PART 1

I was trying to fall asleep in my little home in the Ukrainian Red Forest, but Icouldn’t. Of course I can’t, today is Friday 26th of April which means I amnow thirteen. Thirteen, hello, my name is Dariya and I’m thirteen. I’ve beendreaming of saying that sentence as long as I can remember. I stayed up allof that night because I couldn’t wait till all of my delightful presents.What would I get a doll? A book? A bow? And what about my birthday party?Will I have a big beautiful cake with my favorite colour - red? Or maybe justsome extraordinary food which I would never get full of? Oh, who knows? Iprobably should get some sleep though. Just then I saw a glow through mycurtains, I got up and saw that the Chernobyl factory has just caught on fire.I tried to clear my eyes once, twice thinking that I was just imagining.Nothing, but just the glimpse of the factory on fire. I gave myself a smallpinch thinking that it was just a dream, nothing. Here in Ukraine, there aresometimes small fires in the summer but never this big, never this huge andnever this dangerous. Maybe just a small fire that can be put out in secondsby my mother and my 18 year old brother Andriy. Andriy’s name alreadyexplains who he is because the meaning of the actual name “Andriy” standsfor strong and powerful person, and that’s basically who he is. My mothernamed him after my father Andriy Podolski. My father died right after mylittle sister Leysa was born. He had the illness “Measles”. At first you wouldthink that “Measles” aren’t at all deadly, you are wrong. If not treated thepatient will die, slowly. We couldn’t save him because we are not rich. Afterthat my mom turned extremely religious and sometimes now believes insacrifice. She almost killed my sister because she believes it was her fault.My mom still can afford me and my siblings education but we have barelyany medicine except for the plants and berries that grow around our cottage.Always a tear drop falls on my cheek from my eyes when I think of him,because I’m hurt. Without him it feels like something in me is alreadymissing.Just then I heard my mum scream and tell me, my brother and sister to wakeup, get up and get out. I quickly got out of my bed left my thin blanket on thefloor. I only took my picture in a frame of me and my father and my old doll

which I named Katerunka and ran out of my room. I banged on Leyska’sdoor to get her out quickly. I banged about four times until I heard hercoming.“Why did you wake me up this early?” said Leyska“We must get out of the house now! Take your most prized possessions andcome!” I said“Why? Going where?” sounding weak and small like she always does.“We’re leaving!” I said with frustration“But I want to know where!” she screamed. Where indeed we have nowhere else to go but the city or deeper into thewoods. Although the city will make us grow hungry and weak and then wewon’t survive a week. Then deeper into the woods there might animals suchas dear’s and maybe even bears. Even though my brother Andriy is strongand powerful, he’s not strong enough to hold a large, dangerous animal likethe deer. Then I see it is almost daylight and see that the air is not at all blueand beautiful it is grey and dirty with highly toxic smoke. “I don’t know” Ianswer. I don’t know, but we have to make a choice soon because it is life ordeath.My sister took her big brown teddy bear and her favourite book about savinglife. The two things she cannot live without. The teddy bear to sleep with,and the book about saving, mostly about animals but also life. Again, hername represents who she is the defender of man. She defends everythingand everyone she can.I quickly get her out of the room and we both find my brother taking hishatchet that he got for his last birthday and a jacket which once was myfathers. He looks at me in a serious face but trying to say something like “areyou ready?”. But ready for what? Andriy has black hair, big blue eyes and ispretty big for his age. I look down on Leyska and find her looking at mymother who has the family’s old books about medicine and care, she hassome basic food like bread and tomatoes, and last but not least the familyphoto but with the wedding ring with it. We got out, and my mother lookedat the air for a second and pushes us back in the house with panic, she heldher breath for a couple seconds. Then she also got inside locked the doorand now has a horrible expression on her face. “We must get out”.

“Well, let’s go!” Said Leyska “No” she pauses. “We must get out of thecountry” my mother said in deep tone.We all looked at each other in fright because we all know that it’s impossibleto get out of the country with no money.“Why?” asked Andriy.“That smoke over there is poison” she said quickly.“Poison? What kind of poison?” Leyska asked.“The kind that kills you’ she said impatiently“How?” I asked“That poisonous air is poison because as I can see it can set things on fire. Iam not sure if anyone has ever been killed by this, but the Chernobyl factorygot burned and destroyed. Then I think anything can be killed by this” shepauses again “quickly”.“The air? Are we not allowed to touch or breath or ….“ asked Andriy“Just don’t have any contact with it. Breathing, touching ,taking, understood?” my mother said while interrupting Andriy.“So what do we do now?” asked Leyska“I don’t know” said my mother . Everyone stopped with questions but triedto answer them themselves, I know I am. “What if we stay here for a couple days” I say. “It might affect us, badly” my mother answers. “Where do we go” Leysa asked. Where do we go? I say to myself. We can only go to the city or deeper into the Red Forest. We all pause until Andriy finally says while standing up “maybe we should talk about this later” he says. He looked at us with eye contact and we all nodded and then he walks off to his room. We wern’t talking to each other most of the day until my mother called us for lunch. Before we all went to lunch I thought of going to the city. But we can’t it’s horrible there, well for us it is. In the city we will starve to death easily we may also be put in prison or be seperated because the city does not like homeless people like us. For lunch we were eating bread and ham because my mother earlier said the electicity might not work and if did it might explode. When we were eating silently we were waiting until someone said that we have to go and get out. So, I finally get the courage to say it. “I was thinking about what we should do and” I pause getting everyones attention. Right before I say something Andriy interrupts “Well, what is it? If you’re going to

say something, say it” he looks at me like he’s annoyed so I continue. “Fine” I pause looking in Andriy’s eye but just before I was about to say something Leysa suprisingly says “We have to move into the city”. My mother shakes her head “No, no we can’t there are several reasons why we can’t go” she says while shaking her head. “Well it’s that, or we move deeper into the forest and all of us know we can’t that”I say trying to support Leysa. We all try to ignore this until my brother says “I guess we should leave because the sooner the better”. We walked out of the house right after my mother took some things like water and food. It was already getting dark when we walked out so we were walking silently, trying to not make any sound. It will take a long time until we reach the city or anything near to it.Days pass and we struggle to survive but after the third day we figured outour technique- wake up early, walk, drink, eat, walk, eat, drink, and last but not least sleep. This is how we usually went and hopefully will in the future. We were doing this for three days and one day mother wanted to check if anyone got any illnesses. She would first check the basic things, but then if she finds anything suspicious she will to find outwhat it is and try to help us. I’m clean from any illnesses but I am a little hungry and that’s all,I knew I was clean because why wouldn’t I be? I haven’t been touchinganything that can be deadly. Although I did get alittle scared when my mother found that I cut myself. She started actingimmediately and I know why. My mother has been a doctor for most of herlife but the thing with her is when she sees someone die she will try to killherself or someone else for blame. She knows this, I know this, my brotherand sister know this. We all do. It’s just something we can’t control but just need to ignore. My brother was clean and so was my mother, but Leysahas something wrong. During the way Leysa was vomiting and had to go tothe bathroom all the time. My mother says it doesn’t look threatening but itcould mean something. Because these signs -vomiting, nausea, and diarheashe has never seen before together. Of course she did not tell this to Leysa,

she would start panicking and worrying. So we didn’t tell her nothing about it except that she’s fine but she just needs to get some rest. Which actually we probably all need.The next day we did the same thing wake up early, walk, drink, eat, walk, eat, drink, and sleep. Although Leysa kept stopping.Now, I’m worried so is my mother and Andriy. My mother tried giving hersome bread no berries they might be dangerous. That usually helped her. Again my mother didn’t react threatening but I think Leysa had suspected something. One day in the morning, she could barely move. Her hands and legs haveexpanded and she has burns all over her legs. She can barely talk but she’sbreathing like she’s about to die. I kept telling her “In and out, In and out”so she wouldn’t stop breathing and wouldn’t fall asleep. I myself thoughtwhy and how did she get this sick? Why is it only her? Why not me? I thought about this for a long time. I decided to keep Leysa some comfort so Leysa asked me to make a story with her teddy bear, she asked to sing a song, and then tell her about our father. She never really personaly knew him but we kept and still do tell wonderful stories about him. I told her he was a great, kind, clever man who loved her very much. I stayed with her for about four hours until I myself felt naucious.Like she did.

The End of Part 1

PART 2 I started to worry when I got the idea that I might get the disease, or even have the disease. But how and when? And why is it only me and Leysa? Because where the youngest or is it because we just went ways where it’s dangerous? I don’t know and I don’t really want to know. How can I think of this right now if my little sister might die any moment now. She can take her last breath and never have to breath again. She tries to say something to me but I can’t work it out. “Thing” she says, what thing? “Pwease” she says, “pwease” I think is “please”. But thing? I look at her with confusion but try to figure out what she’s trying to say, because if this is her last thing she want’s me to do than I will do it. Thing, thing, thing goes through my head when I figure out she wants me to sing again. According to the sunset she wants me to sing lullaby. I never sang something like this but I have to for my little sister. Oh wait, I did, I sang it with my mother for my sister right before my fathers death. It’s a very old song. For my little sister I would do anything. My little blond hair sister, she so beautiful why would anyone would want to hurt or kill her? So, I think of the most beautiful old Ukrainian lullaby I can think of. Which goes-Ой ходить сон, коло вікон.А дрімота коло плота.Питається сон дрімоти:"Де ж ми будем ночувати?"Де хатонька теплесенька,Де дитина малесенька,Туди підем ночувати,І дитинку колисати.Там ми будем спочивати,І дитинку присипляти:Спати, спати, соколятко,Спати, спати, голуб'ятко

It’s short and old, you sing it a few times and the child falls asleep. It has beautiful notes and often doesn’t require any instruments but your own voice solid voice. That’s what makes it beautiful. I remember sometimes my mother and Leysa would sing it to me. They both have and had, beautiful voices. It translates- The Dream passes by the window,And Sleep by the fence.The Dream asks Sleep:"Where should we rest tonight?"Where the house is warm,Where the child is small,There we will go,And rock the child to sleep.There we will sleep,and will rock the child:Sleep, sleep, my little falcon,Sleep, sleep, my little dove. I sang it once and saw a smile on her face. I sang it another time but after I finished she didn’t smile she did not move. She was gone. A tear ran on my face followed by a cry. I cried saying “Leysa don’t go! Please don’t go! I beg you”. That just made me cry a lot. Which brought my brother in panic, and got him into great tears as well. He first stood there in despair, then he fell to his knees. Didn’t look at me but just tried to wake her up. Although we both knew she would never open her eyes ever again. We both sat there in despair,shock and trying to believe this is all just a dream or this is just imagination. We stopped crying but we sobbed and eventually I closed her eyes and went off. Leaving my brother there with Leysa dead body. I tried to look for my mother to tell her the horrifying news. Until my brother sees me and tells me to stop. I do whatever he

says to not cause an argument. And now is not the best time to argue. He stands up, walks toward me and whispers in my ear “Don’t tell mom”. I look with confusion and ask “Why?” I pause “Should she know that one of her children is dead?”. He looks at me stricly and answers immediately “Leysa is not dead, she’s just not with us right now” I nod slightly. “We can’t tell mom because” he pauses and continues “well she’ll do what she did last time with dad”. Then it hits me, he’s right. If mom finds out then she’ll try to kill me or Andriy, or even herself. “She might even do it herself” I say. Andriy has his eyes go down and up as if he’s trying to understand. “We leave tonight” he says.“You want to leave mom?” I ask while raising my voice.“I know it’s sound cruel but” before he says anything I interrupt.“Of course its cruel, I know she’s not the most kindest person but she doesn’t deserve to die” I take my breath “ No one does, especially Leysa”. I swallow some water from the basket, that my mother packed in the beggining of the trip. “I think we should do what Leysa would want us to” I said. Would Leysa want this? She might not want it, but she might think it’s right.Even though I answered like this, deep inside me I know it’s the best for both mine and Andriy’s life. I agree with him but first we wanted to get some sleep. I couldn’t sleep, I don’t think Andriy could either. Although I got a little bit of sleep, just enough to get up and get ready for the big day. Andriy woke me up I felt really nauseous and I threw up once or twice, but I couldn’t tell that to Andriy. Because if I did he might leave me too. Just before we went I wanted to see Leysa and my mother one last time. I saw Leysa lying like she would be sleeping, I put her teddy bear and her book next to her and a tear ran through my face. So I figured I should put some flowers beside her, but I knew I don’t have time because my mother would be up soon. I haven’t talked to her for such a long time. I walked to where I saw her last but just saw eyes open but not moving. “What?” I whisper to myself. “How could she sleep” then I realize and I fall on my knees like Andriy did earlier. I start to cry and cry Andriy hears me so he comes look’s at my mother doesn’t fall but just sits beside me and put his hand around

me. He’s not crying but he is sad. I know he is. For some reason I start singing the lullaby I sang to Leysa before she died. My brother sang it with me before I sang it the second time. He closed my mothers eyes, picked her up and laid her beside Leysa, who was not far from my mother. We put them gently beside each other and eventually picked up our things and headed towards. I don’t know where the city is, I guess? We barely spoke but we communicated by hand movement and facial expressions. We didn’t do much anyway. We just walked forward because we knew that is the way to safety. I hope. On the way I got sick, my brother knew that I had the disease as well. But he did not leave me, he told me he won’t let anyone else die. We did not stay in one place. Everyday he would make me eat, climb, drink. This was our schedule except for walking, I tried to walk but most of the time Andriy was carrying me. Taking care of me, by keeping me awake and making me eat. We were like this for 5 days. How long has it been until we’ve had seen our little home? A week, couple of days? I don’t know. All I know is as long we keep moving the bigger chance we have of survival. On the 6th day in the morning my legs started to expand, my brother didn’t do anything to it. Not even but some water on it. He believed that everything was poison. He tried to put some water on my leg that we drank but I refused to put on water that is for drinking. In this hot Ukrainian summer weather even at home we need a lot of water. There was so little, I couldn’t and I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t kill my brother. Never. This was turning for the worst that is why in the big tree’s where we slept in. I prayed and prayed for the best. That night I did get some sleep, pretty much compared to the other resting I’ve had during this,this real nightmare. I first I got Andriy to fall asleep then I looked at the moon and fell asleep. I had a dream about Leysa, being a child who was growing to be a beautiful girl. Then came one my mother’s last words to me “I don’t know”. I can’t believe she’s not there, she always has been. Always. Even though she might sound cruel we all loved her and she did take care of us. It felt like I slept for about six hours before I was awaken by Andriy. He told me we

are not far from the city. He said it looks like that the city people are being evacuated so if we get there fast, we can make it. I have a slight smile and say “thankyou” in my head about ten times because I was so happy. Although I had pain in my legs, great pain. I looked down at my legs and saw that they have burnts all over them. My brother said that if we make it fast he will get me to the hospital as soon as posssible. I just need to stay with him. Andriy get’s down first and it’s not big jump. Although how will I get down? Then Andriy said “Fall” I look at him with suprise “Fall I’ll catch you”. I look at him and hake my head but he says “I promise. Common I never break promises”. He’s right, he never braks promises and probably won’t. Eventually I nod and fall having my legs go down first. Andriy catches me and puts me on the ground. He then climbs the tree again to get last water we have. We have no food so there is nothing else to take. I try to tell him to look at the view of the city so we know where to go. He looks at me once tries to understand and does what I say. I can barely talk out loud because it’s so painful for me. To do anything. He gets down the other side of the tree probably thinking that he would hurt me. He tells that he will carry me and I should keep the water in my hands. I ask him where is hatchet went. This time I whisper to him. I haven’t seen his hatchet for such a long time. I wonder where it went. He says he had to leave it because it was too heavy. I ask so many questions about family and personal things like if he thinks “that we will have money some day”, or does he think “he will get married some day”? He answers to all of them and I think he likes it. Until I ask what Leysa would say now? He answers in hesitation and tries to make me happy by saying “she would probably say that I should give her a piggy back ride and this isin’t fair”. I giggle and tell him that I should help. He says “You make me sound weak, you’re the one who need taking care of”. We travel silently for a couple of minutes until I see he is tired. I say “You should get some rest”. He shakes his head and says “I’m fine”. I know that now all he think is that I need to live “well then I need it”. After some unserious argument he agrees and settles down. We talk about our father proposing to our mother. We make some jokes about it. We drink the rest of the water and he insists I drink most of it because I

am ill. I make him drink and pretend I drank. I pause and say some things, it’s easier to talk now because I’m used to the pain. Then I say “It’s strange”“What?” he asks“That all three of them are gone” I say looking at him in the eye “Mom, father and Leysa” I finish“Yes it is” he pauses “strange” he says“Well, at least there together” I say.He get’s up and starts to carry me up again and theres no point of taking the bottles because they were empty. We walked for a couple of minutes until we heard shouts of men saying “Who is there” and another man would say “Freeze” or “DO NOT MOVE!”. The first thing that came into my mind was “Were safe were safe” but another part of mind was “How did they find us”. When their faces came through the trees they had masks on their faces and some of them had a full bag of masks. There was about 12 of them. My brother looked worried and refused to hand me to them. They put a mask on me and my brother immediately they took me away to a nearby ambulance which took me to the hospital. I have never seen this before but my mother told me about it. I fell asleep and when I wake up I see Andriy in fancy clothes sitting beside my bed smiling. I smile back and ask so many questions like “what happened” or “why you wearing those clothes” . I was so full of questions I didn’t let him answer. When I finished he said “ You done talking?” he asks and I just reply with a nod. He told me that they took him and me to the hospital he was clean and I was contaminated. They asked him what was the first thing he wanted to do. He said that he would like to know if I was okay and alive. Then he wanted to go to the bank and try to find out if there’s any money at all. After a week he found out that he was a very rich man indeed and so was our father. Andriy said that he found out that we traveled a week and a half and good thing we did. If we didn’t we would be dead in less than a day. He said that we have moved to Kiev and he found a very nice home for both of us. After that, he kept visiting me in the hospital and wanted to hold a funeral for both my mother Leysa. They found their bodies right where we left them and it took a long time. He asked me if I had any more questions and I answered “Yes I do” he looked at me like well go on and I

said “What caused all of this?”. He says it was an explosion and radio activity was everywhere and the next two days people we’re evacuated. After 5 days they realized some people live in the forest and that’s how they tracked us down. “So that’s how we lived?” I ask. He answers “yes, that’s how we lived and hopefully won’t in the future”.

20 YEARS LATER I struggled to survive through the past twenty years. I am 33 now, and my sister and mother have both died in the Chernobyl accident. Although I and my brother have saved each other. We moved forward but didn't forget our family. I still visit my mothers, Leysa's and my fathers grave to let them know that I still love them and will for the rest of my life. Before I left to my

little home that my brother bought with our money I went to a funeral. My family's funeral. After that day we never forgot them. My brother Andriy has become a very successful loyer and I have become a writer. A good one I think. Five years passed and Andriy met a very nice girl at work who later became his wife. Her name was Maria and she's a really good friend . They had a little girl and after Andriy told Maria our story Maria herself decided to name her Leysa after our little sister. I myself don't have a husband but have a 7 year old adopted girl named Annie and she looks exactly like Leysa. Annie is very smart, beautiful and kind. She loves singing and helping others that is why I love her so much. I sing her the lullaby I sang to Leysa and she sings it to me when I am sick or tired. Overall even though neither of my parents or Leysa are here in personal I know that they will always be with me inside. Bibliography- Lullaby Translation and meaning- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oi_Khodyt_Son_Kolo_VikonVideo for song- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMG9K9YDGFA&feature=related Information video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfKm0XXfiis&feature=related

Once upon a time there were two kids called Bobby Bear and Freddie Bear who were playing at an amusement park called Llama Lland (its pronounced yama yand). Freddie Bear went over to a roller coaster called the Aji Amarillo, he decided he would ride it and then he would get some cotton candy when he was getting on a girl got on beside him. “Hello my name is Stevette Lastnameless what is yours” said the girl. Freddie said “my name is Freddie Bear”. After the ride they met up with Bobby. They decided to sit down and tell legends. Stevette went first. “Once upon a time there was a man who always wanted to have a pogo stick but whenever he used one they broke because of his weight. One day he found a bow and he combined it with his pogo stick to make a bow-like pogo stick. That night he went out for a pogo-hike, a hunter had set a trap that he fell into where he had no food and died of starvation. After a few years the hole turned into a underground cave.” “Lets go find pogo stick and eat blueberry cotton candy.’ said Bobby. The others agreed they went to South Australia which is where stevette said the cave was and they bought a plane and scanned for caves they found one that was promising so they explored it. They fully explored the cave and didn't find a single bow-like pogo stick so they went to there hotel room and posted a worldwide survey asking if anybody had heard of bow-like pogo sticks and nobody said yes. They ended packing and going home. “Bye” said Bobby. “Bye nice game” said Stevette. “What that was a game” said

Freddie. “Yeah duh I was just bored“said Stevette. Then they all gave up, went home and lived happily ever after (except Stevette she lost all her money and lived in poverty). Citation NA (NA). NA [online]. Available from: <http://cdn.trendhunterstatic.com/thumbs/4-foot-bounce-pogo-stick.jpeg>. [Accessed 16/10/12]NA (NA). NA [online]. Available from: <http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/010/cache/lava-tube-cave_1036_600x450.jpg>. [Accessed 16/10/12]NA (NA). NA [online]. Available from: <http://www.bluebison.net/sketchbook/2006/0606/llama1.jpg>. [Accessed 16/10/12].

The great galactic war. Hello my name is Cadman Rony. Today is 2612. A time of war between the UNITED STATES OF EARTH and THE NATZY REFORMENS. I am going to write about my adventures . I live on earth with my mom. My dad is an earth general who fights with the Natzi group. My best friend is Kale Jane his father is also a earth general. He is from mars. It was a last day before summer holiday. We were walking from school. We talked about our plans for holiday. This night I was thinking of a way I can see my dad. And I had an Idea, it was to run from the home and fiend dad. So I said to Kale " Hey men do you want to see your dad, Yeh I wish they both come soon. I think we should find them'' I said ' what do you mean. Thair a ship heading to their section in 2 days. We should leave with them. We are already 14 years old Don’t be scared. I am not scared just, you know.” Kale said “ Okay what’s your suggestion?. I know the airport by hart. We will find the way to the ship and hide. I will email you the list of things to take. Ok see you tomorrow''. So I had my lunch and went upstairs into my room. And start writing the list. Gun, 2 jeans 2 tee-shirts 1 sweater 1 caught A camped knife. Flash lights..... Then I start preparing for the trip. In two days of wise preparing and making plans we were ready. I 00:00 I was by his door. Of we went and made our way to the airport and to the ship, trout the secret passage and to the ship. We hide for 30 minutes and The ship take of. And we were happy on our way to dads. But their was a hit and another hit. «we both thought of the same thing. Fighting with Natzy.The ship was ambushed and soon we connected to them, the soldiers went to fight . We were in their ship now. And bam the ships disconnected and we were in their ship. It was a big ship. We went thru the ship hiding and we reached some secret room. There was a guard. We made some noise and 2 guns shot. And he the guard 2 bullets in his body. He was dead. We went to the thing he was grading. It was some canon. It was a water sucker. We need to destroy it. I took some bombs from the dead guard. We put them but the other guards were coming. We start shooting and running to the ship. Then, when we wear next to their jet fighters the UNITED STATES OF EARTH attacked the ship and they attached to the ship. We see our fathers leading the attack they also show us and run to us. and we went in to the ship. And their was a large exploitation and the ship disconnected. The bad ship was destroyed. And the secret weapon was gone.

The End

The Mystery of Caroline... Hi, my name’s Amie, I have a sister Caroline, who ran away or maybe was kidnapped... possibly murdered. That happened three years ago. You see, she was only 13. Today’s her birthday. She would be 16 now. My mom is crying. My dad is sitting near her. My brother is 18 and he always asked Caroline to help him with any problems he had in his life, so he really misses her. My little baby sister was 3 and did not know a thing yet. It all happened in the beginning of summer. I was 9, Caroline was 13. We had a picnic near a forest where we went to find some mushrooms and strawberries. We ate near a tree that many people called the “happy tree”, for some reason. My sister told me that she had seen a bright red cherry near a bush way back down near the river, and said she would go and rip it off the cherry tree. She was gone for about 45 minutes before I finally went to follow her. Once I got there, I saw a shadow. a small one which was my sister and a big one which was neither of my parents. I got scared. I ran to my dad.By the time I got there I heard a scream. My dad jumped up and started to run toward her. I started to run after him. My mom stayed with my 3 year old baby sister. But my sister Madeline started to run after my dad and me, that made my mother get up

and run after all three of us. When we got there, no one was there. My parents started to search for Caroline. But she was nowhere to be found... My mom and dad ran back in despair and tears, so did my brother Jack and I. My mom called the police and then everyone in the family to tell them that something horrible had happened. My brother, sister and I were sitting there waiting for an answer to where she had gone. I saw all the officers nodding and sighing asking everyone what, where and when it happened. So that’s how we lived from that day on. I keep on blaming this on myself. I should've just run up and protected her! Even though my mom kept on telling me this not my fault, that I was too young... I still can see in her eyes sorrow and anger that if I was a little older it would be all my fault. So that’s how we ended up like this...

At a prison in Brazil there was one prisoner named Cleton that was put into prison for something he hasn’t done.

Everyone thinks that he was the one who killed the prime minister of Brazil. But it wasn’t him. The real criminal was really smart. So he changed the camera’s CD so it looked like Cleton killed the the prime minister of Brazil. But no one believed him. Strangely the prison didn’t had very good security system. So one day Cleton made a rope from his bed sheets and climbed the prison wall. He wanted to prove that he was not the real criminal, and find the reall criminal. Then After a few hours of Clrtons escape the police found out that he escaped and started hunting him down. When Cleton was at the jungle he didn’t know where he was going until he reached the Amazon river. Then he saw a little tourist boat. So he swam to the boat and jumped in to it . After the boat arived in the town Cleaton got off and went to the town.. In the tow Cleton found a house that no one lived in. He went inside it and fell asleep. Then he woke up in the middle of the night because of some noise. Then he saw some flashlights in the distance and understood that it was the police. So he got up and started running. He stopped when he reached a park. In the park he hid in the bushes so the police wouldn’t find him. When the police went past him he went back to the town. There Cleton started looking for a place to hide. He found another old house he went inside.There he saw a suspicious looking wall. As soon as he touched it it a secret door opened next to it. Cleton opened the door and there he saw a small room with tons of paper all over the place. When Cleton looked at the papers he saw that there was something written about killing the prime minister of brazil. Then he looked some more and he found a CD.He put it into a computer that was on a desk next to it and watched it. He saw the real video from the camera and in it there was the real criminal that killed the prime minister. After that Cleton showed the real CD and the secret room he found to police and proved that he is not the real criminal.

HOW ALIENS DESTROYED THE EARTH Once in 2222 year there lived a scientist, his name was Bob Genius, he had a son Andryuk. They were incredibly rich. Bobs wish was to go to mars.The technology at this time was very very advanced so they could reach Mars in just two weeks. He had enough money,and he planned already everything but he didn't have time for it. Time was going and there was less work for him to do, so he payed 1,000,000,000 dollars and just in a month his wish will come true. He already had a team which will go with him on Mars. They were Scientist Sandy, General Shram and Bob’s brother ( he is scientist too ) Ivan. Month past very fast so it was time for their flight. They went on to rocket station. First they wrote their will and then settled in a rocket. Bob was very smart scientist, he invented a lot of modern technology so he knew how to control a rocket. One of his teammates Sandy also knew how to control the rocket. They turned on all engines and then 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1AND OF THEY FLY.They flew but not once they got into dangerous. For example they met with a lot of meteorites but they flew through them. 2 weeks past and they started landing on planet Mars. Bob, Andryuk, general Shram, Sandy and Ivan went out of the rocket. They could walk without space- suits because people invented such boots which you put on your legs and they hold you on the ground and produce heat and spreads it on your body. They travelled on Mars in car that is called marsoride. They travelled for a couple hours. And they saw something moving. they stopped marsoride and went to place where they saw something moving. First they didn’t see anything but then general Bob said “ hey guys look over there. He pointed on the little mountain and everyone saw a little monster. He was cute even though he was a monster. He looked kind of like an enormous cat but he could walk on back paws. He had very sharp and long nails, he had big fangs sticking out of his mouth he was orange, green color, he had small horns and a long tail, he had membranes, also he had 3 pairs of paws. Bob and his team came closer to this creature but he didn’t move. They were already couple meters from him but then he lied down on his back and said “ please don’t eat me gigantic and strange looking things ”. Bob and his team gasped but then they came closer and said to him that they are not going to eat him and he relaxed. He said that his name was Bublik and that he didn’t want to interrupt them but they said it ok. He told everything about himself. But then Bob asked “ Hey Bublik what were you doing here? ” He said that he was hiding from aliens. Bob asked which aliens we are only one here? But then Bublik said “ Oh I know what’s the problem! ” and he spited into Bobs face. First Bobs words he said was “ what the heck was that for?!!! ” Then he opened his eyes and he saw what Bublik was talking about. He saw millions of aliens in gigantic city walking all around with lasers. He gasped but then he was so scared that he didn’t say a word. Aliens looked like giant squid. They had 8 tentacles on which they walked. In a couple of while Sandy scientist asked Bob “ What's happened are you ok? ” He opened his mouth and said “ Guys you have to see it ” He asked Bublik to spit into generals, Sandies, Andryuks and Ivans face so they can see what Bob can see. Bublik spited first couple seconds they didn’t see anything but then they gasped even more then Bob did. Sandy “ Professor Bob we have to catch at least one of those creatures ” Bob agreed. They saw a little one who came so close to Bobs team that he was just a meter away from them. They jumped on him but aliens didn’t see it. They holded all of his tentacles but they forgot to hold his mouth. He began to produce noises like granate. They weren't very loud but all of the aliens heard him. Straight away they all run to little alien. Bobs team threw him on the ground and all of them ( even Bublik who become part of their team ) ran to the marsoride but the aliens were too fast. They catched Bob and his team and led them somewhere. Their tentacle were covered with liquid that was gluey. At last aliens came somewhere and stopped. They opened the door to the GIGANTIC house which looks like castle. It was their jail.

Bobs team spent there over 5 days. But one day the door began to open. It was guard that brought them food. It was brains,worms and mud. They didn’t eat it. General said that he will better die than he eat it. They spent their for about two weeks. They lived on only couple fruits and bowl of water. One day General Shram stand up and shouted “ I can’t wait anymore and he took out his radio. Bob asked “ why didn’t you do it earlier? ” Shram said that he didn’t want to waste money on his radio. Bob was so angry that he almost killed General. They called earths rocket station. They talked to them and said in which situation they were. Earth said that they would send you giant kit of laser guns, guns, and weapons. This kit came only in a week. They tooked out lasers and cut out the hole in the wall. They found again small alien then caught it and closed his mouth and ran to marsoride. They drove with speed of 200km per hour. They settled in a rocket turned o all engines and flew back on planet earth. But unfortunately aliens knew that Bob and his team took alien and flew back home but aliens had gps navigator on every alien so aliens knew where are they. When Bob and his team came home they were in every newspaper, every television channel showed alien and Bublik, Bobs new friend. Straight away they went to lab and cut alien to see what he has inside. Scientists were shocked when they saw what alien had inside. But strange noise interrupted operation. It was noise of rockets engine. Only Bob, Andryuk, General Shram, Sandy, Ivan and Bublik knew what it was. It was Aliens. Nobody could saw them so aliens threw on the ground atomic bombs that could blow up whole America each. So the Earth was destroyed.The End!!!!!!!!!!

BIBLIOGRAPHY:http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles9/306708/projects/4959479/2d4f9b8cb27a80deabd013df789b6aaa.png

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/07/13/Mars-460x276.jpghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/kids/summer_activities/images/mars_rocket_270.jpghttp://www.zefon.com/store/images/P/gamicro5kit-detail.jpg

Marisa I was just driving around the perimeter of a calm neighborhood, when I got a message

on my Walkie-talkie from Suzanne, the leader of the ASPCA here in Houston. Suzanne is a very kind and loving boss, but when it comes to animal crime, she’s DEAD SERIOUS. We all learn from her, she gives us tips and

advice. She if very experienced in this job. As I was saying, I got a call from Suzanne, but the signal was very bad, but I still heard distress in her voice. All I heard was the street address. Then her voice was gone. I was left with an anonymous street address. I was scared. What could I expect?

Suzanne

When I received the call from an anonymous user, she said that her next-door neighbor has been terribly neglecting a couple dogs. She said she heard some visitors come to the neighbor’s house, and they have been walking out with dogs. There might have even been some crime included. I knew something wasn’t right. The condition she described them in was terrible... I knew the only person to trust was Marisa. She has been working here the longest, and she has been to far worst situations. Marissa is very tall and has a good sense of humor. She has been taught emergency first aid She knew how to winnow things, and she knew when she had to be tough, and when not. And even though she wasn’t the closest to the address, I had to inform her about the situation. The connection was very bad, but I tried my best. And yes, there was fear in my voice.

Marisa Right away, I knew something serious happened. In my 18 years working here, I have never heard so much fear in her voice. I then got a phone call from Suzanne telling me to go undercover, and act likes a jogger going for a run. Her last words in the phone, “ this might be dangerous.” I quickly changed into normal clothes, (I was in my

uniform) and went for “ a walk.” The house was the last in the block, and I made sure to be careful, sometimes just looking at neighbor yards, they could be part of this. Who knew? When I finally reached the house where the anonymous user said to have heard of illegal dog breeding, I knew it was the right place. I carefully went around the block, where I (very cautiously) peek into the back yard. I had to go through some bushes, but then I reached the spot. I don’t know how to explain to explain to you in what terrible condition these dogs were living. There weren’t a couple dogs; there were more than 15! The crates were probably the exact sizes of the dogs, and I could see the feces lying on the ground. It was heartbreaking. Even though I couldn’t see the whole place, I knew it was only the beginning of a terrible crime! I called Suzanne right away after I walked out onto the street. She answered, and I told her all about it. I informed her that there were maybe 20 dogs out here, and some might be in very bad condition, so she should bring back up just in case.

Suzanne Right after I hung up, I went into action. The first thing I did was told my vet (Deborah) to get ready to come with us, and 5 other of our best inspectors, which included Lauren and Zane, got ready for the inspection. I told them to put on bulletproof vests on, just in case, because my #1 thing to do is to keep my officers safe. I needed to sign out a search warrant. Which would allow my team and I to search through the whole territory, and remove ALL animals. We asked the police to assist us on this one, because we really didn’t know how bad it was going to be.

Zane When we got to the place, I understood how severe and atrocious this was! Police were already there, and they already managed to seize 1 owner. We now could search the house and get these dogs out of here! Lauren and I started off with the dogs in the basement, (yes there were dogs in the basement) and seized about 5 female

shepherd mixes there, and their puppies. They were very friendly; we were very excited about that. One of them, whom we named Lana, was the friendliest of them all, but in the worst condition. She was very emaciated, and her puppies weren’t better. They were living on the floor with probably 4-day-old filthy water. It didn’t take a long time to get them, and when we got them; we loaded them up in the trucks and quickly drove to the hospital.

Police officer We arrested 2 men, who were living on the property. We found illegal drugs, and 1 gun. They did not have a permit for breeding dogs, or having a gun. They were charged with a fine of 30 animal counts, each counting $550, and over 25 years in jail. We were happy that we came to the right place in the right time!

Suzanne When we finally got all of the animals out of the place, we rushed them to the hospital. We pre- arranged a visit to the vet with Mr.Bulogo, a good vet of ours. He quickly examined all the dogs, and most were in fine shape, except for Buddy, a pit-bull mix. He had been severely emaciated and had a severe leg injury.

Mr.Bulogo I checked for Parvo and all other lethal diseases in the dogs and puppies, and all

results came out negative. WHich meant the dogs had a chance of full recovery! All except for one dog, Buddy. He was in the worst condition. He had mange, a terrible skin condition, and a severe leg injury. His left leg was fractured, but curable.

Suzanne This turned out to be a very happy-

ended story, and this is a great example of what keep us going. All the dogs were adopted, and one by me! We all (the ASPCA) are very happy of such a good outcome of this tragic story, and we hope to have more like these!

Bibliography

1. mediamaster (2012). ASPCA logo [online]. Available from: <http://masteringthemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ASPCA-logo.jpg>. [Accessed November 16th].

2. Penny Eims (2011). Emaciated dog, Adrianna, needs a rescue [online]. Available from: <http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/61/9e/619ea4482125d78663b65bd36d08b667.jpg>. [Accessed November 16th].

3. jEZrOSE (NA). HOW TO HAVE A HAPPY DOG [online]. Available from: <http://blog.thebehaviourcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/193441-pet-sitting-wychbold-worcestershire-wagging-tails-happy-dog.jpg>. [Accessed November 16th].

 

The Time Capsule

By: Haley

Long before I was born, the Eternal War started, causing my mom and dad to live a hard life. My mom lived in Netyz, Dlorm alone while my dad was a Sergeant for the American Air Force. A year before I was born, in 2994, my dad’s plane crashed into the enemy’s territory. Ever since then, mom’s been sort of down. The only memory my family has of my father is a couple of photos, a hologram, and time capsule that will open sometime, somewhere. The Eternal War is a worldwide war that has 2 alliances. One is Rubaru, West Flywra and Kriptoo (known as the Ruquera) while the other is Sver, East Flywra, and Dlorm (known as Svormra). The whole war is about which continent should rule the land that so far nobody owns, Comutred. I know it may seem kind of silly to you, but it would be very serious if every 3 weeks or so, you have to spend the night in a bomb shelter! Mother was so worried when Father didn’t come home for a few months. Then, she cried when she got the letter saying that my father won’t be coming home or to war. She’s been down ever since.

Now a little bit about me. My name is Mikala but most people call me Miki. I’m 15-years old (8th grade) and I live with my mom and my 2 dogs, Sanford and Missi, in Philot, Skeetbeak. I go to Lavender High School of Philot (or LHSP).

But today, life is hard... and I’m afraid that it will get nothing but worse in the future. Especially since my mom just lost her job as a nurse a few days ago. We barely have enough money to make us both food each day. Sometimes, I wish the government would lower prices and taxes for the lower classes like they did hundreds of years ago. Sometimes, I wish the world was more nice and open-minded like it used to. Sometimes, I wish that the world seemed to be normal again, like it was as my mother remembers.

*

“Mikala K. Davidson! I’ve told you a million times to put you food away! Now Missi and Sanford are eating your Space Flakes!” Mother yelled from downstairs. I jumped up from my bed and scrambled down stairs to shoo them away from the table. “Sweetie! You forgot to bring in something from your family for school!” I run back upstairs and duck underneath my mother’s bed to get a time capsule that my father had saved. “You're going to bring that, sweetie? Be careful, don’t try to open it.” Mother says sweetly as . She kisses me on my forehead and hands me my jacket. “Miki! You should've left for school 5 minutes ago!” She says checking her watch. I scurry outside the door just in time to miss the morning school bus. Ugh. I am such a klutz! I think to myself. Then, I begin to run to school like it depended on my life. Riiiiiiing! Just as the second bell rings, I plop down in my seat. Mrs. Wellington, my math teacher, starts to talk about how to divide percentages by decimals and have the answer in the form of a whole number with remainders. “Now 8th graders, I’ll be calling out names to tell me the answer to the following question on the board. Julie!” She hisses. “47 remainder 2.” Julie whispers. “Franklin!” “106 remainder 5.” Franklin says. “Mikala!” “Um... er... hmm... I don’t know the answer Mrs. Wellington.” I say quietly. The rest of the class burst out laughing. I’m used to this kind of stuff though. I am and always will be the odd one out of everything but I’m okay with it because I have someone that understand how I’m feeling. “It’s ok” I feel a slight pat on my shoulder. I know at once it’s my best friend, who is the person who I just said that understands what I feel like, Rochelle. For some reason, I always know that I’ll be okay around her. She has that kind of spark in her. Anyway, Rochelle is my age, in my class, and she also has a dog named Kayley. Rochelle can sometimes be that sort of something that will make the worse day of your life be the best. I’m really happy to have her as a friend. And I hope she’s glad to have me as a friend, too. When math ends, we begin our break or 5 minutes. Next, we have Social Studies. I’m really excited about this special class because I get to show everyone my dad’s time capsule!

When I enter Room 302, Mr. Campbell looks almost surprised, which he is never, to see me with my father’s time capsule. As I sit down, the teacher starts calling out names to present their show and tale and connection to their item to the war’s history so far.

“Ali.” Mr. Campbell says. Ali walked up to the front of the classroom and show everyone his defused bomb from 2967. After he presented, Mr. Campbell calls out “Kathryn.” Then she walks up to the front of the class as Ali sits back down. Kathryn shows everybody a hologram of

America's 2nd nuclear bomb dropped in 2991. This goes on for about 30 minutes until Mr. Campbell announces my name. “And last but not least Mikala.” I slowly drag my feet to the front of the class. “H-hello everybody.” I stutter. “Here is a time capsule from my father from the year 2993. It was found in an airplane that crashed during the war.” I say as I pull out my time capsule from behind me back. I pass the silver box around the class. At 11:00am, it was passed back to the front and to me. A certain glow began from the heart of the box. Could this be it? Could I be the person and could Room 302 be the place? After a blinding light, the capsule opened. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was all of my father’s belongings! From his photos, to his jacket, to his wedding ring. If only my mother was here. Then her words reflected in my head; Be careful, don’t try to open it. What was I going to do?!? If I kept this at school, I know I’d lose it or leave it or maybe someone would steal it! But if I went back home to Mother, than she’d get made because it would have been opened. This was a disaster! I had to think and came up with the conclusion to run. Run away from school. Run far away. Run until I couldn’t. “Um... Mr. Campbell, can I please go to the bathroom?” I say trying to do the “pee-pee dance”. “Sure... But make it quick.” He replies. I race outside of Room 302, down the hallway,

passed the bathroom, and around security. I was on my bike before I knew it. I actually got out of school! It is possible! I thought to myself. Only, now where will I go? When I was younger, Mother used to tell me a story about a little boy who hated school. One day, he decided to skip school. When he got away somehow, he ran right into the the Ruquera Police.

Sooner or later, he was held captive for 14 years in Sver. He never got enough food or water or even sunlight until one day, he supposedly died in his cell. What I was I going to do?!? Would I run into the Ruquera Police as well? Or maybe I’ll flee to Comtured. No! I couldn’t. If I did, then Sver would find me and tae me to those places where they keep children... what were they called? Oh yeah, orphanages. OMG! What if the time capsule meant something to one of the alliances! What if they come and find and kill me? Buzzzzzzzzz. I yelped out loud as I struggled to keep on biking. Fortunately, it was just my phone. I pick it up to answer. “Hello?” I ask.

“Um... yeah, hello. It’s me, Rochelle! Girl, where are you? Mr. Campbell and the rest of class and worried sick! I’m worried as well! Where are you? You still owe me money!” “Um... er... well... you see... um...” “Mikala! if you don’t come back to class wherever you are, I’m going to-” I hang up. I just can’t stand it when Rochelle gets mad. It always makes me sad. But today’s situation was totally different than a math problem answer or what the school’s meat is. It was a matter about life and death. I kept on thinking until I realized I’ve reached Plasma, the local TV store. I stopped to watch the news. It was... me! I was on TV! I was so happy, but I kept it in. I was happy until I realized what they were talking about. Wanted for crime. I wanted to read further but I couldn’t. They were after me. I couldn’t resist but to read a tad bit more. For stealing important evidence from Kirk Davidson. I couldn’t believe I was wanted for something that I didn’t take! And why did they want the time capsule now? It was handed to my family in the mail years ago! I turned to get ready to bike a little more until a shadow crosses my path.

One sunny 5 celsius day in October was the 17th in 2030 in a city around Detroit named Grosse Pointe MI. In 2030 there were flying cars that were just invented. A boy named Miles was walking down the street with his friends Toby,Casey and Monty we were all hungry and tired, so we were walking to a restaurant. When we looked up in the sky and saw two cars one was a black minivan flying and the other was a green Mustang. The black minivan crashed really hard into the Mustang and the mustang almost blew up. We were in shock but thenThe black car drove really fast away. Later the cops came and found the body of the person in the Mustang the persons name was Miles. When the cops came the three kids told them that they each saw part of the license plate. They all put down the parts of the license plate they saw and they figured it out. The tracked down the person with that combination and interviewed him he said he did it but he also had a friend who was with him who caused the accident also. They tracked down the friend who was the person that we don’t know the name of, and he tried to run but we refrained him. He was mad at his partner Oreo for telling the cops where he was.They got arrested for 50 years which was 2080 but they have died by then. They also figured out the second guys name his name was spike. The End

Bibliography for pictures: MC#439128, uknown. mustang auto transport. [picture] Available at: http://www.mustangautotransport.com/id13.html. [Accessed November 30,2012]. @forumhost, uknown. sagavi. [picture] Available at: http://sagavi.com/antispam/?country=93.75.149.42. [Accessed november 30,2012].

Facebook Problems

Once in Kiev, Ukraine there was a school. It was Pechersk School International. 2:30 PM, Friday. A sixth grade math class was at the middle of solving a math problems test. An facebook addicted boy named Nikita was stuck on a problem #13. He was bored. He can't concentrate on a test all time. He wants to cheat by copying someones answers but his friend Romney next to him always sits, didn't come to school at that day. -Where on the Earth is my friend? I wish the school ends!- Nikita said.In few minutes the principal Ms. Sonts, walked in to the class and asked Nikita to go to her office. Ms. Sonts had told Nikita, that someone killed Romney. Nikita was terrified. She had also said that the killer was someone from internet. Nikita said that the killer is probably from facebook because Romney instead of doing homework always sit in the facebook. Nikita had also said that he could help the police resolve the crime but Ms. Sonts just laughed at Nikita. After school Nikita talked to his best friend Kristian and the teacher that always give nice suggestions Mr. White. They have agreed that even if Ms. Sonts do not allow to solve crimes. They have all thinked and agreed that the can solve crime even without going out from their room! They will try to find out some information about Mr. O (the killer) in internet. When Nikita returned home his parents already knew that someone was killed because of facebook. They told Nikita to delete his facebook account. Nikita was now really angry. He wants to take revange. On next morning (saturday) Nikita, Kristian and Mr. White had started research about Mr. O. They were so concentrated, that they didn't eat or drink for two days and one night. And finally! After a long research that took two days and one night, Nikita, Mr. White and Kristian finally gathered all information about Mr. O. They even knew the actual name of Mr. O. But this had shocked everyone. Mr. O was a school bully named Ondris. At monday first thing Nikita, Kristian and Mr. White did is gone to Ms. Sonts to tell that the killer was Ondris. Ms. Sonts first didn't believe Nikita, Mr. White and Kristian, but then after Nikita showed all proves, Ms. Sonts nearly fell out from her chair. In few seconds she had called the police. And very soon, police had arrived and arrested Ondris. Ondris said:

-I just like to tease everybody online plus, I have overwatched killing movies!!!!!- In one week nobody was thinking about that criminal. Nikita’s parents allowed him to have new facebook account. Police have given Nikita and Kristian got the certificates of the most principled students of the year 2012 - 2013. And Mr. White got an extra money award in 10,000 hryvnias. In few weeks nobody remembered Mr. O.

BibliographyMai Bruun Poulsen (2012). How to Uncover Negative Feedback on Your Facebook Page [online]. Available from: <http://www.mindjumpers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Facebook-Like-or-Dislike.jpeg>. [Accessed 15/11/12].Heather Sternau (N/A). Learner Profile Certificates (IB) [online]. Available from: <http://tcdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Learner-Profile-Certificates-IB/original-360709-1.jpg>. [Accessed 15/11/12].Arthur Turner/Alamy (2011). Four police chiefs have been placed under criminal investigation over allegations of misconduct relating to a gangland killing case [online]. Available from: <http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/12/4/1323006824207/Police-tape-cordoning-off-007.jpg>. [Accessed 15/11/12].

Our sTUPID Rivalry

It’s seven AM and my alarm clock is beeping away like there’s no tomorrow. There is, of course, a tomorrow. That movie 2012? Interesting movie, but it planted a bunch of ideas in the heads of the little kids at the elementary school. “Will, get up! You are going to be late for school mister!”, I hear Mom waking up my twin Will. Will is a typical high school football jock - dumb, arrogant, really mean, and beguiling to everyone. Except me. He just annoys me. When we were kids, Will was my best friend. Then we hit middle school and he became cool and his social ‘cool’ status on a scale of one to ten hit 3472...Mine did too, but you just have to add a tiny little ‘negative’ sign before it. My mom says I stereotype Will to the point of ridicule. I don’t think so, I think my definition just about covers him and his idiotic posse. Not to mention his girlfriend Tiffany Oxford... She’s a typical cheer captain. I’m not even going to mention my definition of her... It’s something Dad would send me to boarding school for. Not that I would care what my dad does, he’s been slowly getting more and more unstable. He is hardly ever at home, never sober, and I think he’s on something. That’s not even covering her. Her. That girl. She’s 23, that’s 7 years older than me. I’ve seen one thing happen between them... It’s enough for me to stop trusting my dad. My mom doesn’t know, she’s been way too stressed out with work, and I do not want to be the one to heavy that burden. Anyway, I run to my bathroom, slop some toothpaste onto my toothbrush (a good portion of it gets on the sink too...), stick it in my mouth, rush into my room, shove on my clothes, grab a sweater, spit and drop my toothbrush into the sink, and run down the stairs.

I’m halfway done with my cereal when Will comes down, his hair messed up, in his PJ’s, and rubbing his eyes. My Mom is following him looking almost as tired as him, except she stayed up the whole night, so she has a good excuse. I could be a very caring sister, and pour him a bowl of cereal, or maybe go get his backpack from upstairs, but I don’t. Instead, I say shortly, “You look terrible.” He replies, glaring, “Yeah, ‘cause you look so great today.”

I swing my bag over my shoulder, dump my bowl in the sink, and stalk out the door. Coming back from a mild school day, I see Mom crying at the kitchen table. I drop my bag and run over asking, “What’s wrong Mom? What’s wrong?” She tries to explain, but is sobbing so badly she can’t say a word. Instead, she pushes a piece of paper, a note, I realize, and I skim it quickly. When I’m done I am quivering furiously. It’s a note from my father. A father, that has run away, with a woman who could be his daughter. I rip the note up, turn on our stove, and throw it in. Everyone says that I am a very mellow girl, but truthfully, watching those pieces of paper burning, curling up, browning in the heat, I feel like that is me inside. Like I am burning. And I like it. Will comes an hour and a half later, like he does every Thursday because of football practice. Mom is in her room, so he doesn’t notice anything is wrong. Until I rush into a stream of words. “ohmygoshWilldadleftwithhissecretarybrittanyandmom’scryingandIdontknowwhattodoohmygoshWillwhatdowedo?” Then I take a huge gulp of air, realizing I am out of it. Then I see Will’s passive expression, and I stare at him like a deer in front of headlights, trying to interpret what he just said. Because he said, “So?” Of all of the things idiotic he has said or done, this was the most atrocious. Really. He’s crazy. I gape, open-mouthed, as he pushes past me. We don’t talk to each other for a whole week, he keeps on “accidentally” bumping me into the lockers, and we keep on avoiding each other if we don’t plan on saying something spiteful to each other. When I get home on Wednesday, Will isn’t there yet. My phone starts to ring a little later. When I pick it up, I hear a deep, masculine voice asking, “Elizabeth Johnson?” “Yes?” I respond, a little nervous. “My name is Deputy Brown. We have your brother down here at the station, if you could come get him.” My heart starts to race, my mind bursting with a million and one questions. I go ahead and put the millionth and first into words, “Is he okay?” “He is a little banged up from the crash he had, and still a little slow, seeing as he drank quite a bit. He was completely out of it when we got the reports.” I feel my knees go weak, “I’ll be right there. Thank you.” “I will see you in a while ma’am.” He hangs up.

I slump down onto the cool tiles of our kitchen floor (I was making dinner, as Mom was still unable to) and stare into space. After a couple of minutes, I come back to earth and walk over to the stove to switch it off. Once that’s done, I grab my keys (both Will and I have cars), pull on my shoes, and walk out into the quiet blanket of night.

When I get to the station, the deputy that was on the phone with me brings me to Will’s cell. I look

in, and I can tell he’s been drinking a lot. “You’re going to have a really nice headache tomorrow.” “I know.”“Come on then. This is the last time I’m bailing you out.” “It’s the first.” “I know.” On the ride home, neither of us says anything. I’m about the open the front door when Will says, “Wait.”. I turn around, hand still on the doorknob and quizzical expression on my face, as he starts to talk. “I’m really upset about dad leaving, I just didn’t want to show it. I’m afraid mom might sink into a depression, so I want to take her to the doctor” “You know she’ll never go.” is my response. “I know. That’s what’s bugging me.” “Let’s sleep on it. It’s late.” I open the door. “Oh, and Will? Don’t tell mom about this. It’s going to make it even worse for her.” “OK.” I stay up, staring at the ceiling above my door. I suddenly bolt up, and run into Will’s room. “Will!” I hiss in my loudest whisper. “Hmm?” comes his response. “We’ll all go to the doctor’s for physical checks. Before we get them, we’ll tell the doctors that we think mom’s depressed.” my eyes are probably shining with some kind of maniac light, but then, Will won’t mind because his are too. “Yes. That’s brilliant!” He breathes. “I’ll call tomorrow, okay?” “‘kay.” and with that, I run out of his room and into mine. The next day I am true to my word and make an appointment for 5:45 P.M. so that Will can go to football practice. It takes little to no effort to convince mom to come with us. I just said we already made the appointments. That worries me, because she usually gets really mad if we make plans without her. Our doctor understands when we tell him we are afraid that mom has sunken into depression. He says he’ll look for signs. The next week, we go pick up our blood test results. He pulls me aside after we’ve all gotten our results back, and says, “Look, Elizabeth. Your mother is in a very serious condition. Wait. Before you interrupt me, let me finish. It is not

depression. Your mother, how do I say this?” he looks around the room, stressed out, and then looks back at me and continues. “Your mother has developed acute Leukemia.” My eyes are blurring as I feel my legs buckle, and the last thing I remember seeing is Doctor Sam’s worried face above mine, his fingers feeling my pulse. I’m in a white room. Everything is white. Why is it so bright? How can anything be bright anymore? I wonder why I think that, and then it hits me. Hits me like I’m a bull in Spain and am losing to the matador. Mom. Leukemia. Dad. Left. I wonder how Will is holding up? I wonder if he’s drinking? I wonder how mom is. Wow, I must have a pretty messed up life to be wondering about these kinds of things, not to mention using the word ‘wonder’ a gazillion times. In times like these, I allow myself to use words like ‘gazillion’. I try to sit up, and promptly pass out again. When I wake up a second time, I almost have a heart attack. Will is standing over me, his face just inches from mine. Nurses come running, and I realize I must have involuntarily let out a scream in my surprise. “Nothing happened.” I kept on reassuring them. One by one they filed out, the younger ones glaring, and the older ones shaking their heads with disapproving looks plastered on their faces, at Will. “You took a couple z’s after you heard about mom.” “I took a couple what?” “You passed out.” “Oh. Well thank you. That’s very helpful.” We sit in silence for a while, and then Will says we should get going, that the doctors had said I was fine. We walked, Will supporting me, to his car, and got in. Then we drove home. I think it was that drive that truly made things better between Will and I, I think we finally realized that there are more serious problems than what your sibling does or likes.

6 Months later We’re a family again! We are having a party because Mom is cured! They got to the cancer quick enough, so she’s fine. Plus, Will and I are best friends again. Dad’s not back, but none of us want him back, and mom met this really nice doctor while she was in the hospital and, well, I have high hopes.

I made it onto the debate team, and am flying to Denver in a month to debate on whether we shou. Life couldn’t be better!

REVENGE By alexey mitropolskiy

It was a one of those days where ordinary people are doomed to go to a meaningless job for meaningless money, doing the same thing over and over again, but

not for everyone. Today was a big day for John, he was getting ready for the big race that evening. This was the one. The prize money was the biggest it had ever been and it would make all of John’s dreams come true. He would finally be able to do those upgrades to his engine to make his machine the most feared in the country. All he had to do was beat Mason. That was the problem.

In the evening all the racers met on the unused road just outside Los Angeles. There were only five cars in the race, but John was worried his motor would not be able to beat the fine beasts he saw in front of him. However, he got a great start of the starting line and took the lead for the first 2km. But Mason wouldn’t give up that easily. He managed to catch up with John on a very dangerous corner when John used too much braking. He saw his chance, pulled next to John and hit the front of his car. John could not control his machine and flew off the side of the road into a field. His race was over. John was OK, he got out of his car and tried to walk back to the road. He then heard a horrible noise. It was his worst nightmare. The police were over him in their helicopter with the big light shining right on him. He then heard a voice shouting, “Lay down on the ground and

don’t move!” That moment John understood that this was his last fresh air for a bit of time because this was not the first time he got caught.After 1 year when John came out of jail and the only thing he wanted is Revenge.

Presidential ElectionsIn 2040 there was really good tectology and gorillas were allowed to vote for the witch president the wanted. There was a gorilla named kongking he was one of the biggest gorillas in the world. He was very smart he knew how to talk and had a right to vote on presidential elections so he voted against baracobama but baracobama won the elections and kongking got mad and and broke into the white house and found baracobama and took him on empire state building and then the S.W.A.T. tried to help obama to escape but it was too late kongking let go of baracobama and obama crashed into little pieces but was not the only problem the kongking wanted for Romey to be the president and the S.W.A.T had no choice so Romey became the president and every one lived a peaceful life.

One day there was a large family who lived in a big castle.And once they were attacked by a giant swarm of bees they decided to leave the castle forever.Long long time in to future one man who was a descendant of this family came to see how does his grand grand mother and father lived.He walk in.And found a secret tunnel in case of any war will begin.He walk maybe for a day maybe for a week,he was so tired that he fall every 20-30 meters.He found some chests in a big room,in those chests he found some old food and armor.He pick up all the food and continue walk,finally he found exit he was so happy about it but it wasn't exit it was another underground castle.This castle was same age as his and there is no life.Because its cold and rats so he want to exit quick as possible and when he will exit he will repair both of the and sell but now the problem was to get out.He explore for a little bit and he understand that he lost of second time.But after he walk up and he saw giant main room and there was fire inside.He was scared because who will live in this old creepy house.After two minutes of standing he heard steps.Suddenly he saw women that was same age as him,she was very happy when she meet someone and she told her life story to him.Story was about her parents this was her castle but at night her parents left her alone in this castle and they got to find way out together.After long walking time from the castle they climb up the mountain and they found small city and repaired two castles and they lived together each in they castle and some times they had party between those castles.

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1http://www.liveinternet.ru/tags/castle/ 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wine_cellar.jpg

3http://bse.sci-lib.com/particle030064.html

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The Golden Ball Michael was fast asleep on the soft wool bed. It has been three days since he found the best treasure of his life. A ball of solid gold and unmatched beauty. He was quick-witted, so he did not stare for it long. Instead he quickly hid it under his shirt and ran off home. It was quite dangerous in the Schefford mine where he found it. His parents both worked as secretaries in the royal offices, and they did not have any time to spend with Michael. He went where he wanted and explored where he needed. The abandoned mine was a very popular place for kids, but also very dangerous. Already two of Michael’s friends have been killed by falling stalactites. The golden ball was only one part of Michael’s numerous treasures, but he adored it most of all. While michael was running home after the discovery of the ball, he spent a lot of time hiding and dodging contrabandits. After all, it was dangerous in victorian times. But the biggest danger was Thomas the crook. He was the meanest and sleaziest of all. He took nearly a quarter of Michael’s treasures. But the golden ball was safe. As much as Michael liked his golden ball he still had to lock it away in one of his treasure chests bulging with valuables.After a normal week without any treasure hunting and any adventures something very scary for Michael happened. The golden ball was not in it’s chest. It was sitting right on top of his woolen bed. He was Amazed- and tried a desperate and dangerous thing. He called his best friend, Steve. Michael never believed in magic and when something extraordinary would happen he would think little of it. But this was not the time. He had to do something about his most valuable treasure appearing on his bed. Michael and Steve thought about it, and went to the library to research about the strange sphere. They found a very bizarre but not old book about magic quickly and began hastily flipping pages. Then they found it. Article that said nearly everything about the treasure. They began reading it. They quickly found out that the ball was called “The eye of Amanar” and that the last person to have the treasure was Clive Parkinson Meyer who lived in

a very old house that looked like it was haunted. The house was located near the city in the countryside. They wanted to question him about the ball. They quickly ran to Michael’s house and began packing up until Steve noticed one thing. The golden ball could not be found anywhere. That made them pack up more quickly, not search for the golden eye. And so they went to the countryside with some old maps and a half-broken compass. But they have packe lots of gems to sell and buy any food and water they needed. They hired three carriages and finally reached their destination.The old crumbly house stood there towering over Steve and Michael. Michael desperately banged his fist on the slightly decayed door of dark wood. An old man opened the door with a loud creak. He let the two boys in and finally Michael stammered. “Are you Clive ?” he asked in a faint but fast voice. The old man answered with a whisper. “yesss” he said looking sternly but a little bit frightened. Then somehow reading Michael’s mind he said: “the golden ball. you have found it. but only the good souls can have it. I had it once too. But I have committed a bad deed. That is why it disappeared.” The old man’s voice was loud and clear now. Michael barged out of the house and went home without saying a word. He was clearly disappointed with Clive’s words. Then he thought of it. The genius idea that Michael tried desperately. With sadness and despair he gathered his numerous gems and went to the bank. He sold all of them. And received lots of pounds which he then gave to charity. He returned home thinking of nothing. He did not try to dodge the bandits or hiding from hoodlums. He returned home to nothing but a miracle. The golden ball was sitting on his bed, gleaming. But michael gleamed more.

doubtfulnews.com (October 23, 2012). haunted house [online]. Available from: <http://doubtfulnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/hauntedhouse.jpg>. [Accessed 3 dec. <http://cliparts101.com/files/980/8CCA95BD0033B8B58D982861C7C48AAC/Golden_ball_Bola_de_oro.png>. [Accessed 3 dec. 2012].

2012]. shelbycs.com (October 23, 2012). victorian england [online]. Available from: <http://www.shelbycs.org/ms/media center/victorian england/images/ludgate.jpg>. [Accessed 3 dec. 2012.

There was a man in the army, whose name was Jacob. He had a weapon on his leg as he drinks out of a army water bottle. The day was slightly dark and cold. He would be sitting there alone. Usually being beside the bunker gives him an eerie feeling. As he sits there he grows very tired so he takes a nap. His nap is interrupted by a boy named Zak, he was from Europe, Jacob always wondered why his name was Zak if he was from Europe, but his thought were also interrupted. Zak went on blabbering about all this nonsensical gibberish, until one word caught his attention, “Luger”. Jacob got up and said, “Have they got to the defences”?, Zak said, “They've passed that 10 minutes ago”! Jacob grabbed his helmet and strapped it around his head took his rifle and ran to the main base. As Zak and Jacob were running they heard a bunch of foreign voices shouting. In the distance they heard a man yell, “Minigun!!”, after they heard that they took cover and heard bullets zipping by them, Jacob got out and saw hundreds of people standing looking as menacing as ever. They all looked very strong, and Jacob thought, “It’s the chemical they are attacking for!”, Jacob got out of cover, pulled out his rifle and shot a man, the man looked over very mad, looking as if he threw a water balloon at him, Jacob

thought, “What.......the....” before he could finish his comment he heard more foreign voices screaming this time much louder. Jacob pulled out a grenade as he wiped the dust out of his eyes, he looked over the large boulder him and Zak hid behind, he threw the grenade at the crowd of people. He thought he heard it hit a helmet. He hid back and told Zak, “This won't be pretty”, then all they heard was, BOOM!!!, the sound was

deafening although Luger was defeated, after one single grenade he will not rest in peace, he will rest in pieces. Everyone celebrated their victory with a feast, and Jacob was known to be the hero of the war.

NAN. (NAN). NAN. Available: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1q4jf9vvG15MpXinvAhNbOSlbu1IbP58vWcwH9hF5O1n1DvEP_E2jOEqCgc4BtKp0jbargXU9bN_JWSSfVcm58oZxLIMimXjojE4FoQv0CqTghEjZFA5. Last accessed November 17 2012.

A girl without A future It seemed like she’s not going to have future. A girl without future. She’s left alone. No parents. No relatives. No friends. Everybody died. Except her. And George. I got used to this place. George and I lived happily. Well, almost happily. Almost, because the memories are painful. It’s been 8 years since the accident. In coal mines. In our hometown, which is further away now. “Run, Johanna! Run! Go away!” - my mum’s scream is still in my head. I wish I could forget about it. Or at least pretend that I have forgotten about it. But I can’t. My parents, my little brother, who just turned three before the accident, all of them died. I need to remember. Memories from leaving my hometown and finding a lot of good people. My diary is my past. It helps me live.08.09.1984 (right after the accident)My dear diary,Today, is a week since I was left alone. Since that accident. In coal mines. Now, I’m scared. It seems like I’m the only one, who left alive. But, I’m still hopeful, that there is somebody, at least one person, who is alive too. I don’t know what to do. It’s starts being cold outside and I don’t have a lot of clothes to live with through the winter. It’s starts to rain.

Bye.15.09.1984My dear diary,Today, I met a boy, who is alive too. We are the only ones left. We are living together, because we’re scared of being alone. His name is George. He is older. I’m 8 and he is 10. He’s nice. We are like a brother and a sister. Now, I’ve got more chances to stay alive. Oh, he’s calling me for a dinner!Bye,Johanna. While reading my diary, I begin to cry. So many memories. Painful memories. Why? Why did it happen? Why I didn’t die that time too? It’s unfair. It would be better to be dead then, than struggle in search of food and clothes. I thought, we should move to another town. Somewhere safer. Somewhere further away. And then, I was seriously thinking about it.“We can go. Somewhere further away from here. Where it’s safer. Where we could find people. Don’t you think so?” - I said to George once. “Yeah. It’s strange, we didn’t think about it earlier.” - George responded.Week earlier, we were on our way somewhere else. We didn’t know where we were going. We’ll see. On our way, I was writing a diary, which helped me to remember everything.

24.11.1984Dear diary,Today is our 6th day of traveling to nowhere. We have no idea where we are right now. But still, it’s better than sitting on one place and dying. Who knows, maybe we will find our survivor soon? I’m tired. I’m not telling George about it, because I know that then, he will be nervous about how do I feel. I need to go.Bye. 01.12.1984Dear diary,Today, we found a village. One old lady invited us to her house. She said, we can stay there as long as we want to. I’m happy now. For the first time, since eight years, I tasted roasted chicken. It’s delicious. Now, me and George think that that was a good idea to leave our hometown. We are helping that old lady every day. She has a farm, so all day we are very busy. Life is getting better. Oh, we’ve got a dinner now.Bye,Johanna. 05.01.1985Dear diary,

Today, was a sad day. That old nice lady died today. I’m so sad. I was crying all day. She was so nice to us! George wasn’t talking all day. We are stressed. What are we going to do? Live. That’s everything that is on my mind. I need some time to be alone. Bye. I remember my shock that day. It was horrible. Why life is unfair? Nobody knows. The only thing that was on my mind was to try to continue living.One night, we hear a noise outside. It comes from the house across the street. One nice widow with three kids lives there. We saw a shadow in their window. A shadow of a man. It’s not good. Without saying a single word, we ran into widow’s house. A man was standing in the middle of the room. He had a gun. A woman was scared, she was standing behind the wall. Man’s gun was pointing at her. Why? He wanted money, that’s logical. But, everybody’s poor in this village. They don’t have money at all. I silently creeped and in a second, I was standing behind the man. George threw a long rope to me. One moment, and man’s gun was on the floor and his hands were tied tightly.We went with him till the end of the village and left him alone.Life was better. Widow and her kids thanked us a lot of times. In the next three months, a widow died and her children moved to our house. All of us were and still are like brothers and sisters. We love each other. And I hope it

will continue till the end of my days...

The Ticket That Changed Everything!

Characters

Robert ( quiet, bookworm and loves to read)

Betty( Loud, loves to be with friends and loves to have fun)

Cashier (works in the arcade where the story takes place)

One Morning while I was taking a walk to the store “Grab it and go” I was thinking about my brother Robert and how the past year has been a really hard year for me and him our mother had died and she was like our best freind. When I got to the supermarket write as I walked into the store I got a flyer saying “ Come to the target arcade and you will be included in winning something really cool! Of course me being 12 years old I got really excited as oppose to getting a usual flyer saying “ buy this great milk fresh from the cow” BORING!!!!!!!!!!. I bought the products that I needed and took off back home. When I got home I had to tell robert the great news that we could win a really big thing and I was hoping that he was going to be interested. When I got in the front door I dropped my bags and I heard a few things crack but ohh well. I ran to Robert and of course being him he has to be reading a book I had to call his name a few times but nothing too bad Robert, Robert ROBERT!!!!!! “yes” he replied “guess what I have the best news I just was at the store and I got a flyer saying that we can win something really cool at target arcade you want to” go “sure” he said so we went there when we got there we played our favorite game side by side and write when I started I saw a white ticket come out of the machine I went to the cashier and she explained the whole procedure of what we have to do she said that we have to give it some thought of what we want to win she said we can win a kitten or something else that was a surprise when we got home it was getting late we ate dinner and went home the next morning we started talking about the ticket we each wanted one thing

Robert badly wanted the surprise and our really wanted the kitten and we each couldnt decide we each had our reasons for what we wanted and we couldn’t decide we were screaming and yelling and I just felt so bad bad for Robert because he started to cry because it is just not his nature to scream and yell and that made me feel very guilty! I thought to myself you know what. I am just going to let Robert have what he wants and then he will be happy! The next day we got ready and went to the arcade we went up to the cashier gave her the ticket and told her what we want and then she started to smile I was confused and a second later she said that we had won the surprise which was a trip around the world me and Robert started to jump up and down and people were looking at us and thinking what is wrong with you guys. It was getting late and we went home. When we got home and got my pjs on I said to Robert “thanks for bring the best brother and remember we are going to have a great time” “thanks” he replied. “Goodnight” I said and see you in the morning! The End