Category: Winter 2015

CHAPTER ONE: the truth

April 23, 2014

Mom is still in the hospital, Aunt Cathy took my notebook away and told me to keep my journal entries in here, on this laptop. she said if i have them on paper, they could be burnt and could disappear forever, but i’m pretty sure the same thing could happen on here, just a click of a button and everything is gone. but whatever makes her happy. she’s been really grumpy lately about taking care of me since Mom is in the hospital, it’s a bummer really, Mom’s been in the hospital for three months now, her cancer isn’t going away, or getting worse, either so thats good i guess. Aunt Cathy is calling me down for dinner, better not make her wait…..

– Desiree

I turned off the computer, watching the screen turn black.

“Desiree! Dinner is ready!” Aunt Cathy yelled from downstairs. I rolled my eye.

“Coming!!” I yelled back, slowly walking down the wooden stairs, the white carpet covering them felt soft under my bare feet. I stopped halfway down, staring at a picture of mom and Aunt Cathy when they were six, hugging each other in front of a crashing wave at the beach. Mom wore a small pink ruffled one-piece bathing suit, Aunt Cathy had the same one on in green. Mom had always been more of the tomboy of the two, Cathy always loved pink, fancy drinks, and clothes.

I sighed.

I began walking down the stairs again, turning down the hall and emerged into the kitchen. Cathy was sitting at the round black wooden table eating cooked salmon and carrots and rice.

I sat in the chair across from her.

The same dish was placed in front of me by Jess, Aunt Cathy’s stay-at-home maid. She had long curly brown hair with piercing blue eyes and freckles covering her nose. She smiled at me and laid a napkin on my lap. I nodded my thanks and picked up a scoop of rice with my fork and swallowed it.

“So, Desiree, how are you dear? You’ve been upstairs most of the time, clicking away at that computer, you know I’d rather you type your entries instead of write them, but-”

She took a big bite of salmon and chewed, holding up a finger, then swallowed and continued. “But, you also have to get a social life darling,” she said. I frowned.

I took another bite of my salmon. “Are you going to say anything?” she asked, a little annoyed. I shrugged.

“See? This is what I mean darling!” she said a little louder this time. She began a speech about how having a social life is important and how she wants to introduce me to some young girls my age. I ignored her, staring at my plate.

“My gosh child, speak!” she yelled this time, which got my attention. I looked up. she was glaring at me, her eyes filled with annoyance.

“I want to see my mom,” I whispered.

She stared at me, shocked. I was shocked too. I can’t believe that just came out of my mouth. I was never allowed to see her, the doctors wouldn’t allow it. Until four weeks ago, when he offered a chance to see her, I refused, afraid of what I would see after not seeing her for two months. But I guess i had enough of my Aunt Cathy, I guess I needed to get away from her, to see my mom, to be comforted with the sight of my mother. I felt like a lost puppy searching for its mother.

Aunt Cathy dropped her fork. She looked at her lap and wiped her hands on her napkin awkwardly.

“Umm..” she said, not looking up.

I noticed that Jess had stopped washing the dishes like she was frozen.

“What?” I asked a little worried but mostly angry. She has been wanting me to talk and now that I have, they give me nothing?!

“What!?” I asked again.

Aunt Cathy finally looked up as Jess came over and put a hand on my shoulder. She stared at me, I ignored her and looked at Cathy. She took a deep breath and let it out.

“Your mother, darling,” she said very softly, “she’s in a coma.” She winced as she said it, like someone was going to hit her for using that word.

My jaw dropped when I heard this. I felt tears welling up inside me, and Jess hugged me.

“I should’ve told you sooner, but i didn’t want to hurt you,” she whispered.

“How long?” I asked in a trance.

“What?”

“How long has she been in a coma?” I asked more clearly this time looking at her directly.

“Two weeks.”

“What?!” I stood up from my seat, the chair falling over.

“Oh!” cried Jess, stepping back from my sudden burst of anger.

“You kept this from me for two weeks?” I yelled, anger engulfing me in a cloud of rage. “How could you do this?!”

Aunt Cathy stood up. “I’m sorry bu-”

“No!” I yelled, my voice scratchy. I stopped, and turned away from her. I loosened my fists. “I still want to see her, we go tomorrow,” I said walking up the stairs. Before I started walking up, she said, “If that’s what makes you happy.”

I sighed, and ran up the stairs.

*         *          *          *          *

April 24, 2014

Aunt Cathy lied to me. i asked her last night if i could see mom, she told me she was in a coma. i have never felt this angry and sad before. i dont know what came over me, i yelled at her and Jess, now i regret it. i told them that we’re going to see my mom today, i’m not sure if i want to now though.

we are going to go see her at 12:00 right now it’s 11:43 so we’re going to leave soon.

i wonder what she’ll look like. what if she looks different? will she even look like herself? i dont know. guess that’s what life’s about. to discover things on your own.

— Desiree

I climbed into the car. Cathy was driving. Jess wanted to stay home, so it was just me and my aunt.

We drove for fifteen minutes. We passed a field of grass, in the distance I could see black and white cows and brown bulls grazing in the field. I rolled down the window to smell the countryside air. The smell of manure usually irritates Aunt Cathy, but today, she stayed silent and just kept driving.

We drove for ten more minutes until we drove back into another city. We drove up to a big white brick building. Many windows covered the building and in bright red lights, letters on the front read: “Nature’s Hospital.”

We parked in the parking lot and got out of the car.

The air in the building was very cold and stale, it smelled of plastic and medicine. People in white robes ran around with clipboards. I stayed close to Aunt Cathy as she checked us in to see Mom. A nurse wearing a purple shirt and pants came up to me. She too had a clipboard.

“Hi Desiree, follow me, and I’ll take you to your mom,” She said with a sympathetic smile. I followed her down a series of hallways, Aunt Cathy following close behind.

Coughing was all I heard. That and footsteps running around on the white tile floor. It was so shiny I could see my reflection.

She lead us to a door with a small window and a paper taped to it. I didn’t get to see what was on it before the nurse opened the door to let me in. Cathy stayed out with the nurse to talk about something with the door closed.

Now it was just me and my mom.

She was laying in a bed with rails on the side to keep her in. She had clear, wire-like things coming from her nose. Something was attached to her finger, with a wire attached to a big machine on the right side of her bed. It had a screen with a green line going up and down, beeping.

The heart monitor.

I forced my eyes to settle on my mom. She looked the same for the most part, just skinnier and a little more pale. She was dressed in a rough looking sheet-like dress. Her hair was pulled up in a bun. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing. She just looked like she was sleeping.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I sat next to her on a stool. I grabbed her hand, the one without the weird thing on it and grasped it tightly. A single tear rolled down my cheek.

After ten minutes, I couldn’t stand looking at her any more. I stood up, wiped my tears away, and opened the door. Aunt Cathy was standing right outside, waiting for her turn to see her sister. I let her in and closed the doors, leaving my aunt to see my mother.

CHAPTER TWO: Anne

April 28, 2014

it’s been four days since i saw Mom. i’ve decided i don’t like hospitals, at all. i haven’t really been socializing at all lately, even less than usual.

Aunt Cathy said she was going to introduce me to a girl my age. she didn’t tell me anything else really. she’s coming at two. which is nowish.

– Desiree

I heard a knock on the door. I walked down the stairs, stopped on the second to last step to see out the door.

Jess opened the door. At the angle I was watching at, I couldn’t see anything, so I didn’t know what she looked like. “Oh hello!” Jess said.

Jess turned and saw me. She motioned with her hand to come. I slowly took the last step down and walked to the door.

What I saw was not what I expected.

A girl, my age: thirteen. She had golden blonde hair and sharp green eyes. She had rosy cheeks and small purple glasses. she was wearing a purple ruffled shirt that matched her glasses and jeans. The only odd thing out about this girl, was that she was in a wheelchair.  A big wheelchair with handles on the back to push it around. Behind the chair was an aid. She was short and plump with a bandana and a thick sweatshirt.

“Desiree, this is Anne.” Jess said.

I smiled and gave a little wave. She smiled back. She had a big goofy smile with white teeth.

“Lunch is in an hour. I’ll call you when its ready.”

The aid left and so did Jess. They headed to the kitchen to cook.

“Hi!” Anne said happily. She acted as if she didn’t even notice that she was sitting in a wheelchair, forced to sit and stay put.

I smiled again.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” I gestured to the wheelchair.

“I was in a car crash,” she said. “I broke both my legs so badly they had to cut both off in order for me to survive. They replaced them with fake ones.”

“Wow,” I said, not sure what to say exactly.

“Yah, but please don’t treat me differently, I like to feel like a normal child, not a child that has no legs. Please.”

“Alright.”

Anne stayed for the rest of the day. She ate lunch and dinner with us. She was quite enjoyable to have around. She was happy and funny. I have never been one to make friends very easily, I’ve always been so shy around new people. But Anne was different. I felt like I could tell her anything, I knew I could trust her. I told her about mom and how I felt about living with my aunt. I even showed her my journal, the one on the computer since i still can’t find the original.

When she left I was so tired I could barely see where I was walking. Aunt Cathy helped me up the stairs and tucked me in.

That night I had a dream of Anne. I witnessed the car crash in my mind. I dreamt about my mother too. I woke in the middle of the night crying. I stared at the ceiling, tears falling down my cheeks. It was two before I finally fell asleep again.

CHAPTER THREE: journal entries

April 29, 2014

anne came over again today. we went in the backyard. we had a picnic on the grass. i had to help her out of the wheelchair with Aunt Cathy’s help. we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with tomatoes. we made lemonade from the lemons on our neighbor’s tree. i had to climb the fence in my backyard and reach over to grab them. it was really fun.

i also raced her on the street.she won. it was very sad. we also got ice cream. i wanted to punch the ice cream guy in the face. he looked at Anne like she was an ugly alien that came from another planet.

– Desiree

April 30, 2014

today i did nothing.

-Desiree

May 1, 2014

Anne went to a bakery and brought back a chocolate cake. it was really good. i feel like Anne is becoming my best friend now. i’ve never had a best friends before. so this is something new. i enjoy it.

-Desiree

May 4, 2014

I haven’t seen Anne for three days. i know it’s not much but i miss her.

– desiree

may 8, 2014

Anne called, she said she couldn’t make the picnic we planned today. now i’m getting a little worried.

-desiree

may 13, 2014

i went to see my mom again. she was getting better. at least that’s what the doctor said. but she still hasn’t woke up.

-desiree

CHAPTER FOUR: Why

I woke up to the sun shining in my eyes. I turned on my side, groaning. I heard some shuffling in the hallway. I kicked off the covers and slowly made my way out of bed.

I opened my door.

No one was out there, but Aunt Cathy’s door was opened a crack and I could hear muffled voices.

I tiptoed across the hall, resting my head near the door to hear what she was saying.

“I’m sorry. That is just so unfortunate…yes…my grandmother, and my sister…no…of  course…I’ll break the news to Desiree when she wakes up…all right…bye now.”

She hung up and I could hear her standing up. I tensed up as she opened the door. She gasped when she saw me. I could tell she was close to tears, I was too.

Whatever she was going to tell me, it had to be bad.

“Oh, Desiree. Come here, come here,” she said motioning me into the room.

We sat on the bed.

I stared at her, she stared at her lap. “Um, Anne’s mother called with some…news…” she said quietly. I moved closer. “The reason why Anne hasn’t come over, is that, um, she-”

“She what, Aunt Cathy?”

“Anne has been diagnosed with cancer. She is in the hospital right now, it’s really bad, Desiree, it’s not likely that she will survive.”

I stood there shocked. Sadness clouded my vision as tears started to fall. i curled up in Aunt Cathy’s lap, crying like a baby that tripped over his own feet. Aunt Cathy tried to comfort me. It didn’t work.

*          *          *          *          *          *

The next day, I was too sad to write in my journal, so I asked Jess for some chocolate ice cream and watched Spongebob (which I never do) the whole day. I cried and sighed, and watched and ate and slept and did nothing.

I sat on the couch, chewing on some licorice and covered in a soft pink fluffy blanket.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. “Jess!” I yelled.

Jess hurried over and opened the door. She let in a tall woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She looked like Anne’s mother, which she was. She came over to me on the couch while Jess closed the door. She hugged me, I hugged her back and we cried. I barely knew this woman, but I felt like I had known her for years.

She pulled away and looked in my eyes. Sadness. That’s all I could see in her eyes.

“Desiree.” she whispered.

“Yes?”

“She’s gone.”

I started crying again. Anne had died. She was gone. I would never see her again…

CHAPTER FIVE: A MIRACLE AND A FUNERAL

Two days later, I was dressed in black. I wore a short loose black dress with black flats. My hair was braided down my chest.

We were driving in the car to the funeral. Her funeral.

We entered a parking lot of a church. It was Anne’s favorite place for picnic in the field in front of the church under a big cherry blossom tree.

Aunt Cathy, Jess, Anne’s aid, and Jill, Anne’s mom, and I were walking across the field to the big group of people surrounding Anne’s body.

When we reached it, I went straight to her. I leaned on the small stool and looked in. She was dressed and beautiful pink dress. Her hair was curled and her eyes were painted with eyeshadow. She would’ve hated that.

I held her hand and stayed there for a few second before standing up again and walking away.

*          *           *         *            *

I stood up at the podium. I stared down at my paper I had written.

“Anne was the best and only friend I have ever had. I don’t know who to react to her death. I was a wreck when she got cancer, but I enjoyed every second of my time with her…”

Two minutes later, I was done with my speech, and two hours later, we were heading to the car.

Aunt Cathy’s phone buzzed. she stopped and pulled it out of her pocket. Putting it up to her ear she said, “Hello…what!?” she asked excitedly. I moved closer to her, eager to find out what she had heard.

“This is wonderful! Thank you! We’ll be there as soon as possible!” She hung up and smiled. A big aggressive smile. “What?” I asked gloomily.

She hugged me. “She woke up. Desiree, your mother is alive.”

“What!?” I screamed and hugged Aunt Cathy tighter. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” I smiled so hard it hurt.

We jumped in the car, and Jess drove us to Mom’s hospital.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

The hospital room was just as it was before. But it was different this time. The woman laying in the bed was now awake. She looked really tired, yet her eyes looked excited. When she saw us come in, she sat up in her bed.

I rushed over to her and gave her the biggest hug. She kissed my head and stroked my hair.

“It’s a miracle,” I said to her.

“You’re a miracle,” she whispered. “I love you darling,” she said.

Donnie was surrounded by thousands of bodies, all moving toward the exit of the subway station. He was also blind. With only noise around him, the world black was black, unfeeling and unseeing.

Bang! Bang! Were those…gun shots?

“Help me! Please, someone get me out of here!”

He pleaded with the crowd from his post on a bench, waiting for his mom. But no one was listening; everyone was preoccupied with their own safety.

Suddenly, he felt something cold by his temple. He reached up to feel it. The cold, sleek metal, round, sometimes thin, was attached to a hand. It was a gun. Pointed at him. “Did’ya not hear me? I said put your hands up!”

But Donnie was lost in a trance.

Bang! He pulled the trigger. Donnie fell to the ground.

So today I posted a video on facebook that I was going to do something that most people would regret, but I would never think about regretting it. Last month I got my gun license; then I got a 44 magnum. I walked to the subway station after I posted the video.  I wore a big coat to hide my gun; I had previously loaded the gun at my apartment. If you want to know why I am doing this, it is because I am a nobody. No one cares about me. So I am doing this particular thing because I want to be known in the world. I want people to know my name.

I took out my gun that weighed 2 pounds and shot.

:One, two, this is almost over, come on Frank you can do this,” I thought.  

I saw this man asking for help stumbling around like he was blind. I went up to him and held the gun to his temple. I was afraid. I said hands up, but he didn’t do anything so I said,

“ Did you not hear me? I said hands up!”

Again nothing. So I shot him right in the head. I have heard on the news that most people that do this shoot themselves. And they become pretty famous so, I shot myself, with pride, and some dignity.

Chapter 1

After Jim won his tenth major tennis tournament, he was so happy that his family rented a black shiny limo for him. When it pulled up, everyone got in. It was only a 40-minute drive into the rural side of New York. They poured him a glass of sparkling water and they were there. Everyone stayed in the limo except him.

He went inside to change and put his trophy away when he saw all his others were missing. He hollered to his family to come out. They came as fast as they could. Even their driver. And they all asked what was wrong. The only word Jim said was “Look.” So they did. They were all gone. The nine other grand trophies he won– gone. Nothing left. Not one. Zero. He just couldn’t speak. Gone, all gone.

They went to his favorite Italian restaurant and he got pasta and red sauce, but it didn’t change a thing. After they went home, they slept for 12 hours: 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. When he woke up, he went into the security room to see what had gone wrong. He asked the security guard Tom to pull the video from two nights ago. He saw the thief. And from under his gloves a note fell out.

So Jim went downstairs and picked up the note, and he read it. It said, “I’ll be back.”

Chapter 2

Jim was frightened picking up the note, so he had to get traps to catch the robber… falling cages, laser beams, maybe some trap doors. He got them and put them in the house. It was a little messy. Only some of the floor, wall and ceiling had broken apart, so he got a ladder to put the cages up just about four feet away from the trophy case, and with laser beams zigzagging across from each other. Then he put in the trap doors with a boiling pot of hot water underneath. That night he was happy to go to bed, because in the morning, hopefully, he would be calling 9-1-1 to pick up the robber.

When Jim’s sister went downstairs to get a glass of water, she didn’t know the traps were there so she walked right under the cage, and it fell right on top of her! And then the alarm went off. Jim sprinted downstairs only to see that it was his sister, not a robber.

“Why is there a cage on top of me?” his sister asked.

“Because I was trying to catch the robber,” Jim said.

He picked up the rope and pulled it so the cage came up off her.

“I’m very sorry about the traps,” said Jim.

“Well, you should be sorry. You know you have a photo shoot with the ten trophies on Thursday. If they show up and you don’t have them, they will probably be mad at you and not even reschedule,” said his sister.

“I forgot about that! That’s only four days away!”

“Well, you better get them back,” said his sister.

Jim started to sweat. He looked very nervous.

Chapter 3

Jim knew he had better get the trophies back before Thursday or he was going to have to tell them the truth.

His next plan was risky. He was going to have to spend some time in the security room to find out some things about the crook.

“Tom, pull up the same video I asked you about last time,” said Jim. “I need to find out where the crook came into the house.”

“Here,” said Tom.

“This is the right video,” said Jim.

“I think he came… no, I’m positive he came into the house through the front door,” said Tom.

“Thanks,” said Jim.

Jim hollered to his wife downstairs. “You are not going to see me tonight,” he said.

“Where are you going to be?” asked his wife.

“Outside,” he said.

“Okay,” said his wife.

Four hours later, it was eight o’clock and Jim had just woken up from a nap in his car, spying on the criminal to see if he went into the house.

Jim saw a man carrying a black bag from his house to a car.

“The robber!” Jim said to himself. Jim got out of his car and ran after him. “The thief! The thief!” he yelled.

“What?” said The Man With The Black Bag.

“Why are you carrying that bag?” asked Jim.

“I am taking out the trash,” said The Man.

“Why are you coming from my house?”

“Because I was wondering if I could get some money for taking out your trash.”

“Oh, well, I’m very sorry,” said Jim.

Jim went inside and told his wife because she was still awake. “I couldn’t find the crook this time,” said Jim, “but I’m not giving up.”

“Just remember, you only have three more days until the photo shoot.”

Chapter 4

The next morning Jim went down the stairs to get breakfast. On the bottom of the orange juice was a note that said, “Meet me in the mall by the fountain at 10 o’clock.” So he had a quick breakfast and got dressed and then left for the mall.

When he got there he saw a man in a black hat and black coat by the fountain. He walked over and asked, “What do you want for my trophies?”

“I want thousands of dollars,” said The Man.

“Like how much exactly?” said Jim.

“Forty thousand,” said The Man.

“Okay.”

“Money first,” said The Man, “and then I’ll give you the trophies in my car. There’s an ATM over there. You can get the $40,000, and then I’ll lead you to my car.”

So Jim went over and got out 40,000 dollars.

“Here’s the 40,000. Now my trophies,” said Jim.

The Man led Jim to his car and opened it. But then suddenly he jumped in and closed the door and locked it, trapping Jim outside. He sped away until he got to a red light, but sped through it anyway. Gladly, there was a cop there to stop him. That gave Jim some time to get in his car. He got in and drove to the same block where The Man With The Black Hat was.

The Man sped away with Jim right behind him. They both went across someone’s lawn  and made tire tracks in the grass. The Man With The Black Hat got onto the 10 Freeway with Jim still right behind him. They were going 92 miles per hour. Luckily there wasn’t another police officer there to stop them. Jim had to get off at the fifth exit they passed because he was low on gas. So he went home much slower.

Now Jim had only two days until the photo shoot.

Chapter 5

When Jim walked outside he remembered the note that said, ‘I’ll be back.’ He thought the robber would be back tonight to get the last trophy. He decided to take the day off from trying to catch the robber. What Jim didn’t realize was that the robber was already in his house! When Jim walked inside, Tom asked him, “What are your plans for today?”

“I might go to the lake,” said Jim.

“That sounds nice,” Tom said. “I’m gonna stay around and just make sure the robber’s not gonna come today.”

“I’m gonna get ready,” said Jim.

Jim got ready by putting on his blue swim trunks and a lot of sunscreen. Then he walked downstairs and passed by the empty security room. He went down and got in his car, but then he forgot his towels so he got back out.

When he got back inside the house Jim heard footsteps going up the stairs, so he followed them. What Jim saw when he got to the top of the stairs made him gasp. There was Tom stealing his newest silver trophy out of the case and putting it inside a black duffle bag.

Jim got out his phone and snapped a picture of Tom standing with the trophy. Tom heard the snap of the picture and spun around. He saw Jim.

“Why do you have my trophy?” asked Jim.

“You don’t deserve it,” said Tom.

“What do you mean I don’t deserve it? I worked hard for those trophies!”

“I work even harder than you! I’m your security guard and I guard everything you have, but you don’t pay me enough!”

“How much money do you want?” said Jim.

“All of it!” said Tom. “I want to be a very rich man, and I don’t want to work!”

“Well, you’re not going to have to work in jail,” Jim said. Suddenly, Jim dialed 9-1-1 and told the police that they had to come over quick.

When the police came over Jim showed them the picture and the police took Tom away to jail. He was fired, of course, but not before Tom told Jim where he hid the other trophies. He hid them in the biggest cabinet in the upstairs security room.

The next day, Jim waited for hours for the photographers to come and do the shoot. Finally, at the end of the day, they called and said they had to cancel.

THE END

Prologue

The sandstorm whipped the man’s eyes from beneath his cowl. His cloak fluttered behind him as he trudged on through the desert. His dark blue cloak stood out in the vast pale wasteland. As he climbed up a sand dune, he noticed a small settlement off in the distance. He then slowly made his way towards the town. As he approached the first group of buildings, he noticed that there were large oak and cedar trees nearby. In the desert, seeing trees was a sign that you were nearing the edge of the desert. Right before he entered the town, he muttered very silently three words. As he spoke the air seemed to shimmer around him. When he was done, the air shimmered whenever he moved. He then walked in.

His first priority was to find an inn or tavern to get something to eat and drink. The man saw a large circular building near the edge of the settlement. He also noticed that there was a large flowing river not far behind the inn. It was strange to see so much water in such a dry place, but it didn’t matter to the man in the blue cloak.

When he opened the inn’s door, the thick musky smell of beer and ale wafted towards him. As he made his way inside, he looked at all the men and women seated around tables. Most were yelling or banging their tankards together, while others were just talking to each other. He made his way to the back of the bar (near the exit) so he could see the whole inn. Once he was seated, the bartender, a bald man of medium height and tan skin, came up up to him and said, “Welcome to the Dune Sea, what would ya’ like?”

“Water please,” the blue cloaked man replied. As the bartender poured water into a clay mug, the blue cloaked man stared at the entrance to the inn.

“Here ya’ go,” the bartender said as he placed the mug down in front of the blue cloaked man.

“Thanks,” the cloaked man replied as he picked up the mug and drank. The cold water was much more refreshing than the muddy water that he had been drinking for the last 2 weeks.

“The name’s Clay. What are ya’ doing in the desert?” the bartender asked.

“Nothing much, just traveling,” the blue cloaked man replied. The bartender laughed and said, “Likely story, but if you were traveling through the desert, you’d need a reason to travel.”

The cloaked man smiled and said, “Let’s just say that I needed to do a little digging and clear something up.”

Clay grinned and replied, ”I like ya’ kid, so what might your name be?”

“It’s not always wise to give your name to someone you just met,” the blue cloaked man stated. Clay laughed and walked away to help another customer. As the man sipped his mug he saw the inn’s door creak open as someone walked in. The man was tall and had long sandy hair. He carried a sword at his hip and wore light leather trousers. He wore a gold colored tunic with long sleeves that each had a slash of red on them. But his most distinguishing feature was his blood red cloak. The blue cloaked man placed his mug down along with two copper coins and walked slowly towards the back door. As he walked out the back door, the blue cloaked man smiled because even though he was almost caught, anyone who saw him today would forget that they ever talked, or saw him in the town.

Chapter 1 Mysteries and Preparation

“Come on, what do you want?” Abby asked while she threw up her hands.

“It’s just my birthday, nothing special about that!” Arya replied as she walked ahead of the group.

“But you’re the the crown princess of all Ayraleseia and you’re turning 18 in two days!” Julia replied.

“It’s not a big deal!” Arya said as she threw up her hands, exasperated. Arya Orthora was a tall slender girl, with golden blonde hair with the edges hinted with red that fell to the middle of her back in waves. She walked with such grace and beauty that people tended to watch when she moved. But she could be quick witted and determined if she needed or wanted to. Turning 18 in Ayraleseia was a big deal because now you could start your own family. But Arya didn’t see what was the point in making this huge celebration for her birthday, if she didn’t want it to happen. Her two ladies in waiting were Julia and Abby Corran. Julia had curly blonde hair slightly past her shoulders. Abby had straight fox fur red colored hair down to her shoulders. But other than that they both had the same energetic and happy personality. Their brother Andras was less energetic than his sisters and was a good scribe who was trying to get into the Society of Scholars.

“You have to want something!” Abby said.

“I want you two to stop asking about it!” Arya exclaimed. Suddenly the girls stopped talking and stood staring at something ahead of them. Arya  looked up and saw her older brother. Arthur Othora was the perfect image of a prince. He had the same hair color as his sister and they were both tall, but that’s where the similarities ended. He was well-muscled from warrior training. He had a brilliant smile that made girls flock around him in minutes. He was also extremely cocky and always played the part of the perfect prince. Both Abby and Julia were madly in love with him. As he turned his head and saw his sister he broke into a grin. He rested his practice sword on his shoulder and walked over to them. As he approached, Abby and Julia batted both of their eyelashes and smiled at him as they said in unison, “Hello, Prince Arthur.”

“Hello Abby, hello Julia. You’re both looking as beautiful as ever,” Arthur said while grinning.

Both Abby and Julia clapped their hands over their mouths and started giggling. Taylor rolled her eyes at her friends’ silly behavior.

“So what does my little sister want for her birthday?” Arthur asked.

“I don’t know, why does everyone keep asking!” Ayra exclaimed.

“Everyone keeps asking because you’re turning 18!” replied her brother. Arya moaned and started walking away from her brother and her friends. “ But what do you really want Arya?” someone said from the stairs to the courtyard. Arya turned and saw her father walking down the steps towards them.

“Your Highness,” Abby and Julia said while bowing.

“Dad!” Arya exclaimed running as fast as her dress would let her. Her father laughed and picked her up swinging her around and then putting her back down. “Dad, how is everything,” Arya asked, impatient to know when he got back from a meeting at Hafcsein.

“Everything is alright, just some minor dispute that I had to deal with,” the king said. “But enough about me, what have you been doing young lady?” the king asked. King Daedulan Orthora was a good, just man who had ruled for 20 years and had not been mistrusted once. He was a loving man who cared very much for his children.

“You know, reading, running, studying with tutors, running,” Arya replied to her father.

“That’s very good, now if you’ll excuse me I need to have a chat with your brother,” the king replied.

“Ok see you tonight,” Arya said glad to see that her father was back.

“Hey Arya, Abby and I are going to go find Andras because we need to ask him some questions, so see you later.” Julia said as the headed off. Arya sighed and was going to go to her room when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see that lord Tyran Searsan was there smiling. “ Why hello Arya how are you doing today?” Tyran asked. Lord Tyran Searsan was a boy of average height with short black hair and sharp green eyes. His father owned a large estate near the palace and was one of the king’s most loyal advisers and was also a well-known warrior.

“Hello Tyran, I’m doing well thank you,” Arya said. Tyran flirted with many girls, but he flirted with Arya the most. Ayra thought he was nice, but he could be annoying and he treated peasants horribly. Arya thought he was a good person, she would never want to be in the same house as him.

“Well what does the gorgeous princess of Ayraleseia want for her 18th birthday?” He asked with a mischievous grin on his face.

Arya sighed and said, “I really don’t care about my stupid birthday right now because if everyone makes a big deal about it, it feels more like they just want an excuse to go to a party.”

“How about you and I go for a walk and discuss this somewhere more peaceful,” he asked.

Arya considered saying no, but then she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Why not.” Tyran smiled and held out his hand and she took it. They both walked towards the gardens so they could have somewhere peaceful to converse. In the gardens, Tyran told her how he had helped his father with the taxing of people of the estate. He also told her about how he had defeated three opponents in the arena two days ago. Arya thought this was boring, but it at least helped get her mind off things. But then he told her something that caught her off guard.

“So did you hear about the attack in the Ducardaan desert?” he asked.

She frowned. “I didn’t know this. What happened?”

In the town of Bassnovia, everyone lived in fear. The town’s workshops and markets were abandoned and everyone stayed inside. Horses were kept in barns with pigs and chickens. Citizens only went out to refill their water jugs or feed the animals. The sky was gray and cloudy; the sun was always hidden by the clouds. No stars shined at night, and the moon only gave off a dim glow. No one danced in the center of town around the giant fountain. It just loomed up twenty feet into the air, only occasionally, drops of black water dripping down and splashing into the very shallow pool in the bottom.

  Now you’re probably wondering why everyone lives in fear. Well, the truth is, no one knows. For as long as the Citizens have lived in Bassnovia, they have been afraid. It might have something to do with the big creepy forest on the edge of the town. A little too close to the huts than the people would like.

    Now there was one young boy named Emanuel Wots who wasn’t scared like the rest of the people. He was a thirteen-year-old boy with wavy black hair and freckles. He wasn’t a very well built boy, with skinny arms and legs. In fact, most of the boys and girls in Bassnovia were scrawny like him.

    He was not so scared of the forest or of the gloomy sky. In fact, sometimes he even played in the black water of the fountain. His mother was very frightened for the boy, not knowing what would happen if he decided to go into the woods.

    And one day he did. He told his mother he was going, then packed some food and water and paper and pencils to make maps. His mother was very sad and scared for Emanuel, but she knew there was no way to stop him.

    So that day, Emanuel trotted into the forest, head held high, marching into the hellish place of the pine forest. It began to grow darker the deeper he went, the branches weaving together, making a dome over his head. He walked deeper yet. When it got too dark to see, he lit the lamp he had packed last minute and continued walking.

    Suddenly, the quiet forest began to come alive. He heard groaning sounds coming from deep in the forest. He stopped. The noise had stopped. So he kept on walking, but as soon as his feet started moving, it came back. The groaning was louder now, accompanied by a screeching yowl erupting from deep within the forest.

    Emanuel’s heart began to beat against his chest. He was starting to get worried. What if he made the wrong decision?

    He kept on walking. This time, the voices didn’t stop. He began to walk a little faster. Suddenly, something tripped him. He landed on his stomach on the dirty leaves. A hissing noise filled his ears. He looked into the shadows, slanted eyes glowing red glowed from the bushes. Emanuel began to tremble.

    A twisted claw with thick dark red blood dripping down from its gnarly  tips emerged from the leaves. Emanuel froze.

      An arm attached to the claws appeared. It was black and twisted, covered in scrapes, and then its body came, big and bulky with a slash down its chest, its yellow flesh visible from the cut. Blood oozed out of the wound, dripping down its chest. It had big crooked spikes sticking out of its spine. Its gaping jaw stretched into a cave filled with millions of sharp and jagged yellowed teeth. Its beady blood-red eyes were filled with murder. An eerie glow shined on its slimy gross skin.

   Emanuel was too scared to move. The town’s people were right about this freaky place. It was a nightmare.

   The creature advanced toward Emanuel. Emanuel stayed frozen. It came so close, the boy could feel its hot stinky breath on his neck. It smelled of death.

    It came even closer, bringing out his long snake-like tongue and licked the boy’s dirty face.

     Emanuel screamed: a piercing noise in the quiet forest.

The creature yowled in the boy’s face, lunging at him with his jaws open. It snapped his neck, blood gushing out of Emanuel’s neck.The creature dragged the boy into the forest.

     And no one ever dared to go into the forest again……..

THE END

3:44 p.m. Friday, June 12, 2015

If you have read my previous journal that I proudly finished, you would know that a lot of queer things have happened to me. I probably shouldn’t use queer; it might sound strange because I am queer… I think strange is better. Yes, very, very unfortunate things. My name is Sinclair Foote, and I am more distinguished than most people. Of course, that’s a euphemism. It’s pretty evident that I’m better than everyone.

So, I just came back from Paris two weeks ago. I actually had a great time. The only flaw is that the people are all European, so they think peeing on the streets and letting their babies go naked is fine.

I think the best restaurant I went to was this place called Le Cinq at the George Cinq Hotel. The meal cost $1,055 – the most expensive and exquisite dinner I have ever had and paid for. It was completely and utterly worth it.

The help began with some wonderful warm French Bread – though I think the waiters tried too hard. They were far too nice and positive. For my appetizer I had a perfectly seared Foie Gras roasted with pistils of flower, pear, and petals of sweet and sour radish. It was $70 and almost as good as mine. For my second course I had Coquilles St. Jacques. The sauce wasn’t thick enough. For my entree, I had pithiviers of Grouse, Duck Mallard and Young Partridge with chestnut honey, autumn fruits, and squeezed juice with armagnac. I was a bit of a grouse myself after the meal because it was a little greasy. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m a more exquisite cook than the whole staff put together.

When I went to a market, there were sections for all the nations’ foods. In the Japanese section, there was ramen and a freezer for the terribly put-together sushi. In the Indian section, there were bags of dried curry that looked like they would give a person a day and night’s worth of diarrhea.

Finally, I reached the American section and was curious to see what they thought of us Americans. I walked down the aisle, hearing every creak my feet made. People rushed past me with their carts as I stood frozen, staring in horror at the rows of vile pleasure before me – Oreos, peanut butter, cake mix, candy cereal with the midget leprechaun, potato chips with so much salt it’s very likely they came from the Dead Sea, and Hersheys – the most vulgar chocolate ever made. If a Hershey kiss kissed me, I’d lock myself in a closet with Tom Cruise. The list goes on. SO many unhealthy foods!

This was the most insulting incident I had ever encountered! America has so many great restaurants, like that restaurant Providence in L.A. It has four Michelin stars! Although, when I had their smoked trout, I had to send it back because it was a little too fishy. I only went back there once, but they no longer have the foie gras ravioli, because those imbecilic Sacramentans outlawed it! Everybody from Sacramento is an idiot!

But let’s get back to the point. America has some of the most delicious food, not on the planet, though. But it’s definitely better than Hungary! No wonder they go hungry all the time!

My new life goal is to replace the vile filth in the American section of that French market with high-quality cuisine that better represents my country and home that I’m probably going to move away from.

Then I realized that I said all of that out loud and I was very embarrassed. At least no one was in that aisle, because it’s the American section and no one would be caught dead there.

I walked out of the store so enraged. What I thought at that very frustrating, confusing moment was: I cannot believe this! This is terrible! Only the disgusting, greasy-haired, wannabees that eat only at Tito’s Tacos eat those disgraceful foods!

So I have decided that after seeing so much awful American food, I will stop this from happening!

I will get a flight back to Paris in three weeks. I don’t think I will ever be able to stomach American food again.

5:14 a.m. Saturday, June 13, 2015

I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I really think I have insomnia because I’ve been waking up a lot at night, and it’s been very hard to sleep, and let me tell you, when I can’t fall asleep, I wake up with very dark rings under my eyes and dark rings do not help my complexion at all. I also think I have OCD, because when I see something that isn’t perfect, I feel the need to fix it. And I am pretty sure I have a cyclothymic disorder because I haven’t been interested that much in my daily shows. Well, Seth MacFarlane has gone downhill after that horrible “A Million Ways to Die in the West” thing he calls a movie. I mean, Neil Patrick Harris makes Adam Sandler look good.

Anyway, last week I went to the doctor because I thought I had diabetes, and Dr. Bowmann said, “You have been coming to me at least twice a month saying that you think you have a certain disease or virus. I either think you have hypochondria or you have a crush on me.”

He chuckled. I made the most insulting disgusted face I could make. And after that brief, annoying sentence he said that I had hypochondria. He explained the meaning and I realized that I did have it.

He said I should see a therapist and gave me this supposedly “great” therapist’s number and address.

After that, I went home and had my daily macchiato and chocolate chip cookies that I found at Whole Foods. They’re gluten-free and I KNOW gluten-free is really terrible, but these are just the best cookies I’ve ever had. They melt in your mouth and they’re so crunchy. But I’ve only started eating them since Mindy and Danny broke up on The Mindy Project. It left me looking like an addict who hasn’t had a smoke in a week.

For the past three months, I’ve gone on a gluten-free diet because I’m worried that I will get Celiac’s Disease. No matter what, I will always be against gluten-free foods. I think it is the stupidest thing I have ever encountered. Whenever you try to make something that is gluten-free, it ends up tasting like what the inside of a pelican’s mouth looks like.

After my macchiato, I called the number of the therapist. The person who answered had a weird accent that I disliked very strongly.

He said, “Howdy, friend. What’cha needin’?”

I asked him if he was a therapist, trying hard not to seem disgusted.

He said, “Reckon’ I am! Jeremiah Alabaster Mackelroy is the name, but you can just call me Dr. J.A. Mackelory.”

I sighed, frustrated, and replied, “Okay, well, when can I come in?”

He said I could come tomorrow. He doesn’t have many clients, so I could come in at 9:30.

I did not expect anything good to come out of this.

9:27 a.m. Sunday, June 14, 2015

I waited in the waiting room of the so called “therapist’s” office, sitting on the disgusting cracked leather couch. The only magazines there were architecture magazines, which had the ugliest architecture I had ever seen. The architects were physically unable to design. I could make more than $100,000,000 being an architect and I would be so exquisite that I would get so many jobs and I would have to turn down at least 10 jobs a week. The only other magazine there was some kind of Texas vogue magazine, but the clothes were awful! There was a cheap polyester plaid crop top that said “howdy.” I was stunned. It was just like that time when I saw three fourth graders at the mall and the ugly, curly-haired, short girl said to the other two girls, “The first person to touch my hand is my best friend!” and they started chasing her!

Anyway, Dr. J.A. Mackelroy called me in. When I first walked into the room, I knew this was a big mistake. He was overweight and sort of bald, wearing a cowboy hat. Everything he was wearing was denim. He was wearing one of those out-of-fashion cowboy ties. It was classic cowboy. I would rather watch Adam Sandler in Jack and Jill with Arinna Grande than go to this therapy session. When I walked into the room it reeked of incense. I really don’t see how that could be soothing for a patient. I actually almost stepped out of the room. I would have done anything for death to come and take me away. There wasn’t a single thing in that hellhole he called a room that didn’t symbolize Texas. He definitely does not work the Texas style. I know if I were in his repugnant shoes I would work it like there was no tomorrow, I would be like Alexa Chung. But I’m obviously more stylish than her.

He said, “Please, sit.”

I took one look at the chair which was cowskin dyed magenta and thought, Ew. I sighed and said in a very tight voice, “Yeah, I would prefer to stand.”

He looked very annoyed and replied in a voice like he was trying to sound nice but not succeeding, “Please sit in the darn chair, I would not like to repeat myself.”

So I did – probably looking uncomfortable.

Then he said, “So, yous’ got hypochondria.”

And I didn’t say anything, but I really wanted to ask him how he didn’t drown in his own filth.

You probably have figured out by now that I am grossed out by most fast foods. Well, I think I am going to sue Dr. J.A. Mackelroy for what he did then. He took an In-N-Out burger from… I don’t even know where! Then he took out animal-style fries and started eating them with his hands. I started to gag, and not that small little gag that you have in your head, that huge one that is very noticeable. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice my gags. Then he asked how high do I think my self esteem is, and that’s where I drew the line. I got up, brushed off the part of my body that touched the chair, put on hand sanitizer, and left – scarred for life.

7:09 a.m. Monday, June 15, 2015

I was on the phone for exactly 46 minutes with this guy that had a robot voice. He kept on saying, “Thank you, and if you have any other problems, please call us.” And I was yelling at him, “No! I have a problem right now! Can you talk to me now, you stupid emotionless cyborg!”

He repeated the idiotic line again. I told him – or it – “This is not good customer service. I will write terrible things about you on Yelp!”

This went on for 35 more minutes.

I finally booked the flight tickets, first class, to Paris. I refuse to sit in economy class; I would rather watch a two-hour block of “How I Met Your Mother.” But first class is still pretty disgusting. The cookies they give you at the end are just TOO soft and gooey. The gluten-free cookies are the good cookies, because they’re crunchy yet they melt in your mouth. God I love those cookies… *Ahem* Umm… Uhh… I mean, the chocolate chips are usually a bit stale. Anyway, I am leaving in two days.

6:07 a.m. Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Today is the day that i go to Paris. I had my daily macchiato and gluten free cookie(s). I had packed my various clothing, mostly by Michael Kors. After that I ordered my driver, Topvik, to pick me up, because I refuse to take a taxi. Taxis are supposed to cause half of the type of common colds that occur in Silverlake.

I only got to watch one episode of Family Guy. It was the one where Peter finds out Lois is Jewish and starts talking with a very guttural voice. At about a quarter to seven, my driver, Topvik, picked me up.

When we arrived at the airport, it wasn’t very crowded for some reason. As I checked in, I thought I saw Conway Twitty, but I don’t know for sure. God, I hate his facial expressions when he sings, and that hair? Yeesh!

I arrived in first class. The in-air help gave me a hot towel and served me some Moet & Chandon. It was flat. The person sitting closest to me was the same guy I thought was Conway Twitty.

I turned to my side and asked him, “Are you Conway Twitty?”

He looked very insulted and replied, “Conway Twitty has been dead 20 years, and that is the most insulting thing that I’ve heard since I got a nose job.” He had a thick deep New York accent.

I sniffed in a very condescending way and looked down my nose at him. I turned away, raising my eyebrow. I mean, his hair wasn’t that magnificent.

* * *

After six hours, they served dinner. I ordered just a caesar salad with some more Moet & Chandon. The only other options they had were shrimp cocktails, a lamb shwarma with pasta that looked disgusting – even on the menu- and some other kind of fish that looked like it would give me E. coli poisoning.

Every hour I walked down the aisles because I read in a beauty magazine that if you just sit in one seat for one hour that it will paralyze your butt, and I don’t need that stress hanging over me.

We arrived around 2:30 p.m. and I saw some of the other idiots that were in first class walking very stiffly, so I’m glad that I walked down the aisles.

6:04 a.m. Thursday, June 18, The Apartment

I arrived at my apartment around 4:00 p.m.. I never get jet lagged, because the amount of water pills and macchiatos that I drink doesn’t let jet lag affect me.

I got dressed in all Michael Kors clothes. I went to the same market where I was so offended three weeks ago. I stopped outside the front doors and realized… this is one of the biggest moments of my life. This is my legacy. This is what Paris will remember me for.

This is it.

I walked determinedly into the store, heel-toe heel-toe, with purpose. I asked the little butler that was chopping prosciutto if I could talk to the manager, in French. He said, “Umm… Uhh… Sure. You can see him. Do you have a problem?”

“Yes I do have a problem, but I don’t wish to talk about it with a little butler who chops prosciutto.”

“Oui, oui, desoleil.” Then he took me to the manager.

The manager said, “What do you need?”

He was wearing small Harry Potter-like glasses that were far too tiny for his huge fat head. He was also bald, which made his complexion look worse because there was just so much of it without hair to cover it up. I demanded he replace the American section in the market because it was highly offensive to my kind.

He just plainly responded: “No.”

I asked again, more firmly. And he said again, “No.”

I finally said back to him, “You disgusting vile fat pasty-faced swine!”

He just said, “No,” again.

I said, very confused, “Well, then can I buy everything in that section?”

And then he said, “Yes.” He gave me the price. It was $1,055. Ironically, it was the exact same amount of money as the Les Cinq dinner.

“I’ll… take it,” I hesitantly agree.

I paid for the 450 pounds of food, called Topvik and told him, “Bring your largest car.”

I succeeded. I had done it. It was very expensive, but I’m rich, so who cares? I spared Paris from the vile stereotyped American food.

* * *

Topvik walked into my hotel room later that night to tell me that I had left my Michael Kors clutch in the car. But he stopped, stunned, and stared at me. I was just chewing on some raw Toll House cookie dough underneath the covers of the bed…

I guess I betrayed my gluten-free diet. God bless America.

THE END

Chapter 1

Vlad hated seeing the army. He hated knowing that when they came to his town, something bad was always going to happen. He also hated that every time the army came to town, they were coming for him. He sighed and stood up from his perch atop an old oak tree. He hurried down the tree’s trunk and ran back home to get some things before he left for a few weeks. As he got home he noticed that his parents weren’t home at the moment. If they were home, they might have asked where I was going and I don’t have that much time, he thought. He grabbed his knapsack, a sheepskin jacket, his cloak, a saxe knife, and his magic lantern. He quickly ran into the kitchen to pick up a few loaves of bread and some beef jerky. He then ran outside and turned around the corner just to bump into his best friend Blurr.

“Hey there, Vlad. Why are you in such a hurry?” Blurr asked while pulling Vlad up from where he fell.

“Just going hunting out in the forest,” Vlad replied evenly.

“Looks like you overpacked for this trip, but who am I to stop you,” Blurr said.

Vlad nodded his head and started running up the alley towards the forest when a man came out of a shop and almost bumped into Vlad. Vlad stumbled while trying to stop himself from running into the man.

“You all right, laddy? You almost took quite the fall trying to stop yourself,” the man replied while steadying Vlad so he wouldn’t fall again.

“I’m all right. Thank you for helping me out,” Vlad replied while dusting off his clothes.

“Think nothing of it, me’ boy,” the man said.

Vlad looked up and saw a thick beard covering the man’s face and a large smile that lit up his face.

“Thank you sir, but I must be on my way now. Goodbye!” Vlad yelled as he ran towards the forest.

“Goodbye, lad! I’ll see you soon,” the man yelled as he waved.

As Vlad entered the forest he brought out his lamp and snapped his fingers. Instantly the lamp lit up as fire appeared inside of it. Vlad smiled. Being a pyromancer was very nice, especially when you could do things like this. Vlad quickly made his way towards the heart of the forest, where he hoped to find an area where he could set up camp. As he ducked underneath a tree branch, he saw a large hole under a tree’s roots and he crawled inside, careful not to loosen the dirt underneath the roots for fear of the tree coming loose and falling on him. He hung his lamp and sat hunched in the back of the hole. He then slowly drifted off to sleep but was woken by the sound of many feet marching at the same time. Vlad lifted himself out of the hole and quickly ran in the opposite direction of the sound. As he ran, Vlad kept thinking about his next move. Would he orchestrate an assassination? Or would he steal some precious object?

Vlad then thought of a good idea of how he could deceive the kingdom and assassinate one of the most revered men in all of Throga’ul. Vlad, lost in his train of thought, didn’t notice the fallen tree ahead of him, and as he was about to turn, his foot hit the tree and he fell into a heap. Next time I should look where I’m going, Vlad thought. Vlad stood up and as he was about to start running again, he heard his stomach rumble, and he realized he hadn’t eaten yet. Vlad pulled out a loaf of bread from his knapsack and tore it in half, eating one half and saving the other for some other time. He then stood up and ran towards the southern edge of the forest.

It was dusk by the time Vlad made it to the edge of the forest. He was weary from running and jumping over trees, shrubbery, and other plants. Vlad looked up from where he had just sat down and saw a vast expanse of tall marsh grass that stretched on for miles and miles. He knew he couldn’t make it to the next town, so Vlad decided to camp out in the marsh for the night. As he looked for a good campsite, Vlad noticed a little flicker of light in the middle of the field and he made his way over to it. As he approached, he could smell cooked meat and his mouth watered. He had almost gone through all of his rations while in the forest, and the idea of cooked meat sounded fantastic. Vlad peered through the grass to look at the campsite. What he saw there interested him greatly.

There was a group of six men seated around a campfire and each man had some type of weapon with him. Vlad then noticed that there were several tents behind the campfire, and the men were walking around them. Vlad turned to look at the tents more closely when he saw that some other men had started campfires too. The smell of meat and vegetables cooking made his stomach growl. Luckily all the men were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice Vlad’s stomach. Vlad slowly crept towards them to hear more.

“Ok so what’s our next job, Larr?” one of the men asked. The man who spoke was of medium height with long black hair and a lopsided nose that showed it had been broken in a fight.

“We’re supposed to ransack some town with the help of some other groups of brigands,” Larr said. Larr was tall and bald, but he appeared to be respected by the others which could mean he was the group’s leader.

“What other groups are going to help us out?” the first man asked.

“I think the Wild Fang and the Beast Claw are going to help us,” Larr replied.

The first man nodded and said, “It’s a good thing we know those groups and have dealt with them in the past.”

Larr nodded and checked the cooking spit. As he was doing this someone came from the other group of tents and made his way over. This man was tall and had a cowl covering his face. He also has a scarf wrapped around his neck. The first man who talked looked over at the man coming and said, “ Hey Vale, how’s it going?”

The hooded man looked up and said, “It’s good, Zeke. It’s good.”

Larr then took the spit off the fire and pulled off pieces of meat and handed them to everyone. The all ate noisily except for Larr and Vale. Suddenly Vale stopped eating and sat straight up and looked right at Vlad. Vlad knew no one could see him through the tall, thick grass but he still had a bad feeling about this.

“Hey, what is it, Vale?” Zeke asked.

“You know that criminal who is wanted by everyone in this kingdom and the next one over?” Vale said while standing slowly.

“Yeah, he’s famous for the assassination of General Candoc and a bunch of other crimes,” Zeke replied.

“Well he’s right there,” Vale said as he pointed directly at Vlad.

Makeup Mysteries

Chapter 1

The cameras flash back and forth as Niki Britina struts down the runway. She is the most famous fashion model in the entire world with long, silky blonde hair and bright blue eyes the color of sapphires. Anyone could easily tell she is a top fashion model. As the curtain closes Niki is showered by tons and tons of gorgeous flowers while she blows kisses to the roaring crowd. The show has ended and Niki is about to head home.

“Wasn’t I amazing out there? I was so much better than the rest of you!” Niki shouts confidently. “I’m surprised the crowd even clapped for you. Nicole, you tripped on the edge of the runway; that was hilarious! Ella, the dress you had on was from last season, and worst of all, Kathrin, you wore Zoe’s dress. It was so funny because Zoe didn’t have anything to wear so she couldn’t come out!”

“Niki, you’ve been really mean these past few weeks and you keep insulting us after every fashion show. We’re through!” shouts Nicole. “Come on girls.”

As all the other models file out of the room, and Niki is left with only one friend, Emma, her best friend.

“Niki, Nicole’s right. You have been kinda mean to the other models, and you need to start thinking about how others feel, not just yourself. See you Friday,” says Emma before leaving.

It is a dark night and the moon is hidden behind the clouds. As Niki walks down the sidewalk, she hears a rustle in the bushes and she turns around slowly to see a… squirrel! Niki sighs in relief. As she walks up the driveway to her exquisite mansion, she notices that her front door is wide open. She peeks inside and everything is out of place. Tables are overturned, vases are shattered on the floor, and worst of all she has chipped a nail coming home! Niki goes straight up to her vanity room to search for a nail file and some lotion. But just as she had suspected, her makeup has been stolen! She had the best makeup in the entire world – tons and tons of jet black mascara, ruby red lipstick, sparkling nail polish, pretty pink blush, a rainbow palette of eyeshadow, and the most wonderful perfume on the planet called Enchantment. Niki is so upset. She has a fashion show in 5 days and she needs her makeup, so she decides to call the police. About five minutes later a truck pulls up to her house and out jumps a man in a wet suit.

“Who are you and what are you doing at my house?”

“I am Jay the Shark Wrangler, there is no shark I cannot defeat! You told me to come help you catch the crook.”

“NO! I called the police to help me find the crook who broke into my house and stole my makeup, you shark boy!”

“Can I at least help?”

“FINE!” Niki sighed. “It’s not like I have any better options anyway.”

Niki storms off to her room and just before she slams the door she shouts, “Meet me at my house at 10:00 a.m. on the dot!”

“Why so late?”

“I need my beauty sleep, duh!” As she slams the door shut, a vase falls off it’s table and crashes to the floor, breaking on contact.

“UHH! Could this day get any worse?” she says and immediately it starts raining and thunder crashes throughout the sky. “Yes, yes it can.” On that note Niki falls fast asleep.

Chapter 2

At 9:00 a.m. Niki gets out of bed and goes to her bathroom to look for her makeup before remembering it’s not there.

“Stupid thief,” Niki mumbles. She stomps over to her walk-in closet to put on some designer clothes.

At about 12:00 Niki comes out of her closet fully dressed from head to toe with sparkling jewelry, a vintage handbag, the newest sun glasses, and designer clothes. As she walks out onto her driveway, she spots Jay leaning against the shark truck, awaiting her arrival.

“You said 10:00 a.m. on the dot! It’s 12:15! You’re late!”

“I was busy!” Niki snaps back. “Let’s just get this over with. I have a hair appointment at 5:00 and I need to find my makeup in 5 days! I have a show coming up and if I don’t have it by then, I’ll get fired. You can’t send a model on the runway without makeup. It’s just like, a rule!”

As Jay pulls out of the driveway, Niki notices a note slipped inside her mailbox.

“Wait a second, Jay. I see something.” She climbs out of the car and struts over to the mailbox, taking the note. As she hops back in the car she opens it. The note says,

Meet me at the wharf at 12:30 if you ever want to see your precious makeup again!

-S

“He must have my makeup. I need it back. Let’s go!”

“Okay, Miss beauty queen,” Jay says, rolling his eyes. “What’s so important about this makeup anyway?”

“I am the only person in the world who has this makeup. It’s one of a kind, especially the perfume! Let’s just go already!”

It’s about a 20 minute drive from Niki’s house to the wharf. Once they get there, they notice a shadowy figure leaning against a post near a speed boat. It is a foggy day and no one else is in the water or at the restaurants. They are all alone. As Niki and Jay walk over to retrieve her makeup, the shadowy figure looks up, but doesn’t show his face.

“So this is Miss Niki Britina. Do you need your makeup back, honey?” he says with a smug smile and a ring of sarcasm to his voice.

“As a matter a fact, I do! So give it back, NOW!”

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s not that easy, sweetheart. You see, you need to give me something that I want, then we will talk about returning the makeup.”

Niki thought about this for a second. Then, finally, she spoke. “Well… what do… you want then?” Her voice was shaky.

“Money, jewelry, things that I can sell. The usual.”

“Well, I’m not giving you anything. Jay here is a…a…police officer! Yeah, that’s right, he’s a police officer. Arrest him, Jay.”

“I’m not a police officer,” whispers Jay.

“Just go with it,” Niki snaps back.

“Oh, a police officer in a wetsuit? Is that the newest fashion? Hmmm? Anyway I’ve got to get going. I mean, this isn’t getting anywhere.” The thief jumps straight into the speed boat, kicking up water as he jets away.

“Oh, no he didn’t!” Niki shouts. “He ruined my designer dress. I spent $5,000 on this!”

“We’ll catch him! Hop on!” Jay shouts.

Niki and Jay jump onto the boat and try to start the engine but it doesn’tbudge.

“Uggghh, it’s broken.”Jay hollers.

“Now we will never catch the thief! My fashion show is in 5 days and I’ll be on the cover of ‘Embarrassment of the Week’ in no time! I’ll get fired!” Niki whines. After Niki’s drama attack, she goes to her hair appointment, and mopes the entire night. Jay thinks up a plan for the next day.

Chapter 3

“Niki, wake up!” Jay yells through Niki’s open window, “I have an idea about how to get your makeup back!”

“Go away, paparazzi! I’m sleeping!”

Jay pushes open the front door and walks straight up to her bedroom. He quickly pushes Niki off her bed and she falls to the ground with a thud. “Come on. Get dressed. And this can’t take 4 hours again!”

“Owww!” Niki whines. “You pushed me! I am a top fashion model! I can sue you, and for your information, it took 3 hours not 4!”

“Yeah, yeah, just get dressed already.”

Niki stumbles over to her closet and picks out an outfit, does her hair, puts on jewelry, cries about her makeup, and picks out some high heels.

“Good job. Niki, I think we got your dressing time down to an hour and a half.” Jay says with tons of sarcasm.

“Very funny, Jay. So what’s your big plan to get my makeup back?”

“Come on. We’ll go to the mall and I’ll tell you.” After about an hour of shopping, Niki and Jay sit down to talk about Jay’s plan.

“So we know this guy is very shady and he won’t tell us to meet him when there’s a lot of people around, so I suggest we invite him to your house and trap him there!”

“Good plan except for the part where he’s in my house!”  Niki shouts.

“Yeah, he’s in your house but we can set some traps downstairs and get him to walk straight into our trap!”

“Ok let’s do it!”

After Jay and Niki go shopping at TRAPS, CAGES, AND DUNGEONS, they have 2 giant cages, 4 trapdoors, and 50 other things that neither of them know what they do, so while Jay sets up the traps, Niki realizes the thief had left an email address on the back of his last note, so she uses it to email him their request. He replies, BE THERE IN 5 MINUTES. THIS BETTER BE GOOD. -S

5 minutes later a creepy car pulls up out front and the shadowy figure gets out. “So let’s get down to business,” he says.

Just before the shadowy figure arrived, Jay told Niki to hide behind the stairwell and pull the giant rope when Jay said “now.” She didn’t know what it would do but if it would help her get her makeup back faster, she would do it. Niki was hiding as Jay was leading the figure into the front hall.

“You first,” Jay says. As the figure walks into the room, Niki gets a text and starts replying when Jay says, “NOW!”

“One second, I’m replying to a text. Emma wants to know which color of eyeshadow compliments her eyes,” Niki says.

“Oh, I see what’s going on. You two are trying to trap me. Well played, but not smart enough.” He quickly pushes Jay and Niki right where he had been standing and pulls the rope which lets down a cage. They are trapped.

“Good-bye, Niki and Jay. We’ll meet again soon. By the way, Niki maybe reply to the text after you trap the bad guy. Just a tip.” He smiles smugly and gives a cackling laugh before leaving.

“Nice going, Niki!” Jay yells, “We almost had him, but then you just had to reply to your little fashion friend. If you really want to get your makeup back, you can’t be whining and texting all the time, you’ve got to focus. If this makeup is really important to you, you have to pay attention, take some initiative, and start taking some risks. This is not a game, Niki. It’s not a playdate where you say, ‘Can I have my makeup back?’ and he says, ‘Sure, I’m sorry.’ The world isn’t like that. This is a real criminal we’re facing and you just seem to goof around. You are acting like a pampered princess. You can’t have anything you want, Niki. The world is not just going to hand it to you. I’m sorry to say it, Niki, but I think it’s time for you to grow up. Now let’s figure out a way to get this cage off.”

“Ok,” says Niki. Jay’s words sting her heart like an open wound. No one’s ever said those kinds of things to her. Maybe Jay was right, she was just a pampered little princess. But she was still ready to help. Niki undoes her scarf and ties it to Jay’s belt and with a little tape from the nearby counter, they make a long enough rope to grab onto the other rope holding the cage down. They escape.

“If you think I’m such a pampered princess, why are you helping me?

“Because…” Jay says. ”Because I love you.” He kisses Niki’s cheek. “See you tomorrow, Blondie.” And he walks away.

Chapter 4

All Niki thinks about is the kiss, all morning. Did Jay really love her or was he just making it up? NIki has had a ton of boyfriends, but when they kissed her none of them felt the same as Jay’s lips against her cheek. It felt good, very good. How was she going to explain to him that she liked him too? She hadn’t realized it until he kissed her. She really liked his short blonde hair,  his bright blue eyes, his smile, and how he always made her laugh. Today, she was going to show him a different side of Niki Britina, the good side. “Right after I change,” Niki says.

When Niki walks out of her closet, she is not wearing her regular designer outfit with vintage handbags and dangly earrings. Instead, she is wearing jeans, strap-on sandals, a beach scarf, and a really cute top. NONE of the items she has on are designer clothing. As she walks out onto her driveway, Jay is not there like he was the day before. That’s odd, she thought. She drives her car over to Jay’s house and knocks on the door. There is no answer. Where is he, Niki wonders. As she leans against the door, it slowly opens. She walks inside the empty house and calls Jay’s name. Again, there is no answer.

“Jay?” she shouts, “Jay, where are you?” As she walks around the house, she realizes it looks just like hers after it was rampaged. There are muddy footprints on the ground and marks that look like someone had been dragged across the floor. As she looks around, she notices a note sticking out of the fireplace. Its edges have been singed by the remaining embers. She picks up the note.

Your time is running out, Niki Britina. Meet me at the park in 15 minutes if you want to get your makeup back. Also, I heard you were looking for Jay. You’ll find him if you meet me here. By the way, doesn’t Jay have a lovely home? See you there.

-S

Niki knew exactly what had happened to Jay. The only thing that came out of her quivering mouth was “S.” As Niki gets in her car she knows what she has to do. She drives her car over to the park. It is very late, probably around 6:00. She parks her car, gets out, and walks over to the center of the park where she finds S and Jay sitting on a bench in the middle of the park. As she walks over, S says, “Well if it isn’t my old friend Niki. Come here, sit, and we’ll talk.

“You are no friend to me,” Niki snaps back, “Let Jay go and we’ll be out of your way.”

“Oh dear Niki, trying to be the hero now? Let’s not be harsh, Niki. This could easily turn into a life or death matter,” he says as he lifts up a gun, then slips it back into his pocket.

“You can’t just demand everything and get it to go your way. You should know that by now because it’s happened so many times. Your concentration is a little sketchy. Truthfully, I’m shocked Jay even wants to help you.”

“Stop!” Niki shouts.

“Oh, I’m just getting started. Give me the money, Niki. This is not a little game, this is real life and you’re not in a fairytale. It’s reality. Everything here is real.”

“How much?” Niki says, digging through her wallet.

“Don’t give him anything, Niki!” Jay shouts.

“Don’t pay attention to him. Give me the money and I’ll let you be. Jay will be let go and I’ll give back the makeup. This is your move. This can all be over, or it can get a whole lot harder. I’m not playing around this time, Niki. Give me the money.”

“If I have learned anything from Jay, it’s not to give up.” Niki closes her wallet. “I won’t give you any money. I won’t give you anything.”

“That is a bad move, Miss Britina. Someone could get hurt.” As soon as he says that he takes out his gun and shoots Jay right in the leg. Jay screams out in pain and agony.

“Words have power, Niki, and you used the wrong words. See you soon, I’ll be back and next time I’ll get what I came for, no matter what!” He shouts as he fires with his gun into the air and speeds of into the pitch black night. Niki runs over to Jay.

“Jay, Jay are you ok?!” Niki shouts.

“Call 911,” he whispers, “And Niki, no matter what happens, I will always love you, no matter what.” Then Jay blacks out and Niki calls 911 and as Jay is pulled into the ambulance and sped away to the hospital, Niki bursts into tears.

Chapter 5

In the morning, Niki got out of bed, knowing that this time she couldn’t do this with Jay. Today was the big fashion show and she was all alone. Jay was in the hospital and all her friends except Emma had dumped her at last week’s fashion show. She sits on her bed and thinks about what she was going to do, so she calls Emma and asks her to come over.

10 minutes later Emma’s car pulls up and Emma hops out. “So what’s the problem?” she says.

“Someone stole my makeup!” Niki replies.

“No way! How are you gonna get it back?”

“I have a plan but it would involve getting Nicole, Zoe, Kathrin, Ella and all of the other models that Nicole probably told.”

“Why don’t you just text them to meet you here and apologize? I think they deserve one.”

“Ok” says Niki, “I’ll get the phone.” After a LOT of convincing, Niki finally gets all 28 models to come over to her house.

“I am so sorry,” Niki says, “I was being very selfish and I didn’t mean to hurt any of your feelings. I am so sorry, can you please forgive me?”

All the models think and think until they finally came up with a solution. Nicole speaks, “If you really are sorry, you will let every single one of us over for a sleepover after the fashion show and we can all do each other’s hair, dress up, and use your makeup.”

“Yes we can do that but the only problem is some crook stole my makeup, every single thing, lipstick, eyeshadow, blush, you name it. All gone, even the perfume.” There were gasps all around.

“Every single thing!” says Lauren.

“Every single thing,” Niki replies, “But there is a way to get it back. I have a plan, but I am going to need all of you. Are you in?”

“Anything for you, Niki.” Ella replies, “And thanks for apologizing.”

“Ok, here’s my plan. We all sneak into the robber’s house and half of us will look for all my makeup and the other half will take all the weapons so if he’s there or comes back he won’t have anything to defend himself with.”

“Sounds like a plan, let’s do it!” Morgan shouts. As they all get in their cars, they use the email address to find the house address that the thief’s replies were coming from and they drive over there. They all get out of their cars and sneak to the front of the house. They had divided themselves into two teams and it was time to get Niki’s makeup back once and for all. The door was open so they quietly enter the house. They looked and looked, it appeared that the crook wasn’t home, then Jenna says, “Hey, there’s a secret door over here, come here everyone”. They push and pull until finally the door slides open and in the room is all of Niki’s makeup!

Everyone runs inside and starts carrying it out, but the door slams shut, “Going somewhere?” a voice says.

“Who…is…that..?” Emma says, her voice shaky.

“Niki, you haven’t introduced me to your friends. Who are these lovely ladies?”

“Just give it up, S. We’ve got you outnumbered,” Niki says.

“Are you sure?” As soon as he says that, the door slides open and out come 25 muscular body guards.

“Does that even the odds a little bit, Niki? Get them!” The bodyguards circle Niki and her friends.

“Get ready girls!” Nicole shouts, “Throw!” All of a sudden every single one of Niki’s friends take off their high heels. They fly through the air and hit each body guard in the head, hard, so hard that they fall unconscious.

“Thanks everybody.” Niki replies.

“You’re our friend, we’d do anything for you.” Emma says. They all hug.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but the bad guy is escaping.” Caren says.

“He won’t get far.” Niki replies.

“Why do you say that?”

“I called the police before we got here.” Niki says, “They should be here right about now.”

“Freeze! Anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of law,” a police officer says.

“OMG, we have 10 minutes to get to the fashion show! We’re going to be late and we don’t even have time to get ready!” Nicole shouts.

“Yes you do, we can use mine.” Niki says.

“Thank you so much Niki, you’re the best!”

As all the girls get ready the police come in and ask Niki if she had found what she wanted.

“Yes,” she replies.

“I’ll get you for this, Niki Britina, I will!” S says as he leaves with the police.

No one pays him any attention. Finally after everyone got ready they race to the fashion show. Everyone has a great time. As soon as it is over, Nicole says, “I call the lipstick first!” as she rushes to her car.

“Oh no you don’t!” everyone shouts as they race to Niki’s house.

Once they get there and all the girls are doing makeup, Niki gets a phone call.

“I’ll get it,” she shout. Once she picks up the phone, it is Jay who answers.

“I heard what you did, Niki. That was very brave. Nice work!” And he hangs up.

The End