Black as Night

A soulful short story by: Cloud27

“Hurry up, Amy!” said Amber, as the sky began to darken. The winds had changed since early that morning and had now escalated to gale force winds. “I told you to hurry up,” she repeated.

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” exclaimed Amy.

The sky had turned from drab gray to a menacing black in a matter of minutes and was now starting to rain. The two girls raced outside and planted their equipment on the ground. The two then started chanting a divination spell and began dancing around in circles. “Hurry,” Amber said. “I don’t think the darkening sky is what you would call a good omen.” As the girls continued to chant, they looked up just in time to see a soaring raven in the sky.

“What’s a bird doing in a place like this?” Amy asked. The raven turned left and right and then left and right again. Almost as if showing them that it wanted to lead them somewhere. They had checked the news that day, and it had said that almost all the streets in New Orleans had become desolate, due to the approaching hurricane. “Amber, I think it wants to take us somewhere.”

“Why would a random bird near the coast of New Orleans want to take us somewhere?” asked Amber.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling. Come on!” cried Amy.

The raven led them on and on until they reached a dark alley. The grotesque smell of rotting food and week-old garbage filled the alley with a foul stench. The mysterious bird then disappeared as quickly as it had come, flying overhead, past a decaying old tree. Just as the girls began to wonder why the raven had led them to such a place, they suddenly sensed something approaching them, out of the darkness. In unison, they turned their heads in response to a small, yet menacing groan. Too scared to move or speak, they found themselves staring into a set of glistening ice-blue eyes which glared back at them, as it began to slowly approach. They could see that, whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t friendly.

The girls ran as fast as they could, but they soon realized they could not outrun this beast. As the girls ran to the end of the alley, the creature descended upon them in what seemed like less than a second. It held out its long, gangly arms to the two girls. Although they were scared to death, they heard a faint voice in the distance. In a split second, there was nothing, nothing more than the horrendous, dying screech of the creature standing right in front of them.

Suddenly, it went silent.

The next thing they knew, the girls were sitting face-to-face with the creature that moments before had tried to attack them. Although the two girls were fixated on the horrible creature, they noticed something strange – the creature had become a statue. As they looked more closely, they discovered something shiny sticking out of the creature, just past what appeared to be its stomach. There, lodged deeply within the beast, at nearly a perfect right angle, was a very large, thick-handled blade.

Befuddled and more than afraid, the two girls looked behind the statue-beast and found a man. He had the same piercing, ice-blue eyes as the creature, and had long, glistening, silver hair. The man stood tall, in a pitch black cloak from neck to toe.

“Hello ladies,” the man said, in a quiet voice. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of your acquaintances.”

“No, we’ve NEVER met. I’m quite sure of it,” responded Amber. As she pointed to the creature, she added, “Do you even know what this thing is?”

“No, I don’t, however, I do know they have been on the hunt for humans for quite some time. So I, in response, have been on the hunt for these hideous beasts.”

“Do you know how to safely get us out of here?” asked Amy.

The man paused for only a moment, as if listening for something, and then quickly responded, “Follow me.” He seemed to emit an aura of happiness, yet at the same time, despair. The girls had never met a person quite like him.

The man led them to a door on the side of the alley. He tried the door and sighed heavily as he realized it was locked. “What do we do now?” gasped Amy, as her calm reserve was quickly becoming mixed with panic.

“Don’t worry, where there’s a will, there’s a way” responded the man. He quickly pulled his blade out of the cement-like statue, went to the door, and severed the door in half as quickly as a lightning bolt. “Ladies first” the man said.

Beyond the door was a vast corridor, blanketed by darkness. The man lit a match and they walked on. “Who are you?” Amber asked.

“My name is Harken,” the man replied. “And I’m but a simple yet controversial deity.”

“Although I don’t know what that is, thank you for helping us.” Amy muffled.

“No problem.” Harken replied.

Harken and the two girls walked on and on for what seemed like hours. They finally stumbled upon a lit room. Within the room stood four statues of different deities, each with different facial expressions. From the middle of the room stood a bright, glowing light. The energy being emitted was immediately obvious, as the noisy vibrations were enough to make your teeth chatter.

“Wow!” shouted Amy. As she drew ever closer to the glowing ball of energy, flashbacks danced in her head. The glowing ball seemed to get brighter.

“NO! Don’t touch it!” shouted Harken, above the noise of the vibrating orb. But it was too late, for as Harken spoke the words, Amy gently touched the orb. In response, it erupted with a blinding light. Amy, not knowing what to do, placed the orb back to its original spot and the room was lit normally again. Amy fell to the floor.

Suddenly, the raven was back! It flew into the room, gently perched its talons upon Amy’s shoulders, and closed its eyes. The room went black for only an instant, and then the lights came back on. Amy stood up. “What happened?” she said.

“You fainted” said Harken. “You would have been in a coma for months if this raven hadn’t saved you.”

“OK, what is going on?” Amber shouted.

Harken sighed, “Well I guess it’s about time I told you. You see, not many people try to chant divine spells. But, as it turns out, I found several people who do and that’s you two. If you both touch this orb at the same time, that horrible calamity outside will stop.”

“But I don’t want it to do to me what it did earlier!” Amy exclaimed.

“Don’t worry,” Harken replied. “That won’t happen. Besides if it did, Aran would heal you.”

“Who is Aran?” Amber stuttered.

“My pet raven,” Harken said joyfully.

“And what is that glowing orb over there?” said Amy.

“Oh, that – it’s pure, divine energy that can only become awakened if you two touch it,” Harken barked.

“One more thing,” Amy said. “I noticed I had a bunch of flashbacks going through my head. What was that?”

“Those were not flashbacks, but the future. That’s what divine means,” Harken explained.

“This all seems so bizarre,” Amber interrupted.

“Yeah, it must. But I need you to touch that divine energy.”

“We will,” Amber sighed. The girls stepped to the divine energy and gently touched it, creating a radiant light that filled the air with hope. Outside, the dull black skies turned a brilliant blue, and the hurricane Katrina decayed into nothing more than a gentle breeze, leaving only a beautiful sunset. To this day, no one knows what happened to Amber and Amy. Their mysterious disappearance is still considered a strange phenomenon.

Battle Cries

An epic story by: BigLipBubba52

The dark and gloomy coast line loomed before the legions of Rome, their boats swaying violently in the dark and black sea. The Roman legion’s order was to expunge the Greek fort of all Greek rebels. The emperor, Julius Caesar, had grown tired of the rebellion against his Empire. He wanted the rebellion totally crushed with every rebel laying dead on the ground.

Marcus Julius, second in command of his centuria, and Vexus Maximus, the leader of that same centuria, stood next to each other in one of the many Roman galleys. Marcus’s head dripped with sweat as he wondered if he and his friend would survive the night. Flashes of lightning flew across the sky as though Zeus was throwing them. The Romans knew their gods could kill the Greek gods. They knew Jupiter would beat Zeus. Also fighting that night was Ares and Mars, the gods of War of Greece and Rome. The main fight was between Neptune, Roman god of the sea, and Poseidon, Greek god of the sea. Waves crashed into the galleys of the Roman legions throwing some soldiers overboard.

On the other side of the fort, a second Roman attack force was prepared by Mark Ceres. He commanded at least ten thousand Romans to attack the fort from behind. He knew that the two forces would utterly crush the Greek savages. They could hear a loud horn echo from the other side and knew the attack had begun. They marched toward the bleak fort with confidence.

The Roman galleys’ slave crews rowed forward toward the coast. “Finally,” Marcus said with excitement, “we get to spill Greek blood.”

“Just make sure it’s not your own,” Vexus humorously warned.

Arrow shafts began to fly past them, some making contact with a limb. “Take cover!” Vexus barked. All the Romans immediately took cover under their shields. Their boats hit the moist sand, and they began the assault.

Mark Ceres’ group was met by a few sentries, who they immediately killed without mercy. They continued toward the field where the real fighting would emerge. When they arrived at the field and on looking at the fort, they were met by swordsmen and pike men. Ceres’ army was reinforced by Vexus’ army who surrounded the first pack of frenzied Greeks. The Greeks kept ramming into the bright red Roman shields like many battering rams, but the Romans did not give way. Within fifteen minutes of intense fighting, the Romans had cleared most of the counter assault. The beach was covered in a dark reddish blood. They had taken the beach and were now ready to join the onslaught on the Field of Strife.

As their legions regrouped, a fast moving flaming rock was hurled at them, instantly killing four Romans. Vexus shouted out in pain as a flaming piece of shrapnel lodged into his flesh. He tore it out and continued the fight.

“Are you alright, Sir?” Marcus asked concerned for his friend.

“I’ll live,” Vexes replied. “Now we must get into that fort and take it.”

“Yes Sir,” Marcus obeyed saluting before going to tell the others.

Drums began to beat, as the Romans marched forward to greet their hosts. Arrows flew down upon them from the sky, which was made black from the arrows. Many men fell to the arrow volleys, but the Romans kept marching forward with Vexes and Ceres at the front.

Ceres looked godlike, carrying his mighty sword, crafted by Vulcan, the Gods’ blacksmith. Vexes seemed to be possessed by Mars, the god of war. Vexes slew any in his path. Thunderbolts came down upon the fortress. The Romans knew Jupiter was throwing these flaming bolts of power. Rocks came crumbling off the fort, as lighting made heavy contact with it.

As the Romans drew closer to the fort, the Greeks tried to make one last stand, with what seemed all of them charging against the assaulters. The Romans drew their swords and braced themselves for the oncoming onslaught. Vexes jumped out from the many legions, appearing like Mars and attacked all the Greeks. He slew many when he shouted, “ATTACK! Show no mercy!”

Both sides attacked with brutality. Many were slain and the ground was covered with the bodies of the dead. Then, from out of the dust, a gigantic man came out of the many Greeks. He wielded a two- handed ax that looked to be crafted by Mt. Olympus’s blacksmith. This man seemed to have the power of Ares himself.

The "giant" and Vexus engaged in combat. The fight was brutal and killed many unfortunate enough to get in the way. The swings dealt heavy blows to each of the two, but finally with a blow to the giant’s head, the Greek man fell to the ground with a thud. Vexus was victorious, and he took up his foe’s deadly two-handed ax. He then charged into the rest of the fight, killing many more.

Ceres, with his godly sword, was slaying many, when an arrow was fired into his chest. His armor somehow blocked the blow as he said, “Thank the gods that my armor protected me from the blow.” He then heaved himself back into the battle. Dawn finally came, with Apollo, the Greek god of the Sun, flying across the sky with his chariot and four horses providing light on the bleak battle scene.

Marcus did not look up at the light but kept killing the Greeks. The Greeks were losing many men, but so were the Romans. Marcus was slowly fighting his way away from his Legion and soon he was outnumbered and surrounded. He tried to slay his way through the Greeks, but they kept coming at him. He felt a quick spark of pain fly through his stomach, as he realized he had been stabbed. Another jab from behind made him shout out in pain. Knowing it was the end, Marcus kept fighting through the bitter pain. Another quick jab from a sword entered his flesh, making him drop his shield. The many Greeks kicked his shield away leaving Marcus defenseless. Marcus drove his sword deep into the forehead of an attacking Greek. He began to feel dizzy from the loss of blood.

Marcus yelled out with pride, “Rome will kill you rebellious scoundrels! It’s just a matter of time!” He was about to continue when a Greek drove a spear into Marcus’ chest, knocking the wind out of him. He took the spear and drove the other end into the Greek pike man. He spat out blood onto the ground, feeling the end was coming. He then took the spear out, yelling out in pain. He was losing a lot of blood and was becoming very dizzy when Vexus stepped next to his friend and killed all the Greeks around them.

Marcus was then struck in his back by an arrow, which splintered through his armor and into his skin. Four more arrows made contact with him, which were the final blows. He fell to the ground gasping for his last breaths. His last words were, “Rome will conquer all.”

Vexus saw his friend’s body and went into a blood frenzy, killing any Greek who stood before him. He ran into the mass of Greek Legions chanting battle cries that made the Greeks run away in fear. He leaped into the Greeks, killing many before a spear was thrust into his back and he too fell to the floor. He staggered back up, and leapt back at the Greeks, but now the Greeks started to run in disorder. Vexus looked back to see reinforcements arriving from the sea. He cheered aloud chanting, “We have won the day!” Then, he spotted Marcus’s corpse and sobbed for his lifelong friend.

Ceres’ legion was in the way of the retreating Greeks. He knew there would be more bloodshed on this Field of Strife. The Greeks slammed into the fatigued forces of Ceres. The Romans killed many, when from behind, Vexus’s legion slammed into the rear of the last of the savage Greeks. The Greeks all lay dead within half an hour. The Romans began their praises and prayed for the dead, knowing they had won, but at a heavy price. Many men from both Greece and Rome had fallen and were ferried across the River Acheron, in the Underworld by Hades’ ferryman, Charon. In the realm of Hades, no one can hear their great Battle Cries.

The Big Bang

A GinniGirl story...

“Get up you sleepy head,” mom yelled up the stairs. It rang through my ears as I slouched out of bed. My bed was warm under my blankets, but when I unwrapped myself from the warmth and stepped out of bed, a cold breeze from my window danced around my legs. I went to the bathroom and turned on the water for my shower. While waiting for the water to warm up, I went to look outside. The forecast looked bad because when I looked to the west I saw the storm. The clouds were dark as night and moving fast. My weeping willow was weeping as bad as I was. I went to take my shower. I was distracted by thinking about the storm and wasn’t paying attention. The shampoo stung my eyes and nose. I quickly turned off the water and went to get dressed. After that I ran down stairs to get some breakfast. Mom met me with some toast in hand.

“Good morning Jake, are you excited about tomorrow?” mom asked handing me some toast.

“Um,” I thought while eating,” Oh yeah, tomorrow’s my party. I can’t wait.”

I finished my toast and went to grab my backpack. Honk, honk. “Oh crap,” I groaned, “See ya later.”

I ran out the door and let it slam behind me. I was running fast and hadn’t noticed the rain. It was soaking my sweater and my hair. While running I concentrated on tomorrow and didn’t notice… SPLASH!! Now I wished I was paying attention to running. I got to the yellow bus and sat down. My pants were now drenched to my thighs with cold mud stained to them like glue. The bus ride was short, and I made sure I was the last one off the bus so no one saw my mostly wet pants.

“Jake,” Andrew yelled across the school green. I ran to catch up to him, but it was hard to do with wet pants.

“Hey Andrew,” I wheezed out of breath.

“Well Jake are you excited about tomorrow?” Andrew questioned.

“Yep, I can’t wait. All my cousins are coming today for tomorrow’s party,” I answered.

“So what do you want for a present because I don’t think you like Legos anymore do you?” Andrew asked.

“I got to think about that for a few minutes, and no I do not like Legos anymore,” I told him.

Ring, ring, ring, the bell rang.

“Bye,” we snapped fast. I ran to my locker and grabbed my stuff. Morning classes went by fast, and I always liked that because then I can get to lunch faster. English ended and I sprinted to my locker, grabbed my lunch, and headed towards the cafeteria. I saw all eight of my friends at our table, I went to join them.

“What do you want for a present,” echoed from every corner of the table.

“I like baseball and football,” I replied.

“That works,” Andrew answered.

Lunch ended and we all left. My afternoon wasn’t fun, but it went by fast. I got on the bus and went home. It was longer because I was thinking about tomorrow. I got home, threw open the door and… WHAM. I was tackled. All six of my cousin’s lying like cows on top of me.
“Hey, get off,” I yelled while laughing. One by one they climbed off me.

“Hello,” Dean said while he punched me in the arm.

“Hey, are you guys going to the hotel,” I asked Dean.

“Yes.”

“Well, I will see you tomorrow, bye,” I said heading for my room. I slept well and woke up late. When I woke up, my cousins were already here. I went down stairs fresh and clean from my shower.

“There’s the birthday boy,” Aunt Dot smiled.

“Hello everyone,” I yawned still a little tired. For the rest of the morning Dean and I worked on setting up for the party. The balloons and streamers we had fun with. I ended up tied to a pole by the end, but he let me loose. It went by fast and people started to arrive.

“Hello Andrew, I’m not surprised that you’re the first,” I laughed.

“Thanks, I like to come early,” he replied.

Everyone started showing up and the house was full!!

“We won’t be able to go outside,” I grouched staring out the window.

“Let’s…,” Andrew thought aloud, “play with dart guns.”

“Sure,” everyone piped up.

I was in for it, so I went and got all of my guns. They let me choose first and then everyone choose theirs.

They ran in terror from me screaming, “AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

I stopped and fell down laughing, “You guys scream like girls.”

We got tired of that and were thinking of other things when……

“Cake,” mom yelled from the kitchen. Everyone charged for the kitchen. It was chocolate, my favorite. They sang happy birthday and I blew out the candles.

“Presents,” Andrew yelled and handed me his present. It was a baseball glove.

“Thanks,” I smiled, “I’ve always wanted one.” I opened the rest of my presents. I got a baseball, a baseball bat, a football, a hat, a framed picture of the Boston Red Sox (who I love), and of course from my parents, CLOTHES!! (which I hate)

“Now what do you want to do?” mom asked. You can’t go outside to use your new stuff. Its pouring cats and dogs out there.” ¨

´“Do you guys like movies?” dad questioned.

“Yah,” everyone cheered.

“What movies do you like?” I asked.

“Madagascar 2,” Andrew recommended.

“Sure,” everyone answered. We sat down and watched the movie. It was hilarious, but it ended too fast.

“It’s only nine o’clock,” dad said turning off the television, “It doesn’t look like anyone’s tired, so why don’t you take them up to your room Jake.”

“Yeah,” I yelled. I led them up to my room. It didn’t go too well. Some ran for the guitar and drums and the rest ran towards my sports equipment. Blake went and found my DS, but things got worse after that. My cousins started fighting with my friends. Andrew wanted to play my DS, so he poured popcorn on Blake’s head, and he was furious. I couldn’t do much standing on my ladder. Then Ben and Dan were fighting with my lacrosse sticks on my bed, and Collin was throwing paper air planes.

“STOP, everyone just stop!!” I screamed and caught everyone’s attention, “I know you’re having fun, but you’re going to break something.” Everyone stopped and put everything back.
“Let’s go do something fun together where no one or something will get hurt,” I calmed down. That was a surprising party, but something I will never forget.

War of the Gods

An Olympian tale by: 90210

The former god of war, Kratos, was standing atop Mount Olympus; he was pondering if he should go back and beg for his role as god of war back. Suddenly, the ground started shaking and Dayseana the goddess of the earth descended upon him. She spoke saying, “Kratos’ we have a quest for you. You will come with me to the temple of Zeus…”

“What do you need me for?” Kratos’ asked in amusement.

“Zeus has turned for the worse and is gathering an army to wipe out the gods. You are the only one powerful enough to defeat him,” Dayseana said with the power of the sun.

“And may I ask why you chose me?”

“You fought him before, and you know his weakness”

“I ask for one thing: give me my blades of chaoes, my cestus, and my bow.”

“As you wish sir,” said the goddess.

Kratos’s first mission was to go to the storehouse where all of his weapons were located. Even though they were guarded by the killer Cyclops, he knew the secret passage. So Kratos went to the storehouse, and to his surprise the warriors were there to greet him, but not with hand shakes of any sort. They whirled out their swords and started charging. To his defense an elder god came and wiped them out with one swipe of his godly sword.

“Kratos, you must hurry and begin training. It’s been awhile since you fought Zeus and to his advantage he was marching two million armed troops. So you mustn’t waste time.”

“I can’t fight without my weapons.”

“O, right, here you go.”

While Kratos was being briefed on his quest, Zeus was already starting the attack on Mount Olympus. The elder god turned and faced away from Kratos, just to turn around and find that his warrior was nowhere too be found. “Kids these days,” said the very handsome god.

Kratos’ ported through the portal from which the god appeared. From atop Mount Olympus, he only saw a dumbfounded Zeus laughing at the young Kratos’ in his presence.

“You are what gods sent to try to defeat me? Have fun while you are cursed to Hades by the hands of my army.”

“What army? It’s between me and you.”

“You defeat my army and maybe I will let you try to defeat me again.”

While they fought like little boys, the gods had their hands full with the army.

“KRATOS!!!!!!” YOU GET DOWN HERE AND FIGHT!” boomed Dayseana.

Kratos’ was down there in a split.

*****

Before all of this began, with the god’s and stuff, I was just an ordinary guy selling all of my life’s belongings just to feed my family. I was eight at the time when my mother first asked me. What are I was going to do with my life?

I honestly replied, “Mother, you have asked me that before.” I was silent even thinking about it. She was very upset at what I had replied. Don’t do this to yourself. I heard a much murmured voice in my head. Don’t do this to yourself. It keeps getting louder. Don’t do this to yourself. Don’t do this to yourself. This time it scared me. All of a sudden, I woke up from my fantasy only to be awoken to the sound of beeping. Where am I? And who was that voice??????

“You’re in the hospital.” The voice sounded familiar

Whoa how did he know I was thinking that? “Who are you?”

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you that much. You have to figure that out yourself”

“Ok, but how will I do that?”

“Do you know who you are? You figure that out first, then I might tell you who I am. I can tell you this much….. I have been at your side for almost two thousand years. I’ll leave that to ponder in your mind for awhile.” The very soothing voice said.

While I woke up from that coma, I had no idea who I was. Everything was black for that moment. Even the nurse would not tell me who I am.

“WHERE AM I. DO NOT DESERVE TO BE IGNORED!!! Do you know who I am….?”

“Do you know who you are?” a voice came from my room, but not a soul was there…

“You are right. There is no one in your room,” the voice said again. “If you do not remember ………... two thousand years ago…,” all of a sudden she broke off midsentence. “You were in a war with….me. You need to remember you’re a god Kratos.”

“But the nurse said my name is George from Newfoundland.”

“No, you mustn’t ponder who you are now, listen. I am going to give you an order and you have two months to complete it. You are going to get out of this hospital and go to Big Ben in London. There you will find seven hooded warriors. You are to go to them and say your name, but before you must bow to them in worship. They will take you to the top of the clock and there you will find a zip cord zip down to the city streets. Walk an estimated five miles until you see a tunnel. Follow that tunnel and go underground...” she was cut off.

“W—waits a minute! I just got out of a coma and now you’re trying to convince me I’m a god. I’m not a psycho from the planet Mars. Are you trying to get me killed or something? I do not accept.”

“Suit yourself, but that man you were just talking to is going to kill you if you don’t hurry. Now you listen here. You interrupt me one more time and I will rip your head clear off your shoulders! You will do what I say. You must not waste time once you are underground. You must hurry. There will be a couple of men that will lead you toward a building. Once you enter the building, you will ask the guards to give you your weapons. Tell them I sent you. They will lead you to a room with hundreds of weapons; you will know which ones are yours when you see them. Now go.”

Karros just lay there without moving until the nurse came and told him, “You are probably well enough to go and take a walk.”

Trust me I will do more than that he thought.

While the nurse was in the waiting room, she quickly glanced up at the security cameras and saw a man in the laundry room going through all of the laundry. She told the security guards to go apprehend that fool. The nurse just sat there watching the cameras. One second they were trying to bring the man back to his room and the next she saw the guards lying on their backs pleading for their lives.

Kratos found what he was looking for and in the twitch of an eye he was gone. The nurse charged straight to the receptionist at the disappearance of her patient. She called a full staff search party. Knowing that she was going to be blamed ,she went to her office only to find a envelope that read, “Sorry.” She opened it and to her surprise it was a letter stating,

I am sorry if I startled you with my disappearance, I am not in danger. I need to do something for an old friend and I mean it when I say old friend. But thank you so very much. I will come visit you when I am finished with my task. If you need anything call me at – 555-0000.
You friend,

Kratos.

Kratos went to London, but it took him awhile to get there, the flight was canceled due to really bad weather in New York. The flight attendant was startled at his beauty; she tripped over her own foot and dumped a jug of hot coffee on his lap…but it didn’t startle Kratos at all.

“Sir, I am so sorry,” said the flight attendant.

“It’s nothing. It happens all the time,” Kratos said in a breathtaking voice. I really got to stop ridding airplanes. It took quite awhile to get to London. After a 12-hour flight he was there, but they were circling the airport.

“What is the hold up people?!” he shouted.

“Again, sorry, the airport is under a slight drizzle and it is too dangerous to land,” said the woman.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Finally, people we're going to land….hallelujah.”

The weather in London wasn’t what he’d expected: it was snowing and hailing. Kratos finally made it to the tunnel just in the nick of time; they were about to close the doors.

“Wait, wait for me,” Kratos yelled.

“Okay sir, you better hurry! Don’t keep her majesty waiting to long,” one of the guards said.

“Okay just get me there…quickly people I am in a hurry you know!”

“Okay don’t get you underwear all in a bunch. Okay we’re here.”

That doesn’t look like the person Dayseana described.

“That’s because its not.”

“Holly, did you read my mind or something?”

“Just a bit.”

“But how? Ok, I don’t want to know. Did you send for me miss?”

“Yes, but intentionally.” said the girl on the throne. “You have something I need.”

“And what is that?”

“Your soul……”

The Force

A survival story by: Kermit96

“Can I go?” Michael asked with a smile. He had dark brown hair with light brown eyes that looked like milky chocolate. He wore a blue green shirt that looked like the bottom of a coral reef.

Annie, his mother, had a smile as big and as wide as the ocean with light, baby blue eyes. She was wearing a white shirt with a beautiful necklace that simmered in the light. She replied losing her smile, “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t get hurt. I’ll train first,” Michael replied with a smile.

“I am not happy about this, but you can go. You have to promise to write often, so I know how you are and send pictures.”

“I will make sure to send plenty of pictures and write to you every day and send all the written letters home every month.” Michael replied with a white pearl of a smile. Two weeks later as Michael was riding in a car to the airport, he saw all the beautiful lights of New York at 5:00 in the morning on May 6th, 2001.

“I am going to miss the city so much” Michael said looking out of the blue minivan window.

“The city is going to miss you too; you helped in so many ways. The community work, the work you did at the homeless shelter, the volunteer work at the animal shelter… You really have done a lot to help your city,” Annie said with tears in her eyes. Five minutes later they were at the airport where Michael met his director Jeff.

“I have to take a picture for memories,” Annie said taking out her camera. “Smile!” Snapping a shot with her camera.

“We are now boarding Flight 23. Please come to the gate.”

“I will miss you mom,” Michael said giving his mom a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

“I will miss you too,” She replied with a tear rolling down her face and on to Michaels shoulder.

“Don’t cry mom. I’ll be fine and I’ll write. I promise,” Michael said trying to be comforting. “I got to go,” He kissed his mom’s cheek. “I love you mom,” he whispered as he walked away.

“I love you too sweetheart,” Annie said.

Michael got on the plane and took his seat. Seated next to him was the Commander General and on his other side was a girl named Lulu from Hawaii. Lulu had beautiful long brunet hair with bright blue eyes that looked like water. When they leveled off, it was a bit bumpy, so the pilot told the passengers to keep their seatbelts fastened unless they were going to the bathroom or getting something from their carry on. About an hour later the plane started to go down. They were not supposed to be at the training base for at least another hour. What are we doing? Michael thought. So many questions ran through his head, but none of them came out of his mouth.

Everyone else was franticly fastening their seatbelts and asking a bunch of questions, but no answers came out. All of a sudden, the plane splashed into the water. Everyone franticly opened the emergency exit doors and swam to the surface coughing for air. They hadn’t known that they were going over water, so they weren’t prepared for what was happening. Amazingly everyone survived the crash.

Now they all needed to survive the swim to land. It was the longest swim of his life he thought as he kept swimming. He was about half way there, and he thought about giving up but that is not what soldiers do. NO!!!!!!

“We have been swimming forever,” people complained, but not Lulu. She was a strong swimmer and kept pushing everyone to keep swimming. When they got to land everyone was so tired that they all just fell to the sand and sat there.

They heard a loud scream, “HEL-!” that was cut off. Someone was still in the water! Lulu and Michael dove into the water and swam as fast as they could to rescue whoever was still out there. It was a little boy who looked about nine or ten. His name was Joey, the commander’s son. Joey had hazel eyes and light brown hair. He was franticly trying to keep himself up, but he was wounded. He had broken his ankle. Lulu and Michael grabbed his arms and swam back to shore. The commander ran into the water and picked Joey up. He walked back to the sand and set him down.

“Are you okay?” the commander asked his son.

“My foot hurts, and I can barely walk on it, but I am thankfully alive because of these nice people,” Joey said as he pointed to Lulu and Michael.

“What are your names?” the commander asked Lulu and Michael.

Lulu replied by saying, “Lulu, commander sir.”

“And yours?” the commander questioned.

“Mmmmine is Michael,” Michael stuttered.

“Thank you for saving my son’s life,” the commander said with a smile. “We need to find supplies for shelter: leaves, wood. You ten go and do that, while you ten go and find firewood, dry firewood. We also need to find anything that was left over from the plane and if you nine could do that, that would be great. If you find anything then report it to me right away.”
Lulu and Michael were in the group to find firewood. We looked all over to find something to get the branches down from the trees. Michael started to climb the tree when Lulu said, “No, it’s too dangerous. We will have half of our group go back to the camp and see if they have found anything and the other half of us will stay here and see if we can find branches on the ground.”

Luckily, they found an ax that was in the sand. They didn’t know how it got there or why it was there, but they used it to chop firewood and some trees down. Inside the tree, tey found animals that they captured and ate. For a month, they survived in the wild. No one really talked. They all just worked and watched for planes.

After two months they all heard a loud engine running. It was a plane! It landed on the water and took half of the survivors off the island. Half an hour later, a second plane picked up the rest and took them back to the airport they had taken off from. When they arrived at the airport, everyone was there.

Michael needed to find Lulu. He wanted to make sure she was okay and know if he would ever be able to see her again. He found Lulu talking with her family; Michael went over to them. Lulu introduced Michael to her family, and they liked Michael so much that they invited Michael and his mother to dinner that night. Lulu and Michael where talking that night about how Lulu was moving back to Hawaii with her family. Michael talked to his mother and asked her if he could go with her. He was nineteen and could choose for himself what he wanted to do, but he still thought that he should ask his mother. Annie thought about it and told Michael that she was going to move to Hawaii with them. That same year, Lulu and Michael got married, and two years later they were expecting twins. On May 6, 2003, Lilly and Joanna were born.

Alive and Well

A heartwarming tale by: GothicVampire13

Warm sunlight seeped through the drapes of Jenna’s bedroom window as the sun slowly rose. Her eyelids came open and explored the ceiling, her room, and the world outside. A beautiful morning in St. Louis, Missouri, she thought to herself. She reached her hand over to grab the digital clock sitting upon her nightstand. It read 8:31 AM, August 15, 2006. Two years, she thought. Two years since her cancer had disappeared. August 15, 2004 had been the happiest day of her life. She set the clock back on the table, recollecting the past seven years of her life. The five long years she spent with cancer and the last two she’d been so grateful to see.

She looked outside once more and then to the clock. While she untangled her feet from her comforter, she gently crawled out of her bed. She walked over to her dresser and look into the mirror. Her brown hair was mangled and had loose strands going in every direction. She pulled it back into a long pony tail and looked at her reflection again. Now she could see her eyes. They were grayish-blue, but not quite anything of the two colors, almost greenish in a way. She focused on the color of her irises and gave up a moment later, frustrated from trying to locate the name of the right color in her mind. It would always be a mystery.

Jenna walked to the bedroom door, only opened a crack. She pulled it towards her and made her way out the room and into the kitchen. When she approached the counter, she couldn’t help but look at the calendar hanging next to the phone. She looked at the date and smiled to herself. Today was also the day the American Cancer Society celebrated twenty years of being together and helping to saves lives. Jenna was a proud member. She then ate breakfast, got ready, and went out the door.

A few minutes later, Jenna pulled up to a complex filled with members of ACS and people supporting them. She quickly spotted Beth, Amy, and Todd, some close friends and members of the support group, talking in a small group. She pulled her keys out of the ignition and jumped out of her car to meet them. Waving her hands at them and yelling their names, her voice filled with joy.

“Beth! Todd! Amy! Over here!” She slowed to a walk as they all turned to look at her. They smiled and waved as well. Amy got to Jenna first, embracing her into a hug, joined by Todd and Beth, one by one. Amy was about the same height as Jenna, 5’4. Her blond hair hit her shoulders and swayed as light breezes swept through the groups small circle. Her chocolate-brown eyes glowed in the sun. Todd was about a head taller than the two of them and had brown eyes as well. Beth was the shortest of them all, standing 5’2” with dark brown eyes and hair.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” said Amy.

“I’m glad to be here,” Jenna laughed. Jenna looked around and saw that the crowd had gotten bigger. “We have a lot of supporters today,” she beamed.

“Yeah, it’s great,” said Todd, fiddling with the digital camera around his neck. They turned and walked to the doors of the complex. “All of the games and activities will be outside and we’re hoping it’s nice out all day.”

“I heard it was going to rain later. When is the celebration over?” Beth asked.

“It’s going on until about five or six,” said Amy. The group looked at one another.

“Well, what time is it?” Jenna asked. She looked up at the sky, bright and clear.

Todd looked at his watch, “It’s about twelve-thirty.” He dropped his arm to his side. “Come on. Let’s look around.”

They nodded and smiled, then walked into the large crowd of people. There were games and raffle ticket booths set up everywhere, along with food and merchandise stands. Jenna was amazed at how many people showed up today. Hundreds were there. She gawked at the lines of people. Children ran around with helium balloons. The wind whipped them back and forth behind their heads. The kids laughed and played in the grass. Families were unfolding picnic blankets in the shade. Jenna couldn’t help but smile to herself. She was happy. Twenty years of helping to save lives was such an accomplishment to her.

The group of friends came to a stop in front of a game booth. It was a dart toss where you’d throw the dart and try to hit as many balloons as possible. Jenna was first. She aimed the dart and closed one eye. Then she tossed her dart. The rubber of the balloon made a high-pitched squeak as it skidded past it to lodge into the wall. She sighed and threw another. This toss was a success. She continued to throw the darts. Pop! Pop! Pop! The popping noise continued as Todd, Amy, and Beth took their turns.

The four of them then made their way to a concession stand to buy popcorn and drinks. They were having so much fun they didn’t notice the sun starting to disappear. It slowly sank behind the clouds. Jenna looked up and noticed it first. The dark clouds looked like giant dust bunnies. She turned to Amy.

“What time is it?”

Amy looked at her watch. “It’s about quarter to four.” She then looked up at the sky as well. The clouds got closer, making Jenna feel claustrophobic. She just kept staring at the clouds, watching for their next move. The crowd was ushered into the complex, but Jenna stayed by herself. Then she held her palm out in mid-air. A small pool of water splashed into her palm. She closed her fingers around it, trapping it. Then she felt another splash on her shoulder, then another, and another. Soon enough, it began to pour.

“Jenna”, Amy called. “Get inside, you’re getting soaked!” Jenna blinked a few raindrops from her eyelashes and turned around quickly. She sprinted to the door where Beth was waiting with a towel.

“What about the booths?” Jenna asked. She felt the urge to turn back to the pouring rain outside. Beth wrapped the towel around Jenna’s shoulders as she continued. “The whole celebration is ruined!”

Amy squeezed Jenna’s shoulder. “They’re taking care of it.” Jenna turned to the door again and looked outside. She saw six or seven men with raincoats on pulling plastic tarps over the booths. She let out a sigh and walked in the doors of the indoor soccer field. Loud music was blaring from the large speakers hanging from the corners of all four walls. The group followed. There were still a lot of people there. They had no problem with the rain at all. Everyone continued to have fun and enjoy themselves.

Jenna smiled at the happy crowd. “I guess this is as good as it’s going to get today,” she sighed and took the towel of from her shoulders and turned to the group. “Is anyone up for a game of soccer?” The four smiled and Amy went to grab a soccer ball. The group continued to have fun and not let the rain ruin their day.

Fifteen to twenty minutes into their game a voice called through the room.
“Hey, everybody, the rain is stopped! It stopped raining!” The crowd scrambled out into the fresh air. The sun was out again. It was like it had never rained at all. The music from the speakers inside the complex blared louder and the clouds were gone. Everything turned out perfectly.

“Hey, let’s get a picture,” Todd said. He set his camera up on a tripod and set the timer. Then he began to count down,” Three…two…one!” Before he could say the last number, the group smiled and the flash went off. This was a beautiful piece of memorabilia to remember a beautiful day.

The Game

By: BlueHairCommittee

The phone blasted as I was walking to the couch. It was a sunny day in Brooklyn, and I had just gotten home from school. I flipped on the television just in time to see more news about the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion that had happened last week. My dad answered the phone. I decided that there was nothing on TV to watch, so I turned off the TV and read a new book from my favorite author, Stephen King. The book was titled It and supposedly it was the best book he had written in a while. All of a sudden, my dad sniffled, “Lucy.”

I answered, “What’s wrong?”

He said, “It’s your mom. We need to go”

I wondered what had happened. Thoughts started to run through my head like a sports car. We jumped in the car quickly and before I could even attach me seat belt, we were off. I had a hard time breathing the whole ride there: thinking, wondering what the problem could possibly be. When we pulled up to the hospital, my heart sank and I could feel its incessant beating in my chest. The doctor looked calm as he told us how my mother had been in a car accident driving past Central Park. She would be paralyzed from the legs down unless we could somehow come up with $500,000 to pay for the bills. It was devastating. We were allowed to see mom for 15 minutes, not enough for me. She was sleeping in a hospital gown. She looked so helpless. I couldn’t help but let a single tear roll down my face, and then another, and then a few more. My father and I were at the hospital all night. When morning finally came, I found myself sleeping on a couch that felt like a winter sidewalk.

We left the hospital later that morning and got home around noon; I knew by the chiming of the old grandfather clock put up by the hallway. I walked to my room, still in shock from the hospital visit. I decided to turn on the radio. It had an advertisement for a local game show,
“Double Dare 5,000.”

I quietly said to myself, “Hmm… I wonder where people can sign up.” Again thoughts raced through my head. It was signing up in the local mall. “Cool!” I whispered. The details would be given out to people who signed up. I jumped at this opportunity and apparently so did my father because he happily drove me to the mall. As we were walking inside, the smell of corndogs, stale pizza, and spilled Coca- Cola told me that we were by the food court. I rarely went here. I don’t go shopping a lot unless I had to. I usually used my free time reading Stephen King or C.S. Lewis.

The sign up table was right over there. I ran faster than I ever had in my life to make it over there so I wouldn’t be caught with all the spots taken. While I was running, I didn’t notice the man with the rack of clothes walking in front of me… Fwack! A goose egg jumped out of my forehead almost immediately. I groaned as I sat up. The pain didn’t make a difference. I was going to get into that contest.

The age range was 12 to 40 years old. I signed my name on the sheet. It was official. The contest was on Friday, today being a Thursday. The $1,000,000 in prize money was more than enough to pay for my mother’s operation and get her a brand new car. There were 100 slots to sign up and lucky me, I got number 99. My confidence went down some when I walked into “The Game Arena” and saw all the people. Unfortunately there were more adults than kids. Gulp. I swallowed hard. The first day was fairly easy. There were no games but you did get to meet your teammates. I flipped open my rule book while I was in my room and looked at it until it felt like I had to hose my eyes to get moisture in them. I memorized the rule book from the title page to the ending glossary. There were four teams: Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green. The tournament bracket looked something like this. Red vs. Blue first and then Green vs. Yellow. The winners played each other and the losers played each other. Then the winner of the loser’s game and the winner of the winner’s game played each other also. The final test for the winning team was an individual game to determine who got the million dollars... The games were simple; a coin was flipped to decide who the home team and away team were. The home team dared first.

There were multiple scenarios and you could dare the other team using specific props given to you by the judges. Your team had to complete the dare within five minutes or the daring team received the 500 dare points. If you double dared them, which made the dare harder, you got 1000 points. The team that had the most points at the end of the game won.

I wanted to win that contest so badly. I was on the Blue Team with a nice man named Adam, two other girls, and one other guy. The first game started tomorrow. I couldn’t sleep the whole night. I was twisting and turning terribly. The next morning, I crawled out of bed around 2:00 o’clock in the morning, 3 hours before the first competition. I had to get ready quick, but judging how tired I was, getting ready would take a while. I figured coffee was the answer to that. I was ready 20 minutes later.

At the first competition, we started off with a good lead, 2000 to500. After the midway commercial break, because this was on television, the score was only 3000- 2500. It was too close for comfort. We double dared them without thinking about it. For props they got an umbrella, three oversized blocks, and a paper mache head. Our dare was to make a tower that had the rubber chicken placed on top. Unfortunately, they completed the challenge. Our turn. They were up 3500 to 3000. One more dare and we would have to go into overtime, a double dare and we go to the Semifinals. They made a risky move and called a double dare. They asked us to run the trials, which is an obstacle course, in less than 3 minutes. We were halfway through the course and the timer showed a minute and 15 seconds. We really hustled. I had the last leg of the course. The leg consisted of a ton of ice cream, a spoon to dig, and a flag. You had to dig through the ice cream to find the flag. It was harder than I thought. I had five seconds left when I saw a corner of orange. With three seconds left, I stuck it into the slot to ring the bell and signify that our team had emerged victorious. I returned to my room exhausted after that exhilarating round. I jumped into bed around 10 o’ clock.

The next morning the game show manager made us all go down and watch the Green vs. Yellow game. Green won the match in an exciting fashion with a come from behind victory that ended in a game of “Pillow Fight Fu,” which was one of the hardest games in the show. The television crew informed us at the end of the game that the game show had the highest viewing numbers of any game show, topping out at over 5,000,000 viewings last week. It was satisfying to know that so many people wanted to watch us play.

The next day during the semifinals, we crushed the Green team 3000- 1500. We also crushed the Red team again in the finals, 100,000- 50,000. We had set the bar for a new team record, and finally it was time to go to the individual events and compete against our own teammates. It was intense: four teams head butting in a championship game. The score was 500 to 500 to 1500 to 1000. I was in the lead. Adam came back with 500 unanswered points to tie the game at 1500 points. I fought back and got a 1000-point double dare.

It was over.

I had won the million dollars. My mom got out of surgery and was able to go back to the excitement of her normal life. I got to meet Stephen King and get the first copy of his next great book, Misery. The other $500,000 went to the new car we got for my mother.

The End!

The Sextant

A heavenly poem by: DancingPenguin96

It was 1770.
Again I saw the stars and the sea.

Through my index mirror I looked,
The bright green eye of Captain Cook.

How lucky he was to have me about,
For if he had had to scout...

Every time he ventured off track
He would have nothing to get him back.

My inventors, or parents you see,
John Hadley and Thomas Godfrey,

Made me confusing to use you say…
But if I confuse you in any way…

Can you imagine being me?!?
No. I didn’t think so, you see.

John Hadley, died 1744, born 1682,
As an English mathematician,
He taught many and few.

Thomas, an optician, helped a lot too;
His contribution helped me and you.

All YOU had to do to use me
Was look through the scope,
To just beyond the sea.

Through the mirror you’d see a star at your back
Then measure the angle and DONE!
That is that!

But that was then,
And this is now,
But I’ve been stuck in this chest for…
I don’t know how long now.

While the GPS’s are disappearing
From the store racks,
I’m lying here
In these dusty old sacks.

They really should
Thank me, though.
Without me,
There’d be no life as we know.

From Old World to New,
The Triangular Trade
Without me aboard,
Sailors would’ve strayed.

But no one cares about me,
Not even my wife.
Well, I suppose
That’s just life.