#5

Photo courtesy of New York Times

A Cold Autumn Night

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

photo courtesy of New York Times

The Painful Truth                                                                   

“BANG!”    “BANG!”    “BANG!”

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

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

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

His reflection smiled. Lucas’ eyes widened.

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

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

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

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

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

“Bye Mother.” Lucas lifted the knife.

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

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

______________________________________________________________

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

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

#6

My Imaginary Friend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My panic meter broke.

She lifted the knife above my heart.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

And I heard the knife clatter on the floor.

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

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

End~

Photo courtesy of New York Times

Sneakers

           Timothy walked down the pathway of his neighborhood, which was on Kangaroo street. Colourful leaves littered the pathway and danced along with the wind. Timothy wore a black cardigan and a red scarf and blue pants. Typical autumn evening.

          “Garage sale! $20 for one sneaker!” Timothy’s friend, Nate, yelled out from across the street. He was holding a garage sell, again. He always held that every month, that sneaker-head. Timothy shook his head and headed towards his house. Nate spotted Timothy immediately and motioned him to come forward. He has eagle eyesight, I swear. Timothy grinned at that thought and pushed his way to Nate through the crowd. Nate then yelled, “Alright! Garage sale is closed! I repeat, garage sale is closed! Make your purchases now!”

          Soon, everyone had parted like waters and the streets were almost quiet. Rustling of leaves and the sound of the wind whistling were the only sounds to be heard. Only a few cars would pass by, breaking the almost peaceful silence. 

          “Quiet. Isn’t it?” Nate commented. “Yeah... It’s peaceful.” They sat at a nearby bench and watched colourful leaves fall ever so slowly, carried by the wind. It was so quiet, and that was how it was in autumn. Timothy closed his eyes and immersed himself in the almost-silence. I wish it would be this silent. Timothy thought, grinning slightly to himself.

Till Nate ruined it.

          “Alright. Quit the drama, you idiot. I wanna show you something cool.” He got up and started walking to his house. Timothy sighed, annoyed, but eventually followed, unwillingly.

          They entered the sneaker-head’s bedroom, which was full of the different kinds of sneakers you could ever imagine. Nate had shelves and shelves of sneakers, enough to open a small store of his own. He even had a small storeroom to keep extra sneakers he can’t wear anymore, which he then put up for the garage sell to sell them. “Wait here, I’m gonna get something.” He then disappeared into the storeroom. Timothy sat on the bed, and looked around the room. Nothing had changed, but he swear that he did not see the ‘10+ sneaker’, which was one of the many sneakers Nate adored the most. You grow out of em’ real fast. Timothy looked out of the window, apathetic.

          “Here they are! Thought that you might fit in these.” Nate rushed to Timothy, in his hand holding a pair of shiny sneakers. Blue edged the sole of the shoe and on every side of the shoe was a strange symbol. It had a two snakes coiled up, eyes closed like they were sleeping. It was in good condition and a really nice one. Timothy’s style. He tried them on, it fitted! “Nice shoes dude! Where did you get em’?” “Oh, some lady sold them to me, surprisingly cheep.” Timothy looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Nate held up his hand and gestured to the shoe. “What? It’s good. And glow-in-the-dark!” ”Whatever. Thanks dude, how much?” “Nah. It’s for free!” Timothy jumped up from the bed. “Thanks a lot dude.” They shook hands and Timothy headed home.

          What Timothy didn’t know, was that these shoes were magical. An he’ll be take for a ride.

#13

A Normal Family

“Wake up, honey! Or you will be late!”

Oscar’s sits up, and slides off his bed. Marching over to Oscar’s wardrobe, he opens the drawers and takes out a blue shirt, and dark blue jeans. Oscar puts the clothes on his bed and takes off his pyjamas. Then, Oscar looks at his clothes, takes them and puts them on his cold body.

After doing so, Oscar exits his bedroom and walks down the stairs. Oscar goes straight to the blue dining chair and sits down on it. His mother, Melissa, comes out of the kitchen as soon as Oscar sits on his chair, and places a bowl of cereal directly in front of Oscar. Oscar looks at the blue spoon and picks it up, scoops up some cereal and eats it.

After Oscar takes his first bite, his father, Nate, comes down the stairs and says, “Melissa, I am going to work!” When Nate reaches the end of the stairs, Nate suddenly stops walking and his head tilts downwards, the light in his eyes dims. Oscar keeps scooping cereal and eating it.

Melissa comes out of the kitchen exactly a minute later, and walks towards Nate. Melissa grabs Nate and turns Nate around. Melissa places a hand on Nate’s back, some lights flashes and the light in Nate’s eyes lights back up. Nate’s head tilts back up, Mellisa walks back to the kitchen, and Nate walks out the front door.

Oscar takes the last bite of his cereal, puts his spoon down in the bowl, pushes his bowl a centimetre away and stands up. Oscar walks towards his blue backpack and picks it up and puts on his shoulders.

When Oscar reaches the front door, Melissa appears at the entrance of the kitchen.

“Honey, when grandma asks how is your day, tell her everything, but do not tell her about Dad losing power.”

Oscar’s eyes turn red, then turns back to its usual black colour.

“Okay Mom. I will not tell grandma about Dad losing power.”

Oscar opens the front door, steps outside, and closes the front door.

End~

#1

Family of four

“Ugh, your taste in hotels is garbage.” Ugh, this woman. “ DADDY, I’M HUNGRY!” “MOMMY WHERE ARE WE!?”

You could just feel the love radiating out of Edward’s family. Edward’s family consisted of Edward, his wife Peppy, 8 year old Peter and 6 year old Cassandra. Peppy had the idea of going on a family overseas trip. Harmless, right?

The family was chaos. Peter and Cassandra were restless throughout the plane ride and the journey to the hotel. It wasn’t a good time for the family. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Peppy complained about the design of the hotel, criticising Edward’s taste in hotels, even though it was Peppy who chose the hotel. While Edward was trying his best not to loose his patience, the family of four went up to the front desk.

“Edward Orsion and Peppy Orsion?” The tired-looking front desk person, whose name tag said Bob, asked in the most mundane voice. Edward nodded. Bob searched around in his desk drawer, and froze suddenly. Peppy tapped her foot impatiently. Knowing Edward will never hear the end of Peppy’s complaining, he leaned forward and politely questioned, “Sir? Is there something wrong?” At the sound of his voice, Bob snapped back from his stupor. He sheepishly grinned and said, with finally some emotion in his voice, “Sorry sir, my mind just drifted off a little.” Peppy scoffed. Bob handed Edward the keys and said, “Room 4, on the second floor.” Edward grabbed his suitcases and dragged his kids and wife towards the old lift.

Room 4 was beautiful. In Edward’s eyes anyway. The only thing that captured Peppy’s eyes was a painting of a beautiful family of four. A male and a female holding hands, with two beautiful children by their side, a boy and a girl. “That family is so perfect. Why can’t we be like them. Why can’t you be like the....” Edward tuned out of his wife’s rant. He walked around the room. A living room, a small kitchen and two small bedrooms, with even smaller toilets in each bedroom. It was pretty decent to Edward. Cassandra and Peter were on the tattered sofa switching between channels on the television to find something entertaining to watch. Edward sighed. He just hoped that the next day would be better.

Edward woke up, surprisingly later than the rest of the family. He washed up and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Peppy was drinking some coffee, while the kids drank milk with two packets of chocolate beans beside their mugs. Wait, I don’t remember bringing any chocolate beans. He questioned Peppy about it and she said, “That front desk guy gave us some chocolate beans, and I figured the kids would like it.” Edward thought nothing of it and continued the day.

The city tour later that day was a disaster. Cassandra and Peter were really nauseous and sick. They kept vomiting and complained about headaches. Eventually the disastrous day finally came to an end. Edward tucked the children in bed, but they took a very long time to fall asleep, causing Edward to stay up coaxing them to sleep. He was exhausted. On the way to his bedroom he passed by the living room. The picture of the family of four caught his eye, it looked different. Terrifyingly different. The four members began to show some signs of...decomposition. It was frighteningly real. Too real. Edward shook his head in disbelief and horror. Refusing to believe what he just saw and concluded that it’s the cause of his lack of sleep, he rushed to his bedroom to sleep.

“EDWARD!!! THE KIDS WON’T WAKE UP!” Edward snapped awake at Peppy’s cries. He jumped out of bed and stumbled towards the kids’ bedroom. Sure enough, the kids lay in bed, motionless. Peppy knelt beside the bed trying to shake them awake. Their eyes won’t budge. Edward stayed calm and walked towards Peppy. He shook the kids, coaxing them to wake up, like how he would have done if they try to feign sleep. They wouldn’t wake up. Edward was unsettled by this. Then suddenly, he was reminded of the picture he saw the night before. He gulped. No, it can’t be. He epresvhed out two fingers and placed them on both children’s necks.

No heartbeat.

Edward slumped onto the bed, silently crying.

“Their dead Peppy. Their dead...” “Now’s not the time to make jokes idiot!” All the same Edward could feel Peppy lean forward. Then he heard her wailing. Everything clicked though. It had to be that darn chocolate beans. It was the first thing Cassandra and Peter ate before they started showing symptoms.

And it was all caused by Bob.

Edward gritted his teeth. He stood up and grabbed blankets, laying them on the children. He then grabbed Peppy’s hand, helped her stand and both of them rushed to the front desk to confront Bob.

Down at the front desk, Bob stood there as he suddenly heard a woman’s wail. He smiled. That was fast. He smiled. He took out a photo from his desk drawer. It was a family of four. Bob, hand in hand with his wife, with his children by his side, a boy and a girl. He had a flashback to the dreadful car accident. His smile faded.

Suddenly he heard the lift coming. Bob smiled again. He gathered two knives and got ready.

End~

Photo courtesy of New York Times

Another Chance

          My mom passed away right after I was born. My father was devastated, but he didn’t tell me anything about her death. I was too young and innocent. But of course, I found out sooner or later. I wasn’t that sad though, to be honest, I did not see my mom at all except in photos. Didn’t mean I was all that jolly either.

          I respected my dad. He wasn’t abusive or anything. He was nice, though he was a bit distant. It broke my heart to see him so depressed and sad, when he looked at pictures of mom. But I couldn’t help him. I tried, and it went horribly wrong. I told him it was alright and that mom was in a better place. He practically screamed in my face and threw a vase at me. It might’d flew an inch from my face. I felt the wind of it go by. Let say I didn’t say anything after that.

          It might be somewhat fine in the household, but high school, was hell.      

          I was 15, starting a second new year of the same school, with same people. I walked through the packed hallways with my head down and hood up. The kids there know me by a lot of names. ‘Emo Freak’, ‘Loser’, ‘Quiet Freak’, ‘Idiot’. You name it. I was the quiet kid of the school who barely had any friends. You think I should had speak up or something, right? I did, in fact. But it also went horribly wrong.  I tried speaking to some people, and tried to make friends but it just got me more enemies. I didn’t know why they hate me so much. But I could guess the suspect to be my eyes. Their purple, and they think is the sign of death. Which is stupid. I tried telling teachers, but they won’t do anything.

          Then on the 20th of October. Something life changing happened.

          Dad’s mental health must had gotten worse without me knowing. I come home to find dad...                                                                                                                                 ....in a pool of blood.

          News spread like bush-fire. Soon nearly the whole school knew that the ‘Emo Freak’s’ father had committed suicide. And what was disgusting is that they find it funny! The bullying got worse day by day. I got more depressed each day by each day. The demon and taken over my head and there was no more angels singing in my head. I grew colder and colder. Till the point where I started to think that grabbing a knife and killing everyone was better off. 

          I got up from bed and walked to the kitchen. Then something had happened, but it was a blur before I fell into darkness.

          I woke up in a bed. It wasn’t mine though. All around me was blue. Peaceful blue. I stood up and caught a door in my sight. It was blue except for the doorknob, which was sparkling gold. I timidly tip-toed towards to the door and opened it. I was immediately blinded by bright light.

          I shot up from my bed. The covers flew of my body. I was sweating profusely. It was all just a dream. I ran a hand through my hair and heard a familiar voice calling for breakfast. “MUM! DAD! Oh my god I’m so glad you’re alive!” Both gave confused and amused laugh and glances. “I had this dream and... Nevermind, It’s not important.” I smiled and ate my pancakes with my loving family. Then a voice sounded in my head, 

“You’re not hopeless Mandy. Don’t listen to others. Purple can represent anything. For you it would be hope. I’ll give you another chance to live. To change.”

Deception

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elijah felt around for the light switch and flicked it.

“Oh my god-”

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

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

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

“Coraline…”

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

Cameron came back and leaned against the wall.

“Body’s taken care of. Now what?”

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

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

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

“What do you mean?”

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

“W-what do you mean-”

“The virus is on this ship.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh, sorry.”

“I’m just kidding.”

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

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

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

“I promise.”

“What’s taking him so long!”

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

“I’m going to go check on him.”

Elyza stood up, “I’ll go with you.”

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

“Wow, rude.” Elijah said.

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

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

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

“I hope nothing happens between Cameron and Bianca.”

“You’re doing it all wrong!”

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

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

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

“Oh, I’ll fix it then. Move aside.”

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

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

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

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

“The virus changes people.”

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

“Are you really Bianca?”

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

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

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

“Cameron?”

He didn't respond.

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

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

She fell to her knees.

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

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

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

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

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

Praxis stopped. They sniffed the air.

“Y’all, do you smell that?”

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

But nothing could prepare them for what they saw.

“Oh god…”

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

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

“No, wait. Please, hear me out.”

“Listen to a virus? Hilarious.” Elijah sneered

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Mum? Dad?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Praxis… come…”

“Praxis…”

“Praxis!”

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

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

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

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

“Did something happen?” Praxis asked.

“Gregory’s missing.” Rosaline said.

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

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

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

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

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

Gregory wasn’t there.

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

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

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

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

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

“Rosaline!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“The footage is deleted.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elijah gave Elyza the death stare, his suspicions deepening.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

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

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

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

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

“That was an accide–”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh god! Are you okay Elijah!”

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

“Rosaline?”

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

“Are y’all okay?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#14

The Cliff

“Goodbye.”

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“Finally done!”

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

“Maybe, they’d notice my artwork!”

“They’ll never.”

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

“Over here!”

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

“No stupid, I’m here.”

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

What the hell?! “Who are you?!”

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

“I’m you, of course.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Don’t do anything to it!”

Rip!

The shreds of paper floated down into the abyss.

I couldn’t hold in the tears anymore.

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

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

So… so tired…

“Please…”

She smiled.

“Goodbye.”

She released me, and I fell into the abyss.

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“Hey, this looks amazing.”

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

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

I looked at my drawing, and smiled.

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

End~

Photo courtesy of New York Times

“Happy Birthday Sabrina.”

          “Remember! No peeking!” Amber said playfully, “You don’t want to ruin the surprise, do you?” Sabrina shook her head vigorously, sending her pigtails into her friend’s face behind her. The trio giggled and they continued leading Sabrina, who was blindfolded, to the ‘surprise’.

          It was Sabrina’s birthday, and she was blindfolded the moment she woke up. She knew her friends were around and she could not wait to see what surprise they were going to give her. Her friends were the most sweetest people Sabrina had ever met, and they always gave her birthday gifts and a shoulder to cry on during Sabrina’s bad days. Ooh what’s the surprise, what’s the surprise! Sabrina was bursting with excitement.

          She heard the opening of a door, and one of her friends gently pushed her in. The she heard Amber’s honey sweet voice as if she ate honey every morning, “Alright. Sabrina, please turn around.” Sabrina did as she was told, biting her lip to hold back the screams of excitement that were building inside of her throat. “Okay! Now, take off your blindfold!” 

          As soon as Sabrina ripped off her blindfold, she felt a shove, fell backwards and as soon as she hit something, tiny, colourful things flew into the air at her sides. No way. Could it be......

          “SPRINKLES! Thank you! You know me so much!” Sabrina wiggle her arms and legs in the swimming pool of sprinkles, her favourite topping! Her friends laughed in front of her at her funny antics. “Hey, come join me!” Sabrina looked up just as she heard the click of the door......followed by silence......

          “Umm...... Amber? Helen? Penny? Come on! Stop playing with me! Come out!” Sabrina called out to her friends, first playfully, then she became a bit uneasy. Where have they gone? Maybe they went to get my birthday present? Sabrina got up to find them.

          Suddenly, something locked around her ankle and lifted her leg up, making her fall again into the sprinkles. Sabrina proceeded to stand up but something locked around her other ankle, tighter than ever. Sabrina looked down to see a bunch of sprinkles forming around her ankles, connecting to the pool of sprinkles.....

          Before Sabrina could even process this madness, sprinkles locked themselves around her wrists, forcing her into the pool. The Sabrina widened her eyes in horror and realization. “HELP! HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP!” Sabrina screamed her throat raw as she try to fight against the iron grip of the sprinkles. Sprinkles started to gather around her stomach, forcing her down even more, it was as if they were trying to drown her. Tears of horror ran down her cheeks as her life flashed through her eyes. She had no strength left and gave up. Sprinkles covered her vision and she was gasping for breath. Her lungs burned for oxygen as she was slipping into unconsciousness. The last bit of light was gone and all she saw was pitch darkness. As her vision went blurry, she heard a girl’s faint whisper,

“Happy Birthday Sabrina.”

          Sabrina’s eyes widened and cold sweat trickled down her forehead. She slowed her breathing when she realized where she was. “Oh. It’s just a stupid dream.” She glanced at the calendar hanging on the opposite wall and smiled gleefully. “Oh yeah! It’s my birthday!” She jumped out of bed and began dancing happily. Then, out of her window, she caught something. She peered out of the window and saw......

There, in the backyard, was a pool filled of colourful sprinkles.

“Happy Birthday Sabrina.” And then everything went black.

________________________________________________________________

One sentence summary: Sabrina got pushed into a swimming pool of sprinkles, her favourite topping, but something pulled her deeper, and it seems like sprinkles wasn’t so pleasant anymore.

One paragraph summary: Sabrina got pushed into a swimming pool of sprinkles! It was her most favourite topping for anything, and now she was swimming in a swimming pool full of it! On her birthday! She was about to thank her friends when something tugs from below, suddenly, it seems like sprinkles wasn’t so pleasant anymore.