One Wish by Ollie Otter

Prologue

I was running for my life away, away from everything around me, away from school, away from my life. She made it worse, She made my life the way it was and how miserable it was, now I can’t go back and undo it all. I’m stuck with the horrible choices I made and I’m trapped. The wet leaves of the forest slop and squish around my feet. A huge wall of trees shoots from the ground and stops me. I hear her cackling with delight as I fill with horror and can’t find a way away. 

Hi my name is Ahlia and my life is perfect. I get up every morning at 6:00 am for school.  I go down stairs and greet my grandmother. I was told my mom died when I was born and my dad left for a rich wife with five kids. I was left with my grandmother and never learned of any other life. I eat breakfast and get changed and walk the 10 minute walk to school everyday. I go to St. Alred High. I’m in 9th grade and really tall for my age. A lot of the time people point and laugh at me, but I know to go to the library and leave the world into books.

I go to my first class for the day with Bob Rickelson, the school jock and captain of the boys lacrosse team and every girl's dream. I however don’t care for him the smallest bit. This just makes him even more annoying and persistent. He tries to get me to fall for him. It never works.

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight Part 2 by Madison Mikita

(I highly encourage you to read this in a British accent)

I arrived at the base of a rocky mountain, well it was more of a hill, or perhaps a knoll. On top of which was a giant cave. This is where a dragon would live right? I dismounted my trusty electric scooter and looked the mountain up and down dramatically. After that I started to climb the treacherous small hill. Soon I reached the top and peered into the ominous cave to find a door? There was a door at the end of the cave. I cautiously entered the cave and slunk to the door. Then I leaned in and heard a faint sound, as if someone was talking on the other side. 

It was at this time I questioned whether or not I should open the door. Alas, my curiosity got the best of me as I burst through the door. The scene I saw next was quite a sight to behold. 

The room was fabulous, there were glistening white walls with towering pillars lining each side and intimidating torches on each pillar that lit the room with a low flickering light. In the center was a long table with blood red cloth running down the center and on either side of the cloth were golden plates. Surrounding the table were six wooden chairs with hand carved details. And in those six chairs sat five dragons, the sixth stood next to a small table to my left in front of a large projector screen with a slideshow on it. There was a red dragon, a black dragon, a green dragon, a blue dragon, and a brown dragon sitting around the table. The dragon standing at the projector screen was a deep purple and on the table next to him was a… peculiar object. It was a small TV attached to a blue headband. I turned my perplexed stare on the dragons at the table, all of which were now staring into my soul. 

“Excuse me,” said a deep voice.  I whipped around to find that the purple dragon was speaking to me, “You have interrupted my dinner party and the release of my new product, The Teleprompter Headband™ (buy one today and you’ll get a free t-shirt).”

I straightened up and turned towards the the dragon and cleared my throat, “Are you the famous dragon who has terrorized my queen’s kingdom.” 

The dragon gasped, “Terrorize! How dare you say such a thing! I was simply trying to sell my product, The Teleprompter Headband™, to the citizens of the kingdom, it wasn’t my fault they’ve never seen a dragon before!”

I paused for a moment before responding, “Well, you must have done something terrible-”

“Nonsense, I did nothing of the sort. Your queen is a liar.” The dragon replied defensively.

“Can y’all stop this stupidity. We are in the middle of a presentation.” The Red Dragon said (who had a strong southern accent).

“Fine,” I said, “You may continue with your presentation, but while you speak, I will be waiting outside.”

The Five Senses of Comfort of Fall by Samantha Lozinski

Comfort feels like a blanket wrapped around you.

Comfort tastes like a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket wrapped around you.

Comfort looks like being at home, with the taste of a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket wrapped around you.

Comfort sounds like leaves peacefully falling, while being at home, with the taste of a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket around you.

Comfort smells like a pumpkin spice candle, with the sound of leaves peacefully falling, while being at home, with the taste of a warm drink on a cold morning, and the feel of a blanket around you.

Image Source: Pinterest

Basement Demon by Sam Rockmore

It’s me again, Sam Rockmore, the guy who made Echoes of the Fallen, and ranked Chocolate Milk and every month of the year. This, however, is a bit different. This is based on a true story, yet it fits halloween.

I think there’s a demon in my basement.



This story is how it got to this point.



April 15th, 2012, State College, PA

I opened the tagless present and found it. The tickle-me Elmo. At first, the demon spawn was civil with us, functioning how it should.



October 15th, 2013, State College, PA

“H-h-hug m-me…” cried out the demon spawn in that robotic voice that toys running out of batteries would make.

I was just sleeping in a chair, with the tickle-me Elmo under the chair. This talking woke me up, and I started screaming (I was 3 ½ years old). I did only the most feasible thing; I threw it into the basement. As I closed the door, I noticed something. It was pushing itself upright. I slammed the door and locked it.



July 17th, 2018, State College, PA

For the past five years, this thing would talk from the basement and tap on the door, trying to get back out from the basement. I went to get an Ice Cream Sandwich from the freezer in the basement, and brought a knife for self defense. It was a very large chef’s knife, and it was the sharpest knife in the house. When I went to get the ice cream, two glowing eyes were fixated on me. I immediately knew it was Elmo, so I grabbed him by the throat, took the knife, and stabbed him to the wall. I took my ice cream, and went back upstairs, thinking I had killed him. I did not.



November 12th, 2020, State College, PA

That slowed it, but didn’t stop it. It barely talked in summer, but spiked in winter, especially around Halloween, Day of the Dead, Christmas, and would even sing happy birthday, on my birthday. Every. Single. Year. Today, it let out a garbled scream, so I went into the basement with a knife. I eventually found it, chopped off everything below the chest, diced that, and spread it across the basement. Well, except for the voice box and batteries, which I kept in my room so Elmo couldn’t get it, even if it survived.  I chucked the other half into a bunch of spider webs.



December 2nd, 2021, State College, PA

It’s been talking still, even though it doesn’t have its lower body, which contains the batteries, and the voice box. I even tried mailing it to my neighbors, but to no avail. I know what I have to do.



January 3rd, 2022, Stockholm, Sweden

This part is purely theoretical. I don’t actually know what happened when it arrived in Sweden.



The demon spawn crawled out of the box and onto the street. It needed to get back, at any cost. It crawled back into the airport and was about to get past the TSA when one of the TSA people grabbed it. Its sharp metal slashed at the guy, allowing him to escape and get back to Pennsylvania.



April 1st, 2022, State College, PA

He’s back. I taped him inside his box, but he got out and returned to the basement. I don’t know what he’s doing down there, but it cannot be good.



September 23rd, 2022, State College, PA

I was in science, telling everyone at my table this story and one of them suggested sending it somewhere dangerous. Elmo won’t know what hit him.



October 15th, 2022, Pyongyang, North Korea

I have even less of an idea of what happened here, so I’m not even going to guess.



October 23rd, 2022, State College, PA

I was just checking UPS to see if stuff for Halloween was coming … He’s on his way back … UPS says that something is on its way from Pyongyang. I know for a fact that this is Elmo. What will it take to kill this thing??



Sir Gawain and the Yellow Scooter By Madison Mikita

Buzz

How would you feel if one day you woke up and glanced out your window to find a grown man in a beautifully made floppy hat holding a sleek and shiny sword in the middle of stealing your most prized possession; your yellow electric scooter. *Gasp* the AUDACITY. I know right! A man does not steal another man’s yellow electric scooter. So off I went to teach this dude a lesson. I scrambled out of bed and shuffled around the kitchen and swung the door open. However the stranger was speeding down the road with a puffed out chest and a stern look off into the distance. 

“Hey! That’s my scooter! Get back here!” I shouted at him, but the stranger kept going, not looking back. 

Then I was left there on my driveway, scooter less and pitiful. 

Sir Gawain

I felt bad for the pathetic man from whom I stole this scooter, but my horse was injured and I was in desperate need of transportation. You see, I was on a quest to fight a dragon who was a highly dangerous threat to the kingdom. I was chosen to seek out this dragon that resided in the mountains just beyond the dark forest and vanquish it, if you will. I had everything ready, my floppy hat, my leather belt, my shiny sword and my confidence. Then, unfortunately, my horse tripped over a log and fell over. I had to resort to wandering the streets of a random neighborhood. 

Now I had to find my way back on course toward the forest. So I sped through the endless amount of road until I came to a clearing with the entrance to the dark forest on the other side. 

At last! I am one step closer to my goal. With the new found excitement and hope inside me I turned the electric scooter on the highest sped, gallivanting across the field to the tree line. I proudly sped through the forest, admiring its beauty and tranquility. 

Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a dark figure who stood in front of me and accidentally ran over a tree root and crashed to the ground. I stood up quickly and approached the stranger before lifting my head to find the green knight who stood before me in the golden clearing; kissing his water bottle. 

“Sir, sir! Pardon me but why did you think that standing in the center of a path would be a good idea?” I exclaimed.

The Green Knight looked up and gave me an annoyed glance.

“Why have you come here? No one ever does, in fact there is a dragon just up there.” The Green Knight said.

I sighed, “I have come to slay the dragon you speak of. The queen herself has sent me.”

“Then why are you wasting your precious time talking to me? You should be up there slaying the day away.” He asked.

I huffed and retreated back to the scooter before mounting it. I then jolted forward a couple times before gliding past The Green Knight.

“Really though? A water bottle?” I called back as I sped forward. 

True Born Prologue by : Rachel Turner And Josephine Chmely

Prologue

“Cloud, why did you and your pack steal our prey?” Nightkiller shouted over the roaring wind and thunder.

“Because all of our territory's prey is gone! It’s winter, and all the prey has gone to the river!” Cloud shouted back.

“We know,” Nightkiller retorted. “We could have shared some of ours!”

“You’ve said that almost every winter, Nightkiller. But you never do! Why should we trust you now, after all these years?” Cloud spoke bravely into the rain.

Suddenly, a huge clap of thunder sounded around both packs. It was raining even harder now, and they couldn’t see even a deer-length ahead. The wolves heard a yelp from Cloud's side of the pack, and with that, they heard a faint sound of sizzling in the pounding rain that followed.

Nightkiller dared to move forward, to see what happened. As he got closer he saw the faint shape of Cloud lying on the slush covered ground.

“Look what happened!” barked Moon fiercely, the Luna, or Alpha Female, of the Sky Pack. “This is your fault!” As he looked closer, he saw that Cloud’s leg was staining the white snow red. There was a big wound torn into Cloud’s flesh, right to the bone that was bleeding heavily. Moon slashed Nightkiller across the face. The rest of Cloud’s pack howled, and Moon led them into war, not knowing what lies ahead…

A Witch Named Penny by Isabella Doliana

Chapter 1: The terrifying Penny…

Emma lived in the middle of the forest. She has to worry about bears, falling trees and most of all Penny. Penny is an old witch who haunts the people who live in the forest. Emma will sometimes look out the window to see Penny standing behind a tree peering into Emma’s window, but Emma was used to it. Every night she checks and Penny is always there. This night was different… 

Chapter 2: Different… 

Emma was coming home from school one day when she saw Penny standing behind the same tree. Emma was confused because Penny only comes out at night so she was getting kinda nervous. Then Penny started walking away into the woods. Emma brushed it off and went to start doing her homework. “Mom?” Emma asked. “Yes?” Emma’s mom, Lauren answered. “Did you see Penny today when we were getting out of the car?” Emma questioned. “No, I didn't see her.” Lauren said with a disappointed look on her face. Emma was confused but she went back to her homework.

Chapter 3: Penny is here…

Before Emma went to bed she looked out the window and she didn’t see Penny. She was confused but also sorta relieved. She didn’t have to worry about seeing Penny that night. Emma went to bed and she woke up randomly in the middle of the night to knocking. Emma got up to look out the window in the door. She looked out and saw a box, she also saw Penny waiting behind the tree. Emma quickly opened up the door and grabbed the box quickley shutting and locking the door behind her. Emma couldn’t fall back asleep that night and she checked her window every hour to see if Penny was out there and she wasn’t. Emma got so anxious that she decided to open the box that she thinks is from Penny. She starts to open up the box…

Chapter 4: The women in the window…

Emma opened up the box and saw a brown bag that looked like it was found outside. Emma notices that there's words on it. All it said was “Hello.” Emma was confused so she flipped it over and it said “From Penny.” Emma decided to find a piece of paper and write “Hi?” then “Anonymous” She then placed it back in the box and set it outside the door. Two minutes later she heard another knock on the door. She quickly ran over and looked out the window on the door, she saw Penny standing right at the door staring into space. She waited for Penny to leave then quickly opened the door and grabbed the box. The paper this time said “I know your name is Emma.” Emma was startled and decided not to reply that night. 

Chapter 5: Here she comes…

Emma was able to fall asleep again but when she woke up she looked out the window to see Penny walking up to the door. Emma thought she was looking for the box but she remembered that she didn’t write anything so she decided to find the box and write, “How do you know my name?” She looked back over at the window to see that Penny was walking away. She decided to quickly put it outside but Penny must have heard the door open so she came running. Emma saw her running so she quickly shut the door and double checked to make sure it was locked. She saw Penny in the window.

Chapter 6: The response…

Emma needed to leave for school but Penny was waiting at the door writing a response. Penny finally left and Emma grabbed the box. She opened the box and it said, “There's something you should know but it's not the right time.” Emma was scared and disappointed, she really wanted to know what she needed to know. She decided to reply right away saying, “Wait, what!? What do I need to know?” She left the box outside the door then left for school. That day was very gloomy and windy. It was raining and the wind felt like a hurricane. Emma returned home to find the box sitting on the ground in front of the door.

Chapter 7: Who knows?

“Emma! Emma come down here please!” Lauren yelled but Emma didn’t hear her. “Emma, get down here right now!” Emma was busy reading and writing the letter to Penny. “Coming mom!” Emma responded. She ran down the stairs. “Mom what do you want?” Emma asked. “Who is Penny?” Lauren responded. “There's notes in our trash bins outside that say ‘From Penny’! Why did I find like 13 of them?” Emma was shocked. “Mom. That's from Penny, the witch. How could you forget?” Emma asked. Lauren took a deep breathe. There was a knock on the door. Emma found another box. This time it said…

Chapter 8: Exist

Her mom grabbed it from out of her hands and slammed it on the kitchen table. “EMMA! PENNY IS NOT REAL!” Lauren said. Emma had no words. “But I have been getting notes from her!” Emma responded. She grabbed the note and read it aloud. “Emma, I am not real. I died many years ago. I died about 300 years ago today. That's why you're reading this right now. Many people before you have read this note, this same exact note and they were all shocked like you probably are now. But I am afraid, this is goodbye.” Emma was shocked and her mom said “Penny is not here anymore.”

"The Guardian" by Amelia Pearson

The Guardian

I whisper your name

Dare to breathe it

Say it a little louder, till suddenly I'm screaming

Shouting it out

Because no one can hear


Because I'm not even saying anything at all

Instead, I'm sitting in my room

Writing down my thoughts of you

And maybe i'll send it in a letter

So you know I'm here for you


But don't you worry

No need to respond

I'm listening out for you




INTERNATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH DAY by Carolyn Frank

I can’t sleep at night, 

But I can’t stay awake during the day,

I need help,

No one will help me,

“I can’t come today”

But I know i can

People don’t like me

And I think I don’t care

But I do.

This is how the world works,

People say I worry for nothing,

But I can’t help it,

People say i’m being dramatic,

But it doesn’t help me,

People say I need to calm down,

But I just need to sleep…


[Don’t be insensitive if people are insecure about themselves- it doesn’t help you and it doesn’t help them.]



"Away on the Roof" by Amelia Pearson

I'm sitting on the roof

Staring at the clouds

Lost in thought

There is not a sound


My hand feels the moss

That surrounds me

My breath comes out in a puff

The cold surrounds me in a hug


But I’ll sit up here until night comes

And then climb up again, in the morning sun


I'll spend my days up here forever

As my mind drifts to the future

The future of the next day

And the end of all that came

Daydreaming on this roof 

So that I can be away



"When I don't know what to write..." by Craig Adkins

When I don’t know what to write, 

I take a walk,

 I take a shower, 

I think about life, then eat.

 If those don’t work,

 I take a walk, 

I cry in bed,

 take a shower,

 think about life,

 then eat.


If those still don’t work,

 I take a walk,

 I play some games,

 cry in bed,

 take a shower,

 think about life,

 then force myself to write.

"Secret After the Rain" by Amelia Pearson

It's raining outside, but if you don't look out the window you may never know

It’s sunny in the safety of your room

But once the storm is over the flowers will bloom

And do the flowers only look so bright

Because of the storm they just survived?

You may never know if you don’t go outside


So  grab your hat and jacket and step through the door

And walk through the rain so that you can see the sunshine

And it will shine brighter than before

because now you will appreciate it more


And when you burrow down in the warmth of your house

It will be warmer and safer than the rest

Warmer than the people who would rather never know,

And better than the people who don't know the cold



"The Window of Reality" by Samantha Lozinski

I look through the window. The window that shows me to reality. The window that I can never seem to lock my eyes at all of the time, and always seem to forget about. The window is always there, with the glass shimmering and clean, because it is often not touched, by yourself, and others. You always have the option to look through it, but a lot of people don’t.

Echoes of the Fallen by Samuel Rockmore

Prologue

Fred was a basic cultist, lurking in a secret room of the cult fortress, taking weapon inventory. His cult had attempted to ransom the Light Aegis, which infuriated the Chaos Queen, Pyra. He didn’t think much of it, because if you ransom somebody’s friend, it’s no wonder they’d be angry. 

Suddenly, he heard something crash through the roof. He heard fighting, and stayed in the basement until it was over. He opened the basement door, and realised that the basement had been torn off of the rest of the building. 

He took an escape pod back to the base, only to realise that it didn’t exist anymore. All there was, was bits of rubble and corpses, floating in the bleak void of space. All he saw was the back end of a ship, and the Chaos Queen. That moment, he had sworn revenge on Pyra, and would not stop pursuing her.

Chapter 1

One Year Later

It was one year after she had attacked that cult base. She had taken over the Realm of the Core, the neighboring realm, and was sick of fighting, so she decided to take a vacation on Planet AL-56. Halfway through the journey to Planet AL-56, a cultist snuck in. Pyra fell asleep in her chair; this was the perfect time to strike.

Fred’s Perspective

I managed to sneak onto the Chaos Queen’s ship. It’s a huge, spacious vessel. Lots of gold, rubies, and even the illusive McDonald’s Playplace. Floating around in space for an entire year was miserable, but now I can take my revenge!  I wander this labyrinth of a ship, and eventually reach the cockpit. 

The Chaos Queen was not how I pictured her, she has neck-length, pinkish-red hair, and is about five foot eight. She’s asleep in her chair, with the autopilot running; Now is the perfect time to strike. I raise my knife above her heart; when I’m about to stab, she wakes up. She wrestles the knife out of my hand and swipes at my throat. I manage to narrowly block it, but now my arm is bleeding. She then counters with a blast of fire magic, knocking me into the wall. She grabs her sword, which looks like you could hit somebody once with it and break all their bones. The sword also has these three protruding crystals on one side; they shoot lasers.

 I do believe that trying to fight her was a mistake. She swings her sword at me, but I narrowly dodge, and her sword is stuck in the wall. I run to the other side of the cockpit and grab my knife. There was no use trying to run out of the room, because, as this fight proved, she is much faster than expected. She unlodges her sword from the wall, and is back to swinging it at my head. I know that I won’t last long fighting her, so I have to get away. How, though? 

I decide to swipe at her leg with my knife, which slows her down a bit. She tries to hit me with her sword, but misses, and hits the main terminal. I take my chance and run, but before she can catch me, an asteroid crashes into the centre of the ship, and the two halves crash on a nearby planet.

Chapter 2

Pyra’s Perspective

I wake up in the broken cockpit. All my weapons are gone, and so is that moron that crashed my ship. This planet doesn’t like the one I was going for. It’s very swampy, and I hear rain. It’s dim under the canopy of the trees. Smoke rises in the distance, presumably from the other half of my ship. I have the stuff to rebuild the ship, except for metal; I have to ransack my own ship. This is going to be a pain. This planet is very small, about the size of Rhode Island. If I’m fast, I can reach the other half of my ship in about two days. I grab a bag of stuff from my ship and venture on.

Fred’s Perspective

I wake up, face in the mud. Smoke rises from the distance, presumably from the other half of the ship. My knife is nowhere to be found, meaning I have to make weapons to kill the Chaos Queen. 

I find a stick and a sharp looking rock; so I make a spear. Unfortunately, all the food was in the cockpit, so I’ll have to hunt to get food. Something glitters in the distance. It’s so alluring . . . I have to go get it! I end up running into the forest and find a sapphire dagger. As I’m about to pick it up, some guy darts past, stealing the dagger before I can grasp it in my hand. His footprints led to a large building, and I know this’ll be difficult.

Chapter 3

Pyra’s Perspective

I’ve been venturing in the woods, searching for anything useful for taking down that moron. A yellow crystal lights up in the distance, and I immediately recognize it. The only jewel in the Omniverse of Chaos that looks like that is Fignes Crystal; an ultra-rare crystal used to power weapons made by Fignes himself. That’s definitely my sword. I run over there. 

When I’m just about to grab my sword, some guy comes out of nowhere and grabs it. The mud is slowing him down, so I catch up to him. I try to yank my sword out of his hand, but he’s holding on so violently that instead of tearing the sword from his hand, I ended up tearing off the whole arm. The guy screams in agony, so I take my sword, and put him out of his misery. I point my sword to the sky, and it erupts in flame. That’ll serve as a warning for anyone else who tries to mess with me. 

As I continue on, I almost trip over a metal rod. When I look up, it turns out to be a broken cell tower. It’s not in ruins, just the wires are cut. Luckily, the stuff I grabbed from my ship will come in handy. I get to work on fixing the wires.

Fred’s Perspective

I sneak into the building, and realize what this is. A thieves guild. They almost definitely have a ship here. I run through the building, fighting anyone who stops me. I wind up on the prison level, and I’m fighting the warden. I take a jab for his throat with my spear, but he grabs and snaps it, and throws me down the spiral staircase into the basement. I catch a glimpse of an elevator to my right, and I take the elevator to the building’s top floor. There’s a ship here!

Chapter 4

Pyra’s Perspective

The cell tower is now working, so I contact my Omniverse. If they see a ship rising from this planet, they’ll shoot it down. I’ll take an escape pod, while that moron is trapped in a flaming ship.

I keep going and find a building. A sign hangs outside an entrance,“Totally not a thieves guild.”  It’s a thieves guild. 

I go in, since they might have a ship. I run up the stairs, lighting every floor on fire. When I reach the top floor, I see that moron trying to unlock the ship. If my trick works, I shouldn’t have to fight him. I approach the ship, but that moron grabs a sword. He tries to jump and go for the throat, but I bat him down. I blast him with fire magic but he takes a swipe at my foot. I try to bash him in the heart with my sword, but narrowly miss, shattering every bone in his arm. He tries for a revenge hit, but the swords collide, causing his sword to shatter.

“Look, I don’t wanna fight, just get on the stupid ship.” He fell for it, and now we’re blasting off.

Fred’s Perspective

While the Chaos Queen thinks that we’ve truced, I’m still ready to take her down. I look out at space. Despite the fact that I was trapped there for a year, it’s still beautiful. Wait, are those warships? When Pyra escapes in an escape pod, I realize what’s happened. She’s now standing on the balcony of the biggest ship, giving the command to open fire. Lasers burn through the ship. Various bits are pulled into a black hole. I realize, even if I escape the ship, I’m still in a predicament because of the extreme black hole gravity. No piece of the ship is any bigger than an onion now. The black hole yanks me in and I realize that I’ll never be able to leave.




NATIONAL CAT AND DOG GUT HEALTH AWARENESS DAY POEM by Carolyn Frank and Josephine Schiff

NATIONAL CAT AND DOG GUT HEALTH AWARENESS DAY. A Poem for the day.

My carpets are stained,

My dogs smell bad,

Smelly and dirty

And the cat just threw up,

Their very own fur,

today is a day, 

My pets are sick,

I want to cry,

Because today is a day,


To remember the spy,

That fed our pets,

A chunk of meat,

Gooey and gross

Image Source: DVM360

Unordinary Events Parts 6 and 7 by Madison Mikita

Unordinary Events Part 6

The next day I was walking through the hallway when I heard a voice call my name.

“Hailey! Hailey!” I whipped around to find Charlie weaving in and out of the sea of kids as they thundered past. 

“Hey!” I said. That was the first time I had seen him since last night, so it was interesting to see him in school and not in an underground bunker. 

“Hi, have you seen Leah? I want to ask her if she has any questions about anything. Also she was purple, then orange, then red for a little bit so I want to see if she is okay.” Charlie said.

I shook my head, “No, haven’t seen her. I’ll tell her your looking for her.” I called before being pushed by the crowd in the other direction. I my next class was ELA which was not far away. I stepped into the classroom and looked around. Cynthia was in this class, so was Bri. I sat in my usual seat and pulled out my chromebook to work on my essay, my hand brushed the handbook as I remembered the events of last night. All the other students had no idea that I could fly, Cynthia could hear the future, and Bri can turn lights on and off with her mind. It gave me a sense of power, but also a sense of responsibility. What if I randomly started hovering in my seat without noticing? What if I was startled by a loud noise and rocketed up to the ceiling again? I had to pretend that everything was normal. I had to pretend  Cynthia and Bri were strangers to me. I opened my laptop as if everything was fine and began to work. In the middle of class the loud speaker crackled to life.

“Attention students, a tornado has formed not far from the school. We are now going into an emergency tornado drill.” The announcer said. 

The teacher silenced everyone as others whispered and began to panic. It didn’t matter to me anymore about the whole pretended that I never met Cynthia or Bri thing, I turned to them and whispered, “There were no warnings, it must have just appeared out of nowhere.” Bri leaned forward as Cynthia nodded. 

Cynthia leaned in and whispered, “This isn’t a regular tornado, it must be a result of magic.”

“It could be a past chosen child.” Bri suggested. 

“If it is a person with powers we need to get everyone out of here, and fast.” I concluded.

I glanced at Cynthia and nodded to signify to use her powers. The teacher lead us into the hallway where kids were already ducking their heads in their hands. I located Leo and Charlie and spotted EJ coming out of another classroom. I sat and faced the wall in between Cynthia and Bri. We ducked down, I glanced at Cynthia to meet her gaze. 

“Crows and footsteps.” She whispered.

I nodded then whispered back, “Wait, crows?”

Cynthia nodded and shrugged. I turned back to the wall and squeezed my eyes shut. I tried to brainstorm, I tried to plan and use logic. But all I had were two words, crows and footsteps. Footsteps could be people running, so we would have to run either way. Then there was the word “crow”. I didn’t know if they would be good or bad or significant or not but I started to brainstorm their weaknesses. I heard people crouch down into their spots and heavy, panicked breath going in and out. My heartbeat increased, thumping in my ears and all throughout my body. Suddenly the sound of whirling wind flooded my ears rapidly. I tensed up and squeezed my eyes shut. I was scrunched up with my hands supporting my head. The headache in my head increased. 

Then the walls began to crumble, and the screaming began. It was a mix of panic and the reason everyone was panicking. Kids got up and ran for their lives as teachers scolded them. I quickly stood up and pulled Cynthia with me. I caught a glimpse of Leo, Charlie, and EJ and drew Cynthia and Bri to me as I pushed through the crowd to get to them. 

Someone had to come together and figure out how to stop this and get everyone out. 

The problem was we were the only ones who could.

Unordinary Events Part 7

“LEO, CHARLIE, EJ!” I shouted while tugging Cynthia and Bri with me. 

They ran up to us as we started to lead the others to the end of the hallway.

“What’s happening!” EJ asked over all the screaming.

I ran along side them as Bri said, “Someone conjured a tornado and directed it toward the school.”

My heart pounded wildly in my chest, my eyes were blinded by fear. The waves of people running in every direction crashed and whirled around. 

“Whoever they are aren’t just trying to destroy the school and everyone inside of it, they’re going after us most likely.” Cynthia said as we made it to the end of the hallway and burst through the doors. Kids streamed out of the school like slime, running for their lives. The school swayed and crumbled. 

“But,” I said, “They will gladly rip everything to piece if that means they could get to us.”

 We stopped to catch our breath, everyone looked at me.

“So, do we fight, or do we hide?” Leo asked us, his gaze swept over us as we thought it through. But I wasn’t going to let someone destroy everyone, not when I could have done something to stop it. So I looked up from the ground, stared into Leo’s eyes, and said…

“We fight.”

Everyone nodded. 

I smiled, and turned around to see a gray tornado whipping wildly toward us. 

“We should get up onto the roof, that way we get a better view of the tornado and whoever is controlling it.” Cynthia said. Then Leo whisked his hands and made the nearby picnic table fly up into the air so Bri, Leo, Charlie and Cynthia could climb on.

“Wait, you can control things other than pencils!” EJ exclaimed as his jaw dropped.

“Yeah, I stayed up all night experimenting  with my powers, I can do a lot more than lift pencils now.” Leo confirmed. 

Once everyone got on, Leo pushed his hands forward and made the picnic table fly up to the roof. EJ teleported and I pushed off from the ground. The wind whipped in my face, my legs dangled in the air for a moment before landing on the roof. I started to run to the other end of the roof, the others followed quickly behind me. 

“Um… Haley, I think I see something by the tornado.” Charlie said as he caught up to me.

I glanced at him before looking out on the area in which he pointed to. There was nothing but the tornado and a cliff.

“Huh? Where?” I asked.

“There is a glow, like the ones I see around people. It’s orange and I think that means that the person that gives off a orange glow is determined. I see orange wherever people look confident.” He said.

“Soo, Charlie can see emotions in the form of colors.” Cynthia said as she appeared on my right. 

Charlie said, “I guess I can.” He smiled as we arrived on the far side of the schools roof. The thumping footsteps of the others came to a stop. 

We formed a line facing the tornado, all trying to feel strong and sure. But the fear that was tucked away in the back of my mind seemed to bang on the doors, wanting to be let out. But I couldn’t let it consume me. 

“We need to split up, someone needs to get people out of the school, someone has to block the tornado, and someone has to go talk to the enemy.” Cynthia said. 

Leo said, “I’ll block the tornado and move it somewhere else.”

“Me and Charlie will go talk to the enemy.” I suggested.

Charlie and I exchanged glances as Bri replied, “Trying to talk a psychopath out of doing something won’t make a difference.”

“Well, we have to try.” I said. 

We split up, Bri getting people out of the school, while Cynthia and Leo tried to steer the tornado somewhere else. 

“C’mon.” EJ beckoned Charlie over. 

Charlie walked over to him anxiously and touched his shoulder, then in a blink of an eye and a flash of purple light, they were gone. I got a running start then jumped off the roof. I soared threw the wild wind and dodged flying objects in the sky. 

To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. 

The wind whipped in my hair I tried to spot Charlie. I sped up when I caught sight of a cliff behind the tornado. I flew around the tornado, and found Charlie waving his hands frantically from behind a bush. He pointed at the cliff, and there they were, the enemy controlling the tornado. I almost screamed, I clamped my mouth shut and bolted to the bush. 

“Who is that!?” I whispered harshly.

“I don’t know.” Charlie said. 

I grabbed a stick laying on the ground next to me, it wasn’t a sword but it was decent. 

“C’mon.” I said.

I stood up and briskly walked over to the person, she had black hair with white stands and a dark cloak covering her body. Her hands were pushed out in front of them, her stance was wide. She seemed to be controlling the tornado and pushing it towards the school. 

“HEY!” I shouted. She whipped around as her icy glare landed on me.

“We… uh, were sent to help you.” I lied. 

She looked us up and down, then back at her work.

“Why would the Dark Army send a bunch of kids to help me?” She said more sarcastic than interested. 

“We can shapeshift, this is one of our forms.” I lied, again. I had no clue where I was going with this.

“Y-ya.” Charlie added nervously. 

That would probably give us away.

The woman looked back to us. 

“We both know thats a lie.” She said, unbothered, “You’re just a couple of kids from that school who think they know what they are doing.”

Called it.

“Why are you driving that tornado into the school?” I asked.

She laughed under her breath before answering.

“Some people in that school think they are more powerful than us, I’m here to prove them wrong and show them that it’s better to give in than fight back.” 

I tightened my grip on the stick, “You’re wrong.” 

I lounged and knocked her down to the ground, the minute she let her focus go the tornado slowed down, as if it were in slow motion. I used the stick to pin her to the ground as Charlie started to kick her. She pushed us off and kicked us to the ground. She went back to controlling the tornado. 

“I can’t deal with you two anymore.” She said.

“I can help with that.” A voice from behind us said. 

I whipped around, only to find a hooded figure with a dark cloak. I stood up quickly, so eager to find out who was hiding beneath it. 

Then, a hand reached up and pulled the hood out of their face. 

It was Leah.

She was not the same Leah I had known before. She was pale and cold, like the life had been sucked out of her. Leah had changed, but why? What happened to the warm sympathetic girl I met on the bus? 

“Hello Haley and Charlie.” She said.

Charlie beamed, “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! Where were you?”

Leah smirked as she replied, “I was, meeting new friends.” She motioned to the woman who was controlling the tornado beside her. 

It occurred to me then that Leah was no longer on our side. 

Charlie’s face dropped, “No, no, no, Leah those people are trying to tear the school apart!” 

“I know.” Leah said.

Then she slowly raised her hands to where they were stretched out beside her and tilted her head back. 

Then she said only one word, “Attack.” 

Suddenly a murder of crows swooped down from the trees and charged at me and Charlie. Without thinking I grabbed Charlie’s sleeve and pulled him with me as we ran. I could hear the flutter and flapping of wings and the deafening calls behind me as the end of the cliff came closer and closer until…

We jumped. 

My feet left the ground as Charlie shrieked. We fell, screaming until our throats burned. My mind spun, I needed to take control. The world whirled around, my mind whipped and blurred. The panic inside me rose and we kept falling. I gripped Charlie’s arm, flipped right side up, and pushed on an invisible force that sent me rocketing up to the sky. I smiled as the thought came to me, I did it. I glanced down at Charlie who was dangling and gripping my arm with all his might. Fear was in his eyes, but also relief. I set him down on the roof and shot back to Leah. 

“Looks like you forgot I have powers too.” I said as her face shifted into a look of pure agony. 

Suddenly she called her crows back on me. 

Now it all made sense, Cynthia’s prediction and Leah’s mysterious power. 

I snapped back to the present, to the crows charging straight at me. I turned around and swooped toward the tornado. The crows were gaining on me, but I kept racing to the tornado. At the last second I swerved and the crows ran into the raging tornado. I glanced back at Leah and the woman. 

Leah screamed, “NOO!” 

Then it all happened so fast.

Leah dropped down to her knees while accidentally knocking the woman over. Leo pushed the tornado towards them. They were sucked into the tornado. Leo shrank the tornado, Leah, and the woman as Bri came running over with an empty water bottle. The tornado was moved into the water bottle. The water bottle lid was shoved on. 

Then it was all over. 

Bri held the deadly water bottle in her hand as everyone stared at it with amazement.