The Cave

   As I run along the side of the creek in the dappled sunlight, I can't hear anything but the gurgling of the water and the autumn wind zipping past my ears. I struggle to keep up with Dorian as I dodge large rocks and muddy spots on the ground. Finally, we reach the place where we can cross the river, and I let him go first. A fallen tree that is just wide enough to walk across and not break, but I crouch down as I cross, trying not to look down at the cold river below. My heart beats in my ears as I step onto the bank on the other side, walking quickly from the steep edge that would send me into the river.

   I sit down at the base of a large tree as Dorian climbs into the lower branches, and starts picking at the twigs and leaves on the branch he is sitting on. I look up at him, holding my hand up to shield my eyes from the suns rays as it drops below the trees. 

"Should we go back?" I ask as I begin to worry.

"No, we just got here. What, you  don't trust your brother to find his way back?" he replies, dropping leaves down on me as he laughs.

"Little brother," I say as I wave my hands to swat the leaves away from my face, "And I only agreed to come with you because you said there was, something amazing."

"Come on, Agnes," he tries to persuade me as he climbs down the tree, and starts walking further away from the river. 

   I get up hesitantly, and walk quickly to catch up with him. We go uphill for awhile, the trees around us getting taller and the branches getting thinner as we walk on a dusty path. I struggle to keep up with Dorian's relentless pace as I feel sweat coating my dusty face. He shouts something ahead, and waves his hand at me, and I struggle to catch up with him as I grab at the hems of my skirt so I can walk quickly.

"What? Are we there?" I ask, out of breath as I look around.

"Yes, we just need to go down there," he replies as he gestures to the cliff side beside us.

   I give him a look of shock as I lean forward to look down. There is a small rocky path against the cliffs that leads down the side of the mountain. He grabs my hand and tugs me toward the path, taking a step forward to show me it's okay.

"Dorian, this is ridiculous. We're going to fall," I say as I glare at him.

"Please, just trust me, I'll help you down. You won't believe what is in there," he replies as he grins at me.

"In where?" I ask, worry showing on my face.

"The cave. That's where we're going. Please, just let me show you."

   I reluctantly take a step forward, holding onto his hand tightly as we make our way down the side of the mountain. I try to look forward as we turn a corner, and I see the cave's opening. I sigh in relief as I walk a little quicker, still not letting go of Dorian as we enter the cave. A steady stream runs out of the cave and off the cliff and I take my shoes off and hold them in my hands as I step into the cold water. I follow him into  the cave, and as the setting sun's light stops illuminating the way, I begin seeing countless blue string-like things hanging from the roof of the cave.

"What are those?" I ask quietly as I reach up to touch one, standing on my toes in the cold water.

"They're glow worms," Dorian answers quietly as if talking loudly would disrupt the placid atmosphere of the cave. 

   My eyes widen as I curiously touch one above me, watching as it pulses dark then light again. I lose track of everything else as I walk speechless through the cave, looking around at the beautiful life around me.

"It's like the stars, Dorian," I whisper as I look over at him, seeing a his face silhouetted by the blue lights glowing above and beside him.

"I know. I knew you would like it."

"I don't want to leave, it's so beautiful," I whisper as I look over at him sadly.

   As I continue walking into the cave, I run my hand across the cold stone walls, the water nearly up to my knees. I look ahead, seeing the water slope upward into a rounded tunnel. I pull Dorian along as I nearly crawl up the steep passageway. I reach a large cavern at the end, with a seemingly endless ceiling covered in layers of glowing blue. A clear pond sits in the center of the cavern, and I can see the shallow bottom with the glow from the ceiling. 

"It must be really late, Dorian. Should we go? We don't want to be forbidden from going on adventures again," I whisper, listening to my voice echo softly around the cavern.

"Yes, but we have to come back," he whispers back, tracing lines in the gravel on the ground with his foot.

"Definitely."

I turn back, carefully making my way down through the tunnel into the front part of the cave. We walk quickly, admiring the quiet beauty as we wish it a silent farewell. Dorian stops at the entrance to the cave, and I turn around to look at him. He crouches down, and, with a smooth rock he picked up from the cavern, traces some letters into the sand-like gravel.

"Agnes," I read as he stands up.

"So everyone knows that the cave is yours," he says simply.

"Thank you very much Dorian," I say quietly as I smile at him.

   He puts the rock in my hand, which I tuck away in my pocket, and I put my shoes back on my feet. We make it back to the top of the hill, and run all the way down to the river through the skeletal silhouettes of trees. I stop, my legs weak from all the running, and look at the log bridge. I let Dorian go first, and I walk close behind him, trying to keep my balance. I feel the log shake around and see him struggling to keep his balance. He waves his arms in the air as he starts losing his footing on the log, and I panic. I lunge forward and grab him by his shirt collar, pulling him back to stand up. My heart is beating in my ears as I step off the log, still holding onto him.
"You have to be careful!" I exclaim as I walk with him away from the edge, worry still eclipsing all my other thoughts.
"I'm alright Agnes, I just don't want to get home too late. I was trying to hurry," he explains as we walk.
   We make our way through the trees that stretch up into the cloudy sky like towers and creak in the wind. I see the glow of our home up ahead, a beacon in the fog that has set low on the ground, it's tendrils moving around our ankles as we rush through the forest. I slow my pace as we approach the door, and I push it open slowly, feeling a rush of warmth and the aroma of dinner greet me. Our parents greet us and asked us where we went. I close the door behind Dorian as he tells them we were exploring, and they usher us over to the warm fire. Our mother fusses over us as she sees the state of our clothes. I pick up a notebook from the side table and a pencil and open it to the next blank page, and start writing about the fascinating cave.
   I feel a weight in my pocket and remember the rock that Dorian had given me. I walk out of the main room and into my bedroom. I place the rock in my windowsill, and stop to look out of the window. I observe the dark forest that seems endless from my window, and I watch as the wind makes the trees shake. Dorian comes up to my doorway, and I don't turn around, still mesmerized by the strong trees being shaken by the wind.
"Would you like to go to the cave again?" he asks as I turn to look at him.
"Yes. Let's go tomorrow," I say as excitement shows in my voice.
   I wish him a goodnight and try to go to sleep, looking over at the rock, my reminder that the magical place actually existed. As I drift off to sleep, I see the glowing ceiling behind my eyelids as I dream, and await the next adventure.

Flash Fiction: Chandra's Adventure

As prompted by Chuck Wendig's recent blog post, I have decided to participate in the Flash Fiction Challenge. I chose to choose my 3 words out of the 10 prescribed, which are moon, scorpion and mint. Enjoy:
   The pale moonlight cast a mysterious glow on the earth as Chandra jogged away from her home, her bag slung over her shoulder. As she dashed through the field of soft mint leaves that brushed her ankles like feathers of a bird in flight, she felt free as the cool summer breeze mingled with her curly hair that flew behind her. When her mother found that she had left her studies, she would probably be a nervous wreck, but Chandra let all of her worries go as she inhaled the invigorating aroma of mint that surrounded her.         
Because they had recently moved to this new place, her mother was worried of all the wild animals and poisonous things. She had given Chandra a large book detailing all of the animals, insects, plants, and more that she had the potential of running into in this new place. She remembered what she had been reading about just before she had snuck out of her window to get some air, the Indian Red Scorpion. If stung by one, there were detrimental effects. It was native to her country, and she thought about how it could be skittering on the ground in front of her this very moment. The thought of this made her jump over the mint row to her right into a new one as the hair on the back of her neck tingled at the thought of the creature below her feet. She glanced down the moonlit row as a precautionary measure, and then continued on carelessly.

"Hottentotta tamulus," Chandra whispered under her breath. She had memorized the scientific name of the scorpion, although it seemed like useless information to her. The thought of scorpions fled her mind as she began to see the wall in the distance amidst the haze of the warm summer night. It had seemed so tall when she read about it in books. But in real life it seemed so doddering, maybe standing at a good four meters. As she approached it she slowed, observing every detail. It was composed of thick metal bars, reminding her of a prison, that ran up to a wide bar at the top which all of the vertical bars were fused to. She could easily slip her hand through the bars and reach out to the other side, but what she knew about the other side made her hesitant.

A bright light began to emerge from her left side, which she quickly identified as the headlights of a truck. It was gradually advancing, and she could have easily just stepped to one side and let the car drive past her. But it scared her, having just found this mysterious wall cloaked in shrouded moonlight. So she turned and dashed back towards her home, through the fields, heavy with their fresh aroma. Chandra had thought that she heard a shout behind her, but she didn't look back to investigate, and quickened to a sprint. Once she got back to her house, she quickly climbed the stout tree in her front yard and ducked in through her still open window. Sneaking down the stairs, she found her mother washing a pan in the kitchen. She gave Chandra a questioning look, to which she nervously smiled.

"How were your studies tonight, Chandra?" her mother inquired. "They were wonderful. I learned all about the Indian Red Scorpion," she replied, relieved that her mother didn't seem to notice that she had gone.

"Good. You should probably get to sleep now, you don't want to be too tired tomorrow," her mother suggested, continuing her work.

Chandra turned back up the stairs, jumping up them two at a time, and went to her room. Closing her door, she turned off the light and sat in her windowsill, opening her bag. she took out a leather-bound journal with an intricate weave of shapes all around the border. Opening it to the next empty page, she began to draw the wall and wrote about her late night adventure. Once she had finished, she fell asleep, thinking of the mysterious wall cloaked in moonlight.

The next morning she awoke, braiding her lengthy hair, and quickly put on a midnight blue tunic with golden trim and black leggings. Grabbing her journal and bag, she crept down the stairs, and managed to go out the front door without her mother hearing. The golden sun was just creeping up onto the horizon, a hazy figure in the corner of Chandra's eye. Since the sun was a spotlight on her, Chandra decided to take a lesser-known trail through a few trees to reach the wall. By the time she reached the wall, the sultry air was like a blanket wrapped around her. The dark metal fence was starkly contrasted by a deep blue sky with bits of pink clouds. As she approached the fence, she peered beyond, at the land that seemed so dramatically different than hers. There were small shanties and huts cropped together and a few people were in front of one talking, heads down. A few huts were in a tight circle, and a group of tired elderly men sat around a fire in the middle. There were some women with choppy haircuts that made them look featureless scrubbing away at old clothes in a mud-caked washtub. The strange part for Chandra was that none of them seemed to notice or pay any attention to her. As she walked down further and further, there seemed to be rougher conditions. Chandra stopped in front of what appeared to be a store. Many people were crowded in it, and a few people were selling things just outside the doors. As she leaned closer, fully intrigued, she forgot what she was doing. Before she knew it was happening, there was an angry man with long tangled hair that had taken ahold of her foot.

“Give me all your money! And don’t lie,” he shouted with a deranged look in his eye.

“I don’t have any!” she shouted back, and she lost her balance, falling to the ground.

“I don’t believe you! All of you people have better lives, and pockets full of money,” he snarled back with frightening certainty.

Chandra tried to kick her foot out of his grip, but couldn’t. Two men on the other side had started trying to pry him away, but he was determined. Looking to her right, she saw it. An Indian Red Scorpion right beside her. Grabbing it like the book had instructed her to, she sat up and quickly threw it between the bars and onto the insane man’s coat. He immediately let go, running away and wildly pulling his coat off to avoid getting stung.

“Thank you,” Chandra voiced to the two men who assisted her.

She then turned and ran back home, cutting across the mint fields, leaping across several rows before following an undeviating row to her home. When she got into her front row, panting, she climbed the tree that she had the previous night, and began writing about what had happened amidst the cluster of branches. Although she had had a frightening experience, she was determined to continue adventuring under the veil of moonlight.

What The Water Gave Me

It was a rather uneventful day in the suburb of Lewes, until Florence decided to wade in the quick, rushing river. As she initially plunged her feet into the icy water, she shouted in surprise. She was headed for the opposite bank, where she had seen a glimmer of something bobbing in the water. She attempted to hold up the edges of her multilayered green dress as she waded deeper into the river. Her teeth began to chatter and sharp pains shot into her submerged legs. But she persisted, and grabbed the shiny locket snagged on the branch. Immediately, she turned around to return to her side of the river. Florence held the locket in her hand above the water in an iron grip, and did not loosen that grip until she had gotten out of the freezing river. Once she was on the shore, she ran back into her house, a cabin a few hundred feet away from the chilling river.
As she sprinted in, nearly slipping, and dripping cold water everywhere, she surprised her brother, who was previously asleep in a chair in front of the crackling fire. After a cruel awakening, he shouted, "What happened Florence?"
"I found a locket in the river
downstream Jacob, take a look at it!" Florence exclaimed.
She opened her hand to reveal a glistening silver circular locket and an equally fine chain that accompanied it. Jacob stood up and began examining it. He lifted it from her hand, searching for engravings to signify the owner.
"Ah!," Jacob stammered, "It-it seems to have some initials and a note engraved into the back."
"What does it say?" Florence questioned.
"To my love, your words mean more than you will ever know," he read, "Then there are the initials L.W."
Florence thought about all of the kind folks she had met at the market, and what their initials were. She thought about the Williams, but realized no one in that family had L as their first initial. But then, she remembered the secluded couple she had seen leaving town many times, and calling the town doctor on many occasions. It belonged to the Woolfs, who were Leonard and Virginia. She had heard from the grocer once that Virginia was a writer.
Florence voiced her realization with Jacob. She planned to find the Woolfs next time she was in town to return the lovely locket, and ask Virginia how she lost the locket.

Holland Road

As I looked up and gazed into the sky, I felt a cold drop fall on my cheek. I felt another on my outstretched hand soon after. Within a minute, hundreds of snowflakes were slowly making their descent towards the ground all around me. The ground crunched underneath my footfalls with the increasing cover of snow.
Up ahead, I saw a street lamp flicker on. The next, and the next lamp lit up following the first. This pattern continued down the long street, gradually lighting my way. Soon, I recognized the sign that read 'Holland Road', and turned down it. Skeletal trees encompassed me on both sides as I walked down the ancient cobblestone path. I maneuvered around a few indents in the road filled with an slush. After awhile, the old cobblestone path turned into a bumpy dirt road. The path turned a corner, and suddenly the skeletal trees surrounding me disappeared as the road began downhill. I tried to control my pace down the steep and winding hill, but the combination of speed and ice did not help.
I nearly slipped as I came to a halt at the gates blocking the road. Fishing in my left coat pocket, I found a black, skinny, and ice cold key and turned it in the lock on the gate. I removed the key from the lock and pushed the gate open. Walking though, I pushed the gate closed behind me with my foot. The rough downhill road gradually turned into a smooth rolling slope. Shrubs dotted the landscape along with numerous boulders, all vaguely visible in the darkness that swept over the hills. Although the stars shone clear on the moor surrounding me, they were only a dim spotlight to the beauty that was all around. The moor appeared slightly green, for the northern lights were casting a green hue across the land. Mesmerized, I nearly stumbled off of the path multiple times. The northern lights weren't supposed to appear here until 1868, but a year early wasn't bad at all. But soon, I saw the lights of a warm home up ahead. I quickened my pace, excited to arrive. The icy gravel crunched under my boots as I walked up to the door. I took a deep breath and rapped on the door four times. I heard the quick pattering of feet inside the house, and locks being undone on the door. The heavy door creaked open slowly, as a woman looked at me from behind it. Her face was thin along with her her fingers, and her black hair hung limply by the sides of her face. Her brown eyes widened as she took in who I was. She pulled the door open fully and embraced me tightly, as if the winter winds would sweep me away if she let go.
"Erlina" I whispered, surprised.
"Alastar! I didn't expect you for another month! How are you?" Erlina inquired.
"I'm wonderful now that I'm back!" I replied, smiling.
We walked into the kitchen, and I took my hefty bag off of my shoulders and set it on the kitchen table. As I began unloading it, Erlina got a look of astonishment on her pale face.
"There's more than enough food here for the winter Alastar. I thought your brother wasn't sending any more for at least a fortnight!" Erlina exclaimed.
"I know, it took my by surprise. I left as soon as I received it." I commented,"It looks like we will make it through this famine after all."

Hopeful Wanderer

Aikaterine walked swiftly on the path, silently traveling through the active forest around her. Colorful dragonflies flew past as bright red birds with gold-tipped wings shot after them. Ancient owls hooted boldly from their perches in the purple hued trees that were spread across the hills. Small luminous plants grew on the trunks of the trees and were sprinkled around on the ground. As she advanced further down the mossy path, she began to hear the violent smash of the salt water waves onto the rocky shore. Quickening her pace, she passed through a monumental archway, engraved with many engraved runes that told stories of the ancient forest and its inhabitants. The way was illuminated by the outstanding marker and its tales of the past. She stopped, tapping one of the runes, and felt connected, in that instant, to a past people and time.
A few yards ahead, she caught sight of a grouping of small buildings on a hill. After passing by a multitude of small cottages, she began down the other side of the hill, and saw a glimpse of the coast. Running rapidly down the hill, all she could hear was the cool wind whistling past her ears. A pale white fox dashed out in front of Aikaterine, nearly tripping her. But she regained her balance and soon enough reached the shores of the great ocean.
The strong winds that blew off the waves whipped through her loose red hair as she walked beside the sea. In the distance she could see the boat docks. As Aikaterine neared the docks, she could see several of the citizens of the town she had just passed through fishing off the docks. The docks stretched far off of the shore, so it took Aikaterine awhile to reach the end. She greeted the fisherman, who politely greeted her back. Walking to the boat dock just a few feet ahead, she greeted a fellow traveller. They conversed, and determined that they were going to the same place. Aikaterine, tired from her extensive journey, sat on a nearby crate and set her bag beside her. She stretched her feet in her tall leather boots.
After a short while, the ship that Aikaterine was waiting for became visible on the horizon. Within several minutes, the ship began to turn as to approach the dock sideways. She stood upon its arrival to the dock, and waited to board until it had been cleared for loading.
Once she had found the small cabin that she had rented for the two day trip across the ocean, she rested in her bed. Waking with an abrupt bump from the ship, Aikaterine got out of the bed and groggily went out into the deck. A beautiful sunset shot color into the sky and reflected over the calm ocean waves. The brilliant sun colored everything a dim red as stars began to peek out at the edges of the grand display. Aikaterine stayed out on the deck, even after the sun had sunk below the waves and the stars dazzled in the dark sky. The moon was just a sliver of light in the dark, calm night.
As Aikaterine came closer to a new destination and drifted farther away from her home, she felt at peace. For wherever she could ever go, the beauty of the world would never cease to show itself.

Chasing The Sun

The pollution clouded the sun and the wind was hot and full of dry dust. The citizens rushed to their destinations, cloth wraps over their mouth to protect from the dust. It was not clear because of all of the dust that stuck to and covered every surface, but everyone seemed to dress in a similar color of light brown.
One man stood out from the crowd. With a fitted black coat covering his tall figure and long dark brown pants that barely covered his ankles, clad with white socks. he strolled quickly down the street, looking as if he had important work to do elsewhere. His blue and grey eyes were shielded by a pair of antique riding goggles. His brown hair was slicked back and did not move although the winds persisted. A minute smile shone on his symmetrical face.
The man began to increase his speed and was nearly jogging. The surrounding citizens have him strange looks and began to point and whisper.
He started into a quick run, as he rushed past people, scaring and confusing most of them. One of them shouted angrily at him as he rushed past, determined to not stop.
Large clouds rolled in and only the lights on the street lit his way. An authority was chasing him, shouting at him to stop immediately. But he easily outran the out-of-shape authority, who eventually stopped, giving up on the chase and gasping for air.
Then he saw it, the separation. It was a 31 foot fence made up of everything from old boards to large pieces of concrete. With a running start, he jumped up and with his right hand caught ahold of a rather large fence post sticking out of the wall horizontally about 5 feet from the ground. He swung his left arm up to the bottom shelf on a small bookcase embedded in the barrier. His feet scrambled up and found footholds in the mass. By now, the authority had alerted the other authorities, who had let out large ferocious dogs. The man quickly began climbing higher. By the time the dogs reached him, he was a good 15 feet above them. He quickened his pace, knowing that the authorities had firearms and didn't care for his life, especially if he was about to defy their biggest rule, do not leave.
He was about 22 feet up and, as he predicted, the authorities began to fire at him, not caring for his life. A few bullets came extremely close to him, but he continued on. Then he made it to the top. He opened his black coat, revealing rope attached to a harness that was secured to him. He tied the en of the rope to a large steel cable
Protruding out of a gargantuan block of cement. Then he began to propel quickly down the other side of the wall. Soon, he felt the ground, but here it was luscious and soft, for it was a blanket of grass and soft moss. He turned and saw thousands of trees filling the hills that laid ahead of him. Birds soared overhead and the sun shone brightly into his eyes so that he was disoriented. Then someone walked in from of him and handed him sunglasses. He immediately switched his goggles for the sunglasses and recognized the person. It was his sister, Molica who had been separated from him by the wall.
"Hello Tom." Molica said, smiling at her brother.

Winter Winds

Louise was 14 years old when she first saw her after the tragedy. Her aunt, Gottlieben, was a kind woman. She had piercing green eyes and wispy grey hair that was always done back into a perfect bun. She wrote in her journal every night, and read many books. Gottlieben was always optimistic, and she treasured her home and even her most distant family.
Louise walked down the hill from the Vietsburg Castle where she lived every day to her aunt's quaint cottage to take care of her. Louise learned how to cook delicious meals, helped her in her grand garden, and assisted her in keeping the house clean. She had done this every single day from the day she turned 10 to nearly her 14th birthday.
One day, Gottlieben and Louise went on a walk around the castle grounds. It was snowing and everything was beautiful and white. The moon lit up the blankets of snow and they sparkled in the night light. They eventually went back to the cottage because the winter winds quickly became too cold.
A few days later, Gottlieben developed pneumonia. Every day, her condition worsened, no matter how much Louise tried to help her get better. She passed away after a few weeks of having the illness, and five days before Christmas.
Louise was utterly heartbroken, and stayed in her room, which was up in the castle turret, most days. She didn't care to open the curtains and look out on the beautiful castle grounds and the town. Instead, she sat at her desk and thought about everything she could've done differently. Was it the cold winter wind that took her aunt? The crack in the wall that made the house a bit colder? She stopped writing in her journal and cooking; for each reminded her greatly of her aunt.
Aunt Gottlieben's will was read to the family, and in it Gottlieben left Louise some of her most beautiful jewelry, such as her beautiful garnet necklace. Louise wore the precious necklace every day so she could have a piece of her aunt close to her heart every hour of the day.
As spring approached, so did Louise's birthday. On her birthday, her mother came into her room and tried to reason with her to go outside and get fresh air. Louise wouldn't go, so her mother dragged her out of her room by her arm. As they descended the old spiraling steps, Louise grasped the garnet necklace with her free hand. They eventually made it outside and Louise's mother told her to get some fresh air, to take in the renewed landscape.
She looked on the grand Vietsburg Castle with new eyes. It seemed as if she had never layed her eyes upon the large turrets and great walls, enveloped in ivy and old trees, slowly climbing with their ancient tendrils across the castle walls. Every window was a unique stained glass masterpiece, each telling it's own family story or ancient fable. Moss and succulents grew in between the cracks of the old granite stones that made up the castle.
Louise decided to ascend the steps to the top of the old, now unused, watchtower. Her heart beat in her ears as she made her way to the top. Finally, she was on the highest level. She could see all of Ravensburg. The tops of the trees were populated with birds, and many people bustled over the cobblestone roads in the town. It was a warm day, and an untamed wind was picking up the blossoms off of the trees and swirling them through the air.
Louise turned to look at the rest of the countryside, but instead saw her aunt, standing on the opposite side of the watchtower. She was somewhat transparent, but appeared friendly and was smiling at Louise.
"I've been waiting for you to come outside Louise." her aunt said calmly.
"You're...you've been gone." Louise muttered, confused.
"I am. But I need your help. My will was not completely right. There is one other item I wish to give you Louise." aunt Gottlieben explained.
"What do you mean? You gave me your garnet necklace, what else?" Louise questioned.
"Come with me to my old cottage and I will show you." Gottlieben said, with one hand gesturing towards to stairs to guide Louise towards the cottage.
They descended the stairs together, and Gottlieben began talking to Louise. Soon, they were at Gottlieben's cottage. Louise took the key to the door out of her coat pocket where she hadn't removed it since December. She put the crooked key in the lock and turned the knob. The door creaked slightly as it was opened because it had been unused for so many months. Louise stepped into the remote cottage, and a flood of memories with her aunt came back to her.
"Where is it, Gottlieben?" Louise asked.
"Come with me and I'll point you in the right direction." Gottlieben answered.
She led Louise to the broom closet in the opposite side of the house. She gestured for Louise to open it. Louise swung open the door and quickly jumped back as two brooms clattered to the floor.
"The box on the top shelf, it's yours Louise." Gottlieben said, seemingly relieved and smiling.
Louise retrieved the box and set it on the floor. The top was a sliding lid, and Louise carefully removed it. Behind the lid were journals, all with dates on them and in perfect order. A single tear ran off of Louise's cheek and splashed to the floor.
Gottlieben spoke, "Now you have my whole life, from when I was younger than you. Every problem, sorrow, or joyful memory is in those books. You don't have to feel like I was cheated out of life. Once you read these, I think you will realize that my life was full and I am at peace."
"Thank you." Louise said quietly, clutching the necklace in her hands and staring at the journals.
"And one more thing Louise." aunt Gottlieben added, "Do not blame the winter winds."
Louise said goodbye and soon Gottlieben was gone. Louise took the box of journals and went back to the castle, ready to live again.

Writer's Block

It was a dull afternoon on Hill Street in Brandyn Wyatt's small apartment. Brandyn wrote short stories for Writer's Block Magazine, a magazine for writers in need for inspiration. Usually, he would just look at something outside or read a newspaper to find something to write about. But there was a serious problem; Brandyn was getting writer's block himself! He had read the newspaper, went on a walk, cartwheeled through the nearby park, and even made up a song about his fridge. But after all of that, he had nothing except a headache. So he went to the elevator to go outside and bang his head against a tree.

When the elevator door opened, he saw a monkey sitting on the ground. He cautiously looked at the monkey, seeing that it had a collar on it.

"Who owns a monkey in this town?" he asked himself.

Slowly, he reached his hand out to the collar, and held up the tag so he could read it.

It said:

Hi, I'm Lizzie

Please return to 5694 Dew Street

Brandyn, confused and dazed, picked up the monkey and brought her back into his apartment. Surprisingly, the monkey was not that heavy. He brought the monkey into his bathroom and weighed her. The scale read at 13 pounds. Brandyn grabbed his laptop and typed '12 pound domesticated monkey' into the search engine. The first result he clicked on. It had a long list of monkeys that you could buy and keep as a pet. He only found a few that could weigh 12 pounds. Of those, he looked at the picture and descriptions, and finally found what kind of monkey the one in his apartment was; a white faced capuchin. Brandyn found out that it ate mostly fruit, so he went into his cramped kitchen. Rummaging through his fridge, he found a mango, a bag of grapes, and three bananas.

He went into the bathroom to get the monkey, to find that she wasn't there. He looked all over and couldn't seem to find her. He had a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach. He had left the balcony door open! Quickly, Brandyn went out on the balcony looking for Lizzie. She was crawling up to the apartment window above his. Without a thought, he ran back into his apartment and got a broom. Then desperately, he swept it back and forth, trying to get Lizzie to fall into his arms or grab the broom or something! Anything but getting in the neighbor's apartment. Before he could realize what was going on, Lizzie was falling, and so was the broom. Choosing a living thing over household cleaning supplies, he caught Lizzie in his arms, the broom smacking him in the face, mainly eye area. His vision went black for a few seconds, and as it came back, he heard a loud crack. He looked down to see an utterly destroyed broom scattered in the street. Luckily, there were no cars or other things to damage in sight.

Holding Lizzie close, so to not let her escape again, Brandyn walked back into the apartment, slamming the balcony door shut. He went to his freezer, grabbed an ice pack, and held it up to his face where the broom smacked it. He gave Lizzie some grapes from the bag, and sliced the mango in half, giving half to Lizzie and the other half he ate.

Brandyn needed to get to the pet store.Surprisingly, Brandyn still had a small dog carrier from when he had to take care of his sister's chihuahua for three weeks. He put some grapes in the back of the carrier, and set it on the floor. Lizzie slowly walked towards it, she went in the carrier and started munching the grapes. Brandyn quickly closed the door, and Lizzie started making a high pitched squealing noise. It was horrid noise, but he had to get the carrier downstairs to his bike and strap it on the back. So he got some bungee cords and went to the elevator. Fortunately, there was no one in the elevator. He quickly pressed the lobby button. The squealing echoed immensely in the closed elevator. When he got down to the lobby, he quickly got outside and found his bike. He strapped the carrier on the back and was off.

The pet store was only about a mile away, but with all of the stoplights and the many staring bystanders and onlookers, it seemed much, much longer. Brandyn almost ran into the shrubs by the side of the pet store. He locked up his bike and unhooked the carrier. Trying to act as inconspicuous as possible, Brandyn walked into a pet store with a screeching monkey inside a small dog carrier. He walked up to an employee in the store. He was a tall man with a mustache and green eyes. He was holding a bulky bag of dog food in his arms. Brandyn opened the carrier door and Lizzie sprang out, immediately quieting down in the presence of the pet store employee, whose name was Paul according to his name tag. Paul dropped the bag of cat food, the kibbles showering the floor.

"You found her." Paul said surprisedly.

Paul introduced himself to Brandyn and closed the store for what he told his customers his lunch break. Brandyn told Paul how he had found Lizzie and everything that had happened. Paul then told Brandyn why he was so glad he found Lizzie.

"You see, Lizzie and Thom, her owner, used to come here a lot. He would pick up specially ordered food and things for Lizzie, since she isn't the usual cat or dog. Anyways, Thom was here with Lizzie when some idiots robbed the store and took the animals too. I don't know how Lizzie got away and survived in the city, but I'm just glad she is okay. I don't know how she got in that elevator either." Paul remarked.

"I never told you she came out of the elevator" Brandyn said confused.

Brandyn, trying to look normal, said he had to go, grabbed Lizzie and the carrier and quickly left the store. He grabbed his cellphone out of his pocket, ready to call the police. But somehow, the audio recorder on his phone had turned on in his pocket, and it had recorded the whole conversation. He quickly strapped the carrier on his bike and rode to the police station. He rode his bike as fast as he could to the police station. Panting and completely out of breath, he hopped off his bike and locked it up. He opened the carrier and picked up Lizzie, and they walked in the front door of the police station.

Brandyn went to the front desk, introduced himself, and asked where he could go to talk to a detective. The receptionist gave him a strange look and then directed him to a Dt. Raynor energetically.
"I cannot believe you found it sir! Right this way Mr. Wyatt!" the receptionist said, excitedly.
        The receptionist opened a door and ushered him in. A man was sitting at a dull desk with a bright desk lamp shining on a some papers the man was scribbling away on.
"Why, you found her!" detective Raynor exclaimed as he got up and forgot about the papers he was working on."
       Detective Raynor introduced himself and shook Brandyn's hand. He showed Brandyn a file of Paul Wilsyn, the man he had met at the pet store. From what was in the file, there had been clues leading detective Raynor to believe that Mr. Wilsyn had been illegally shipping and selling endangered animals, but there was never any solid proof.
     "I have this recording you may want to listen to." Brandyn commented to the detective.
                    ***************************************************************
     The next day Mr. Wilsyn was arrested by detective Raynor with the help of Brandyn's evidence and Lizzie. Lizzie was sent to the city zoo to be cared for, and Brandyn went back to his apartment. Although he was slightly crestfallen that, after all the excitement, he had to return to his daily life, he was officially free of writer's block. And he had a great story to tell.

Breath Of Life

Florence had only a few seconds of an advantage. They were coming- all of them. One misstep and she was dead. All she could hear was her heart in her ears. Her legs were being scraped up more and more as she sprinted through the thorny shrubs. Her lungs felt as if they had been thrown into a fiery furnace; each breath was a flame shooting through her throat. Maybe there was an owl hooting nearby, or a cougar ready to pounce on her, but she could only focus forward. It was twilight, and the canopy of the trees stopped the light from entering the forest.
She just had to make it out of the forest. By her rough memory, she was about 400 meters away. Her arms were weakening, but she pumped them faster. She couldn't go on like this forever, she was losing energy.
Florence began to slow down, ready to give up and let those devils win. Then she saw Lisele. Florence thought that the devils had captured and killed her. But Lisele was right beside Florence, running with her.
"I can't do this, Lisele." Florence whispered, nearly out of breath.
"Yes, Florence. Breathe, breathe the breath of life. Do you see it, the heavenly light?" Lisele answered.
Florence took in a deep breath and her lungs were doused from the flame engulfing them. It was the breath I life. She looked ahead and saw the light; she as almost there. Immediately, from her heart to her legs, sped up. Within seconds, Florence had crossed the boundary and was safe. She saw Frederick.
"Where is Lisele?! She was right beside me! Where is my sister?" Florence inquired.
Frederick answered "No... She-"
Two men walked by, each holding a side of a stretcher with Lisele's body lying on it.
"She's been dead since this morning Florence. I'm so sorry."
Florence understood the heavenly light that Lisele had seen, it was not the lights of civilization.

Two Person Dialogue

It was a hot, scorching day in an open field in Georgia. The sun was in the middle of the sky as a soft breeze blew through the surrounding forest. Two brothers were talking to each other nervously as one paced back and forth. They were Tyrone and Michael, Tyrone being the elder brother.
"What will we do, talk to them?" questioned Tyrone sarcastically.
"Maybe we could put food out? Or... or maybe call the cops?" Michael brainstormed.
Tyrone stopped pacing and gave Michael an are-you-insane look.
"Have you been to town? Have you heard the news reports?" Tyrone said, frustrated and exhausted.
"Yes, but they are just sick." argued Michael.
"You're my brother, and I care about you, but you are wrong!" exclaimed Tyrone.
"Let's say you're right Tyrone, what proof do you have?" reasoned Michael.
"When I went to the bank, I saw one of your friends from school being hauled away in handcuffs, trying to attack anyone in sight. He even tried to attack his girlfriend! It's not just a disease, it's a brain change! You have to understand, or you just won't survive!" Tyrone argued.
Michael stepped back, appalled, and said to his brother, " I thought you were fine, but you're probably dehydrated, you're not thinking straight...."
"I'm fine. I just wish you wouldn't be ignorant." Tyrone replied.

My Vignette

It was the first time in my life that I was participating in cross country. We were on our way to Seaside, Oregon for the biggest meet of the season. Runners and their coaches flocked to Seaside for the biggest meet of the season. Runners and their coaches flocked to Seaside from Hawaii, California, and Washington. We were to spend the night in oldarmy barracks, and races would take place the following morning. I was anxious, and I continues building up anxiety.

The morning was rushed as everyone ate quick breakfast of juice, power bars, and fruit. We all put our coats on and walked the course. Everything that I was previously worried about faded as new worries arose in my mind. We soon arrived at the mud pit. I would later find that it was so deep, it was up to my waist.

Once we had finished walking the course, we had about 20 minutes until until the race started. As my team and I gathered at the starting line, I began to realize just how people were here. Quickly, we pinned our numbers on our shirts and paints our faces, arms, and legs with green and gold. Then a cluster with people with drums or batons began to play loudly. It changed my whole experience. Suddenly, I was attentive, excited, and ready to run. As the heart-like thumps from the drums palpitated through the ground, I could fell them echo in feet.

The sky was calmly overcast and the wind blew sharply over the hills. They called the runners to the start and arms and legs trembled in an electrified excitement. The drums continued to shake the ground as the race began. All of the runners shot forward like herd of wild animals. As the runners spread out, I took my place in the middle of the pack.

After sprinting down a large sandy hill and keeping a steady pac eon the slow inclines, I approached the mud pit. Most of the runners were merely wading slowly through the sludge. But I unhesitantly plowed through it as fast as possible, nearly falling at one point.

As I made it over the last hill, I could see finish in the distance. The song "Keep On Running" popped into my mind as I continued on, utterly exhausted. Yet, when I began to hear the drums again, they galvanized me to run even faster than I thought I could. As I entered the last 100 meter stretch, I heard my team members and coaches screaming my name and cheering.

There was one runner about 5 meters in front of me. I had already hit my limit, but somehow began sprinting even faster. My lungs felt like they being enveloped in an inferno of exhaustion and dehydration. Everything flew by me as I propelled myself forward with my feet, scorched with friction and sweat. I nearly fell over as I tried to stop and tell the people my name and my number.

I was given a cup of watered down blue gatorade as I walked away from the finish line. I drank the whole cup as I walked to where my team was congregated. They congratulated me and we cheered on the remaining runners.

As we rode the bus back to Sweet Home that afternoon, all I could think about was how good I did in the race. I realized that day that there are a lot of people in this world, and with their help and encouragement, you can accomplish great things. I also realized that there are people in the world who accept you and will make your life better, you just need to find them.

]]

Why Are The Lights?

Sparks and lights; blinking, flashing

Is that one moving? A shooting star perhaps...

A night sky flashes in my eyes

Day and night, day and night

An entire universe condensed under my eyelids

Daydreaming is a lie

For when my eyes close

I see the night

The night is my peace

For in my eyes,

The night makes the world a beautiful place

The clouds will come

But they cannot cloud what is already dark.

A Night In The Forest

We set up our tent

As the sky darkens quickly

The ground is squishy and soft

I walk towards the tent, past the warm fire

Thousands of different shades of green

As far as the eye can see

I take off my pine needle encrusted, mud covered boots

And enter the comfort of the tent

Before I fall asleep I zip up all the doors

I sink into my sleeping bag

And listen to the loud silence

The steady dribbling of the rain above my head

And the trees whispering to each other

The river sings a mysterious lullaby

As the stars declare the night

Sky Blue

The red sky unveils

As the rain begins to fall

It soon turns to hail

How will this befall?

The hail fall increases

All people are amiss

As the sky falls to pieces

What will become of this?

There’s flooding in the street

The weather’s awfully dismal

Lightning and ground meet

Will this be cataclysmal?

The sky turns blue

And the clouds go away

The Earth is anew

How long will this stay?

My Final Dream

My life is nothing on this cot; there is nothing here for me on this abysmal world

I drift away into a deep sleep.

I am in a forest; sounds echo throughout the cave behind me

Water drips slowly from the stalactites that line the ceiling

Then run forward, faster

I jump over fallen trees and advance through the foliage

Skidding to a stop, nearly cascading down the cliff directly in front of me

The cliff leads to a an opaline lake

My toes curl around the edge of the cliff

Mud seeps in between the cracks of my toes

I inhale the deep scent of the nearby flowers

Slowly I raise my arms above my head with poise

When I fly into the air and forward; my arms are outstretched as to fly

And glide towards the water

I launch into the deep lake with precision and I swim underneath the water awhile

It is so peaceful under the water

With the goatfish, dragonets,triggerfish, and epaulette sharks

After swimming without a need to breathe, I surface

And I swim to the sandy shore

I traipse through the greenery until a mammoth tree towers over me

Slowly and carefully I climb to the lower canopy

I sink into a large bed of leaves

Fireflies surround me as the forest comes to life

I sadly say goodbye to this dream world as to I must return to my own world

I wake up in my bed of leaves.

The Scourge Of The Salton Sea

It took their minds, their souls. I am sitting alone in the middle of nowhere surrounded by bloodthirsty, mindless savages. The whole town has gone mad, cannibalizing the ones who still have minds. They have lost their intelligence, I think. They haven't tried to break into my motel room yet. All I can do is sit here as I slowly go into shock and then become insane for a different reason than everyone else.

I was visiting my friend, who lives here, by the Salton Sea. It was supposed to be my short vacation. But now I know that I will succumb to this horror that sits outside my room. It must be the water; they all drink water, right? But I didn't. I never drink from the tap, and I bring my own water everywhere. At first I thought I was lucky I didn't get infected. But am I really more fortunate than them, or am I just waiting to be murdered?

Now I hear them, making seemingly random grunts and groans. The doorknob wiggles as they try to open the locked door. They soon grow tired of trying to open the door, and I hear them begin to shuffle away mindlessly. I think the coast is clear, until I shift my weight and my leg hits the TV remote. Off all buttons on that lousy controller, I hit the ON button. Coincidentally, the volume was as loud as humanely possible, so they started pounding on the door again. Thanks to modern technology, my life was over.

I had to do something, I wasn't just going to let myself die without a fight. But since running seemed easier, I grabbed a knife in the kitchen and used it to cut a rather large hole in the screen on the open window. I crawled awkwardly out of the makeshift escape route. Luckily, my car was parked ten feet away. I snatched the keys out of my pocket and singled out the one that unlocked my car. I pressed the unlock button and opened the door. I slammed it shut and put the keys in the ignition. There were a few cannibalistic savages headed my way, so I quickly pulled out of the parking lot and made my way to the main road.

Surprisingly easily, I had made it out of a deathtrap of a tourist town. I was in shock, and drove until I saw the sign for Palm Springs. I stopped at the first store I saw. But something was off; something was horribly wrong. There was a drooling, wild-eyed citizen making their way towards my car. The cannibal with blood dripping down their face tries to break my window to get in. I was wrong. I thought this was an isolated accident. But it had affected everything bordering the Salton Sea , and most likely more. If only California had fixed this environmental disaster, then I wouldn't be facing a certain doom. I quickly drove away, simultaneously hitting the insane, incurable cannibal with my car.

I didn't know where I was going, or what I was doing. But I knew one thing, I wasn't going to succumb to madness like everyone who surrounded me. I would find a way to survive.

To Mars And Back

This is a paper for my English class. Enjoy!

My name is Verionika, and I’m a genius. I live in Florida, and I work at NASA building spacecrafts. I am 22 years old and I have been working at NASA since I was 16. I live with my younger sister, Aspyn, who is a junior in high school. Our parents, Bryen and Aikaterine disappeared on an expedition in the North Pole two years ago, and have been assumed dead since.

I am currently working on a spacecraft able to house 57 people including myself and will be functional for at least 500 years in space. This project has been kept a secret and the only other person to know the full details of the project is my twin brother, Jakov. He is the smartest person I have ever met; especially when it comes to math.

My life may have been a normal one, but now I don’t know who to trust and who to talk to. It all started on September 26th, 2037. It was the usual day; wake up, go to work, come home. But when I arrived home to work and sat down to watch the news with my sister and eat dinner, it happened. A news story started about someone in Alaska who had gotten sick, and a few days later started mauling and trying to kill their coworkers. At the time I didn’t think anything of it as I twirled my fork in my spaghetti. I merely dismissed it as just another crazy person trying to get attention as I fell asleep thinking about it that night.

But as the days continued, so did the seemingly randomized attacks. After a week though, it was getting serious. There were daily reminders on the news to not let anyone in your house with mysterious bites on them and to report them to the police immediately. I took this seriously and made sure my sister wasn’t going out with any of her friends or being outside alone. She wasn’t exactly fond of these newfound restrictions, but followed them nonetheless.

The private spacecraft project I had been working on for the past five years was finished now, even though it wasn’t going to Mars for two more years. I was postponing the trip two years so my sister could finish high school and come also. But lately she had been spending a lot of time with her boyfriend, James. I didn’t know if she could bear to leave the planet, coincidentally never seeing him again.

Another week passed, and there were more and more sightings being reported of these crazy man-eating people roaming the streets. I had Aspyn coming to work with me now instead of going to school, which made her angry with me because she never saw her friends. But Jakov and I were incredibly worried about her. That night the gunshots started. Jakov, Aspyn, and I were all staying at Jakov’s apartment now, because it was across the street from NASA. We were checking that all the doors were locked and all the windows closed when we heard a gun go off in the distance. Then another shot, and another; then the screams. People must have been getting killed all around us and we didn’t go outside to help. We just held our breath and waited for it to stop, but it just became louder.

“Let’s go. Now. Pack some essentials, and get going,” Jakov insisted.

I quickly went into the room Aspyn and I were sharing and repacked my bag I had brought over to stay at Jakov’s house. I then ran into the kitchen and started packing all the bottled water and nonperishable food I could find in a duffel bag. Jakov went into the garage and started packing the stuff in a wheelbarrow to wheel across the road.

“Why can’t we just take the car?” Aspyn exclaimed.

“Because then we will be noticed, and that is the last thing we want,” I replied.

Once all the essentials were in the wheelbarrow, Jakov came into the kitchen where Aspyn and I were waiting with a baseball bat in his hand.

“What’s that for?” Aspyn asked Jakov.

“Self defense,” Jakov replied.

Aspyn and I opened the garage as quietly as possible as Jakov pushed the wheelbarrow out of the garage.

“We need to stay close and keep quiet,” Jakov whispered.

Jakov and I kept Aspyn in between us as we crossed the road. A few of the infected were walking around at the end of the street, but besides that, it looked safe to go across the street. We had just gotten the wheelbarrow up onto the sidewalk when Aspyn started screaming. I looked over and I saw her boyfriend, but he didn’t look normal. He was staggering towards us and holding his hands forward like he was trying to grab us. As he got closer, Aspyn was walking towards him.

“No Aspyn!” I screamed.

Then what was left of James grabbed ahold of Aspyn and sunk his teeth into her shoulder. She tried to push him away but he kept his grasp on her arm. Then Jakov ran up to the deranged James and smashed his face with the baseball bat he was carrying. James fell to the ground and Jakov hit him again.

“Let’s go, now!” Jakov exclaimed.

I grabbed Aspyn’s hand and pulled her towards the main building of NASA. The infected had heard noticed the commotion and were making their way towards us. Jakov was close behind us with the wheelbarrow. As we approached the door I got out my key. I quickly unlocked the door and got Aspyn inside. I held open the door for Jakov to push the wheelbarrow in. When we were all in the building, I locked the door. We hurried into my office deeper in the building and locked all the doors behind us.

As soon as I caught my breath, I went to see if any of the other scientists were in the building. I found fifteen NASA employees in the break room, some with their families. There were twelve scientists and three pilots. Also, there were nineteen family members, making 34 people all together. They had heard me come in and thought I was one of the infected. Among them, I found Ernie Thomas. He was my secretary and helped me make my blueprints. He was with his young daughter, Margarie, and his wife, Lyndi. I asked him to talk in private, so we went out of the break room and into the hallway.

“What is it, Verionika?” he asked.

“My sister was just bitten by one of the infected,” I replied.

“Lyndi is a doctor, she brought some medical supplies. Where is she?” Ernie asked.

“In my office. Go get Lyndi and meet me there. Don’t tell anyone,” I said.

Within minutes Lyndi, Ernie and I were back at my office. Aspyn had started crying and saying she was going to die. I tried to calm her down, but she just kept on sobbing. Lyndi disinfected the wound the best she could and had wrapped a sterile bandage around it to stop the bleeding. I set out a blanket I had packed and helped Aspyn onto it. I wrapped up my jacket into a ball to serve as a pillow and propped it under her head. Within twenty minutes she had calmed down and fallen asleep. Jakov, Ernie, Lyndi and I then walked out of my office quietly and closed the door.

“What are we going to do?” Jakov asked.

“We need to get out of here!” Ernie exclaimed.

“I know where we can go,” I replied.

“Where?” Lyndi inquired curiously.

“Mars,” I replied.

In the morning Ernie and I set to work preparing the spaceship along with the twelve scientists and the three pilots. Jakov helped me with the calculations for when we could take off to ensure the fastest trip to Mars. In two days, we were ready to go. But Aspyn was getting worse. Jakov and Ernie carried her into the spaceship and helped her into one of the cabins. She couldn’t really talk now and her breathing was shallow and quiet. She couldn’t recognize either Jakov or me and couldn’t walk. Lyndi gave her some morphine to dull the pain and we closed the door of the cabin. That was all we could do. Jakov and I were deeply saddened as we didn’t know whether or not she would turn into a murderous zombie the next day or be dead. But we couldn’t risk everyone’s lives even more than we already were. We all ate a dinner of string beans, canned peaches, a biscuit, and water. There wasn’t much conversation, and all that was heard was the shuffling of feet and the gulping of water.

The next morning we showed everyone to their respective cabins and helped load everyones bags into the spacecraft. The pilots were ready to go and the scientists checked and double checked that everything was ready. The hatch was closed and sealed and the ceiling was opened automatically by one of the scientists. The pilot announced over the intercom that we were about to take off and to make sure you were secured in your seat.

Then the spaceship rumbled to life. It got louder; then we were moving, faster then ever. I looked out my window and saw the Earth move away from us as we climbed higher towards the unknown and farther away from our home planet. Within an hour, we were out of the Earth’s atmosphere and headed towards Mars.

The next day, I heard a pounding noise. The ship was stable, so I walked into the main corridor to find the source of the noise. It seemed to be coming from one of the far cabins. I walked to the end of the corridor where Aspyn’s cabin was and realized that the pounding was coming from her cabin. I peered through the window on the door of her cabin. I jumped back and shrieked at what I saw.

Aspyn’s mouth was agape and her eyes clouded and vacant. She was pounding her hands against the door, trying to get out of the cabin. Jakov came running down the corridor, a panicked look on his face.

“What’s wrong?!” Jakov asked, panic-stricken.

“Look,” I replied as I pointed to the door with a shaking finger.

Jakov gasped in horror at what he saw. We called Lyndi and Ernie to the cabin via the intercom. We waited in silence for them to come. When they arrived, Lyndi was carrying her medical bag and Ernie was walking, Margarie in tow. Aspyn pounded on the door even louder now, and Margarie saw her and screamed. She took of down the corridor sobbing.

“Sorry Veronionika,” Ernie apologized hurriedly as he ran down the corridor after Margarie.

“I-I can try and give her a sedative,” Lyndi said with an obvious fear in her voice.

“No, I don’t want to risk anyone else getting infected.” I told Lyndi.

I punched in a code on the virtual keyboard on the touchscreen controls on the wall by the door of Aspyn’s cabin. I was then granted access to the cabin controls. I selected the window opacity and selected the highest amount of opaqueness. Then I made the announcement for everyone available to come to the group room immediately for a meeting.

In five minutes, everyone but one of the scientists and his family and two of the pilots was there. So I told them about how my sister had been infected and was being confined in the far cabin of the corridor. Also, I told them not to open the door no matter what happened. There was a short silence, then I heard Margarie sniffle in the back of the room where she, Ernie, and Lyndi were seated. No one spoke or even commented. I said everyone was dismissed and everyone shuffled out of the room.

The next morning, I woke up with a jolt of the ship. There was something going on outside. I looked out the window of my cabin and saw that we had encountered a large mass of asteroids. I immediately got up and ran out of my cabin and to the control room. I knew that we were going to encounter an asteroid belt at some point during the journey. But I was sure it was not going to happen until next week.

The main pilot was on the ground unconscious, and the co-pilot was struggling to keep the spacecraft from smashing into the asteroids. I quickly Lyndi and the third pilot over the intercom to come to the control room immediately to help deal with this trial of a morning.When Lyndi came, I directed her to the pilot on the ground whom she immediately started helping. The third pilot was not there yet, so I took over. I knew how to fly the ship-because I designed it- and I immediately knew what to do. I turned the extra engines off to make us slow down. Then, I began maneuvering around the asteroids. The third pilot arrived soon after, but I continued steering the ship.

After about two hours, we were past the worst of the asteroid belt. I let the third pilot take over. I then went to check on the main pilot in the medical clinic. As I walked into the medical clinic, I sighed in relief as Lyndi gave me a thumbs up and a smile. The pilot was sitting in a chair drinking some orange fluid.

“What is that?” I asked Lyndi as I gestured toward the orange drink.

“Oh, just a nutrient and electrolyte replenishing supplement,” Lyndi replied simply.

“So it was just a nutrient deficiency?” I asked Lyndi.

“That and he hasn’t taken had enough iron in his system the past few weeks. So he became very weak and lost consciousness,” stated Lyndi.

I thanked Lyndi for helping with this setback, and left the medical clinic. I went to get some food, and ended up running into Jakov. He looked as if he had gotten no sleep the previous night, yet his eyes were irregularly wide.

“Are you okay?!” Jakov demanded.

“Yes! It was just an iron deficiency in one of the pilots. It’s all under control. Why are you so worried?” I asked, chuckling to myself.

Jakov replied,“I just don’t want another sister that-”

He couldn’t say anymore. I stopped him before he tried by hugging him. He calmed down after that. We picked up our breakfast and ate together in the group room at the end of a long row of tables and chairs. We talked about when we were kids, and for the first time in what seemed like eternity, we laughed together like two happy kinsfolk.

A few weeks later, we were nearly to Mars. Aspyn was still infected and pounded on the door so much that everyone had become used to the noise and thought of it as something to expect like breathing. Also, some of the crew members were having strange symptoms. Lyndi and I spent a whole day researching the symptoms and came up with the conclusion that the source of the sickness was the galactic cosmic rays- a seemingly unavoidable effect of being in space. It could potentially change your DNA, at that could be bad. Then I remembered something; some of the researchers had developed a vaccine for this and stored it on the ship in the medical clinic. So Lyndi and I headed to the medical clinic to find the vaccines.

We found them in a compartment next to the hazmat suits. We grabbed a pack of 40 sterilized syringes and enough of the vaccine for everyone on the ship. I made an announcement on the intercom for everyone to come to the medical clinic for a vaccination. Ernie and Margarie were the first to arrive. Ernie got his vaccination first, trying to reassure Margarie that it wasn’t that bad. But trying to convince a little girl that needles weren’t horrible and it would only hurt a second was a near impossible task. Even though Margarie was crying, she begrudgingly sat in the chair where Ernie just was. Ernie held her hand as Lyndi gave her the vaccine in her arm.

“You’re all done, Sweetie,” Lyndi said as she disposed of the used needle and put a band-aid on Margarie’s arm.

Eventually everyone on the ship was vaccinated, and within a few days, the symptoms had gone away. But also the pounding had gone away.I wondered if Aspyn’s body couldn’t take the infection any longer and had simply given up. Lyndi, Ernie, Jakov and I went to go check on her to see what was going on. She looked horrible, but not in the dead-as-a-doornail way she had. Her eyes were more clear, and she was breathing normally also. She seemed to be sleeping on the floor. The color had returned to her face and she no longer seemed intent on attacking anyone who ventured near the door.

“We need to go in there and see if she is okay!” Jakov exclaimed.

“I wonder if she’s still infected,” Lyndi asked rhetorically.

Lyndi, Jakov, and I rushed to the medical clinic and all put on hazmat suits. Lyndi grabbed some sedatives and an intravenous kit with nutrition supplements. We all went together back to Aspyn’s cabin. Jakov punched in the code and the door opened. Then he closed it behind us.

She awoke when we came in. She looked like she was trying to say something, but was too weak to. Lyndi put the IV in her arm that start getting her hydrated and give her some nutrients. After some tests, Lyndi concluded that she was 100% clear of the infection. I opened the door and Jakov picked up Aspyn. We brought her to the medical clinic and he set her on one of the beds.

“We need to get her a blood transfusion quickly!Get Type A Positive!” Lyndi exclaimed.

I rushed over to the cooler and grabbed a Type A Positive blood transfusion bag from the medical fridge and brought it over to Lyndi. She hung it up and connected the IV to it.

After four hours, Lyndi took the blood transfusion IV out of Aspyn’s arm and started her on another IV with electrolytes and nutrients. After an hour of this, Aspyn regained consciousness and was looking around. I had attempted to brush her ratty hair and was now putting it into a fishtail braid.

“Verionicka,” Aspyn whispered with her crackly voice.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Where am I? Did we make it to NASA?” Aspyn inquired.

“Yes. But we are on our way to Mars right now. In fact, we will be there tomorrow,” I said.

Aspyn pondered this newfound information in silence for a while. It was late now, so I told Aspyn she should get some sleep. Jakov and I said goodnight and went back to our cabins. Lyndi was going to monitor Aspyn until 2:30, then I would take over until 5:30. Then Jakov would monitor her until 9:30. After that we would all be awake and ready to go.

The next day we were all tired from staying up, yet excited that we were getting to Mars today. I brought Aspyn breakfast in bed. It consisted of water, pudding, and three saltine crackers. She ate slowly, like she had to wait for each bite of food to digest until she took another. She was able to sit up, and even walk a little bit.

At around 2:00 P.M., the pilots announced that we were about to enter Mars’ atmosphere and to secure yourself in a seat. Lyndi and I assisted Aspyn in walking over to a seat and strapping her in so she wouldn’t fall. Then we both secured ourselves in the seats beside her. You could feel the ship pushing past the atmosphere, closer to the surface of Mars. The ship was filled with the noise of the engine propelling the ship forward and shook the whole ship. Within ten minutes, we were landing on the surface. We hit the ground with a thump and the engines powered off. We had landed by the Holden Mars Colony located in the Holden Crater. The pilots told everyone to put on their filter masks, so we did.

Everyone was crowded around the door, anxious to get out. Jakov typed the code in on the touchscreen panel on the wall and airlock behind us closed and the door in front of us opened. As I looked at the sky and the landscape I was dumbfounded. It was so differently beautiful. As we stepped out of the spacecraft, we quickly realized the walking experience was different than on Earth.

“We made it,” Jakov said simply.

We were in the Holden Crater, where water had been present 3 billion years ago. There were currently fifteen astronauts living at the Holden Mars Colony. As we approached the main building, we saw thirteen of them standing by the entrance, staring at us.

“Why are you here?” demanded one of the astronauts in the front of the group.

“It’s a long story,” we all said in unison.

They bemusedly let us in the building. All of the walls were white and the floors were stained an orange-brown color. One of the astronauts introduced himself as Maxwell Stevens. He kindly showed us to the cafeteria and let us help ourselves to some food and water. Everyone but Jakov, Lyndi, Ernie, Margarie and I immediately started to eat.

“Why aren’t you eating?” one of the scientists asked me.

“I don’t have much of an appetite today,” I replied nonchalantly.

After about 30 minutes, everyone was satisfied and had finished eating. But then some of the scientists started to clutch their sides in writhing pain and falling to the ground. They seemed to have been poisoned.

“I’m sorry,” Maxwell said as he closed and locked the only door leading out of the cafeteria.

I looked out the window facing our spaceship and looked in dread as five of the astronauts boarded it. I just hoped they didn’t strand us here. Maybe they needed medical supplies. Did they even know about the infection on Earth? I pondered these thoughts as I hurriedly searched the room for a way out. Then I saw it; the way out of this trial of a trap. The air ducts were conveniently opened slightly on the ceiling. I pulled a chair over from a dining table to directly under the vent. I told Lyndi I would be back as soon as I could.I then pushed the cover out of the way and pulled myself up into the vent. I almost toppled back out of the vent when I saw Maxwell right in front of me.

“I knew you would find me. I have a lot to explain. But first, we have to go get the antidote for the food my colleagues poisoned. Follow me,” Maxwell said quickly before I could ask anything.

“But, how do I know I can trust you?” I inquired skeptically.

“I know your parents; Bryen and Aikaterine ,” Maxwell replied plainly.

“How did you know them?” I demanded.

“I still do,” he replied.

My mind was spinning and I stopped moving. As far as I knew, my parents were long dead. What did he mean? Were they here? He noticed I had stopped and told me that it would all make sense soon.

We exited the vent after a few minutes of crawling into what seemed like a little hospital. Maxwell walked over to the counter and grabbed the antidote. He then insisted I follow him. We exited out of the small hospital room through a secret door embedded in the wall, and happened upon living quarters. There was a picture of Jakov and I when we had our fifth birthday party together on the nightstand. Another picture beside it was of Aspyn at her piano recital when she was seven.I was extremely confused, but then it all clicked as my parents walked into the room.

I stood there, dumbfounded for what seemed like forever. The two most important people in my life who, as far as I previously knew, where dead now stood in front of me, smiling. Was this a trick? Was it fake? I immediately ruled out those questions in my mind as my mother and father walked up to me and embraced me. I started to cry, not realizing how severely I had missed them.

“Is Jakov and Aspyn here?” my father asked.

“Yeah. They’re trying to help my friends that were poisoned,” I replied.

“We need to go help them!” my mother exclaimed.

All four of us headed out of the secret room and out of the miniature hospital, into the hallway. We ran down the hallway and opened the locked door to find scientists lying on the ground, trying to be helped by Lyndi and Ernie. But they couldn’t do much without the antidote. I immediately started giving all of the scientists equal doses of the antidote. Within five minutes of taking the antidote, the scientists started to show improvements.

Jakov and Aspyn eventually reunited with our parents, but there was much to be done. Maxwell tried to explain as quickly as he could.

He began, “There is -I’ll call it- a portal here. It can transport you from Earth to Mars within seconds. We are the only living people to know about it. Your parents had to use it to get away from Earth because they found a strange infection in a certain mushroom species at the North Pole. The foolish captain of their ship brought a bag full of the mushrooms back to his home in Alaska. He must’ve just gotten around to eating them recently, because he started the infection. Your parents and I have been working on a cure ever since, and have finally found it. It uses some of the clay found in this crater. For some reason, it kills the infection every time we tested with it. We were waiting for you to come here so you could help us put an end to this infection. We can go through this portal right now, but it is outside, and those brutes out there are guarding it. We will need a distraction. So, will you help us?”

“Definitely,” I said, smiling.

Within ten minutes, we had informed all of the scientists and had a plan in motion. Everyone was ready to go. The portal would bring us back to Florida, right inside NASA. The plan was perfect and everyone knew what to do.

I put the plan in motion by throwing a rock by the astronauts guarding the arch. They were not armed, but nonetheless looked quite threatening. They all spread out, trying to find the origin of the phantom rock, assuming we were all dead from their poisoned food. Then Maxwell set off the alarm in the main building. Six of the seven astronauts looking for the source of the rock ran inside the building to check out the source of the alarm. Then Maxwell ran past the astronaut to get his attention. Of course, the astronaut pursued Maxwell, but couldn’t quite catch him.

“Now!” Maxwell shouted.

That was our signal. As a group -consisting of my family and all the scientists and pilots and such- we ran through the portal. Once the portal was opened, everyone (including Maxwell) had 30 seconds to get through the portal. Then it would be closed permanently. Everyone got through the portal easily with 16 seconds left to go. As you went through the portal, for a split-second, you could see the whole universe flash before your eyes. I felt dizzy after I made it through. We could still see Mars through the closing portal. Maxwell was still being chased, but was waiting until the last possible second to get through as to not allow the astronaut pursuing him through also. He had 10 seconds now. I held my breath as I waited for him, at any moment, to run through safely to Earth. Five seconds left; my stomach ached now. Three seconds and he was nearing the portal. Two, one, he jumped through the portal as it closed the exact moment after he made it through. The trial was over and everyone was safe. We were back at NASA.

Over the next year, we started to purge Earth of the infection. Once we cured people, they would help us cure others. It was like a chain reaction of restored health. Within five years, everyone was cured of the infection, and the mushrooms made extinct as quickly as possible. Once Aspyn’s former boyfriend was cured, she officially broke up with him (and possibly punched him once or twice).

I will never forget this epic journey for as long as I live. It changed the way I look at my life, and my family. I managed to get through asteroids, help my poisoned friends get the antidotes, and escape the clutches of deranged astronauts; and I’m safely back home. This odyssey of mine has changed the whole world.