began to peek out from the horizon. They drove 75 miles one way to the last location on the list. Dan was confident that the crown was there, so he did not even bother making maps (of where to dig), they just dug. They dug for hours with the hope of finding the lost treasure diminished a little every hour. The sun began to go down just as the last hole was dug. There was no crown. No crown for 1,125 days, and possibly never. Dan began to panic, he tried to figure out why he could not find the crown. He paced back and forth in the dust until Ellie talked herself into explaining it all to Dan.

Ellie took Dan away from Katy and talked. Ellie talked for 45 minutes, explaining that she grew up in the same town and Dan had and how she had been in love with him since they were kids, and that she made up the whole crown treasure hunt just to get to be near him. When she was done, Dan stood there smiling. He had known all along that it was her plan, but he kept digging just to see if there was any treasure to be found. The truth was that Dan had been in love with Ellie when they were young, but he met Dina, got married, Dina died, and now he was in love with Ellie again. They had to tell Katy  what had happened, hoping that she would not hate her dad or Ellie afterwards. Katy smiled too. She had come to love being round Ellie although Ellie was not her mother, nor would she ever be.

          After they all got back to the castle, Dan asked Ellie out on a date. She agreed and the next week they went on their first date, then the second , and before anyone knew what had happened, they were planning a wedding. When Ellie and Dan got married, Katy could not let Ellie be her mother, but she was still family. Katy could never forget the memory of her mother but everything happend for a reason, giving Katy, Dan, and Ellie a happier life.

By Sydney Maddox     4/28/16

         

          The phone rang at Jessie’s office, which was strange because no one ever called her. Everyone usually called the front desk, not some newbie reporter. Whoever it was probably just got the wrong number. She was going to just let it ring but could not shake the feeling she should pick it up. She got up and answered at the final ring. “Hello? This is Jessie. I believe you have the wrong number.” She waited. She heard a voice, loud and in disbelief, “Jessie! I finally found you!” She knew the voice immediately.

                                                   6 months before:

          “I am so happy it is finally summer and no more college!”, Jessie squealed as she was riding over in the small ferry with her mom on the way to the island which her mother worked. “Mom, I cannot wait to spend my summer helping out around the hotel since…”, she trailed off, she still could not even bear to talk about her father leaving her mother all alone to run the hotel. But, they had to move on, and Jessie was here now to help take her mom’s mind off of things and lend a hand.

          After a few weeks of being on the island, and after hours upon hours helping revamp the hotel, Jessie decided to take a break and walk down to the boating docks. After sitting and splashing her feet in the crystal blue water, she heard a motor approaching. All of a sudden, a speedboat spun around with a whole family of people and docked.

“Hello! Welcome to our little island! What brings all of you here?”, she said.

“We heard it was a nice little quaint island off the European coast and we decided

to come relax for a day or two before our boy Wyatt here gets married.”

Jessie and Wyatt’s eyes locked for a moment, maybe longer, then she looked away. She went over to help his grandmother with her bags and could not help but feel his eyes watching her the whole way to the hotel.

That night Jessie went down to dinner she saw in the restaurant windows Wyatt and his family. She walked down to meet them. Wyatt stopped her first.

“Thank you for helping my grandmother with her bags today.”

“Oh, it was no problem. It is my job here on the island to help the guests.”

“You work here?”

“Yeah, I live here too. My mom owns the hotel here and if you want I could show you around sometime.”

“How about now?”

“Oh.. well don’t you need to stay and eat with your family?”

“No, we finished eating a while ago. They are just catching up now.”

Jessie and Wyatt left the restaurant and toured all over the tiny island talking and laughing the whole time. They connected so easily, and she could not help but notice how he smiled the whole time they were together. Jessie had never felt this way before. But wait! What was she thinking!? He was about to be a married man! She had to stop thinking like this, he probably was ready to get home to his fiance and be married. She was the love of his life, not Jessie.

They ended up back at her place hours later. Her mom would be wondering where she was. Jessie said goodbye and turned to go inside when Wyatt grabbed her arm and spun her around. “I have been wanting to tell you something all night. The woman I am getting married to is not even in love with me, nor I with her. It is an arranged marriage between families.But… now that I have met you...I think I finally found love. True love.” Jessie stood there, stunned. She did not know what to think, much less what to say. Could he tell she felt the same way? She said to him what would be the hardest thing she would have to ever say. She said “You should not have told me this. You already have someone back home. This was a mistake. You should go.” She went inside, shut the door, and sank to the ground. She wish she could have told him how she truly felt, but what is the point if she already knew they could never be together? She spent the whole night tossing and turning and wondered what she could have said differently.

The next morning she watched from her window Wyatt and his family leave on their small boat. Her heart hurt. It tugged her down to the docks but her brain knew better than that and kept her away.

A month later she still could not get Wyatt, the boy she barely knew, out of her head. She decided she needed a way to get him off her mind. She had always had plans to become a reporter at a big news station on the mainland, but put that on hold to help her mom. Now that she had gotten her mom back on her feet, there was nothing stopping her. She said goodbye to her mother, hopped on the ferry, and rode to Europe.Not long before she was there, she found a job as a reporter at a local news station. It was no big news station, but she could always work her way up.

Jessie had been there a few months before it happened. She was just sitting in her office one day, when out of nowhere, the phone rang. Who would be calling her? She was not well known enough to be getting calls at work. Everyone usually just called the front. She guessed they just had the wrong number. She could nit help but wonder who was on the other end though, so she got up to answer. The last person she would ever dream of was on the other end. “Jessie?”, she heard a desperate but familiar voice say.

“Wyatt… is this..?”

          “Yep. It’s me. I have missed you so much.”

          “Wyatt! You can’t say that! You are married! Plus you never even called after you left. I figured you had forgotten about me by now.”

          “Actually, I never got married, and no, not a day goes by I don’t think about what we could have been.”

          “Then why did you decide to call now? Why not let me know or come find me before now?”

          “Well when we got back, I knew I could not marry someone other than you. Plus it didn’t feel right to marry someone I didn’t love and I could not put someone else through a marriage they were not even wanting to be in either. So, I told her how I was feeling and she completely agreed. That part was easy. The hard part was getting our families to accept the fact the seemingly ‘perfect couple’ they had put together were never really in love. Once we got them to understand, I came straight back to find you on the island, but you weren’t there. I went to the hotel to ask your mother where you were, and she said you had left just three days before. She told me you had come to Europe to find a job, but had not heard exactly where yet so I came here and have been searching for you ever since. And now I have finally found you.”

          “Oh, Wyatt. I have tried to forget about you, but I simply cannot. I for sure thought I would never see you again, so I have tried to distract myself the past few months to get you off my mind. This job was even a distraction, which has hardly worked. I cannot express how happy I am over the phone! Come see me!”

          “I am on the way now. I have missed you, Jessie.”

By Miranda Pearson

   Voices are a somewhat strange concept. They occupy the room, filling the empty void. They terminate the silence, filling our ears with laughter and stories. It can be with a gleeful tone, or one filled with malice. Our voices have always been used to communicate. Generations upon generations have passed down lessons and stories to teach the future people in their footsteps. They've given us their wisdom and advice to live by so we can have an even better life than they had. However we don't always absorb what they tell us. We do this especially with our elders because we believe they don't have any clue of what we're going through. If only I had listened to the advice mine granted me.

       The stereotypical ‘First Day of School’ scene by preschoolers are normally a sight to see. Automatically you picture a crying kid, blue in the face from screaming, attached to a mother’s pants leg trying to get out of going to school. I however was one of the exceptions. My mother always said, “One minute I was putting her bookbag on her shoulders, the next I was yelling ‘Ashton!’ because she ran inside without even telling me bye.” They told me I was moving too fast. They said I would miss it. I, on the other hand, was just focused on getting out of there as soon as possible. The teachers who taught us, the ones who had gone through even more school than us at this point, said that high school goes by in the blink of an eye. At the time it was going slower than a turtle walking through peanut butter mixed with molasses, but looking back everyone who told us we needed to slow down and cherish the moment was right. I was dying to finish high school. The independency of college was calling me, it just couldn't come fast enough.

       Eventually the time came for caps and gowns. Then our senior pictures. Finally it was graduation day, but this was far from the end goal. Now I had a diploma engraved to Ashton Danielle Whinely, and years of college ahead of me. Finishing high school was a mental milestone though, so I wasn't too disappointed at the time by the eight or more years I needed under my belt to be a doctor. That's so ironic now, me being a doctor. But now that I was focused on getting my degree, my milestone of finishing high school didn't matter anymore. That felt like child's play considering how much I had left to complete. I was taking a full day of courses all week during the fall, interning at night, and taking extra semesters in the summer to finish faster. What I {unfortunately} wasn't focused on was the actual journey, instead of the end result. I missed out on my brother’s wedding because I had a final the next week. Going to the movies or to parties were out of the question. I was so completely zoned in on finishing, I blocked out every other aspect in my life. But to what cost? In my teenage years I pictured college with my friends and having the time of my life, but in reality it was me racing against the clock. It seems the clock will always win too, no matter what.

        In present day, the clocks still winning sadly. My time is ticking out and I don't have long left to make up for lost time. I threw my life away chasing a job and adulthood. Little did I know back then that I'd spend most of my adulthood wasting away in a hospital, withering from the chemo treatments. Now I'm trying to advise young people to slow down. Growing up I never listened to my elders and it was the worst mistake I possibly could have made. First I was dying to finish high school, then I was dying to finish college and medical school, then I was dying to finish my residency and become a licensed doctor, and now I'm just plain out dying from my cancer. Slow down and smell the roses kids, I'd you don't you'll waste your life away.

       

“Surveillance”

By Porter Wimberly

I was in the hospital for about a month with a broken bone. A broken bone. They will keep for anything. For example, if you walked in with a headache, they would probably keep you for about a week. This hospital is crazy. I can’t wait to get out of here and that day will come in about 24 hours.

          I awoke to the monstrosity of nothing. No nurse shoes slapping the ground as they ran from room to room to check on the patients that “desperately needed help” and not one stench from the cafeteria that produced nothing but leftovers made into “edible” meals. It was actually nice knowing that I wouldn’t have to eat that today. Then after the sweet daydreams of me eating lasagna that was real I thought, “Where is everyone? This place is nothing but a sweatshop for the employees and I wake up to nothing? Something is wrong.”

          I got out of bed and when my feet hit that cold, tile floor, shivers were sent up my back. That happens every time. I walked over to the “closet” to get my robe so I wouldn’t freeze to death in this Antarctic-like room they put me in. All of the cold air flowed down to my side of the building but I guess it is better than being hot all the time. I walked to the door and looked out of the peep window. No lights and no people. “Where in the world is everyone?” I thought. I walked out to the middle of the commons area and saw no one. I ran back to my room to get my shoes. I laced them up and ran back out into the open, empty, lit-only-by-exit-signs commons area. I got to the door, tried the handle and you’ll never believe the result. Locked. I tried every door and they were all locked. Something is really wrong.

          I walked back to the commons area to see I could find a crowbar or something to pry open the doors. While looking for the crowbar, I came across the surveillance videos and happened to look up at Camera 2. Nothing. I looked over to Camera 4 and nothing again but when I looked over to Camera 7, I fell apart. I saw a dark figure that looked six foot and eight inches with something in his hand. As I got closer to the screen I figured out that is was a machete. He was walking like a snail which made him even creepier. He disappeared and then showed up on Camera 6 the Camera 5 and so on down the number line. I then looked up at Camera 1 where he was going to be next and saw myself and was confused. I then realized that he was coming right for me. I could hear his boots squeak on the floor. I started to run. I ran on to the hall of where I stayed for a month but didn’t run into my room. I ran into Room 207. I laid down underneath the bed and started feeling dizzy. All I remembered was that cold floor and that I had no pillow to rest my head upon.

          I woke up and it was still dark inside and outside the building. I was still in Room 207, still under the bed, still in my robe, and still frightened for my life. I was hungry and thought “Man oh man I wish I had food.” So, I ran down to the cafeteria and on my way crossed the surveillance cameras and scanned over them. No sign of Mr. Dark Figure. I kept running down the hall and finally reached the cafeteria. I looked through the peep window just to make sure that there were no unidentified figures in the room. It was safe. I walked in and sprinted back into the preparation room and found bread and jelly mixed with peanut butter. I haven’t had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since I was like eight. I fixed about twenty of them (because in a hospital the administrators make the cooks keep the food supplies stacked), put them on a cart, and started back to my original room.

I made it back to my room, sat down on the bed, and ate about two and a half sandwiches. The reason I stopped eating my third one is because I heard some kind of laughter and remembered no one was in the building except me. I ran to the closet and got in the secret compartment that I built for my comics and books (I had a lot of them so it was a pretty big area). I heard my door squeak open. The closet doors swung open so hard that I thought they would come off their hinges. Whatever was looking around didn’t see where I was and left the closet. Then I heard my cart crash. Dang it, it got to my sandwiches. It then left my room and did the same to the room next door. I got out of my compartment, picked my cart off of the ground, and staked my sandwiched back upon the top of the cart. After stacking the sandwiches, I had the great idea to put the them into the closet so I could hide my stash. I put them in the closet, closed the doors and when I did they made the loudest creaking noise I ever heard. I got scared and went to the door so I could run to the cafeteria and when I went outside the door, it was standing on the other side of the hall, looking straight at me with its bleeding red eyes. I panicked and ran to the commons area to look at the surveillance cameras. I saw Camera 9 (which was in the cafeteria) and saw the same dark figure I saw the first night alone in the building. “There is two of them?” I thought. The next moment would be terrifying. I was grabbed from behind and knocked over the head with something heavy and my vision went black.

I woke up in a room that was completely black. There was no difference in shades of black when I had my eyes closed or open. I tried to move my arms but they were strapped down and so were my legs. I tried to move with all my might and energy but it had no use. Then a door creaked open and I saw a glimpse of light and then it was gone. I heard a voice but couldn’t understand it. Next, a bunch of surveillance cameras streaming screens lit up and there were nothing but empty hallways on the windows. The voice spoke again and I understood it this time. It said “Hello. I came to turn on these surveillance camera screens so that you can see who will be coming to take the memories that you’ve had while being here away from you so no one will find out about us here at this hospital.”

          “But I don’t wanna forget! I wanna -” I said

          “Shut up kid. It has already been decided for you.” It said and then it left.

          I watched the screens waiting for the creature that would take my memories away. I watched for what seemed like three hours until a doctor, covered in blood showed up on Camera 9. He was walking really fast, almost running. He then showed up on Camera 8 then 7 then 6 and so on down the number line. I was shown on Camera 1. He made it to Camera 2 in five minutes and came into my room. I couldn’t see the doctor. He said “I am here to review your memories and take what is necessary.”

          “But, but -” I tried to say but it was too late. There was a flash and everything went black again. I then woke up outside of the hospital and I was saying “Come in for a nice, bright, beautiful visit at the Surveillance County Hospital!” And I meant it.

“Never Forget”
By Connor Floyd

          When I was young my dad told me stories when I was sick to pass the time. I always forgot the stories after a few hours because I had terrible memory when I was little so he could tell them every day and I would always be interested. His most famous story was called Treasure Hunters and I loved to hear every time. He always told it like this Bullets were flying everywhere soldiers laying on the ground not sure  who was alive and who was dead too scared to move while, others sat in the trenches still fighting the other side. Rixton sat there scared out of his mind his hands were shaking, his head was full a thoughts, and he was in a daze just thinking about how he killed someone. He was only a private in the American army at the time but he felt like a hero just being as to have survived this long in this battle. He sat next to Steven who looked like he just went through a fight with a bull and didn’t win.

Steven looked at Rixton and said “Steven if I’m to die today Rixton will you look after my little brother Jack he needs a role model like you.”Rixton was surprised at the offer how could he refuse Steven was like a brother to him and that meant Jack was too and he couldn’t abandon Jack.

Rixton looked at him and said “Of course I will Steve I will treat Jack like brother I will protect him with my life.” Steve nodded at Rixton with a grin.

The battle was starting to turn in the American’s favor so Steven picked his head up over the trench to shoot his rifle but as soon as he did he fell backwards from a bullet hitting him in his eye. It took Rixton a few minutes to comprehend what just happen but those few minutes seemed like hours. He ran over to Steven and knelt behind him trying to wake him up but it it wouldn’t work he was died instantly from the bullet. Rixton knew what he had to do now.

Five weeks after the battle Jack landed New Delhi he finally got to meet Rixton. They didn’t talk much at first but they soon got to become great friends. After a few weeks Rixton finally told Jack what happened to his brother and promised him that he will be his legal guardian. Jack accepted it and life went on as normal. Jack loved archeology and myths and went to a college and got a bachelor’s degree in archaeology.

Eight years after he got his degree Rixton got a letter saying that Jack was on the verge of discovering something amazing in Madurai. So Rixton packed his bags up and headed to the ruins in Madurai to see Jack. It took him three days to get there. Rixton searches the ruins for Jack for at least two hours. At last he finds Jack sitting on top of a giant statue eating a turkey sandwich.

            Rixton looks at him angrily “I’ve been looking for you all day and you have just been sitting here eating lunch or whatever come on Jack it’s been years since I have seen you.’

            Jack jumps down from the statue and says “Sorry Rixton I was just hinking of how I was going to tell you something.”

            Rixton relaxed and goes “It’s ok however you tell me you’re like a brother to me just like you’re real brother was.”

            Jack pops up with excitement “Ok then well I think I found a super-secret treasure and now bandits want the map I have oh yeah I found the map to it too and the Indian Secret Service is after me too because they want the treasure to fund their government but it belongs in a museum catch all that.”

            Rixton nodded so they got in his car and followed the map to the destination. While they were in New Delhi Jack told Rixton to stop at this small little building. Jack walked in and came out with a small British girl. Jack explained that this was his friend’s cousin and how she was a doctor and that if they got shot she could help.

            Rixton looked at her with a little suspicion and said, “Hey my name is Rixton.”

            She looked at him and said “Oh I know Mr.Rixton I have heard about your archeologic adventures in Egypt with the Americans my name is Amy.”

            Rixton blushed and nodded and so the grueling road trip across India started again. Soon Rixton couldn’t take it anymore he had to move his legs. So he stopped the car at a local farmers market and went to look around with Jack and Amy. All of a sudden the strangest of men came up to them he wore a button up shirt with jeans and his teeth were crooked.

            He spoke very funny English “Hella my name is Hardwell but everyone calls me Buuck Tooth I love going on adventures see plus I am good addition I know kung fu.”

            “That’s great but are party is full right now” Rixton said.

            As soon as he said that Hardwell started kicking wildly doing a karate combo if you can even call it that. Hardwell knocked over some chickens in their pins and this old store keeper just went into a frenzy and, saying some Indian words to Hardwell that my dad said he couldn’t translate to a six year old. Rixton got in between the old man and Hardwell offered to help clean up the mess. The old man looked pleased and so for thirty minutes Rixton picked up chickens.

          Once he was done “Hardwell you better be glad I saved your butt and to keep you out of trouble you’re coming with us”, said Rixton.

          Hardwell’s eyes lit up he gave Rixton a hug and said, “Oh thank you Mister I want let you down.”

          Rixton nodded and they got back in the car and drove as Jack gave instructions. About halfway they stopped at a weapons store. All of them went in except Amy who claimed to be a pacifist. When they came out Rixton had a shotgun, a rifle, and two pistols. Jack took two desert eagles and Hardwell well he got a sword.

          After a few hours a black car started following them. Rixton noticed it and started taking different roads to lose them but, it wouldn’t work. The black car kept rear-ending them so Jack took out one of his desert eagles and shot the front right tire making their car flip and crash into a tree.

          “Indian secret service is catching up we need to hurry”, Jack said.

          Rixton nodded and sped up. When they finally arrived at the cave they got ready and started their hike down into the cave. Along the way Rixton noticed footprints. After a five mile downward hike through cobwebs and bats they reached the treasure but bandits were already there. So they pulled out their guns and Amy ducked. As soon as they were all in position they fired at the bandits. One out of twenty bandits survived the assault and Rixton chased him down borrowing Hardwell’s sword. As soon as he caught up to the bandit the bandit tried to kill him. The fought doing backswings, uppercuts, and hand chops each time the missed until Rixton stabbed him in the heart. Rixton met the group back at the treasure and helped them load it up outside. It took twelve hours but they did it. Once jack locked it all up Hardwell stands up.

          “My fellow comrades thank you for your service to the Indian secret service”, said Hardwell.

          He pulled a gun on them and signaled them to get on their knees. Amy tried to run but he shot her. Jack started to cry as he saw Amy fall. Hardwell walks up to Jack and shoots him in cold blood.

          “I shot them him because I wanted you to know the pain of losing a brother like I did in that battle you were in and this pain will slowly kill you inside”, said Hardwell

          Hardwell took the treasure and was never seen again some say the Indian secret service killed him because they wanted no witnesses or that he just moved because of Rixton. Rixton died inside that day he no lingered smiled he just went from place to place looking fo the people in that operation. He never forgot how he failed Steven and he also never forgot Jack like I never forgot my father when he lost his battle to cancer.

  

         

“The Game” By C.J. Rich

3-2. I had been practicing all summer for this. Now was the time that we played against the great and almighty Yankees.  Chris, sitting next to me in the dugout with the rest of us tired and playing our best, was the pitcher. Chris and I had the greatest chemistry and friendship on the team being that it was a pitcher and catcher kind of thing and now was our chance to strike out the last three outs to give us the win of our lives. Bottom of the ninth. Chris stepped up to the pitcher’s mound sweat dripping down his face. The last time I had seen him this sweaty was when he was taking his learners and the last question depended on if he failed or not so I gave him the pitch he was most comfortable with. The splitter. Chris caved the ball around with his leather mass making sure his technique was unnoticeable and gave me the nod. I positioned my glove where I wanted it and sure enough right on the money,

“Strike” the umpire shouted.

I saw the success of this pitch so I called the same pitch. I gave Chris the signal and sure enough he came through. Strike two. Maybe one more time I thought they can’t hit it. Sure enough we heard the umpire say “Strike three you are out”

One out! Two to go! We all shouted the game seemed to be going our way until once again I called the splitter and as if he knew it was coming he hit a double. Man on two. The very next play Chris threw a nasty curve and just like that it was nothing single play. The man on second didn’t advance due to the shortstop catching so that caused Man on two and one. Chris and I made eye contact and we were both thinking a double play would end this and get us the win. I signaled for a change-up this time to maybe get a ground ball. Chris concealed the ball once again from all eyes and threw another beauty with all that had but once again it was batted off with what seemed no effort. Single play. Bases were loaded. I decided a new strategy for this hitter. I decided to throw him a fastball to start out his count. The pressure on Chris was crazy at this point he was pouring sweat so I gave him the middle of the box to aim at. Chris threw a heater but threw it out the box to the far right. Luckily he got a swing out of it. Chris looked at me confused because he didn’t know how that had happened  he thought maybe it was the sweat. I gave him once again the signal for the fastball and positioned it the same as last time. He gripped the ball lifted his arm back and heaved the ball! This time again it was coming far to the right but foul ball. I looked at Chris and he seemed to be sweating more. Chris was now grabbing his chest which I figured would be racing just like mine but I had to ignore it and play ball. This pitch  I looked at Chris and gave him a special signal. The signal was what we did when we played yard ball when we were younger. It was to throw heat at the batter and then the very last pitch throw something slow with direction on it like a slow curve. I signaled this pitch and looked up at the batter realizing who it was. It was Hank the best hitter on their team. I looked at Chris. He didn’t notice which was good but he  looked surprisingly more comfortable as if thinking about something else. He grabbed his chest gritted his teeth and threw a slow nasty curve. It was hit to the shortstop and we thought we were done for until it tuned into a double play! We all ran to Chris but when we got there he was laying on the ground hand to his chest. It was just too much for his heart to handle.

  

By Macy Moe

          “It’s about time you showed up for practice, Maverick.”  Coach John yelled at me as I walked to the track. I just rolled my eyes and started to stretch. I was tired of everyone being on my case about everything.  My parents, coaches, and friends had nonstop been pressuring me to run faster, be smarter, and do 100 things at once. I could not do it anymore. The only time I felt safe, at homed, and loved was when I was with her. She was so beautiful. When I was with her, Alana, I was always happy and carefree. She made me forget time and all the problems in my life, but I was at the track so I had to deal with running. State was only two short weeks away and pressure was building so fast for me to beat the school record time for the mile. Four long laps with just me and the clock racing. I could barely stand to think about the amount of disappointment that I would cause if I failed. For now, I had to get through practice so I could go be with my sweet escape, Alana.

          The next week was a complete daze. My parents had probably yelled at me at least 20 times about making my time goal. It was all about time to them. Making  the time, beating the time, and being on time. It was all I heard from them. The night that they yelled at me the least, I got to go out with Alana. We did not go to some fancy dinner or movies. We just sat at her house and talked about what was going on in our lives. These times together were the best of all and I cherished every second of them. On this night I got to see the side of Alana that I loved the most. We just laughed and she would tell me why she fell for me. Alana was smart enough to not bring up running whole we were together. She knew how much I was struggling in this time, and she knew that I did not want to be reminded of all the stress. We did not speak of state that was now only one week away.

          The next at practice as I walked to the track I was informed that today we would be running a  time trial of our event to see where we stand. My instructions were to run the one mile on the track as hard as I could. Coach wanted to see improvements, but I was not sure if he was going to get much of that out of me. Before I ran, I had a moment with myself. My thoughts consumed me about this intense race. Did I really love running? If I did not then why was I wasting my time doing something I hate? I came to the conclusion that I hate all the pressure, but pressure comes with victory. Just get through the pressure, get through the race, and get through the time. The trial run was over before I knew it, and of course it was not good enough. I was never good enough. I was not surprised that I did not please coach because I usually do not. You know that coach yelled at me and I just told him “yes sir” and the I will do better stuff. He asked me if I would be ready for state. I wanted to give him a yes, but I doubted myself. As I left practice, I became more confused, tired and skeptical about if I could be the time.

          It soon hit me that race day was only three days away. I was still at school and for some reason I could not stop looking at my watch. I was so ready to leave school and practice to do something. Then, at 4:03pm I saw my reason. Alana. She just snuck out to practice, but did not approach me. She just sat quietly in the bleachers by the track and watched me. I respected her so much for not coming up to me and letting me focus on running, but she was mistaken because nothing could take my mind off her. We hung out after practice just eating and oddly, she brought up my race. She asked me if I was going to be okay and of course I told her yes, but one thing she said caught my attention the most. With her bright eyes staring right into me she asked me what would happen if I do not make the time. I acted like she was crazy for thinking so negative. With fake confidence I told her I would make it, but it was vary fake of an answer. That night in my bed I thought about her question. What if I did not make it? Who would I disappoint? With my mind in a clutter, I slowly feel asleep.

          Waking up on race day, I always felt sick. Today was no different. The nerves have been extremely kicked in. The track my race was held at was filled with runners, coaches, and fans. The only person I cared about being there was Alana, and she came just in time for my race. I caught a glimpse of her shiny blonde hair and stepped on the track where disappointment or victory would be mine. Lined  up.  The gun was shot as my heart pressed against my chest and we were off. All I worked for was for right now. Every practice, cramp, and ice bath was for right here and right now. My hearty was my timer. I was racing the clock that was competition. My plan was to win, but I hoped my body did not have a different plan. I heard my coach and fans cheering me on to keep going, but I never heard Alana. Suddenly, my competition took the lead. My heart all at once had a tight feeling that I could not explain. Before I knew it, I felt my body hit the hard and hot track. When this was happening, I was at the last stretch. Fifty meters to go with an expected time of 4:03. But that was the clock time, and my heart had a different time on the clock for me. The time my clock had just might have ran out. I was rushed to the hospital. The doctors said it was overworking the heart, but I said it was overthinking the time. So maybe I did not win by the clock time, but my heart said time was up. I had to follow my heart which was filled with Alana. So now I could be with her forever. Watching over her from heaven where my worry of time had ran out.