We ran as fast as we could away from that raging fire. Our home now in ruins, covered in ash, burning. Glowing red eyes and a cruel laughing voice followed us. We ran for miles and miles across rivers and fields, pursued by that monster. We ran for hours not daring to stop for fear, he would catch us. We ran all the way to the dragon of the east. Once there we stopped, we could not run another step, exhausted we entered a cave. We lined up and bowed our heads in respect." Why have you come?" the dragon rumbled. We did not want to retell the horrible story, the truth, it was too big, too... sad…. the reason a bunch of hungry, tired cats were in a dragon's cave, talking to a dragon. But we had to tell him if we wanted his help. So we recounted the horrible story, how there peaceful island home had been ransacked and we had been forced to flee, and worst of all, the loss of our leader, Leopard Paw and our attacker. Glowing red eyes, a huge looming shape, and the knowledge of knowing who did it. 

The only cat ever known to have red eyes, a friend, who, too quickly turned bitter and angry. In need of revenge. When we were finished telling the story, we looked at the dragon, waiting for his verdict. Swift Wind, who had been appointed our leader until a better leader could be found, stood up and spoke. "All we ask is for guidance. We have lost our home, our way of life. What can we do?" 

"Go to the yellow ridge mountains, there you will find sanctuary." The dragon said. A ripple of unease went through the assembled cats, the yellow mountains were known for being hostile, cats that wandered in, rarely came out. "There is a pass between the two smallest mountains, use that." The dragon advised. We mumbled our thanks and left the cavern, glad of fresh air. 

We set off in the direction of the mountains. They were about two hours always and everyone was tired, but there was no time to stop. By nightfall we would have to be at the mountains. No animals would bother us there, not even... him. The path it took to get to the mountains happened to stop by a village, where we could get supplies. By the time we came to the village, the sun was beginning to sink. We would have to hurry. Getting supplies turned out to be easier than we had expected, and we were out within an hour. From there it only took us half an hour to get to the mountains but the sun was getting dangerously low. But we would not have time to spare. As we went on, the well walked path began to get harder and harder to see, in spots, so much we couldn't tell it was a path at all. As we fell into the shadow of the mountains, we slowed looking for a place to stop and make camp for the night. As we walked, the ground began to slope gently upward. A bark blot up ahead singled the bottom of the mountain, or at least that's what we thought until it was too late, a large shape, glowing red eyes, he, Black Heart had found us.

(Kaeleen)

“KADE!  You can’t do this!” I cried. 

“Don’t be silly! This will be a great breakthrough for science!” my brother replied, picking up a small vial. 

I watched as Kade took the vial, which contained a sample of his own daughter's DNA, and loaded it into his cloning machine. Whirring sounds filled the room. The huge machine started to tremble, as if rocks were banging against its walls. Lights flashed, and the machine began to rumble.

It was activated. The loud rumbling sounds startled Kade’s daughter into tears, but he was too focused on his machine to care. I rushed over to her stroller, lifting her out of it.

“Shh, everything will be okay,” I soothed, hoping I wasn’t lying.

As soon as I said the words, the machine lets out a long hiss - as if it was relieved - and stops, midway through the cycle. The laboratory was silent.

“Oh no.. this wasn’t supposed to happen!” My brother muttered, frantically pressing buttons. It didn’t seem to help. A red light flashed from the machine, and a high-pitched beeping noise followed it. Kade groaned, but stepped back from the machine.

A quiet whine emerged from the machine, hidden under the beeping. It was the chamber where the clone would be! Putting Kade’s daughter back in the stroller, I rush towards the machine.

“Kaeleen! What are you doing!?! KAELEEN!!!” I rush past Kade, frantically opening the chamber door. Sitting on the warm metal was an infant, almost identical to Kade's daughter, but her eyes were a piercing deep purple. Kade began pacing around and mumbling to himself about why the machine stopped. 

“Bleh woop boop dee bew,” the baby in the chamber babbled, just like a normal baby. But its eyes - this baby was not like any other.

“Kade,” I breathed, staring at the infant. “What did you do?”

Suddenly, the machine started whirring again. But it wasn’t the same whirring as before - it concealed a very quiet ticking.

“WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!” Kade and I yelled simultaneously. Kade ran for the stroller as I dashed to retrieve the baby from the machine. I inhaled sharply as my fingers brushed the metal – it was burning hot! I could only hope the purple-eyed baby would be okay. Scooping her up, I dashed towards the exit behind Kade. 

We hurried through the halls of Kade’s laboratory. Kade’s daughter seemed to be on the verge of tears, but the infant I had taken from the machine was strangely quiet. I could still hear the ticking sound - it seemed to be getting louder? I could see the exit, the sign above it glowing red. Kade and I burst out onto the hilltop outside. Birds were peacefully chirping in the trees, and I saw a squirrel hunting for acorns among the roots of an oak tree. All was quiet.

Leaning against the oak, I stopped to catch my breath when a huge BOOM resonated through the air. I turned back to Kade’s lab to see debris flung through the air towards us. Without hesitation, Kade and I rushed down the hill, pieces of the lab at our heels. 

When we reached the town, we were both panting. “Kade… what… just… happened?” I asked.

“That, I have no idea. But I do know that this new baby will be very different,” Kade replied.

“I can’t let you parent her. Or your current daughter, for that matter. You’re a horrible father!” I shouted.

Kade sighed. “That, I agree with you on. Do you think you can raise them as your own? I know it will come with many challenges.”

Will I be able to do this…? I wondered. Elliat and I have always wanted children of our own….

“If you’re not sure, I can find another place for them,” Kade said.  

I made up my mind. “I’ll do it. I can raise them.” I took Kade’s daughter.

Kade sighed. “Please take good care of her. Of them both. And of yourself.” He retreated back up the hill, leaving me next to the wall of Zemandia with two infants. 

To be continued…

“James, pause the game and come down here to get the mail!” Mom said. 

“Mom, I can’t, I am in the middle of an online game!!” I said. 

“Well then I will come up there and unplug your computer.” 

“Fine!” I mumbled. When I got outside, I couldn't help but notice that the moon was very large. Also, it was a lot hotter outside. I did not think Canada was supposed to be 100 degrees during April. Whatever, it's probably just global warming, I thought. When I got inside I realized that there was mail addressed to me. I was shocked. All of my friends live in apartments, like me. This mail did not come from an apartment. I was so confused. I opened the envelope and I saw a letter. This is what it said.

Dear Jamie Thompson,

You have been recruited by the Universal Defense Group (UDG) Stationed in Planet Neo, to destroy monster 47b at the edge of the universe. It is threatening the UDG of destroying the universe unless we pay a ransom of 8uc which in US dollars would be one with 100 million zeros. In this envelope is a big button. If you want to go on the mission, at midnight press this button. You will teleport to a launch site on planet Neo. We have recruited 100 other children, about 15 from each continent (except Antarctica) . What you will do is we will get in an inter-universal space ship. You will go and fight monster 47b and when you come home, you will receive $100,000,000,000,000,000 in a trust fund. Do not get too comfortable with the other recruits as there is a 50% survival rate. This mission will take about 5 days.

From the UDG.

That is so much money!! I could hardly believe myself. But should I do it? I had to think about if I cared about my life more than other people's lives. 

I decided to do the quest. I put the note and button inside of my night stand. About an hour later, I heard mom call, “James, go to bed, tomorrow is a school day!” Right, Mom will be worried if I leave. But then I got an idea. What if I sent Mom a text right before I teleport to Neo so she can know where I have gone?

I started writing the text in bed. It described how I will be going on a quest in a different planet and I will be back in 5-10 days and if I am not there in that time, I have probably died. If I have cell service there, I will text you where I am in my quest.

 At 11:59, I got ready to push the button. When midnight hit, I sent the text and I pushed the button. I instantly went from in my bed to a launch site on planet Neo. I saw a bunch of humans appearing by the second. When they stopped appearing I counted them. There were about 10 other humans. 

“Welcome humans!!” a loud voice called. I looked and there was a giant human, about 10 feet tall, talking into some kind of microphone. “If you are here, you have accepted the mission to destroy monster 47b. If you do not want to go on the mission, press the button that has appeared in your hand. 

“Is there wifi here?” a boy called with a heavy french accent. 

“Yes there is WIFI here. The password is Neo. But there will not be wifi on the spaceship.” I checked my phone when he said there was WIFI. I took a selfie of me in Neo and sent it to my Mom. 

After I did that the tall man said, “The rocket will be leaving tomorrow at about 1:30 PM. You will be sleeping in underground cabins. The underground cabins have everything you love in it, and much more. You can find your cabin.” I looked around, and then I saw igloo shaped cabins. I went to the one that said Jamie on it. I saw everything I have ever dreamed of. A huge gaming computer and a wall full of rare action figures, and so much more. I was so happy, this one room was a dream come true. But I had to remind myself that I would not be in here for much longer. I had a rocket to catch. 

After getting a really good sleep, I heard from a loudspeaker, “ATTENTION. ROCKET LEAVING IN 10 MINUTES.” I sprinted out of my cabin and ran super fast to the rocket hanger. 

A young lady, at a desk said,  “Are you here for the Human monster mission?” 

“Yes I am.” 

“Name?” 

“Jamie Thompson” 

“Walk over to the launch pad over there.” 

”Ok” I said. 

“Oh, Jamie, you have arrived. Come. We will be launching soon,” said that same tall man from before. That was when I saw everybody on the rocket. They were all about my age. “Hey, also put on your space suit,” the tall man said. I put it on. It said Jamie Thompson. I noticed that everyone's space suit had a little flag on it. Mine had a Canadian flag, but I saw lots of different countries' flags, like England, France, China, and also the US. 

“Hello, are you excited for the mission?” a tall British boy asked excitedly. 

“I am, but I am very nervous,” I said. 

“ROCKET LAUNCHING IN ONE MINUTE. PLEASE BOARD SHIP” announced the loud speaker. That’s when I saw the ship, it was huge. As big as 5 houses! 

“Come inside the rocket please,” the tall man said. The interior reminded me of an airplane. “Come in, come in. Take a seat. Next stop, the edge of the universe!!” 

“Ahhhhhhh!!! No, no, no I changed my mind, I don't want to go,” an american boy screamed. 

“It's too late now. You have to go. We need to lift off before the universe gets destroyed. By the way, my name is Oliver. I will be your commander. Take a seat and buckle up, it's time to go.” Oliver walked down to a door that said, “PILOTS ROOM.” I walked to a seat and buckled up. Everyone else did too. The cabin inside of the rocket was about 20 meters long and 30 meters wide. I felt myself being lifted into the air. I looked out the window and I saw black. 

“OMG WE ARE IN SPACE!!” a Russian boy yelled. 

“We sure are!” Oliver yelled through the loud speaker. 

“If you look out the tinted windows, you will see your star, the sun.” I was shocked how far we have gotten in a matter of seconds. 

“ALERT ALERT ENEMY SPACECRAFTS APPROACHING” I heard from the speaker. Our seats started to hover in the air. My seat went to a little room with a big window in front of me. There was a big red button that said something in a weird language. I pressed the button and a big laser shot out of a tube outside of the rocket. I tried moving a joystick in front of me and the tube moved. I suddenly saw a spaceship fly in front of me. With no hesitation, I turned the joystick so the tube moved toward the space ship. I pressed the big red button and the laser went toward the spaceship and hit it. The spaceship immediately exploded. I saw another one through the window. “ZAP!” I exploded it again. 

Everything was going great until I felt a jolt and saw sparks behind me. We’d been hit.. I got out of my seat and went through the cabin. I noticed that there was a kid who looked like he was unconscious. Their face was drenched in blood. I fainted at the sight of it. When I woke up, Oliver was beside me. “Hello Jamie, it has been quite a while. Get out of bed, we are at our destination!” He led me to a humongous door and opened it. “Welcome to planet 47b!”

I walked onto a planet and I noticed it had very rough rocks on the floor and huge mountains. Oliver led me to a door in one of the mountains. I saw all the other kids waiting. Oliver announced that it is time to open up the door and fight the monster. He passed out fighting suits and laser guns. He told us to be extremely careful fighting the monster.

We opened the door and walked into a big room. We saw a humongous dinosaur looking creature in front of us. As soon as we approached the monster, it spit out some kind of clear ooze with steam coming out of it in front of them. Then it spit on one of the kids, burning them and ultimately killing them. No wonder why it's so hot back home, it's because of this monster. Then they tried to spit on me. It missed and got really angry. Five kids started to charge at it and they ended up getting spat on too, burning to death. I aimed my gun right at its eye and pulled the trigger. As soon as the laser made contact with the eye, the monster collapsed. It was dead. Everyone went “Woo hoo!”

Oliver then led us back to the spaceship. We sat down and buckled up. At a blink of an eye, we were back on earth. We went toward earth. We first stopped at my house because I killed the monster. I said bye and thank you to everyone. Oliver gave me a debit card. I said thank you and went home. 

I sneaked inside and tiptoed through the house and saw my mom in the kitchen. I realized time stopped on Earth and that it was still exactly midnight on the day I left. When I saw my mom in the kitchen she froze. “How many times have I told you you cannot have midnight snacks! Now get back into bed,” Mom said. 

“Lucky to be back on Earth,” I thought. That's when I heard my mom’s phone ding. It was from me. 

Jackie:

It was sunny, the morning of my funeral. A bright spring day. The flowers were just starting to blossom into colors that I guessed were vibrant greens and yellows. I haven’t been able to see any color since my death, so it was hard to be sure. I took a deep breath of the brisk spring air. My allergies probably would’ve started to kick in right around now. Except they didn’t, because, well, I was dead.

“Jackie Kayye. A daughter. A sister. A student. A teammate. A friend. These are the things we will remember her by,” said a tall slender man in a black suit and dark, slicked back hair, starting the line of speeches to come. He soon handed it off to my parents. Then to another adult (who I couldn’t quite remember where I knew them from). It went on for a while. 

I felt weird. Seeing people who loved me give speeches about how wonderful  a person I was. How I was in a better place now. How I was too young to die. How I would always be with them, as long as the memories of me lived on. All the while, I was there at the graveyard. At my funeral. With them. Watching them.

I inspected the people I assumed were my parents. My mom was on the short side (shorter than me at least), and had dark eyes. Her pale face was freckled, and had a mole to the left of her lip. Her hair was long, curly, and a golden brown, just like mine. She had on a long, sleek, black dress. She was crying into the shoulder of the person I thought was my father. He was tall and stocky, wearing a black suit and hat. He had curly black hair, dark skin, and lighter eyes with bags under them. I’m not positive that they’re my parents. I don’t remember them. I don’t remember anything. When I try, my head throbs and I feel dizzy. Instead, I get feelings. I don’t know if they’re my parents. I just feel like they are. Just as I don’t remember dying, I just kinda woke up one day and felt… well, dead. 

People were standing up now to put flowers on my grave. A girl at least four years younger than me caught my eye when she walked up to my grave holding daffodils. A friend maybe? Molly. Her name is Molly. She’s my sister. Felt right. She was wearing a short, poofy black dress, with a black sweater and a black bow. She had curly, light hair. Her eyes were light as well, and I’m pretty sure that they would’ve been pretty if they weren’t so swollen from crying. She dropped the flowers on my grave, and they fluttered down, slowly. She stood there for a moment, letting the tears drip down her face. I then started crying too. Seeing Molly cry felt so wrong. I want to hug her. I hopped out of the tree that I had been perched in, ran over to her, and went to wrap my arms around her. I knew it wouldn’t work, I knew. But I was still disappointed when my arms went right through her. She shivered.

By the time everyone was done, there were quite a few bouquets of flowers framing the particular rock that they used to honor my death. Almost everyone was now walking solemnly to their cars, ready to go home. My parents stayed. Molly stayed. So I stayed. I don’t know how long we were there. At least not exactly. I know it was a while. They just sat there, huddled and crying until they didn’t have any tears left to cry. I reached out a shaking hand to them. 

“I’m right here. Please. See me. Mom, Dad. Molly. Please.” I pleaded, my voice shaking. I was crying now as well. It wasn’t fair. I didn’t want to be here. Not like this. I wanted to be with them. Like, REALLY be with them. Alive. Breathing. 

“Honey, we should go,” my dad said, voice cracking. He nudged my mom. His voice was low and raspy. His cheeks were stained with tears.

“I know. I know. Can you help me stand?” My mom muttered. She looked so broken. My dad got up, then reached out for my mom’s hand. He pulled her to her feet, then held her steady when her knees buckled. She recovered after a moment, then took a deep breath. My dad then let go, and threw Molly over his shoulders, carrying her in a piggy-back-ride. He grabbed my mom’s hand then squeezed.

“Hey. We’re gonna be fine. Everything is gonna be fine. We can bounce back from this. I love you,” he said as he wiped her tears away with his free hand. “It’s not your fault.”

“I should’ve noticed though. I should’ve seen that something was wrong, I’m her mom,” the tears streaming again.

“I know it's hard. I know. but we can’t go back in time. She would want us to move on. To stay strong,” He seemed to be talking to himself just as much as her. I looked away. I shouldn’t be here. This is their moment. I turned around to leave the graveyard.

Then I decided to just leave altogether, letting my legs guide me. I ended up stopping in front of a decent sized house, with tall hedges surrounding it. I lived here. I looked around, then stepped inside. 

“I’m home!” I called into the living room. I clasped my hands over my mouth. No one can hear me. It had just felt so right to say. I climbed up the stairs to the attic, then plopped into my bed. I rested my head on my pillow and closed my eyes. I’m so tired. I just lay there though, unable to sleep. I haven’t been able to rest since my death. 

I sat up and sighed, rubbing my temple. No point in just sitting here. I had to do something. It was too painful to stay in the living world. So I came up with a plan. I stood up, and walked over to the window leading to my balcony. I threw the curtains aside, and reached out and released the latch to the window, heaving it open with a grunt. I stood at the edge and looked down. I was three stories up. High enough to get severely injured, if not get killed. It felt vaguely familiar, where I was standing. I shook the headache that came with the hint of a memory resurfacing. I shook it off, refocusing my thoughts to the task at hand. 

I can’t die twice, right? I thought. I swung my legs over the railing, now sitting facing out to the street. I braced myself. Okay. On three. One… Two…

“HEY! STOP! DON’T JUMP!” I paused, then scanned the street. Was someone… talking to me?

“Hello?” I called out. 

“DON’T JUMP!” A little boy’s voice. Couldn’t be much older than ten. I finally managed to see a little kid standing in his driveway holding a basketball. Next to him was an older girl, resembling him almost identically. His sister maybe? She was looking at him as if he were crazy. I looked back at the little boy. He looked back at me. Like, right at me. We made eye contact. 

“Hey! Stay there! I’ll be right down! I won’t jump!” I called out to him, then scrambled back through my window, and practically flew down the stairs, right past my disheveled sister and parents. He can see me. I shoved the front door open, and ran out of my driveway, right past my family’s car, now back from the funeral. He. Can. See. Me. I sprinted down the street. Which house had he been at? What had it looked like? I couldn’t remember… despite this I kept looking. Kept running, glancing at every house on the road, making sure I wasn’t passing him. At the end of the road I slowed down, out of breath. Did he leave? I jogged back up my street. But I thought… I sighed, reaching my house again and still not seeing anything. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. 

I reached the door knob and was about to turn it when I changed my mind. If he could hear me, see me, I wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. Maybe he could even help me move on from whatever was holding me back, keeping me in the living world. Or maybe there’s nowhere else to go… I didn’t want to think about that though. I pivoted on my heels then marched down the street.

_____________________________________________________________________

Alex:

“Mommyyyy, I don’t want to go outside! It’s too hot! There’s nothing to do!” Alex whined at his mom. 

“Well you can’t just stay inside playing your video games all day. You need fresh air. You can practice basketball. Oh, and get Miley to go with you. She needs to get off her games.”

“But-”

“AH. I don’t want to hear it. Outside. Now.” His mom cut him off. He folded his arms and stomped outside, making sure that she knew he wasn’t happy about this. “And don’t forget sunscreen! You don’t want to get burned!” Alex groaned.

“Whatever. MILEYYYY. MOMMY IS MAKING US PLAY OUTSIDE. COME DOWNSTAIRS!” He hollered up the stairs to his sister. 

“UGH SERIOUSLY!?! MOOMMMM!? DO I HAVE TO?!” She called back down. 

“YES. I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU GUYS AND YOUR COMPLAINTS. GET OFF YOUR DEVICES, AND GO OUTSIDE!” She was exasperated now. Not wanting to upset her further, Alex and Miley both rushed outside. Their mom was not a fun person to argue with.

They got the basketball out of the garage, and went to the driveway to practice. Miley was older than Alex, so he always lost. He didn’t care TOO much, but he did wish he had someone more his level to play with. Miley shot. She scored. Miley shot. She scored. Alex shot. He missed. Miley shot. She scored. Miley dribbled. Got past him. Nothing Alex could do. Their neighbors pulled into the driveway, distracting Alex for a second, just long enough for Miley to score the winning shot.

“Hey, can we take a break? Please?” Alex pleaded. 

“Haha sure. Sore loser much?” Miley teased, but Alex didn’t respond with the snarky response that would normally follow. “Alex?” Miley noticed the blood draining from his face.

“Miley. Do you see that?” He whimpered, pointing to the neighbor's house. He was already jogging toward it. Miley dropped the ball, running to catch up with him.

“No? Where are you going? I don’t see anyth-”

“HEY! STOP! DON’T JUMP!” He screamed. Miley glanced in the direction he was yelling. Still didn’t see anything. She glanced back to Alex, giving him a look.

“Alex? There’s nothing-”

“DON’T JUMP!!” He was begging now. 

“Alex what’s happening?” 

“A girl! She’s sitting at the edge of the window, I think she’s gonna jump! Oh, wait, she said that she’s coming over.” He said matter of factly. He was now pointing over to the house. Skeptical, Miley followed his finger to the balcony of the Kayye’s house. Miley felt sick to her stomach… there’s no way. 

“Alex there’s no one there,” she told him. 

“Well she’s gone now. She went back inside. But she was there!” Alex insisted.

“Alex-”

“ALEX! MILEY! What’s with all the commotion? You guys are going to get us in trouble with the neighbors,” Their mom scolded them. “And dinner’s ready! You guys come inside now!” 

“Okay! We’re coming!” Miley called back, and started to walk to the door. When Alex didn’t follow, she turned around. “Alex? Come on. Mom’s in a bad mood,” she said, but he just stood there staring out at the door of the house across the street. “Alex. No one is there,” her voice softened. 

“But-”

“Alex. Come on,” Miley didn’t let him finish. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside. She slammed the door behind them. 

“What’s for dinner?” Miley asked after stepping inside.

“Pasta with meat sauce,” their Mom replied. Alex scrunched his face, as though he just smelt a dead body or something. “Come help me set the table. It’ll be off the stove in two minutes,” their mom said, glaring at Alex.

“Wait, it's not ready yet? But you saiidddd.” Alex complained.

“Hush Alex. Let’s help set the table,” Miley gave him a look, stopping him from whining further. 

After getting the plates and glasses out, Alex heard a knock on the door. 

“I’ll get it!” Alex stood up and rushed over to the door. Miley and her mom exchanged a look.

“Alex, what are you getting?” Miley called out behind him. 

“The door!” He called back.

“What’s up with him?” her mom asked Miley, concerned. She hadn’t heard anyone knock. 

“Eh, I’m sure he’s fine,” Miley replied. “He was kinda weird earlier too. Maybe he just didn’t get enough sleep or something.”

“Is he trying to skip out on dinner? If so then I’ll ground that boy so fast-”

“Mom. Just give him a sec to come back in. You can ask him about it when he’s here. No need to make premature punishments.” Her mom huffed in response, but didn’t push further. If it weren’t for me this family would be falling apart. Miley thought. It’s always been like this. Ever since her dad died 8 years ago. Alex never got to meet him, but her mom had been devastated.

Miley and her mom waited in the kitchen. Then waited some more. The food started to get cold. Alex didn’t come back. 

_____________________________________________________________________

Jackie:

Just a few more houses. Then I’ll give up. I knocked on another door. No answer. I’ve come to the conclusion that I could mess with things, and make noises, but no one but me would see them. Like, when I open a door, no one else can see or hear the door open but me. Or if I run the laundry. It’s like everything I touch is in a separate world as everyone else. One where I can see everything from the world of the living, but they can’t see back. No one would ever know about anything I do. Or maybe other dead people could, but I’m not sure, not having run into any of those yet. Unless maybe the kid was dead? I sighed. No use in over-thinking it. 

I walked to the next house. I knocked. I heard voices, soon followed by footsteps. Then the door opened and I found myself face-to-face with a little boy. 

I looked at him. He looked back at me, confused. He actually sees me. Something seemed to have clicked in his memory, for a second after pondering my face, and when he’d seen me, he seemed to have recognized me. 

“You! I saw you earlier!” He exclaimed.

“Yep! I was sitting on my balcony, enjoying the view, when you noticed me. I wasn’t planning on jumping, by the way,” I paused, and he nodded, seeming convinced. “What’s your name?” I smiled. He can see me. He can hear me. 

“Alex!” He said, then covered his mouth with his hands. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. You’re a stranger,” Alex said, narrowing his eyes and taking a step back.

I stuck my hands up in the air as though he was pointing a gun at me, and telling me to surrender. “I’m not gonna hurt you,” I promised him, and he eased up a little. 

“Okay fine. But keep your hands up. I’m gonna get my mom.” He turned around and opened his mouth to yell inside. I panicked, and grabbed his shoulder, my hand making contact with warm flesh. He shivered. 

“You don’t need to get her,” I stammered. “I just… wanted to thank you. And, I was wondering if you wanted to be friends?” He hesitated. 

“Wait, you’re thanking me? Why?”

“Because you cared,” I told him.

He thought about this for a second. Then sighed. “Okay fine. We can be friends. Do you play basketball?” I smiled. 

“Yeah, a little.” He smiled too. 

“Are you free to play a little bit right now?” Alex asked me. 

“Yeah, I guess. It’s kinda late though, are you sure that it’s okay for you to be out playing with me?” He checked his watch.

“Yeah it should be fine. I just can’t stay for long.”

“Cool. And just to warn you, I don’t think I’m too good, so don’t brag if you beat me.”

“I’ll go easy on you,” he laughed, and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He grabbed the basketball from a box, and passed it to me. I bounced it a few times, getting a feel for it. I smiled at him. 

“Ready?” I asked.

“Ready.” 

My body played before my mind did. I couldn’t think about what I was doing. I didn’t know what I was doing. Playing just… felt right. I shot. I scored. I grinned at him. He stuck his tongue out in response. He was pretty good though. We ended up at a tie of 5-5 by the time his mom was yelling at him to get back inside. He looked terrified, and I swear he saw his life flash before his eyes. 

“Uh sorry. We’ll have to finish this later. I forgot about dinner!” He was already running to the door. He stopped and turned back before he stepped inside. “Bye!” He waved, then practically dove through the door. I waved back, grinning and out of breath. 

That was fun. I turned and walked out of the driveway. I’ll come back tomorrow. I decided, and found that I was already looking forward to it. Despite him being years younger than I was, it was really nice to talk to someone. 

I walked back to my house, opened the door, then went inside. I climbed up the stairs to my room in the attic. I opened the door then sat on my little bean bag, resting my head on the wall. The sun was setting now, so everything in my room had an illuminating golden glow to it. I looked in the mirror on my bedside table. No reflection. My eyes wandered to the window I had been about to jump out of earlier today. The window stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and was about the width of two of my bodies. It was open, letting in a breeze of the cool early spring air. The wind made the curtains flutter, giving my room a romantic feel. The curtains were a translucent white, complementing the aesthetic of the rest of my room. I flicked on a lamp with a silver stand and a white lampshade. It was resting comfortably on a fluffy rug next to a full, wooden bookshelf. I picked up a book, then flipped through the pages. I listened to the sound of the old, worn, ink filled paper as the pages skimmed over my fingers. The sound made me feel safe. 

I stayed up the entire night reading the book I had picked up, until I got distracted, running the game of basketball through my head. It had all felt so natural. I wonder if I used to play? My head started pounding, like it always did when I started to think about my life before death. I winced from the pain, then took a deep breath and thought back to the boy. My head felt fine moments later. 

Does he know that I’m dead? Should I tell him? No- he might get scared. He can’t leave me. He’s the only one I get to talk to. I can’t lose him. Can’t lose this chance. I closed my eyes. I should stop thinking about this. I’ll figure it out in the morning when I get to see him again. I focused back on the book, letting myself get lost in it. 

When I closed the book, satisfied with the ending, I noticed that the sun was back up in the sky. I stood up and stretched. I gently set the heavy book back down onto the shelf, right where I found it. 

I readjusted my jeans and old t-shirt, flattening out the wrinkles that had formed over night. I braided my long, curly brown hair into fishtails, letting my hands do the work. They braided faster than my mind did, tying knots left and right and left and right. I was about to look into a mirror to check how they looked, but remembered I wouldn’t be able to see myself anyway. Instead I just held them in front of my face. 

Satisfied, I opened my bedroom door and slid down the railing of my staircase. I opened the door and crossed the street. 146 Pitchbury ave. I knocked on the door. No response. I knocked again, harder this time. Nadda. I checked the time. Oops. 6 am. Pretty early for a little boy. I sighed, giving up, and turned around to leave. The door opened behind me. 

“Hello?” Alex asked, standing in the door frame. He rubbed his eyes. He was wearing fire truck pjs and slippers. “Oh, hey! It’s you again!” He was surprisingly energetic considering the time.

“G’morning Alex! Did I wake you? I didn’t check the time when I came over, sorry. I can leave if you wanna go back to bed,” I said.

“No. Well yes. You did wake me. But stay! I have school in a little bit anyway, so if we don’t play now we can’t until like, three. So stay. I’ll get the basketball,” He insisted. I forgot that he’d have school. Bummer.

“Sure, I’ll stay. But Alex, can I ask you a question before we get started? It may sound a little weird. And very random.” 

“Mh?”

“Do you uh, believe in ghosts?” I asked. 

“YES! Of course I believe in ghosts!” He looked taken aback, as though he was insulted by even the question of it. “Why do you ask?”

“Hm. Well. What would you do if someone you knew was actually a ghost?”

“Uh. I dunno. I think it would be pretty cool though.”

“Okay, and what would you do if the ghost asked for help?”

“I mean, I would help it?” he said, confused now. “Why are you asking me this?”

“Alex. I’m-”

“Alex? What are you doing outside so early in the morning? School doesn’t start for three more hours,” a girl asked, the same one who was with Alex the previous day. She was standing in the door frame. She was taller than me, and had short, straight dark hair. She was still in pajamas, light gray sweatpants and a t-shirt I assumed was rainbow, with bold letters spelling out “pride” plastered on the front of it. 

“Miley! Hey, I’m just practicing basketball with my new friend! Miley this is- wait what was your name?” He turned to me now.

“Jackie,” I told him. I smiled sadly, knowing that the conversation to come was going to be weird.

“Miley this is Jackie! Jackie, this is Miley. She’s my sister!” Miley looked fairly disturbed, and slightly freaked out. 

“Ughhh, this again? Alex there isn’t anyone there,” she said, then looked and gave Alex a concerned look. “And Jackie? You mean like, Jackie Kayye, our neighbor? She died a week ago, Alex. This isn't funny,” She said. Alex looked back at me. 

“Miley. What are you even saying? She’s literally right here, you see? Jackie, wave at her,” Alex ordered me. He was a little frantic now. I didn’t wave. Just looked at him apologetically. Miley shook her head. I walked over to her, and stuck my hand out. If my hand were solid, it would’ve touched the side of her neck. Instead it went through her, just as I planned it would. I needed to give Alex proof. Miley shivered. I smiled sadly at Alex, whose face was now pale.

_____________________________________________________________________

Alex:

“YOU’RE A GHOST!!” He yelled, pointing a finger at Jackie. Miley shushed him. 

“What are you talking about? Alex, it's too early for this,” Miley said, rubbing her eyes. Alex wasn’t listening though.

“THAT’S WHY YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT IT! YOU’RE ACTUALLY DEAD! OH MY GOD. AND THAT’S WHY YOU’RE SO COLD! AND YOU’RE EYES! IS THAT WHY THEY’RE GRAY? AND MILEY COULDN’T SEE YOU YESTERDAY! Wait.” He looked at Jackie, horrified now. “Am I dead? Because Miley can’t see you. She can’t hear you. But I can see you? Unless I’m… a necromancer? A medium? I’ve read books about this…” Alex was muttering to himself now. 

“Alex. Come on. That’s enough. No one’s laughing,” Miley told him, insisting he stop talking. Alex wasn’t listening to Miley though. He’d kinda forgotten she was there. He was listening to Jackie.

“Yeah, I’m dead. I don’t think you are though, considering other people can still see you. All I really know is that you’re the only one who’s been able to see and hear me. Also when I touch anyone else my hand goes through them,” Jackie patted Alex on the head. He shivered from the cold of her hand, but it didn’t go through like it did with Miley. He wasn’t scared anymore. Just fascinated. It’s still just Jackie. The same one I played basketball with. My friend. He sighed. Miley. Right. She thinks I’m crazy now. Should I tell her the truth? No, I don’t think she’s gonna believe me. Let’s just think about this as the rational 11 year old I am. He’d calmed down now. 

Alex blinked hard, making it look as convincing as possible. “Miley?” He turned his head violently to the left, then to the right. He widened his eyes. “What- how? Why are we outside?” He did his best to look a mixture of confused, scared, and groggy all at the same time. Miley seemed confused now too.

“What do you mean why? That’s what I’m trying to ask you,” Miley said, crossing her arms.

“You were? I just… woke up… I had the weirdest dream though. I was practicing basketball then a ghost popped out of nowhere and it ate me then everything went dark and I was dead and-” Alex stopped, gasping for breath. “When did I get outside though?” He made his eyes light up, then exclaimed, “OH! Was I sleepwalking? That’s so cool!” While Miley still seemed skeptical, she also looked fascinated now.

“Huh. Didn’t think that was actually a thing…” Miley said. Yes! She bought it! Alex thought.

“Me neither! Oh, and what time is it? Am I late for school?” Alex changed the subject, hoping to take her mind off of the incident.

“No, early actually. Let’s go inside though. It’s too early to have to deal with mom,” Miley said. So they did. Alex glanced back once, and nodded to Jackie. She waved back. 

 “Bye! I’ll come back later!” Jackie laughed once the door shut. What just happened?

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Jackie:

“I’m gonna win today,” Alex promised me, for what must’ve been the hundredth time.

“Mhm. Sure you will. In your dreams.” We were walking over to the basketball court in town to play. Once we got there, I let him start with the ball. He was getting better, especially from when I first met him almost four months ago. In that time we’d talked about him a lot, and my experiences as a ghost. We investigated our situation, reading a lot of books, but finding that it was impossible to come to a concrete conclusion. The majority of the time we were together though, we were playing basketball. It felt like so long ago since we first became friends. 

He shot. He scored. 

“In my dreams, she said,” He smirked. I stuck my tongue out at him. I got to start with it now. I dribbled it, got past him, shot, scored. 

“Don’t get cocky now,” I said, passing the ball back to him. He just shook his head, then ran up with it. He shot it again, but it bounced off the rim. He got it back then shot again. I blocked it this time. I was much taller than him, being five years older. I almost always win. Often we tie, but he’s never been able to beat me. 

We continued taking turns starting and shooting, until we got bored, and he reluctantly conceded. We were walking back to his house, when I noticed my sister Molly, curled in an alleyway crying. Her hair was sticking out in all directions, and she had a bruise on her left cheek. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was staring off into space. There were tears overflowing from her eyes, but she didn’t seem to notice. She looked so… dead.

“Jackie? What are you-” He stopped, turning back to see what I was doing. He noticed Molly too then. His eyes widened. “I’ll take care of it. Wait here,” he told me, then jogged over to her. 

Molly was a year younger than Alex but she looked much older. Maybe it was just the state she was in. From the grief, and stress, and tiredness, she looked years older than she was. Or maybe it was just that she’d been growth-spurting recently. 

“Hey, Molly, right? I’m Alex, your neighbor. I … was friends with your sister. Are you okay?” He said, kneeling down so he was at her level. 

“Go away,” she said, still not focussing her eyes. 

“I just want to help. Here, let’s get you home-”

“NO! I said go away. I don’t wanna go home. I can’t go home. There’s too much of her there.” Molly said, sobbing now. Alex was taken aback.

“Molly. She wouldn’t want to see you like this-” 

“I don’t care what she would’ve wanted,” Molly choked out. 

“That’s not-” Alex began but she interrupted.

“If she didn’t think about what I would’ve wanted, then I don’t need to think about what she’d want. I don’t care anymore. I did love her though. Always did. Apparently it wasn’t enough though. My love wasn’t enough for her. Or maybe I was just a bad sister. I deserve what I’m getting.” I was crying too. Alex just watched her for a moment, until he stood back up and held out his hand. 

“Stand up. I’m going to bring you home,” Alex ordered. He looked down into her eyes, and held her gaze. She let out a shaky breath, and grabbed his hand, reluctantly pulling herself up. 

And so we walked home. Alex dropped Molly off at our house, not speaking a word to her. She shut the front door behind her. Alex and I just stood there for a minute. I had stopped crying by now, but a headache had formed sometime while watching Molly. I welcomed it. Welcome to the pain.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said, his voice trembling. 

“No. No, don’t be. Thanks for doing that for me,” I said. And with that, I walked him home. Once he was dropped off, I walked back to my house. I shut the door behind me, and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I smelt dinner cooking. I wasn’t hungry. I’ve found that I don’t need to eat anymore. Despite this I sat down at the table, in my designated seat. Another thing that just felt right. I sat and watched my family eat, and talk about how their days had been. I didn’t care about the headache that was present whenever I was with them. I just wanted to pretend everything was okay. 

When they all finished eating and clearing their dishes, I went to my room. I glanced out my window, and saw Molly in the driveway, practicing basketball by herself. I want to join her. I snuffed out the idea before I could really consider it though.

I turned away, and found myself face to face with the stacks and stacks and stacks of books alphabetically organized, sitting on the tall, wooden shelf. I scanned the titles. What to read tonight? I’ve read them all at least twice… I ended up deciding on the first one on the shelf. It was long enough to last me through the night. I flopped down on my beanbag, and flipped to the first page. Once upon a time…

_____________________________________________________________________

Alex:

He lay down, flopping his head on his Star Wars pillow, and slipped into a deep sleep. It had been a long day. 

The next morning when he woke up, he was immediately filled with panic. I’m late. He threw on a fresh pair of clothes and ran down the stairs. He skipped breakfast and just slipped on his sneakers.

“Bye! See you later!” He called out as he slammed the door behind him. He ran up his street, just barely making it to the bus stop before the bus arrived. He hopped on, greeted the bus driver, then, climbing over the masses of legs and bags, sat in the first open seat he saw. He plopped his bag onto his lap and rested his head on the back of the seat taking a deep breath. Only two more weeks of school, then he’d be free. The school year would end, and he’d get to enjoy his summer break.

The bus arrived at his school and they all unloaded onto the front grounds of the school. Alex walked through the front door with the mob of his fellow middle schoolers. Being short and in sixth grade, almost everyone else was an entire head taller than him. He didn’t necessarily mind this. It made him less noticeable. 

Alex went to his locker, taking out his binder and chromebook, then threw the rest of his bag into the locker. He slammed it shut, then walked to his homeroom. He threw his binder down onto the table, then sat down in his assigned seat.

“Mary?”

“Here!”

“Lucy?”

“Here.”

“Leo?” No response. The teacher marked him absent. 

“Alex?” 

“…” 

“Alex. Are you here?” She was looking right at him, but Alex was zoned out, sketching in his notebook, filled most recently with scenes of him and Jackie hanging out together. She sighed, marked him present, then moved on.

“Max?”

“Here,” he said. 

This went on for another minute, until Mrs. Hills nodded, finished reading off the attendance list. The bell rang, snapping Alex's consciousness back to school. He stood up, then made his way down the hallway to his English classroom.

Once everyone was seated and had their eyes on the board, Mrs. Hills pulled up a slideshow, and droned on about conjugating sentences for the majority of class. She handed out packets for everyone to practice. Alex finished early, then rested his head on his desk. 

By the time the end-of-class bell rang, Alex was half asleep, and already ready to go home. Alex begrudgingly stood up, and trudged to his next class. Math. 

Class started. Everyone sat. Lecture. Worksheet. Check answers. Get homework. Class ended. The pattern was getting tedious. Two more weeks.

Next class. Similar routine. 

Next was lunch. He sat down at one of the larger tables in the middle of the cafeteria, and sat with his friends. They chatted about the upcoming summer, how it was getting too hot too fast, and a variety of other subjects until eventually they ended up debating over what was better, ice cream or milkshakes. 

Alex ate quickly, scarfing down his food and ignoring the conversation around him. Once he finished eating, he stood up, then quickly made his way out to the courtyard. He sat down on the bench outside, and watched people play. 

That’s when he recognized Jackie’s sister, sitting at the opposite side of the playground, alone, looking down at her shoes. I didn’t know she was in the same grade as me… Alex sighed, then stood up from his cozy spot on the bench. He shuffled over next to her, then sat down. She peaked up at him, then looked back down. Neither of them said anything. They just sat in what was at first awkward, then a comfortable silence. Finally, Alex decided to break it.

“Are you okay?”

“What?”

“Yesterday. In the alley. You’re hurt, yeah? What happened?”

“Oh. I uh, fell?” They sat in silence for another moment.

“Fine. you don’t have to tell me anything, but I’m here for you if you want to talk about it. No judgment.”

“I dunno…” She hesitated. 

“Okay, that’s fine,” Alex replied. They sat in silence for another minute. Molly sighed.

“I just don’t have any friends right now. And I guess that people find it… amusing to pick on people who are alone. And grieving. I didn’t like being picked on, and I’m not a pushover, so I picked back. Started some fights. And yeah I got hurt, but you should’ve seen the other girl.” Molly said, closing her eyes, letting a small smile get the better of her. “I just wish that Jackie hadn’t left us. I wish I didn’t have to fight other people. Wished that she was here for me. It’s not fair. I don’t understand why she thought it was okay to just shove all of her burdens onto me. I really hate her sometimes. She was so… selfish.” Molly leaned back into the bench. She didn’t say anything else. It took Alex a moment to process what she had said.

“Molly?”

“What?” 

“She loved you. I know that it hurts, now that she’s gone, but she did. She loved you.” Alex said, trying his best to hide his growing resentment. How could she hate a dead person? It’s not like it’s her fault for dying.

“If she loved me so much, then why did she jump?” Molly replied, eyes full of a mix between hatred and sadness. “Why did she have to leave us?”

Alex blinked. Jump? Don’t tell me she really… no she wouldn’t. He thought of when they first met, when she was perched on the balcony. Would she? She said that she doesn’t have any memories… Something must’ve happened. Alex pulled Molly into a hug. Her tears spilled over. “It’s not your fault.”

“I want her back, I WANT HER BACK! It’s not fair!” She sobbed, trying to pull out of his hug. He didn’t let go. Other people were starting to glance over to them. Alex didn’t care.

“I know,” he said, pushing her off now, then looked directly into her eyes. “I don’t know why she… jumped. No, I don’t know why, but you’re right. It was selfish, and dumb, and you have every right to hate her for it,” Alex paused. “But just because we have the right doesn’t mean we should. You need to start forgiving her. Start forgiving yourself.” Alex let go now, standing up and walking away. He left her by herself in the courtyard.

The rest of the day went by faster, now that he was looking forward to getting home. He wanted to ask Jackie about the balcony. The bell rang. Alex bolted up from his final class, running out the door. 

“ALEX!! NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAYS!” A teacher yelled out behind him. 

“Sorry!” He called back, but he didn’t stop. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, then ran to the front door of the school. He merged in with the mob of students rushing to get out of the school. He hopped on his bus, made his way to the back, then sat down. He rested his head on the window, and took a deep breath. Two more weeks.

_____________________________________________________________________

Jackie:

“Hm? What’s up Alex?” I asked, when Alex came sprinting over to me after he got home from school that day. I had been waiting for him in his driveway as I usually do around 4 everyday, when he gets home from school.

“The balcony… when we first met… what… were you doing?” He panted.

“Balcony?” I thought back. “Oh right, that.” I said, thinking back to the events of the day we first met. “I told you before I was just enjoying the view- '' I glanced at him, and could tell that he wasn’t buying it. I sighed. “Okay, fine. So basically that day I had a theory that maybe I couldn’t get hurt as a ghost. Or maybe that by dying a second time, I would be free from being a ghost for eternity, wandering alone. A pretty dumb idea, thinking back on it. A lot of stuff that could’ve gone wrong. It’s fine though, because you stopped me. Why do you ask?”

Alex looked shaken. His hand was trembling slightly, though I could tell that he was trying to hide it. 

“Alex? What’s wrong?” 

He hesitated, then said, “I saw your sister …today after lunch. I spoke with her for a little while, and she uh. She told me how you died,” he hesitated, then took a deep breath. “You jumped.”

I waited for him to go on, to elaborate further. He didn’t though. Just stood there. “What do you mean, ‘I jumped’ what did I-” My voice cut off. I felt suffocated, and my head was pounding. “Oh-” a wave of dizziness fell over me, and my legs gave out. I dropped to the ground, my head in my hands, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I still couldn’t remember anything. I was just flooded with feelings. Feelings of pain. Feelings of sadness, and anger. Feelings of worthlessness and loneliness. But at the same time I felt so empty. The feelings were overwhelming, and I was shaking now. My throat was tight. Alex collapsed down next to me, threw his arms around my neck.

“I’m sorry. I… I shouldn’t’ve said anything. I didn’t mean to make you sad. I’m sorry-” He sounded so confused, and scared. 

“Hey, stop apologizing,” I said, voice still tight, but a little more collected now. I pulled away and looked into his eyes. They looked darker than they usually were. “You didn’t do anything wron-” I stopped, noticing that his attention was no longer on me. “Alex?” I turned around, following his gaze, and saw Molly standing there. She looked worried. 

“What are you doing? Alex, are you okay?” She bent down next to him. Next to me. A wave of tears hit. I reached out, trying to grab a wisp of her hair. My hand passed right through. 

“Yeah, Molly I’m fine,” Alex said, voice soft. “What’s up?”

“Uh,” she hesitated, “I thought about what you said earlier. And while I don’t know… if I can fully forgive her for leaving the way she did, but I want… to try.” she said, her voice faltering. She took a shaky breath. “And I loved her too. I really did. That’s why it hurt so much when she left.” After a moment she added, “Thanks Alex. You’re a great friend,” she turned around and left, leaving a stunned Alex, and me, crumpled on the ground, heart aching, head pounding.

_____________________________________________________________________

Alex:

He looked over to Jackie. She was curled up in a ball, still shaking slightly. He scooched closer, then hung his arm around her. “Hey, Jackie. I just want to make sure that you know that we love you. I don’t blame you for what happened, and neither will Molly,” Alex said. He stayed like that for a little while, arm around my shoulders. “I’m so glad I got to meet you, and play with you, and vent to you, and while I wish that I could be friends with the living version of you, you’re free now. You have every right to be happy. To be loved. To be forgiven. Okay?” Jackie looked up, then laughed. 

“You could be a therapist, you know?” She smiled, and it felt sincere. Alex laughed too at the idea of this.

“Hmmm, I don’t know… I wouldn’t be able to play basketball then. With all the practice I’ve been doing with you, it just feels like it would be a waste…” He shrugged, smiling.

“Nonsense! You could still play. Therapist by day, famous basketball player by night! It would totally suit you,” Jackie nodded, trying and failing to hide a smirk playing at her lips. 

“Perfect! I’ve got my whole future planned out then!”

“All thanks to a certain dead person you know.”

“Yes, yes, of course. What could I ever do to repay you?” 

“Oh, payment, I like the sound of this…” Jackie stroked an imaginary beard, pretending to be thinking. “How about… a hug?” Jackie held out her arms. Alex smiled, then collapsed into them. Jackie giggled, then shoved Alex to the ground, and tickled him. Alex shrieked, somewhere between a laugh and a cry. “No! Stop! Mercy!” Jackie laughed and Alex braced himself for her to continue, but surprisingly felt her stop. “Jackie? Wow, I didn’t think you were so nice!” Alex sat up, and wiped the tears from his eyes. He smiled. “Jackie?” 

“Alex?” Jackie wasn’t smiling anymore. She looked horrified. That’s when Alex saw her hands. They were slowly flaking off into glowing particles, small bits at a time. It looked almost like snow, and would be beautiful if it weren’t for Jackie’s now sudden lack of hands. “Alex. I don’t want to leave you. I can’t leave you.”

“I know. I know, I don’t want you to leave either. Jackie, I still need to beat you. I-I, Jackie please don’t go.” His voice cracked. He felt fresh tears drip down his face.

“Alex, I’m scared,” Jackie looked directly at Alex. More and more of her was flaking off, and now she had lost the majority of her arms. Alex tried to grab at the disintegrated particles of her. No use. He looked up into her eyes. Jackie seeing the fear in his eyes urged herself to calm down. She hugged him. He squeezed her back. “Hey, Alex, it’s okay. I’m okay,” Though Jackie’s voice was fainter now, he could still hear the tremor in her words. There was less and less of her by the second. “I love you Alex. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Thank you.” His hands no longer had anything to hold onto. 

He shut his eyes, refusing to look, until he felt a cool, ominous gust of wind hit his face, and he knew that Jackie was gone. He stayed there, hugging the air for a while longer, refusing to accept that she wasn’t coming back. He felt the sun fade beneath the horizon, and a chill was immediately brought to the air. He felt a drop of rain on his cheek. Then another. She’s gone. She’s gone. She’s- 

“Alex! Come inside! Dinner’s ready!”

That night after dinner, Alex ran up to his room and locked the door behind him. He rummaged through his backpack, and took out his sketchbook. He flipped through it, stopping when he reached his most recent drawing. He ripped it out, and examined it. In the drawing he had beat Jackie in one of their basketball games. Something that could never happen now. He took out a piece of tape, and used it to stick the drawing onto his wall, right above his desk. He stepped back to look at it, but found that he couldn’t focus. Everything was blurry from the tears welling up in his eyes.

She’s gone. She’s really gone.

_____________________________________________________________________

The end

My name is Arlin Saignkhorst. I am writing this "novel" weird thing, which is actually an autobiography if you think about it too much. Anyway, my story just has to be told. It is one of many tales, many pages, and endless ink.

I will address what all of you are demanding to know, “Does the Gem exist?” 

Certainly, it does. And I happen to be the one who ends up using it a lot. Let me tell you how the chain started moving. How the Rube Goldberg machine started. How the first domino fell. Here is some history, which turned to rumor, which turned to legend, which turned to myth, which turned to dust: info that you should really know, knowledge only granted in dreams, but you're lucky that I'm here to hit you with a lot of info fast.

There is only one primordial evil, Katalanaroomunal, (I think I spelled her name right) who must be kept in her cage. A thousand years ago, the great Earth king and wizard Nalgeno (nall-GEE-no), exiled her to prison beyond the earth, sea, and air. Before Nalgeno exiled Katalanaroomunal, she had destroyed half of creation and its population, nothing in her arm's reach was secure. 

But as you all know, no cage is impossible to escape from. So Nalgeno put his own kingdom at risk, placing a curse on the cage.

“THE KEY OF THIS CAGE WILL ONLY APPEAR TO THE KING OF THE EARTH KINGDOM.”

But this would not happen unless the kingdom was taken by force, because Nalgeno put a spell on his child.

“NO SONS OF MINE WILL EVER SIDE WITH KATALANAROOMUNAL!”

So what has to happen for the world to end is an evil being has to take the throne of the Earth kingdom, by force Then the key will appear, and bad stuff happens. Also, the right to the Earth Kingdom, is the Gem of Survival.

How I first learned all of this -- you are about to find out.

1429 June 13 Friday Alcronian Desert. The bed of Arlin Saignkhorst  

“How are you doing, Elias?” a person, but not really a person, asked. The tone said that she was teasing him slightly. Like she was greater than him. The woman's voice came from a smokey cage. In the dream, I could only see the shadow of the woman, and hear her sweet, hypnotizing, swaying, voice.

“I don’t have the leisure for dancing, but you told me I could get real power, so don’t waste my time, Katalanaroomunal,” the man who I assumed was Elias.

“Ok, I wanted to have a little bit of fun, you might notice," She pointed to all the skeletons around the cage.

"There aren’t that many visitors I can talk to who talk back. I’ll go straight into the business.”

Elias raised an eyebrow.

“So, you always said that you wanted power,” Katalanaroomunal said. “Real power.”

“I am a god. I have only real power, so what are you offering?”

“I am offering you the Earth Kingdom,” she said, emerging from the dark smoke. Her hair was a thornbush and her hairline was full of black moondor knives, with arms as sharp as swords, her fingernails, daggers. On her forehead was an object from the beginning of time. A prorz, one of the 13 powers in the original world, and possessing it meant a thirteenth of the world's power belonged to her. She wore a green dress, like her green eyes. And there was an evil twinkle in her eye. A very clever twinkle.

“I am the best swordsman to ever walk any planet, and even I can’t defeat the Earth Kingdom alone.”

“But you know an object that can, the Gem of Survival. ”

"I know the prophecy of Nalgeno, Katie, may I call you Katie?"

“But you know that you could be written down in history as a king.”

The word king echoed throughout the cavern as the prorz wearer disappeared into the smoke of her cage. 

My dream changed scenes and I could see a Gem, glowing green in the eye of a cyclone of sand. 

I jerked my head from my pillow as I thought about my nightmare, though you could call it a vision. I was in the land of Dormuku, the dream land. I sat there perspiring, and then I looked at the clock, which read 6:28 am. So I had 2 minutes to reflect on my “vision”. I had processed for 2 minutes, AKA NOT enough processing. Then I brushed my teeth, and stood at the top of the stairs, wondering what to do.

“Mom, what’s for breakfast?” 

I got no answer. As I came down the stairs I saw my mom looking out the window, so I jumped up and saw what she was looking at. The world was as lively as it ever gets. As you know, in the Alcronian Desert there is not much rain and definitely no flowers. Then I remembered my dream of something glowing green in a place which I knew very well. I remember wondering what that thing was doing out there. My mother asked what I wanted for breakfast but then I realized that everything was fitting together, my dreams over the past few months, the rumors, and the crazy villager.The crazy villager is like the guy who lives on the edge of town, really superstitious, and weird in general. After kissing mom goodbye, and going to school, I went to the place of my dreams. 

I walked about three and a half kilometers before I reached the spot. Here, there was more vegetation than there was back home.

“Oh you, Arlin,” the crazy villager said, crossing into my path, “have you ever heard of the Gem of Survival?” 

“No,” I said.

“Well Saignkhorst, the Gem of Survival is a Gem which survival consists of. ”

“How is that possible?” I asked.

“Only a special person can control the Gem, like for example, a son of Elias,” the villager said, ignoring my question.

“Who is Elias?” though I knew he was an important person if the villager was mentioning him. It clarified that my dream was true. 

“The god of survival.”

“How does the Gem work?” 

“Magic,” the villager answered.

“Please elabo-”

Suddenly, my I posed and bowed my head down in, “degradation” and all. 

“ Sorry-”

“DO NOT SAY THAT. YOU ARE NOT SORRY!!!”

“I really am, mom,” I said in a sorry tone, way more sorry than I ever would be.

“C’mon now we have to go now.”

“Where?”

“Home, straight-A student!” she said, sarcastically. “I need an errand.”

She pulled me away from the crazy villager and said, “Never ever go near him again.”

“Why?” I asked.

“He knows”

“Know what?”

“Never mind”

“Now that you said it you-”

“I SAID NEVER MIND!!!" Then she added, "You're grounded”.

Once we arrived, my wheels started to turn. If the Gem of Survival existed, and made crops grow faster, then my mother's crops would fetch such a high price in the market, which means that we could finally move back to the old house before dad left. My mom farms the rare pangaree fruit, our crop would increase by tenfold. I just had to find the Gem. 

My mom said that I had to stay in my room, because, duh, she's my mom. I knew in the morning that I would have to venture out to the place of my dreams, although I wondered what my mother was talking about. What did the villager know? It seemed like he was going to the  same place I was and he seemed to know something that I didn’t. At this point I had started laying down on my bed staring up at the ceiling, my body unable to fall asleep even though the time read 1:13 AM. I wondered many things, such as why my dream seemed so real. The dream made OLED look bad. And there was also sound. In class, we learned dreams do not have sound. All of this puzzled me, but ultimately, I could not think anymore and I was pulled away into another dream. 

In the dream I saw the crazy villager kneeling at the feet of some weird guy carrying a sword, his face put into a permanent sneer. The villager seemed to be scared and not the person he was when he confronted me. 

The crazy villager whimpered, “My lord.”

“Yes,” the tall buff guy said.

“I have failed you. How can I be of assistance?”

“You must not let this- what was his name again?” Elias asked.

“Saighkhorst, my lord.”

 “Yes, that long weird name. I still can't believe I'm talking to someone stupid enough to give away the entire secret. You know that the Gem will appear only when sand is touching it or its rightful owner is, and it emits pelonpurom.”

“Of course, I know this,” the villager said.

“THEN GET TO WORK!!!!!”  

I jerked up from the horrors of Dormoku. If the dream was true, the buff guy was real and the villager was REALLY crazy, and I was SUPER crazy. I remember peering down at the clock beside me, an era ago, the time being 4:30 AM. My mom would be awake in about 2 hours to wake me up, (I have a hard time waking up, duh I was like 10, sleep is a dream these days, so it was good to sleep then, get it.) I had my plan, which is historic because I like winging things. My plan was to go and find the Gem, figure out how to use it, and then use it to fix my mother's crops. Finally, if the crazy villager guy came near me I would have my fists balled since I am one of the best boxers in my school. And even if he can fight he probably can't run with the cane. As soon as I went down the stairs I would put this master plan into action and we would be the richest farmers ever!!!!!

***

I remember that plan so clearly even now because that plan cost me a normal lifestyle, going shopping like regular people, buying groceries like regular people, and having a house. Now here I am behind a waterfall eating a squirrel that was cooked over a flame with my wife (She also comes into this story.) I have some carrots on the side because of the  Gem I could farm them. Normal life has so much fun in it, like going to the park every weekend and having a picnic, or a dog, dogs are cool. Normal life is something to be cherished. I was the one person in a million, maybe in a billion, unlucky enough to not have one. 

But now as I am telling you this story and now that I think more about it, I realize that was really stupid of me. I believed a mythical object existed, and I could steal it from some guy who really deserved it. I started this mess. Elias wanted the stupid rock, and if I had given it to him, he would not be sending his minions to capture me, using all his power, to bring the Gem in. That’s right, he would do anything to capture the Gem. Now he is jealous of me and wants to be more powerful than he already is. Now you realize how I got into this mess. I knew that there was no getting out of it. The Gem of Survival is so powerful a paranoid person like Elias could never use it for a good thing. Here is how I heard Elias’s real plan to destroy everything I know.P.S I am a swordsman. (Cool right). 

Oh ya, I got the Gem, the crazy villager was napping right beside it so I just took it from him. 

I was sitting in a cave off the Chorcon shore when I heard a deep rumbling sound. I drew my sword, my door swung open and there were 7 scurimas, agents of Elias, all with their spears drawn. I raised my sword and before any of them could step forward, a sword had gone through their gut, but not my sword. A boy with dark hair and pale skin stepped forward. At the time I was 16 years old. This guy seemed to be a portrait of me, but I did not have a butt chin and I did not have those blue eyes. His eyes widened, “You look just like me” he said.

“No,” I responded, “You look just like me.”

My sword was still up in the air, so was his. I stepped forward and slashed, he blocked but he seemed to be going only on defense. I rolled and cut and gave him a few x’s too but he seemed able to block them all. 

“I'm not going to hurt you,” he said.

“Trust me, I am not going to be fooled by you, I know that you work for Elias.”

“Arlin, I have to tell you something.”

“If you treasure your life then you better tell me.”

“I’m a better swordsman than you.”

He proved it by doing a disarming technique on me. 

He said what he really wanted to, “Elias wants to be the Earth King, he announced it to the forge of demons today.”

“I know that, but now he's publicly stating it to the best blacksmiths on !" I shouted in shock. I knew he was crazy but this was saying something. 

”Yes, he heard a prophecy made by Katalanaroomunal, the Goddess of evil, if he destroys all of his children including us two, topples the sea throne, gets the Gem of Survival, and destroys all of humanity, then he can have the Earth throne.”

"The thing he needs to do all this is the trinket you carry."

He tossed me my sword. “You're going to need this.”

“One question” I had asked, “How many children does he have, and are you a child of Elias?”

“I am the only one left.” answering both my questions at once  

“Okay, we have to stop him," I said.

When he said that he was a child of Elias, I knew I could trust him as Elias usually kills his heirs. Usually 

"Katalaroomunal told him how to take over the Earth Kingdom, and if he gets this toy then he will take over the Earth Kingdom and give the key of the cage to Katalaroomunal."

"How did you even find all of this out?" he asked.

"I was about to ask you the same."

"It's a long story, I kind of had a dream or a vision thing."

"Same here," I said.

"We have to stop him," he agreed.

"That's one thing covered," I thought. "90% chance that he won’t stab my back."

He took out a map of the continent of demons, where we were at the time. Why was I hiding where all the demons lay? Two reasons are the weather and food. The second is that it is helpful to lay in your enemy's backyard. A random thought fell down the stairs into my head. My Mom always says, be friendly but at the same time, austere and powerful.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Reid.” 

“Arlin,” I said

“Cool, we have to get to the land of demons' life support.”

“Why”? I asked.

“Because it might be possible that there are more children of Elias.”

“There aren’t.”

“How do you know?” Reid had said.

“Cause they would be dead by now.”

“But we should get out of this cave, they know that we are here.”

“That is true.”

“I have a spot that no one knows.”

“Where is the Gem?” he asked.

“I will not tell anyone.”

“Okay,” he said.

And that day we walked. That was the day of rebellion against only the immortal, Elias. The fate of the world leaned on two shoulders, mine and Reid’s. Now that I am writing this down I see all the pressure that was on me. I would never choose to have that pressure again. Ever.

Nevertheless, back to when I was young and we were going to the island of Yrautcnas. I did not know why Reid was so concerned about the Gem, only we two knew where we were going, or so I thought. Looking back as a wise person, in that situation, I should have considered the fact that I was not the only person who knew about Yrautcnas. But strolling we went over towards the west. Here you can see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Imagine a huge mountain covered with the rarest and most colorful red and blue flowers. Imagine a tropical place with coconuts and also some papaya trees. The best fruits in the world. I came here a lot of the time, freshwater is always coming from the Delta blue river, giving the flowers an eternal bloom. 

Anyways about Yrautcnas, instead of beautiful flowers we came upon dying plants. I had made this island using the Gem and I made a river also. I also made an alarm system that if the plants were dying then the worst monsters were coming after us. I could deal with the easy monsters but this is not good. These would be worse than the scurimas, I made this island to warn me from danger, and now I was warned. I put my hand onto the secret place where the Gem was hidden and I closed my eyes. I saw a burning sea. I saw the monsters that were trying to kill us. They were holding a whole town captive. 

They were looking for the Gem. I saw into their eyes. Their kinds name was Guranagoringa. (I'm gonna spell that differently every time I mention it, so ignore that.) They were almost unkillable. They fought till their last breath and were 100% loyal to the person who saw them at birth. I told Reid what I saw. About the sea. About the Guranagoringa. 

“Do you have any tricks in your envelope?” I asked.      

“No, do you?” 

“I have one.”

“What is it?” 

“Actually I have two tricks in my envelope.”

“Show me,” Reid said.  

So I showed him, and we went climbing up the mountain.

“Can you destroy them using the Gem?”

“No they don’t have a mortal soul, I would have used it more often if I could use it against scurima's." 

“The thing about gods,” Reid was saying “They need objects for power and then they can do magic, if not then they are just buff humans who live forever.”

“Back to the Guranagoringa.” nudging him back to the route.

“We have a 90% chance of dying,” I declared.

“Is your trick any good then?” he asked.

We walked all the way to the hidden cavern where my stuff was. Inside were many things but I pulled out 4 things. One was a stew pot, the second was a wax lion, a Guranagoringa. The third and fourth I stuffed in my backpack.

“YOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE THINGS, THE Guranagoringa!”

I showed him 4 more. 

You should have been there to see the look on his face. He was turning red, when he gets mad he goes MAD. That look I remembered for so long. That weird and angry face. When I showed him I had 5 in total, the look on his face was priceless.

Anyways...

“What about the stew pot?” Reid asked. 

“I have enough ingredients to make 5 invisibility potions.”

“YOU CAN MAKE 5 INVISIBILITY POTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I bit my lip to keep myself from smiling.

“AND YOU DID NOT TELL ME FOR THIS ENTIRE TIME ARLIN SAIGNKHORST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“How do you know my last name?”

“You mumble while you walk.”

As I wondered if he was fibbing-

“AWHOOOJJOOOOOOJOOOOOOOOOJJOOOOOOOO”

The call of the evil Guranagoringa. I looked Reid straight in the eyes. I started running. I realized that was quite troublesome while carrying a heavy sword, a stew pot and a backpack. Reid quite easily caught up with me. 

“Don’t you have a hiding place?” he whispered.

“Half a kilometer from here.” 

“It might be a good time to unleash the lion Guranagoringa.”

“That, my friend, I agree with.”

I chanted in the olden tongue. “Owha Mahoori Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” 

The Guranagoringa, on my side, leaped to life. They looked at me. 

I kept 2 in my backpack for later. We had 3 Guranagoringa to keep the 7 evil Guranagoringa. The thing is that I have a lion Guranagoringa. The most powerful Guranagoringa and also the cleverest.

“Leave one alive,” I said, and off they went. I started climbing to the top of the mountain, it might seem far but long story short, I had made a zipline that would bring me to the top. As soon as me and Reid got there I saw something that I very much did not expect to see. The evil Guranagoringa were down to 2 beings. They were both human Guranagoringa so they were carrying a sword and shield. 

“We better help them,” Reid said.

So down the zipline we went, I left my pot and headed towards the Guranagoringa. By the time we got there, the lions had surrounded the one Guranagoringa. I waved them off. 

I chanted “Owha Mahoori Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa.” 

They had returned to my backpack where the rest of the pride was. I fished into my pack and pulled out a tiny transparent sphere while Reid defended me from the Guranagoringa. I drew my sword in my right hand and in the other I kept my sphere. As the monster lunged at me, I ducked and went under him and placed the sphere on his stomach. 

It dropped its sword. The Guranagoringa said, “What do you want from me, sir.”

Reid raised an eyebrow at me.

“Questions, what is Elias going to do next,” I asked?

Reid’s left eyebrow went higher.

The Guranagoringa answered, “He is going to make a Gem of Survival.”

Reid’s left eyebrow attained liftoff.

“Where,” I asked.

“The forges of demons,” it said.

Reid’s eyebrow was trying to copy Neil Armstrong.

“Where is that,” I asked. 

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

“The middle of this continent,” it answered. "At the forge. At the forge of demons."

His eyebrow plummeted back to earth and he sighed “Great.”

“Is there a path” 

“No.” 

“When will they be done with the Gem” 

“2 weeks and some change.”

“When will you tell us something good,” Reid groaned.         

“My last order is to tell Elias that you managed to kill me and Reid.”

I took the sphere out of his stomach. And off it went. An island is on the coastline and the middle of the continent is quite far, and cars were invented like 400 years later, (Yes I am that old, the Gem keeps me and anybody near it alive and healthy for a very very very very very very long time.) 

“YOU HAVE A GURANAGORINGA SPHERE AND YOU DIDN’T TELL

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

I stared him in the eye. 

“What?” he said.

“Our deadline is basically really short and what in the world are we going to do against a whole army of demons?” 

As I am writing this on my desk which I made out of tree bark, (I am very creative). I remember that moment of helplessness, it is a necessary feeling that every single human being must-have. A person should be in charge of their own lives but remember this, you may be in charge of your own life but it is the people around you that shape it. That helplessness is coming from all the other people. In my case, I shape my own life, Jane is telling me not to write that down but I don’t see why not to, but you do not want that to happen to yourself. Let yourself slip, that is the only way to enjoy. A cat has 9 lives but you only have 1. Do something decent with it, shall you? However, back to the complaining.

“How will we ever get there? We are thousands of miles away from them.”

“Maybe we can get some answers in my cave,” I suggested.

We climbed back to the zipline that wasn’t a zipline, more of a pulley system. And as soon as we got back to the cave, I pulled the gadget out of my pack, a distance bender. 

“This is how we are going to get into the forge.”

“What is that?” Reid did not know this gadget.

“This is a distance bender.”

“How in the world did you get 1 of those, I thought they cost 4 hundred million tennerramanga?”(= to 6 billion USD.)

“How I got all of these things is a very very long story”

“So how does this work?”

“Never mind that the big problem is that only 1 of us can go,” I said.

CUT. Okay, I need to tell you a small spoiler. Actually not a spoiler, more like a hint, and something that you can take away from this. All you need is a little luck, to make things work. Lights, camera, ACTION. 

“What kind of rule is that?” Reid said.

“I didn’t make it.”

"Whoever put the magic in these things needs lessons."

That is when good luck arrived. Maybe it was fate, maybe the air kingdom forgot what side they were on. But I like to remember it as luck. One thing you can always count on is luck. It helps once every century, for example, 62 years ago to this date I was gambling near the Borse forest and I went all out, and I won like 1000 tenneramanga. Then a pack of monsters came at me. Law of averages or whatever.

A poster slammed into my face. It read, Billionaires welcome, 5 pack distance bender. Auction tonight, off the coast of the Green sea. 

I showed everything to Reid. The place where the auction was taking place was 50 miles from here. I looked around the building using the Gem, I saw my plan and devised an entering and escaping plan. All was set and done. We decided that I would go because I had the Gem and then I also knew how to get in and out of the auction holder's palace. The rich are favored in my time when I was young, hopefully, that changes when all you youngsters grow up. 

I told Reid the other distance bender rule. “I can only be used once”

“What is wrong with these inventions?” Reid complained.  

“If I could use my distance bender more than once then life would be really easy for me, I could run out of my hiding place and be anywhere in a single millisecond, so stop whining.”

Reid thought about this while I assembled all that I would need. I figured out how to use my distance bender, (there was a manual). I grabbed two gadgets from my cave. A grappling hook, and a Magic Stealer.

“You should get going,” Reid said, “It is almost sundown.” 

“This island only allows people who have permission from me to stay on it, if I am also on the island with them.”

“How did the Guranagoringa get here then?” Reid asked.

“The Gem limits only mortal lives, it cannot control monsters or immortals,” I explained.

After wishing me good luck he asked, “I should leave right?” 

“If you like your life then yes, or there is another option,” I said.

“What,” he asked. 

“I can leave the Gem here, Elias has access to the best spies in the world, and the best spies in the world would have access to anything and everybody who comes in their sight, and whoever they spot has access to resources and money and something to give them. If they get the Gem for ten uninterrupted minutes then everything Katalaroomunal wants will come true, and the world will be covered in Black, with the next dawn coming centuries later.”

"I have to give it to you Reid, it is the only option." 

“Do you trust me?” Reid asked, almost a little too eagerly.

“I don’t have to, I put a spell on the Gem that it would burn anybody, monsters and humans alike, disintegrating them instantly.” 

“How do you touch it?”

“I made the spell, but anyways, I have an auction to crash,” I said.

“You better get going.”

We shook hands.

“This might be it,” I inquired.

“If you die I am going to kill you, even though you're going to be a ghost if you die.”

And with that, I turned on my DB (I getting tired of spelling distane beder, I mean disance bener, I mean, WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). 

You might be thinking how it felt to be the only person alive to use a DB, um, terrible. Imagine a lot of sweating, holding on to a stick while it pulled me forward, like a firefighter holding a hose that was alive and had a mind of its own, and the hose just ate a lot of sugar. Also, there was vomiting. In that moment I had discovered my greatest weakness, motion sickness.

I screamed “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” until the DB stopped and slammed me into a pole. I groaned and as I stood up I realized the distance bender was gone, meaning that if I did not succeed then the world was doomed. I was just outside the plaza when I heard a voice, “5 hundred tennerramanga.” 

The auction had already started! I spotted a security person walking. That meant that this was the floor where the auction was being held. I walked into the plaza looking important, which is hard to do when you are in shorts that are covered in sweat. When one of the security people started going out of formation and started following me. I went inside the bathroom that was behind every single guard except for the one who was following me. After 3 right hooks and 4 or 5 uppercuts, he was very well out. I changed into his clothes, (excluding the underwear, this guy really likes linen, cause everything he wore was made of linen). I was able to sneak past the security guards quite quickly and swiftly, but it was easier than I had expected. Once I was in the range of the box where the distance benders were. I pulled out my gadgets, a grappling hook, and my Magic Stealer. 

I murmured a spell to activate the stealer, “Hoeshungaroma.”

 The magic stealer was gone from its box and when it came back, it was carrying a box, I opened it and found 5 DB’s. I pulled all of them out and put them in my backpack. I put the box back where it was supposed to be, pulled on my mask, and opened the window. 

"And we have a winner." The auction holder gave the box to a man in a suit and walked away.

The man in the suit opened the box.

"I paid 20 billion tennerramanga for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Why do I wear a mask? Oh because it makes me look cool, I forgot to mention that earlier I was wearing a mask. A kid next door opened his window and looked at me. 

"Hi kid," I said.

He responded by fainting.

I hooked my grappling hook onto his house and I hit the big red button, it pulled me there and I used one of the DB’s to send me back to the island of Yrautcnas.

I slammed right into Reid. 

“I got it!” I shouted in triumph. 

“Better soon than never,” Reid said sarcastically

I set my backpack on the grass, as it was getting heavy. 

I put a spell on it for being able to expand to fit anything, but I did not count in weight, another big mistake of my spellwork. I may have mentioned that I can also do minor spell work.

“What are you wearing?” Reid asked.

“That, my friend, is a very long story.”

After nightfall, I made a fire using some oak wood. Reid found some gasoline stuffed in my backpack. I told him the story, underwear excluded. And another problem.

 “The DB takes two weeks to load, and we have to dip it in a very hot place.”

“Even if it loads, how are we going to take out a whole forge of demons, and an immortal with a sword and an invisibility potion?”

"We don't, you do."

MEANWHILE

A Guranagoringa enters a cavern where 7 other salient demons sat down though they were restless. At the head of the table was Elias, sitting down twirling his sword. The Guranagoringa broke the silence.

“We have good news sire.”

“What is that?” Elias asked with an authoritative tone.

“Arlin and Reid are eliminated from the equation.”

“Well, that was satisfying, lieutenant, now you can go back to your work, at the forges, tell your kind how to play with lava properly, without burning yourself like you always do.”

“Yes sir.”

After the footsteps of the Guranagoringa faded, Elias said,

“Now phase 2 of the plan must be put in action, put the Gem in the magma of Rahorikmanda, then cool it in the deepest waters in the Green Arroyo”

One demon asked, “What stops us from helping you?”

“Do you want me to show you?”

Before you could say mercy, 6 demons were dead on the floor, disintegrated. 

“This is what stops you from helping me, death!” 

The lone demon ran out of the room.

Elias murmurs to himself “Now that those 2 puny mortals are out of the equation, the throne will be mine, MINE!”

He pulled a shiny green Gem out of his pocket.

“MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“What do you mean, you think that I can destroy a whole forge of demons all BY MYSELF!!!!!!!!!” Reid yelled.

“You have to while I destroy Elias’s new Gem.”

“Good idea, HOW!!!!!!!!”

“Let me explain in my cave.”

After we put out the fire we walked to my cave where I pulled my blackboard out of the back of my cave. 

“They are 3 parts of the Gem of Survival,” I explained.

“What is the point of this,” Reid said, still angry.

“Just listen. The physical Gem takes only 3 days to make, he probably already has that, then there's the laser part of the Gem” 

“YOU HAVE A LASER BEAM!!!!” yelled Reid.

“Cool right, and anyways we have to get to the forge before they get to dip in the magma Rahorikmanda, and cool and purify it in the waters of the Green Arroyo.”

“How long does it take for it to go into laser mode”

“Half an hour”

“We have 2 weeks to make an invisibility potion and charge something, and take down a whole forge of demons to save the world,” Reid said. 

“He won’t be expecting us if we wait for him to make the Gem into laser mode”

“How will we defeat him then, and didn't the Guranimoringa already tell him that we are ghosts?” Reid challenged.

"Every time you use a Guranimoringa sphere, little green flakes of the sphere are left in the borning spot of the Guranimoringa, Elias' keen eyes may have noticed, plus, I have my own Gem", I pulled it out of my pocket. 

“So does he,” Reid concurred again. Boy, at times can he be annoying.   

“In the process of the Green Arroyo, the most important step of them all, Nalgeno put this Gem in the water for one year, then put many spells on it that enhanced the Gem."

"Can't he do that?" Reid asked Did I mention stubbornness? 

"Nobody can do what Nalgeno can do, Reid."

“Good point,” Reid belatedly accepted.

“We should get some rest,” I said. 

“Rest would be good,” Reid admitted as he lay down on my cot.

“Good night,” I said.

When we awoke, we set out for the place I had in mind, south of where I was at the time. After many weird sightings of villagers, cows, and pigs, we reached the village of Alaan. The place where Nalgeno put his Gem.

“We should be looking for a white crystal in a big tower, that is what opens the lake of lava.” 

“That isn’t good,” said Reid pointing at something. 

I followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. Scurima’s on the hill behind us. But now they were riding Borses. Borses are vicious creatures. They have the head of Hydra, the body of a tiger, and the tail of a scorpion.

Suddenly, a warrior upon a horse with blonde hair, armor, and a helmet came in their path.

“No!” I cried out to the warrior, “Let us handle this!”

The warrior steered a stallion to face the scurima’s scowling faces.

“I am the defender of Alaan, leave at once, or you will perish.” the warrior yelled at the incoming monsters. 

In reply, the Borses continued the charge for our Gem.

The warrior unsheathed her sword, and you guessed it charged.

“No, you idiot, come back!” I tried. I looked for Reid for help, but his mouth was open as wide as a human mouth could go. I whirled my body back to the unnamed warrior. Behind that were the bodies of the Borses. 

The warrior was coming towards us, upon her horse, and pulled the metal helmet off. Her hair flowed down halfway to her waist and I got lost in those fierce blue eyes, blonde hair, and physical athleticness. Yes, yup, uh huh, I’m weird.

“I am the daughter of the master, or your friend, or foe.” gesturing to our weapons.

“That depends,” I said, “To which side you are on.”

“We have also heard of Elias, there is no Earth king though, all the villages on land are owned by themselves, which also led to them being divided but whatever.”

I hadn’t realized how close she was until her sword was at my neck and I was on the ground. 

She tossed handcuffs to Reid and a key. 

“Wear these or your friend dies.”

“Then give the keys back to me” she added as she cuffed me.

Reid did what she asked and tossed the keys back to her and shot me a dirty look. 

The woman jostled me to my feet and told us to start marching. We were walking slow and attracting attention to the people around us.

I whispered to Reid “If we want to make it in time, we're gonna have to start quickly, tomorrow at about sunset, then wait two weeks, leave and never return.”

The not-so-kind lady kicked us into a chamber and locked the doors, but did not realize what I had taken from her.

I showed Reid what was dangling from my pinky, a set of spare keys. I opened the doors of our cell.

“Well, Reid, idiots first.”

“Where did you even learn that trick?” he asked.

A magician never, ever, reveals his secrets, so I instead pointed to a tower in the distance.

“That’s where we have to go,” I said.

“Why are there so many guards at the one place we have to go?” Reid asked.

I gave him a history lesson.

“Back then, when Nalgeno was alive, this was one of his favorite cities, and where his economy was centered, where the best blacksmiths were, where the best farmers were, and where the best warriors were. So he created a lava tunnel which gave him an excuse to come here more often, where he could charge his distance benders. Since Nalgeno passed, the crystal which opened the lava has become a symbol of their history and greatness and is proudly shown on their flag. It is also guarded carefully”

“So what’s our plan, professor.”

“We go into the tower, steal the crystal, get out of the tower, wait there for two weeks and go to the forge.”

“Very insightful, professor.”

“Thank you, Reid.”

 So that's what we did, though the plan needed a little elaboration.

“Stop right there, you both are going back to prison,” said a familiar voice, the same woman who put us in that cell. 

“Listen, lady, we're trying to save the world-”

Do not mistake me for an idiot, I am not blind to the world around me. You are minions of Elias”

We unsheathed our swords and fought in the narrow alley. She was good, real good. But she was not better than me and Reid combined.

“What’s your name anyway?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Jane.”

“You look nice, Jane, there’s a nice restaurant we can go to if the world doesn’t end.”

Reid looked at me like I was crazy.

The sound of metal clanking continued until I realized that there was a much simpler solution to this problem. I stepped away from the fight and took out my Gem.

“Don’t move, Jane, or I'll fire this laser beam at you.”

She froze with alarmed eyes.

Reid backed away from her and said, “Drop your sword.”

“Why should I listen to you, animal,” she spat.

“Cause I’m his friend,” I said. 

She dropped it and emptied her pockets. I handcuffed her and shoved her back up to a regular position, but I still was polite.

“Payback time,” I said as I locked her in the same dungeon me and Reid were in.

Me and Reid headed in the direction of the tower when he asked a rather annoying question, “Is there anything sparking between you and that girl?”

“No,” I said quickly. “Why in the world would you think that?”

“Maybe start with your cheeks,” Reid responded with a smile

I decided to start ignoring him when he asked uncomfortable questions. 

We reached the tower and as I was preparing my grappling hook a group of guards was eyeing us and whispering amongst them. They stood up from their table and started walking towards us.

“Go faster, you idiot,” Reid said. 

I threw my grappling hook at a window and climbed up the rope with Reid breathing on my neck. 

“The alarm will ring soon,” Reid warned.

We scanned the rooms quickly until there was only one more left to check.

I opened the door slowly, and there it was. A large white crystal was sitting right there in the middle of a grand hallway. I ran over and grabbed and ran out of the room. Guards were swarming all over the place, and I found the place where I was supposed to place the crystal. I put the crystal inside.

“Quickly,” I whispered, “Or we will not be able to enter.”

And down we went into the cavern. 

“Whoa,” Reid said.

I had seen this view before though when I charged my other distance bender. But it was still pretty cool.

A ceiling of stacalites was there. And on the ground was lava that went on for miles. A bridge went over to the other side. 

We put in all of the distance benders and decided to take naps while the other kept watch.

While I was keeping watch, I saw a shadow crossing the bridge. I shook Reid awake and he grabbed his sword and I grabbd my gem. 

I saw her. 

“Jane, how in the world did you get down here!” I said.

Reid looked at me like I was crazy. Obviously, thoughts were going about in his head.

“Nalgeno made it so that nobody could get here unchallenged. If somebody activated the crystal, a man from the prison would come here. And that is why we put our worst prisoners in that cell, animals.”

“If you make any sudden moves, my friend will blow to pieces,” Reid said.

“He’s right, you know.” 

So we did what we had to do, we just let her stay where we were. Reid had fun with her, dueling her and testing her, and most of the time he won but Jane passed sometimes. But as time ticked by, we became better and better friends.

Finally, it was the last day before the Earth's king would be decided. Jane went and sat next to me.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“Tomorrow is the day that the world ends or lives, and I am the one who decides that.”

“You are not alone, and you never will be Arlin.”

She kissed me on the cheek. 

“Go to sleep, you’ll need it.”

And with that, I was pulled away into another vision.

“Prepare it to be heated up, if the Gem doesn't shatter then all we have to do is make a light aroku and sink it to the bottom of the arroyo and when it floats, all will be good. And our plan, underway. This should take about ten minutes” 

“Yes sir,” a demon perked up, “We will make this happen.”

Another demon asked, “What will be our reward?”

“Your reward, demon, is no consequence,” Elias responded, not looking at the crowd of demons, sensing what was to come. He held the hilt of his sword tightly.

“For that answer,” the demon said, “You have gotten in trouble with the principal of the school, and for that you will receive our version of consequences!” 

What I saw in my vision was incredible, every single demon drew their swords and spears and went up and charged Elias.

I sat up from the floor, breathing deeply. I shook Reid awake.

“What is it,” he groaned.

I grabbed all of the distance benders, and Reid understood what was happening, he got his sword and strapped his light armor. 

“Where are we going,” Reid asked.

“The forge,” I answered.

“Why?” he said.

“Look,” I said, “I don’t have time to explain but Elias is destroying his own army and while he is doing that we can destroy the Gem and they will be no forge to make it again, only the hands of the Council of Demons can do that, or Nalgeno, but he's dead.”

Reid grabbed a distance bender.

“Ready?” 

“Is the answer ever yes,” me, Arlin Saignkhorst, said.

“Sometimes, it has to be.” 

And with that, we plunged into the forge of demons.

That was tense.  

This time I was used to the feeling of being controlled by a stick, but still, motion sickness won the battle. When we arrived we were inside the forge, though it was kind of like a bunker with all of the holes. The holes were for archers but it seemed that they were 2 way. 

I looked through one of them. I saw an intense battle between 1000 demons and one immortal. Whenever it seemed that the demons were winning Elias pulled out his Gem and used Laser Mode and wasted his own demons. Elias could fight with both of his hands independently like he had eyes in the back of his head. And there was his one Guranagoringa also slashing and hacking its way through enemy lines. Though it seemed like we had a common enemy, demons. I had a feeling Katalanaroomunal was not going to like this party. 

“Reid we are going to need a plan”

“Arlin I think that there is no time to make a plan, HE HAS LASER MODE,” he whispered, “Not good.”  

I estimated that in 2 minutes, Elias would somehow win this battle. 

Me and Reid discussed our battle strategy as the first major battle of the age between the demons of the forge and Elias raged around us.

I gave him two invisibility potions just in case that one ran out of fuel. Now all the demons were destroyed and he needed to chant an ancient song of death. I appeared out of my hiding place.

I roared “ELIAS!”

He had destroyed all of the demons, the burning fires and blacksmiths of the forge now existed in memory.

“You can’t stop me now, Arlin Saignkhorst, you can try, and you can fail.”         

“You might be wrong about that.”

I shot a laser beam at him. He ducked under it and twirled his sword. I did the same with mine. Then I did a stupid thing, I ran away from Elias and he ran after me. He is so intent on destroying me that he didn’t realize that he could wait there and chant. I pulled out my Guranagoringa and chanted, “Owha Mahoori Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

I said to them “One of you deal with the evil Guranagoringa away from here and the rest of you attack Elias from the 2 sides, one of you attack from behind while being invisible. Look out for Reid. Do not touch him.” Invisible people can see each other by the way.

We broke up with our squads, Elias was still 10 feet away from me. 

I got my Gem and yelled, “I use the wrath of Orconamagi against you.”

“Kid, I also have a Gem, it will not work against me” 

“Oh, I forgot about that.”

Instead, I shot a laser beam at him, he absorbed it with his sword and charged me. The Guranagoringa started to do their jobs. They flanked Elias, while I hoped Reid was doing fine. I put my goggles on to see the Guranagoringa and Reid who should be rising up for the kill. Elias did not have the goggles, though the Guranagoringa were keeping him annoyed so he could not wear them even if he had them. I yelled and charged at him with my sword, as I saw Reid and his friend trying to come close to Elias’s back. Then the strangest thing in the world happened. Elias grew another arm!  Its a spell nobody actually knows how to do, and he did it. Now he could fight at all three sides where he could see!!!

“Great,” I managed through gritted teeth as I and the Guranagoringa kept him busy. But we would not last. Elias became immortal because he defeated the king at sword fighting. We probably could last 30 seconds. I rolled and ducked and slashed and kicked until Elias finally managed to hit my sword out of my hand and push me down using the hilt of his sword. His sword was hovering over my chest, the Guranagoringa could not take him down.

“It is over now, I will at last claim the Earth Kingdom.” 

“Elias, can I tell you something,” I said. 

“Choose your last words wisely,” he said, in a sing-song tone.

“Gadgets are the most helpful,” I yelled at my backpack, “Smoke Screen!”

“What was that supposed to do?”

And guess what happened, 1)Reid and the Guranagoringa became visible, 2) A smoke screen materialized. I slipped out from between Elias's legs and picked up my sword.

 Reid pulled his bow and arrow out of his pack, and the Guranagoringa snarled at Elias and surrounded him. I tossed my sword right next to me, the sword of Andaorus, and raised my ancestor's Gem.

"AkaruNas!" We both chanted simultaneously.

Green and black streams of powerful lasers smashed into each other. The world was still except for the light, the light was too powerful to let anyone move. But one light was brighter than the next. My light brightened beyond bright and slowly, the intensified light started moving towards the God of Survival, the rightful owner of the Gem, the one who became a god. But an idea came to Elias' head. With his other hand, he pulled out his dagger from his sheath. I understood what Elias's plan was like a map laid out in front of me. To throw the dagger at my Gem, the source of light. My mind thought out Elias's plan. If he threw the dagger at me then Reid would pick up my Gem and win, but if the Gem was destroyed, then the world was done. I unsheathed my sword and threw it at his dagger before it was out of his hands. He deflected and threw.

 I watched in slow motion as it came towards me. I counted in my head the seconds until it hit my Gem.

 5

4

3

2

1..

0.

Luckily, the handle of his dagger hit my Gem out of my hands and his Gem's light ray sent me flying into the stone wall behind me. 

"I guess this is the end of you, descendant of Nalgeno." "Say good-"

A lion Guranagoringa tackled Elias and sent his Gem flying. Elias destroyed the Guranagoringa in a second. But the Gem was much too far to retrieve. 

The problem was though, my Gem was also too far to retrieve.

Seeing his opportunity Reid fired his bow and arrow. It went straight towards its target. I was almost leaping in joy until Elias did the impossible, he caught the arrow and snapped it in half. I realized that I was unarmed so I picked up my sword.

“You cannot defeat me without using magic, you should know that next time we meet, but that seems decreasingly possible.”

He found a rock and threw it at Reid, and he fell to the stony ground, knocked out cold.

“Looks like it’s me against you Arlin. Sword against sword. You think you can defeat me?”

“Oh ya I do, because I am not alone,” the Guranagoringa went to the left and right of me. 

“CHARGE THAT GOD!!!!!!!!” I yelled at the Guranagoringa.

We ran as one and attacked. The Guranagoringa went and attacked him on the left and right. Elias was the best of the best of the best of the best and soon the Guranagoringa were starting to go. One by one Elias slew the Guranagoringa and all that was left was me and one cowering lion. I realized this was how it was going to end. I was no match for him. We tried and tried with waves of attacks, but in the end, this was how it was going to settle.

“You are alone now Arlin, I have been waiting for this for 16 years. Since you were born. Why do you think I killed your dad?”

My eyes were filled with rage, and for every tear that fell to the ground a hundred were held back.

“There have been many prophecies over time, but there was one about you, Arlin.”

“A boy, who found a toy, will either curse the land or save it, and if he stands alone, he will die, and the world will fall. ”

“But he’s not alone. And he will never be.” Reid had gotten back up to his feet unnoticed and was up at a catapult. He fired a boulder at Elias and he was sent flying back. Good right. But the problem was he landed right next to his gem.

Elias grabbed his Gem and said weakly, “Laser Mo-” 

An arrow now had pierced the center of his Gem, and Reid’s bowstring was reverberating.

I knew what had to be done next.

I spoke the chant I had been preparing, “OHA NAKAHULI RAMBaAI!” 

I placed my Gem on his chest. “I summon-"

"NO!" he screamed as he struggled against the Guranagoringa.

"-you to the prison beyond the land and sea and air, you will only stay in the cage, there is no key, I command your dungeon, you cannot escape. I hold your dungeon. You cannot escape.”                                                                                                                            

And the only sign that he was ever there was his shoes and my Gem.

“We didn't die,” I said, startled, as I picked up my Gem. 

“The lions helped.”

I told the one lion alive to destroy the remaining Guranagoringa and demons concealed in nooks and crannies on Elias’s side. 

“I’m going to take a nap.”

“You’re the descendant of Nalgeno, that is NOT Fair. Though that’s probably why you can do a little wizardry.”

“I know right.”

.

2 weeks later

“You ready, I mean that’s a crowd,” he said.

“I hope I am.”  

I walked onto the stage. Millions of citizens were waiting for me.

The judge was waiting for me also, and he said, “Are you ready to be the Earth king, uniting the colonies under the banner of Earth.”

“Yes, I am.”

A crown of glittering jewels, not gems, was placed on my head. I was starting to tear up.

“You may now present your speech, and may the people decide if the crown suits your head.”

“I and Reid may have defeated Elias,” Reid said “But the fact is that the troubling times are just beginning. Katalaroomunal is still in her cage, desperate to escape. She must be defeated with as much power as we can muster, which is why I am increasing our battle power. Which is why the colonies have been united. We will meet evil upon our white horses, Together!!”

“Together!” the crowd shouted.

“We will make alliances with the sea kingdom, and we will destroy Katalaroomunal. Together!”

“If we die, we will die in battle watching the earth crash down around us, but it will not happen, as we are united."

TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!”

“TOGETHER!”

“TOGETHER!”

 “TOGETHER!”

The crowd shouted on and on as I walked off the stage. The sound was deafening and I could barely hear myself when I shouted in Reid's ear.

“We got work to do.”

“Together,” he agreed.

I wish that I could say more right now, but alas, my pen is running out of ink. I don't like typing. From now on, after I pass away, after giving the Gem to the rightful heir, I can fall asleep knowing that my book can pass on, nobody will ever need to tell it again. But now, I still have a lot of time left in the bag, and I don’t have anything to do. When you are 600 years old, you tend to get bored.  Anyway, Reid is married and so am I. Finally, I can live a somewhat normal life, with only a few scurima’s coming after each month. I’m retired from being a king, oh ya, sorry for not mentioning that I was once a king. Remember, you will know if you are the rightful heir. One last piece of advice, never turn down your instincts. If whoever is reading this meets the heir, tell them there for a long road. Lights out. And I need a brand new pen. 

Don’t miss the next book: Keys to the cage.

Coming out in August 2022.