Category: Chapter Story

Share your imagination| writing stories

7 Hunter

I thought of Hunters house and ended up in his room only inches away from where he was standing. His room was a mess. Dirty cloths were scattered all over the floor and boyish things like video games and comic books cover his bed. Hunter stood in nothing but his jeans and showed of his tanned skin from the months of being out in the sun. In all of the years we were friends, I had never seen him with his shirt off. I was always away for the summer and was never here when he swam so I’v never noticed the muscles he had. Now I realized my a lot of girls at my school want to go out with him. He had a towel around his neck and he was still a little wet from the shower. He grabbed a shirt, sniffed it to see if it was clean, (I don’t think it was) and put it on. He suddenly turned around and walked straight through me. It’s a really funny felling being walked through like that. I was really warm for the one second he and I were in the same place but then I turned cold again. He turned around and looked at the spot I was in. He moved closer and I was warm again but by the expression he had, he was feeling cold. I moved out of the way and he shook his head.

“Weird.” Hunter ran out of the room and walked down stairs following his nose that lead him to the lunch waiting for him downstairs. I followed him and watched him scarf down spaghetti like he does with every other food I’v seen him eat. His mom started to dish washer and turned to Hunter.

“How you doing?”

“Fine why.”

“Well we both know what day it is in 5 days.”

“Mom. Please don’t remind me.”

“Well sweetie you got to let her go!”

“I can’t !”

“You can’t or you wont’t?

“Both! Mom, I don’t think she’a gone!”

“If Jenna hasn’t come back in the 7 months she could’ve, what makes you think she’ll come back now?”

“I just know mom! Ok? I just know.” his mom sighed and sat next to him.

“Look I know you blame yourself for her disappearance but you’re going to have to face the facts. There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

“But this fish is the only one I need.” He ran back upstairs and slammed the door for emphasis that he was mad at her.

Then the alarm went off and I turned to see the spaghetti had caught on fire. Hunter came running down while his mom struggled with the fire extinguisher. He grabbed a mop and was lashing it out at the growing fire that had consumed the entire stove. Hinter’s mom finally got the extinguisher and was about to spray the fire when it jumped and lashed out at her and she fell to the floor unconscious.

“Mom!!” Hunter screamed. He tried to get her but the fire only grew around her and blocked his way. “Mom!!!” he screamed again, choking back the tears.

I knew what I had to do. I threw myself into the flames and as soon as the fire tried to lick at me, it sizzled to nothing once it touched my cold skin. I grabbed Hunter’s mom and put out the fire long enough to drag her out. I don’t know how Hunter saw this but all he must have seen was his unconscious mother dragging herself out of a self-extinguishing fire. I continued to put out the fire as best as I could until the fire department came and took care of the rest. Hunter’s mom finally came around and spoke of her remembering a face. A face that saved her.

“I saw a girl! Her hair so red it looked like fire! He cool hands soothed my burns an no flame dared to touch her!”

She was hysterical and an ambulance came to take her way. The doctors saw this as shock but I saw this as my chance. I grabbed a pen and scribbled my name on a sheet of paper. I dropped it on the floor on front of Hunter and he picked in up. As soon as he saw it his eyes widened.

“Jenna?”

i set out again. I was well-dressed, which I think (hope) made people think better of me. I had my sack, filled with muffins, scones, biscuits, butter, jam, and bread that Mrs. Peabody had given me at breakfast for the journey. Plus, I still had money and food left over from yesterday. And so I began day two of my journey.

I found a coach to take to the countryside. I paid the man a shilling and hopped on. I ended up squished between a woman wearing a torn dress and a man who I’m pretty sure was once a servant at the palace. I hopped off and walked and walked, until I stumbled upon a deserted, semi-dilapidated home. I walked in.  A mouse scurried across my feet. I took a few more steps. I went all through the house. After I walked all through the house, I went back in to the kitchen and opened a closet. A cloud of dust came out at me. I coughed and sputtered. Inside the closet, there was a broom, mop, and pail. I took them out. I took the rusted pail and left. I walked until I encountered a babbling, clear brook. I bent down and scooped up some water. I would use that water for mopping, because hopefully the mopping would make the dilapidated house a bit more bearable to live in. Later, I would come back to this brook to get drinking water.

I found a poor merchant selling necessities such as soap and matches. I found a few coins in my pocket. They must have fallen out when I was carrying my sack in my pocket. I bought two bars of soap on ropes and a package of matches. I feel a finger in my pocket. I see it’s a boy trying to pick my pocket. Even though this is only day two of my expedition, I already learned much from being on the streets yesterday. Besides, this is angering. I punch him hard. Blood spatters out of his nose. I run.

When I get back to the pathetic house, I mop, scrub, and sweep. It actually didn’t look so bad afterwards. It looked like most of the commoners’ houses. I went back down to the brook. I saw blood in the grass. I gasped inwardly. I never knew I could hurt someone so much.

—–

If you’re wondering why this chapter is so violent, I was listening to angry Adele songs while writing this. I decided there should be something to anger Catalina.

Chapter Four – Laugh

(In third person)

Zak watched the sunset quietly. There was a cold chill in the air as night began to fall, but he didn’t want to return to the apartment. No way. Either way, it didn’t matter if he was late returning home. She’d still beat him, convinced he’d been seeing some other girl

“Especially that THING. I mean, is she a girl or a boy?”

Zak clenched his fists. SHE insulted Detroit so horribly.

He sighed and rolled up his sleeves and gently traced the bruises on his arms. The words rang in his head

“You’re pathetic. Can’t even stand up for yourself”

“You need that girl, don’t you? Tough”

“Freak”

“Don’t even think about telling anybody. I’ll kill you and that girl”

Zak closed his eyes and sighed. He wanted to tell somebody, but he couldn’t. He could imagine his friends laugh as he told them that his girlfriend beat him senseless, made him feel bad about himself. Worst of all, he could see Detroit laughing, a cruel, sick and twisted scream of a laugh, just like the one he had in that dream, years ago.

It was WHY he was treating her so coldly. He didn’t want Arizona to ever hurt her. He was pushing Detroit away for her own safety. He pushed everyone away now. Didn’t want Arizona to hurt them.

“Join me, in this parade

So, apologies for this short chapter, but the 3^rd person chapter will be short :3

You’re probably thinking “Wait, WTH?!”

But, I made Zak being abused my Arizona because:

1: It ties in nicely with his childhood, like when he though the hardship was over, it came back

2: It’ll fit in with what’s going to happen

3: Abuse in men is ALWAYS ignored, and tbh, I’m just trying to raise awareness of this kind of thing. Abuse happens in men too.

Oh, and the “lyrics” at the end are from a piece of fanart I did to go with a song me and my friend wrote(:

I promise won’t go into details about abuse and stuff. I reckon I’ve been far too depressing XD Oh, and be ready to have Phil Collins “Look Through My Eyes” fired at you xD

At home, I lay on my stomach on my bed, glasses on, chewing on a Pocky stick. I was MEANT to be studying, but thinking about Arizona’s odd behaviour was more interesting than algebra. Really.

I stroked the dog, who’d clambered onto my bed in the hope he could shred some coursework.

“What do you think, Doodle?” I asked, staring into his chocolate brown eyes. He leaned forward and licked my glasses, making them all smeary. He shifted his heavy Labrador body off my bed, stretched, and padded downstairs to see if he could snaffle something out of the fridge. And a few minutes later, there was a smell of a real doggy fart wafting around. Gross.

The doorbell went and I raced downstairs to answer it. Zak stood there, a lopsided smile on his face.

“Eh….can I stay here for a while? Kinda lonely…”

“Where’s Arizona?” I asked, more coldly than I meant to.

“Out with her parents….visiting her nan who is in hospital…” Zak said, uneasily.  I weakened and let him in. I then noticed a bruise on his eye.

“Eh? What’s that, Zak?” I asked, brushing aside his fringe.

“That….I got into a fight with a door…an’ uh…lost” he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, his usually pale face turning a strawberry red…

My heart swooped. I loved him more than ever when he looked like that. But no…I can’t let myself. He had Arizona, as annoying as she was. Perhaps she was just the insecure type, and she and Zak really did get on…?

“What’s with the…?” he gestured to my hair, spiky and just…EVERYWHERE, and my red glasses.

“I was studying, until you came along…I look horrible with my glasses, I know” I said, whipping them off and shoving them into my trouser pocket.

“You looked like Roux”

My bedroom was eerily silent at the mention of Roux’s name.

“So….how’s this Arizona treating you?”

“Eh? Oh…she’s nice. Like I said”

“You say nice all the time. Zak, I’m sorry, but I’m getting a really horrible vibe off her. And if Roux were here I’m sure he’d think the same…”

“That’s just your opinion, Detroit…like I said Arizona is really nice!”

“Yes, because punching you is real nice”

“She didn’t mean it, she said sorry after”

I sighed.

“Okay,” I reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched away from me, raising his hands over his head.

“Are you alright, Zak?”

ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN NEXT CHAPTER XD

I think I had a right to be concerned. I’m losing Zak, day by day.

We met up again a few days after my “stupid” huff, and both of us acted like it had never happened. We did that now. Never mention the past, never mentioned the killings, the institute, Keenan, Dr Xavier….we talked of Roux sometimes. But not often. Roux is the only reminder we have that everything happened, everything was real.

“What’s this girl’s name?” I asked, picking up a few daisies and threading them.

“Arizona. She’s ever so nice, and absolutely beautiful I tell you”

I noticed that Zak was wearing a soft brown T-shirt and white cargo pants, but instead of the leather strap I gave to him for his 14^th birthday, a silver watch was strapped on his wrist. I tilted my head, squinting at it. He never went ANYWHERE without the leather strap. He noticed me staring.

“What?”

“The….leather strap, I gave you…it’s…”

“Oh, that thing…? I lost it ages ago. Arizona bought me this watch from Paris. Do you like it?” he asked, grinning at me. I nodded, and then turned away from him, to face the ocean, far away in the distance.

“Yeah, it’s nice” I mumbled, still threading my daisies. I looped it into a bracelet and handed it to Zak, a smile on my face.

“Here! This can replace that leather strap!” I said, as cheerfully as was physically possible. He took it, and gave me a fake smile. The smile was there, pearly white cat-like teeth…but his eyes didn’t light up. It was only a mask. Nothing more.

“I’ve gotta go…see you later, Detroit” Zak said, standing up, hitching up his trousers, pocketing his phone, and strolling away down the hill.

He’d left the bracelet of daisies.

I stood up, clutching it, shaking my fist at him. I wanted to throw it but didn’t seem to have any strength left in me. Since when did Zak become first place in World Class Jerk nominations?

Maybe it was just me. Maybe Zak had always been like this…no, that’s not it! The Zak I knew was sweet and caring and apologetic.

“Hey Detroit….sweetie, what’s the matter?” Mum called up the stairs after me. I slammed my door shut, flopped onto my bed and picked up the photo frame that had earned itself a place on my bedside table. It was picture of me and Zak and Roux, all of us in a huddle, heads together, grinning at the camera.

“What happened, eh Zak? What happened to you? What happened to us?”

Zak invited me out to meet Arizona later on in the week. And she was NOT nice. To me anyway.

Both of them sat together, Arizona giggling and stealing his chips….even if she hadn’t ordered any for himself.

“You shoulda ordered some for yourself! I haven’t had any!” Zak said, jokingly. Arizona giggled and punched his shoulder. Hard.

“Oh, you’re so funny Zak!”

Arizona went to the bathroom, and when she was gone, Zak rubbed his shoulder. I gave him a sympathetic smile and followed Arizona to the bathroom. Where she became a whole other different person. She glared at me as I washed my hands and made sure my hair looked neat (as neat as I could get it. I cut it a year and a half ago and started to grow it, and it’s stuck in that awful, straggly, in between stage) She fixed her make-up and pin-neat blonde hair, then turned to me.

“Who, are you? Zak told me something about a girl…just never realised that ‘girl’ would be you. What’s he doing hanging out with stupid kids? How old are you? You look 15! She snapped, hands on hips. She reminded me of Caitlin.

“For your information, my name is Detroit and I’m actually 20…I’m Zak’s BEST friend”

“All right, geez, I didn’t ask for your life story…and anyway, you stay away from Zak, he’s MINE”

She flounced out of the bathroom, leaving me stood there, dumfounded.

Don’t worry; there is a reason for why Zak is so cold towards Detroit. All will be revealed…sooner or later. Just keep an eye on Arizona’s “playful” violent behaviour.

PS: A few chapters will swap from Detroit’s POV to third person…..just clearing it up

So, Cillman, ALooseAvian and raqshan seemed to be worried that Chapter One was the end of it XD ITS NOT GUYS!!! I’ve got a good plot worked out here!

GIVE ME ADVISE AND COMMENTS

As we headed for the edge I saw the driver smile and yank the steering wheel back sending us straight down the road. “May we slow down a bit,” I asked clearly nervous. “Slow no way,” he yelled over the radio as he raised the speed from 120 to 130. Finally he swerved around a rich neighborhood and stopped near a high-secured building. “Thank you I guess,” I yelled at him over the radio. He gave me thumbs up and then swerving up the street he disappeared from view.

I walked slowly up the steps and into the building. It looked organized with no one running around and a quiet atmosphere. The only problem was that it sounded to quiet. There was no one there even the receptionist was gone. The empty desk vacant and the place eerily quiet made everything spooky. I walked slowly through the last pair of doors and suddenly the doors shut behind me. I whirled around and tried to get out but it wouldn’t let me. Then I felt the warm feel of blood on my back. I tried to look where but I was already unconscious.

I CANT THINK THINK OR THINK. THIS IS SO FRUSTERATING I NEED HELP BAD. GIVE ME IDEAS PLEASE OR ILL GET VERY FRUSTERATING

                   PLEASE

EALENATE P.S ILL HELP YOU

“Just Be Friends, All We Gotta Do Is Just Be Friends…It’s Time To Say Goodbye, Just Be Friends…”

You know those moments in life when you think you see something, but you can’t quite believe it until that something practically runs up and slaps you in the face?
I used to take those moments for granted, like if I saw an old school friend or a relative or someone. But now, in town, I always wish that those “moments” could happen again, and the “something” would have a cheeky grin, cat ears twitching softly in the breeze. I guess that it’s too much to ask for.

“Someday out of the blue
In a crowded street, or a deserted square
I’ll turn and I’ll see you, as if we always knew
Someday we could start again someday soon….”

“Detroit!”
I spun on my heels as I heard someone call my name. The square was empty, deserted, the sun just beginning to set. Everybody had gone in. I walked away again. Maybe it was just my imagination…I’ve been hallucinating a LOT recently since Zak left. But the call came louder, more frantic.
“DETROIT! Are you blind or something?!”

Then, a shadow tore towards me. Upon close inspection I saw it was a young man, with wild, messy blonde hair and the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. He looked familiar, though I didn’t remember him.
“Do….I know you? And how do YOU know MY name?” I asked, stepping away from this madman who claimed to know me. I was the only Detroit within the city, as far as I knew.

He laughed, and I got that warm feeling again.

“Very funny, Detroit….it’s me, Zak, remember?”

I looked at him, up and down, for a good five minutes. There were no ears on his head.
“E-Ears…? They’re gone…” I whispered, pointing to his head. He laughed and hugged me hard. I’d never seen him this happy.
“Yeah! I finally found out how to ‘manage’ my powers…they’re still there, but I figured out how to make them disappear so I can just about fit in with all the other “normal” people…”

It was my turn to laugh now. He was over-excited, but why? Usually, he’d just be casual. His eyes were sparkling.
“Come on, let’s go grab a drink. We have so much to tell each other…”

“We didn’t last, me and him. He kept ogling other girls…so I dumped him” I told Zak about my ex-boyfriend. Zak listened intently, laughing now and again. I never realised how much I missed that laugh up until now.
“Well…I met a girl…” Zak said, cheeks suddenly flaring strawberry pink. There was a silence at the table.
“Really? What’s she like?”
“She’s very nice. Absolutely beautiful, I tell you. You’d love her, Detroit”

I couldn’t help but feel a sharp pang of…was that JEALOUSY?
I stood up and stormed out of the cafe, slamming the door. No doubt leaving behind a very confused Zak..

Looking back on it now, I feel so stupid. Why did I feel this way….why? Zak was simply a friend and nothing more.
—-
Oh dear….looks like xThreeDaysGracex has been listening to VOCALOID again…
I tried to go for a humour kind of thing here….no doubt it’ll suck T^T
This was requested by the fabulous three people that are known as: ALooseAvian, raqshan and Cillman(:  Thanks you guys!

Carla slapped Paul on the back.

“Come on! They’re coming!”

Paul blinked twice and then started to run again. From behind him he could hear shouts and gunshots from the furious Mafia. They ran down to the left and turned a corner to a brightly lit city street. There were families walking about and kids making snow angels on the ground. Paul doubted that any of these people were aware of the gangster hideout just around the corner. Carla kept running, past all the shops and people, until she came to an old, crumbling block of apartments. She looked back and saw Paul panting and trying to keep up. Rolling her eyes, Carla shoved the door open. It was eaten away by insects and the elements, so it was easy to knock down. Carla squeezed her hands together and jumped inside .

Paul was doing well enough, until he fell face first into the snow. “Ooomph!” he cried as his mouth was filled with dirty snow that a dog had recently peed on. He heard quick footsteps behind him and the shadow of a huge, muscular man appeared over him. he was wearing a black suit, and there was a bulge in breast pocket that didn’t look good. But that wasn’t all. He was holding the time staff.

The man rolled up his sleeves and spat something in Russian. It sounded similar to “I’m going to enjoy this.” Paul tried to sit up, but the man whacked him on the face with the staff. Paul’s nose started bleeding heavily and by the ccrack noise, he was sure it was broken. He couldn’t see anything for a few seconds, and when his eyes swam back into focus, the man was gone. The staff was lying on the ground by itself. Paul was wondering how this miracle had happened, when Carla jumped out of the shadows.

“How the heck did you do that?” grinned Paul happily. “Trade secret.” winked Carla. “But I’ll give you a clue. It had something to do with the handy door coming out right behind him. Did I mention I’m a black belt in Judo?” While Paul gaped at her, Carla started walking down along the path. Well, probably not. she thought Because I’m not a black belt in Judo!

The sky turned a vivid orange tinted with pink and deep shades of blue as the sun slowly set. The stars faintly glistened as the light receded and the darkness moved in. But the camp was full of lights and drum beats centering around a large fire with a long table facing it on one side an on the other, a small stage lifted high so everyone could see it. Behind the main table sat small chairs and stools of plenty for the rest of the camp to lounge in. The sun disappeared and a load horn echoed through the camp, the sound slowly fading into the distance. Reyna silently motioned me over to her. Ryan and I sat next to Seth, a high place of honor. The drums went silent. All fires went out except for the middle one, which shone like a beacon in the night. Everyone went still as a single man climbed the stairs to the stage and put on a plain expression then suddenly burst into action as he expressed in deep emotion the tale of heroes and warriors of our kind.

“The leaves were flowing around our mighty hero as he stood at the top of the hill, watching, waiting. He whistled for Comet, his brilliant steed, and galloped down the slope as the battle went into action. The Dark Ones had overtaken Barbarians everywhere and our hero, Orin, was our last hope. The Dark Ones trembled in fear as they saw him approaching and many fled in fear of his mighty wrath until the Dark leader was all that was left of his army. Orin and he stood of and fought to the death until Orin was standing over the Dark leader’s body. But he was only the beginning. He moved form cities to villages to small settlements and over took every leader that stood between him and his freedom. Until that one day. He stood of against yet another Dark leader when the high champion strode forward to confront Orin on orders the He Who Knows Death, the ruler of his Dark kind. Orin never knew who the champion was and agreed to fight. That proved to be the end of him. Yet somehow, in someway, Orin still won in the end. The champion fell on the ground dead with cold, hard skin and a whitened face. After that, He Who Knows Death, withdrew into the Beyond never to be seen or heard of again. Some say that he will return to conquer and destroy once more while others believe that Orin’s spirit still roams our world, waiting for his one decedent to step forward and accept the challenge and defeat He Who Knows Death once and for all. People have been known to see him sometimes. In his living days, he would leave messages to his followers through birds, usually trapped in cages. Some still see these mysterious birds only to find them disappear within 1 hour time. His soul will remain disturbed until the Dark Ones are destroyed once and for all.”

He ended his story with a bow and received a loud applause and stomping. Being the Barbarians we are, we had torn our food apart and went crazy over the story, jumping to our feet, shouting to the story teller, asking for more. Ryan and I just sat in our chairs staring at each other. A bird trapped in a cage. We both knew what that meant.

“We’ll talk about it later.” I said before he could say anything and he nodded.

“Well that was some story wasn’t it?” Seth’s voiced boomed through the crowd as he stood on the stage. “I would like to give a toast to our champion, Claire. She was the one who made our battle months back successful. If its wasn’t for her, we would all be dead! And who could forget her friend, Ryan, who saved my life more times then I would like to mention… and saving the life of Claire. May they live long lives. Hear, hear!!”

“Hear, hear!!” The crowd responded and everyone chugged down the ale with a loud slurp. I gulped it down and smiled when I heard Ryan cough a little, still unfamiliar to its taste.

“And now for the games!” Seth yelled. Everyone screamed in response. The games are defiantly the best part of the banquet. “Boxing first.”

Everyone made a big circle, marking the barriers of the arena as 2 burly men stood at the opposite sides, waiting for the bell to ring. One was tall an lean suggesting speed and agility wit not as much muscle as a usual Barbarian while the other one, Grant, was more muscular and focused more of flexing his muscles that evaluating his opposite like the Johnny, the lean one, was doing. I made my bets and heard the bell ring out. Grant instantly lunged at Johnny only to stumble over. I was highly impressed. It didn’t even look like Johnny moved but he was standing a foot back from where her originally were. Grant was irritated and took some swipes and Johnny, missing every single time, getting more and more angry by the second. There was one split second when Grant was off balance and Johnny leaned forward, putting all his weight into one single blow to the nose. He stood back. They both were, after all, Barbarians. They were on the same side and this was just a sport. No grudges were to be made. Grant stood up, wiping a little blood of the corner of his mouth, and grinned at Johnny. He extended his hand and they shook.

“You’ll have to teach me sometime.” He said.

“Sure thing.” Everyone cheered. Sure we Barbarians have a high sense of pride, but we also have a sense of good sportsmanship.

Afterward there was sword fighting (which I had to convince Ryan not to participate in) wrestling, discus, javelin throwing, and the all favored capture-the-flag composition. Ryan and I signed up with many others who were hoping to make it in which only a select few do. Of course, Ryan and I are the guests of honor so of course we will get in, as unfair as it my seem, but that doesn’t mean that our competitors will go easy on us. We waited until the other games were complete until Seth stood on the stage once more to announce who was accepted onto a team and which team they would be on.

“On team 1 are Ryan, Greg, Samson, Grant, Sabrina, Luke, Maria, Julia, Bryan, Jake, Arnold, and myself. And on team 2 are Claire, Reyna, Jack, Andy, Robin, Nathan, Liam, Chase, Megan, The twins Ru and Rose, and Sara.”

We divided into the two groups and looked at each other with steady stares, evaluating our strengths and weaknesses. It wasn’t looking good for us. They had Seth, Samson, and Grant, some very strong and tough looking people. But then again, we seemed to have some fast looking people on our side.

“Ok, ok. Stop staring at each other like wide eyed deer and listen up!” Seth called out, grabbing our attention. “Here are the rules. Each team has a flag. Team one has the blue cougar and team two has the red mongoose. Who ever captures there enemies flag and stands it next their own, wins. Now there should be no bad-sports. I don’t want to hear any whining. There will be no killing. We cannot have that. Also, if you hit, your out. You’ll have to sit out for the rest of the game and hope your team wins. The battle will take place 1 mile south from here. You got 3 hours till the horn sounds and both teams are allowed to capture. Does everyone understand?” No one bothered to speak out. Everyone knows the rules. “Good now go, go, go!!”

The whole crowd scattered into the darkness, forced to wait until the game ended to see who had won. Team one huddled together and spoke quietly so we couldn’t hear. Then they broke apart, grabbed their flag and left south to the gaming grounds.

“Ok they’re gone.” Reyna said as soon as they disappeared. “We have to hurry and make a plan. And one of us has to follow them, see where their going.”

“I’ll go.” Nathan said and Reyna nodded.

“You’ll go as soon as we chose a base.”

We whispered just in case they left someone behind to eavesdrop on us and strategized where we will keep the flag, who will be guarding it, and who will set out to capture team one’s flag. I was assigned along with Jack and the twins to capture the flag. We will have to keep a large amount of the group to guard seeing that they have a lot of brute force. A smaller group could get it, get the flag, and get out more silent then if we brought 6 people. Liam brought out a map of the gaming area that had all the land marks and boarders marked. I don’t know how he got a hold of it but that was the fun part of the game. There hardly were any rules. According to the map, the boarders made a perfect circle and at the corner of the map was a cross labeled north, south, east, and west. To the south of the boarders were a jumble of trees and bushes but not many. It is the savanna after all. A pond with animal drawings around it, suggesting it was a watering hole lied to the north and to the west sat nothing but vast plains that stretched into the center of the gaming area, making it very difficult for us to sneak up on them if we are on the opposite side of area from them. To the east sat a mesa, which looks like a rock mountain with its point cut off so its top if flat. In the game, team two can set up base in either the east or the north while team one would set up in the west or south. We settled on the mesa and headed out, Nathan running ahead to follow team one. It didn’t take to long to get to the mesa only it took a lot longer to climb it with its steep slopes and all. At the top we placed it in the very center and those who are guarding it sat at the edge of so if anyone trying to climb up, they would have a hard time getting there. I scouted around the mesa with Chase, a Barbarian boy my age, and hoped to find something that would help us win.

“So, your the famous Claire?” Chase asked, making conversation.

“I guess so.”

“Rumor has it your mom was a Savvy and that’s why you’re so smart. Is it true?”

“Uhh.” I didn’t really want to tell him.

I’m already and outcast. Why should I encourage that? I was gonna lie and say no when a small flutter caught my eye. Leaving Chase alone and still hoping for the answer, I climbed up a few yards and entered a cave. All the way in the back was a cage with a small calm, familiar bird sitting inside. My breath was caught in my throat when I thought back to the story of Orin. He leaved birds in cages for his followers as messages.

“Claire? Is everything alright? Did you find anything?”

“Its’s fine! Nothing down here! I’ll be down in a second!” I shouted back to Chase and crept up to the cage. Chase cannot know the bird is here. The tribe will freak out if they knew. I opened the cage and the bird remained calm when I gently picked it up. Tied to its little leg was a slip of paper, only as big as the palm of my hand. I read it.

Hello, Claire.
Your time is coming.

I bit my lip and shoved the paper in my pocket, reminding myself to show Ryan later. I let the bird go and stomped the cage until it was only twigs.

“Chase! Comes see!” I heard a few rocks tumble as he climbed up into the cave.

“Wow. We have to tell the others. This is a perfect place to keep the flag.”

I nodded as we left and climbed up to the top of the mesa. We told them what we found and we agreed it would be safer to keep the flag there.

“So simple plan.” Reyna summed up. “Claire, Jake, Ru, and Rose will go after team one’s flag, Robin and I will guard the flag while the rest will stay up here and through them off. Stall them for as long as you can. Make them think the flag is up here, not in a cave.”

“Nathan’s coming!” Liam shouted.Andy and Sara went down to help him up.

“Did you find them?” Reyna asked once he was up.

“No. I didn’t find them. I couldn’t catch up with them and our time was running out so I couldn’t check to south or east.”

“It’s fine. We’ll just have to search both areas.”

Off in the distance, a horn sounded, echoing through the grass lands and ringing clearly in our ears. We all shared a vicious grin. Game on.

Dr Xavier stood at the window of the watch tower, hands clasped behind his back as he watched the two teens run, climb onto the boat and sail back to the mainland. He decided he didn’t quite care. He’d get 35 back, one way or another.

He heard the door open and turned to see three Guards stood there, a group of scientists and patients behind them. The Guard at the front of the group held a gun, and was pointing it at Xavier’s head.

“Your rule is over. We’re sick of you telling us what to do. These people, they are no danger. In your stupidity and blindness you killed two innocents boys and tore apart a family. You can’t hurt anyone…anymore”

“No…wait!”

BANG

Roux’s room. I haven’t been in here since I moved back to the old house. It’s just as he left it. Trophy’s on the shelf, tiny terrapins crawling along in their tank, the old stuffed giraffe with the lollopy neck sat on his bed.

On the particular day I had gone into his room, the sun streamed through the window, and dust particles danced in the sunbeams.

I love days like these. If I sit on his window seat and daydream for a while, I can almost feel Roux gracing me with his presence, so warm and welcoming.

I miss him a lot, but with each day that passes it becomes a little less painful.

Dr Xavier is dead now. The hospital was shut down and the patients sent to real places that could help them return to society normally.

Zak went away too. I’m not entirely sure where he is. He stayed for a few weeks, then one morning I woke up and he was gone. A note left on his bed.

“Hey Detroit.

I’ve left. Don’t ask me where I’ve gone, and don’t come looking for me either. It’s something us “cat-freaks” do. Like real stray cats, we very often leave. Guess we should’ve seen that coming, eh? Anyways…I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Without you, showing me that the world isn’t as bad as it seems, I would’ve gone insane long ago.

Perhaps we’ll see each other again someday? And we can start over again. I promise I’ll never forget you, or Roux. I just want you to never forget me(:”

“Someday out of the blue

In a crowded street, or a deserted square

I’ll turn and I’ll see you, as if we always knew

Maybe we could start again someday soon…”

I treasure that letter to this day. Very often I’ll be walking in the big city and I swear I see Zak. But it is just a glimpse. A streak of wild dark blonde hair, two soft cat ears disappearing into a crowd of people. Sometimes, the glances last longer, and I see Zak, stood at the end of the street, a great grin all over his face, waving manically.

And then he’s gone, just a ghost of a smile still lingering in my mind.
—————————————

OMG trip down nostalgia lane :’) I LOVE “Someday Out Of The Blue” by Elton John. I love the Road To El Dorado. It brings back so many happy memories of when I was eight years old, when things were simple. 5 years on and it’s still my favourite movie(:

I may write a short story inspired by “Someday Out Of The Blue” Go listen to it. It reminds me so much of Detroit and Zak’s relationship (:
Thanks to all who’s followed this story so far(: It means so much to me. Keep writing! I enjoy reading ALL of your stories(:

Jade had fainted. She had taken one look at the picture and her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed. It had taken Patrick all his willpower not to throw up all over her. Their Mom could be dead or kidnapped! But he knew that they’d never find her in the woods so he decided the hotel was their only option. As he half-carried, half-dragged Jade through the undergrowth, bitter tears poured down his cheeks. He tried to imagine a world without his mother. They would be orphans then, as their father had been struck by lightning when they were two. He would only have Jade, and that’s why he would have to protect her as much as he could. For starters, getting them both out of this forest.

When he finally reached the hotel by dumb luck, it was almost two ‘o’ clock in the morning. Patrick was a nice, friendly guy with a happy-go-lucky attitude, but the situation was looking pretty desperate. They were two eleven-year old kids, one was unconsious and the other was almost dead with exhaustion and it was the middle of the night. It didn’t seem that things could get any worse, but they certainly did.

When they got there, the hotel was closed. Patrick groaned. It looked like they’d be sleeping inside the car tonight. As he pulled Jade over to the mercedes, something weird happened. The hotel door flung open and a loud booming voice called from inside “Come in! We have been expecting you!” Patrick didn’t want to spend the night in a car, but that voice sounded like bad news. After a minute, the idea of soft, warm beds won over, and he shook Jade awake.

“Hey, sis, wake up! The hotel’s open; we can have a great sleep.” It never occurred to Patrick that they might not let them have a room, with no money or parents, but he just assumed these people were friendly. How wrong he was. Jade woke up and looked around. “Where are we? What happened. . .” Her voice trailed off as she remembered the day’s events. “Mom? Did you find her?” Patrick shook his head morosely. “I’m sorry Jade.”

“I didn’t do that good,” Tyler protested waving his arms in defense. “I mean those guts were really clumsy and had no clue of where I was going to hit next so it wasn’t a challenge.” “Yeah well you still did amazing job,” the commander exclaimed looking out the window of Taco Bell while Tyler gulped huge bites of his three burritos. “MMMMYHIHIH,” Tyler tried to say as he ate three bites at the same time.

“What,” replied the commander confused. “Sorry I meant what’s our next mission?” Tyler asked. “Well let’s see,”He said looking over a sheet of reports from surrounding cities. “The Royal Bank Scotland was robbed last night so I’m sending you there.” “How am I going there,” he asked uncertain. “Don’t worry, that car outside will take you to an airplane,”He told me. “Capture the thief but no heroics, okay?” “Sure,” I replied reassuringly as I walked out of the door and into the car.

When we finally got to the airport Tyler was tired. Then he clumsy got past security, jumped on the plane, and fell asleep. He woke up to the sound of the loudspeaker,”We are landing soon Please exit calmly.” I murmured,” Stupid loudspeaker.” When the plane landed I jumped off and headed for a taxi. There was one with yellow striped body and black on the roof. It was the coolest taxi I have ever seen. I waved it over and told the English guy where I wanted to go. He nodded like   he understand what I said and took off. He went so fast I thought I died. H swerved between traffic taking sharp corners and going 60 miles over the speed limit. Then he took a sharp turn and we did a wheelie spinning off the side of a bridge.

The grey mercedes pulled up to the old, creepy hotel. The front door opened and a plump, smiling woman stepped out. She called to her children inside the car. “Come on! It’s really not that bad, you just have to go inside.” The door opened slowly and an eleven year old boy stepped out, closely followed by his twin sister. They both looked extremely unhappy, and glared at the hotel as if it had commited some personal crime. “Why did we have to come here?” they whinged simultaneously, a habit they both had, the whinging and the talking-at-the-same-time. “Now, now.” their mother said patronisingly. “We’ll have great fun here. There’s a lake down the hill where you can go swimming, Patrick, and Jade, I hear they have a magnificent library inside!”

Patrick started heaving their heavy gear out of the boot. “Any chance of you helping at all?” he wheezed to Jade. “Not really.” she said, examining her fingernails. Their mother had an annnoying habit of wandering off and taking pictures when there was work to be done. But Patrick was practical and knew if he didn’t do it, nobody would. Suddenly, a song started playing and Jade fished her phone out of her pocket and answered it. “Hello? Oh, hi Emma! . . .Yeah, I know but at least there’s reception here. Remember that time when. . .”

Jade went off, chatting to her friend on her mobile, leaving Patrick by himself. He had nothing else to do, and he knew it would be half an hour before either of them came back, so he walked up to the hotel. The name on the front said’L'Hotel Fantome’. Patrick had no idea what it meant-he had never learned French- but it sounded cool. There was a looming, dark forest surrounding the hotel, which Jade had wandered into.The building itself was covered in ivy, and looked quite old. It wasn’t in very good condition, some of the windows were broken and most of the roof tiles were missing, but like it or not, this was his home for the next two weeks.

The lobby inside was dark, so he couldn’t see anything at all inside. He stretched out his hand dreamily to open the door. . .

Jade had been strolling through the woods, talking to Emma, when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her. “Jade! Are you okay? What happened?” She turned around and saw Patrick sprinting towards her. “Hellooo? I’m on the phone here!” she snapped at Patrick. “But. . . didn’t you just scream a moment ago?” Jade sighed and spoke into the phone. “Hey, Emma, can I call you back? Yeah, thanks. Bye!” She placed the phone back in her pocket and then looked at Patrick. “So what’s this nonsense about me screaming?”

“I heard a girl’s voice scream just there. I thought it was you and I came to help.” he said, his face as white as snow.

“Honestly,” said Jade, rolling her eyes. “When have you ever heard me scream? And if I was in trouble, the connection would burst up again, wouldn’t it?”

Patrick knew what she meant. Whenever one of them was in danger, a strange telepathic energy came between them and they could read each other’s thoughts for a few moments. It had first happened when Patrick was nearly hit by a car when they were six. He had briefly heard Jade singing a song in her mind. They had discussed it later on, but their parents hadn’t believed them of course. It had happened next when they were eight and Jade had met a bear while they were camping. She had been able to communicate with Patrick and tell him where she was. Afterwards, they figured out it only happened in dangerous situations. The last time the connection came was a few months ago, when their Mom couldn’t see through the snow and nearly crashed. They were sitting next to each other but it still connected them. Jade was right. If she had been in trouble, Patrick could’ve heard her thoughts.

“But if you didn’t scream, then who did?” asked Patrick.

“Maybe it was Mom.” suggested Jade.

“No, no. It was definetely a young girl’s voice.” Patrick’s eyes widened suddenly.

“What if Mom’s looking for us? She must have heard the scream too, it was pretty loud.”

“We better go look for her.” agreed Jade nervously. They started to walk deeper into the woods, calling their mother’s name. They had searched for twenty minutes before they began to get scared. “What do you think happened to her?” whispered Patrick anxiously. “I don’t know.” replied Jade, her voice just as soft. “Maybe she fell and broke her leg. Or maybe she got attacked by a wild animal. Or maybe -”

“Shut up!” hissed Patrick “She’s probably just looking for us as well. Don’t worry, It’ll be fine.”

But after another half an hour, things weren’t looking so good. They were now hopelessly lost and terrified.

“I told you we should have gone right back there.” muttered Patrick.

“No, I’m sure that would bring us back to where we started.” insisted Jade.

“Look, lets just head straight and eventually we’ll come out the other side!”

It seemed like a good plan, but was interuppted almost immediately. “Look!” cried Jade “I saw something over there!” She started running off to the left. “Hey, wait up!” Patrick called after her. Jade ran to the spot where she had seen the figure and started scanning the trees around her, looking for clues. A minute later, Patrick walked into the clearing. “Took your time.” said Jade without looking up. Patrick didn’t say anything, he just held something up for her to see. It was Mom’s camera. “Look at the pictures.” he croaked. Jade took it and started flicking through the photos. Scenery, wildlife, blah blah blah. Jade was about to turn it off until she saw the last picture.

It was a horrifying picture of a bloodstained axe.

6 Abby

My eyes snapped open and I could see the priest preaching the Lord’s Word. I was sitting in a pew in the middle of church and everyone except for some small children and bored teens were listening very intently to the priest. I stood up and genuflected before I exited the doors. No one even glanced at me as I would expect them to. I ran out and knew exactly where I was in the town and ran down the street. My moment increased impossibly fast and I held only one destination in my mind. Home. My view on the world changed completely and I found myself suddenly in my house. I just managed to stop before I ran into the fridge. I sat on the couch to figure out what just happened and came to the best conclusion I could think of. I’m a ghost. I must be able to teleport to places with only a thought. And if I can do that then I can also do other things like read peoples minds and walk through walls. I shut my eyes and thought about my room and when I opened my eyes I was sitting on my bed. Cool. I could hear foot steps coming up the stairs and saw my mom with a basket full of clean cloths walk past my room and head to hers.

“Mom!” I yelled at was about to run to her when a firm hand grabbed my shoulder.

I looked back and saw Patch shaking his head. My mom stopped dead in her tracks and cautiously walked back to my room. She looked around and stared straight at me, only to get teary eyed and walk away. Patch closed the door silently after she was long gone and turned back to me.

“Oh my gosh. She can’t see me can she?”

“No.”

“But she heard me.”

“No one can see, feel, or hear you unless they’re blood related or some special exceptions.”

“But why was she crying?” He frowned and turned on the t.v. He changed it to channel 6, the news and I saw my face.

“And in other news, today marks the day Jenna Beaux went missing 7 months ago. She was last seen at the iceskating rink and there is no trace to where she went or if she is even alive. I you have seen her please call the number on the screen.” Patch clicked the remote and the screen clicked off.

“I’v been dead for 7 months?” he nodded. “And today marks the seventh month anniversary?”

“Yes.”

“So that means today is what? August 17?”

“Yes.”

“I missed summer and school is about to start. And my birthday is in 5 days.”

“Yes. That is when you need to unlock the safe.”

“Oh joy. More information. Please explain.”

“It’s a little complicated.”

“Isn’t everything?”

“Your powers are the strongest on your birthday. That would be the best time to unlock the safe.”

“So you’re saying I have 5 days to figure out the riddle, make the keeper see me, and unlock the safe?”

“Yeah. I guess it’s not as complicated as I thought.” I sighed and sat down on the bed.

“Being dead sucks.”

“Nah. Not really. But there is one more thing you should know.”

“What?”

“If you don’t return to the living in 3 months. You will stuck as a ghost forever and never be able to go to heaven or the living.”

“Oh well that’s just peachy.” I groaned out loud and plunged my face into my pillow. “Can you give me the slightest hint to how or who for that matter is the keeper?”

“Just walk around town. See what your friends have been doing. Have a little fun being a ghost. You can do some pretty cool things. Just remember that you can pick things up but if someone sees you, all they will see is a floating object.”

“Yeah yeah, I’v seen the movies.” He disappeared again but I could tell he was watching what I was doing to make sure I won’t be doing anything reckless.

I looked at the clock. 12:30. Abby would have just got out of church. I thought intently on Abby’s house and opened my eyes to find myself in her yard, the same yard we had so many good laughs in, the yard where I broke my leg and she was freaking out so much that she passed out, the same yard where we shared our first ice cream cone. The door slid open and Abby walked out with a book in her hand and she pulled a table near the hammock so she could set her drink down somewhere. I wanted to call out to her so badly but she might hear me. She is terrified of ghosts and spirits and I would only make her shut herself in her room for a week with nothing but granola bars and a bible. She began to read but ended up shutting it within minutes and walked over to the side of a tree that grew in the corner of her yard. Carved in the side of it were the words ‘Jenna and Abby, Best Friends Forever.’ Every single year we would carve it again at the end of the summer as a reminder of how long we were best friends. It was only 2 years ago when we started putting Hunter in parentheses to show that he was our friend too. Abby looked at all of the carvings and a single tear fell down her cheek. She pulled out a knife and carved once again the words ‘Jenna and Abby, Best Friends.‘ but she paused when she was about to carve ‘Forever.‘ She shook her head and the rest of the tears came, as Abby threw the knife down and ran inside. I picked up the knife and wrote Forever in the bark.

“I promise, Abby. I’ll come back.”

Carla licked her lips. If she killed this guy, a few things could happen. 1. She could get rewarded by the Mafia for stopping this thief. 2. She could end up dead for letting him in in the first place. Or 3. She could hope nobody heard the shot and continue as if nothing had happened. She inclined to go with option two, when the man spoke. “Please don’t kill me! My mother is going to die! I need to save her.” Carla didn’t really care, but then she had an idea. “Yes? Well, where does your mother live?”  “In Ireland,” said the man “She only has two weeks to live.”  “So you have a Visa if you’re going to Ireland, yeah?” asked Carla. “Y-y-yes.” stuttered the man. Carla smiled widely. One of the reasons she hadn’t  escaped from the Mafia was that she had no Visa to get to her home country of Spain. In fact, her real name was not Rogers, but Rodriguez but the previous one was easier to say for these slow-minded Russians. “Okay,” said Carla happily “Here’s the deal. I don’t pull the chain on you, and you take me to Spain.” It wasn’t much of a deal for Paul. If he said no, she would probably kill him. “Fine.” said Paul somewhat reluctantly. “I’ll bring you along. My name’s Paul Kane. What’s yours?” The woman looked insanely smug. “Carla.” she smiled. “Carla Rodriguez.”

They escaped from the HQ rather easily, it has to be said. It seemed that all the mobsters were shooting people, or playing poker or both at the same time. Paul didn’t know what they did, and if Carla did, she didn’t stop to tell him. She was rather pretty when she wasn’t  holding a gun to his head, Paul reflected. He liked the way her long hair fell down over her shoulders and at one point he caught himself dribbling all over his chin.  He had stopped at once, but the embarrassing memory remained. They had climbed the stairs out of the cellar, and had come to a long corridor with a few rooms on either side. he could hear laughter coming from behind the doors and Carla motioned for him to be quiet. They crept along the wall silently, and they had almost reached the end, when Paul sneezed loudly. There was instant silence from the rooms, and Paul could practically see them reaching for their guns.

“What do we do?” he mouthed at Carla. “Run!” she yelled back. So what do you think they did? They ran.

If you’ve ever been chased by gangsters through an unknown building in Russia two weeks before your mother is due to die, you know it’s not as hard as it sounds. Carla knew the way, and they were out of there in no time flat when they were running at top speed. They emerged in a dark alleyway, with the moon shining bright in the sky. How come it’s still night?  wondered Paul It was night when I left, the house and I fell asleep for a while! This sensation is known to us time-travel experts as ‘time lag’, a very rare occurrence where the victim is confused on which time zone s/he is.

Chapter Two of The One Man Army Tell me how you like it

The boy lowered down the radio from the roof of the plane, “Sir I got them,”"Nice job Tyler,” The reply came back almost immediately. “Over and out,” the boy said smiling to himself. He went back into the passengers area because he needed to check on the men. He walked into the room completely aware of the fact that they were awake but didn’t have guns. They were of no threat to him if they didn’t have guns. When he walked into the room however they were gone.

Suddenly he heard the air whoosh behind him. He ducked and kicked backwards hitting someone hard. He whirled around with guns in both hands. They quickly surrendered and the boy handcuffed them. “Thanks,” a passenger said as the passengers got themselves off the floor. “It’s okay,” the boy said. “We’ll be landing soon .” The boy made his way through the passengers and into the pilots cabin. “Okay so I line the miniature airplane to the radar line,” Tyler murmured to himself as he steered the airplane on the line.

“There’s the airplane,” a man whispered to the commander of National security. “Yep and our best spy is in it,” The commander told is the airport manager urgently. “Yes sir We got one ready,” reassured the airport manager. The airplane landed perfectly without a glitch. “Let’s go meet our hero,” the commander said smiling to himself. Once the plane stopped, Tyler walked out carrying three over sized men out of the door. “Sir there all yours,” Tyler responded dropping the men at the commanders feet. By now the passengers were already out of the plane going home as they talked about the young boy who saved them. “You did okay,” the commander tried not to smile. Tyler smiled then asked, “Can we get something to eat.”

The One Man Army
GIVE ME ADVISE PLEASE

“We will be landing soon,” a pilot reassured his passengers looking outside at the stormy mess. In the back of the plane three men in dark suits were talking suspiciously. A little harmless boy with a t-shirt and shorts sat on the seat next to them. The three men looked over the plane calmly. There was nobody who were a threat to their plan. I mean like a little eleven year old could fight them. After all they were trained spies from Russia.

They decided it was time. While two of the men ran to take over the controls the other threatened the passengers with a gun. “Everyone on the floor,” the man shouted waving his gun around crazily. There was a brief moment of shock then the dull hearing of bodies dropping on the floor. “We won’t hurt you just stay still,” The man said looking around. What he didn’t notice was the eleven year old silently crawled under the seats getting closer and closer. Finally the boy reached him standing directly behind him ready for the final blow. The man however sensed his presence and swung his fist in a semi circle right toward his head.

The boy blocked the blow with his left hand and slammed an elbow into his attackers temple. The man toppled to the floor unconscious and the boy grabbed the gun from him and said, “I have a problem,” he said in a deep voice imitating the man’s. “Yes Henry,” said a voice. The door to the pilot cockpit flew open and two men strode in overconfident. “Everything is going………., ” his voice trailed off as he looked at the young boy holding a gun pointed right at him. “Drop your weapons,” The kid demanded impatiently.

“You wouldn’t kill us would you?” the men said nervously. “Fine I won’t kill you,” the boy said looking at them. “You never said I couldn’t hurt you,” he told them while shooting the gun in rapid succession at both of there legs. Once they collapsed with pain the boy vaulted over them and into the pilots chair. “Oh its in autopilot,” he murmured to himself while adjusting the gears so they could land at the nearest airport.

On Monday, school was okay. Surprisingly, math is the most interesting class of the day. Not because math is a particuarly interesting subject, but because I sit near some pretty strange people. For example, today I heard somebody calling “Danielle” and I turned around and one of the craziest kids in my class said “Hi.” Honestly, I don’t know how I keep sane.

JANUARY 15, 2012

Did I ever describe my class’s cliques? I’ve looked through and apparently I didn’t. This is long overdue.

Girls

1. Gossip Lovers- gossipus loverie- Known as the “root of all gossip”. Love spreading rumors. Pretend to innocently ask you personal questions and then spread rumors about you. Most popular.

Likes: Gossiping, Being Mean, Rumors

Dislikes: Anybody who stands up to them, Anybody who’s different

2. Popular Clique- annoyingus populares- Known as tight-knit, exclusive group. Friendly to others, but still tight-knit.

Likes: Origami, Sports, Dancing, Anything Cool

Dislikes: Anything that’s uncool.

3. In-Betweeners- Betweenus-  Known for being not cool, but not uncool. Liked by most. Where I am.

Likes: Being Different, Sarcasm

Dislikes: Wannabes, People With Egos

Boys

1. Obnoxious and Popular- jerkus popularie- most boys. Known for being jerks.

Likes: Teasing Girls, Especially In-Betweeners, Hit Songs

Dislikes: N/A

2. In-Betweeners- betweenus- Boys who are okay.

Likes: Stupidity, Stupid Games

Dislikes: N/A

I went upstairs and took the pins out of my hair. I took off the clothes Mrs. Peabody gave me. I had brought with me some old bedclothes I had. I put those on and climbed in to bed.  There was a knock on the door. “Who is it?”, I called. “Mrs. Peabody.” I tensed up, pinned up my hair again, and covered myself with the blanket so that she wouldn’t be able to see my feminine bedclothes. “Come in.”, I called. “I just came in to say good-night and give this glass of water.”, she said, placing a glass on the ornately carved, mahogany bedside table. And with that, she left.

Another knock. Caleb came in with some thin silver instrument, perhaps a flute or a piccolo. “You said you absolutely adore music. I play the flute and thought you might want to hear me play.”, he said and started to play. He really got very excited, jumping up and doing a little jig while playing. I laughed and clapped. “Bravo!” I said when he finished, bursting in to applause. “‘Thank you.  My instructor will be proud.”, he replied. He left, smiling broadly.

That night, I dreamt a quite interesting dream. I’m in the palace’s ballroom, dancing with Caleb. All of the sudden, I trip. I end up beneath my mother’s feet, my mother looking down and saying, “Why are you here? You moved out.” After that, the world went black.

The next day, after breakfast, I leave, thanking Mr. and Mrs. Peabody, and kissing each of the Peabodys on the cheek.