In those days, I was living on a barn. A barn made of oakwood. Nice and strong. There were cows and sheep and horses, too. Chickens lived in the barn. Goats lived in a special field on the barn.

I sleep on a clump of hay. Today for breakfast, we have sweet milk from the cows, some sweet corn from the corn stalks we grow, and some goat cheese on bread.

Mom says, “Use the resources around you.”

My name is Elm. I have to fetch water from the stream in a wooden bucket. The problem is that I always want friends. I want to live in the town. I’ve heard stories about the town from Father. The people there eat bread and don’t have to make it. They buy it, and it is very easy.

I ask Mom if we can go to town someday. She says we’d need a horse-drawn carriage. The only way I can think of going to town is to run away from home, but that would be hard.

I look out at the grass. I’m tired of the grass. I want to see the sidewalk.

I think I’ve made up my mind by now. I’m gonna leave. I plan to leave tomorrow, but today I’ve got some packing to do. I pack a package of warm goat cheese, a hollow trunk of sweet milk, crunchy corn, and a loaf of golden bread. I also pack a glossy red stone, a rare find, and a special piece of carved wood Father hand carved. I pack this all in a hollow gourd. I sleep nicely tonight, knowing this will be the the last night sleeping here.

I wake up early when the sunset is just showing off its orange rays. I have a bunny named Nibbles; it is snowy white, and decide I will take Nibbles along on my trip to town. I open the door and begin to walk through the golden grass. I walk for about an hour then take cover under the shade of a willow tree and feed a handful of crunchy corn to Nibbles. It is raining outside. I decide to sleep here for the night. I find some damp hay, that will serve as a mattress. It’s damp, but its better than nothing. Oh, and for Nibbles’ bed I use maple leaves padded with pine needles.

The next morning, I head in the way of the sun until finally I reach a wooden sign that says, Welcome to Chettut Town. I enter Chettut and look first at the sweets shoppe there. I swing open the candy pink door, and there is a shop owner with a stringy gray beard and piercing black eyes. There are minty candy canes. There are tangy lemon drops, sweet fruit chews, egg-sized jaw breakers, milk chocolate balls, fizzy pink lemonade, and sour powder.

“How much is one cup of fizzy pink lemonade?’’ I ask.

“1 cup of sweet cow milk,” the shopkeeper says.

I pour a little bit of sweet cow milk into a glass jar he holds out, and then he gives me a cup of fizzy pink lemonade. I try a bit. It’s tangy and sweet at the same time. I slurp it all up. Now I enter the clothing store. There are rich ballroom gowns and simple dresses. There are pretty ruby necklaces and emerald tiaras. There is also lemon lip balm and ruby red lipstick.

“How much are the gowns?” I ask.

“One package of warm goat cheese,’’ he says.

I give him my package of goat cheese and in return he gives me a ruby red gown with fake jewels on it. I decide to go to the park. I pick a spot next to a crystal-clear stream and take off my flip-flops and dip my feet in the stream. I pick up Nibbles and feed him some crunchy corn and sweet cow milk.

“Town was not as good as I thought,” I tell Nibbles. “I’m afraid we’re gonna have to sleep at a hotel tonight,” I said .

I eventually find a hotel that’s only a few dollars. I manage to find a couple of dollars on the street, enough to sleep at the hotel at night. The hotel has a muddy peeling sign made of soggy wood. I open the wood door. There is stringy velvet on the walls. I go over to the desk.

“My pet bunny and I would like to spend the night,’’ I say.

“OK, you will be sleeping on floor two,” says the person at the desk.

We have to walk up two flights of stairs until we got to the second floor. I open the door. It is the shabbiest room I had ever seen. I decide to wash my hands. I turn on the water to at least try to. Nothing comes out. I try to telephone the hotel people but the telephone doesn’t work. So I decide to just use soap and wipe my hands on the towels. It turns out the soap was “homemade’’ so on the back it says a fresh mixture of moisturizing mud and the beautiful artificial scent of roses. The soap is basically green mush which smells horrible.

I crawl into bed and fall asleep in a instant.

The next morning I decide to leave. I run out of the hotel room with Nibbles and run into the the forest. I stop to catch my breath. I run for about an hour until I see our familiar cabin. Oakwood. Nice and strong. I swing open the door of the cabin and hold my breath. Nothing. Silent. Sad. Nibbles squeaks. I run into the forest. The forest used to feel safe. Like home. Now it feels cold. Lonely. I hold the red stone in my pocket. Then I hear a voice…

“Are you okay?” I see a girl.

She has blond hair pulled back in tight braids. She has sparkling eyes.

“Oh, I’m fine,” I say.

“Who are you?” she says.

“I’m Elm,’’ I reply. “Why are you in the forest?’’ I say.

“I lost my parents,” she says.

“Me too,” I say.

The sky is cloudy. The forest is quiet.

“Maybe we can be friends,” I say.

“Sure,” she says.

“Would you like to live in town with me?” she says.

It is a hard decision. I could either live in town with her friend, or I could stay home with my parents.

“I’ll stay here,” I say. “You can have this,” I say. I hand Nibbles over to her.

“Thanks,” she says.

I go back to my cabin. I hear voices. I go the kitchen. My family is there.

The Marvelous Civil War Heroes—December 31st 1860

“This dang army never does anythin’. All we do is sit aroun’, and we scarcely have enou’ money to have a life. We need war. What is an army without battles? And I don’t mean thumb wrestling matches… or arm wrestlin’. Hey, look at da navy dey haven’t had any action for almost fiddy years,” Mike complained.

“Mike, Mike don’t fret I hear good old Abe is tryin’ to plan a war with us. The southern states will dominate, we’ll get to keep our slaves. Remember the upper states still want slaves but are forcing themselves otherwise,” Joe said.

But little did they know the war had been canceled. Which meant that the future would have been changed forever…

Superior Aliens—2094

“Professor Borchick, I have bad news… This water is diluted,” Gonzo said quivering.

“Gonzo, for one thing, you can’t dilute water!! And we have a worse problem on our hands! The Civil War will never happen, which means when the present happens for them it will become an evil alternate universe. And all the books about the Civil War will never be put into the Library of Congress,” Borchick said nervously.

Most people know that there are other universes and some don’t. Well if you are wondering, some people think that an alternate universe is something that is totally different. Like in an alternate universe, the Civil War could’ve been a war between apples vs. bananas. Or in another alternate universe I might not be even be saying this right now. Well anyways, I’ll tell you more fun-facts later. Let’s get back to the story.

U.F.Uh-Ohs

“Gonzo, land the ship at point 23H in the year 1861. And before we land, contact the other time capsules to zap themselves near these very coordinates. And when you get the chance, please get me a cheese sandwich,” Professor Borchick ordered from inside the ship.

“Slave! Oh slave! Come here and get Joe and me the new waffles we made last Thursday. And add extra bullets to my Gatling gun if you would,” Mike said bossily.

“Yes Mista Morris, but you do know that those waffles are six days old and every piece has rotten maggots. Oh and sir I think you have some company. If you know what I mean… look UFOs,” murmured Ofelia the slave.

“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” Joe, Mike and Ofelia said promptly.

“Quick Gonzo! Put gas in the ship so we can land. You know what happens when we don’t, the ship will explode without us even hitting the self destruct button. Put the gas in now. And by the way, why do you look like President Abe Lincoln? Don’t you want to scare the jelly beans out of those dumb people?” Professor Borchick demanded.

“But Professor, I was thinking that we could make ourselves look like some normal humans so we could then pull off our masks and… they would not only be scared out of their wits but they might even battle us!!!” Gonzo thought out loud.

“Good idea! Cancel all my appointments for today! And while you are at it, put in the gas. And now, let’s exit the marvelous ship,” Borchick replied as he stepped onto the land.

“Hullo President and Vice President. How wonderful it is to see you guys tuday! Yuz know there were UFOs dat landed somewhere near here?” Mike said with mixed emotions.

The two aliens ripped off their masks and took off their gloves to reveal their true gruesome features along with other aliens who also unmasked themselves.

And The War Begins—1861

“We are aliens from the future, come and battle us. We have the latest technology and…” Borchick mentioned.

“What is technology?” said a random person in the army.

“Whatever. We don’t care if you know what technology is. We will win this war no matter what!” said Gonzo.

The hours inched by but the war continued. Borchick crept into the mastership for sleeping at night and eating in the day. It kept getting rougher and rougher. One day they would just fist-fight then try to shoot each other the next day. Borchick watched from inside the ship, giving advice to those in need, but he was much more concerned about the Civil War, not this mere battle. He decided to go to the one and only Abe Lincoln, but before he could leave he got a text message from Gonzo.

The text read:     FKAF JYASD NOFTH CRASDEEIM¡¡¡¡¡¡ DUPICKANI :[]

Which translates to: PLZ HLP EXPLAIN Y WE CAME!!! THX :{}

And for those non text readers: Please help explain why we came! Thanks :0

*FUN-FACT*  Did you know that the way that he got a text was by his brain? If an alien’s brain stopped working he would never be able to receive another text message again. Unlike us if we have a cell-phone and someone texts us when we have died we still receive the text message.

Civil War?

Professor Borchick put on a jet-pack and flew to the White House. Then he zapped the security guards with his laser-gun. He walked right into the Oval Office where the President was fast asleep. Borchick shook Abe, but he still wouldn’t wake up. Professor soon realized why he was ‘sleeping’. Someone literally glued his eyelids shut. I mean literally, so Borchick took out a Q-tip and tried to wipe some of the glue away. It didn’t work. So he swapped the Q-tip with his laser-gun, and that definitely worked.

When the President opened his eyes, he was overjoyed to have an alien in his office!  Borchick was so surprised at his reaction he almost passed out, but when he came back to his senses he realized why he came to the President.

“Um, Mr. President? Why did you cancel the Civil War? As you can clearly see I am from the future…” Professor Borchick murmured.

“Ok, if you are from the future, where will I be living in twenty-five years,” Abe replied.

“Well, I’m sorry to break this to you, but, well you will die on April 15th in four years. Or should I say you will be murdered. So if you would be kind enough, DON’T CANCEL THE CIVIL WAR! Unless, of course, you want to ruin all hope for people having a happy life in the year 2094!”  Borchick roared.

“Ok, don’t be so feisty. Just do me a favor. Now that I know when I am going to die, I don’t want to die so I’m not going to do anything that day.” Abe said.

“Sir, I hope you don’t mind, but I checked your mail and, well you got opera tickets for that very night. You should go… for all you know it could be one of the greatest moments of your life.” Borchick added.

But Abe thinks that he will die at the opera so..

“I’m going to have to brainwash you because you can’t know when you are supposed to die. Or at the very least I can make you not know how or when you are going to die. OK, so would you mind laying down while I do the process? Oh, and when you get a chance, start the Civil War!” Borchick said rather nicely.

“Wait don’t you ask for permission? But if this is what it takes to have a happy rest of my life than I’ll take it. Civil War coming right up,” Abe said puzzled.

The process was very simple indeed, oh yes. What you have to do is hook up the human head with a paper clip to a mobile smart phone from the year 2076 or later. Then you will be able to see a full list of memories from day one. You can choose to either delete the thought or make it a mere blur.

As Abe woke up he shouted, “Now let us do the Civil War!”

Civil War!

“Are they getting tired yet?” Borchick whispered to Gonzo back at the battlefield.

“Yeah. They said they were ready to give up,” Gonzo replied.

“Good, because the Civil War is back on!” Borchick said with positive reinforcement.

*************************

“I’m glad the Civil War is going to happen. We will at least have a chance against our own kind,” Mike said to Joe.

“Agreed!” Joe said.

Epilogue

Abe Lincoln goes to the opera and dies the way he is supposed to. The aliens go back to the future. And most of all, the past returns to normal!

There were two boys that lived on planet Earth. They lived in Harlem. They were playing soccer while a van came by and dropped a paper that said Top Secret on the top which was meant for an agent from the FBI. On the bottom it said, “Meet us at 138th and Broadway.”

The two boys kicked the soccer ball onto the street and went to get the ball. When they kneeled down, the ball had landed on top of the note. Jim, one of the boys, read the note and told Todd, the other boy. They went to 138th street.

Todd took the subway and Jim took his scooter. Jim’s family doesn’t have a lot of money. They bought him a scooter for his ninth birthday. Jim’s family is black. They were from Africa. Jim’s ancestors were taken from Africa to the new world, which is what the Europeans called the U.S. before, as slaves. After Jim’s ancestors earned their freedom, his great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War. After his great-great-grandfather returned home to the North, he got robbed by Kissing Kate so therefore, his family is poor. Kissing Kate was a famous robber. Every person that she robbed, she kissed them.

A few years ago, Jim’s uncle’s boat sank. Jim and his family thought that he had died because no one had seen him at the hospital. Jim wished that they could see him one more time.

Todd’s family was always rich. Todd’s ancestors were slave owners and didn’t want the Civil War to happen. Todd was white.

A few minutes later, Jim and Todd met at 138th and Broadway. They thought of which apartment the FBI were in. Then they looked at the fanciest one. They rang the bell. A really strong, UFC fighter with a pistol in his pocket opened the door. He was the bodyguard of the house.

“Do you have the note?” he asked.

“Yes, we do,” Todd said.

“Our agents are here,” said the bodyguard.

Jim and Todd walked in front of the staircase while they were thinking, why did he say our agents are here? They were suspicious.

“We didn’t order you guys,” the headmaster said. The headmaster looked tough, with a big scar on his nose.

“What happened to our real agent?” said the headmaster.

“There was a note on the floor because a van was driving downtown, the opposite way of you. The man dropped the note, then we picked up the note, and came here,” said Jim.

“Was the van green?”

“Yes,” said Todd.

“As we lost our agent, we might as well train you guys,” said the headmaster.

The headmaster went to this library room. Jim and Todd followed him. The room was filled with shelves of books. It smelled a little bit like glue. The headmaster took out five books and pulled the shelf out. Jim and Todd walked downstairs. The headmaster put their hands on a scan. Their hands opened the door.

“There are at least 1000 agents in here,” Jim said.

“You are exaggerating too much,” said Todd.

After a white agent came with pure black sunglasses and brought them into their room and taught them some fighting moves. A karate teacher started teaching them how to relax and meditate. There was a candle in front of Jim and Todd. When they focused, the candle would go higher. If they didn’t focus enough, it would be put out, and they wouldn’t be able to be agents anymore. The least seconds is 25 and Jim got 31 seconds and Todd got 26 seconds. Todd just passed. He almost failed.

A nerd walked in. Jim and Todd looked kind of weird because they saw a nerd. They thought, maybe he can fight or something.

The nerd said, “Give me your homework.” They looked confused. They gave the nerd the homework about how Native Americans played rough in lacrosse.

The next day, both Jim and Todd failed class.

“This really sucks,” said Todd.

“I know, right? What does that teacher expect from us?”

His teacher said, “If you fail, you’ll be kicked out of school because you did so bad on your homework. If you do bad today, you will be kicked out of school.”

Todd asked Jim, “Should we give our homework back to the guy with the glasses?”

Jim said, “I don’t know, let’s just do our homework today.”

When they went back to the agent’s palace, it was too quiet and they went downstairs. When they got back they started complaining to the nerd and the top agents.

“Oh! You almost made us fail in school. If you get us kicked out we won’t come here anymore, and we will tell everyone about this place,” Jim and Todd said.

The agent said, “Okay, okay I’m sorry. I’ll try to make him work harder next time.”

The next day, Jim and Todd handed in the homework that they did. Their history teacher told Jim and Todd’s mom and dad that they did poorly on their homework and that they might be kicked out of school.

Mrs. Blueberry told Jim and Todd’s parents, “They have not been participating in class, and they haven’t been doing their homework correctly, and they might be kicked out of school. You should help them with their homework.”

The parents said, “We will help our children with their history and ELA, but our children are pretty good at math so we think they could do it on their own.”

Mrs. Blueberry said, “They usually mess up a lot on their math homework.”

Jim and Todd went to the FBI and they gave their homework to the FBI agents because the FBI agents said that they should give them one more chance. Then they got kicked out of school. Jim and Todd didn’t want to go to the FBI for a whole week. On Tuesday, they went back and they trained.

A week later, they were walking outside at 11 o’clock when the wind was blowing smooth and clean. Todd said, “it’s kind of chilly out here.” (His teeth chattered.).

And then Jim said, “It feels like deja-vu.”

Todd said, “Doesn’t the moon look like a bowling ball to you?”

There was mist in the air. All of a sudden, Jim and Todd heard a person screaming in the apartment, they went up to the apartment and the robber with a red mask and with pitch black clothes ran out and bumped into Jim. Todd jumped on him and got him in a headlock. Then Jim started punching him in the face. The guy got a club and swung at Jim, and Jim caught the club and hit him in the ribs. Todd let go while he was doing the headlock and started to call the police.

The police caught the robber. Jim and Todd brought the furniture and the money back to the apartment.

“Are you my uncle?” Jim asked with a shocked face because his whole family was dead. Jim
started to cry. His uncle gave him a hug.

Then Jim and Todd stayed as agents. They also got married to the most beautiful women in the world and had the worst lives ever (lying).

Chapter 1 – Meet Elizabeth

Elizabeth was a five-year-old little girl when her parents died from cancer. After her parents died she lived all alone in her parents’ big mansion. Every morning, there was a farmers market outside her house. She would go outside and the people at the farmers market were nice enough to give her food for free because she had no parents and no money for food. So she ate the food she got for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Most of the food she ate was vegetables and fruits because Elizabeth loved healthy foods.

Every night she would give herself her own bath, although she still missed her mother telling her stories of when she was little in the bath. Later, when she climbed into her expensive, small bed, she felt like the most unlucky person in Colorado.  Elizabeth felt like the loneliest person on the face of the earth.

Chapter 2 – Meet Gabriella

One summer night a year later, there was a knock on her door. Since it was a year later, Elizabeth was six. She was still a little scared to open a door without knowing who it was. But she walked toward the door anyway.

“Who is it?” Elizabeth asked to whoever was standing behind the door. She stood silently at the door waiting for an answer. The door swung open and a tall woman with long, silky, blond hair, pale skin, and rose-red lips stepped in the house.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked.

“Elizabeth,” said Elizabeth.

“Where are your parents?” asked the woman.

“They died,” Elizabeth said sadly.

“Why didn’t you say so? My name is Gabriella,” said Gabriella. “You can live with me.” So she took Elizabeth by her hand and walked Elizabeth to her house.

Chapter 3 – Meet Henry

When they got to Gabriella’s house, Gabriella opened the door with shiny golden keys. When they walked into Gabriella’s huge house, Elizabeth discovered that Gabriella was very rich. There was a crystal chandelier on the ceiling and a glass floor and there were servants running all over the place.

“I would like you to meet Henry. He is one of my best servants,” introduced Gabriella. “Henry, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is Henry.”

“How do you do?” asked Henry in a soft, sighing voice

“Fine thank you,” said Elizabeth in a softer voice.

That night Elizabeth couldn’t sleep. She had this funny feeling about Gabriella. She felt like Gabriella was almost being too nice.

Chapter 4 – The Note

A week later, when Elizabeth walked in the giant dining room, Gabriella wasn’t there! Henry said she went to China to interview the Emperor of the Chinese Palace. All the other servants said that she moved to India. Now Elizabeth knew something weird was going on.

In the afternoon, Elizabeth was playing in the backyard. She threw a ball in the air and instead of catching it, it fell on the ground, right next to a piece of white paper. She picked up the paper and there was lots of fancy writing on it. But Elizabeth couldn’t read yet.

“I will never be able to read this, it’s in script. I can’t read script!” she exclaimed to herself.

“I will help you,” said a voice behind her. Elizabeth whirled around and Henry was standing right behind her!

“How can I trust you Henry? I think you told a lie about Gabriella interviewing the Emperor of China’’

“I told a lie because Gabriella told me to.”

“Why would Gabriella tell a lie? She is such a nice woman,” asked Elizabeth.

“She is faking her nice words,’’ explained Henry.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying!” Elizabeth said to Henry.

“None of Gabriella’s other kids do either.”

“What do you mean? I thought I was the only child Gabriella ever met?”

“Are you kidding? Gabriella has met about 15 other children,” exclaimed Henry

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“I think you’re saying is that Gabriella is pretending  to be nice,” said Elizabeth starting to understand what Henry was saying.

“Finally someone believes me!” yelled Henry in relief. “All the other children that Gabriella took didn’t believe me that Gabriella was bad, and they ended up getting pushed in a frozen river.”

“You’re saying that Gabriella might push me in a frozen river if I tell her that I think she’s pretending to be nice?”

“Yes,” said Henry.

“Well then I will never tell her in my whole entire life,” Elizabeth proclaimed.

“That’s the spirit my girl!” Henry yelled.

Elizabeth giggled. Then she said, “Did Gabriella really think you were her best servant or was she lying?”

“Well sometimes I pretend to be mean so Gabriella will like me and not kick me out of working for her,” said Henry. “Gabriella pays her servants a lot of money and I need money so I can live and buy food.”

“Do you sleep in Gabriella’s house?” asked Elizabeth.

“Yes, she has rooms for all her servants,” said Henry.

“Were the other servants lying about Gabriella moving to India?” Elizabeth asked again.

“Yes. They always listen to Gabriella. I myself believe that the servants were trained to listen to Gabriella.’’

“Oh. Why is Gabriella so mean?” Elizabeth asked

“Because her mother was the Queen of Evil and she taught Gabriella to be evil too.”

“Is her mom still alive?”

“Probably not,” Henry said.

“You’re not sure if her mom’s alive or not?” Elizabeth asked.

“Well, when Gabriella was five she was playing in her backyard and she went inside to ask her mother for a glass of water, but when she got in the house her mother was gone. She searched the whole house but she never saw her mother again. All she found was a bone and Gabriella told me that she thinks that her mother is probably dead.”

“That’s sad.”

“If her mom was here, you would be drowning in the frozen river right now! You think that’s sad?” Henry asked

“Yes. Maybe it’s not sad that her mother disappeared.”

“Well I sure hope her mother isn’t alive,” said Henry shivering. “Now I think I should read the note that you found.”

“Oh my gosh, I forgot about the note!” Elizabeth

“You were probably too into this conversation,” laughed Henry, remembering how many times he’d done that before.

“Maybe.”

“Can I have the note?”

“Sure,” she said, handing him the note. “Here”

“Thanks,” said Henry, “This is what the note says, ‘Dear mother, I am going to steal the Jones children tonight. Make sure that weird girl Elizabeth doesn’t get in our way. Love your dearest daughter, Gabriella.’”

“I’m not weird and that’s final,” Elizabeth said angrily.

“I know. I will never think you’re weird in my whole life.”

“Thanks.”

“Henry, you said that Gabriella never saw her mother again and thinks she’s dead, and now Gabriella’s writing a note to her,” Elizabeth said, puzzled. “She must have dropped the note on the way to meet her mother,” she added.

“I hate to say it, but this note means Gabriella’s mother is still alive.”  Elizabeth’s cheeks turned red and her face had a worried expression. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” said Henry.

“Thanks Henry,”  Elizabeth said knowing she had a friend who cared about her.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Now lets get back to the part when Gabriella said she was going to capture the Jones children.”

“The Jones children!” Elizabeth exclaimed, “I thought  you said the Hones children!”

“I said the Jones children,” replied Henry

“The Jones children are my best friends but I haven’t seen them since my parents died,” Elizabeth said

“Really?” Henry asked

“Yes,” Elizabeth answered quietly, “I’m really upset about mean old Gabriella trying to kidnap them. Is there someway we can help them?”

“Of course,” Henry said

“Of course what?” said a sly voice behind them.

Chapter 5 – The Jones Children

Henry and Elizabeth gasped and turned around.

“Gabriella!” they said together.

“Ha ha look who’s here. Henry and Elizabeth what a surprise,” Gabriella said, sarcastically.

“You  wouldn’t dare take the Jones children,” Elizabeth said in a rough voice to Gabriella.

“How do you know about that?” Gabriella sneered.

“Don’t tell her about the note,” Henry whispered quickly.  “It’s really important and if she knows about it, she’ll take it.”

“What are you two whispering about,” Gabriella said nosily. “And also, tell me how you know about those two Jones children.”

“We were just talking about how I know the Jones children, and how nice they are,” Elizabeth lied.

“Well how do you know I’m going to take them?!”

Elizabeth looked at Henry worriedly, trying to get advice about what to say to Gabriella.

“One of your servants told us,” Henry said, smiling at Elizabeth.

“Get over here, I know you’re lying!” Gabriella screeched. She pointed at Henry.  Gabriella grabbed Henry and reached over to grab Elizabeth, but Elizabeth jumped away just in time.

“LET GO OF HIM!” Elizabeth screamed at the top of her lungs .

“Never!” Gabriella said in a evil voice. She held a wiggling Henry with her two white hands.

“HELP!” screamed Henry.  Elizabeth bravely dashed over to grab Henry out of Gabriella’s arms, but it was too late. Gabriella had pushed Henry in her fancy black car and had driven off into the distance of Colorado.

“NOOO!” screamed Elizabeth.

In the distance, Elizabeth could hear Henry screaming, “LET GO OF ME!!!”

Chapter 6 – Meet Emily

Elizabeth started sobbing enough tears to fill up a soup bowl. “He was only trying to help me,” Elizabeth said to herself between sobs. “And I made him get kidnapped.” Elizabeth’s tears made the green summer grass all soggy.

All of a sudden Elizabeth felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around, salty tears rolling down her face. Elizabeth recognized one of Gabriella’s servants. She had wavy blond hair, deep blue eyes the color of the sky, and a smile cheerful enough to make the saddest person in the world happy. Gabriella had introduced the servant to Elizabeth back when Elizabeth thought that Gabriella was nice. Gabriella had said that the servant’s name was Emily.

“What are you doing here?” asked Elizabeth, in a small weak voice. It was weak from crying so hard.

“I am here to help you,” Emily said.

“I don’t trust you,” Elizabeth said, for she had already trusted Gabriella, and it turned out she shouldn’t have trusted her all along.

“You can trust me, though. I hate Gabriella as much as you do.”

“You do?” asked Elizabeth.

“Yep,” answered Emily, her blond hair waving in the summer breeze.

“Well in that case, I guess you can help me find Henry and the Jones children,” Elizabeth said, starting to trust Emily.

“OK. How should I start helping you?” asked Emily.

“I don’t know. There’s so much stuff to do, save the Jones children from being kidnapped and rescue Henry,”  Elizabeth listed.

“Maybe first we should rescue Henry, and then Henry could help us find the Jones children,” recommended Emily.

“That’s a great idea!” yelped Elizabeth.

“Thanks, my mother always said I was good at coming up with ideas on what to do,” said Emily.

“But how can we find Henry if we don’t know where he is?” asked Elizabeth.

“I know where he is,” said Emily in a mysterious voice.

“Where?” asked Elizabeth.

“Its a long story,” said Emily.

“Please tell me. I love long stories!” begged Elizabeth.

“Okay. When I started working for Gabriella, I was only ten years old. I was Gabriela’s favorite servant before Henry came along. I pretended to be mean so Gabriela would like me. Even though I didn’t like her, I needed her to take care of me because I had no parents and no one to take of me.  Gabriella liked me so much because I was mean that she showed me her secret hideout where she kept all the children that she kidnapped.  That hideout is behind those vines.” Emily pointed to some thick vines in the thicket. “Elizabeth, that’s where Henry is and where the Jones children will be tonight.”

“That’s upsetting,” said Elizabeth.

“I know.”

“But why didn’t Gabriella put me in her hideout?” asked Elizabeth.

“I think because she was planning to make you a servant.”

“Well I’m sure glad Gabriella didn’t make me into one yet!”

“I know.”

“But Henry is an adult, and you said that Gabriella only puts children in the hideout,” said Elizabeth in a confused voice.

“The truth is Henry is only 16, and you have to be over 18 to be an adult,” answered Emily.

“Really?” asked Elizabeth.

“Yes,” replied Emily.

“Well then let’s go find Henry!” yelled Elizabeth.

“You’re on!” Emily screamed.

And they ran to the vines where Henry was waiting.

Chapter 7 – The Hideout.

Elizabeth and Emily stopped at the vines.

“How are we going to get through those thick vines?” Elizabeth asked Emily.

“No problem,” replied Emily. She pulled out a sharp knife and started cutting through the vines.

“You’re too young to use a knife,” Elizabeth said, remembering something that her mother told her.

“I’m not too young. I’m 21!” Emily exclaimed.

“Really? You look like you’re 15,” Elizabeth said in shock.

“Everyone says that,” Emily said, wishing she looked her age.

“Oh,” Elizabeth said.

Emily continued thrashing at vines with her knife. In the middle of the trail to Gabriella’s hideout, Elizabeth stopped and looked around. “It doesn’t look like we’re getting anywhere,” she said, “I feel like we’re going in circles and circles.”

“Believe me, we’re going the right way. I’ve been through here millions of times.”

They continued walking through the forest of vines. Fifteen minutes later, Elizabeth spotted sunlight through the trees.

“Come on!” she yelled to Emily. “We’re almost there. Race ya!”

Elizabeth and Emily ran toward the sunlight, and they got out of the forest. Elizabeth spotted a wooden cabin in between the trees. They ran to it and burst open the door. When they got inside the hideout, Elizabeth saw a very sad sight. Millions of kidnapped children were sitting around and sighing, “I want to get out of here,” to each other.

“Who are they?” one of the children asked.

“My name’s Elizabeth, and her name is Emily,” Elizabeth said, looking around at the poor children.

“Have you seen a man named Henry?” asked Emily. “He has brown hair, he’s tall, and looks like he’s sixteen.”

“You mean that handsome boy Gabriella just kidnapped?” A kidnapped girl asked blushing.

“Yes,” Elizabeth said in excitement.

“Where is he?” Emily asked.

A pretty girl who looked like she was about 15 pointed to a jail cell. Elizabeth could hear crying coming from it.

“Thanks,” Elizabeth and Emily said, and they ran over to the jail cell.

They peeked inside and saw poor crying Henry with handcuffs around his wrists.

“HENRY!” Elizabeth and Emily screamed.

“Elizabeth! Emily!” Henry screamed back.

“How do we get in here?” Elizabeth complained.

“Look behind you. There’s a golden key hanging on a hook.” Elizabeth and Emily looked behind them and sure enough, there was a golden key dangling from a hook. Emily ran over and picked up the key and twisted it through the silver keyhole. Elizabeth and Emily dashed in the cell. They hugged Henry and everyone cried tears of joy.

“I knew you would come back!” Henry exclaimed between sobs.

“And we knew you were waiting for us,” Elizabeth cried.

“Yes we did!” Emily sobbed in joy.

Elizabeth stopped crying and said, “Why didn’t Gabriella guard the key? Don’t you think she would have put it in a case on the wall?”

“Gabriella never thought that anyone would find her hideout, and she told the children that she kidnapped that she would be guarding the door and if they even touched the key, she would carry them to the frozen river and push them in,” explained Henry.

“But why isn’t Gabriella guarding the door now?” Elizabeth asked.

“She lied,” Henry continued, “to the children she kidnapped, so they would think she was guarding the door and wouldn’t go to it.”

“But the children can see the door from where they are sitting,” said a confused Elizabeth.

“Gabriella told the children that she was on vacation. Although, she was really planning to get the Jones children. She told the children that some of her guards would be guarding the outside of the hideout, and if one of the children tried to sneak out, the guards would contact Gabriella and they would throw the children in the river in a second.”

‘’Are there really guards there?” asked Elizabeth.

“Yes,” replied Henry.

“Oh, Emily did you know that?”

“Yes I did in fact. Gabriella told me and Henry that because, you know, that me and Henry are her favorite servants and she still thinks we’re mean.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth said.

“Henry do you think we can free all the other children?” asked Elizabeth.

“Of course,” said Henry.

“Then let’s go free the captured kids and find the Jones children,” Elizabeth said in a proud voice.

“All right!” yelled Henry and Emily.

“Come on!” Elizabeth yelled and then she ran out of the cell to where the captured kids were.

Emily and Henry ran after her until they reached the place where the kidnapped kids were sighing sadly.

“We are here to let you free!” Elizabeth said in her loudest, proudest, voice.

“Yes we are,” Henry chimed in.

“Yay!!!” all the children cried. The kids ran towards the door waiting for Emily, Elizabeth, and Henry to open it. All of a sudden Elizabeth remembered Henry had said there were guards guarding the outside of the door.

Chapter 8 – Let’s get rid of the guards!

“Henry,” Elizabeth whispered frantically, “you said guards were guarding the outside of the door.”

“Oh my gosh! Thanks for telling me!” Henry whispered loudly.

“But we have to let the children go before Gabriella comes back!” whispered Elizabeth.

“I know,” Henry said in a worried whisper.

“We need a plan to get out without the guards seeing us,” Elizabeth said in a very loud whisper.

“Lets ask Emily. She will know how to do it,” Henry said in a soft voice.

“Okay,” Elizabeth agreed. They ran over to Emily who was making friends with a 15-year-old African girl.

“Emily we have to talk to you,” Henry said in a low voice.

“Okay. I will be right back,” she said to the girl she was talking to.

Elizabeth, Henry, and Emily walked into a corner in the hideout.

“What do you want to talk about?” Emily asked.

Elizabeth and Henry told her about the guards and how they needed a plan.

“Hmm,” Emily thought about for a minute and finally spoke.

“I have a plan,” she said.

“What is it?” asked Elizabeth and Henry at the same time.

“Well, everyone knows that Gabriella hates messy houses. And I was thinking that all the kidnapped kids and us could make a big mess, and when the guards come in the hideout to make sure the kids are there, they would see the big mess, and since they are so dumb they will probably run out of the hideout leaving the door open to get a broom, and then everyone could escape.”

“Great plan,” Elizabeth said.

“I agree,” said Henry

Then one of the kidnapped children said, “Well what are you waiting for? Open the door!”

Elizabeth, Henry and Emily reminded them about the guards and told them their plan. When everyone understood the plan they got to work. Children grabbed handfuls of dust and scattered it around the room. Other children threw cobwebs that had been stuck in corners around the room. Elizabeth, Henry and Emily did everything to make the room messy. And when everyone was done making the room messy, it looked like a garbage dump.

“Great job everyone. The guards should check on us in just a minute,” Henry yelled to the captured children.

“Now all we need to do is save the Jones children,” Elizabeth whispered to Emily.

“Yes,” Emily whispered back.

All of a sudden, heavy footsteps started walking towards the outside of the door.

“Get into your normal spots in the hideout,” Henry whispered loudly so everyone could hear him, expect the guards.

The captured children ran to the places they normally sat in, and Henry, Elizabeth, and Emily hid in a corner.

The guards burst through the door and walked into the room. All the kidnapped children acted sad and Henry, Elizabeth, and Emily squeezed more into the corner. Four guards stomped into the room. When they saw the mess they turned as white as the clouds in the sky.

“The boss will be furious,” one of the guards said in a very worried voice.

“I know,” another said.

“You’ll be sorry that you ever made this mess,” said one very angry guard.

“Yes you will!” said a very fat guard. Then the four guards stormed out of the door and ran into the distance to make a broom out of hay so that they could clean up the mess.

“Serves them right,” one of the kidnapped boys said.

“You are so right,” said a very thin girl—thin from starvation because she only got fed once a week.

“Well at least we can get out,” said Henry.

“Thank you guys so much” all the children said, and then they burst out of the doors to find their families.

“Lets get out of here,” Elizabeth said. “It’s beginning to stink from all the dirt. Plus we have to come up with a plan to save the Jones children because Gabriella is going to kidnap them tonight!”

“I know,” Emily cried. Then Emily, Henry, and Elizabeth ran outside to the vines to talk about their plan to save the Jones children.

My mom made us some toast and eggs for breakfast. My family of aliens and I were sitting down. The white china plates were holding beige eggs with burnt toast. I was about to take a bite when all of the sudden all the food turned into a lamp. My dad was satisfied with the way that my mom cooked. I kept on staring and staring until my father scolded me for not eating.

“Stop staring at your food and eat before you starve, Juliet,” said my dad.

My mom wanted to trick me into eating a lamp because I don’t like eating lamps. They burn my tongue and electrify me. My brother breaks the lamps in half, and he just eats the cords. I am not a normal alien, so I do not do this.

I said nothing and I turned off the lamp. My mom was very proud. Aliens have green, gooey hands so it’s very hard to turn off a lamp. My dad even brought me to an amusement park because of that achievement.

I want to become a human instead of spending my life on Mars. I hope one day I can see a wizard that can help me. I go to the library five times a day. I learn a lot from non-fiction books. One day, I went to the library and found a book on wizards. The book was a dusty, leather book, with a cover that was almost worn out. I got very interested. On one of the pages, it said that wizards could transform you into anything you wanted. I was very confused. I looked at the cover hoping that it was a non-fiction book! I was saved from this life, but the only problem was I needed to meet a great powerful wizard. I doubted that I would ever meet one. It was a sad thought, though.

“We’re closing. Get out of here,” said the librarian, interrupting my daydream.

Remember I told you about the amusement park. Well about that, I am now at the amusement park playing a very hard game called, “Throw the Penny into the Milk Jar.” The jar has a tiny little opening that the penny hardly gets into, and if you win, you win as many fish according to your score. If you put five pennies into the jar, you get five fish. I already scored three pennies by luck. My parents are very, very proud.

After I got my prize, I saw a sign that said, “MAGIC.” I thought that this was my only hope to check if there were some real potions that could turn me into a human. If I found what I was looking for, I would really be overjoyed. But my dad wanted to go to the roller coaster, and the roller coaster was in the other direction. So, I tried to get lost in the crowd, and it worked. Suddenly, I asked myself: how will I re-find my dad in that crowd?

The man at the magic sign was talking loudly, announcing that the next magic tournament would start in 15 seconds. To get there, I had to say lots of, “excuse me,” “pardon me.”

By luck, I found my second cousins called Maur-Maur and Satz man.

“Where are you going?” asked Maur-Maur.

“Are you going to the magic tournament?” asked Satz man.

“Yes,” I responded.

They asked if they could accompany me because they were going to go there too.

“Sure, I WOULD LOVE that,” I responded

“Great!!!”said Maur-Maur and Satz man.

So we all walked to the magic booth together. Once we arrived at the booth I at once signed up for the next turn. We waited for a looong time. I got really bored. Maur-Maur and Satz man fell asleep. I SCREAMED so loud that my cousins woke up and started screaming too. They started cursing me for waking them up, they were OBVIOUSLY out of their minds. At last, the magic tournament started. With my luck I was able to sneak back. To my surprise, it was only electric devices.

At last, I found what I was looking for: a bubbly, green, smoking potion. On the label it read: Potions for Aliens to Turn Into Humans. I looked at the bottle hoping it would taste better than it looked. I told myself it was now or never. So, I pinched my nose and drank the whole thing. It tasted like drinking beer. I almost vomited from disgust. Next time, I would be sure to pack some sugar wherever I went.

Once I found my parents, we went home. I was sad because I wasn’t able to do everything I wanted. Also, the potion wasn’t working. I got ready for bed. Once I was in bed, I got under the cozy, soft pillows and cover. I was about to drift off to sleep, when my stomach began to gurgle and my head began to ache. I was asking myself, “What the heck is happening to me?” Five minutes later I found myself AS A HUMAN called Selin Nalbantoglu. I was so happy that I did the two-step!

“This is really happening to me!” I told the world. But what would my parents think? Wouldn’t they be mad? Here we go again, I’m going to get some talking to about loving who you are (when I don’t really like who I am). I decided that I did not care. I went to show off to my family.

My brother was really scared when he saw a human in his room. He screamed like he was mad, “Mommy, Daddy! Big sister turned into an alien!!” I told him to stop talking and close his mouth. My little brother got really offended. He started crying even louder.

I hit my forehead saying, “Oh come on. Stop crying,” but my brother wouldn’t listen. Aren’t little boys soooo hard to deal with? Especially when it’s alien versus just-made human. My mom and dad came rushing into the room, and when they saw me, both of them fainted. I had to call an ambulance. They showed up and fainted at the sight of a human. One of the doctors was able not to faint, so I told him the whole story. I swore to God that it was true. He believed me, and he asked why I wanted to be a human.

“I just don’t want to be slimy, icky, and scary to humans,” I responded. The doctor understood and went into my house. He told me that my parents were DEAD. They had heart attacks. They couldn’t bear seeing their own daughter in a form of a human, so they killed themselves, and I cried like there was no tomorrow.

“Well, since I’m human now, I am going to Earth,” I told myself. “So long, aliens! I am going to Earth!” I took the next shuttle to Earth, and I soon found myself in a paradise of people. I love it here on Earth and I’m never going to leave it whatsoever. Well, maybe if I die, but under any other circumstances no way.

I hope you enjoyed my story!!!

THE END

Chapter 1

Once there was a kitty named Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty was eight years old and always wanted a pair of earmuffs. She decided that she wanted the earmuffs when her friend told her that there was a store in town where somebody sells earmuffs and he takes a picture of you and sticks it on. Her ears always got cold, so she decided that she was going to get a pair of earmuffs.

Hello Kitty lived on the North Shore. It was very cold. Instead of the Earth, she lived on a planet called Hearth. The planet Hearth was the shape of a kitty. On the Hearth, there were little towns full of kittens and cats. In the North Shore, there was a town called Hello Town, and Hello Kitty lived in Hello Town. In Hello Town, you could see the horizon from the main square. You could see the sunrise and the sunset.

In the main square there were a lot of people that stopped you and said, “Would you like something to eat? You look very hungry? You can have something to eat for free from our restaurant.” The people who were selling food were very rich and had too much food, and they didn’t want to have too much food. So they sent food around the world. There were a lot of poor people there, so they fed all the people for free. And if they had a penny, that’s all they needed to pay. If they didn’t have one tiny penny, that didn’t mean they couldn’t have any food. Hello Kitty felt so happy that they were giving food to the poor people. She even made a “Go Green” recycling place where instead of using bricks, they would use all recycled things to make one building, and no littering was done on the building. She didn’t want anyone to litter anywhere in the world. So she went all around the world picking up litter and she made more and more buildings out of what she had found. And the whole world wanted to join in with her.

She got paid from the people who were buying her buildings. But she ended up with only $21 because she had to spend a lot of money for helping all the poor people with the food, because there were a lot of poor people and they didn’t have anything, so no one could send them anything. They didn’t have a building, so they didn’t have addresses. So Hello Kitty went around the world to give money to all the poor people.

There was only one person that died. He was a man who did not have enough food. Hello Kitty brought him as much food as she could. But one day she forgot that she needed to bring that man food. That was the day he died. That made Hello Kitty feel very sad. She almost stopped the Go Green company, but she felt like she had to keep going on. She felt like she didn’t want to let more people die.

Chapter 2

On town day, when everybody goes around on the streets and buys a lot of things from the stores, Hello Kitty went out and went to the picture store that had plain earmuffs. You would get a picture of yourself, they would make the picture very hot, put it on the earmuffs, and the earmuffs would start getting cold so the picture would stick. And then Hello Kitty looked in her wallet, and she had $21 left. The earmuffs were only $4. So Hello Kitty bought the earmuffs, went back home and called her friends. All her friends came over. They had dinner all together and she took a picture of all of them because she had a good sight of the man who put the picture on the earmuffs.

So she went back to the store and put more pictures on more earmuffs for her friends. But, she did not have enough money to buy all of them, because she had ten friends and ten times four is 40 and she only had $17.

She said, “Wait a second, I cannot pay for those earmuffs yet.” So she called for another dinner and took a picture of all of them on only two earmuffs and instead of giving them all to her friends she decided to make it a present for her parents.

Her parents lived in the North Shore, but they lived in a different town. Their town day was the day after Hello Kitty’s town day. So her parents waited for her to give them a present for her town day. So she went all the way to their town called Grey Plain and she said, “Mom! Dad! I have a present for you.”

She looked all over the house but her parents were not there. So she went to the hospital to see if everything was alright and she saw that her Daddy was very sick. She said, “Mommy! Mommy! What happened now? I came to bring you a present for you both but you  were not home!”

“Sweetie, your Daddy fell. He hurt himself badly. So we took him to the hospital. Here he lies down on the hospital bed,” Hello Kitty’s Mom said.

So Hello Kitty started crying. She gave him the present. Her dad opened the present and said, “Oh dear, how beautiful this present is. I can’t believe it, Daughter, how kind you are. You’re such a lovely kitty.” So he put the earmuffs on, and he got better and better. The day he could go back home, Hello Kitty was there.

He said, “Oh I love you Hello Kitty. I love you I love you! These earmuffs made me heal. Oh, how much I love you, Hello Kitty!”

They took Hello Kitty’s dad home. When they all got home there was a banner that said, “Welcome Home Cats & Kitties.” Hello Kitty’s dad felt welcomed. He said, “Thank you for the banner.” (He was the only man in the family).

Chapter 3

After a little while in the house, Hello Kitty’s Mom said, “Honey, I am pregnant.”

Hello Kitty’s Dad said, “Honey, I’m impressed. I’m very happy.” He was impressed because everyone in that village only had one kitten and she was going to have two. He wanted the kitten to be a baby boy kitten because he didn’t want to be surrounded by girls.

Hello Kitty felt very happy. She wanted the kitten to be a girl because she really did not want a boy in her house that went around throwing toys.

Hello Kitty’s mom really wanted her kitten to be a boy because she didn’t want Hello Kitty’s dad to be surrounded by girls. They didn’t know yet if the kitten was going to be a boy or a girl but Hello Kitty knew it was going to be a girl. She said she just knew it was going to be a girl.

Then Hello Kitty’s mom went to the doctor’s office to check if the kitten would be a boy or a girl. She felt very excited. The doctor’s office had wallpaper that looked like a little forest with trees, water, and not many animals, only a dog and a cat. Hello Kitty’s mom went into the doctor’s office and the doctor used the tool where you can see inside of her belly.

The doctor said, “You’re going to have a boy kitten.” Hello Kitty’s mom was so happy. Hello Kitty was fretting. Hello Kitty was fretting because she never ever wanted a boy kitten in her life.

She said, “Mom! I hate having a boy kitten. It’s such a big responsibility and I just can’t take it!”

Hello Kitty’s mom said, “I didn’t know we were going to have a boy kitten, and I never wanted Dad to be surrounded by girl kittens.”

But then the doctor said, “I’m actually wrong. You’re going to have a girl kitten.”

“Oh dear,” said Hello Kitty’s mom, “How could you make this mistake?”

“I used the wrong tool. It looked exactly the same. I am sorry Mrs. Kitty,” said the doctor.

The doctor really did not make that mistake on purpose .

Then Hello Kitty was yelling, screaming and doing all sorts of exciting things while her mother was speaking to her father about where they should celebrate. Hello Kitty’s dad changed his mind about wanting a boy kitten. He thought Hello Kitty could see the future because she said that she knew it was going to be a girl, and it was. He thought she had the gift of seeing the future and he was impressed.

They went home and had dinner. They found wood in the forest and made a cradle out of the wood. They made a room for the baby, painted it orange and blue, and put some picture frames in her room. Then they were going to put the pictures inside of them as soon as she came out of Hello Kitty’s mom’s belly.

Hello Kitty’s mom felt the baby kicking in her belly. Immediately she went to the hospital because the baby was going to come out. At the hospital the baby came out. The baby’s name was Robin.

The Go Green Co. may still be on today and Hello Kitty always wears her earmuffs and still laughs with her little sister Robin.

THE END

“Oxford, huh?” the interviewer asked.

“Yes,” I confirmed. We were sitting in a spacious office, right in the center of Moscow. The interviewer was assessing me as an applicant for the special weapons department of the KGB, chemical weapons unit.

“You must be a smart man,” he said.

“Most of my professors would confirm so,” I replied smoothly.

He raised an eyebrow and questioned, “And which professors wouldn’t, dear fellow?”

“Only the ones who would answer ‘Eugene? Oh, he’s not just smart, he’s brilliant,’” I countered using a calm voice. Again, the raising of the eyebrow.

“Well that will conclude the interview!” he said with a start. “We will review your test scores and your application invention, the jalapeno smoke grenade is still going through tests, although the tests we’ve run on it have concluded in great results so far.”

I got up to leave, but he stopped me by saying, “I hear you’re doing a dual application with Dimitri, and that you collaborated on the invention?” He questioned again. I nodded my head in confirmation and he said, “If these reports are correct, then they would have me know that Dimitri is your brother?”

I nod again.

“You may go,” he said curtly. I got up, exited the building, and hopped into my father’s old Ferrari for the short drive to my studio apartment.

I donned my pajamas and winced, the scar on my leg was still sore. I could still see Vladimir’s lackey swinging the baseball bat at my leg. I hope I’d finally found a way to escape them. Dimitri and my dealings with the mafia went way back, starting from Lorenzo’s job in Vladimir’s operation. I thought I knew them inside and out, but I was wrong, so very wrong. I tried to outsmart Vladimir, to outfox the royal king of foxes. How silly of me! To try to steal from a mafia boss was suicide. Dimitri was right! “You’re too arrogant!” he would say, “Just like dad.” He knew that the fake biotech project wouldn’t fool Vladimir into giving us the money.

I started the slow, tedious, motion of the tooth brush over my teeth. After several minutes I washed out my mouth, and stiffly trudged over to my twin bed, and plopped down on top of the covers and went to sleep.

I woke up at the ripe time of five-thirty to the noise of a sharp knocking at the door. I changed into some sweatpants and a t-shirt as I shuffled towards the door. The knocking again. And again I called, “I’m coming!” but a little louder this time. I open the door with a forced smile playing about my lips. Without a word of greeting, Dimitri walks in and hugs me, his smile practically reaching his ears.

“We did it! We did it Eugene!” he exclaimed. “We’re both in the chemical weapons unit!” I no longer had to force my smile. Sweet tears of joy dripped down my face and down onto Dimitri’s sweater.

“We’ve finally got the KGB protection!” I said.

“That’s right, Dimitri confirmed, relief obvious in his voice. I placed a trench coat over my shoulders and then slipped my hands into the side pockets to make sure the bills were still there. To Dimitri’s astonishment, I walked out the door.

Before I stepped into the elevator, I turned around and said, “I’ll go out and get some things to celebrate with!”

Dimitri looked suspicious, “I… I’ll go with you,” he said timidly.

“No, you stay here and rest up. After all, you came to get me at 5:30 in the morning,” I said.

“I know you’re just going to go gambling like you always do when you’ve got some cash. Why won’t you stop?” Not a word to say in my defense came to mind. None passed my lips as I stormed out angrily.

The loud engine of my father’s eccentric sports car roared to life as I drove it out of the garage. I made the sharp turn onto 34th street and headed for a squat metal building surrounded by tall hedges.

As soon as I pulled into the private garage and cut the engine, a portly guard carrying a pistol rushed over and said, “How ya doing, Eugene?” with a thick Italian accent.

Lorenzo was working on some fat cat’s joy ride, and I pulled in next to him. The car was a black Jaguar E-type with gold rims.

“Riding high, Lorenzo!” I said coolly.

“You two made it?” he asked with disbelief written across his face.

“Yes siree!” I said.

“Oh, wow…” he stammered, “so now you’re a spy, huh?”

“Remember Lorenzo, I’m only doing this for the protection, not the drama,” I said with a  blush.

“Well if being admitted to the KGB won’t cheer you up, then there’s no way the mafiosi you came to lose your money to will do it!” he said.

“Watch it, buster. It’s them you’re working for, not me,” I said.

“Have a nice time getting broke!” he retorted with a smile.

What a joker. That’s why he’s the one working as a doorman to a gangster.

As I was walking toward the elevator I called back, “Have a nice time staying broke!” then turned around with a wink to walk backwards into the elevator for a hysterical Hollywood appearance.

The loud metal doors of the elevator clanked shut. They opened onto a spacious room with high, lofty ceilings. A slight young woman standing behind an ornate oaken desk rushed out from her perch to hug me and said, “Back again so soon? You were here only three days ago!”

“Nellie, we made it!” I squeaked.

“That’s wonderful! Have you told Lorenzo?” she said.

“Don’t worry, your brother is well informed,” I confirmed.

“Good. Although I wish the purpose of your visit here was to tell us, but I’m sure that isn’t so. Please don’t gamble too much this time,” She cooed.

“I won’t. You have my word that I’ll keep a level head.”

She whispered in my ear, “Good luck.” She went back to her seat and electronically unlocked and opened the doors. I walked through the open space and out onto the long circular mezzanine.

Just the pure essence of betting gave me a rush of energy—the people, the quarreling, the hoping, the desiring. Now that I was here, there wasn’t anything else my heart desired! I took my seat with a jubilant little hop in my gait. My seat was a couple yards down from the doors.

Directly across the pit which spanned the entire space sat Vladimir. His curly gray hair just covered the sides of his head and a small part of its back. His plump midsection bulged from underneath his tailored silken suit. He sat there, just glaring at me. He had come out the victor of our last encounter, but I lived to fight another day. But this time with the KGB on my side, Vladimir didn’t stand a chance.

He must have heard I had made it into the KGB through one of his hidden microphones or cameras in the basement. If he hadn’t, then at least a dozen brutes would have already been sent my way to detain me. He must also know about the KGB protection that comes with admittance.

Then the gate on each side of the pit began to open, and from each gate emerged a fearsome pit bull. Vladimir’s dog was gray while the other was brown. At the sight of each other, foam bubbled up around their mouths. There was no clear advantage on either side, both were giant and both were muscled. A faint scar rippled on the neck of Vladimir’s dog as it shook its head from side to side. Then an oaken wall was suspended on two chains from the ceiling, to separate the dogs as the bet-taker came around.

“Hurry up, Eugene. Which dog, how much, and I can move on!”

“Cool it Dom. I’ll take twenty thousand on the brown one, Vladimir’s has got a scar on its neck.”

“Eugene, listen close, I saw him ink that scar on in the prep room. But if you don’t bet on the brown one, Vladimir will be suspicious of me. Just make it a smaller bet,” said Dom.

“Why can’t I just bet on Vladimir’s? Say I changed my mind,” I said urgently.

“You mean changed your mind in the time you’ve spent talking to me?” Dom inquired sarcastically.

“No, just don’t show Vladimir my bid,” I pleadingly explained.

“You know that all the bids go over his secretary’s desk.”

People had started to stare at us, while other dark conversations were brewing.

“Let me just mark you down for two bids of the same amount. Vladimir won’t look at which fight they’re for,” whispered Dom hurriedly.

Dom then scurried away, taking people’s bids as he walked. Beads of sweat were forming on the back of his neck. Vladimir was on the edge of his seat, his neck had been craned to try and hear the last snippets of our conversation. Dom worked his way around towards Vladimir’s seat. Vladimir reached behind his chair and pulled out a rolled up newspaper, using it to hide his mouth as he talked to Dom. Dom’s eyes bulged in reply to his words. Either Vladimir just made a huge bet, (which was fully possible due to his ill-gotten fortunes), or Vladimir was talking about me. Dom rushed around the room hurriedly, taking several bets while dismissing several more. He ran through the hidden door that led to the offices behind Vladimir’s network and slammed the door behind him.

——–

The match started with the sights—bright, white lights flashed on and off, and sounds, loud bells started ringing at a one-two, one-two rhythm of a fire drill. A few of the slimmest in the crowd stood up from their seats to get a better view of the dogs. It was a few seconds before the separation wall was lifted. As soon as there was enough space for a medium sized dog to fit through, each dog leaped forward to the center of the room where they stopped, lips bared, gruesome, yellow teeth showing. Vladimir’s dog tried a lunge but was quickly sent backwards by a counter lunge from the brown dog. They went back and forth this way for some time. They appeared to be shadow boxing partners but the occasional lucky bite that left a crimson wound on their tense bodies told a different story. The greasy old men surrounding me kept cheering and jeering, their throats hoarse. This was going to be one of the longest matches yet.

Vladimir had a mischievous smile on his face, correction, an uncharacteristically mischievous smile. I showed my teeth nervously. Vladimir looked to the clock and started tapping his thighs at one second intervals while mouthing numbers. When he seemed content with his counting, he leaned over the pit to get a better view. The brown dog was on top of his dog in the center of the arena, it’s foreleg on the other dog’s throat. Just as the brown dog bent its leg and leaned over to make the winning bite, Vladimir looked up and nodded to his left. The heavy oaken divider came crashing down on the Brown dog’s back with a sharp cracking sound. The divider’s plummet was pulled to a sharp end, right before it flattened Vladimir’s dog. The brown dog howled with pain. It’s back was bent at an awkward angle, part of its spine was visible via a nasty cut. As the divider began to rise up again, the crowd got up in a swelling crescendo of noise. The old lard buckets had their guards or servants scream in protest of this foul play. However, the people who had bet on Vladimir’s dog covered their knowing smiles with flabby hands.

Vladimir quietly stalked off with an angry mob craning their necks to see where he went. Which dog the winner of this fight was going to be was clear. The rest who had bet on the brown one after seeing the scar kept up the noise with growls and shouts. I angrily walked off with huge strides in the direction Vladimir went. I opened the door he had disappeared behind and hurriedly walked in. Just as I had walked in, the lone door at the end of the hallway closed quietly. I tip-toed up to the door and listened.

“Did you see that little stunt back there?” Vladimir’s voice, “These people are mine, their money is mine!”

“I saw it, without your security they would all just take their money back. What a leader needs is brain, not brawn.” A deep gravely voice, with a soft Oriental accent.

“That’s what I mean, your brains and my people! I’ve got connections in the government, the police, even the KGB.” Vladimir again. “If we merged gangs, we’d be the biggest, smartest, most powerful force in Moscow!”

“Speaking of the KGB, what about that kid, Eugene? He made it in, we can’t have KGB recruits snooping around our operations, and we can’t touch him either!”

“He can’t do anything, we’ve got his little girlfriend working in the operation! If he does or says anything, we can kill, detain, even torture her. She’s off the radar!”

My jaw stiffened and my lips parted in a silent snarl of rage. Although Nellie was not my girlfriend, our bond dated back to my first days of betting. She would greet me with a smile every time I showed up, part of my betting habit was just to see her and Lorenzo. The door opened suddenly and hit my head with a crack. While I had been mulling over these memories with dulled senses, Vladimir’s meeting had adjourned. A pair of big, powerful hands grabbed me by the shoulders while I was still dazed from the door and hauled me into the room. He hit me once more, and I was seeing stars.

Prologue

Annabelle, Louise, and Claudius woke up to see fuzzy visions of transparent walls bordering the circular room, and a pale woman with glasses that, at the top right, had a spiky curve. She wore a lavender dress, which swooshed this way and that when she walked. She was middle aged, with fairly white hair, but it was clear she had dyed it. She was typing vigorously and only chanced to look up at the three children once in awhile. Seeing they were awake, she walked away from the computer and bent down looking lovingly at the three children.

“Hello, my three quest takers,” she said.

“Why are we here and why us?” Louise asked, after she had dusted herself off.

“That is because you are the chosen people,” she said simply.

“And who chose us?” Claudius asked.

She flopped down on the velvet couch. “Me,” she said. She got up again and walked around the room.

“So why are we here?” Annabelle persisted.

“You really want to know?” she asked, and switched on the TV to the news channel.

The news reporter, Davis Johnson, was on the screen.

“Another kid went missing, now in Medallion Square. We still have failed to catch the

kidnapper, but the police are devoting all their time to this. We still are looking for the villain’s hiding place, but all is unknown,” he said gravely.

“Do you know who the kidnapper is?” Annabelle questioned.

“He is known as the Brain-Washer, but his real name is Leopold Wardrobe,” she said.

“So what is our mission again, Mrs…?” Louise asked trailing off.

“Mrs. Snob. Your mission will be known to you and your friends once you know all the facts,” she said and adjusted her glasses.

“And what are all the facts?” Claudius asked with a circumspect air. Mrs. Snob took a deep but unsteady breath, as she started to regret telling the trio so much.

“The Brain-Washer kidnaps and brainwashes kids, and makes them work loyally for him. These kids are taught sword fighting, evil quotes, and more stuff to prepare them for the Day Of Truth,” she said.

“But what is the Day Of Truth?” Annabelle asked.

“This is precisely what we want you to find out, and that will be the quest that you all will be going on the following day,” Mrs. Snob said. “Report any information you learn, and anything mysterious you detect or notice,” she said.

“But where do we go?” Louise urged.

“That’s easy,” Mrs. Snob replied. “Mulberry Mansion on Ocean Plaza.”

The Beginning of The Quest

After that introduction, everything went gaily. Mrs. Snob showed them where the zumbuddies were kept at the Snob Secret Society (S.S.S.) Zoo. Zumbuddies were small, furry creatures with big eyes and antennas on their heads. After a long time of thought, Annabelle chose a zippy zumbuddy named Zip, Claudius a lazy zumbuddy named Zane, and Louise
a bratty zumbuddy named Zoro. Mrs. Snob said that the zumbuddies were messengers that could be very useful when children were bored. After that, the children were left to explore and pack their bags for tomorrow’s quest.

Claudius wandered around the building, lingering near the kitchen where the smells were so good that it was impossible to not glance at the sizzling pots and pans, where the fires rose high. He smuggled ham, steak, beef, and pork, along with cheese, bread, and heaps of candy into a big chest which he put aside for food. By the time he was done, the chest could not even close! Next he went to the warehouse, where he got ammunition, blankets, matches, pencils, paper, notebooks, and heaps of tuxedos, fancy shoes, top hats, canes, and bow ties. He put those in another chest. His third and last chest was filled with cards, balls, a 3DS, a medical aid kit, a drawing pad, a camera, and a bunch of other amusements.

Annabelle had one chest full of stuff: a tool box, a prankster kit, and 3 guns (the first shot food, the second shot school supplies, and the third shot balls.) In there were also ropes, flashlights, metal detectors, and an invisible ink pen and light. In her second chest was a baby bloodhound, a timer which could also turn into a watch which told time, and books upon books. The last chest contained things for entertainment, zumbuddy stuff, journals, ipods, spy glasses, business cards, clothes, and books.

Louise packed clothes, blankets, pillows, journals, drawing pads, toys, batteries, silverware, hair accessories, and millions of pens into her first chest. In her second chest, she packed books, daggers, spears, arrows, curtains, cameras, rubber bands, calculators, shoes, toilet paper, and gems. In her final chest, there was a laptop, a calendar, a zodiac sheet, fashion designer kits, architect kits, and plan kits.

For the most part, everybody had everything they needed. After a good night’s sleep and a big breakfast, they set out in a disguised S.S.S. truck to Ocean Plaza. The roads were crowded that day, and there was a lot of traffic. But that was nothing compared to the sidewalks where there were people pushing, shoving, arguing, complaining, and humphing in humiliation. Finally they reached Ocean Plaza.

“By the way, Mrs. Snob, why did you choose us?” Claudius asked. He hoped his family was not worried, and he hoped nothing bad would happen to them either.

“Because you all have the talent needed,” she said as the car jerked away.

They all looked incredulous as they knocked on the doors of Mulberry Mansion. It really did not deserve to be called a mansion as it looked more like a work building. A slender, pale-faced man with blond hair and a tuxedo opened the door. He looked straight into their eyes.

“Come this way, pupils,” he said with an important air, and showed them to their rooms. They wondered why they had been accepted so easily, but they guessed this man thought they were newcomers. Annabelle noticed all the other men who were walking around. They were officers who were slender, pale and blonde-haired, and they all wore tuxedos. Only sharp eyes could distinguish these men from one another. Then, lining the walls were classrooms. The teachers were all women with plaid dresses and spectacles like Mrs. Snob’s. They wore black shoes with velcro. The “pupils,” as they were called, were not much different. The girls’ haircuts were short, and they wore blue blouses, blue skirts, and even blue Mary Jane shoes.  The boys’ hair was short, thick, bountiful, and black. They wore blue suits and loafers with no glasses. The three children then went up several spiral staircases to see where they would stay. After going up a long way, they finally reached their rooms.

Claudius’ room had a medieval theme with stone walls. There was a coat of arms hanging at the head of his four-poster bed which was covered in velvet blankets, showing pictures of mythical animals. On the right side of his bedroom was a dresser, with empty drawers, a mirror, and a TV. He placed all his items in the drawers, except for the food which he put in the fridge.

The theme of Annabelle’s room was a regal one, with a closet packed with her school uniforms and frilly skirts for recess. Her bed was one fit for a queen, with curtains draped over it. She was sitting in the “lap of luxury” as she called it, quoting from the famous book Little Women.

Louise had an animal themed room with a hammock for a bed and light bulb shaped like the sun. It was a big light bulb.

But for all the luxuries they had and the courtesy of the staff who waited upon them, they still felt coldly towards the staff of Mulberry Mansion and Leopold Wardrobe. They all flopped down on their beds, confused and drowsy, when they heard the voice of an officer booming in the speakers in all the rooms.

“Please come down to the eating room to eat your lunch,” he announced.

They all filed down to the first floor where the eating room was located. Once they touched foot on the marble ground of the first floor, they heard an orchestra of shouts, squeals, complaints, and the shuffling of feet. It was all like a school of fish rounding the bend. As they made their way to the end of the line, a hand touched Annabelle’s shoulder. She was about to scream, when she hushed herself, and let herself be drawn back by none other than Leopold Wardrobe. He looked rather like Willy Wonka, with a velvet tailed coat, scarlet pants, a scarlet top hat, a scarlet bow tie, and scarlet loafers. She looked terrified at his pale hands and yellow teeth.

“Hello, Mr. Wardrobe,” she said timidly. He smiled warmly at her.

“You are just the person I need,” he said, and led her to his office.

The Brain-Washer’s Office

He led her through so many spiral staircases and so many corridors that Annabelle had to write it all down to remember all the twists and turns. He opened the door which was not locked, which Annabelle felt was due to the complicated route. His office was made out of dark wood, and there was a velvet rug and a desk with a big book lying on it. She guessed it was his journal, for it was full of lines and filled with handwritten words and ink smears. She held her hand out to touch the leather cover, but Mr. Wardrobe snatched it away and put it in his closet, where papers upon papers were stored.

“If only I could get hold of those papers and the diary all at once,” she thought with an anxious sigh, and sank down into the velvet armchair.

“Annabelle, you are promoted!” he announced with a huge grin.

Annabelle looked puzzled for a moment and could only spit out, “Thank you sir,” very meekly. Mr. Wardrobe did not know if he should feel concerned or confused. He laughed affably.

“Surprised?” he asked.

“But why me?” Annabelle asked shyly, feeling flattered but also feeling curious about what she would be doing in her new job.

“Because you are just the thing I need on the day of December 31st, 2011,” he explained.

“But why is December 31st, 2011 such an important day?” Annabelle urged.

“Because the real ruler will take his place on the throne of Paradise, where he will rule the Earth,” Mr. Wardrobe said, with his eyes growing wider with greed.

“Is that all, Sir?” Annabelle asked cautiously.

“Yes,” Mr. Wardrobe replied, and waved his hand in dismissal. She hurried down to the eating room called Cafe Wardrobe, making many wrong turns along the way.

Annabelle’s journey to Cafe Wardrobe was not without new discoveries. She lingered first near the Detention Room, otherwise known as the Wardrobe Jail. Unlucky kids were being whipped, lectured to, and some who misbehaved in the detention room went into tiny cells where they had to reflect upon what they had done. They were let out at the end of the day when they were free to frolic and celebrate as long as they liked until it was bedtime, for the children must be sharp for the following day. Next, she loitered at the message room of the post office. Urgent letters were being mailed instantly, except for Sundays, when the mailmen did not work. It occurred to Annabelle that Claudius, Louise, and herself could smuggle the letters on the following day, which was a Sunday, and read them. Then she wandered around the factory where she saw objects being made for the Day of Truth. She finally stumbled on the Cafe. As she walked in, she saw Claudius and Louise looking anxiously for her, and she scared them from behind.

“What did you find out, Annabelle?” Claudius asked, “And where were you, you little prankster?”

“I got a promotion from Mr. Wardrobe himself,” she said proudly. Louise did not seem impressed.

“Got a promotion from the enemy, whoo hoo, Annabelle,” she said as she sarcastically clapped her hands.

“But I found out information too, Miss Sarcastic,” she said, feeling a bit offended. “Tomorrow, we will go to the post office. I know where it is as I drew a map of Mulberry

Mansion. We will steal the letters, read them, and then drown them in the bathroom,” she said. “Then we will go to the factory and smuggle some of the items. We better not be caught or we will go to the Detention Room,” she said knowingly. Claudius stared at her with awe.

“Okay, Annabelle,” Louise said. “Lets start.”

1. The location of the meetings of The Secret Club will not be divulged to the public.
2. The time of the meetings of The Secret Club will not be divulged to the public.
3. The content of the meetings of The Secret Club will not be divulged to the public.

Happy Hunting!
—Mr. Secrets
High Secret-Master of Secret Club

Kenny looked up from the list. “Basically, they won’t divulge shit.”

The committee members from the Westmore High Miniature Golf Club nodded. Across from them, the committee from the Westmore High Mexican Karaoke Club shook their heads angrily, one member going so far as to grind the tip of his pencil into the desk, albeit in a place where no one could see it. Students from the other committees displayed reactions ranging from shock to sorrow to underwear-adjusting discomfort. Their handsome record-keeper who was, by the way, smart, good-looking, and an excellent narrator, continued to write down notes from the meeting. The Five Committees had been summoned by the Supreme Committee Leader, Kenny R, who had discovered a mysterious and disturbing note in his locker the day before. Suspecting that a new club—one that might disturb the balance of the Five Clubs, the all-important pillars of the Westmore High extracurricular scene, and in doing so strip him of his ultimate power over the Miniature Golfers—might soon make itself known to the general student populace of Westmore High, Kenny had gathered committees from all five clubs in room 123 at approximately 12:30 PM for an urgent meeting to discuss said note.

Kenny R. Josh W. Alicia N. Josh K. Michelle S. The Five Leaders, a group of bored children with middling grades, had all wanted to impress the colleges of their choice with outstanding extracurriculars that made them look like important contributors to society, yet none had any particular interest in sports, reading, music, language, or other cultures, things that important extracurriculars are based around. Therefore, the Five Leaders had met in secret and formed the Five Clubs, organizations with no particular goal and that didn’t really do much of anything, yet looked impressive on a transcript. However, what had started out as a scam had turned into an organization requiring far more effort than a music club or a sports team. The alleged “Secret Club,” a club which supposedly didn’t tell its members when or where it was meeting, nor what it was meeting about, affronted the sensibilities of all Five Club heads. For perhaps, among the many memos and minutes passed down to the club members and forwarded through the system, the Five Leaders had forgotten just how preposterous their clubs were. They had schedules. They had titles. They had dossiers, minutes, and events. The Secret Club did not, and in being so ridiculous and inconsequential, it reminded the Leaders how inconsequential the Five Clubs really were. This Secret Club affair was now not just club business. This was personal.

“What kind of a name is Mr. Secrets anyway?” asked Alicia N, a thin girl with stringy blond hair and thick black glasses. “What’s the point of having a club if you don’t even tell your members about it?”

Kenny’s eyes glittered. “Exactly.”

“What?” asked Josh K, Leader of the Westmore High Punnery Squad. This Josh was a slight boy with freakishly curly brown hair and freckles. He just wanted to get back to the Punnery H.Q. and forget about all of this nonsense. Luckily, Josh K. was also the type of student to write down all of his personal character-developing feelings in a series of ratty brown journals, and then, after reading over what he had just written, throw them all away in a fit of embarrassment.

“I was just agreeing with Alicia,” said Kenny, annoyed that Josh K had attempted to undermine his authority by saying “What?” If they had been on the Miniature Golf field right now, he would have stealthily changed Josh K’s score and then denied it later.

“Oh,” responded Josh K. “Never mind.” Having embarrassed himself, Josh sunk down a little in his chair. The members of the Punnery Squad, who had a strong empathic connection with their Leader, sunk down as well in equal embarrassment.

Josh W, who was chubby, but not the kind of chubby that was “never to be spoken of out of common decency,” more so the kind that had resulted from laziness after a period of athleticism, so that his muscles had deteriorated—the point being that his friends felt comfortable joking about it—stood up. Angry, he wanted to bang his fist on the table, but his sister had accidentally slammed the car door on his finger last week, and it was still sore, and also kind of red and oozy, so he settled with clearing his throat, which was also oozy, but in a different way.

“We need to find this Mr. Secrets and eradicate him.” Here the record-keeper put part of Josh W’s sentence in italics because of the intense way in which Josh W had said it. Josh W subtly looked over at Michelle, leader of the Interesting Things Cooking Club to see her reaction.

Michelle was normally very pretty, but at this moment wore an expression like a jammed printer tray. “Why would this Mr. Secrets tell us that he was starting another club?” she said shrilly, in a voice like a fire alarm. At Michelle’s comment, the rest of the Committees erupted into bickering, probably because they were hungry.

“Who would even join?”

“Why would he leave the note in Kenny’s locker?”

“Is he going to tell on us?”

“Hey, I beat you in JV lacrosse last year, and—”

The record-keeper struggled to keep track of which Members of which committees were speaking. Thankfully, the bell rang, ending the chaotic cross-talk between the club members. The Leaders stood up and lined up their committees in order of tallest to shortest. Wanting to be contrary, Josh lined them up in order from shortest hair to longest hair, but was immediately chided by Kenny. That kind of shit didn’t fly in such an important club meeting. Kenny, Alicia, Josh K, Josh W, and Michelle made plans to meet again on Wednesday. Then, as silently as they had entered room 123, the Five Clubs exited, kids spilling out the door like crumpled paper from an overturned trash can. Actually, they hadn’t entered very silently, so by that logic, the exit wasn’t silent either, but was in fact, loud, and disturbed the math class next to them. Unbeknownst to any of the leaders, yea, unbeknownst to the record-keeper himself, although obviously it is beknownst to him now, a shadowy, secretive presence watched the Clubs’ exit with a secretive smile on the presence’s face, which was also shrouded in a shadow. I don’t know if you guys have figured this out yet, but it was Mr. Secrets.

Later that day, while he was trying to think of an ending to his epic war novel about a young baker who is forced into a life of military hardship, Buns A’ Glazin’, Josh K saw a message to come to a certain room at a certain time written on the English chalkboard. Taking into account the fact that there were no other children in the room besides him, because the third-floor library classroom was the only room where he felt he could consistently ponder, Josh K assumed the message was intended for him and him alone. The Leaders, who had been eating with each other in the cafeteria instead of with their clubs, had witnessed the departure of Josh from their number with interest as he had made vague excuses to go somewhere “like the band room.” At 2:30, after Alicia had joined Michelle for their best-place-to-giggle-surreptitiously tour, only Josh W and Kenny were left.

“Kenneth,” started Josh W.

“Yes,” Kenny replied.

Josh W looked around suspiciously to see if there were any students watching his every move. Assuming that, although he didn’t know who it was, there was in fact a secret student watching his moves, he felt a little self-conscious eating his fries, and hoped that whatever secret student that might be out to get him would mistakenly go after the other Josh, even though they looked nothing alike, just because they had the same name. It was these intuitive thoughts that made Josh W such a prominent presence in the Westmore High invisible chess community. “You know how whenever anyone starts a club with over four members, they have to go to the campus advisor for permission and submit their student identification card?”

“Yes,” replied Kenny, wondering why Josh W would take the time to remind him of such an obvious fact.

“Well, I went down to Mrs. Advisory and asked her if any new clubs had been registered. She said yeah, but the student there couldn’t give her his ID card for some reason.”

“How did you get all this information?”

Josh W flexed in a sexy way. Kenny said no more on the matter.

“Anyway, the student didn’t have his ID card, so he had to give her some kinda valuable object as collateral.”

“Josh W, you don’t have to compulsively restate all of this information.”

“Yes I do. Anyway, I got a picture of the item.”

Kenny moved, obscuring what the cellphone picture looked like, so that the record-keeper, who was sitting at the Nerds and Lepers table, could not see it. Both young men immediately stood up and walked purposefully out of the room. At the same time, Michelle and Alicia entered the left side of the cafeteria with a mysterious student trailing along the puke-green walls to avoid being seen or written about, and sat down at a small table, huddling together intimately. Wanting to hear what they were talking about, but knowing he had to get to his fourth-period chem test, the record-keeper departed the lunchroom, saddened at the thought of missing a huddled meeting but brightened by the knowledge that his sudden departure would be an excellent break in the narrative.

Mrs. Advisory sighed and stamped another stack of bright pink suspension forms. Once again, the same belligerent group of boys had put a reptile into the girl’s bathroom. She’d had to chastise this same group of kids so many times, and with the boys having denied her accusations again and again, continually blaming some mysterious figure, she had devised an unorthodox and specific set of rules for them, the cardinal one being that they weren’t allowed to put any creature capable of laying eggs in either bathroom on the seventh floor. The Nine-Tailed Newt, recognized by Mrs. Advisory from Survivorman, and confirmed by Wikipedia, not only was capable of laying tiny, impossible-to-confiscate eggs, but had given birth to at least twelve tiny newt babies, all of whom had demonstrated a remarkable proclivity for burrowing into the inside of the toilet seat and, enticed by the heat given off by the toilet in use, jumping out, terrifying any seated user. It had been a long day. Quickly looking around to make sure the principal wasn’t snooping outside her door, she rummaged under her desk for her secret stash of fruit gummies. Although she had kept this knowledge hidden from the upper management, she enjoyed meeting with highschoolers and kept fruity snacks hidden for just such occasions. This morning, in fact, she had met with the charming Josh W, who had inquired about her day, her husband, her work life, etc. She wasn’t actually married, but she felt the extra “r” was necessary in her name to fend off the principal’s feeble attempts to hit on her, as she was a svelte blonde. Josh W, who was remarkably handsome for his age, had inquired about an acquaintance of his whom he had met at an inter-club brunch, but had forgotten the name of. She looked at the small black cellphone sitting in her desk drawer, the one that other boy had given her after he forgot his I.D. card. She flipped open the small LCD screen, which jingled faintly. The background of the phone was completely black, save for a small white banner at the top which read Owen X’s Phone. Do not Touch unless you are Owen X. Mrs. Advisory wasn’t Owen X, so she put the phone down. Her mini fridge made a clattering sound that sounded almost like a student saying “Mmff!” as frozen goods fell on his head. Fearing the sound came from mice, or some other disturbing species of amphibian, she wheeled the fridge outside, not seeing the notice in her line of vision on the faculty bulletin board which read, The Secret Club is having a Meeting.

Chapter 1: Revenge!

If there is anybody I hate at P.S. 145 it’s Nellie Elman. She’s a big cheater and a liar. Once she cheated in a spelling contest against Marissa Flecther. There is no proof that she cheated, but I know she did. She always has a bunch of kids trailing behind her. I love school, and the only reason I’m not there right now and am on this stupid bus is because of revenge. Because of Nellie Elman.

I’m on a softball team, and Nellie is on the other team. At first this did not bother me because her team is not that good. I mean, they’re terrible. But in my third game of the season, in the eighth inning, I had a throw to first base. It was the perfect throw. But that word. That one word that made it happen. The word of the umpire: “Safe!” Nobody else saw it, but I did. Nellie was in the dugout watching her team, because she had recently sprained her ankle, but that didn’t stop her from spoiling everything. She quickly threw a small yarn ball at the first baseman, distracting her. The first baseman missed the catch.

But I heard Nellie’s words loud and clear: “What kind of throw was THAT?!” and everybody started to laugh. I ran home immediately missing the rest of the game to think about what to do for revenge. Then I remembered that I was the chalkboard monitor. I had to go to school early at 8:00 to write the homework from that night on the chalkboard. I used to hate the job. I knew that my teacher assigned it to me because I was the only one who was “responsible enough.” I smiled so wide my lips bled!

The next day I went to school and put my revenge plan into action. First, I quickly wrote the homework on the chalkboard. Reading, Math, Social Studies, and everything else. Then I took a tube of Super glue from my desk and squirted it all over Nellie’s chair. I smiled and sang, “I am Mia Carson, the queen of pranking Nellie!!!” It was very, very, unfortunate that the principal Ms. Levine had seen what I was doing. People say she has never smiled. That was also unfortunate.

I remember Ms. Levine’s words, or just one word, “Come,” which to me was the word of doom. “Mia Carson, come to my office NOW!”  And Ms. Levine’s words to me were the words of doom. “Mia Carson, What you have done is unacceptable and we can NOT tolerate that kind of behavior here at P.S. 145. You will get two weeks to think about what you have done. And today you will go home early on a bus ride on your own. You are not welcome to come back to school until January 14.” Ms. Levine scribbled something on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope. “Give this to your parents. I’ll call the bus and your parents. You can wait outside for the bus.” I quickly ran outside to wait for the bus. I hoped it would come soon, as it was pouring.

Chapter 2: The Private (Or Not So Private) Bus Ride

The bus wasn’t yellow. It did not say SCHOOL BUS in big bold letters in the front. The bus was beige-ish tan-ish and it said SUSPENSION BUS in big bold letters. I walked onto the bus and took my seat.

On the seat across from me there was a paper that said Michael  Hailstorm, 5th grade. Please sit here. – Serena Levine
I guess Michael Hailstorm got suspended for about the millionth time!!! Only because he is the most obnoxious kid in the school. (Well I have to admit, I’m a little obnoxious to Nellie Elman. Of course. Otherwise, I’m pretty nice. At least, I hope I am.) I was so busy with my thinking that I didn’t notice that the bus started moving and Michael Hailstorm was sitting RIGHT ACROSS FROM ME!!!

“GET AWAY FROM ME,” I yelled at Michael who is in my class.

“What did you do, Mia? You never do anything bad, he said.

I don’t know why, but I ended up telling him the whole story about Nellie Elman and the softball and the big tube of glue (Which was actually “SUPER CRAZY GLUE”) on Nellie’s chair. It just felt so comforting to have someone to talk to. Even if he was Michael Hailstorm. By the time I finished my story, the bus had reached my stop. I stood up to get off, but Michael called after me, “Mia, Wait!”

“What?” I asked

“Mia, meet me in front of the church tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning, it is a block away from my building.”

I thought about this. Was Michael trying to trick me? He was known for pranking. But I said, “Sure,” anyway.

I ran off the bus and into my building and took the elevator to the tenth floor. I threw Ms. Levine’s note into my mom’s face. Then I ran to my room and slammed the door.

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Chapter 3: Eive and everyone else

Annabell Carson sat on the couch wondering what could be in the envelope her daughter had tossed into her her face. She noticed it was addressed to her so she tore it open. The note said:

Dear Patrick and Annabell Carson,
Your daughter Mia Carson  has just been suspended from P.S. 145 For Doing: Gluing super glue onto Nellie Elman’s chair. She is NOT welcome back in school for two weeks, until January 14, 2011.
-Serena Levine

Annabell’s heart almost stopped. Almost. “MIA CARSON!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Annabell shrieked at the top of her lungs.

“Revenge!”  I shouted.

_________________________________

Michael stared out the window of the bus until Mia’s house was out of sight. It had started to drizzle, then rain, and eventually a light flurry filled the air. Michael loved snow. He missed the snowball fights at recess. They were so much fun. I am going to miss so many snowball fights, he thought. After all, It is not my fault I got suspended for the eighth time. It is all because that rotten, stinky, no good Nellie Elman!!!

_________________________________

The paper looked like this:

Name: Mia Carson Date: 1/1/11
MULTIPLICATION:   DIVISION:
7 x 7 =                           54 / 9 =
3 x 7 =                           72 / 8 =
9 x 9 =                           81 / 9 =
8 x 8 =                           42 / 6=

My best friend Eive had brought me my homework, as she would everyday. Eive hated the spelling of her name. She said that when she was 18 she was going to change the spelling of her name to Eve. Eive had been named after her grandmother whose name was Eiveana. I liked the spelling of Eive. It was better than plain old Eve. Eive had brought my homework, and I asked her to stay for dinner. Eive gladly accepted. Without being asked, I told her the whole story of Nellie Elman and my revenge.

“Nice revenge!” said Eive. Like me, Eive was not one of those people who was like “Oh! That’s terrible!” She said, “Nice plan!” or “Too bad!” I liked her like that. Eive tied her long blond hair into a ponytail.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked.

“Steak,” I replied.

“Great!” Eive said

“Eive, dinner time!” Dad called. “Mia! Get over here right now!” he said. After we ate and had dessert, Eive left. I did not tell her about Michael Hailstorm. She would laugh. Definitely.

Chapter 4: Meeting Michael

When I woke up the next morning my hair was a mess. I quickly got dressed and brushed my hair. Then my mom made me a tasty omelet which I ate fast.

I told my mom that I was going to the library. Then brushed my teeth with my disgusting toothpaste. Then I put on my shoes and ran out the door to meet Michael. I saw people going to school. Eive was one of them. She was with my other best friend Lisa.

“Hey Mia! I heard about your revenge!” Lisa said.

“Oh,” I said.

“Well,” Eive said, “Lisa and I are trying to prove to Ms. Levine that Nellie’s a big cheater and a liar. Then tell her what Nellie did to you and why you did what you did.”

“Ha!” I said. “You almost fooled me there! Like you could ever convince Ms. Levine anything.”

“Who says?” said Lisa. She put her hands on her hips.

“I do!” I said. Lisa could be a pain sometimes. Trust me, you do NOT want to get on her bad side. In fact, I don’t even know why and how we are best friends!

“I say we can,” said Eive.

“Maybe you’re right…” I said.

“Mia!” said Lisa. “How ‘bout you come to school with us and sneak in to help us  convince You-know-who about Nellie and yes I am talking about Voldemort, but Levine Voldemort!” (Lisa is a huge Harry Potter fan.)

“Yeah! You guys are so awesome! I’d be happy to! We could do it all day! What time is it now?” I said.

“8:31,” said Eive who always had a watch handy. Then I remembered Michael Hailstorm.

“Sorry!” I yelled. “I gotta go!” I ran off as fast as I could.

“Where!” Lisa  called.

“Meet somebody!” I shouted.

“Who!” Lisa called. I did not answer. I had bigger problems than Lisa. I had Ms. Levine, who was always seen on weekends in every possible place. I also had Michael. He might be fooling me. Right now, Lisa was the least of my worries. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I would have run past the church if Michael had not called out, “Mia! Where are you going?”

“Oh. Sorry,” I said, humiliated.

“Hi!” said Michael. “I’m so glad you actually came. No one ever listens to me when I tell them to meet me somewhere.”

“Oh,” I said. I actually sort of felt bad for him.

“I want do go do something,” said Michael.

“Okay,” I said.

I turned to walk away but Michael called, “No. I mean together.”

“Okay,” I said softly.

“Just think about all the adventures we could have together, just you and I.”

“I guess.” I said.

“Come on!” he said. “You’ve gotta get more enthusiastic about this!”

“I guess,” I said again.

“I hear there is a bus going to some ferry. The bus is five blocks away from here. The ferry is supposed to go to some island that is a popular place to bike to. I forget what the island is called, though. Maybe we can sneak onto it, without our parents knowing. I’ll give you a fake birthday invitation, and you can say you are going there!”

Man, this guy did talk a lot. “Yeah!” I said.

“We’d have to do some real sneaking, though. And I’ll just tell mom and dad I am going to a party.”

“Sure!” I said to Michael.

“Let’s do it on Saturday. At 12:30, meet me here!”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Bye!”

I ran off, and if he called “Mia wait!” I did not hear him. I had to run home quick before my mom got suspicious.

Chapter 5: Nellie’s “SUPER CRAZY GLUE”

I stood in front of the church waiting for Michael Hailstorm until I heard him call out, “Mia! Over here!” I turned. I saw him standing in front of his building.

“Don’t you wanna go to the island?” he called.

“By the way, it’s called Governor’s Island. And I have enough money for the two of us together to ride the ferry.”

I  ran over to him and noticed he had two bikes.

“Why did you bring bikes?” I asked.

“Well I figured it would be more fun to bike there, than take our bikes on the ferry,” he said.

“Then I’ll get mine.” I said.

“No! I took two!” I turned around. I quickly ran to the bike Michael gave me to borrow, mounted it, and said to Michael, “You lead the way!”

“All right!” he cheered. Michael mounted his bike. I noticed on the side of his bike there was a label that said MICHAEL HAILSTORM’S BIKE. Michael noticed me staring at it. “My mom has to label everything, even my pants!” he said.

I laughed. Michael started biking. I followed. I watched as the buildings became taller and taller. One of them even looked about 50 floors, which is like the Empire State Building compared to my six story, 100 year old building! That’s when I realized that I didn’t know where we were going.

“Where are we going?” I shouted through the wind.

“To the Riverside Park bike path,” Michael shouted back. Soon Michael turned into a park I had never seen before. I continued to follow. We biked down a ramp.

“Now we will have to bike another seven miles!” he shouted. I groaned.

After biking for what seemed like hours, we finally reached the ferry terminal. I did not pay attention. I thought about what Lisa and Eive were doing right now. They were obviously not having as much fun as I was. Until we were actually on the ferry.

“Where are our bikes?” I asked Michael.

“We will get them at the Island,” he replied.

“The Island?”  I heard a voice say. I looked behind me and saw the last person I wanted to see. “You call it the Island?” said Nellie.

“Go away,” I told her.

“No,” she said.

“I’m not going anywhere!”

“Yes you will,” I said.

“You will jump off this boat!” Michael said.

“Stop it,” said Nellie.

“I won’t stop it until you get away from us,” Michael said.

“I won’t leave!” Nellie screeched.

I told Michael to ignore her. He did.

_________________________________

Nellie stuck to us like glue. We could not escape her. She was sticking to us as much as my SUPER CRAZY GLUE stuck to her chair.

“How did you get here?” I asked Nellie.

“I followed you,” she said calmly. I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. She followed us? How come I had not seen her? This is terrible! I never knew SUPER CRAZY GLUE could sometimes be so bad.

Chapter 6: The Island

We finally got to the island. Nellie’s SUPER CRAZY GLUE was still as sticky as ever. What was really annoying was how she kept blabbering on and on about her new pet dog named Princess. She was doing it just to annoy us, I could tell.

Then out of the blue, Nellie said, “Michael, your mom has the dumbest name. Really! They named her Saronie! They should’ve just not bothered and named her Salami!”

This made Michael’s cheeks go red. Then he stepped onto a rock and crossed his arms. Then he said, “First of all, do NOT call my mom names! Second of all, YOU are the reason I have been kicked out of school the past eight times! In case you don’t remember, I will recite them. In first grade, you…” He was cut off.

“DON’T!!!” Nellie screamed. “DON’T BRING BACK THOSE TERRIBLE MEMORIES.”

“Why not?” he asked. Nellie did not answer him.

I’M GETTING ON THE NEXT FERRY!!!” She turned to walk away. She quickly spun around. “And YOU!” she said pointing at me. “You are a… a… a… MEANIE!” Even though the insult was not that bad, for some reason it made me really angry.

“Do you know what Nellie Elman?” I said. “You are even meaner. SO GET OUT OF MY LIFE!!!” I shouted louder than I have ever shouted before. I think the power in Michael’s voice made me so loud. I was about to yell at Nellie, but I realized she was already running to the ferry. The SUPER CRAZY GLUE was no longer sticking. I felt a combination of joy and relief.

_________________________________

After Nellie’s ferry had left, Michael and I rode our bikes to get ice pops on the island. I got cherry. He got strawberry. We found a lawn to eat our ice pops on. We sat together, just Michael and me. Nothing could be better than this. I never felt so good in the ten years of my life.

Chapter 7: Back to school

A WEEK LATER………….

Michael and I were back into the routine of walking to school at 8:15 in the morning.  I walked through the school gates, with Lisa on one side of me and Eive on the other. People were staring at me. I did not care. There was nothing better than being back at school, besides what happened last week. Ms. Levine glared at me as I walked into the school building.

My teacher, Ms. Lane said, “Mia and Michael please take your seats.” Until now I did not realize that Michael was right behind me. I sat in the seat across from Michael.

Ms. Lane said, “Today in social studies we are starting a new unit. We will learn about places that people live in New York, or even tourists like to go. Then we will do some online research about those places.”

Marissa Flecther raised her hand. “Can you name some of the places we will be researching?” she said.

“Sure,” Ms.Lane said. “Raise your hand if you have ever been to the Statue of Liberty!” she said.

“I have,” Andy Lawson called out. “When I was in first grade. I thought about bringing Dad’s hammer to make a hole in her head, but mom and dad said no. It made me upset.”

“No calling out Andy Lawson. You are in fifth grade and should know better. Plus, I said raise your hand!”

“Oops!” Andy said with a giggle.

Ms. Lane continued. “Has anyone been to the Empire State building?” I raised my hand along with Michael, Julie, and Andy.

“Has anyone been to Governor’s Island?” Ms. Lane asked.

At first, Michael and I exchanged glances. Then, as if on cue, Michael and I shot up our hands so high, it was as if we were trying to grab a cloud and pull it down all the way down to our desks.

_________________________________

After school, Ms. Lane dismissed everyone except Michael and me.

“I have something to tell you,” she said.

We held our breaths.

Then Ms. Lane said, “Welcome back.”

That was it. That was all she said before she dismissed us. I let out my breath when Michael and I stepped out of the school gates. I asked him, “Do you want to come over to my house?”

“Sure!” he said.

When we  got to my house, we mostly talked about the island and about how we had not seen Nellie at school, and we made up a comic about Nellie getting eaten by a mad dog named Rabies. It was hilarious!

At 6:00 Michael said he had to go. I walked him to the front door. But before he left, he said, “Mia, there was only one good thing about being suspended for the eighth time and that was meeting you. Without you, I would have not had the island adventure, or had so much fun. Mia, you changed my life from bad to good, and I really like you. A lot.” Then he ran out before he could see me blush for the first time ever. I smiled so big my lips bled again. I did not know why I kept doing that. But what I did know, was that it meant something good was about to happen, just like last time.