by Scot McAtee
Brook Cunningham
Stuck
I could see myself walking up the side walk in a blurred vision. Even though it was hard to see, no one could miss the smile forming on my lips. I was looking up at all the tall buildings that filled me with so much joy. As I turn around the wind blows through my blond hair as the Hollywood sign lights up and that’s when I wake up to Eleanor Park’s face. She is my aggressive mean sister who I no longer adore like I once did when we were children.
“Chloe how many times do I have to tell you!” she yells. I can feel the frown already forming on my face. She continued but I blocked her out. Remembering back to when I looked up to my big sister seems unbelievable. I don’t really know what happened to her but ever since after middle school, she made it seem like her hobby was to make me miserable. To me it seems like putting me down or bossing me around is what makes her smile.
All I wanted to do was come home to take care of my sick mother. She fell ill and needed help so of course I left Hollywood to be there for her. I needed to do this because I regret not doing it when my father got sick, who I thought would be fine. I never got to say goodbye to him. After so long of her fighting, cancer had won a year later. I stayed home after she died because I wanted to but now I feel like I need to be here for a reason.
After getting ready for work, I stand in front of the mirror and look into my now dull blue eyes. I look different then I did when I was living in Hollywood. I look lifeless and bored with my life. Every put down my sister has told me comes to mind and I now realize if I don’t get out now, I will hate myself. I walk down stairs and sit down at the kitchen table thinking of today. I work at a shop that sells old books, which is something I look forward to in my life. My boyfriend Jackson Vincent, the owner of the shop hired me because there was not much I wanted to do in this New England’s town. I met him when I first moved here for my mother. It’s been two years since we were dating and now I had to tell Eleanor why I would be moving out.
Remembering back to last night made me smile. Looking at Jackson get on one knee made my heart beat speed up. His dark brown hair hung in his eyes as he opens the box in his hand. His bright green eyes stare at me in a loving way as he begin to talk “Chloe Hampton, I kneel down here in front of you, holding this ring because I love you and I was wondering if you would take my hand in marriage. Just so you know you would never regret this because I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy.” he said this with a nervous cute smile I never seen before and it was then I knew he was my reason for staying here.
Telling Eleanor seemed like the hard part. I never knew how she was going to react to things but I had to tell her. As I was sitting there wondering how to tell her that I was getting married, I felt hands on my shoulders. “Chloe, honey you really need to start using that face cream I give you. You just look terrible.” She said easily just like every other insult. “Me and Jackson are getting married and I’m moving out this weekend.” I blurt out. I didn’t mean to but sometimes she just makes me so mad.
To my surprise, she just stands there. When she turns around, she is smiling. “Wow, Chloe that is just great.” She says. “Really?” I asked sounding confused. For the first time in so long she sounded like a normal human. “Yes really, I’m so happy for you and now if you excuse me I have to go run to the store to get a few things.” She says as she pats my arm and walks out of the room. That was easier than I thought it would be. She must have wanted me to move out this whole time. I thought maybe she would try talking me out of it. Either way with that problem solved, I start heading to work.
As I’m pulling up to Read Some Book’s driveway, I realize Jackson is not even here yet. This struck me as weird; he would never be this late opening up his store. I get out my car and go around back thinking maybe a shipment of the new books came and he parked back there but as I turn the corner, no one is there. This is when I start to worry because Jackson never misses a day, even if he was sick. He loved his store. That’s when I take out my phone and dialed his number.
“This is Jackson Vincent and I’m sorry I couldn’t get to the phone right now.” his phone goes straight to voice mail, which never happens to me. Already assuming the worst, I call the police. It didn’t take long at the police station because they said over and over again since he is old enough to be on his own and there is no real sign of threat they can’t do anything until after 24 hours. Knowing this feeling of him being hurt will not go away, I take matters into my own heads. I call Titus Young.
He was my best friend and I knew he would do anything for me. He was a retired detective because after finding his love for writing mystery stories, he became a writer. Being a really good detective, this is what made the stories amazing. Titus picked up after one ring. “Hey beautiful, what’s up?” he asks with a deep voice. He knew I needed something because I never called during his writing hours. “Titus I need your help. Can I come over and explain?” I asked in a shaky voice. “Of course” he says and just like that I’m on my way there.
When I get there he is standing there outside with his arms open. I don’t know how but in every mood I am in, he knows how to handle me. I walk straight into his arms and cry. “What’s wrong?” he asks when I stop crying. “My boyfriend is missing and I know something bad happened. I can feel it”.
After an hour of explaining myself, which felt like days, Titus begin to work on it. I wasn’t surprised by this because I knew I could always count on my best friend. “Just call me when you find out anything.” I say to Titus as I walk out this door. “Okay!” he quickly yelled because he was too busy with what he was doing. I start the car when my phone rings and I pick it up. “Hello.” I say waiting for a reply but as I sit and wait I don’t hear anything. I look at the caller id and Jackson’s name is on my screen.
I start yelling in the phone “Jackson! Can you hear me! I’m going to get help!” I’m shaking by the time I get back inside the house where Titus is. He looks up with a worried face. “Jackson called me but won’t say anything.” I say. “You mean there still on the phone right now.” he asked with excitement in his voice. I look back at my phone and just like before Jackson name is on my phone. “yes.” I say slowly. “Do you know what this means.” He says as he rips the phone out of my hand and plugs it in his phone. After a minute on the phone he yells “yes! I found him!”
Titus was already pulling me to the car before I could ask anything. Right when I shut my door, Titus was already speeding out of the drive way. “Can I ask what is going on here” I ask. “This call is helping us track down where your boyfriend is or a clue to why he is missing. Either way this person didn’t mean to call and doesn’t know about it.” He explains. My mind skipped to the many kidnapping shows I have seen that sounded just like this and I swear I could feel like heart break in half thinking about anyone hurting Jackson. Trying to get my mind of the subject, I change it “Oh so how far is this place” I ask right when he slams on the breaks. “We are here.”
I was so confused because the house he stopped at was mine. The same small gray house I stayed at for almost 2 years is where Jackson’s phone is. First thing that pops in my head is how silly I felt. Jackson must have seen I wasn’t at work and drove here to check if I was okay. Wow I felt dumb and I couldn’t wait to tell him this funny story. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” he asked with a sad face, knowing the mystery was over for him. I lean over and kiss his cheek “yes I’m sure.”
I walk in to the house and it was quite. As I walk into the living room I see Jackson’s jacket on the floor. Wandering where he is I yell out “Jackson!” I hear something upstairs in my room. He might just be up there waiting for me. As I get closer to the door, I hear nothing so I call out again “Jackson!” and then I open the door.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I blinked my eyes a few times and looked again and it was still there. Eleanor was on her knees with blood everywhere. My scream is all I can hear for the next few minutes. Elea
nor turns around after she realizes I’m there. “Eleanor you’re eating Jackson!” I yell at her. She stares at me and she is completely covered in blood. Her eyes glowed yellow as she walks over to me, she is not even human. She smiles and her teeth are razor shape “I know and your next.” A creepy screech laugh is all I can hear before I black out.
When I open my eyes I can hear Eleanor’s voice mumbling. I open my eyes and see her walking back and forth in a fast pace talking to herself. I try getting up but I soon realize I can’t because I’m tied to a chair. My movement alerted Eleanor that I was awake. She turned her head in an unnatural way as she sat there and stared at me.
“Eleanor what are you?” I broke the silence. “Let me tell you a story.” She starts with and smiles as her yellow eyes light up. “Once there was a happy teenager living a normal life during the summer right before she started high school but something happened of course. That’s always the best part in the story.” She stops and moves closer to me. “Do you remember that night in the woods right next to our old house and you and your friends left me?” she waited for my answer. I think back to the night and to my surprise I remember the whole thing.
“Yes I do but I don’t see how that has to do with you being some evil human eating creature.” I say. Her smile grew as I said this and she licked her lips. “Well that night when we were playing hide and sink in the woods I died because of you.” She stopped and did a fake pout face. At that point she came closer and put her hand on my arm as she continued “As that thing attacked me, my goals were to make you miserable and now it’s over.” She gives me a pretend sad face like she cared. She bent down and takes a bite into my arm. The pain from this makes -me back out.
Little Girl
There was a little girl I once knew, that no longer existed
She was so lost and distant like a car trying to find its way through fog
Trying to be seen by anyone who would notice because she no longer knew her way
As the days were flying by she considered herself a lost soul, she was there but no one was willing to open their eyes to see her
She is taking the form of a ghost but in reality she has to live life like everyone else
With no one to go to she started to get this unknown feeling like she no longer wanted to pretend like she is like everyone else.
She was not willing the be trapped in the cage everyone put her in any longer
Tomorrow she promised to herself she would be free from her clouded mind
So today she wore a smile for the first time in so long
Knowing that she was no longer going to be searching for happiness was such a relief
No more being hidden in the shadows of the unknown
The next day when she wasn’t there
Her friends and people in her everyday life did notice
But no one knew that morning, her parents found their lifeless daughter with a hand written note that started out as
There was little girl I once knew, that no longer existed
The Dream
I woke up exhausted: never again would I stay up all night to watch movies. I looked at the clock” it was 10:00 am. As I walked downstairs into the kitchen I shouted “mom” No answer. All cars were in the driveway, but no one was home. I walked outside, hoping to see my mom just busy talking to the angry neighbor from across the street, probably complaining about how loud the wind was last night and some way trying to blame it on someone. To my surprise as I walked outside I didn’t see them. Everything seemed very still and too quiet, which is very unusual for the neighborhood.
The sky was a dull color like I was in a jar with smeared finger prints all over it. I heard a sound that was so sharp, it hurt my ears. I walk closer to where I heard it come from, even though the voice in my head is screaming at me to go back inside. At that moment everything begins to shake. I try to run back inside as fast as I can, but the shaking is so bad I fell every few steps I take. I reach the door; before I hop inside I caught a glance of the sky. It was something I never seen before.
A big hole is the only thing I noticed at first. It looks like the sky is ripped in half. I can’t tell where the missing chucks ends. After the shock, I hurry inside as I grab my cellphone trying to keep my fingers from shaking as I call the police station to find out what is going on. The line just keeps ringing, no one even answers after 20 minutes of waiting. I start wondering who to call next until another loud sound rings in my ears, this time kicking off the power.
Not much after that another sounds comes louder then the next, this time out of nowhere breaking my windows. I start getting up from the ground sweeping the glass off my arms making that the least of my problems. I ran to window as the noise gets louder. I see tall figurers all over standing in the shadows. I can’t see anything other than the shape of their body. They stay still for a really long time, making these weird noises back and forth like they were communicating. Realizing that their talking in a different language gives me chills.
They start walking into houses and dragging all the people I knew out of their homes. I could see them screaming, as I stand there motionless. I’m not sure what to do because you never actually think something like this would happen. Anything would be better than just standing around so I run to the kitchen and grab a knife. I sneak around back so I could have a better view of them without seeing me but doing this makes me realized how dumb this feels. I’m only one person and there are more than 10 of them at least. I should at least wait until some kind of authority comes because going into this with just me is suicide. I really didn’t know what to do but has I lose track of time sitting there trying to figure out what I should do, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
As I turn around I see its face. There was slime dropping from its mouth like a dog. Its mouth was hooked together close at the side just barely showing its shape teeth that looks like it would not take long to rip something in half. It has two eyes like me but closer together with this weird long yellow line which is the only thing you can see. He grab my arm and pulls me forward with its long gray nails that look like glass as they dig into my skin so I can’t pull away.
That is when I open my eyes. I look around my heart racing, wondering if they knock me out because I was trying to get away but I realize I’m in my room. I laugh out loud at myself because it was just a dream. I get up quickly to tell my mom this silly dream that seemed so real. When I get downstairs I yell for her but there was no answer, it felt just like I was in my dream again and I hurry to the kitchen to see the time. My heart drops as I see that the clock reads 10:00 o clock am.
The Gift
When I woke up this morning it was a normal day. I take a shower, I wake up my husband, and then I go down stairs to cook breakfast. As August walks around me to get a cup a coffee, he gives me a peck on the cheek. Frist sign of apology he made since our fight yesterday morning about our opinions of starting a family. While I think we are at a stable part in a relationship to try, he thinks he is at the highest point in his career to have the time right now to start a family. ” There is a package at the door with your name on it” he said while taking a sip of the steaming coffee. I don’t say anything because I figured I would go without talking to him for a while in hope he would change this mind about the whole baby situation if I give him space.
I walk to the door and he was right, there was a big box on my door step. You can tell it wasn’t mailed because it had my name written in big black messy letters. Not really thinking, I ripped it open. As I stared in to the box I couldn’t help but be confused because out of this big box, there was a tiny stuffed heart with handwriting on a pink note. I pick up the note
“Dear Ava,
You probably don’t know I exist so I wanted to let you know I love you. Every day I hope for the day you talk to or even look my way. I couldn’t hold these feelings in anymore. Your smile is the reason I’m still alive today. I know you have a husband, so I know this
is not going to go anywhere. I just wanted you to know you have a person other than your husband that is grateful you exist.
Love, unknown
I smile at this because it’s always great to hear good things about you but then I start to wonder how this person knew where I lived. If this person works with me then I guess they could get from a work file, which brings another worry to mind. They had to sneak a peek at these files because not just everyone can look at them. Maybe it is someone that works in the head office. I wasn’t going to worry about it too much because it didn’t sound like they were going to hurt me. I made a note to myself to keep an eye open to people around my work. Like trying to solve a mystery puzzle which is always fun. I return to the kitchen finish breakfast.
“Who was it from?” August asked with is eyebrows turned upward. “I don’t really know, it didn’t say” I was not supposed to talk to him but I knew he needs to know about this because it’s not something I would want him to believe I was trying to hide. “How do you not know who it is from?” he questioned. “It’s doesn’t say or I would know, ok” I snapped back. I go over to the counter where I sat the note and handed it to him. I watched his face as he read it. It was a confused look at first but you can see it soon turned to jealousy.
I know August too well to know he would ever admit to being jealous. He was hard headed that way and he believed it showed you have no trust for your partner. It’s important to him for me to know he trusts me with all his heart and he made sure I knew that on our wedding day in his vows. Spacing out remembering that perfect day with his shy smile saying “you are my best friend and even on my worse days, I will show you love, respect, and trust until the day I die because I fell in love with your pure heart. I am…”
“Are you going to tell me?” August hushed voice pulled me back in to reality. “What?” I mumbled “Is this the first time you got something like this from this person?” he frowned. I told him yes and of course he wanted to call the police. I said he could but I wasn’t seeing any real threat. We talked about it for a while longer but I had to start picking up breakfast because I needed to get to work. August said he wouldn’t call the police this time but he would if it happened again.
When it reaches 5 o chock, I start heading home. This is the best part of my day not because I don’t like what I do, it’s just I love being at home. Work is like an all-day hobby because I don’t really need to work. August and I are good with money which is why I don’t understand why he likes to work later then he has to. I’m glad he loves his job but I rather him at the house with me or maybe even go out and do a lot of thing I want to do. This is why I’m so mad at him, when he found out he got the job I made him promise to always put family first and yea the first three years were perfect until he started staying later and working on more projects than he has to.
I go upstairs to get dressed in something comfortable. I’m just getting done pulling my tank top over my head when someone wraps their arms around me. “Are you still mad at me?” he whispered in my ear. I turn around to look at him. I have to look up to meet his eyes because he is taller than me. “Yes I am” I whisper back then I look down knowing that he would never change this mind. “You know what, let’s say I’ll think about it” he gives me his half smile to show he knows how much it means to me.
I hear the bell ring; I give him a quick kiss before I walk down stairs to answer it. As I open the door I see another box. The box this time is smaller than the last one, with red splattered all over it. When I pick it up the red comes off and smears all over my hands. I dropped the box frightened because I realized it was blood.
I see August run down the stairs but I’m still screaming when he pulls me in to him. “What is wrong”? He asked in a panic. “There is blood everywhere”! I yelled shaking, hoping this was all I dream. Looking up I see the fear in his eyes and I know it’s real. “Did you cut yourself? I’m taking you to the hospital”. He runs to get his keys. I stop him by grabbing his shirt “Call the police, this isn’t my blood”!
I ran to the bathroom to get the blood off of me, when I’m sure August is on the phone with the police. As I’m standing in the shower my mind goes all over the place. Who keeps sending me these boxes? Why was there blood on the box? Is it human blood? What’s inside the box? I get out of the shower when my husband tells me the police are here. He opens the door just a creak so I can see him. “Are you okay honey?” he asked in a soft tone. “I don’t really know, I’ll be out in a minute”.
The police are going through the box. They all have this hard look to them until they see me. One cop pulls me to the side “I’m really sorry but I’m going to have to ask you some questions about this”. She says with a sad look. I’m wondering why they all seem like their tip toeing around me but then I see them pull a hand out of the blood covered box.
“Have you had a box sent to you before with no mailing address on it?” she asked with other questions after I answered them. “What did the love note say?” “Do you know anyone at your work that would feel this way about you?” “Does anyone stand out at your work, when I name of these traits quite, awkward, too nice, and might not have good social skills?” she stops talking in mid-sentence when I start walking away. There was so much they needed from me but I felt useless. All I can think about is the mistake I made. I didn’t do anything about the first box and now there was someone with no hand or maybe they were even dead. I felt like I couldn’t breathe knowing someone got killed because of me.
“Are you okay Mrs. Wood?” I heard someone ask in the background but everything around me seemed blurred out. I felt a hand grab my hand “Sweetheart, everything is going to be okay. If you’re thinking this is your fault, you better stop right that right now.” as if he was reading my mind. I close my eyes and take a deep breathe. I open my eyes and look at August. He smiles because he knows it makes me feel better and rubs the small part of my back. I always wonder how August how he knew what to do to calm me down but I’m am so grateful he does. He leans into me and says “I love you.” Next to my ear so only I can hear him. Before getting up and dealing with the police I whisper “I love you too.”
She read me the note that came with the bloody box. I really didn’t want to hear it but they said it could help me think of anyone that could have done this. So I put on my brave face and listen.
Dear Love,
I did this for you because this guy was being disrespectful to you. He had what was coming for him. He is your boss; he shouldn’t be flirting with you. I overheard you talking to your friends about how you wish he would stop. I can’t believe you husband has not done anything about this and maybe I should kill him to and we could be together. You need someone would do anything for you. So I toke his hands from him, so he can never try touching you again. That was not enough so I killed him and now you can come to work without worrying about him. You’re welcome.
P.s I heard you and your husband were having problems about him not wanting kids; tell him if he won’t give you one, I will.
Love, unknown
I try not to break down after I hear this because this depended on putting someone dangerous behind bars. I tried thinking who was all around me when I was talking to my friends about the situation that happened earlier that morning with my boss. The room was empty because it was lunch time and everyone leaves to eat but one person. I can’t believe I never thought of him before. It fits the awkward, quite, and weird personality and I hate myself for not thinking of it earlier.
“Robert Yard is the killer.” I said “that is the only person in the room that overheard me.” The police leave to go check out Robert but they didn’t have to go far because they found out he only lived down the road.
The Lost Is Always Found
I open my eyes to trees all around me. I sat up quickly, regretting not taking it slow because I felt a sharp pain in my leg. The pain grows with every move I made, I looked down at it. Blood was everywhere on the ground a
nd in the center of it was a knife sticking out of my leg. I held my breath and tried standing up because I couldn’t just sit in the middle what looked like the forest bleeding. I finally got up after a few tries. The pain got worse and it felt like all my blood was leaving my body. I start looking around and there was a figure behind a tree but when I blinked my eyes it was gone. I felt like I was losing my mind.
“Is anyone there,” I shouted “I mean no harm to you or anyone!” I waited to see what happened and nothing did. I guess you really are going crazy,” I whispered to myself and started limping, trying to find a miracle for me to survive being lost in a forest. “Don’t move!” someone yelled, the voice belonged to a girl but as I looked around I seen nothing.
She stepped out from behind the tree and I was speechless. She was some kind of a beautiful creature. She took a human form but her skin glowed a light purple. Her rich straight hair was a dark blue that reached the middle of her back. There was detail on her skin I couldn’t put a word to but it all came together and created something incredible like a lot of little flowers put together. I started to walk toward her forgetting she told me not to move. Something came out of nowhere and grabbed me that held me in place.
I looked down to find what looked like a tail wrapped around my stomach. Every time I move to try and get out she tightened her grip. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I already told you I’m not going to harm you.” She didn’t say anything, only kept her eye glued to me. “Here let’s start over.” I say with my best smile while sticking out my hand. Still no movement and then I remember she probably doesn’t know human gestures. “You have to shake it.” I say while watching her. “I know dummy. I studied your species long enough to understand everything about you more than you know yourself.” She says. I take a minute to try to remembering anything about myself but once again nothing comes to mind. “Well if you’re so smart, then you could tell me who I am and why I’m here.” I snap back.
Somehow I black out again and waking up in a place that looked like a tent made of big leaves This time I had a big headache and I only had the memories of meeting Isabella. As if she was reading my mind she walked in the tent on cue. “Get up we have to get going. Your ceremony is today.” She said while pulling the blankets off of me. “Hold up Isabella, where am I? What ceremony? And plus what happened to the hole in my leg?” I asked. Her eyes got wide for a minute but her face remained calm. “How do you know my name?” she said slowly as if she was picking her words carefully. “I remember you telling me, duh.” I stand up and start to walk forward. “I never told you my name.” she turned around and whispers quietly “he must have remembered.” Before she walked out she told me she put healing cream they invented on my leg and it removed the injury. I could not wait to learn more about them and this incredible place
I look around as I’m waiting for the leader of them to decide if I’m worth his time. I shake his hand which is lime green but I couldn’t remember my name to tell him it. Even though I didn’t tell them my name, in a weird way it seemed like everyone already knew me. I stared at the leader Caleb and saw an unresolved anger behind his bright purple eyes towards me. Then something pulled me out of reality and images play in my head.
Caleb was leaning over me with a death stare holding his hand over my throat. Tears were in my eyes from not being able to breathe. “You are a traitor!” he yelled over and over again. Finally after a while just staring at his eyes full of fire and murder, I black out. I open my eyes and find everyone leaning over me. “He remembers something!” Someone yells. “What should we do!” another voice says. “He is dangerous!” My eyes wander around to everyone’s colorful faces. Some purple like Isabella but others green, yellow, red, blue, and many more. I caught my breath and wonder how I or anyone could harm or be a traitor beautiful creatures such as them.
I have no clue what I did and I only have my memories of Caleb saying I am I traitor. All day I have tried to remember something else after Caleb had put his feelings aside for me to stay with them until they know what they want to do with me. I asked so many questions but no one will look me straight in the eyes and tell me. They say it is for my own good that I don’t remember and if you’re supposed to remember, you will.
They had a big debate about whether or not they would let me stay here. I asked Isabella what happened at the meeting because she was the only one who would try to answer. I think she just feels bad for me because I’m an outcast in a place I don’t even remember. “They say you’re a danger to our community but important people believe you’re here for a reason.” She said choosing her words carefully. Isabella seemed worried about the debate. I wonder why she cared so much about me staying or leaving. As she talked about me leaving her voice shook a little. I wonder what I was to her when I was here my first time, maybe a close friend because if I was nobody to her then there would be no reason for her to care this much.
“So can you tell me how I know your name?” I asked Isabella staring right at her so I don’t miss anything. Her eyes turned sad as she stared back at me. “You know I can’t tell you that.” she said. I take her hands into mine. “Please because I will beg you. “ I give her a weak smile “why do you care so much about me?” I asked with a sudden intensity of needing to know. She looked away because a tear ran down her face “I have to go.” She said as she turned away and walked out the door.
I wanted to know so many things about my past life it hurts and no one was willing to tell me anything because they are afraid of me becoming evil again. I couldn’t see myself being evil but also I can’t see anything past the day I woke up in the middle of the woods. Walking around the village was a way to keep my mind from wandering too much. When I turned a corner I seen Isabella in Caleb’s arms.
When they see me the two of them let go of each other and Caleb make a gesture from me to come to him. I go over to him confused because one why would he want to talk to me and two why is Isabella hugging him. I need to stop making stuff up in my mind that she could have actually cared about me. Of course any lady here would pick the leader over anyone. Caleb waited calmly until I got there but when I got close enough, I could see the worry on his face.
“Can you be guard tonight while the rest of the men check out the woods?” he asked as soon as I step in front of him. I wanted to do anything for them as much as I can to help because of what I did to them. I guess I said yes because of the guilt eating away at me. “Can I ask why you guys are going out in the woods?” I asked him. He just stares at me like he was trying to figure out if he could trust me. “We been getting warnings from other species around here that wicked tic was after us for something.” He replied slowly. I would have asked more questions but the thought that there are different species around here fascinated me.
As everyone was getting ready to go I felt useless because all I had to do was stay and watch. I wasn’t really good at just sitting here doing nothing but if it was what I had to do to get on their good side. Also maybe walking around and looking at things I use to see would help my memories. I see Isabella saying goodbye to Caleb for the second time which really hurt. I couldn’t believe I couldn’t see it before but I was pretty sure in the life I don’t remember I was in love Isabella.
“So you and Caleb?” I asked as I walked over to her when they all were all gone. “I don’t think that is any of your business Derek.” She snapped back. I couldn’t believe she let it slip and when she realized she did her eyes turned sharp. “See what you made me do? I knew talking to you was not a good idea. I should have listened to Caleb.” She said as she walked away. At that point I don’t see anything.
Everything was bright when I opened my eyes. I was lying on the ground where Isabella left me but things seemed different. I stood up and looked around and saw the village destroyed. My heartbeat picked up which leads me to believe that I let everyone down because I fell asleep on duty. As I ran around I quietly yelled at myself for being dumb. Then I see myself stan
ding over Caleb yelling “Now I’ll be the one that rules everyone in this village and this whole forest!” As I stare closer at my other self I’m different looking. My skin is a dark blue with thin light blue lines making me have a fire detail in my skin.
Everyone in the village has them but the meaning is different I remember Isabella telling me in one of our chats. When I asked why she had what looked like little flowers locked together. She told me this was carved in to her skin because she is stronger willed but thinks of others feelings before her own. It’s kind of an example of the kind of person you are, everyone is born with them she also told me. I made a note to myself to ask her what the fire means when I get out of this memory.
“This is not you!” I hear Caleb yell which brings me back to what was happening. I see Caleb hit me in a fast peace which makes me fall and that’s when I wake up. Isabella is shaking me yelling “Hurry the monsters are here!” I don’t waste any time because I probably already did. I grab a knife from my belt and run toward where Isabella was pointing.
When I get to the other side of the village I see it. I was not sure what I was looking for but now I know I couldn’t miss it. Its teeth were longer than me and its body was in a messed up form. It legs were short which is why I didn’t know how it carried its fat long belly. Two arms made the beast look ugly but when it turned around you could discover it had one more arm on his back. I was still trying to look at the monster checking for any kind of weakness but then it sees me.
The strange looking thing charged over at me. I leap out of the way but his third arm grabbed ahold of me. I stab it and the monster let go making a creepy roaring sound. I found a weakness; it was the space between his arms. They were large enough to get to the heart, if it had one. This was a better plan then I had minutes ago, which was nothing.
It jumps at me when it recovered from me stabbing it. I go under the monster while it jumps and stabs its foot, which makes him fall. I couldn’t think about it, all I knew was I had to act quick enough to get it while it is down. I run around it right before it started to get up and I jam the knife right in to monster’s heart.
The monster stands there looking anywhere but at me when it falls back to the ground. When I know the thing is dead I walk slowly back to Isabella. “Wow, you saved our village.” Isabella says when I get close enough for her to wrap her arms around me. Her hugging me felt so familiar, I can feel that I missed it. “I missed you.” I said without meaning to. She pulled away and looked at me with her big yellow eyes. “Have you remembered or something?” she asked with a smile that was unreadable. I could not tell what she was thinking. Feeling like I stared at her too long, I shake my head no. To change the subject I asked her what the fire detail on someone’s skin would mean. She gives me a look that she is scared but answers anyway. “It means good vs. evil. Someone with so much good can change to be evil, if they pick to.” She says with a sad smile. Before I can ask anything else, I feel a black out coming, this time I’m ready to learn the truth.
Isabella is the first one I see. She is by someone that I could tell was me with the flames all over my body. To my surprise, she kisses me. Isabella laughs as she pulls back and starts to talk. I watch my old self as I smile. They look in love and I can’t believe that blue flamed creature was me. Images skipped through my mind. There was more of me and Isabella looking happy as ever, which makes my heart ache. Then it stops to Caleb and Isabella. I see Caleb talking to Isabella and as I sit there watching them, I soon realize the old me standing behind a leaf covered house trying to stay hidden from them. I can’t hear what they are talking about but it looks intense. All of a sudden Caleb pulls Isabella into him and kisses her. Then it seemed like the world stopped. The blue flamed me yells “No!” and when Isabella sees him she looks sickened. “Derek, it’s not what it looks like.” She pleads while running to him. He looks at both Caleb and Isabella and says “you both will regret this!” then he turns around and walks into the forest.
I open my eyes and its then I know I remembered everything. I finally knew the truth and it changes everything. Isabella steps over me “Are you okay Derek?” she asks. I start to say with a blank stare “I know everything now. I had seen you kiss Caleb while dating me. I had seen myself become angry and how I ran off to wicked tic and then I had seen me take over him. I had seen me becoming evil and almost taking over everything in the forest. I had seen Caleb defect me and turn me into a human. I had seen me being taken to the earth to live because you refused for them to kill me.” I said finally relived that I knew everything but then I hated myself because I let myself turn evil and I wondered if it could happen again.
She sits down before saying anything. “Okay…” she said slowly after a while. “All I have is two questions now.” I said. She looks down like she nervous about what I’m about to ask. “I’ll answer anything.” She says. I take a minute thinking if I should know but then I knew I needed to know. “Why could I not remember this?” I ask saving the most important question last. She looked relieved that was my question. ”Because we had to take your memory away from you so we knew for sure that you would not harm anyone or come back and for you to start a new life. She says with a sad voice I have no clue how you go back here.” “I don’t know either.” I say back. Not really wanting to think about it. I asked my next question. “Could I turn evil again?” I ask trying not to seem as scared as I felt. After seeing myself that way was frightening. I would never want to be that way again. When I noticed Isabella face, I knew the answer without her even saying anything. She tied to recover before I seen the scared look in her eyes but before she said anything, I walked out.
“Where are you going?” Isabella yelled at me but I didn’t say anything. I was going back to the human world because I didn’t want to become evil or destroy the girl I love or her village. Also I couldn’t see her with Caleb every day without feeling jealous. If I turned evil because of jealousy then I knew I would have to leave. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to get there but I knew I was going to go as far as I can.
I don’t know how long I walked. I don’t even think I’m getting anywhere. Everywhere looks like the same as time passed. All I had on my mind is how tired I am. Out of nowhere I heard a big bang. I run to where I heard the sound and I see wicked tic. He looked the same as he did the last time I seen him. He looks kind of like a spider in the human world. He had blood all over him and that’s when I put it together. Wicked tic and Isabella’s village must have had a war. If he is still alive then that means Isabella’s village lost. My mind came to the worst possible outcome.
I ran up to wicked tic. “What did you do?” I yelled at him. The smile he had on his face turned in to a glare when he sees me. He knows I can destroy him because what I discovered the last fight we had. “How did you get back here?” He growled. “I guess this meeting between us was meant to be.” I say enjoying the look of fear on his face. I don’t give him time to speak back. I take my knife and stab him right in the middle eye, which killed him. I start running toward where wicked tic came from.
When I see it, I felt like someone kicked me in the heart really hard. Everything was destroyed. I didn’t see anyone and just like before my mind thought the worst. “Is that you Derek?” I hear Isabella ask from behind me. When I turn around I was so happy to see her that I run to her and pick her up into a big hug. When I put her down, I had so many questions. But before I said anything she told me everything. She told me she loved me and she had nothing for Caleb but friendship. She started to cry when she told me the wicked tic almost killed and destroyed everything. As I was hugging Isabella telling her things will get better and no one will ever have to worry about wicked tic again. “How do you know?” She asked and as everyone gathered around to hear me say “I killed him and we can live our life with just peace now!” and everyone clapped.
Ashlie Horn
(Roll-a-story)
Kendra lives
I, Kendra Graham, and Ash
lie Horn had been best friends for as long as I could remember. Until one day, I woke up in a dark, eerie forest. The first thing I did was open my eyes, and things didn’t seem right. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and could actually see. It was dark, and chilly. I saw tall trees and leaves. I immediately sat up in shock. I looked around and I could feel my stomach drop. I stood up frantically, and walked over to a tree to see if it was real. I lifted a hand and slid it down a thick, mossy tree trunk. It was real alright. I sat down in terror, against the same tree trunk I touched. Since it was so dark, all I could see was some leafy bushes, the trees, and the dry dirt that was a majority of the forest floor. I sat in silence, wondering how I got here, and why I’m here. Is anyone looking for me? How long have I been here? Is this real? Am I alone? All my emotions finally poured out in my tears that streamed down my face.
All I wanted was Ashlie, my ex-best friend and my mom. And maybe some taco bell. A Nacho Cheese Chicken Chalupa, a fiesta potato, and a Baha Blast sounded delicious. My stomach growled and knocked me back into reality. Oh gosh was I hungry. I thought since I’m not doing anything anyways, I might as well explore and try to find something to eat. I got myself to stand up; my knees were weak from how upset I was and not to mention how hungry I was. I pulled up my American eagle jeans and straightened out my new pierce the veil shirt that I had recently bought. Man that also reminded me how much I love bands and could go for some bring me the horizon or sleeping with sirens right now. I quickly wiped that thought out of my head, and started slowly through the forest. I always thought that a forest would be friendly, warm and beautiful, but this one was intimidating, harsh, chilling and lonely. Not to mention dark. I slowly walked past a couple trees. I turned right and pushed through some bushes. I got stuck to them because they were thorn bushes; I had to slowly pry the bush off of my brand new shirt. This was annoying, irritating and it upset me even more than I already was. I kept walking and looking for berries and nuts or anything of that sort. I saw a bush that I thought would have blueberries on it, but it had weird rainbow berries on them. I was shocked and I picked one so I could see what it tasted like. I hesitated for a minute and then popped one into my mouth. A burst of flavor exploded in my mouth, it tasted like strawberry, banana, mango, peach, blue berry, black berry, and grapes all mixed. Let me tell you, it was delicious. The rainbow berry was the best berry I had ever had. I was very excited and hungry, so I sat next to the bush and ate all the berries on the bush! After eating the last berry, I looked all over the bush and saw they were all gone. I thought it’d be a good idea if I tried so set up a camp, with shelter, and food and stuff. I thought I might as well since I didn’t know when I was leaving and how long I’d be here. I walked left out of the trees back onto my little dirt trail thing. I went back to where I had woken up, and got started on building a shelter. I walked about 3 feet into the forest line and picked up some large broken off branches. I carried them back to my spot and set them down. I walked farther into the forest this time to look for even bigger branches, when I heard a rushing noise. I forgot all about the branches and walked toward the noise, farther and farther into the forest. After about only a 2 or 3 minute walk into the forest, I found a beautiful, crystal clear, running stream. I was so excited! I bent down and sipped some water out of the stream, I got mud on my knees on my jeans and I was irritated once again. I took a moment to look at my surroundings and I noticed actually how bright and warm it was. It was no longer dark or cold. I grabbed a giant leaf laying on the ground and filled it with water. I brought it back to my campsite thing. I set it in a cranny of a tree so it would stay there and wouldn’t spill. I went back to picking up large tree branches deeper in the forest. I brought back about 65 big tree branches and stood, wondering how I would get this into the form of a shack or house. I suddenly remembered the mud from the stream, and ran to the stream. I brought back huge handfuls of mud and after 4 or 5 times to the stream; I realized I would need a more efficient way of bringing mud. I found a big piece of hefty, hollow bark. I took it to the muddy bank and filled it with mud. I brought it back and poured the giant pile of mud on the ground with the rest. I did that a couple more times until I had a pile of mud bigger than me. I started by thickly coating the side of each branch with mud, and sticking them together. I did this all the way around the house. I did the same with the mud and branches for the roof of the house. I left an opening for a “door”. In all it took me probably 2 and a half hours, it was actually pretty easy. I stepped back and admired my creation. I was proud, I could tell the sun was setting and figured I should get more water and berries. I went to the stream and filled a couple more leaves with water. I also found a couple more rainbow berry bushes to sustain my hunger. I laid down inside my shack and used a rock as a pillow. I drifted into a deep sleep. The next morning I felt exhausted and sore. My shoulder blades were sore and my lower back. I ate some berries, and drank some leaf water, then took a walk to explore further. I walked out of my comforting dirt path, and deeper into the forest. It was dark again, and chilly. I kept getting scratched up from the thorns. Something caught my attention, a bright color stood out from the brown and green mossy trees. I saw a neon pink and yellow box sitting in front of a tree. I slowly walked toward it and picked it up, it was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, but the colors were so luminous and radiant. I flipped a little latch open and lifted the top of the box. Inside, was a folded up white piece of paper. I unfolded the paper and set the box down, still open. The paper inside read
“To my dearest best friend, or x- best friend, everything that happened between us was a misunderstanding. When you thought I did all that stuff to avoid you and ignore you it’s because I had to. I had no choice. When I read your messages and didn’t answer, when I saw you and ignored you, I had a person threatening me, and if I didn’t do as they said they’d kill me. He has me still, and let me send you one last letter before I go. These are my last words and I knew if I had last words to anyone, it’s you. So farewell, I know you can find your way out of this forest, you’re a smart girl. Love, Ashlie.”
I had tears flooding down my face once again. I still had questions unanswered and these were even more. Who had her? How’d she know I was here? Why am I here? How’d I get here? How’d that box get here? Why was this person doing this to her? Why did he kill her..? I kept going on and on and on in the forest, surviving, frustrated, dirty, hungry, sad and lonely. Ash was gone and I had to keep living, so that’s what I’m still doing. I’m still in this forest, and when I find my way out, I will bring Ashlie justice.
(bus story)
The escaped convict
As an escaped convict I never thought I’d see someone crazier or more insane that me. The day I escaped from prison, was the day I encountered Phil, the insane, cat lover. I’ll start from the beginning.
I shipped myself out of the prison by packaging myself up in some boxes and making a deal with someone to ship me out. It was a long, scrunched, hungry and horrible 8 hours in that box, but it worked. When I got out I hadn’t been used to freedom in so long, that I had no idea what my next move was. I looked pretty trashy in my prison pajamas and thought I’d stand out from the others, so I thought I’d ask someone for a couple dollars to ride the bus, so I could try to find my way home and change my clothes. After about an hour and a half of begging people, I got enough money to ride the bus, which was $2.50. I scampered over to the bus stop where about 4 people sat on a bench waiting for the next bus. I was the last in line and when loading on the bus, I noticed peoples gazes locked on me. When sitting on the bus I felt out of place and awkward. I know that people noticed my torn white and gray striped pajamas. People were probably wondering what kind of sick fashion sense I had, but I didn’t care because I had freedom again. The bus ride was long and exhausting, but not as bad as my box ride.
The bus ride only lasted about 45 minutes
but I got off on a stop that looked like a familiar neighborhood. There were no trees and all the grass was crisp and browned, the houses had chipped paint, falling off shingles, and were very small. I knew my home was around here somewhere I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I walked down the crooked sidewalk at a slow pace, and turned a right corner. I recognized my house right away, It was an old, two story, light blue house with a porch swing centered on the pavement in front of the house. The house looked cold and unwelcoming but I walked up to the front door anyways. I could tell the house was slowly beginning to fall apart, and there were no curtains in the windows, just some old blankets were hung. In one of the windows, I saw that I could turn my head and see inside, because the blanket didn’t cover the bottom left corner of the window. I could barely see my mother sitting at the kitchen table doing some paperwork. She had slicked back, light brown and grey hair, a tan which had mostly been wrinkles, and a small rectangle pair of glasses perched on the end of her nose. My mom was the only one who lived there, so I knew there was nothing else to see. I hesitated and took a while to knock, but finally mustered enough courage to do so. I barely tapped on the door. She shifted a couple things about before she unlocked the door and cracked the door ever so slightly. She peered through the crack and her facial expression changed from weary and tired, to startled and somewhat excited. Without exchanging a word, she slid open the door and motioned for me to quickly come in.
We had a small conversation, but nothing exciting. I told her how I escaped, and that I missed her and needed a change of clothes, I also told her not to worry about me because I wasn’t afraid and I was ready to take on freedom once again. She brought down some dark wash jeans that were huge on me, a wrinkled light grey t-shirt and some old red Jordans of mine. They were torn up and the white laces were no longer white.After repeatedly thanking her, I told her it was time for me to go and that I’d come visit her within the next couple days.
I knew exactly what I was going to do now. I strode out the front door, feeling more confident than ever before. When the crisp autumn air hit my face, it sent a chill through my body. My emotions were immense and consisted of excitement and happiness because I was free. I had to brush off the emotion filled moment and make my next move. I was going to track down my best friend by taking the bus once again to his old favorite hangouts. If he wasn’t in prison himself, he should’ve been at one of those places. I was going to check the trails, behind a roller coaster at the amusement park, and in the church parking lot. He and I had made some pretty wild memories at those places, surely he would be there. I used the money my mother gave me to get on the bus once again. After waiting in the chilly evening for about 15 minutes by myself, the bus pulled up and I hopped on looking much better than the first time. There was only about four or five people on the bus, so I chose a seat toward the back. The seats were made of smooth, maroon leather. The seatbelts on the other hand were just hanging there, and most of them were broken. The next couple stops on the bus route were normal. About 4 stops later, something in the air shifted, like an evil or insane energy was present. I felt the craziness in the air I breathed. Someone boarded the bus, and it didn’t seem abnormal. The person that boarded the bus was a man, with his dark chestnut hair slicked back, a black leather jacket on, black skinny jeans, and some black and dark purple J’s on. He looked pretty swag nasty, but still normal. The first thing I found abnormal was that he walked straight up to me, out of all people, and asked to sit on the seat next to me. I replied with silence, but he still sat anyway. He sat down, and crossed his legs. He pulled out a “How to potty train your cat” magazine. I gave him a puzzled look. Every once and a while he’d shoot me a toothy white grin. In all honesty, it was really creepy. He finally stood up and started a vivid speech to the whole bus about how to potty train your cats, and the importance of it. When he sat down, he slipped me a note, it read “ Be at my place at 10 am, bring your cat, I know you have one. You’re fooling no one.” This note very much had worried me, but I paid not much mind to it. When the bus got to the church parking lot, I thought I’d take my stop, but I saw that the psycho was getting off too, so I decided to wait. He stood, sprinted to the back of the bus, and jumped out the emergency door. The feeling of relief had never been so strong in my life.
I waited a couple more stops and got off; I had been scarred forever, from the inside out. I got off in the middle of town, near the fire station and police station. It took no courage to turn myself in. I walked to the police station, and turned myself in for escaping prison. I could tell the police officer I talked to was very surprised that I, being a criminal would do this to myself. I’m now happily in prison, sentenced for life. I’m not even upset about being sentenced to be in here for life, just as long as the lunatic man is far away from me.
Butterfly
The tide was low, and I had spent most of the morning at the beach, picking through the tangles seaweed for treasures. So far, I’d already found a speckled pebble, a piece of driftwood, and a seashell with an inside that glistened like a pearl. It was almost time to head home when my foot hit something hard. I bent down to brush the sand away and uncovered a bright green glass bottle. It must have been very old, because the waves and the sand had polished away the shine. The top was sealed with a cork and some red wax, and when I held the bottle up to the light I could tell there was something inside. What could it be? I broke the wax and pulled the cork, as my hands shook with excitement, and then the strangest thing happened. As I went to pull out the thing on the inside, a beautiful butterfly flew out. The butterfly was small and about an inch in size. It was pastel colors and it seemed to be composed of paper. It circled me a couple times and then flew off in the distance, across the ocean. I was very puzzled because it wasn’t what I was expecting. I had figured that a note or something of the sort would be in there, but instead a butterfly. I had a long train of thoughts about the unusual butterfly. I kept thinking, how did that butterfly survive in there? How long was it in there? And how did it get in there? All these thoughts kept interrupting my normal thoughts I should be thinking about. A minute had passed and as I was standing on the beach, a huge wave came out of nowhere and knocked me over, as if to knock me back into reality. I suddenly remembered that I had to be home! I sprinted down the beach, into the emerald trees, and straight into my little shack on this tiny island.
The next morning I woke up to the sun beaming through my window, and a hydrating mist hitting my face. I accidently left my window cracked and it was sprinkling outside. The sun was reflecting off my chalky white windowsill, and temporarily blinding me. After resting in my bed for a short time, I decided to go find my breakfast and then explore. As I climbed out of bed, memories of my mother came flooding my thoughts. I thought about her more and more to the point where I had another meltdown. I broke into tears and collapsed on the floor. The tears were pouring down my face as I remembered my mom waking me up every morning, helping me search the island for useful plants, and other similar things, I missed her with all my heart. It took a while, but I finally pulled myself together. After getting out of my curled up position on the ground, I dried off my face, grabbed my leather boots, tied my bleach blonde hair up, and walked out the door with a net and a basket. I set the net down and climbed the nearest tree there was. After continuously climbing higher and higher, I finally got to the top of the tree and threw down a couple of the exotic fruits into the basket. I climbed down and sat on a large rock, eating one of the fruits. I grabbed the basket and tossed it inside the shack. I left my net lying on the ground and took off out of the trees, toward the water. This morning was one of the most beautiful mornings I had ever seen on my island. As I exited the trees, I saw the sunrise had turned the sky a pastel pink, and the ocean was a bright aqua, and clearer than ever before. I could see all the varieties of fish floating about the neon coral, and I could also see where the water
got deeper. I stood at the edge of the trees, gazing at the gorgeous scenery. My mother would’ve loved to see this. I moved on from the deep moment by walking forward, and listening to my boots crunch their imprints into the sand. I had to find something to do today, and just as I was brainstorming, I accidently kicked the bottle that held the butterfly from yesterday. It got me wandering again about the butterfly. In my whole entire life, I’ve never seen a butterfly like that one. I was looking off in the distance, and noticed a big, black cloud heading toward my little island. I wasn’t in the mood for another storm, but I was going to have to prepare for it. I grabbed the glass bottle and found the cork lying in the sand near the bottle. I picked up the cork and shoved it in my pocket. I ran back to the tree, grabbed my net and tossed it inside, and picked up the basket. I set the wooden basket down in front of the tree and again climbed it, this time picking several more fruit. I walked into my tiny kitchen, and threw the fruits into the homemade bowl. Again, running outside, I picked up 3 large rain catchers from the side of my shack and set them outside of the trees. After running down the beach, I searched for some dry wood to burn while the storm was going on. I made a small pile of tree limbs and brought them back to the shack. I set my glass bottle and cork down on my bed, and went through my shack shutting all my windows. The storm was getting nearer, I could tell because the winds were getting very strong, and blowing things about outside my window. It was a worry that crossed my mind that maybe my shack would blow over, but my mom and I made our little shack very tough out of things we found on the island. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t live on the island but my mom always told me stories about when I was young, the things we would do back on the continent of South America. I knew all about the continents, countries, and all sorts of other things. When studying books about them, I could vividly image the landscapes and the people. I could also vividly remember my mother. About two years ago my mother passed away on the little island of ours because a strong storm came through and she got very sick after it passed. She never got better and she just ended up leaving me. It’s sad but I know she’s watching over me from somewhere. I got shaken out of my thoughts when a bolt of lightning hit somewhere on the island, and it shook my shack. I was staring out the window at the pouring rain, when I saw something fly outside my window. It wasn’t dark, like the rest of the storm. I looked around, startled and confused. Again I saw the colors shoot past my window. The third time, I saw what the colors where. The butterfly from the previous day slowly went past the window, It stopped in the middle of the window and hovered for a moment, Its little wings moving very fast, to keep it in flight. It stared at me for a split second then wisped away. It took a little time to think it out, but over time I noticed the butterfly always checking up on me in bad times and situations. Eventually I figured out that the butterfly was my mother.And some day I hope to join her on our little tiny island.
Amnesia
Faith Wilbourne
I sat quietly in the back of the room as I silently prayed nobody would notice me. There was one minute until the tardy bell and still nobody said anything to me or sat near me. Then just as the bell rang he walked in wearing an old faded Killers t-shirt with his curls flying everywhere. He turned towards me; his bright hazel eyes looked tired. That’s when I felt the world stop; it was the first time I ever saw Ashton.
Ashton sat next to me; he was tall. I had been hoping to stay sitting alone; until he walked into the room. As he sat down he looked over at me flashing the brightest smile I had ever seen; which led to the appearance of his adorable dimples. He asked what my name was and I replied with my name; Crystal. He said his name was Ashton or Ash for short. I also asked about his hobbies and he replied with; “I enjoy drumming.” His smile grew even bigger as he talked about how much he loved to play. I could imagine his curly hair flying about as he pounded out the rhythm to a song. “You’re probably tired of hearing me ramble.” He said before I giggled. “What do you like?” Ash asked. Even though I had the overwhelming urge to say you, I didn’t.
“I like to sing and play guitar.” I responded. Ashton said he played guitar and sang too. I could tell he was really passionate about music by the look and twinkle in his eyes when he talked about it.
Finally our teacher walked into the large lecture hall; she was always a few minutes late, but nobody cared. As she organized her desk, she told the class about our new student Ashton. Miss Ronsdale, the teacher, told him to wave, he did so as everyone said hi.Miss Ronsdale said that I would be showing him around the campus for the next couple weeks. Next, Miss Ronsdale started lecturing us about another boring topic nobody really cared about. She was drawing diagrams and shooting questions out left and right; like arrows ready to strike those unaware.
Throughout Miss Ronsdale’s monotonous lecture, I could hear Ashton sketching in his notebook. He must have got bored because the sound suddenly stopped. He tapped me with his blue mechanical pencil and pointed at his paper, below his doodles Ashton had written a sentence:
Could you come over tonight and help me with my homework? I haven’t really been listening.
I wrote back:
Sure.
The rest of the day I took Ashton to his classes. Since he had just transferred to Arlington Rosewood College this semester he didn’t know that much about the campus and all the extracurricular activities our school had to offer. Each class I learned more and more about him and his life and he wanted to know more about me. After school I could see Ashton walking to my locker; number 272, he had his black backpack slung over his shoulder and was slouched. Once he arrived at my locker, he said he would drive me to his house. A few minutes later we arrived at a dark blue two story house with a yellow door. “Wow! This is a beautiful house.” I exclaimed.
“Thanks.” Ash replied.
I went to open the door of his car to get out. “No.” said Ashton. He then walked around and opened the door for me. We both walked up to the house together and entered.I asked where his parents were, as I stomped my feet on the rug in the entryway. “Oh, I live on my own I’m in a band and we practice a lot I don’t want to disturb my parents with all the noise.” he said. The inside was just as beautiful as the out. It had hardwood floors and neutral gray walls. He walked into the kitchen. It had white colored cabinets with glass on the front which displayed the contents inside. There was a granite-topped island with a fruit bowl containing oranges, apples, and green grapes. Ashton sat down on a barstool that was designed with Coldplay lyrics on the cushion and around the top of the chair. He opened a jar of Nutella and stuck a spoon in it. “So I can eat while doing homework.” he explained. Once we were at the couch, we both turned to get our homework; as I turned back around I noticed Ashton had been staring at me and smiling. “What?” I questioned. Ash just chuckled and said we should get to work. We started out with the homework from Miss Ronsdale and finished with chemistry. Ash was getting ready to take me home when he checked his phone to see the time. It was 6:30. He said “Crystal, how about going to dinner?”
“Sounds good.” I replied.
Ashton drove me to a local pizza place called “Punk Pizza”; several bands played there and the visitors came to enjoy food and good music. I had heard plenty about it, but never went. Once we were seated at a red and white diner- styled booth. Ashton said that it was a special place to him because it was where his band had played their first gig. I looked at the stage to see a band plugging in their guitars to amps and adjusting the mics. Ash said that half of the tips went to the band or artist playing that night.
“What’s your band’s name?” I asked.
“5 Seconds of Summer; 5SOS for short.” Ash replied.
“Wait, I think I’ve heard some songs from your band.” I mentioned.
“Which ones?” he responded.
“Out of My Limit and Unpredictable” I replied.
“Yeah, that�
�s us.” smiled Ash.
“You guys are really talented.” I added.
Ash blushed and said thanks just as the smell of our Chicago style, deep- dish, pepperoni pizza arrived. I took a sip out of my Pepsi and let him have first dibs on the pizza. We devoured the pizza as I giggled at the sauce oozing off the pizza onto Ash’s chin as he wiped it away. The band playing was called Clashing Creeds. At the end I offered to pay, but Ash declined. I told him that I at least wanted to cover the tip which he allowed me to do. I left $20 because Clashing Creeds was quite good.
Once he arrived at my house he said “Do you want to go on a proper date with me sometime, Crystal?”
“Yes, I’d love to.” I replied.
He opened the door on my side as I stepped out of his car. I thanked him for the dinner and ran to my front door smiling as I looked back at Ash inside his car smiling, happy that I had said yes.
The next day at school Ashton and I sat at the back of each class together; we wrote notes to each other so we could talk without interrupting the teacher. Ashton wrote:
So you want to go on our date tomorrow at about 7:00?
I wrote back:
Yes.
I paid attention for a few minutes because I could see Ash was sketching a picture. A couple minutes later, Ash tapped me with his pencil. I looked over and noticed that he had drawn a picture of us listening to music together and holding hands. I worked on drawing a picture and showed it to Ashton at the end of class. It had both of us eating pizza and laughing; I even colored in Ashton’s light brown curly hair and hazel eyes and my long wavy dark blonde hair and green eyes. When I showed it to Ash he started to grin as his dimples showed like they did every time he smiled.
I had already told my parents about Ashton and me dating, so they weren’t surprised when Ashton came to pick me up. My parents greeted him and shook his hand before I left to go with Ashton. As we walked to his car he complimented my outfit. I thanked him since I had rummaged through my closet for forever trying to find the perfect outfit to wear. I was wearing dark-washed, ripped skinny jeans with a crop top that said “I like bands.” and a black leather jacket with converse. As he drove I asked him where we were going. He said that it was a surprise.
We arrived at an arcade about 15 minutes from my house. When we went inside Ash took me to all of his favorite games and showed me how to play them. “Crystal, I’m glad you like to play video games because I couldn’t date a girl who didn’t.” announced Ashton.
“I’m glad you like video games because I couldn’t date a guy who didn’t.” I teased.
I had tons of fun with Ash at the arcade that night before he took me home. He pulled into my driveway looked over at me and said that he had had a great night.
“Me too.” I replied.
We slowly leaned towards each other and locked lips. As we both pulled away I opened my green eyes which met with his hazel ones. He was more beautiful to me than he had been the day I first saw him. I didn’t even think that it was possible to love someone this much after only knowing them for three days. “I love you.” We both quietly said in unison. I told him I would see him tomorrow at school.
Over the course of the next year my relationship with Ashton became increasingly public. At school everyone knew we were dating and Ash’s fans and the media knew too. Ashton’s band welcomed me and I enjoyed hanging out with Michael, Luke, and Calum. I had now gone to several of 5 Seconds of Summer’s concerts and was helping Ashton balance his career and schoolwork. Soon we both graduated. We saw each other every day and every day we loved each other more. Our love felt like a million butterflies flying through your veins; I was always thinking of him when he wasn’t around; I never wanted to see a day without him. I’d never felt like this before and I wanted it to last forever and we both believed it could.
Ashton sent me a text asking for me to come to his house. I drove over, parked my car in front of his home. I walked to his door and entered. On the floor I saw a trail of rose petals and a sign that said follow the trail. I followed the trail as I was freaking out on the inside; what was this about? The trail led to his music room upstairs. I saw Ashton sitting on a stool with his guitar in hand as he started singing “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri. At the end he got down on one knee pulled out a ring and said:
“Our love will last forever. No matter what happens I will always love you and I know you will always love me. I will never leave you. I will help and support you through anything. Crystal, will you marry me?”
“Yes, Ashton.” I said while nodding my head while I was shaking and crying.
He slid the ring on my finger, my hands were visibly shaking. Ash kissed me and said I love you as he hugged me and nuzzled his head in my neck. “I love you too.” I whispered to him.
After the proposal Ashton took me to “Punk Pizza”; the place where we had our first dinner together. Throughout the night we started working out details on when we would have our wedding. We just tried to enjoy being together because both of our schedules had been packed lately. Once our bill was paid, we left. When we were inside Ash’s car we buckled our seatbelts and he started to drive.
The radio was playing a 5SOS song so I turned up the volume and started singing as Ashton was driving. Ash turned a right a block away from my home; just as he did, a truck slammed into my side of the car. It was like an explosion.I could hear the shatter of glass as I squeezed my eyes closed. A scream broke from my mouth before I was ejected from the passenger seat and hit the road. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was Ashton scream; “Crystal!”
I was awake, but couldn’t open my eyes. Next to me I heard the beeping of a machine. I also heard a conversation between two people; “It’s been five days since the accident and she still hasn’t woken up.” said the voice of an older male.
“I just don’t want to take her off life support yet.” said a younger male with his voice shaking.
“I know this is hard, but if she doesn’t wake up by the end of tomorrow, the best decision is to take her off life support. Also, if she does wake up we don’t know if there will be any brain damage.” said the older man.
You could hear sobs of the younger male. I was finally able to open my eyes and I saw a doctor and a young male in my room. There was an IV hooked into me and I noticed I was in a hospital. The young man was shaking and attempting to pull himself together. He noticed I was awake and ran to my bedside and kissed my forehead; he pulled away and started stroking my hair. “Who are you I asked?” I asked. A disappointed and saddened expression appeared on his face. I must have known him somehow I just didn’t remember him. I felt terrible for forgetting. The doctor must have seen my concern so he asked the guy to step out.
The doctor looked over to me, and said; “You were in a serious car accident and were ejected from the front seat. You hit the road pretty hard and have been in the hospital ever since. That was five days ago. I want to ask you a question. Do you remember your name?”
My name was on the tip of my tongue, I just couldn’t exactly remember. It finally hit me.
“Crystal?” I replied hesitatingly. “Who was that man who was just in here?” I questioned.
“I know this will be hard for you to understand but, he is named Ashton, you call him Ash. He’s your fiancé, and was in the accident with you. Ashton sustained no major injuries since the car wasn’t hit on his side. According to him, the night of your accident was the night he proposed to you.” replied the doctor. Dr. Hitchings was his name. I looked out of the room at Ashton. I couldn’t begin to understand how hard this was for him, knowing that the person he loved most didn’t remember him. I could tell he was crying. Dr. Hitchings said he would let Ashton come back in so we could have some time to talk in private.
Ash walked in and closed the sliding glass door behind him. He walked to my bedside and sat, bent over with his hands clasped in the chair
next to my bed. He looked over at me, saying nothing for a long while. Finally he broke the silence “I love you.” he said. I was staring at him now; he glanced to his left then looked back. “Sorry, I kind of mobbed you when you woke up. It’s just that I’d been waiting for you to wake up and I didn’t know if you would.”
“It’s okay.” I said.
“The doctor said to help you try to regain your memory I should show you some of your favorite things from before the accident. It just so happens that some of your favorite songs are on my phone which I have right now.”
Ash started playing some songs which I remembered most of lyrics of. Next, he went to the photo gallery on his Iphone and showed me pictures of my friends and family. I could remember all my family and all of my friends, except for six. Ash said that three of them were his bandmates; Michael, Calum, and Luke. I asked him the name of his band; it was called 5 Seconds of Summer. I told him I was tired and since the doctor said I could go home tomorrow I want to sleep. He said that was fine and he came and laid in my hospital bed with me. Just before I closed my eyes I looked down to see a gorgeous diamond engagement ring on my finger next to a long gash from my forearm to my finger.
When I woke up the next morning I started the process of being discharged. My parents were there along with Ashton. The doctor came in and said that while I was in my coma he took an MRI and CAT scan of my brain. Dr. Hitchings said that the part of my brain that was experiencing the amnesia was a section of my temporal lobe that controlled facial recognition and long term memory. He said that in some cases the memories come back and in others they don’t.
“I understand that you are at Ashton’s house most of the time and have become quite familiar with it so I would like you to live there for a while, see if helps bring back any memories. I also told your fiancé and parents to play any videos they had of things you had forgotten such as some of your friends and Ashton. Do you remember him at all?” said Dr. Hutchings.
“I remember songs from his band, but I don’t remember ever being friends with them and being engaged to Ash.” I answered.
“Well, good luck to you Crystal and I hope you regain your memory. I gave Ashton some appointment dates so I can check on your progress.” Dr. Hitchings said.
I changed out of the clothes the hospital supplied me with and got into the black yoga pants and t-shirt my mother had brought for me this morning. Ash had gotten a new car since the accident and drove me to his house. “I feel like this is my fault, you know what happened to you.” commented Ash.
“Don’t worry about it. I remember the accident if it was anybody’s fault it was mine for turning up the radio and singing really loud.” I reassured him.
“Wait, have you remembered the accident since you woke up yesterday?” inquired Ash.
I thought about it and then replied; “No, I didn’t. I must have started to remember some things.”
Ashton smiled, and then I vaguely remembered a boy who looked like Ashton walk into a classroom smile; his tired hazel eyes shining. I turned to ask him where we first met. He replied with “At school I walked into a classroom and sat next to you.” The whole scene flashed through my head, while Ashton was parking his car in the driveway of a familiar looking house. I described the scene to him as he was unlocking the front door. “Wow, that’s amazing! That’s exactly what happened can you remember anything else?
“Maybe if we watched some videos and went through some photos.” I said.
Ash took me into the house and I could remember where all the rooms were. Over the course of the next 4 months all my memories came back. Each time I saw an old photo or watched a video I would remember a little bit more. Dr. Hitchings was amazed by my progress and soon Ash and I got married.
Catwalk Talk
Faith Wilbourne
I sat down in a red cushioned chair in front of my manager’s desk. A door to the left of me swung open revealing my manager Stacy. She was short with brown hair and green eyes. “Hello darling, I have some offers that I thought you might be interested in and a list of upcoming auditions. You need to be getting more exposure in show biz if you ever hope of becoming the next big star!”
“That’s amazing! What are the offers?” I asked, trying to sound exuberant even though I was running on the four cups of coffee I had had this morning.
“First, there is an audition for a movie that is being directed and produced by…Wait for it…Steven Spielberg. Naturally you would aim for getting the lead who is a young woman who is a famous young model. She switches places with a New York City Café waitress.”
“That sounds great. What’s the name of the movie?” I questioned.
“Oh! It’s called Catwalk Talk. Sorry, I forgot to mention the name. There are a few more upcoming auditions you could go to if you want. They’re all on this list with a short description of what part you would be auditioning for.” Stacy explained as she whipped a paper out of nowhere and handed it to me.
“Thanks.” I replied.
“You’re welcome and please start practicing for the audition. Also your performance in the Disney episode was a hit! It was the most watched season premiere of the show ever.”
“I’m so glad. I didn’t know if younger audiences would like me as much since I’m not 15 years old or a young kid.” I replied.
“That’s all I have for you today.” Stacy said as we walked toward the door.
I left Stacy’s office at the Agency of the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills and drove to the nearest Starbucks. It took me at least 10 minutes to get there even though it was a three minute walk from the agency. I grabbed my laptop and wallet before walking in to the sleek coffee shop.I ordered a blueberry scone and a Java Chip Cappuccino.The baristas quickly prepared my order and called my name for me to get my scone and beverage before I sat down at a high-top chair at a table for two. I powered on my laptop and searched the building I would be auditioning at for the role in Catwalk Talk. The thrill of the possibility to work with Steven Spielberg powered me through my meal along with my cappuccino as I researched on how to nail my audition. If I got this part it would be my big break, no doubt. Every Steven Spielberg movie was a success. I could finally be on the cover of People magazine. I decided not to get too ahead of myself and to focus on perfecting my acting for the audition. I shut down my laptop and threw away my trash and took the rest of my Java Chip Cappuccino with me. Before I made it to my car a woman and her daughter, who looked to be about seven, stopped me. The little girl looked up at me with the biggest smile I had ever seen and asked for my autograph.
“Sure sweetheart! What do you want signed?” I implored.
Her mother reached into her purse and pulled out a magazine with a picture from my latest photoshoot on the front. I opened my wallet and grabbed the sharpie I kept in there, just for a moment like this. I took the Allure magazine and scribbled my signature on the front. The little girl was wearing converse so I asked her if she wanted me to sign the tips and she said yes. I knelt down and scrawled my name on her shoe where the edge of her toe would be. “What’s your name?” I asked while flashing her a bright smile.
“My name is Ocean.”
“That’s a beautiful name. It was nice meeting you.” I replied.
“Thanks!” she exclaimed gleefully.
I waved goodbye and headed to my car. The audition for the film was in five days and I needed to get to work. I headed to my apartment complex; Canvas LA on North Beaudry Avenue. I strolled through the doors into the chic lobby with marble flooring and greeted the bitter receptionist named Eleanor Parks. She was short and stout with a bob of gray, wiry hair. “Shut up you fool!” she replied grouchily. I would move, but my suite is amazing and overall it’s a nice place to live. I’m allowed to have my dog and there’s a pool and workout area. As I turned to the right and ambled down a corridor trying to find the keys for my apartment. I could hear the racket in the
lobby of Eleanor Parks squabbling with her sister and telling her she was a worthless fat monkey and that she would never be the better of the two. Eleanor was always demeaning to her younger sister Rose. She was always lowering her self-confidence and undercutting her pleasure. I really wish she would get fired, but whenever her boss is in earshot she becomes the most nice, sweet, old woman. The owners of the apartment complex received plenty of complaints about her, although she never was fired.
The key clicked in the lock of my door and I plopped my bag on the ground. I got on my Mac laptop after sitting down on my white leather couch and searched monologues I could act out for the audition. I found a couple of good ones and printed them off and practiced them for the audition. Ding, my IPhone sounded. I turned on my phone and saw a message from my friend Jennifer asking if I was interested in going roller skating with her tonight at 7:30. I typed back:
Sure. I’ll meet you there. Which one are we going to?
She replied:
Moonlight Rollerway. See you there.
I thought it would be good for me to have some fun to make sure I wouldn’t get too stressed about the audition. At 2:00, I took an hour-long nap in on my bed under the warmth of my grey comforter and surrounded by my plush decorative pillows and my tufted headboard. I woke up and fixed my hair and put on a new outfit to go roller skating with Jennifer. I wore dark-washed, ripped skinny jeans, a maroon tank top with ruffles flowing down the middle with a cropped, light-brown, and studded leather jacket on top. My footwear of choice was light-brown leather boots. Before I walked out the door, I slid on a light pink lip gloss. I took the elevator down to the lobby and strolled out the door, but not before I heard Eleanor talking on the phone saying she would soon be auditioning for a part in a movie. I left thinking nothing except that if she even got a part she would be fired for being too difficult to work with. I headed to my car and turned the keys in the ignition as my red Ford Fusion’s lights light up and engine started. I drove through the crowded, traffic-filled streets as the sun was just starting to set. I rolled my windows down and felt the cool wind blow my hair as the breeze whooshed passed my ears and waves of calm washed over me. It was a great idea to go out and have fun. I couldn’t wait to see Jennifer it had been awhile since I saw her last; my life had been extremely busy. I parked my car in the nearest spot I could get to the door and headed in. Jennifer was sitting at a plastic-topped table drinking a Sierra Mist. I walked over and greeted her with a hug. We sat and talked while she sipped her drink; then went and paid for the roller skates we would be using that night and slid them on. That night we laughed and skated and caught up with each other.
Afterwards, I went home and fixed a meal consisting of seasoned grilled chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes. I removed my makeup and showered. I stepped out and dried off I put on some cozy silk pajamas and pulled my hair into a messy bun before brushing my teeth. I brushed my teeth and hit the sack. My alarm went off at 8:00 am the next morning and I rolled out of bed. The breakfast I ate was two pancakes covered in real maple syrup and a banana to the side. Groggily, I walked into my restroom still half asleep and brushed and flossed my teeth. I let my hair out of my messy bun and brushed it out before braiding it along the side off my head and pinning it back. The next few days went as usual; practicing my audition, eating, sleeping, meeting with Stacy, and being harassed by the disgruntled Eleanor Parks. I showed up to my audition as planned, but was shocked to see who was there.
I walked in and got my number for auditions after signing in and headed to a waiting room. I was prepared for my audition after working on monologues all week I knew I could handle the one they had just given me. Across from me sat Eleanor. I had to do a double take; there was no way she was auditioning for a Spielberg movie. She had never even acted before as far as I knew.
“Hello, Chloe. Nice to see you.” she stated.
“H-h-hi” I said shocked that she was here.
Was this the audition she had been talking about when I heard her on the phone?
“Are you auditioning today?” I questioned.
“Yes.” she replied with a hint of disgust in her voice.
“What part are you hoping for?” I inquired.
“The mother of the young model and you?” she shot back.
“The young model.” I gulped.
“Oh.” she replied unamused.
“Number 169.” shouted a woman walking out of the audition room with an actress bawling her eyes out.
“Wow, really professional!” I thought as Eleanor interrupted my train of thought.
“Excuse me, but that would be my number.” said Eleanor before walking into the audition room.
Awhile later she walked out of the room with confidence. There is no way she could have nailed her audition I thought.
“Number 170.” shouted the same woman as before.
That was my number. I strided into the room with confidence. I greeted Steven Spielberg and his assistant with handshakes and hellos.
“Here is a headshot and a list of other jobs I have done.”
“Thanks.” they replied.
“What part are you auditioning for?” questioned Steven.
“I’m auditioning for the part of the young model.” I replied.
“I’ll start the monologue by playing the young male.”
I acted through the monologue as if I didn’t nail my audition I would be put to death. I acted better than I ever had before. My strong desire for the part led me to nail the audition. When I was finished Spielberg said “You’re exactly what I envisioned for this part. I don’t need to see anyone else. You’ve got the job. Here’s the script we will start filming in 2 weeks. What’s your e-mail I’ll send you more information as it gets closer to the beginning of filming?” I gave him my Gmail account for business and said thank you before leaving the audition room with a grin on my face and a spring in my step.
The next 2 weeks were busy as usual. I met with Stacy and my publicist Scarlet to promote my work in Catwalk Talk and to book a couple appearances on talk shows in the next few months. I read through the script and memorized most of my lines for the scenes that Steven said we would be starting to film. He had e-mailed me the details and filming schedule. Eleanor had gotten the part of my mother. A man named Jackson Vincent would be starring as Carson Scott, my character’s boyfriend. The name of my character was Andrea Pochlovic and she had long brown-hair, blue-eyes, and tan skin. She was a lovely young woman, but if you got on her bad side things were downhill for you. I called Jackson Vincent; he was a New England shopkeeper who worked as a part-time actor. If all went well he was hoping to become a full-time one.
The first day of filming went great. I met all the actors and actresses in person everyone seemed really friendly and kind; except Eleanor obviously. I could tell Jackson and I would become good friends over the course of filming. I was talking with him backstage about the upcoming scene she would be in and how we could make it our best when Eleanor interrupted. “Excuse me; star of the movie coming through.” she said as she broke up Jackson and I’s conversation.
“Last time I checked it was you.” Jackson whispered after Ms. Parks was out of earshot.
We both chuckled and waited for our scene to be called. “All scene 29 actors on set. I repeat all scene 29 actors on set.” blared Mr. Spielberg’s assistant’s voice through a megaphone. Jackson and I walked on set and got to our places. The set was extremely realistic; it was supposed to be Carson’s mansion. There was a fake fireplace that produced real crackling noises and jumping flames. The couch was comfy and designer and real red roses were placed in an expensive mosaic vase on top of a sleek glass coffee table.
“Scene 29, Take One!” shouted Spielberg from his director’s stand. We ran through the scene about 10 times before Spielberg and his assistant decided it was perfect.
“Great job guys!” exclaimed Spielberg and his assis
tant.
“That’s a wrap for today!” said the Cameraman.
“See you Wednesday.” smiled Jackson as his longish brown hair flopped in front of his green and blue eyes.
“See ya!” I replied as I put my denim jacket on before going back into my dressing room to change into my regular clothes. Once in my dressing room, I changed back into the sweatshirt branded with the word Pink and put on the black yoga pants I had worn there that morning. My stylist put my costume on a hanger and back on a rack. I walked out of the dressing room carrying my typical bag and wearing my jacket preparing to walk into the crisp cold air. I walked down the hallway and saw Eleanor standing on the set alone I found it suspicious, but paid no mind.
When I arrived, back on the set Wednesday I changed into a one-shouldered, little black dress for the first scene I would be doing. My makeup artist applied primer and foundation. She placed fake lashes upon my lash line. She followed with a dramatic cherry red lip and black winged eyeliner worn over natural colored eye shadows. The scene was a date with Carson at a fancy local restaurant. All of the sudden I heard the crackling of an intercom and listened to the voice of a young woman, maybe in her 20s state “All actors, actresses, extras, and anyone working on the movie Catwalk talk report to the outdoor set. This is urgent.”
I got up from the chair in front of my white vintage vanity and left to head to the outdoor set. Once outside, I joined the mob of people surrounding the producers and Steven along with his assistant whose makeup was starting to melt from being under the sun. After everybody arrived on set, there was an announcement made stating that a few valuable pieces from the set were stolen yesterday. They included the expensive mosaic vase, one of the designer outfits that was going to be worn by Eleanor later in the film, and the ring that would be used for Carson to propose to Andrea later in the movie. Gasps rose from the crowd. “I know this is a terrible misfortune, but if anyone could give us any clues on who might have done this, it would be greatly appreciated.” announced Steven. A hand rose above the heads of the crowd as a man I noticed as being an extra appeared saying “I write mystery novels and would be interested on helping you solve this case. As a mystery writer I know several deductive tactics and have researched how to solve mysteries like this.”
“That would be very helpful, please come up front.” responded the producers.
“Is there anyone here who noticed any suspicious activities that could pertain to this case? If so please come speak to me privately.” stated the extra that was standing next to Spielberg’s assistant who now resembled a melted crayon.
“You may all leave and prepare for your scenes today.” stated Spielberg. “All clues given to Tim will be delivered to me by him. Thanks for your time.”
I remembered what I saw Eleanor doing yesterday. I approached Steven, his assistant, the producer and Tim and told them. “We will look into it Chloe.” they replied.
The day went by with everyone buzzing about what had happened and doing the scenes we could do without the missing items. Jackson brought up the topic of the missing objects several times that day and he said he believed it was Tim. “Who would have volunteered that quickly to help if it wasn’t them? He’s just trying to throw them off his trail.” claimed Jackson.
After filming that day, we all had another meeting about the incident. “At lunch break Tim and I went through the security camera tapes and found some surprising answers to who did it. Eleanor Parks please come forward.” declared Mr. Spielberg.
“Are you trying to pin this on me?!” she cried.
“We found ample evidence on the tapes to prove it was you. During lunch break, I had my lovely assistant Miranda search your dressing room. Inside a rather large bag of yours we found the missing items. You are under arrest by the LAPD. They are here to take you away. You are fired from the shooting of this film also.” explained Steven Spielberg.
Funny, I thought she would be fired for being difficult to work with; not crime. Soon, she wouldn’t be Catwalk Talk; she would be the talk of people everywhere. Over the next couple of weeks Eleanor was fired from the lobby desk and Jackson was hired for the job; he now lived in the apartment complex too and planned on staying in LA. Eleanor’s face was sprawled across the front of tabloids and popped up on screens across the nation for what she had done. Her sister was now gaining back her confidence and was much happier with her co-worker Jackson.
Dark Dreamer
Faith Wilbourne
I climbed up the bookcase and crawled inside the opened panel. It was dark and smelled like rat poop. Suddenly, I heard the panel slam closed behind me. The area went pitch black. My heart started to beat faster than a hummingbird’s wings.After I tried to open the panel, and noticed it had been locked shut. I pulled out my IPhone and I had no signal. The one time I actually needed my phone, it doesn’t even work. Banging on the door made my hands numb. I eventually ran deeper into the dark place.
After, I stopped running for what felt like 20 minutes I saw a small, dim light starting to appear. I ran as fast as I could, my legs pumping harder and faster each stride I took. I was trying so hard to get out of this horrid place. As I continued to run, I noticed the light seemed to be getting farther and farther away. I pushed my legs harder. I had to get to that light. After at least five minutes, the light had stopped moving; and I had started to approach it. The fear ran down my back as soon as I saw a silhouette of a man. I didn’t know what to do.
He seemed to come towards me with a quick pace. I couldn’t make out anything else. I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn’t move. It was like I was paralyzed from the neck down.Like my body was glued to the floor. I wanted to call out so bad.
The silhouette was inches away from me now. His pace had slowed to a complete stop. I could feel his hot breath hit my face. It smelled like garlic and coffee. His voice was deep when he spoke. “You see the light too?” he asked. I stared forward, trying to speak.My words came out in a jumble, so I nodded. “You are trapped here too?” I questioned.
“Yes, but I’ve been here much longer. This is a place no one escapes from. I don’t know how long I’ve been here or when I died. There are many other ghosts here. Once we die our souls have to reach that light before we can escape from here.”
I started to panic. “What? How are you dead? Am I going to die? What’s going on?” I had so many questions.
“I’m sorry, but you are dead, gone, vanished. Now your soul is locked here and you will need to reach that light to get out.” the man replied.
I was bawling, furious, angry, and confused. “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!” I screamed.
“You died from an overdose. Your mom died three years ago and your dad passed a few days ago.” replied the man.
No! No! I can’t believe that I’m dead. I can’t be. I started screaming for Mr. Cornelius to please help me. I closed my eyes and began to cry. Then a sweet, quiet voice said “Take my hand sweetie.” I opened my eyes; it was Mrs. Cornelius, and she wasn’t human she was a magical fairy and I was shocked in disbelief. I cried in happiness. She dragged me out of the dream I was having and I opened my eyes to the real world. Mrs. Cornelius greeted me with a smile and told me I had fallen asleep while reading; she was wondering if I was hungry. I looked down to see cookie crumbs on my shirt and a melted bowl of ice cream. I always had nightmares when I ate lots of sugar. Then I looked at the book I was reading, “Ghost Stories for Beyond the Grave.”
Escaping the Asylum
Faith Wilbourne
I was an escaped convict on the run from the cops. My name is Kelten; right now, I was inside a city bus. I was anxious and sitting by myself when a young woman walked into the bus. She had bouncy lilac-dyed hair and wore a yellow cardigan. The woman seemed fun and nice, not really the type of person whose company I enjoy. “Hi, my name is Michelle. Is anyone sitting here?” inquired the same young woman who had just entered.
/> “No” I replied; hoping she would chose a different seat.
Michelle sat down next to me and started reading the Webster’s Dictionary. A torn and folded piece of notebook paper landed in my lap. It was a note from Michelle; asking if I liked to drink mayonnaise. This woman was a real basketcase I thought to myself. This insane woman made me forget that my face was popping up on the screens of TVs nationwide and that people were on a manhunt to capture me and lock me up again.
Michelle’s cellphone rang and she answered it by whispering “Hello, you’ve called the Homicide Hotline. How can I help you plan a murder?” I wondered if she was a renegade too. I heard a buzz from her phone and realized that the person on the end of the line had hung up. I looked over at her suspiciously just before she jumped out of the bus through the emergency exit. On her way out, she dropped another sloppy hand- written note in my lap that said she had just escaped from the State Mental Asylum. Michelle truly was a basketcase!
At the next stop I exited the bus, and decided to try to go hunt down Michelle; if she had escaped from an asylum she had to be somewhat intelligent and could help me while I was on the run from the fuzz. If she ever got too out of hand I could just murder her. I had nothing to lose I was sentenced to the death penalty for murdering a woman and dismembering her body. Quickly, I ran in the direction she had gone trying to find her. I was tiring fast, I really didn’t get out of my cell much in prison so I was out of shape. I stumbled to a stop on the cracked sidewalk. Gasping for air, I looked up to see Michelle. “Can I help you?” she snapped.
“Actually,yes.” I responded.
I told her my plan and about my run from the cops. She agreed to help me as long as I assisted her in hiding from the police also. I agreed. I couldn’t believe she trusted me so quickly, but she was mental. Michelle said she knew of a good place for us to spend the night; so I followed her there. We arrived at a well-forested park and entered a pavilion they had built there for parties and get – togethers.Luckily, I had packed a bag of supplies I would need to survive. It contained bed sheets, blankets, a pillow, food, and water. I had hoarded these things over time to make sure I would be prepared when I made a run for it. I gave Michelle a blanket and we both slept on the tables in the pavilion. In the middle of the night, I felt somebody’s eyes watching me. I decided to act like I was still sleeping; even though an odd feeling was settling in my gut. The next thing I knew I felt a sharp pain in my chest as something plunged into it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 I cried out in anguish and pain as a final stab of the knife entered my body. I opened my eyes to see a crazed Michelle standing over me with a blood-soaked butcher’s knife. I had double- vision and was fading in and out of consciousness as I felt warm blood stream from my stab wound onto my blanket, the table, and then finally drip to the pavilion floor. I saw a blinding light and figured this was it.
I opened my eyes to see that I was in my room at the mental asylum. A nurse had come in and turned on the light to tell me I had a visitor. “What’s the visitor’s name?” chimed in another nurse.
“Oh, it’s Michelle she has been checking in on Kelton’s progress each month.” replied the woman helping me out of my bed and into a sweater.
The nurse then asked what I had been screaming bloody-murder and flailing everywhere in my sleep about. “Nothing.” I said as she escorted me down the hallway to see my visitor. I looked into the visitation room and saw a woman who looked exactly like Michelle from my dream; I couldn’t go in there. I started to scream and thrash around. I threw things at the window looking into the visitation area. Michelle just smirked. All around me were nurses and doctors who had rushed forward to help restrain me. I was shoved onto a gurney and restrained with four-point cuffs a nurse with a syringe stood next to my gurney and injected a sedative into my thigh. “What is that woman’s name?!” I screamed.
“Michelle, she is the wife of the man you murdered. She just came to check on your progress.” replied the woman who had escorted me.
Then I blacked out because of the sedative that had just been shot into me.
The Murder Mystery
Faith Wilbourne
I woke up to the song of my ringtone blaring into my ear. Quickly I grabbed my cellphone, concerned because nobody usually calls me at 3:30 in the morning. I looked down to see it was the local police department calling. I was a forensic scientist and they must have needed me for a case. I answered; they explained to me that they would need my help on a case about the murder of a young college woman who attended the local university, Westsmith. After hanging up, I got dressed and pulled my hair back and headed down to the crime scene.
When I arrived at the scene I saw caution tape all around it and headed over. The crime had been committed at a forest near the community park. Maybe parks weren’t such a great place for kids to be I thought. The detective greeted me and explained the case. The young woman was named Allison and was 21 years old. The detective handed me a file on the case. Paper-clipped to the first page were pictures of an astonishingly stunning girl. She had long wavy brunette hair with blonde highlights. She was thin with tan skin and had big and bright green eyes. Who would want to murder somebody so happy and beautiful? I asked the detective.
“I’m not sure Jen.” replied Detective Waters.
I read through the file on Allison and saw no list of suspects.“Who are the suspects?” I inquired.
“That’s exactly why we need your help. None of her family or friends knew who would have done this to her.” responded Waters.
I walked over to Allison’s body, the orange and brown fall leaves crackled and crumpled beneath my feet.The person before me looked nothing like the girl in the pictures. Her head had several large bullet holes and her hair was matted from blood. Next to her, I saw an IPhone 5c it must have been hers; the case had a large glitter A on it. I clicked the power button and the screen lit up. Unfortunately, she had a passcode. I tilted her phone to see if there were any fingerprints. I saw some and tapped the areas they were on; the screen unlocked. I went to her messages to see if there were any suspicious ones. There was nothing really suspicious; the only ones that worried me were some texts she exchanged with a guy named Carter. He asked her to meet him at the park. They were sent the night of her death. Her text back read okay, see you there. I read through their other texts and saw that Carter had revealed to her that he had a girlfriend who died mysteriously in a murder. How suspicious, I thought. Carter was definitely on my suspect list. I scribbled his full name, Carter Fulton, in my notepad. After I exited her messages, I opened her Snapchat app. I found a cfulton12 username and looked at his story it showed who I assumed was him and Allison hanging out at a karaoke bar the night before. He had to have been the last person who saw her.
I found a green key and a hotel keycard poking out of her jacket and I took them with me. I went to the local library and I did some research on Carter. I found his Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.Luckily, none of them were on private so I was able to see all his posts and photos. He seemed like a typical college guy; enjoying life and his friends. Then I scrolled across a Facebook status saying there would be a party at his house which was 1395 Groveland Lane. It was from 2 months ago so I figured he hadn’t moved. I gave Detective Waters a ring and asked him if he would come to my suspect’s house with me.
“Yes, I will, but only if there is ample evidence for him to be considered a suspect.” he replied.
My engine roared to life as I stuck the keys in the ignition and turned on the car. When I arrived at the station the detective was already waiting for me there. Once I was inside his office, I gave him the research I had done and showed the messages and Snapchat story. “Is this enough evidence?” I questioned.
“Yes, I’ll go with you to Carter’s house right away.” responded the detective.
We pulled into the driveway of 1395 Groveland Lane. It was a nice ranch house with cream
y, light yellow siding. There were two white garage doors along with a few front windows with white frames and a white front door. Red peonies and orange tulips planted in mulch lined the porch. Both Detective Waters and I got out of his police car and walked to the front door of the home. I rang the doorbell and the same young man from the Snapchat story appeared at the door. He had floppy brown hair and brown eyes. In the background I could hear Fall Out Boy’s “Take This to Your Grave” album playing. “Hello, I’m Jen and this is Detective Waters. Recently, there was the murder of a girl named Allison. We found some texts between you two on her phone and were wondering if we could talk to you?” I told Carter.
“Sure. Come on in.” he replied.
I found it strange that Carter didn’t seem to be concerned. He told us we could sit on the couch and we did. Carter sat down in a chair across from us and we informed him of the situation. His face grew into shock and disbelief as his eyes started to water. “We were wondering if we could take a look around.” I asked.
“Wait. What? I can’t believe you would think I would do this to her!” he yelled hysterically.
“We don’t we just want to see if there’s anything we could use as evidence to solve the case; such as any belongings of hers you might have or receipts from a hotel since we found a hotel keycard at the crime scene.” Detective Waters stated.
“Fine, anything that helps.” sobbed Carter.
Both Detective Waters and I exited the room and started to search the house. In the kitchen I found a receipt from a hotel a quickly snapped a picture of it. After checking the other rooms of the house I came up with a Usb drive from his computer and a sapphire ring with Allison engraved on it. I was going to check the usb to check for anything I found unusual. Detective Waters came over to me to tell me hadn’t found anything except a small rock inside of one of his shoes that looked like some of the ones at the scene. We thanked Carter and left to go to the hotel and investigate.
At the hotel I walked up to the receptionist and explained the situation. The woman went and got her manager who happily helped us and showed us to the room that she said a young man and woman had stayed in the night before. The house keeping had obviously not been there since there visit so I snooped around. At the nightstands beside the bed, there was a lamp with a broken light bulb. Above the lamp was a framed piece of original artwork, but the glass of the frame had been shattered. I saw a lone white leather golf glove lying on the carpet and decided to take fingerprint samples from it with the equipment I had brought. In the bathroom there was an IPod that had been dropped in the sink and was connected to pink headphones. I found it odd that somebody would have dropped their IPod in the sink and not have picked it up; so I took some fingerprint samples from it also. As I walked out of the room I noticed a cellphone on the ground, it was in the very back of the closet and I took it with me. We left and thanked the manager for submitting to helping us. “No problem.” he responded.
I got in my Ford car to head back to the park. I drove to the crime scene and took fingerprints from Allison’s body and went to my office. Allison’s fingerprints and samples from the IPod matched. On the usb I found photos of guns, bullets, and knives along with the dead body of another woman and Allison’s. One of the guns matched to the type of bullets that Allison had been shot with. Not only was there this evidence but the phone I found in the hotel room had messages between Carter and someone else. The messages were graphic and Carter was texting the other person on how he was planning Allison’s murder. Allison’s murder was premeditated. His motive, he stated was to “right the wrong of society.”I phoned Detective Waters and told him the evidence from the usb, fingerprint samples, and Carter’s cellphone. “I’m going to his home and arresting him right now.” Waters exclaimed.
Once he was booked, I went and got his fingerprints and they matched to the ones I found on the lone leather golf club. Carter was interrogated and polygraphed. He refused to speak through most of the interrogation and did not pass the polygraph test. He was eventually taken to court. After his week-long trial, he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Faith Wilbourne
The Prison You Can’t Escape
It’s cold and lonely,
Dark, dreary, broken,
Screaming because you are desperate for help,
Although it is numbing,
It is painful too,
Tired of being so blue,
Empty, yet ready to explode
Others don’t have a clue,
Writings of red drip from your wrists, hips, and thighs,
Still nobody hears the cries,
Engulfed by sadness,
Starting to drown,
Your soul is a heavy anchor causing you to sink down,
Every last shred of light slipping away,
Saying one day it will be okay,
Even though hope is draining,
Leaving you with the sadness that is everyday,
Even though you want to kill yourself,
You will yourself to survive,
You don’t want to be this way,
But I don’t think it wants to be this way too,
It is like a demon slowly eating who you once knew
Jacob Walton
Anger
Like a hot summer day
It burns within me
Tasting of Vinegar and Salt
It covers me in hate
Like red boiling water ready to burst
Rumbling like thunder
It brings me my deepest thoughts
That I never knew I had
It fills me with fire
Over a million degrees
It makes me want to smash life
It crushes my soul
As rock crushes paper
The hate wants to go
The anger inside me
Is what keeps me sane
For it doesn’t control me
Nor do I it
Within us all it resides
For anger is the precursor
Of all the evil that exist
And the world’s destruction
Will be the result
The Story of Bad Luck Brian
Early Years
At age 10 Brian started realizing his bad luck. He realized that he was the only one who suffered from this bad luck. It seemed to always get hurt at recess no matter what he did. One time he stayed inside the classroom and looked out the window and watched all the kids have fun and yet he still got injured. Ms. Young was grading papers when out of nowhere a staple went flying out of the stapler when she was trying to use it. And you can guess how that tale ends.
One day Brian came home and was very upset about his bad luck. He ran straight up to his mother and said “why does life hate me?”
His mother was not the most humane person in the world, she enjoyed seeing people get hurt, she finds it funny so when Brain asked the question she knew she was in for a good story. She asked Brain “why do you think life hates you? Did you have another accident at school today?” Almost on the brink of laughing.
The boy nodded and showed her the giant bruise from where the giant fifth grader creamed him, then he showed her the staple mark and then he showed her where the desk mark was.
The mother trying to hold back laughter immediately said “oh how did all this happen to you in one day?”
The boy young and injured replied with “As I told you life hates me, all I do I either get in trouble, get hurt or even worse I hurt someone else.”
His mother not being the kindest person in the world started laughing. She quickly said “oh I sorry honey I didn’t mean to laugh at you; it is just really funny.”
His bad luck lasted throughout elementary school and middle school. He ended up having a total of 1337 injuries.Some of the major ones included, in 6th grade getting hit by a 8th grader running in the hallway and suffering a bro
ken leg, getting chased and mauled by rabid squirrels in 5th grade and finally in 8th grade getting his skull cracked open when jumping on a trampoline and it getting carried away by the wind with him on it.
