Truth Or Dare

photo courtesy of New York Times

The Painful Truth                                                                   

“BANG!”    “BANG!”    “BANG!”

Three swift kicks was all it took for the rusty hinges to break and the cobwebbed door gave in. As it crashed onto the ground, breaking the eerie silence, dust particles danced in the air as Lucas shone his only source of light- his phone- in all directions. A three-legged chair appeared in the powerful beam along with a silhouette of a piano in a distance. Lucas took one step in, and a plume of dust danced up at where he stepped. The tall, lanky boy coughed, and slowly walked in. His footstep inaudible, due to the many layers of dust in the abandoned house. A drip of sweat rolled down from his forehead.

A shimmer of light caught Lucas’ eye. He whipped around and saw......

Another Lucas staring at him, the light illuminating the impostor. Or so he thought. Lucas approached the impostor and saw brass. It was a large mirror. Lucas was looking at his own reflection. He groaned in annoyance. He stared at his reflection for a while.

His reflection smiled. Lucas’ eyes widened.

A bloody hand immediately shot out of below the mirror and gripped Lucas’ ankle tightly. Lucas’ shrieked and fell back. His phone clattered onto the floor, his shadow dancing on the walls of the house. He frantically shook his leg, trying desperately to free it. But the bloody and bruised hand had an iron grip on his ankle, like a chain connected to a metal ball. Slowly, another as bloody and bruised hand appeared out of the mirror. A leg, the other leg. Then, the whole body appeared, towering over Lucas’ immobilized figure on the floor. 

It was a boy that looked exactly like Lucas. Except that this boy was bloody, and his clothes were stained with dried blood. A large bloody stain stained the middle of the boy’s chest. A wide ‘Cheshire-cat’ grin was plastered on his face. He stared hard at Lucas, and said in a deep voice that filled the room, “Hi, my brother.”

Leo!? Lucas was dumbfounded. “W-what! Leo! What happened to you? Where have you been?” Leo’s smile vanished immediately. He laughed a humorless laugh and said, “Oh. Mother murdered me. Just because I found out her littllleeee secret.” Lucas shook his head in disbelief. “NO. This is a hallucination. You’re not real!” Leo sighed, shaking her head. he knelt down in front of him. “Tell me Lucas, my brother. Why do you think Mother comes home late? Huh? Don’t you see a drop of blood anywhere on her? She’s an assassin Lucas. An assassin.” He emphasized those two words,and smiled. Lucas couldn’t move. He remembered the other day when he saw a red stain on her blouse. He widened his eyes. Leo never lie. 

Leo got up and held out a hand. Lucas shakily held out a hand and placed on Leo’s icy hand that send cold shivers down his spine. Lucas got up and followed Leo uncertainly. Leo opened a door Lucas had never seen before. A rotting, putrid smell immediately wafted out that small room. What Lucas saw made him run. Out of the door of his abandoned house. With rage fueling him.  

Lucas burst through the front door, and ran to the kitchen. He held something that brandished in the moonlight. Once he held that cold brass handle, insanity possessed him. This is your punishment Mother. You Killed Leo! KILL. KILL. Those words repeated in his head as he stealthily approached a wasted woman on the couch, surrounding it were alcohol bottles. 

“Bye Mother.” Lucas lifted the knife.

He stood over her body. Her eyes were shut, almost as if she was she was sleeping......peaceful. 

He smiled and aimed the knife at the center of his chest. 

______________________________________________________________

One sentence summary: Lucas stumbles upon his very old house and finds out the truth behind his brother’s death.

One paragraph summary: The twin’s mother is an assassin who killed Leo without Lucas knowing as Leo found out his mother’s dark secret. Lucas and his mother moved into a new house and Lucas soon forgot about Leo and runs away in tears when he got into a fight with his mother. He stumbles across his previous house and meets the spirit of his brother who told him everything. Lucas returns home, filled with rage and had no self-control, killed his mother and then himself.    

#2

My Friends

I have friends in my head. I’m sure everybody has them.

They can be good, they can be bad, or maybe even both. It also depends on how you handle them.

I have many friends in my head, but I can only introduce a few of them. I’ll be very glad to introduce them to whoever is reading this!

Joyce is one of my best friends. She was always there to make me smile, and remind me of the wonderful things that happened to me. She always tell me things like, “You can do it!” Or “Good job!”. She allows me to look at the positive side of things.

But sometimes, when I don’t handle Joyce well, sometimes people will call me selfish. When people play tricks on me that I don’t like, she will tell me to go along and smile, to not be mad at them. I don’t like that, so I will have to handle Joyce well.

Sam is another friend I have who lives in my head. I don’t quite like him, since he is quite the opposite of Joyce. He reminds me of the bad memories I had, like the time I was in a competition and lost, and I cry. He makes me cry. And I don’t like it. People will call me a ‘crybaby’.

But Sam can also be nice. Sometimes Sam will motivate me to do better, and because of that, I will be happy with the result.

Joyce and Sam work together from time to time. Sometimes they remind me of a memory which both sad and happy. Remember the memory I told you about that competition I lost? Well even though I was sad, Joyce told me that at least I had fun! Which looking back, I did have fun. Which makes me happy. Even though I was sad that I lost, I was happy that I had fun preparing for the competition.

I want to introduce one last friend: Fran

Fran is helpful sometimes. Sometimes my friends urge me to go on a scary roller coaster ride. But Fran tells me not to, as it is scary. I listen to her no matter what my friends say. In the end, my friends might come out crying or sick. Fran helps me avoid these situations from getting me into trouble.

Somethings though, when I listen to Fran, people will make fun of me, taunting me and calling me a ‘scaredy-cat’. I don’t like that. So I will tell Fran that I can do it. Though she might urge me to stop, I won’t listen to her and will face my fears. There may be good and bad outcomes, but at least I have the experience.

Well that’s all the friends I’m able to introduce you to. I would love to introduce the rest of my friends, but their not ready yet. For now, you will now know Sam, Joyce and Fran. Thanks for reading!

#5

An Unusual Emergency Call

I had been working as a police officer for quite long. One of my jobs was to respond to the emergency calls. I would respond to the call, and send help where necessary. Everything had been going quite smoothly. But I still do remember one very unusual emergency call.

As usual I picked up the phone.

Me: 999, what’s your emergency?

Unexpectedly a little girl’s voice responded on the other side of the phone.

Caller: H-Hi. Um, my mummy collapsed. And she’s not waking up.

Me: Your mom collapsed! Is she breathing?

Caller: I’m gonna check.... She is breathing. She is breathing! When are you going to come?

Smart kid. I thought.

Me: Help is on the way, don’t worry! Could you tell me where you live.

Caller: I-I don’t know...

Oh no... what was I going to do... no location at all. Then I remembered that this was a really small town so I asked:

Me: Sweetie, could you please go outside for me? There should be a sign there showing your street. Could you please tell us the street and describe your house?

I didn’t quite hear much but I now knew she was on Queen’s Street, and she had a wind chime on the front door. Thank god. I hope I could locate the right house.

Me: Thank you! We are very near it’ll only take us about 3 minutes. What’s your name dear? How old are you?

Madison: Madison. I’m 6 years old. Is mummy gonna be okay?

Me: Okay Madison. Your mummy is gonna be just fine be calm my dear. Help is on the way! What’s your mummy’s name? What happened to her?

Madison: I-I don’t know what happened. Just heard a loud sound. And then I saw her on the floor sleeping with some blood on her head.

Me: Your mummy is going to be just fine. What’s your mummy’s name Madison?

Madison: Um.. Mika.

Me: Okay. You are taking care of mummy right? When you hear the police sirens please tell me okay Madison dear?

Madison: O-okay. Oh! I hear sirens!

Just like that, the line went dead. All heard was the beeping of the phone. I thought since she said the police arrived, I assumed that they would be fine, I hoped.

The next day, the news about Mika was shown on television. Thank god she was okay. But I never got to see Madison. I asked my friend about it. She was confused. She said, “There was no little girl in the house, we only saw Mika.” I told her, surprised, that the person who picked up the phone was a 6 year old girl named Madison. My friend suggested we go visit Mika, see if she was able to tell us anything about Madison. I told her maybe it was just her neighbour. My friend raised her eyebrow. I sighed.

My friend and I visited Mika in the hospital. After some small talk to make Mika comfortable. My friend went straight to the point. “Mika, do you have a daughter name Madison?” Mika froze at that question. She smiled sadly. “Yes I do have a daughter. Madison died at the age of six. I miss her so, so much.” Wait what. “But Mika, I just heard your daughter call for help when you were unconscious.”

Mika smiled even more. “Madison may have passed away. But she will always be there to protect me, like my own little guardian angel.”

End~

Deception

The blaring emergency alarm broke Praxis’s train of thought. It rang throughout the ship loudly, and Praxis covered their ears, panicked. They ran out of the sleeping chambers into the hallway. The once white walls were now painted red by the emergency lights, giving Praxis a headache. They suddenly felt a hand on their shoulder.

It was Rosaline, coming out of the changing room. Her red hair seemed to blend in with the red lights, her necklace which was a heart with a heart-shaped hole in the middle sparkled blood red as well. Rosaline’s face was more confused than scared, which made Praxis feel a bit of relief.

“Relax, I think something got tampered with,” Rosaline’s voice soothed Praxis’s mind. “The crew knows how to deal with this. Come.” Praxis closed their eyes and grabbed Rosaline’s arm to balance themself

The duo went down to the main area, where five crew members were rushing towards the oxygen chambers. Suddenly, the alarm stopped, and Praxis’s headache slowly faded away, and they slowly opened their eyes, healed by the white walls of the ship. A tall man with black curly hair came out of the oxygen chambers, holding a wrench. He emitted a very intimidating aura, one that could make Praxis shiver in fear.

“Something just came loose, it’s all fixed now so everything’s alright.”

Praxis raised an eyebrow, surprised. His voice sounded much sweeter and softer than his looks.

“That’s Gregory Finn, don’t worry about him. He’s sweet.” Rosaline chuckled. “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“Let’s go find Elijah, then I can introduce you to Coraline, she’s nice too.”

“I asked Coraline to go check on the food in the pantry, so she should still be there.”

Elijah was the definition of fascinating. Praxis had never seen two different eye colours. Elijah’s left eye was black, while his right eye was a hazel brown, and his shoulder-length black hair suited him. Elijah caught Praxis staring and grinned. “Nice hair newbie.” Praxis patted her neon green hair shyly.

The trio walked into the huge cafeteria. It had a dozen long benches and tables spread out evenly throughout the cafeteria. The pantry door just on the opposite wall. Rosaline and Praxis stood beside the door while Elijah twisted the door handle and it creaked open. It was dark.

“Coraline?” The only response was the eerie silence. Praxis cowered a little behind Rosaline, sensing that something was amiss.

Elijah felt around for the light switch and flicked it.

“Oh my god-”

He suddenly stumbled back, a hand over his mouth. Rosaline lunged out and grabbed his arm to prevent him from falling. Elijah’s eyes were as wide as saucers, face as white as a blank paper. Rosaline looked into the pantry and fell to her knees, screaming.

Praxis peeked in from the side, and they wished they hadn’t.

Blood was everywhere. A headless girl sat at the far wall of the pantry. The girl’s clothes were completely drenched in blood, but that wasn’t the worst part. Just a few centimetres away from the body, her head lay on the ground in a puddle of blood. The blood was dark red, with black marks in it. Her long, dark auburn hair was stained with the unusual blood, plastered all over the floor. Her eyes were rolled back, crying the same peculiar blood, which streaked all over the poor girl’s abnormally sunken cheeks. Black veins snaked across her face, connected by the neck.

“Coraline…”

The silence hung in the air, tension so thick it could be sliced with a knife. The six crew members sat around the table in the main area, not one saying a thing. Elijah was comforting Rosaline, who was still crying silently, and Praxis sat next to them, still in shock and horror from earlier, looked down at her clenched hands. The other three crew mates, Elyza, Gregory and Bianca sat on the other side of the table.

Cameron came back and leaned against the wall.

“Body’s taken care of. Now what?”

Rosaline suddenly shot up, angry. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and her eyes were red.

“You moved on like it was nothing!” She shouted at Cameron. “Do you not care that someone just died? Or maybe you really are just a cold, heartless jerk! You’re not even taking a single minute to grieve for Coraline.” Elijah grabbed Rosaline’s quivering hand and squeezed it, in an attempt to calm her down.

Cameron just ran a hand through his brown hair, Praxis peeked up and noticed his hair had a red streak in the middle. “Right now what matters is not that Coraline got killed, it’s what had killed her.”

“What do you mean?”

Cameron sighed, “The blood, and the black veins, isn’t it obvious by now?” He looked up and stared hard into Rosaline’s eyes, making her flinch.

“W-what do you mean-”

“The virus is on this ship.”

Rosaline stiffened, and so did everyone else, Praxis bit her tongue to prevent herself from crying. Rosaline sat back down quietly, a devastated look on her face.

Bianca stood up, “The virus could be controlling one of us now. We have to run tests to check.” She scanned the room with her cold black eyes, “Now.” Bianca marched off to stand next to Cameron. Praxis looked at Elijah and Rosaline, unsure of what to do.

“I don’t understand why any of us would kill someone.” Elyza’s blue eyes were devoid with emotion. “It’s against–”

“Oh shut up about that already.” Bianca scoffed. “The virus doesn’t care about whatever god you believe in, it’ll kill anyone it sees. Plus, the person it's controlling is nothing more than a puppet by now.”

Bianca marched out of the main area towards the laboratory, with Cameron in tow. Elijah got up.

“Come on, let’s get this over with, it’ll be fine.” He helped Rosaline up and gestured the rest to follow. They walked out and caught up with Bianca and Cameron.

It felt like years had passed when they finally reached the laboratory. Praxis felt uncomfortable, and chose to follow at the back of the group, behind Elijah. Bianca stopped in front of the keypad to the laboratory. As soon as she took out her card everything went dark. Rosaline squeaked out of surprise and everyone jumped. The emergency lights came on and gave a red glow similar when the oxygen chambers were tampered with, but this time Praxis was too nervous to have a headache.

“Ugh, that means we can’t get in.” Bianca huffed.

“You all stay here, I’m going to go fix it.” Cameron said, and without waiting for a response he set off towards the electrical room.

Bianca folded her arms and leaned against the laboratory doors, looking at the wall. Gregory and Elyza talked to each other in hushed whispers. Rosaline and Elijah sat on the ground, back against the wall. Praxis joined them on the ground.

“Do you really think the virus is on the ship Praxis?” Rosaline whispered.

Praxis looked down, “Black veins and unusual blood are usually the main symptoms of when the virus attacks someone. So unfortunately, it’s highly possible it’s on this ship.”

Rosaline rested her head on Elijah’s shoulder and he ruffled her hair. She chuckled sadly, “I was hoping you said no just to make me feel better.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“I’m just kidding.”

Elijah held out his pinky and said, “No matter what happens, we will always stick together. Promise?”

Rosaline took his pinky with her own. “Promise.”

Praxis held up her pink and connected it with his, smiling.

“I promise.”

“What’s taking him so long!”

Even though Praxis hated to admit, they had to agree with Bianca. Cameron was taking way too long to fix the electrical, it’s been at least 45 minutes. Maybe it’s just very complicated wiring.

“I’m going to go check on him.”

Elyza stood up, “I’ll go with you.”

“No!” Bianca snapped. Elyza was taken aback by her sudden hostility, and so was everyone else. “You all are staying here, I’m handling this myself.” Then she stormed off.

“Wow, rude.” Elijah said.

“She has always been like that, Bianca would rather be working alone. It’s like she literally hates everyone.” Rosaline said.

“Maybe she just likes being independent?” Praxis spoke up.

Rosaline shook her head, “Been working with her for a few years, not the kindest person.”

“I hope nothing happens between Cameron and Bianca.”

“You’re doing it all wrong!”

The electrical room was quite small, probably could fit a maximum of three people in it. Some of the wire box’s doors were open by Cameron, as he tried to fix the wires.

“None of these are labelled clearly on what they do. Oh, you can probably access the laboratory now, but you can use any of the equipment. Power still out, I’ve connected everything together so I don’t really know what’s wrong, maybe this is the wrong-”

“Shut up! Can’t you see?” Bianca shoved Cameron aside and pointed at the connected wires. “You did it all wrong! They’re not the same colour!”

“Oh, I’ll fix it then. Move aside.”

“No!” Bianca snatched the pliers from his hands. “You’ve messed up enough. I’m doing this myself you dimwit.” She angrily used the pliers to cut the wires, Cameron noticed her teeth clenched, hands white and she’s sweating.

“You’re oddly stressed right now. You’re usually quite calm in these kinds of situations.”

Bianca snatched the soldering iron and applied it on the wires, put it on the top of the box, and cut another wire using the pliers.

“And?” She said without looking at him or stopping.

“The virus changes people.”

Bianca stopped. “What are you implying, Cameron.”

“Are you really Bianca?”

Bianca slammed down the pliers and glared at him. If looks could kill Cameron would probably be dead by now. “Stop this nonsense.”

“Calm down, I’m just sayin’. You’ve never been nervous about anything, and now you’re all sweaty like you’re the one who killed Coraline-”

“I didn’t kill her!” Out of blind rage, Bianca shoved Cameron hard. He couldn’t catch his balance fast enough and fell backward, hitting the back of his head against a sharp corner of a wire box door. Bianca gasped, dropping the pliers.

“Cameron?”

He didn't respond.

No, no, no. Bianca fumbled for the pliers and cut the remaining wire. She threw the pliers on the ground and grabbed the soldering iron with her quivering hands. As soon as the wire connected completely, the lights immediately switched back on.

Bianca didn’t want to turn around, she didn’t want to see what she had done. Yet, an invisible hand forced her to turn her head to the right.

She fell to her knees.

White fluorescent lights flooded the halls, yet Bianca and Cameron still haven’t returned. The five crew mates decided to go to the electrical room to find them.

“I have a very bad feeling about this.” Rosaline whispered to Elijah.

“I’ll admit, me too.” Elijah whispered back.

Praxis, once again, hung around at the back of the group. This time where Elyza and Gregory were. Praxis walked with their head down, dragging her fingers along the white walls lightly. The whispers of exchanged conversations sounded so far away.

Praxis tried to think about the different planets that they would be, the amazing and otherworldly beauty that was out there. But their mind kept going back to the things they wished they could shut out of their mind. Coraline’s death only made it worse. Praxis thought they could hear the gravel crunch under their feet, which each step they took, taking them back to when their parents died. Praxis miraculously managed to survive that day, but they could never forget the horrified faces of their parents. Praxis could almost smell the blood.

Praxis stopped. They sniffed the air.

“Y’all, do you smell that?”

Everyone stopped, and Gregory spoke up, “Smells like…” he widened his eyes before he could finish his sentence. The group looked at each other before sprinting towards the electrical room. The smell getting stronger the closer they got to the room.

But nothing could prepare them for what they saw.

“Oh god…”

Cameron’s head rested on a sharp corner like a pillow, his blood trickling on the sides of the wire box’s door, dripping on the grey floor. Just in front of Cameron was Bianca, kneeling like she was praying, eyes fixed on Cameron.

Bianca suddenly snapped out of her stupor and raised her head. She got up to her feet and everyone outside flinched, Elijah made everyone stand behind him. He has a fierce look on his face, glaring at Bianca.

“No, wait. Please, hear me out.”

“Listen to a virus? Hilarious.” Elijah sneered

Bianca took a step forward, and everyone else stepped back.

“It was an accident, I accidentally pushed him. I swear. I swear!”

Elijah took a step forward and punched Bianca’s face. She fell, unmoving.

“We need to send her out the airlock, she’s clearly sick.”

Elyza knelt in front of Cameron’s body, “I want to clean this up first, I can’t stand the blood staining the door and floor.”

“We found it.” Elyza looked out of the telescope in the flight deck. Gregory nodded.

“It’s Drion MX, the planet and I and a few others discovered back in 3108. Let’s go land and check it out right away.” Elyza announced.

“Wow, that’s great!” Rosaline exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly.

“Can’t wait to land.” Elijah smiled. Praxis nodded in agreement.

“Now hold on.” Gregory said. “We will land, but we should get some shut eye before roaming around. It’s been a long day, I’m sure.”

Elijah, Rosaline and Praxis all mumbled in agreement, but Elyza disagreed.

“We need to get this done fast, we have no time to rest. There are people dying on earth every second, and we’re here taking ou-”

“Three people just died, Elyza.” Gregory sighed. “We’re all tired here. Give us a break.”

Elyza looked conflicted, glaring at Gregory. She huffed and left, towards the flight deck. “Whatever.”

Elijah got up and lightly punched his shoulder, “Thanks man, now let’s go land.”

Praxis woke up, standing up. Dressed in a thick green jacket that’s soft on the inside, like being surrounded by dozens of cats, a pair of blue jeans, white boots with sparkly green laces, and a rainbow coloured, wooly hat that covered their red ears. It wasn’t snowing, but it sure was cold. Praxis looked up and realised where they were.

They were back home. Lush evergreens surrounded the wooden house that Praxis’s father so lovingly built. Mist floated into the air as they breathe out, reminiscing the beautiful memories of when Praxis would play hide and seek among the trees with their parents. Which brings Praxis back to the house in front of her. They walked forward towards the front door, the gravel crunching under their feet with each step.

Praxis turned the doorknob, and the door creaked open. It was even colder inside the house, and they couldn’t see anything in front of them.

“Mum? Dad?”

Praxis remembered that there was a fireplace at the very end of the room. Just as they took a step forward the fire started all by itself and illuminated the room with its orange glow, showing the horror around Praxis.

Praxis’s mother and father were nailed on the left and right wall respectively. Nails were pinned through their ankles and wrists. Their head was split open in the middle, dark red blood with black spots in it were trickling down all sides of their head.

Praxis fell to their knees, painful crying, their tears staining the wooden floor. When Praxis looked back up, their parents had disappeared, replaced by human-shaped black mists. Praxis stumbled to their feet and twisted the doorknob.

But the door wouldn’t open. Praxis screamed and banged on the door, “Let me out! Help!” The black mists surrounded Praxis and squeezed their neck. Praxis clawed at it, coughing and choking, their vision getting darker and darker.

“Praxis… come join us…” Praxis parents’ whispers echoed in the darkness.

“Praxis… come…”

“Praxis…”

“Praxis!”

Praxis’s eyes snapped open, face dripping with cold sweat, their eyes meeting with Rosaline’s, Elijah’s and Elyza’s.

They were back in the spaceship, in their sleeping pod. Claustrophobia set in and Praxis couldn’t breathe. They quickly pressed the button and the pod opened, letting them fall forward onto the ground, gasping for air.

“Are you okay? You were sweating, mumbling and choking yourself.” Rosaline helped Praxis up.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a nightmare, that’s all. Everything’s fine.” Elyza had left the room. Elijah and Rosaline looked at each other, they didn’t say anything, but their faces said everything.

“Did something happen?” Praxis asked.

“Gregory’s missing.” Rosaline said.

“Maybe he just woke up early to explore the planet?” Praxis didn’t see anything wrong with it.

“That would be impossible.” The three of them walked out of the sleeping chambers into the changing room. Rosaline pointed at one of the space suits lined up on the wall, specifically Gregory’s. Praxis then realised what was wrong.

“If he were to be exploring, he would be wearing his spacesuit.” Praxis said.

“That’s right.” Elijah sighed, “We checked the whole ship while you were sleeping, he’s nowhere to be found.”

“Well that can’t be. Let’s go search again.” Praxis ran off to the first place they thought of, the oxygen chambers.

Gregory wasn’t there.

Praxis ran and searched every nook and cranny of the cafeteria, and reluctantly the pantry. Gregory wasn’t there.

On the way back to the sleeping chambers Praxis passed by the entrance of the spaceship. They looked out the window, there wasn’t any grass, but the ground was green, and so were the rocks. Everything was green, with a mixture of shiny white pebbles scattered here and there. Praxis turned away from the window and left. Her hand was dragging against the wall, so it accidentally hit a button that opened the door.

Praxis panicked and tried to close it but it still kept opening. They then realised that nothing was happening to them, so they released the button.

Gregory lay only a metre away from the ship, back against the ground. Someone had stabbed his heart, and dragged whatever weapon they used straight down to his stomach. His grey t-shirt was stained dark red with black blotches, and so was the ground around him, but there was less blood than Praxis expected there to be. A jagged and sharp green rock and a clean pair of gloves lay next to Gregory.

Praxis couldn’t move, they weren’t terrified, but Praxis wished that all this could end. They closed their eyes, and wished for it to be a dream. But there was no time for wishing, so Praxis screamed the first word that came to mind.

“Rosaline!”

The silence was much more deafening this time, and longer too. Praxis knew what everyone was thinking though.

They were all wrong about Bianca, and the virus is still here.

Everyone sat at least a foot away from each other. Elijah had his face in his hands, his hair disheveled. Rosaline’s eyes were red from crying, now she sat with her head limp to the side. Elyza sat straight, she and a cup in her hand, taking sips every now and then. Praxis watched her legs swing under the table.

“What now.” Rosaline said it more as a statement than a question. “There’s only four of us now.”

Elyza took a long sip from her cup, her face showing not much emotion, but her eyes had an authority look in it. It was as if they were saying, “It’s no time to grieve, get up and deal with it.”

Elyza got up and set her cup aside, “We need to continue forward. Get your suits, we have important work to do.”

Rosaline grabbed Elyza’s arm when she passed her. “Wait,” She sounded desperate. “The cameras. There’s a camera right at the door, it should’ve seen something. You’re the only one who knows how to operate the cameras.”

Elyza shook her hand off with a serious look. “We have no time. The longer we wait the more people will suffer and die.”

“Yeah but the virus here is gonna kill us all before we even completed the mission.” Elijah spoke up. “You see how smart it is at hiding itself. If we don’t do anything about it, it’ll bring more danger to us and the people we are about to bring here.”

Elyza pondered about it for a moment, then turned around and walked to the direction of the cameras. “Let’s go.”

All the monitors showed only a black screen. Elyza switched back on while the rest waited outside the room. Elyza tried to rewind back to yesterday, but no matter how hard she tried to search for the footage, it was all gone. Deleted, Elyza reasoned. But who? No one knew how to operate the cameras except herself.

“What’s taking so long there?” Elijah called out from outside.

“The footage is deleted.”

All three of them instantly came in. “What!” Elijah stared at the monitor, as if the footage would suddenly appear by glaring at it.

“Someone must’ve switched off the cameras yesterday, can’t find it.”

“B-but you’re the only one who knows how to–”

“Operate the cameras I know!” Elyza snapped at Rosaline, suddenly irritated. “I’m the only one who knows things around here.”

“Hey back off.” Elijah said. “Why so angry all of a sudden, huh? If anything we should be suspicious of you.” Praxis wished Elijah would stop talking, but they didn’t say anything.

“What in the world are you talking about.” Elyza was hunched over the computer, clicking the mouse in hopes of finding the footage.

“Just saying that you could’ve just deleted it and pretended like–” A black blur that headed for Elijah’s head interrupted him, and he dodged it fast enough that it didn’t hit him. Rosaline jumped. It was the mouse, and it landed at Praxis’s feet. The three look at Elyza who just realised what she had done.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

Elijah gave Elyza the death stare, his suspicions deepening.

“We’re discussing this is the main area.”

Rosaline and Praxis sat side by side. Elijah and Elyza positioned on opposite sides of the table, like they were about to debate

“Do you think it’s actually Elyza?” Praxis whispered the Rosaline.

Rosaline thought for a while, “I do believe that this kill happened yesterday night when we were all sleeping. I trust you and Elijah a lot, since you two probably had more than one chance to kill me, hypothetically.” She added. “So, yeah I’m not entirely sure it’s Elyza but I’m heavily suspicious of her.”

Rosaline said it so wisely that Praxis couldn’t help but admire her.

“First of all.” Elijah started, bringing Rosaline’s and Praxis’s attention to him. “When I saw what had happened to Cameron, I noticed that the sharp rock and gloved were very clean, and placed very neatly next to his body. That’s a very big red flag to me, because I know that you are very particular about things being neat and tidy. To the point that it was very peculiar.”

Praxis couldn’t deny that. Elyza was obsessed with things being in order, and even the slightest bit of mess could drive her crazy. But Praxis didn’t want to judge her too badly for that.

“Secondly, you are the only one with access to the camera room, and know how to use the cameras. Literally no one here would’ve tampered with the footage, no possible way. You must’ve turned off the cameras yourself.”

Elyza didn’t try to defend herself as Elijah talked on and on. She instead looked deep in thought, not paying much attention at all.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

Elyza looked up and stared at Elijah, so much so that it made Elijah slightly uncomfortable.

“Mind you, the camera itself has a button that when pressed, the cameras will switch off, so it’s not my fault that the cameras are not on.” Elyza folded her arms. “As for the placement of the gloves and rock, you have no right to accuse me of that.” Elijah scoffed in response.

“And why are you so sure it’s me? Why aren’t you accusing these two?” She pointed to Rosaline and Praxis.

Elijah looked at them and smiled. “I trust them both. They never show any signs of hostility and have been nothing but nice to me.” He then glared at Elyza. “Whereas you always seem so cold towards us, and you literally tried to hurt me.”

“That was an accide–”

“Nevertheless you are clearly a threat here. But I want to hear you two’s response.” Elijah and Elyza looked at Rosaline and Praxis.

The three finally stepped outside, onto the grounds of Drion MX. The atmosphere of Drion MX was similar to Earth’s atmosphere, so they didn’t need their space suits.

Praxis took a deep breath and exhaled. Felt just like home.

“It’s quite interesting isn’t it?” Rosaline said.

Elijah bent down and picked up a white pebble. It was like any white pebble you would find on Earth. Shiny, glistening, standing out against the green ground.

Praxis didn’t seem to see any signs of plantation around. So they went to hunt for a flat ground that didn’t have many rocks around.

Praxis suddenly heard a soft crack, not far behind them. Praxis turned around and ran back to their friends.

Just a few feet away from the ship, Elijah was lying on the ground, head resting on big green rock, with Rosaline kneeling over him. Praxis caught some blood, nearly blending in with the green rock.

“Oh god! Are you okay Elijah!”

Rosaline didn’t seem to move to help, or to respond to Praxis. It was the first time that Praxis realised that Rosaline had what seemed like a gash on the back of her head. Rosaline shifted her long red hair to hide it.

“Rosaline?”

Elijah stirred, and then got up to his feet, like nothing happened. He looked dazed, his eyes seemed to stare into nothing. Rosaline turned to face Praxis, a smile on her face. Praxis had an uneasy feeling in their stomach, sensing something amiss. There was so much blood on the green rock it might as well be red.

“Are y’all okay?”

Rosaline rested her arm on Elijah’s shoulder, who didn’t budge at all. “Of course, why’d you ask?” She kept grinning.

In the corner of their eye, Praxis caught some black smoke, seeping out of the cracks in the ground, into the air.

Coraline twisted the blue pen in her hand absentmindedly, scanning her clipboard held in her other hand. She frowned, and looked up at the shelves of food in the ship’s pantry again.

“Something’s missing…” she said to herself.

“Is it this?” Coraline jumped and twisted around to find Rosaline, standing at the door of the pantry, holding a piece of bread.

“Ah yes! Please give it to me if you don’t need it.”

Coraline stepped forward to take it for Rosaline’s hand. In a flash Rosaline lunged forward and sunk her teeth into Coraline’s neck.

Coraline had no time to scream and only managed to gurgle, the life already draining out of her. Black smoke started to feed onto the blood of Coraline, black spots marking the red stream of blood.

Rosaline, no longer a human, used her sharp teeth to tear Coraline’s head off, making a wet crack, the head dropping onto the cold floor. Coraline’s body went limp, and slumped over Rosaline. Rosaline pushed her off and wiped her mouth. The black smoke seeped back into the gash on the back of Rosaline’s head. She shifted her red hair to hide it.

Rosaline spotted an air vent, hidden behind the shelves at the back of the pantry. She opened it with ease, climbed down and headed for the changing room to clean up.

Photo courtesy from New York Times

My former owner

         I’d had lived in the Dog’s Rescue Center nearly all my life. I wasn’t properly taken care of by my former, blind owner, and I was kicked out of the house because my former owner said that I did not do my job well as I did not lead him to the supermarket and instead, the park as I thought he said he wanted to go to the latter. It wasn’t my fault though, he should had given me food for me to be alert. My neighbor found me lying at the doorstep, close to dying and when she found out that my former owner did not want me anymore, my neighbor brought me to the Dog’s Rescue Center.

         I was fed, bathed, given water and sympathy. For the first time, I felt warm, loved and welcomed. I immediately knew that I was going to enjoy my stay there. And I wasn’t wrong.

         I was greeted by many curious faces staring at me on my first day when I was brought into the playroom. A big dog that might be two times larger than me stepped up and sniffed me. Is this how you greet others? I wondered as he sniffed me. Then he raised his head and stared at me with his large black eyes. He held out a paw and I timidly placed mine. In an instant, all the other dogs in the room barked and cheered, and the edges of my mouth pulled up into a wide grin. I was definitely going to love this place.

         The rescue center was only ran by one person who went by the name, Vanessa, that was what I heard anyway. I knew this because I loved running around and I checked the whole place, every nook and cranny of that place, and I didn’t find anyone. A volunteer or two may come but it was always Vanessa.

         So why did I see him there after the second day?

         On the second day in the rescue center, while I was eating breakfast with my new friends, I saw a strange figure in the corner of my eye. But when I looked up, it had vanished. I got a clear image of it though, during lunch. It had a black hat on its head, its head was hung so low so I couldn’t see the features of its face. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. But the strangest thing was......

He looked awfully like a doppelganger of my former owner.

         He would appear and disappear at random points of time, and no one would notice. Even if he was in plain sight and I would signal to my friends to look, but they would look at me weird and say that they did not see anything. He had never tried to speak or touch me. He would just stand there, looking and smiling at me, his face still hidden. I was the only one who could see him. My friends would stare at me whenever I growled or threatened the strange figure.

         A week after staying in the rescue center, Vanessa entered the playroom and gently called out to me, “Robin. Someone wants to meet you. Come on!” I got up and looked back at my friends. They all had a smile on their faces, and I turned to follow Vanessa. Apparently, a nice couple wanted to adopt me! I was ecstatic! They were so nice, compared to my previous owner, they were always petting me and even complimented my shiny fur coat.

But what about my friends?

         I raced into the playroom and announced jubilantly, “Hey! Guess what? I’m getting adopted!” “So you’re leaving?” Jacky, a small Dalmatian, piped up sadly. Peter, the giant dog who greeted me on the first day gently patted Jacky’s head, “He has to go some day or another.” A smiled sadly at Jacky, and looked up at my other friends. “I’ll remember all of you.” “We’ll remember you too!” They all chorused. I wagged my tail good bye and headed out to my new owners. As we passed the front counter. I jumped up on my hind legs and to bark a good bye to Vanessa. That was when I saw him. He was standing behind Vanessa, leaning against the back wall, grinning the same old grin. I barked and barked ferociously at him. Vanessa thought I was saying good bye and she smiled sweetly and waved a good bye to me. Just as the man disappeared in thin air.

         We stopped at a cafe which allowed pets so I went in too. I was showered with attention for a while but eventually got bored. So my eyes wandered around the cafe till I saw a television playing the news. It was talking about a person falling into a ditch only to be found about a week later. I squinted at the television to get a good look at the victim’s face.

          It was my former owner.

#6

My Imaginary Friend

I always had a wild imagination. And it was no surprise that I had a imaginary friend. Her name is Natalie. She’s great. My father left and my mother didn’t care too much bout’ me, and she worked lots of shifts, so Natalie kept me company. She was cold to me at first, but after talking to her, playing with her, and entertaining her, she warmed up to me. She. Was. Great.

Let me describe Natalie. She had long, and messy (the cute kind of messy) black hair. Dark-skinned. Cute blue eyes. (Like me!) The outfit she always wore was black and white striped t-shirt, blue pleated skirt with black leggings, red sandals. Lovely outfit.

She was always with me for 8 years, since I was six years old. I forgot about her after that since, well you know, school. It was very lonely after that, I had no friends at school. But I occupied myself with homework and music. I liked my school. However, two years later when I was 15, my mother decided to move houses, moving houses means moving to another school. Ugh. What’s wrong with our own house.

My new school was much, much worse. People were constantly picking on me. I try to ignore them.(Easier said than done) But I have other stuff to think about than my haters, so whatever. (Again, easier said than done.) My mother is still working a lot, thus not paying much attention to me. Thus I’m lonely again. But, at least I have food to eat and a house to live in, so hey, ain’t that bad.

I’ve been having the same weird dream every time I go to sleep, eversince I moved. I just see this silhouette of a person in front of me, as I stand in water, unable to move. And that’s practically it, I would wake up again, calm but confused.

Pretty weird if you ask me. (Even if you don’t.)

My mother had been distant lately. I mean, she was always distant, but she has this look in her eye that I can’t decipher. But who am I to care! (Just kidding I did care. I just didn’t wanna she her.)

Even the kids at school had been shooting me weird looks lately! Everytime I passed by, they would always shift further away from me, as if I had some sort of deadly virus. Ridiculous. I ignored it. (Okay, I lied again.)

My mother hadn’t returned from work. I don’t care. I fell asleep eventually.

I woke up...not in my bedroom. Instead I was strapped to a table in the basement. Huh, this was a different dream. This time though, I was able to move. Good sign. This dream though, felt uncomfortably real. I looked around and realised that the shelves were cleared, replaced by lit candles. Their glow was too real. Suddenly I heard someone coming. It was my mother. I giggled, (I don’t understand how I could be so calm) and said, “Hi mom. Quite a weird dream eh?” She looked at me and said, “This is no dream Elisa. Nor is this a nightmare. I’m killing you tonight.”

I froze. No way. My fear turned into anger. I shook violently, trying to free myself! My mother just looked on, with no emotion in her eyes. “LET ME GO TRAITOR. WHATEVER DID I DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS!?” My mother smiled, (She had the gall to smile) and explained calmly, “Oh dear Elisa, though you’re gonna die, I’ll tell you anyway. You had a sister, Natalie.”

Natalie. That name sounded familiar. But I had a sister? “Where is she then?” My mother, no I can’t even call her mother anymore, the traitor’s mouth contorted into a frown.

“She’s dead Elisa. I killed her. If she wasn’t disgustingly black, maybe I would change my mind.”

What the hell! “What kind of woman are you!? Killing her just because of her skin colour. What does this all have to do with me anyway!?” The traitor’s from deepened. “You...remind me too damn much about her. I can’t afford to have a guilty conscience. You have to go.”

My anger turned into panic. “NO NO. Why can’t you just take me to an orphanage?! You won’t have to see my anymore!!!” She just silently narrowed her eyes. I tried all I could to free myself, yet all my efforts were in vain. Then, she revealed the knife that had been behind her back the whole time, and slowly advanced up to me.

My panic meter broke.

She lifted the knife above my heart.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

And I heard the knife clatter on the floor.

My eyes flew open. And there standing in place of the traitor, was a messy haired girl, dark skinned, wearing black and white striped shirt with blue pleated skirt and black leggings. Natalie, my imaginary friend, my dead sister.

“N-Natalie! Please untie me!” She looked at me sadly. “I’m sorry Elisa. No one would find you here. Even if they eventually do, you would be dead by then. I can’t untie you, but we will play together again, soon!” Tears rolled down my cheeks. Natalie stares down at me sadly. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. She took my hand, and my vision went black.

End~

Photo courtesy of New York Times

A Cold Autumn Night

          “ I sat at my favorite blue, wooden table, arms folded, a small red teacup filled with warm milk tea sat in front of my folded arms. Though I was at home, it was still surprisingly cold, and I liked it.

          It was a cold autumn night, 11.34 p.m. Soon it would strike 12 midnight, and I would had to dive under the warm covers in bed. I looked up at the bright crescent hanging in the night sky. It was shining especially bright that night, beaming at me. Outside, a bare tree stood lonely at the sidewalk. Around it were leaves that were once green and lush, growing on the strongest branches of the tree were now falling and dead. Soon winter would come and snow would cover them.

          Then, I spotted a lone star shining in the ink-black sky. I smiled at the star, and shifted my long, red hair, out of my eyes. To watch the star. Outside was silent. Everyone had went to bed. ‘Misty neighborhood’ was silent, and I immersed myself in it. I sipped my milk tea but felt nothing. My house was dark and quiet, the only light that shone was the moonlight. 

          I looked at my watch. 11.55 p.m. 5 more minutes. Might as well finish the tea. I picked up my red teacup and drank the rest of the tea and set it down on the cold table. Tomorrow at 8.30 a.m, the kids would be coming to listen stories. Again. I smiled at the thought. I glimpsed at my watch, 11,59 p.m. Time to sleep. I put my cup in the sink and went up the green staircase.

          As I heard the clock strike 12 midnight, I heard the bark of the three legged dog, leading my neighbor for his usual walk.”

          Jewel closed the book with a thud and looked down at 20 curious faces staring back at her. “But Miss Jewel? I did not see anyone next door.” Jewel smiled at Thomas. “You just didn’t look harder enough. He’s always at home in the mornings.” Thomas beamed at Jewel. Then someone knocked on the door. And soon, all the kids were sent back home.

          Jewel sat at her blue table, arms folded, a red teacup set in front of her. She sighed. If only the kids knew the truth. A newspaper clipping was being carried by the wind. And on the newspaper clipping read the headlines:

Poisonous Gas Released in ‘Misty Neighborhood’ At 12 Midnight. Residents Died In Their Sleep!

#14

The Cliff

“Goodbye.”

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“Finally done!”

I put down my pencil and sighed in relief. I finished a fan-art of one of my favourite shows and was really excited to post it on social media.

“Maybe, they’d notice my artwork!”

“They’ll never.”

Wait what? “Who was that?” I leaped out of my chair, startled.

“Over here!”

I twisted around, no one was there. I had no idea what was going on. Is it just in my head-

“No stupid, I’m here.”

I twisted back in front and was face to face with…

What the hell?! “Who are you?!”

She looked like… me? But she was all black, like the night sky. But instead of being calming, she radiated… evil. Her eyes were the only things that weren’t black, they were white. Just white, which only made her more scarier.

“I’m you, of course.”

And then with a wave of her hand, my bedroom disappeared, and darkness surrounded me.

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“What are you doing!?” I panicked and stumbled backward, keeping watch of the dark creature.

“I’m trying to make you realise something.” Suddenly, black tendrils came out of nowhere and grabbed my wrists and legs, lifting me up. My heart was beating so fast, it hurts. I kicked and pulled, but I couldn’t even get the tendrils to move.

“What do you want from me?!” Tears blurred my vision.

“Don’t you realise? You’re useless here in this world.”

I was suddenly hovered over the edge of a cliff, I couldn’t see the bottom, it looked endless! My heart picked up speed. No! I must get out! I kicked and did everything I could to get out.

“It’s no use struggling. What good do you contribute to this society? This artwork?” The black creature floated up to me, face to face, holding up the fan-art I did earlier.

“Don’t do anything to it!”

Rip!

The shreds of paper floated down into the abyss.

I couldn’t hold in the tears anymore.

“What do you want from me! Let me go… I did nothing…”

“That’s the problem, you do nothing. You’re useless. Nothing you do is good. You couldn’t even win the art competition last week. Can’t even dress well, look at you!” We were lowered to the ground, she grabbed my collar, lifted me up, and the tendrils disappeared. I couldn’t fight back.

So… so tired…

“Please…”

She smiled.

“Goodbye.”

She released me, and I fell into the abyss.

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“Hey, this looks amazing.”

I snapped out of my daze and looked up. Connor, my boyfriend, was looking at me fan-art drawing.

“You’re so good at drawing.” Connor gave me back my drawing, and ruffled my hair. Then, he walked out of my room.

I looked at my drawing, and smiled.

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Connor caught my hand, and pulled my back up from the cliff.

End~

Photo courtesy of New York Times

Shining in Misty Sea......

          “The diamond was said to be still in the deepest depths of Misty Sea. Waiting, to be discovered.”

          Ethan Brown loved hearing fantasy stories and myths from his grandparents. He couldn’t get enough and always persuaded for more. Like this time.

          “I’m sorry Ethan but it’s way past your bedtime. Maybe some other time. Remember, you’re going scuba diving in Misty Sea tomorrow, you don’t want to oversleep, do you?” Ethan’s grandmother said in a soothing voice and gave a toothless smile. Ethan’s eyes lit up at the sound of his upcoming trip to Misty Sea and jumped of the couch without a moments hesitation, and rushed to his bedroom faster than the speed of lightning. 

          Ethan looked like he ate a whole jar of sugar the next day. He could not stop talking about all the fun things he might see in Misty Sea, could not keep still in the car and chattered all the way to Misty Bay. There the Brown family put on scuba diving gear. Ethan the first one to finish preparing, unsurprisingly. After a few minutes, they were all ready. The Brown family stood with scuba diving instructors at the age of Misty Bay and together...                                                                              ...they jumped in to the cold and sparkling waters of Misty Sea.

          Ethan’s breath had been taken away as soon as he plunged into the water. Colourful fish were swimming by and there were beautiful corals standing upright on the sea grounds, showing off their outstanding colours in the morning rays penetrating into the water. There was also anemones swaying with the gentle water current. This was not expected by Ethan at all. This was so much more breath-taking and astounding.

          They swam around, passing by colourful fish and even took picture with a turtle with an underwater camera. It was such an amazing experience. Just then, a clown-fish passed by, which wasn’t unusual if the clown-fish didn’t stop to take a look at Ethan. Ethan caught it staring and stopped to stare back at its black eyes. The fish’s mouth was gaping open and close repeatedly, almost as if it was saying something but no words were formed. The clown-fish then turned its orange head around to face the back, and turned back to face Ethan, mouth still gaping open and close, as if it was saying, “Come with me.” The clown-fish suddenly turned its orange striped body to the back and started swimming deeper into the ocean. And of course, Ethan had to follow, but by doing so he had broken one rule: Always stick together.

          Ethan swam curiously with the clown-fish as a guide. He didn’t realize that he had strayed away from the group. Then he sensed light. It was different from the morning rays. No, it was brighter and whiter. Curiosity burned inside of him like a bushfire that just pushed him to find out what the strange light was. And he saw it.

          There was a huge and sparkling diamond sitting in the middle of the waters. Light reflected of the beautiful diamond and it was gorgeous. Ethan remembered the myth his grandmother told him the previous night, was it actually true? The sparkling diamond standing right in front of his eyes, could it be actually true?

          “Ethan! There you are! Where have you been?” Ethan’s head whipped around and saw his mother and father swimming after him. They stopped when they saw the outstanding beauty of the diamond. One of the scuba diving instructors giggled and said, “Looks like your son has found the amazing work of art in the sea.” Ethan widened his eyes. “So it’s not from a giant’s diamond ring?” The same instructor laughed again and said between laughter, “Of course not! It was just a myth the town made up.” Ethan felt very ridiculous and stupid right then. He thought it was from a giant’s ring when it was just an amazing work of art in Misty Sea.

          Nevertheless, it didn’t ruin his day and brought back memories and photos of the scuba diving trip in Misty Sea.

          And, who knows, maybe there is a sparkling diamond that fell from a giant’s ring, somewhere deep in Misty Sea, still waiting to be found, shining its beautiful light......                                                                                                      ________________________________________________________________

One sentence summary: A myth in which a diamond from a giant’s diamond ring fell in to the sparkling water of Misty Sea, or was it just a myth?

One paragraph summary: A  myth in which a diamond from a giant’s diamond ring fell in to the sparkling water of Misty Sea, or was it just a myth? Ethan finds out the truth as he scuba dives into the sparkling waters of Misty Sea.

Photo courtesy of New York Times

The Secret Room

          When Janice turned eight, she was at the age where she was curious and adventurous. She loved to run around and poke around with her sister and brother. Out of her 4 siblings if you ask them who was the most active and curious they would simultaneously point to Janice. She was also very clumsy, often tripping over her own feet, tripping over invisible rocks on the ground. She had gotten use to the pain of scratches and bruises on her legs and arms. Her mother always thought that her curiosity would be put into good use in the near future so she encouraged Janice to be more curious. Her father said otherwise. Janice did not care, she continued being curious and adventurous just like what her mother said.

         One day, the family decided to move into a new house about a state away. Janice wasn’t particularly happy about it but she also saw it as a chance to explore the house and neighborhood. As soon as they stepped into the new house, Janice rushed around, opening doors and exploring them. Her father rolled his eyes playfully while her mother giggled at Janice’s reaction to every room she opened up to. 

          But nothing could compare when Janice opened a door to what seem like heaven itself.

          Shelves and shelves of books filled the room. There were two bean bags, a table and chairs and even a window seat! It was like a paradise to Janice. One look at the books, the warm and inviting room and the sweet smell of books, she knew that she was meant to be in this house. Janice rushed up to her mother and father, who were unpacking their luggage, gave them a big hug and screamed, “THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” Her four siblings came up and wondered what the commotion was all about.

          A few months later, when the clock strike twelve, Janice immediately threw down her pencils and raced to the ‘Library’. She shut the ‘Library’ door behind her and roamed the shelves, looking for the perfect book to transport her to a wonderland. As her eyes roamed from title to title, her eyes glued to one captivating title. ‘The Secret Room’. It sounded like the book ‘The Secret Garden’ which was Janice’s all time favorite books. Her eyes lit up and she reached out a hand to take the book out.

          It wouldn’t budge. Janice raised an eyebrow and tugged at it. It still wouldn’t budge. Janice forehead wrinkled in confusion. Is this book glued to the wall? She gripped the book with both hands, took a deep breath and tugged hard at the stubborn book.

          CLICK!

          The book tilted abruptly but stopped all of a sudden, sending Janice stumbling back and falling on her butt. “Ow...” She got up and dusted herself just in time to see something extraordinary.

          The bookshelf with the tilted book swung open to her very slowly. Like a door. Janice’s eyes widened in both fear and excitement. She took a tentative step towards it and peered inside and gasped.

          It was a room! It had a blue bed and a picture of cherry blossoms on the wall. Janice couldn’t breathe. She stepped inside and swung her head wildly. There was a desk at the end of the room. She tiptoed towards the room and found a purple velvet book with a rusty key next to it. She picked up the purple book and blew the dust on it away. Janice started to open it but realize there was a strange lock on it, the same colour as the key......

          Janice sat on the blue bed and flipped to the first page. “The Secret Room. Wait, it’s that book!” Janice exclaimed excitedly, just as her mother called her for lunch. Janice reluctantly got up and turned the key, locking the book. After putting the book back at where it belonged, she stepped into the familiar ‘Library’ and shut the bookshelf. Janice grinned.

          No one will ever find that room. No one will ever enter the room. No one will find out what is hidden. Because it is mine. And mine only.

1. One sentence summary: Janice was a thirteen year old girl who found a secret room behind a bookshelf in her new house.

One paragraph summary: Janice was a clumsy, adventurous and curious thirteen year old girl who unintentionally stumbled upon a secret room behind a bookshelf a few days after she moved in her new house. She decided that this room would be hers and no one should find out about it.