Kaleigh C.

Kaleigh Chin grew up in Daly City and currently lives in Millbrae. She has two sisters and a dog named Poofy. Kaleigh used to be on the South San Francisco swim team and used to compete. She recently started playing volleyball and joined her school's team last year. Right now she is in Tremors Volleyball Camp, San Francisco. When Kaleigh is not playing volleyball or swimming, she enjoys reading and drawing. Kaleigh Chin is half Chinese and half Filipino.

The Promised Neverland

Conny was a six-year old girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She always carried around a stuffed rabbit named Rabby. Conny loved the orphanage she lived at with her other siblings. She was always treated kindly and taken well care of. She would never forget her time at the orphanage even when she left for her foster family.

“Conny, you’ll be leaving in a few hours!” Don exclaimed. Don had always taken exceptionally good care of Conny. He was one of the oldest children at Gracefield House orphanage. Don had brown hair and brown eyes.

“I know, I’m excited but sad to be leaving everyone”, Conny said, “I promise I'll write a letter to everyone every day.”

“You better write us a letter! We’re going to miss you so much!”, tears started to glimmer in Don’s eyes.

“I promise you I will, but we should have some fun before I leave. I heard Emma’s going to hold a game of tag. Let’s go join the fun instead of being sad”.

“Okay, okay, you’re right. Let’s go have some fun!”

Conny and Don ran over to the tree where Emma was gathering people to play tag. Ray sat at the base of the tree reading a book. Norman stood next to Emma counting the players.

“We have Lanion, Thoma, Phil, Jemima, Dominic, Ana, and Nat, anymore players?” Emma shouted out.

“Me and Don will play, Emma!”

“Conny, Don, come join the lineup!” Norman exclaimed. 

Conny and Don joined the lineup and the game started. The children had to avoid getting tagged by Norman by running and hiding in the forest. Ray pulled out a watch from his pants pocket and set a twenty-minute timer.

Conny ran to the back of the forest.

“Conny, over here!” Don was hiding in a large bush and waved his hand out to Conny. Conny hurried over and crouched down beside him.

“This is a great hiding spot”, Conny whispered. Don smiled warmly and put his finger to his mouth to hush Conny.

“It is a great hiding spot, but you’ll have to find an even better one if you want to avoid getting caught”, Norman appeared behind them and startled Conny and Don.

“Aw man, I was so sure I could win this time!” Don gave Norman a pat on the back, “Let’s head back now, Conny.”

“You’ll win next time,” Conny walked with Don back to the tree where Ray was waiting.

“Emma and Phil are the only ones remaining”, Ray looked at his watch, “seven minutes until the game is over”.

“Hey, Conny!” Jemima called. Jemima was five years old. She had a lot of energy and was always playing tag. Jemima ran over to Conny and wrapped her arms around her, “You almost won against Norman, Conny!”

“Thanks, Jemima, I’ll try even harder next time!”

Ray’s watch went off and let out a small beep sound, “Time’s up and it looks like Norman wins again”.

An exhausted Emma walked out of the forest,“Ugh, Norman is too smart. He predicted every single move I made!”, Emma sighed and lay down beside Ray. Norman sat down next to Emma and wrapped his arms around his knees. Emma, Norman, and Ray were the oldest children at the orphanage. All three of them were eleven years old. They also happened to be the smartest and got perfect scores on their tests. 

“Next time, I will win!” Emma clenched her fists and held them up in the air. Emma had orange and yellow hair and dark green eyes.

“Norman’s going to outsmart you each time,”Ray said. He had black hair and black eyes.

“Haha, Ray’s not wrong!” Norman laughed. He had white hair and blue eyes. Norman was the smartest child at Gracefield House orphanage and always scored perfectly on the tests. Ray and Emma followed after him.

“I wish I could be smart like Norman,” Conny slumped her shoulders.“He always gets perfect scores on the tests.”

“It’s alright, Conny. You already do really well on your tests. You don’t have to get perfect scores like me.” Norman got up from where he was sitting to comfort Conny.

“Thank you, Norman!”

“Guys, we have to go now! Mom is calling us for lunch!” Don called. Conny ran back to the House and went to the dining room. She washed her hands at the sink and sat down in her seat. The other children gathered in and also sat down. 

“Now that everyone’s here, we can begin”, Mom said. The Mom of the House took care of all the children. Gracefield House’s Mom was Isabella. She had black hair and purple eyes. 

Everyone brought their hands together and prayed. After praying, the children could eat. 

“Conny, this is going to be your second to last meal”, Jemima said.

“I know, I want to enjoy it with all of you guys”, Conny replied.

“Conny, you’ll be leaving after dinner, but have you finished packing up all your stuff?” Mom came over to Conny and crouched down beside her.

“Almost, I just have to pack Rabby and then I’ll be ready to go!”

Mom smiled and got up. She continued to walk around the dining room, checking up on the other children. After lunch, the children went back to their rooms to rest. Some of them napped while some of them did indoor activities. 

“What are you drawing, Conny?” Emma came over to the spot where Conny was doodling.

“I’m drawing a picture of me and Mom! I want to hang it up on the wall next to her office so that she will always be reminded of me!” Conny had drawn a picture of her and Mom holding hands in front of the House. Conny’s hair was in pigtails and she was holding Rabby in one hand. Mom had a yellow flower stuck into her bun.

“That’s a great idea! That way not just Mom, but everyone who walks past that wall will be reminded of you!” Emma suddenly started to tear up, “I’m going to miss you so much!”

“Don’t cry, Emma. I’ll write you a letter everyday. I’ll never forget about you”, Conny got up from drawing and hugged Emma’s waist. Emma began sobbing and wrapped her arms around Conny. For the rest of the day, Conny played games and drew pictures with the other kids. She wanted to make the most of the few hours she had left. Finally, it was dinner time.

“Everyone close your eyes and bow your heads,” Mom said. Everyone prayed quietly and began to eat once they were finished with their prayers.

“Conny, this is your final meal with us,”Don sat across from Conny. He was stabbing his meat with his fork, “It makes me so sad.”

“Me too”, said everyone sitting close to Conny. Conny laughed although tears started to stream out of her eyes. Suddenly, everyone began to cry as well. Even Mom, who usually wore a smile, was beginning to tear up. There were a lot of leftovers that night since the children spent more time crying than eating. After dinner, Conny went back to her room and changed into new clothes: a brown skirt, black jacket, white shirt, red tie, a black classic hat, and her brown boots. When she was done, she picked up her luggage which carried all her belongings. Conny walked out of her room and down the stairs to the front door of the House. Everyone was already waiting near the door and crying. Many of the little kids ran to Conny as soon as they saw her and hugged her. Conny hugged all of them back and went to Mom who was holding the door open. She glanced back as she left the House, even Don who was usually so mature was on the floor balling his eyes out while snot dripped from his nose. Norman and Ray were by his side patting his back and telling him to get up. Emma was holding hands with Jemima while Jemima cried. Finally, Conny turned back around and continued to walk with Mom.

“Did you pack everything?” Mom asked.

“Yup!”

“Even Rabby?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s already in my luggage” Conny smiled and took Mom’s hand. Mom smiled back and continued to walk forward. Eventually, they came to a gate. Conny was told that this was the gate where all the orphans entered through as babies. It was located all the way in the back of the forest and was connected to a wall. Conny had walked along the wall, but she never knew what it was for.

“Mom, what is the wall for?” Conny asked.

“It’s for the safety of the children here at Gracefield House.”

“But why? Aren’t we safe here?”

“Yes, but we don’t want any unknown creatures or wildlife wandering into here and hurting everyone. That’s why the wall was built”

“Oh okay, I understand now” Eventually Mom and Conny came to the gate entrance and it opened up. Mom walked with Conny into the tunnel on the other side of the gate. Then, Mom let go of Conny’s hand. 

“Goodbye, Conny”, Mom smiled and walked into a room in the tunnel. Suddenly, a weird creature came walking towards Conny. It was ten times her size and had horns and one eye. It also had fingers and toes with sharp nails at the end. Before Conny could even scream, something was stabbed through her heart. It was a white flower that turned red once it had entered Conny’s heart. Conny dropped to the floor, dead. The creature walked over to a truck in the tunnel and opened up the back door. Then the creature picked Conny up by one of her legs and threw her carelessly into the back of the truck.

“Isabella, you can come out now”, the creature said, “Great work preparing the child. Tonight we will feast and be satisfied with the creamy and delectable taste of a human brain”

“It’s my pleasure to be able to serve you guys”, Mom walked out of the room and bowed down to the demon, “I haven’t heard my name in a while”

“You may leave now, Isabella”, the demon walked back into the darkness, “I expect that the white-haired boy will be shipped out soon. I can’t wait to have a taste of his brain”

Isabella nodded and headed back into the room.

At The House

“I can’t believe Conny’s gone now” Emma and Norman were mopping up the floors of the dining room.

“Same, I remember when she first came here as a baby” Norman was cleaning up the tables and wiping them down.

“I know, I wish I could’ve spent more time with her,” Emma said.

“I hope she didn’t for-” Norman gasped, “Emma, Conny forgot Rabby!” Rabby was on one of the dining tables.

“What!? How could she forget Rabby like that!?” Just then, Ray walked into the dining room.

“Mom isn’t back yet. There might still be time to give Rabby to Conny”, said Ray.

“You’re right, Norman let’s go give Rabby to Conny!” Emma grabbed Rabby from the table and dashed out of the House with Norman, “We have to hurry!” Emma and Norman ran through the forest to the gate.

“Emma, we’re going to get in trouble if we go inside the tunnel. We’re not allowed to go in there”

“It’s alright, we can both get in trouble later. Right now we have to return Rabby to Conny” Emma and Norman walked through the gateway and into the tunnel. It was dark and damp. 

“Emma, look! There’s a truck over there. Conny might be waiting inside” Norman went around to the front of the truck to check the passenger seat. Emma went to the back of the truck and opened up the door. Suddenly, there was a thud. Emma had dropped Rabby on the floor.

“Emma? What’s wrong?” Norman walked around to the back of the truck. Emma had her hand over her mouth; her eyes were wide with fear, “Oh my goodness” Norman stumbled backward and nearly fell on the floor. In the truck laid the body of Conny. Her eyes were wide open and red veins were visible. Her limbs were twisted in a weird way. A red flower was stabbed through her heart, “Conny…” Suddenly, Emma and Norman heard the sound of a door opening and dove under the truck. 

“You should get back to the House now, Isabella. Your children are waiting. We also need you to prepare another child for the next harvest” Isabella’s heels made a clacking sound as she left the tunnel. The sound of heels clacking on the floor were heard as Isabella left the tunnel.

“Wasn’t that Mom!?” Emma whispered. Norman nodded in reply. Just then, the back of the truck was opened. Emma and Norman could see the demon’s feet as the demon pulled Conny out of the back. Norman and Emma covered their mouths to hold back their screams. They could see Conny’s limp body being dragged on the floor. The demon put Conny’s body into a substance-filled tank. 

“Soon we can begin the feast”, a different demon arrived and stood next to the other one. This demon had two eyes and was shorter than the first.

“Wait a minute, I smell humans”, the demon with one eye said.

“I think it’s coming from under the truck” The shorter demon got on his knees and peered under the truck, “There’s nothing here except a rabbit stuffed animal. I guess this is where the smell is coming from.” 

“No, the girl didn’t have that with her when I killed her. Someone brought it here,” the taller demon gritted his teeth and flexed his hands, “Isabella’s children must have brought it here. They know about the harvest, our secret.”

Emma and Norman bolted out of the tunnel. They continued running until they reached the front of the House. Emma and Norman started to sob. Norman was terrified for his life. Eventually, he was able to calm himself down. Norman walked over to Emma and tried to comfort her.

“Conny’s dead,”Emma wailed, “I couldn’t do anything to save her.” Emma continued to cry. Her eyes were still wide with fear. Norman, who had been listening to her, suddenly realized that Emma wasn’t afraid of death. It was the thought of her family dying. Emma would risk everything, even her own life if it meant that the children at Gracefield House could live.

Texting The Beast

I wait for his text

Carefully waiting to see what happens next

This ungrateful oxygen 

Makes me want to throw rocks at him

How dare he make me stormy 

How dare he act corny

Why’d he use a luscious lullaby 

To tell me this was our full goodbye

Man, this guy, this guy, this guy

Really isn’t shy

I turn off my phone 

And get on the plane to Rome

That little pest of a brother

Told father and mother

Not to bother their daughter

And to leave her to go to Rome

Alone

-Kaleigh Chin