Literary Lion

We had something

Something meaningful

Strong

Something important

But now i'm alone

You left me

In the

Dark

You ignore me

Don't even look me

In the eye

You deceived me

You made think

Believe

That we were special

But it was all

A lie

You left me stranded

Alone

You left me many things

In the dark

Stranded

Alone

And

Confused

…

Written by Julianne Crist

Once upon a dream

There was a girl

Not a princess

Not a fairy

Not a magical witch

Just a girl

She had long brown hair

Eyes the color of the ocean

Little brown flecks coating her cheeks

She was kind

But shy

But if you knew her

You would love her

Now this girl

She had something

well , she had many things

But i’m talking about one thing in particular

A dream

We all have a dream

Some of us dream to create a family

Some of us dream to be an astronaut

Some of us even just dream for a pet

But this girl

She dreams for something deeper

Something most people already have

She dreams to have a dream

Because the truth is

Under all the kindness is a scared little girl

Who just wants something to want

All her friends have once upon a time’s

But not her

So once upon a time

There was a girl

Not a princess

Not a fairy

Not even a magical witch

Just a girl

A girl who just wants her very own

Once Upon a Time

…

Written by: Julianne Crist

Loose Programming

Return of Rampage

A Series in Six Parts - Part Three

By: Dexter Field

One sat up, retracting the broken knife hilt back into his arm.

“Jerk.” One remarked about Rampage, who had already flown away by now.

“At least he didn’t melt our heads off or something.” Two said, walking over, helping One up.

“We should probably go after him, right?” One asked.

“Mhm.” Two agreed, both of them following where he had flown off to. They both looked through a fence, watching Rampage land outside a massive hangar. He pressed a button to open the towering doors and walked inside.

“What’s he looking for?” One asked.

“Genuinely how am I supposed to answer that question?” Two replied, as One climbed the fence, slipping and falling over on the other side.

“Heh.” Two commented.

“Shut up.” One responded, as Two used his blaster to shoot out a little laser, carving a hole in the fence, allowing him to walk through.

They both walked closer to the hangar, walking up to the outside wall, One peeked inside, watching Rampage try to enter a keycode to a crate. It was surrounded by hundreds of identical packing cases. Eventually he got tired of trying and just punched the lock off.

“Wait, I have an idea.” Two suggested.

Rampage opened the crate as he heard Two walking in.

Two calmly spoke to Rampage, “Hey man, just wanted to let you know we surrender and…”

“RAH!” One yelled as he smashed a crate over Rampage’s head, causing him to briefly shut down.

“We got him.” Two told Jim over the comms.

“The robot?” Jim asked over the radio.

“Mhm.” Two replied. “Wait, no, we definitely did NOT get him” Two exclaimed.

“What do you mean?” One asked, as Rampage elbowed One in the side of the head. He then powered up something in his wrists, sending out a shockwave towards One, sending him flying through the air, landing on top of multiple crates, smashing through them.

Two fired multiple blasts at Rampage. Rampage shielded his face with his forearm. It slowly became dented and burnt. He walked up to Two and smashed his forearm against his laser rifles, breaking them into pieces. He then picked Two up by the head, flying high up into the air, and shot back down driving Two’s face into the pavement. He then activated a taser, electrocuting Two’s systems, sparks flinging out of his chest.

With Two unconscious beneath him, Rampage activated a dagger on his wrist, but before he could do anything, One kicked Rampage in his back, making him stumble away. One then punched Rampage in the face, elbowing him again and again. As he readied another blow, Rampage caught his hand, twisted it around, which made One fall over. He then stomped on One multiple times, picking him up with his thrusters, flying upwards, and throwing him through multiple crates again, and out onto the asphalt.

One struggled to move. Any movement made his joints spark and grind. Rampage opened the crate, and grabbed what was inside. He flew through the roof of the hangar with the stolen contents. One tried to move again, but couldn’t, as he heard a helicopter landing outside the hangar. Multiple soldiers ran out, government workers, collecting One and Two. They powered them off for the time being.

The Captives

By: John George III, Grade 6

Prologue

Secret base located 30 miles above the tectonic plates in Death Valley, CA

“How is your ‘task’ going so far?” Agramonte Wraith Mortenson put an extra amount of emphasis on the word ‘task’ as he consulted his rather young apprentice.

“Rather well, I believe,” Warren Yemen Greene replied coolly. “We have a considerable amount of adults for our military. I believe that there is a shortage for our youth program, though. There is a limited number of children in this country, and I believe that there is a school that has the best children available for the task in the U.S., but I can’t seem to pinpoint a specific one. I will find it by the deadline, I promise. We might want to take from scattered schools across the world, though. We have a considerable amount of adults as well.”

“You’d better. War is brewing, I feel it. If we want to win, then we might need to take some more…extreme…measures.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Warren, backing out of the room, bowing.

Meanwhile, at Hockey Follow Middle School

Rinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng! The bell rang as the students of Hockey Follow Middle school rushed out of their classrooms and into the stairway to get out into the crisp, cold autumn weather and onto their buses for the weekend. It was Friday, and Frank A. Washington was getting off his shuttle bus and heading to newspaper club. Frank went to Hockey Follow STIM Campus. When he got to Newspaper Club, he met up with his three friends that went to newspaper club with him, Jake Jackson, Julias Klein and Matthew Raul.

He soon came to the Newspaper Club’s printing room, where everyone was hard at work. The typists were typing away at the computers, getting the best stories sent to The Old Yorkshire Times by mail. People at the printers were printing physical copies. People at the computers were typing as fast as they could for the digital copies, people were typing on google docks, and people were sitting at a round table exchanging ideas for the comic strips. They boys each went to their different stations and started their work. When the announcements told everyone that the late bus was here, Frank saw a dark blue van that had light, vibrant orange writing saying: “FREE CANDY!” He decided that he wanted to have a Twix, and he went to the van, which had a few bars on the back. He took a Twix, and opened the wrapper, put it in the trash can next to the van and took a bite of the top of it, leaving the bottom to eat after he finished the caramel part. He was waiting outside, wondering where his parents were, when he saw a text message from his mom, saying, “Can you walk home today? I have an important parent teacher conference that I can’t miss. Thank you! .” The text ended with a smiley emoji.

“What does the sly smile mean?” Frank thought aloud, frowning. As he walked home, it started to snow. Frank started to feel sleepy, and his walking pace slowed, and after 10 minutes, Frank fell, his body crumpled in an uncomfortable position. When he woke up, he felt very tired, but when he realized he was in an iron box, chained to the walls by a tight steel chain, he sat up straight. He tried replaying all his memories of the day despite the agonizing pain he was feeling. When he finally remembered the van with the “FREE CANDY!” sign, and he remembered that he started feeling drowsy right after the Twix.

He looked around to see if he was in a van, but the iron box was blocking most of his sight. Frank felt around with anything available that his chained arms could not reach, searching for anything that could help him. After ten minutes of searching, he finally found a small switch located right next to his chained hands, and he flipped it, hoping that nothing bad would happen. Luckily, only a light switched on. He heard cries of surprise and alarm, and that was when he found out that there were other people all around him.

He saw his backpack hanging on the cold metal wall beside him, and he took it with his teeth, set it beside him, and unzipped it with his teeth. What kind of kidnapper leaves their victim’s stuff with them? Frank thought, uneasily. As he opened it, he found his Nibbler, which he cautiously took out with teeth and used it to cut through his hand chains. After he did that, he used it to cut off the rest of his chains, as well as three sides of the enclosure. As he pulled back the walls, he could not believe what was staring right at him. His friends Julius and Matthew were there too, as well as another 6th grader from his school who introduced himself as Hamilton Brooks. “Hold on guys, I’ll get you out of here,” Frank whispered, cutting off Hamilton's chain first, then Julius’ and Matthew’s. They each took anything sharp they could find and let Frank proceed in his task of cutting down walls.

Way later

“This is too big to be a van,” Hamilton said, after they had freed about 50 other captives, who were all around them.

“Then what do you think it is?” asked a tall boy about Frank’s age who stepped out of the crowd and into the space where the four friends were standing.

“Jake!” Frank said, running to his friend, and grinning widely.

“If you are thinking that you are on a boat getting shipped to a war zone, you are correct,” said Jake.

Frank’s grin disappeared as the truth suddenly dawned on him.

“Now, you will die.” Jake’s voice changed ominously .

It was a very scary moment until a soft zip! was heard, and Jake crumpled down to the ground, unconscious.

“I will search him for anything useful, but first, who knocked him out? Good job.” whispered Frank.

“We did,” twelve voices called out, exactly in unison. Twelve seventh graders stepped out of the crowd, and each one said their name in alphabetical order.

“Arthur Lowell.”

“Bill Lenon.”

“Gearold Meyer.”

“Jack Hilton.”

“Jake McEavoy.”

“James Monroe II.”

“John Jackson.”

“Jonathan Johnson.”

“Mack Milton.”

“Marcus O’Reilly.”

“Solomon Monroe.”

“Tommy Kloter.”

When they all finished shaking the three friend’s hands, Frank started searching Jake. He found a knife, a set of matches, a dagger, a key ring, chewing gum, a set of keys, and an ID card reading “Walter Harold Greene.”

Epilogue

Back at the secret base located 30 miles above the tectonic plates in Death Valley, CA

“I have heard that your brother has gone missing, but this is no time for grieving. The west entrance guards have informed me that 3,183 captives are now roaming loose around the ship. You better get your best guards on the case,” Agramonte Wraith Mortenson said to his apprentice, Warren.

“Yes sir,” Warren said, snapping to attention. He marched out of the room without taking even a single glance back.

Loose Programming

Return of Rampage

A Series in Six Parts - Part Two

By: Dexter Field

The plane flew through heavy clouds, rattling as it tore through the sky.

“So, how do we deploy the parachute again?” One asked.

“It’s connected to you, so obviously I'd assume you’d think to use it, but I’m feeling a button on the back, it’s probably the release button.” Two replied.

“Over the dropzone, opening the cargo door.” The intercom blared, as the cargo bay door slowly opened, the wind howling and the rain pouring down.

“Oh, that's high up, this parachute better work.” Two said, looking down out of the cargo door.

“We are being deployed on short notice, 50/50 chance.” One said, jumping out of the plane. Two followed, plummeting through the sky. When they got close to the ground, they deployed their parachutes, slowing their descent. They landed in the naval base on some concrete, both of them pressed the button on the cartridge, releasing the parachutes. One walked over to the grassy area, looking at the corpses of ER-4 and ER-5.

“They look happy.” One commented.

“Both of them have ground up heads, how do they look happy?” Two replied, but before One could respond, the robot from before landed a distance away from them.

“You lost or sumthin’?” One asked the robot.

“Does he look lost?” Two asked.

“Maybe.” One replied.

“If anything, you guys look very lost.” The robot replied grimly.

“That was so tough.” One said sarcastically.

“Very tough.” Two replied sarcastically, as the robot simply turned, and started walking away.

“Wait we should name him, cause like- blue and red make gray, so like-” One suggested.

“It’s actually purple.” Two corrected.

“Yeah but we should name him because it’d be funny.” One suggested again.

“How about… uhh. Rampage, yeah that sounds like a good name.” Two replied. “But can you rephrase on how we get to name him because of the color both of our colors make-” Two asked.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s just funny.” One interrupted.

“SHUT UP!” Rampage yelled.

“Okay, Rampage.” One said.

“I’M NOT RAMPAGE!” Rampage screamed.

“Sorry, Rampage.” One replied.

“Maybe ragebaiting the guy who mopped the floor with the first line of defense isn't a good idea.” Two commented.

“Nah, Rampage likes it.” One responded.

Rampage activated his jets, bolting towards One, sending him flying through the air, and into a fence. He then swung his left arm at Two’s head, punching him in the side of the face. From the ground, Two used his laser rifles to blast Rampage repeatedly. This gave One the opportunity to tackle him, sending Rampage crashing into the wreckages of ER-4 and ER-5,

Then Rampage punched One across the face again and again. One deployed his right knife, Rampage grabbed the end of it as One tried to throw the knife forward.

One then threw Rampage onto the ground, freeing his knife. He swung it into Rampage’s back, but before he could get another hit in, Rampage used his jets to escape, flying around and dropkicking One in the face, sending him hurtling into a concrete wall.

One got up and ran towards Rampage, lunging his left knife towards him. Rampage grabbed it and threw it into the ground. He then kicked One in the face, breaking his knife off. Rampage then hovered upwards, flying off to an airplane hangar.

Loose Programming

The Return of Rampage

A Series in Six Parts - Part One

By: Dexter Field

Multiple government agents swarmed the main room, with multiple monitors on the ceiling, with windows looking over the mechanical bay.

“Sir, there’s a disturbance in Florida, Pensacola Beach.” Jim, a government worker, told the commanding officer.

“Artificial or human?” The commander asked.

“Artificial, sir.” Jim told him.

“Send out ER-4 and ER-5” The commander shouted.

Multiple workers walking over to a control station, flipping down levers and priming the systems, in the cargo bay, 2 robots walked into a plane, ER-4 was short and stumpy, while ER-5 was broad and tall, they were then flown out to Florida from D.C. in the heavy rain.

“1-0 correct?” Two asked.

“1-0, yes.” One asked as Two nodded, both of them playing a game of rock paper scissors.

One chose rock as Two chose scissors.

“1-1” Two said, as they played again, Two choosing paper as One chose rock. “2-1” Two said again.

“I thought rock always worked.” One said, as they played again.

A gray and black robot flew in, the thrusters on its feet cutting out, landing on Pensacola Beach, the air was thick and dark, rain poured down relentlessly and hard. As the robot walked up, it scanned the area for what it was looking for, it activated the jets on its feet, flying upwards and over to the Pensacola Naval Air Station, where it landed near an airplane hangar.

A big plane parked inside, as suddenly, ER-4 punched the robot across the face, using the backwards facing blade on its elbow to stab into the robot. But, the gray and black robot grabbed the blade, put its foot on ER-4’s head, and tore off ER-4’s left arm. ER-5 jumped in, using the wrist mounted tasers on the gray and black robot, briefly knocking it down. As it put its feet forward, it activated its leg thrusters, flying backwards into ER-5 lifting them both into the air. Then it punched ER-5 in the head, punching him into the ground. He then landed, destroying ER-4 by landing on his head and grinding him against the ground. He then used the thruster on his foot to kick ER-5 in the head again, shattering it.

“Both robots are no longer transmitting a signal sir.” Jim told the commander.

“Great, uhh, send out One and Two.” The commander replied, as Jim ran to the maintenance hall under the main room, where One and Two were.

“It’s very difficult to open a soda when you don’t have fingernails.” One said, fumbling with a can of soda.

“Why do you even want to open a soda? You don’t have a mouth.” Two replied.

“I thought it’d be funny…” One responded.

“Super funny, what exactly is funny about it?” Two asked.

“I dunno.” One answered, as Jim walked through the door nearby where they were sitting.

“You’re being deployed in Florida." Jim told them.

“Is that the place with the big silver bean?” One asked.

“No, that's Chicago." Two replied.

“Still, come on.” Jim told them, as he walked away.

One and Two got up, and followed him to the hangar, where a plane was waiting for them. The jet engines were whining and ready to leave.

“What was his name again?” One asked Two.

“It’s Jim.” Jim said before Two answered.

“Bob.” Two answered One, as they walked into the cargo hold of the plane.

“Use the parachute cartridge mounted to your back after you’re over the dropzone.” Jim told them. The cargo door of the plane shut. The plane taxied over to the runway, and took off, into the storm that was Pensacola.

Jared

By Rocco Lucas

Book 24 of the Free Candy Series

Robert was scared. He did not know what was happening. He thought someone might be in danger. So him and Xandaman got out of the hole and decided to go towards the noise, instead of calling the cops and going away to maintain a safe spot. As they approached where they heard the noise they saw a man.

“Hey there.” Robert said. “What is your name?”

“Me, oh, my name is Jared.” The guy said.

“Did you make that loud bang?” Robert asked.

“No,” Jared responded.

Then Jarad took out a baseball bat and started chasing them. Robert was scared, he should have called the cops. This is not fun. Robert is not used to running especially since he is sleep deprived and starving. He is skinnier than a twig. But Robert and Xandaman continued to run. They ran until they approached a river, there was nowhere to go.

“Please, stop.” Robert said.

“No I will not,” Jared said as he approached with his bat.

“Hey, you know there's two of us and only one of him.” Xandaman told Robert.

“Yeah, but he has a baseball bat.” Robert responded.

Robert and Xandaman charged at Jared, picked him up, and threw him in the river. They watched as Jared flowed down the river in misery.

Robert and Xandaman were turning around to walk back home when they heard sirens. Then they saw the cops.

“RAISE YOUR HANDS AND DROP YOUR BAT!” One of the cops screamed.

They complied, but then something happened. Something very bad happened. A cop tased Robert, and he fell in the river. Robert could not move, he was limp. He could not swim, he would surely drown. Then, Xandaman attacked the cops. This will not end well.

Testing

By Rocco Lucas

Book 23 of the Free Candy Series

O’Neal brought Robert and Xandaman to his house. They were scared. O’Neal brought them into a dungeon looking room five floors under his house.

“Woah this looks cool,” Robert said.

“It won't be cool for long,” O’Neal said. “Well at least for you, but for me, it will be cool.”

Robert and his friends got locked in a chamber, there were 20 other people in it.

Robert was scared. “When am I going to get out of here?” He said aloud. No one responded.

O’Neal left, the lights turned red. Then lava poured from the ceiling. Then one of the people took out a glass bottle and threw it on the floor.

“FIRE RESISTANCE!” He screamed.

When the lava touched them no one got injured. The whole room was filled with lava. They needed to escape. The lava was so hot it melted the chamber and they were able to make it out the door. But they were now in O'Neal's house, he could easily turn the corner and see all of them. They needed to think fast.

“Look, it's the door.” Robert said.

“No, it's a trap, it's too obvious.” One of the other people said.

Robert and Xandaman decided to go for the door anyway. They opened the door, and walked outside. From there they could see the others start walking the other direction. But the, O’Neal captured them.

“Seems like we are smart,” Xandaman said.

“Not you, just me.” Robert said.

They closed the door and ran away. When they got on main street, they thought about reporting it to the police to save the other people. They eventually decided not to since they were dumb and decided to go deeper into the house instead of outside of it.

Robert and Xandaman made it to Robert’s house. This was the first time in a very long time they were at Robert’s house. Robert’s mom was still not there, she must still be at James Lebron’s house. But Robert’s house was clean inside, so they decided to get some rest.

When they woke up Robert had a good idea. They were going to make the house a Landbnb, to make extra money. So they started fixing the outside of the house to be a nice modern dark blue with birch accents. On the inside they made it look like a combination of rustic and modern. Then on the listing of the Landbnb they put “new house, totally no roach.” That seemed to do the trick because on the first day, all of the reservations were completely booked, and that was from present day to the next year.

“Woah, we are gonna be rich!” Robert said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, especially since each reservation we got was at least $2,000!” Xandaman responded.

The first guest arrived the next day.

“Hello, Robert.” He said as he walked up to the house.

“Hello, Freeman Freddie.” Robert said back in a professional tone.

Robert received an extra tip. Robert was happy. Robert showed him around the house and left.

“So where do we go now?” Xandaman asked Robert.

“On a cruise,” Robert responded.

“We do not have enough money for that, Robert,” Xandaman said.

“Well, what if we go to your house?” Robert asked.

“Oh yeah,” Xandaman said. “But aren’t you allergic to dogs?”

“Yeah,” Robert said.

“Let's sleep on the streets, again.” Xandaman said.

“Sounds fun,” Robert responded.

They found a nice spot in a ditch next to the street and fell asleep, since it was 20:30. Then five hours later they felt water pouring on them. There was a stream of water in the ditch making them wet. It was also cold.

“YUCK!” Xandaman screamed.

They got out and ran to the nearest gas station. There was a big one they knew was nearest, it's called Buc-ii’s.

There they took a shower for 25 cents, then they stole food and ran out the door. They went back to the street where their house was on and slept in a hole. They woke up, they heard a loud bang, something was up.

In the Shadows

A Series in Six Parts - Part Six

By: Dexter Field

Zeek jumped down from the metal walkway into the reactor chamber, stood up, and looked at the creature.

“We’re not finished yet.” Zeek said, as the creature looked back at Zeek, its uncanny smile growing wider as its eyes slimmed.

Zeek ran towards the creature, jumping, and punching it across the face, the creature recovered, grabbed Zeek’s arm, and threw him across the chamber. As Zeek got up, the creature ran at him with a metal rod, crashing into his helmet, knocking him over. Just as the creature tried to whack him with the metal rod, Zeek grabbed it and rolled, throwing the creature into the metal floor.

Zeek rushed to the mantle to get the regulator off it, but the creature grappled around his neck, and threw him into the floor back over the creature’s head. It picked up a shard of sheet metal,and hit Zeek in the helmet, denting it.. As Zeek got up, the creature lunged at him, making him fall over his head and landing on his face. He tried to get up, wildly punching at the creature. The creature tore off Zeek’s helmet, then whacked him in the back with the metal rod from earlier.

Back in the control room, Comet was setting up the core to cool rapidly, as Atom heard some guards rushing to the door behind them, he shut the door, and locked it, as Zeek was suddenly thrown through the window above the control console, crashing into the floor.

“You good?” Atom asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m - I’m fine..” Zeek said with a black eye, as he somewhat slowly got up again, and jumped back out the window. He landed, and grabbed the creature by the legs, slamming it against the floor. Then Zeek threw the creature through a supporting pillar. It tried getting up, but immediately got buried under the slightly collapsing roof.

Zeek then rushed to the regulator, trying to pull the scorching, melted device off the mantle. The regulator wouldn’t budge, fused to the mantle. Zeek turned, as the creature ran at him holding the broken pillar like he was jousting. The creature sent Zeek crashing into the wall. It dropped the pillar, and punched Zeek in the side of the head, sending him to the ground. Then the creature picked up Zeek by his legs, swung him around and threw him into the pile of rubble caused by the destroyed pillar. Multiple shards of armor flew off as Zeek crashed into it.

Comet kept trying to fix the panel, that was broken when Zeek was thrown onto it.

“What’s happening? Is it broken?” Atom asked.

“Yes, I’m trying to fix it!” Comet replied as Zeek grumbled, sitting up.

“Comet, initiate the black hole.” Zeek told him from below.

“What? You’ll die!” Comet said.

“Comet, I’m not gonna argue with you, just turn on the sequence!” Zeek replied, getting up, and running at the creature, tackling it, and holding it back by its shoulders.

“Zeek, you will die!” Comet shouted.

“PRESS THE BUTTON!” Zeek shouted back.

Comet hesitantly pressed the button, the core heated up rapidly, rays of energy blasting everywhere. Zeek was thrown off the creature by the sudden blast, landing in a divot in the reactor chamber. The creature stood firm then turned around grinning, as it thought it had won. Just then the core shrunk, and formed a black hole in the containment room.

The creature looked back, and was sucked into the black hole. It reached out as it was pulled in and spaghettified. The systems in the ship worked to extinguish the hole, blasting it with a type of electricity and shutting it down. The chamber was silent, just some brief sparks trickling down from the ceiling. Zeek looked around in the ditch he was thrown into, his ears ringing, and his vision blurry. He willed himself out of the ditch, too weak to stand as Comet and Atom walked down the hardly intact stairway, and hurried over to him.

“Zeek, are you alright?” Comet asked, as Atom stood nearby.

“Yeah- yeah, I’m fine, let's just. Take a minute.” Zeek said, exhaling, as multiple security guards ran in, shouting.

“HANDS UP!” They shouted, “You guys are being charged wit-”

“Does it genuinely look like we care? For god's sake just check the cameras you have set up in here.” Atom interrupted.

“He has a good point dude-” One guard muttered to the other.

“I mean, I suppose it could help your case to look at the cameras.” The guard said, as they went back to the bridge, as Comet, Atom, and Zeek followed.

The guards reviewed the camera footage, looking at the fights that had led up to the guards finding them.

“Since Captain Urk has recently been missing for a bit, we’ve taken a vote that-” The left guard said.

“We didn’t actually vote dude, you kind of just decided for us” The guard in the middle said.

“Whatever, you guys are free.” The left guard told them.

“Can you rephrase the story of the captain going missing? How does a captain go missing on a spaceship?” Zeek asked.

“Ugh uhh-” the left guard stammered..

“I think the creature had some sort of shapeshifting ability, judging by how it was able to trickle into vents and stuff.” Comet added.

“Well, yeah, so wouldn’t that also mean that there's a good chance that Captain Urk was in fact the creature?” Atom concluded.

“Well, you have no proof at this point, so I suppose for the time being, you have a say in piloting the ship.” The left guard told them.

“We also have no core anymore, so why not open a portal to a planet with plentiful resources?” Comet suggested.

“Do you have a location off the top of your head?” The left guard asked.

“Uhh, maybe-” Comet thought.

“Why not that blue and green planet in system iop-23?” Atom suggested.

“You mean Iopam?” The right guard asked.

“Yes, that one, open a portal there, they have a nice atmosphere.” Atom confirmed.

“Well, okay, that seems like a decent idea.” The left guard agreed.

In the Shadows

A Series in Six Parts - Part Five

By: Dexter Field

Zeek woke up in a prison cell, along with Atom and Comet, the wall dividing them between the hallway and their cell being an energy forcefield, Zeek got up off the bench, punching the forcefield briefly.

“Hello?” He asked. “Is anyone here? This might be a mistake-” Zeek was interrupted by a guard banging their fist against the forcefield.

“Shut up, you guys are in prison for theft of the catalyst regulator.” The guard told them as Atom stood up, along with Comet slowly waking up.

“I don’t think that happened because we don’t even have the regulator on any of us.” Atom replied.

“Guilty until found innocent.” The guard said, walking off.

“This sucks.” Comet said, sitting up.

“Well, yes, they don’t know about the creature, unlike us.” Zeek told Comet.

“Good point, their ignorance is their downfall.” Atom replied.

“Did you take poetry?” Comet asked.

“No.” Atom replied.

“You should, you’re good at it.” Zeek told him.

“Thanks, but I’m more concerned about getting out of this cell.” Atom said, walking closer to the forcefield. “Now, if he’s going to combine the regulator with the Catalyst mantle, it would cause a power outage, which would-” Atom was interrupted by Comet.

“I don’t want to interrupt you but-” Comet said.

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.” Atom replied.

“It would be more like a power fluctuation, the emergency generators would kick in, causing a brief flicker.” Comet explained, as the lights began to flicker, the forcefields flickered as well, Atom sticking his cane through the forcefield, it flickering red when the power turned back on, dissolving to not cut anything in half.

“So, like that…?” Atom asked as Comet nodded.

“I didn’t expect it to be that easy to be honest.” Zeek commented, as they all walked out of their cell.

“Alright, let's go.” Zeek said as they began to run down the hallway to the exit, they were then suddenly stopped by two guards, however, before Comet or Zeek could do anything, Atom swung his cane into the left guard’s jaw, swung around and whacked the other one in the chest. As the left one got up, Atom heard him and latched the handle of his cane onto their helmet, throwing him into the other guard.

“Oh.” Zeek said, surprised, “That would’ve come in handy earlier y’know.” Zeek commented.

“I couldn’t hear the creature.” Atom replied, breaking the lock of the door, as they all ran down a flight of stairs, into the reactor control room. They saw the creature at the base of the flaming catalyst, the mantle. The regulator was melting into the silver mantle, causing electricity to shoot everywhere, the core’s temperature was rising quickly.

“Comet, what do we do now?” Zeek asked, as Comet searched around on the control panel.

“Uhh, I mean there's the black hole protocol but that’s deadly - uhh… We-” Comet said.

“How deadly?” Zeek interrupted .

“Anyone in the chamber, even the control room could die before the black hole is extinguished, it’s only a worst case scenario, but I can lower the power of the core, but someone has to go down there and take the regulator off the mantle.” Comet explained, as Zeek looked down at the creature, it was staring at the core slowly overheating.

“I’ll get the regulator off the mantle.” Zeek told them.

The Year Of No Halloween

By Rocco Lucas

One year it was the day before Halloween. Everyone was excited. Except they did not know what was coming. Overnight when everyone was asleep a hurricane that went undetected made its way towards the town. At five in the morning it struck, destroying everything in its path.

“WAKE UP!” Robert’s mom screamed.

“AHH! HURICANE!” Robert screamed.

Everyone in the town of Moonrow was scared. The hurricane only lasted into noon. But the damage was done. By the time kids wanted to go trick or treating the roads were flooded, trees were down, and power lines, which made it a safety hazard. Everyone was sad. Trick or treating was canceled. No one got candy. And the town of Moonrow forever suffered the pain of Hurricane Antoine.

In the Shadows

A Series in Six Parts - Part Four

By: Dexter Field

Atom, Zeek, and Comet rushed to the chamber above the reactor, which held the catalyst regulator, they ran up to the door, Zeek pounding his fists on the door.

“What is it!? What could you guys possibly want at this hour?” A Turan security guard opened the door, asking them.

“Uh- there's no better way to put this but there's a gooey creature who wants to steal the catalyst regulator.” Zeek told him.

“Did you just come from the medical bay?” The guard joked, as the creature seeped in through the vent behind them.

“BEHIND YOU!” Comet shouted.

The creature throwing the security guard into a wall, knocking him out, it then kicked the door off its hinges, pushing the trio away down the hallway, as Zeek helped Atom up, he then ran back into the chamber of the catalyst regulator, jumping off the railing and tackling the creature, the creature then punched Zeek in the face, Zeek fighting back as Comet and Atom ran in, running down the brief stairs into the chamber, Comet then tried to kick the creature in the back of the head, the creature turning its head around, and biting on Comet’s foot.

“Ew- what the - “ Comet said as he was thrown by the creature, crashing into the glass container that held the catalyst regulator, he then was attacked by the creature, the regulator getting flung to Atom’s feet, he then picked it up.

“Is this the regulator?” Atom asked.

“Mhm.” Zeek said, still in the middle of the fight.

The creature changed course, heading for Atom. Atom suddenly whirled his cane into the side of the creature’s head, throwing it in the direction of where the creature came from. Zeek caught it, and tried to keep it away from the creature. The creature suddenly grew tentacles, and tried to snatch the regulator. Zeek passed it to Comet, him running a decent distance, then throwing the regular back to Zeek, the creature still stuck in the middle of this monkey in the middle game. The creature grabbed Comet in a chokehold, holding him up. Zeek held the regulator, watching as Comet gasped for air.

“Stop! Don’t kill him! I'll give you the stupid regulator!” Zeek shouted, grabbing the creature's attention.

“Zeek, don’t you dare! Everyone will die!” Atom shouted.

“If I don’t, he’ll die too” Zeek said, kicking the regulator over to the creature.

It slid to the creature's feet. The creature picked it up, and dropped Comet, who took a deep breath as the creature escaped through the vents.

“Zeek! Why’d you do that!?” Atom shouted at him.

“Why’d you choose me over everyone else on this ship?” Comet asked, still on the ground.

Zeek opened his mouth to say something, as three bangs rippled through the room Button shaped things attached to the chestplates of their armor suddenly activated, and shocked them, causing all three of them to lose consciousness.

Scary Adventure of STEAM Academy

By Rocco Lucas

One day I, Robert, was walking around my school STEAM Academy. It was time for lunch. Robert always sat with his group of friends. His friends included; Harbor, Kirda, Gilly, and Elijah. He sat with them every day, then one day Elijah did not sit with them.

“Why did you not sit with us?” Gilly asked.

“Because I don’t want to.” Elijah responded.

Then she came back to our table. This happened for the next two days. One day in Mrs. Sillyams science class. Kirda asked Elijah why he is not sitting with us anymore.

“I will not sit with you if Robert sits with you,” Elijah told Kirda.

“But why? I thought you were friends with Robert?” Kirda asked.

“Well not anymore,” Elijah responded.

After science Robert walked up to Gilly. Then Kirda and Harbor followed.

“Guys guess what Elijah said,” Kirda asked them.

“What did he say?” Me and my friends asked.

“He said that he won’t sit with us until Robert stops sitting with us,” Kirda said.

I was sad, why didn’t Elijah want to sit with me? So I walked away. And went to Algebra with Mrs. Mortay.

In the Shadows

A Series in Six Parts - Part Three

By: Dexter Field

A cane struck the creature on the side of the head, throwing it to the ground. Atom found his way over to Zeek, helping him up.

“Before you ask, no, I don't know what it is, I’m blind.” Atom told Zeek

“I wasn’t gonna ask, but how often did we mess that up?” Zeek responded.

“More than I care to remember.” Atom replied.

“Okay, but, are you okay?” Zeek asked as Atom gave him a confused look. He had never heard Zeek ask something like that, since he was always so self-centered.

“Yeah, but I’ve never heard you say that, are you like, okay?” Atom asked.

“Wait really?” Zeek replied.

“Yes-” Atom began to reply but got dropkicked in the face by the creature. Throwing him against the glass again, cracking it.

The creature raised up a sharp chair leg over Atom, but was kicked by Zeek through the window causing all the oxygen to start rushing out of the room. Zeek held onto the wall, and also held onto Atom. As the creature was sucked out into space, the window clamped shut with a big sheet of metal.

“What’d you do!?” Atom exclaimed.

“I broke the window, he was gonna kill you.” Zeek replied.

“Yeah, me, what about you, he was gonna kill you too!” Atom responded, as Zeek helped him up. “Are you okay? Like seriously, you never care about anyone else.” Atom told Zeek.

“Did you expect me to be self-centered?” Zeek replied.

“Yes, actually I did.” Atom replied.

“Zeek, why'd you break the window?” Comet asked, opening his door just after the creature was sucked out.

“Because Atom was going to die.” Zeek told Comet.

“Uhh, from what?” Comet replied.

“I bet it’s a long story-” Atom said.

“I was just gonna say that.” Zeek told Atom.

They could hear footsteps just down the hallway.

“That’s a security guard isn’t it?” Atom asked.

“Yepah.” Comet replied as he let both Zeek and Atom in.

“I like your room by the way, I never got to say that before.” Zeek admired it.

“Did you hit your head or something? Comet asked.

“Cartoonish explanation, but you’re kind of close, I nearly died earlier today…” Zeek replied.

“You what!?” Comet exclaimed.

“Don’t be like that, you heard him very loud and clear” Atom told Comet.

“Yeah, I quite literally almost got sucked out into space.” Zeek told them.

“Where do you even go to do that?” Atom asked

“Are you okay?!” Comet asked, their speech overlapping each other's.

“I mean- I’m okay now but I know that - well a near death experience kind of opens your eyes a bit.” Zeek told them.

“Fair point, but how did the creature get to you in the hallway?” Comet asked.

“I think it went through the vents, why?” Zeek replied.

“Okay, I’m assuming you were under the Flaming Catalyst. Because that's the only opening into space.” Comet assumed.

“Uhh, I - yeah I was” Zeek replied.

“I’m assuming that creature got to you through the vent, which then means that it would at least have to go through the main vent terminal. Which is about as cold, if not colder than space, so what makes you think it would die out there?” Comet asked.

“If it got back in, which is likely what happened, where would it go?” Zeek asked.

“Well, the evidence from the recent deaths line up, all the recent deaths have either been missing reports, or damaged armor pieces scattered everywhere. Along with the reports of seeing Turans around the ship, outside.” Atom replied.

“Then wouldn’t it want to extinguish the whole population at once?” Zeek asked.

“Well, yeah, I guess, in that case the best option would be to go for the catalyst regulator, since that has the ability to put the Flaming Catalyst into its critical state. Which would spread radiation around, killing everyone instantly.” Comet answered.

“Well, that seems logical, but do you think it wants to kill everyone to steal the ship?” Atom asked.

“I think so, yeah.” Zeek replied, “just watch out, we have to get there before the creature.”

O’Neal

By Rocco Lucas

Book 22 of the Free Candy Series

Robert and Xandaman both woke up.

“I had a scary dream,” Robert said.

“Me too,” Xandaman said.

“I think we should start walking home,” Robert said.

“Yeah, let's go.” Xandaman said.

They started walking, they were walking for miles and miles. They really didn’t know where they were going, but they had to get home. They knew the general location they were in.

“Look,” Robert said. “It’s Elm Street!” He couldn’t see the end of it. “Have you ever seen Nightmare on Elm Street?”

“No,” Xandaman responded.

“Me either but I heard it's scary,” Robert said.

“Well then let's get off of Elm Street,” Xandaman said.

So then Robert and Xandaman stepped onto the grass next to Elm Street.

“I thought Nightmare on Elm Street was a book,” Xandaman said.

“IT'S A MOVIE! I ALREADY HAD THIS FIGHT WITH MATSON AND JOE!” Robert screamed.

“OKAY!” Xandaman said.

They walked until they reached Main Street. They were hungry.

“Where’s the lion we just killed?” Xandaman asked Robert.

“It was not a lion, it was a tiger, and we left it.” Robert responded.

“Of course we did,” Xandaman said.

A truck pulled up to them, “I have food if you come with me,” The shady guy driving the truck said.

“DId you hear that Xandaman? That guy has food!” Robert said.

“What happened the last time you got in a truck because the guy driving said he had food?” Xandaman asked Robert.

“We got kidnapped.” Robert said disappointingly.

“I won't kidnap you,” the guy said.

“Prove it,” Robert said.

The guy reached into his glovebox. There was something in it, it was covered in a cloth or something like that. It was spherical in shape. He pulled the cloth, it was a burrito. Robert basically jumped in the truck, Xandaman followed.

“Seems like you guys like food?” The shady guy in the truck said.

“Well we are hungry,” Robert told the shady guy.

“Where's your address?” The shady guy said.

“I don’t know,” Robert said.

“How do you not know?” The shady guy asked.

“Because I'm not cool,” Robert responded.

“What’s your name?” The shady guy asked.

“My name is Robert, his name is Xandaman.” Robert said.

“What's your name?” Robert asked the shady guy.

“My name is O’Neal Shaquille, you can call me Shaq for short.” O’Neal said.

Then O’Neal drove off with Robert and Xandaman in the van.

Robert and Friends Halloween Haunt

By Rocco Lucas

Robert, Xandaman, Dexstar, Matson, Joe, and Ham were trick or treating. They went up to a door and knocked. The door opened.

“TRICK OR TREAT!” They screamed.

“TRICK!” The guy who answered the door said. He then forcefully pulled them into his house.

“WOAH!” Robert screamed. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!”

“Why just you, do you not care about your friends?” The guy said.

“Well I'm the main character, right?” Robert asked.

“Not of this story” The guy responded.

The guy took them to his basement, it was a lab down there. There were a whole bunch of big glass tube looking things. Two of the eight had people in them. Doors opened on the empty ones.

“Get in,” the guy said.

“First tell me your name,” Robert asked.

“Like I said, you are NOT the main character of this story.” They guy responded. “But my name is Freeman Morgan.”

“I’m not going in that,” Matson said.

“Well you need to,” Freeman said.

They all got in the glass tubes. Freeman then locked them. He pressed a few buttons, then his whole basement shook because of the loud noise it made. Then he walked upstairs.

“Those kids are so annoying, at least now they won't be.” Freeman said out loud to himself.

He heard a knock on the door.

“If it’s another group of those kids,” He said to himself again.

He opened the door.

“Hello Mr. Morgan,” a police officer said. “We got a noise complaint about your house, they described it as a deep loud noise, and they worried something might have happened.”

“I can assure you that nothing happened, I just dropped a safe while I was moving.” Freeman said.

“Okay, well have a good halloween,” The cop said.

“You too,” Freeman said.

The cop closed the door, Freeman smirked.

It was now nine thirty, Freeman fell asleep. One of the tubes broke. Robert awakened.

“I am going to get Freeman Morgan,” Robert said to himself. He called the cops. Ten minutes later he heard a knock at the door.

“Hello, you said you have been kidnapped.” The police officer said.

“Yes, Freeman Morgan trapped us here.” Robert said.

“Where is he?” The police officer asked.

“I think he might be sleeping,” Robert responded.

The police officer walked to Freeman’s room. He then arrested him.

“Is anyone else in the house?” The police officer asked.

“Yes, seven people are down stairs,” Robert responded.

The police officer went downstairs and saw what was happening, he smashed the glass and rescued Ham, Xandaman, Joe, Matson, and Dexstar, but it was too late to rescue the other two people.

“Are you guys okay?” The police officer asked.

“Yeah,” they all said.

Then something strange happened, the two people that he could not rescue stood up, then they started growing, they were monsters. The police officer and Robert’s friends ran away.

“I AM ELIIJAH!” One of the monsters Elijah screamed.

“AND I AM HABOR!” The other monster named Harbor screamed.

“TOGETHER WE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD!” They screamed.

They broke through the house, now they were on the street. When Robert and his friends were trying to run away, Robert tripped. Because of that he was still struggling to get up and the monsters saw him.

“I’M GOING TO GET YOU!” Habor screamed.

“ME TOO! I AM VERY HUNGARY” Elijah screamed.

“No please, I am your friend.” Robert said, losing hope.

Then a school bus came at the monsters at over 100 miles per hour, it hit them and the monsters fell over. Robert used this chance to run away. Robert ran for a few minutes and caught up with the police officer and his friends.

“Guys why did you not wait for me?” Robert asked.

“Remember you are not the main character of this story,” Xandaman responded.

“Right,” Robert replied with sadness in his voice.

Robert was getting hungry, and so were the others.

“Where do you think we should eat?” Robert asked since he could not decide because he was not the main character of this story.

“I think we should eat at a donut shop,” The police officer said.

“Well, well, well, look who wants to eat at a donut shop.” Robert and his friends said.

“I think we should go to Denny’s,” Dexstar said.

“No, we should go to a steak house,” Matson said.

“Yeah that sounds good,” Everyone said.

They all decided to go to a steak house.

They were walking to the closest steak house. They walked through a forest for miles, they kept hearing big booms, probably from the monsters destroying homes. When they got to the steak house it was five minutes before they closed, they ran inside.

“Are there any tables left,” Robert asked.

“Yeah, how many,” the waiter asked.

“There are six of us here, me, Xandaman, Dexstar, a police officer, Ham, Joe, and Matson.” Robert responded.

“So seven,” the waiter replied.

“Yeah, seven.” Robert said disappointingly.

They sat at a big table and the waiter gave them their menus.

“I am going to get the eight ounce sirloin,” Robert said.

Every one got the same thing.

The waiter brought out their food. It was perfect. Until they heard a big bang outside of the restaurant. The monster found them. The monster smashed the ceiling of the restaurant, the police officer took out his taser and shot it at one of the monsters. It did not have an effect.

“We are going to die,” Robert said.

But then someone leaped out of the sky, he killed the monsters.

Then he came over to the group.

“I am, Darake!” The hero said, then he flew away.

Robert then began going back to his house, he decided he needed a job, so he became a rapper. He released his first song called Monster, it got over one billion streams on Spotafly. Robert got rich, he bought a big gold chain and got diamond grills on his teeth.

Robert knew he made it in life. Robert fell asleep at eleven that Halloween night.

The end.

In the Shadows

A Series in Six Parts - Part Two

By: Dexter Field

The spaceship’s captain, named Captain Urk , walked around the bridge of the ship, before walking onto an elevated walkway, shapeshifting suddenly into a different Turan, he looked over into the reactor room, and noticed a short, scrawny Turan talking to another. Two others, one with a black visor, and a taller one were also talking to each other. The “Turan” on the balcony looked down over the reactor room and dissolved into shadowy black strands The strands seeped through a nearby vent and down through the ventilation system until it reached the lower reactor, just under the Flaming Catalyst, which was the nickname for the glowing orb that kept the ship running.

After reaching a small room the strands connected again. The room was filled with empty helmets. The creature, which had formed into a shadow figure, had white glowing eyes and sharp jagged teeth. It walked to a maintenance doorway. It saw a Turan working on some of the pipes.

“Pretty sure that the fuse goes in that port, let me check the manual again..” The Turan talked to herself as the creature broke the lights in the room.

The pipes were shrouded in darkness, the Turan looked around, and suddenly she was thrown into the room under the Flaming Catalyst. The creature bit off her helmet and threw the Turan down the main port directly under the Flaming Catalyst, which was constantly being vented and tugged on from space outside the ship. .

“AAH!” The Turan screamed, as the port led her out to the cold vacuum of space. Yanked by the cold vacuum, she was flung far out into space. Without her helmet, it meant death.

Zeek’s and Atom’s shift ended, as Zeek walked up the stairs, Comet helped Atom up the stairs. Zeek noticed an unlocked door, and being the annoyance he was, he broke off from his path to slip through the door.

“Where’d Zeek go?” Comet noticed, as Atom walked up behind him.

“Your guess is as good as mine- actually your guess is better than mine, you can see properly.” Atom responded, walking away down the hall.

Zeek wandered through the corridors and reached a pipe room. Zeke didn’t really know where all of the corridors were actually leading. He just followed them without a second thought. Zeek flipped on the light switch to find a toolbox without an owner, and a shut door ahead of him.

“Surely it wouldn’t be locked at this point.” Zeek said to himself, not realizing he was being watched by the creature on the ceiling.

Zeek walked around into the room, seeing multiple helmets on the ground, and the second reactor pipe, which was a vacuum into space. He grabbed a silver helmet on the floor, and looked it over.

“I don’t think this is normal.” Zeek said, as the creature dropped down, and kicked him, throwing him off the ledge, and assumed he was dead.

Zeek was holding on to the ledge. The creature trickled through the vents. Zeek resisted the vacuum of space, pulling himself back up into the small room. Hyperventilating he then quickly got up, and ran back up the stairs and up to his room in the hallway. He locked the door behind him and fell to the ground, still distressed

The creature travelled through the ventilation system, it would stop for a second, hearing someone hyperventilating. It looked back, and saw the Turan it just killed, it then jumped down from the vent, pushing Zeek onto the floor, causing a crater.

“AH!” Zeek exclaimed in surprise, as he threw a punch at the creature it fell off of him. It got back up and ran at him. As Zeek dodged, the creature slammed into his desk and threw the chair at Zeek.

Zeek caught the chair, and threw it towards the creature. The creature simply caught it, and slammed it on top of Zeek, knocking him to the ground and shattering the flimsy furniture. The creature then threw Zeek through his door, into the hallway, banging against the glass of the ship. The creature then jumped out into the dark hallway holding a broken chair leg, it stabbed it into the ground, just after Zeek rolled out of the way, the creature wound up for its next strike.

Haunting Benji Trois

By Rocco Lucas

Benji was walking through the forest, he had no idea where he was going. Maybe he was in Canada? Maybe, America? Maybe Taiwan? He doesn’t know, and it’s dark. Benji can’t do anything when it is a little dark, he cannot even locate a light switch at his own house when the lights are on.

“J'ai faim, J'ai soif,” Benji said. He was hungry and thirsty.

Benji needed to find food, and water. Benji walked for miles. He finally found a waterfall and lake.

“Oh, oui,” Benji said.

Benji filled his bottle with water, he kept a bottle tied to the tag under his shirt. Benji drank the water. But he was still hungry. Benji found a deer.

“Oui,” Benji said.

Benji pulled the bow and arrow off of his bat aimed at the deer and shot the arrow he missed. But then the arrow hit a tree and it fell on the deer. He now had a dead, raw dear. But since the tree fell down he took the wood, it was a dead tree so the wood was dry, he put it in a pile. Then he took a match out of the pocket in the tongue of his shoe, then he rubbed it on the red phosphorus on the sole of his shoe. The match lit. he threw it in the pile of wood, then he roasted the deer, he now made roasted deer even though he can not even locate a light switch at his own house when the lights are on.

Benji saw Antoine. “Bonjour,” Antoine said. Antoine the ghost then shot straight at Benji.

Haunting Benji Deux

By Rocco Lucas

Benji had his chance to escape. Since the ghost Antoine is gone, he was going to break out. First he grabbed a grappling hook he found in his hair, then using his bow and arrow he kept on his back he was going to shoot a piece of dynamite that was next to a wall. But first he needed to light his arrow, luckily he remembered he always kept a lighter in his right pocket. He took it out and it didn’t work.

“Oh non, non, non, non, pas bon,” Benji said.

Luckily Benji remembered the match he kept in the pocket on the tongue of his shoe, he took it out and rubbed it on the red phosphorus on the sole of his shoe. The match lit and he lit the arrow on fire. He then carefully aimed at the dynamite, shot the arrow, and missed. But then there was a piece of wood that caught on fire which was right next to the dynamite exploding it. Benji walked through the hole. He was now in a forest.

Haunting Benji

By Rocco Lucas

“I am going to haunt a person, a very, very, very unlucky person. His name is Benji. Benji is a very sad 8th grader,” a ghost said.

“Where am I?” Benji said.

“You are in a house,” the ghost says. “Who’s house you may ask, well my house.”

“So I'm in the house of a person who is not even alive?” Benji asked.

“Well yeah, but I'm going to haunt you.” The ghost said.

Benji went up to a bedroom and fell asleep.

“Why look at who's asleep," the ghost said. Then he continued to move all of Benji’s personal belongings.

When Benji woke up he was super confused. “Why is my stuff all over the floor?” Benji asked himself.

Then the ghost made a hole in the floor and Benji fell through it.

“Am I going insane?” Benji asked himself. “Maybe I'm dreaming?”

Benji punched himself to see if he would wake up, which he did not, so he was not dreaming. Benji was only 13 years old, now he knew he would never make it anywhere in life.

“This is a scary basement,” Benji said.

Benji was now trying to get out of the basement, though he could not even locate a light switch at his own house when the lights were on.

“Bonjour,” The ghost said, turning French.

“Bonjour,” Benji said back, he took French in school.

“Je vais te manger,” the ghost said.

“Comment tu t'appelles?” Benji asked.

“Je m’appel Antoine,” The ghost Antoine said.

Then the ghost Antoine disappeared.

In the Shadows

A Series in Six Parts - Part One

By: Dexter Field

Zeek shoveled fuel relentlessly into the reactor inputs almost all day.

“This stinks.” Zeek said, frustrated with the job he had.

“I mean- you’re not the one who’s doing this blind.” Atom, one of Zeek’s friends who was beside him, at another port, where he also shoveled fuel into.

“It can’t be that hard, it’s kind of repetitive,” Zeek said.

“It’s harder than you think” Atom said, just before missing the pile of fuel, shovelling air.

Meanwhile, up in the engine control room, Comet walked around, he was short and scrawny, only about five feet, nine inches tall. He walked to the window, checking on the main reactor. He then walked away to a different section of the engine compartments into the little cubicles where many others shoveled fuel into their respective ports. Everyone had green skin, and all of them were wearing armor, it was a standard to at least wear armor in case of emergency. He walked past with a clipboard through the hallway with cubicles on the sides. He briefly waved to Zeek and Atom, only Zeke waved back obviously, since Atom was blind. Comet ran up to an elevator, taking him up to the top floor, the bridge of the spaceship, which everyone was on in deep space. He walked up, and handed the paper on the clipboard through a slot on a door. He walked back to the elevator, going back down to the reactor room. Suddenly, the lights lighting up the cubicles turned green, indicating their shift was over.

“Finally!” Zeek said, walking out of his cubicle, as Atom walked out as well- except he went the wrong way.

“Atom, no” Comet said, as Atom turned around, and started walking in the same direction as Zeek.

Zeek walked up into a hallway, briefly looking out through the window into space, where every one of their species, called Turans, lived. Comet came up with Atom in an elevator, they called it a Lifter, but as he was blind, he couldn’t take the stairs, so Comet often helped him.

“Can you technically take the stairs, or is it faster to use the lifter?” Zeek asked Atom.

“Zeek, he’s blind you know this, he quite literally has to use the...” Comet was interrupted by Atom

“Maybe.” Atom said, walking down the hallway, with his cane in front of him. Zeek went into his room on the ship, every Turan has their own dorm-like room, Comet directed Atom to his door, as Comet went to his.

“I feel bad for that blind fellow,” a random Turan said, walking down the hallway, as suddenly, the lights went out.

He looked around behind him, suddenly spotting two white glowing eyes in the dark hallway. Suddenly, they started approaching rapidly.

“AAH!” The Turan screamed as he ran away down the hallway, as the creature threw him to the ground, then began biting through his armor.

Zeek walked down the hallway in the morning, or at least the artificial morning, down to Cafeteria C, the one that the Turans in their quadrant of the ship had to use. Zeek grabbed a tray, and grabbed his usual breakfast from the table. Just before he walked over and sat down at the table with Atom and Comet, Atom was eating his food, while Comet had barely taken a bite of what he got. Zeek opened his mouth to say something, but the news broadcast came on both the TVs, and the intercom in the cafeterias.

“Breaking news! Remains of a Turan were found in a closet on floor 29, quadrant C! Only their armor remains after what had happened to them.” The news broadcaster said.

“Did he fall over or something?” Zeek joked.

“That’s not funny, someone died.” Comet replied.

“Ehhh, Turans die all the time.” Zeek responded.

“Zeek!” Comet corrected.

“What?” Zeek replied.

“That’s really inconsiderate of others.” Comet told him.

“I don’t care, it’s funny.” Zeek replied, silencing Comet.

Mystic

By Rocco Lucas

Book 21 of the Free Candy Series

Robert shot up. Where was he? He did not even know where he was, he was in this black box. He waited hours, he was getting hungry, tired, but he didn’t want to fall asleep in case something happened. Finally after waiting many hours something showed up on the screen.

“Patient one?” Robert said, extremely confused. “What does that mean?”

After the screen lit up and said patient one it started playing a noise, a high frequency noise.

“WHATS HAPPENING!” Robert screamed. “LET ME OUT OF HEAR!”

Robert was going insane. When will he leave, will he ever leave, will he need to escape? Robert did not know. If he escaped would he immediately die? Then all of a sudden the noise shut off, and a show started playing, it was Larney and Friends. Robert hated that purple dinosaur looking thing. Robert punched the screen, it shattered. Except, it went towards Robert. Robert was now impaled with thousands of glass shards, Robert was desperate. He grabbed a shovel that came out of the ceiling and started shoveling the wall.

“WHEN WILL I GET TO THE END!” Robert screamed in anger.

Robert was starting to give up, until he saw light. He kept hitting the wall, four hours. He finally made a hole he could fit through. They went through it and there was just another box, but with pictures of land on the screens, Robert took offense.

“Why are they tricking me?” Robert asked.

Then a guy appeared, he was holding a syringe.

“My name is Eguardo, I am here to do testing on you,” Eguardo said.

Eguardo was right about to put the syringe into Robert’s arm, but then he disintegrated.

“WHAT!” Robert screamed. “PEOPLE CAN JUST DISINTIGRATE NOW!”

Robert was scared, he did not want to disintegrate either, he liked living. Robert was scared. But it was not over, just a few minutes later, a green gas ball of light was floating around the room, it was mystical. It hit Robert’s shovel that he put down, it got lit to flames, then it hit Robert, he saw flames taking over his body.

Robert woke up in a cold sweat. It was all a dream.

Mission Space

By Rocco Lucas

Book 20 of the Free Candy Series

Robert and Xandaman were in the spaceship.

“HEY I THINK WE ARE OUT OF THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE! Robert screamed in excitement.

“WOW!” Xandaman screamed back in excitement.

Then an asteroid hit them and they got sent back to Earth. They crash landed.

“I think we should get Benji and Josiah from school,” Robert said.

“I thought you hated Benji, Xandaman said.

“No, I am friends with Benji,” Robert said.

They walked to Monroe Ct to get Benji and Josiah. It was an hour walk.

“WHAT IS THAT!” Robert screamed.

A tiger jumped out of the bushes. It growled at Xandaman and Robert.

“What are we supposed to do?” Robert asked Xandaman.

“We should kill it, then eat it.” Xandaman responded.

They grabbed a spear that magically appeared on the ground and killed the tiger.

“Woah, look at all this food, we could eat it, or sell it to get rich,” Robert said.

“I say we eat some and sell the rest,” Xandaman said.

They made a fire out of wood they collected, then they fell asleep. In the forest, again.

Rogan

By Rocco Lucas

Book 19 of the Free Candy Series

Rogan and Robert headed for the airport, Rogan knew where everything was since he fought here. They walked into the airport, and Robert saw Xandaman!

“XANDAMAN!” Robert screamed.

“ROBERT!” Xandaman screamed.

“Why did you leave me when I fell asleep?" Robert asked.

I forgot what was happening, it was weird.” Xandaman said.

“I found Ham, he was dead,” Xandaman said.

“I found him too,” Robert said.

They got on a plane back to America and landed in John F. Kennedy International Airport. When they got off they went to Rogan's house.

“I saved up a lot of money to afford this,” Rogan said.

“Wow,” Robert said.

The house was huge. It had five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a tennis court, and an inground pool. His house exploded.

“AHH WHAT HAPPENED!” Rogan screamed.

“I think your house exploded,” Xandaman said.

“No, really,” Rogan said. “Well that's 1.5 million dollars.”

Then an alien emerged from the ground.

“I have been sent for Robert,” the alien said.

“No,” Robert said.

Rogan beat up the alien and then the alien exploded. They saw a whole bunch of rocks falling from the sky. When they landed, even more aliens emerged. They all attacked Rogan. Rogan needed immediate medical attention. Robert called the ambulance.

“WE NEED ROBERT!” The aliens said simultaneously.

Then a meteor came and knocked out all the aliens. But one of their space ships was still there. When the ambulance got there they took Rogan to the hospital.

“Xandaman, can you get in that space ship,” Robert asked.

“If you do,” Xandaman responded.

They both got in the spaceship and flew away.

The Journey

By Rocco Lucas

Antonio’s Perspective

One day I was walking to my car, and I tripped off a hill.

“ANTONIO! My mom screamed. “ARE YOU ALRIGHT!”

But of course I couldn’t hear her. Since I fell off a cliff. And I was alright, because I landed in some hay. I got up and looked around. There was nothing here, other than when I looked up and saw my house 1,000 feet above me. I needed to get back, how would I possibly ever achieve my goals in life of becoming a world class roller coaster engineer in this empty uninhabited area. I am getting hungry, though I just ate breakfast four minutes ago. I guess I should go to where the sun shows. I don’t even care if I'm severely injured right now.

Antonio’s Mom’s Perspective

One day I was walking to my car with my son Antonio, when he suddenly fell off a cliff.

“ANTONIO! I screamed. “ARE YOU ALRIGHT!”

But I knew he wouldn’t hear me, he never hears me due to that phone he always plays on. Thinking about it, I know that's probably why he fell off the cliff. All he does all day every day is phone, phone, phone, and even more phone. And know he’s stuck down there. I bet he’s crying about how he’s never going to be a world class roller coaster engineer. He’s also probably hungry though he just ate four minutes ago. I bet he doesn’t even care if he’s hurt.

What am I supposed to do up here all alone? I need a bucket. I got to the cave right outside of my house to get iron to make a bucket. Once I made a bucket I filled it with water and jumped off the cliff. When I tried to let go of the water bucket, it wouldn't release. I hit the ground at 200 plus miles per hour. I've had better days.

The End.

Alone

By Rocco Lucas

Book 18 of the Free Candy Series

Robert woke up, Xandaman was nowhere to be found. Robert was Alone. Alone in a place he’s never been before. No where to go. No where to stay. Robert had to get home.

Robert started running, running wherever he felt like going. Still looking for Ham, still looking for Xandaman. He ran for hours, hours without water. Until he found a stream, he drank from the stream. Once he finished he walked around the stream, and found Ham. Ham was laying down, his eyes were closed. Robert waited for hours, he never woke up. Robert continued on without him. Still sad and alone, possibly forever.

Robert was hungry, it's been five hours since he found Ham, days without any source of food. Robert continued running. He saw light that was not from the sun, it was a city, the city of Dalat Vietnam. Robert started running, he was so happy to find a city. When he got there he ran straight to the McRocco’s. Once he got inside he ordered fries, and a burger. It reminded him of when he went to an abandoned one. Robert got the food and paid, he stole someone's money. Once he finished eating, he saw the same old man from the abandoned McRocco’s.

“How did you get here?” Robert asked Rogan.

“The same way you got here,” Rogan said.

“Didn’t you fight in the Vietnamese war?” Robert asked.

“Yeah, I guess they want to take over the world now,” Rogan said.

“Well then let's get out of it,” Robert said.

They left the McRocco’s, knowing what to do next.

Mystery

By Rocco Lucas

Book 17 of the Free Candy Series

Xandaman woke Robert up in a panic. “Ham is missing, what are we going to do?”

“What do you mean Ham is missing,” Robert asked.

“He is not here,” Xandaman said.

“Well we have to go find him,” Robert said. “Where is Sir. Shang?”

“He is still sleeping,” Xandaman said.

“Well wake him up,” Robert said.

They both walked over to where Sir. Shang was sleeping, “Hey wake up,” They were saying. As they were waiting they looked around, no one was there except them. They would have to find Ham on their own.

They wandered deep into the forest not knowing where they were going, Sir. Shang told them to go north to get to an airport. Robert and Xandaman did not know which way was which. Around 30 minutes later they remembered Sir. Shang had a compass, but they tried backtracking their steps but they were lost. It was still bright out and it was super hot. Robert was getting really nervous they would never find Ham. Until they stumbled upon his watch. They knew it was his because it said his name on it. They walked for miles in the same direction they walked to find Ham’s watch. They tried to see if the compass worked but it did not, they could only see the time.

“AHH! A BEAR A BEAR!” Xandaman screamed.

“Quiet. Just walk slowly past it and it won’t hurt us,” Robert said.

They walked past the bear and continued walking.

“It’s getting a little dark out,” Xandaman said.

“It's okay, Just keep walking,” Robert said.

“What about we make a barrel?” Xandaman asked.

“For what?” Robert asked.

“So one of us can sleep and the other can pull the barrel,” Xandaman said.

“Ok,” Robert said.

They spent two hours working on the barrel.

“I’m tired,” Robert said.

“Then go to sleep in the barrel,” Xandaman said.

Robert fell asleep. He slept through the whole night. When he woke up, Xandaman was gone.

Outside

By Rocco Lucas

Book 16 of the Free Candy Series

“Look, Robert’s touching grass for the first time!” Xandaman said jokingly.

“Now is not the time for jokes,” Robert said.

“Blah Blah,” Xandaman said.

“Guys you are acting like toddlers,” Ham said.

“HEY WHY ARE THE MINES CAVED IN!” Sir. Shang screamed. “Genral Tang will be very disappointed and do something really bad to us if we don’t bring anything back.

“So let's run away,” someone in the group said.

“And what’s your name?” Sir. Shang asked.

“My name is Reid,” Reid said.

“But my jacket has a tracker on it,” Sir. Shang said.

“So take it off,” Reid said.

“Yes I will,” Sir. Shang said.

“Where are we?” Robert asked.

“This is a forest in Vietnam,” Sir. Shang said.

“WHAT! HOW DID WE GET ACROSS THE OCEAN WITHOUT GOING THROUGH A PLANE!” Robert asked.

“With the train,” Sir. Shang said. “What country is everyone from here?”

Robert and his friends said America, as did five other people. Except an old man said Cuba but he would much rather live in America.

“Let's go to the USA!” Sir. Shang said in excitement.

They walked for many miles, slept in barns, five whole days eating scraps and plants they found. During the days it was hot, almost 100 degrees, most nights were cold and rainy.

“When will we get there,” Robert asked with great apprehension.

“I mean, we have to get there someday,” Sir. Shang said.

As night approached they had to go to sleep. No barn was around them. They were in the forest, they had to sleep on the ground.

“It's so rocky, how are we supposed to sleep,” Ham asked.

“We split up and find our own spots,” Sir. Shang said.

When they all found spots they were at least 200 feet away from each other. Robert had a bad feeling. Ten minutes later, they fell asleep.

War

By Rocco Lucas

Book 15 of the Free Candy Series

“Do you actually think this is war,” Robert asked.

“Yes I do,” Xandaman said.

“I mean, it might be,” Ham said.

“EVERYBODY GET TO THE CAFETERIA!” General Tang screamed.

Once everybody got there, they saw food.

“Oh my god, IT'S FOOD!” Robert as well as many others screamed.

Everyone was so excited to eat, until they found out it was just stale bread. But it was still food. Everybody only got one sixth of a loaf of bread. They also got soup, though, it was really just hot dirty water.

“This bread is the best thing I've eaten, in like, five whole days,” Robert said.

“This bread is the only thing you’ve eaten, in like five whole days,” Xandaman said.

“When do you think we will be free?” Ham said.

“I don't know. How about you ask General Tang,” Robert said.

“LUNCH IS OVER!” General Tang screamed. “GET TO YOUR BARRACKS WHERE YOUR LEADER WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU! AND HURRY!”

“Come on guys,” Robert said.

They were running to their barracks. They were the first ones there, other than an old man.

“You are very lucky that you are in this group,” the old man said.

“Why?” Robert asked.

“This is the group furthest away from the facility,” the old man said.

“So how does that make us lucky?” Robert asked again.

“Less of a chance that General Tang knows who you are,” the old man responded. “Here, you don’t want to have a name. Here you don’t want to be noticed. So when you get to work, don’t do so well to show how much of a hard worker you are, but also don’t do too little. The biggest thing is DO NOT look at the soldiers when you are working. They will say you're looking at them the wrong way and they will kill you.

A few minutes later everyone was there. Even their leader.

“Follow me to your first place to work,” said the leader.

They got outside of their barracks and all of the other groups were already working since they were in the facility. The only group that was going outside the gates was group three.

They got outside, the gates closed.

Loose Programming - The Final Battle

A Series in Seven Parts

By: Dexter Field

One climbed onto I.R.O.E. 's back and used his staff to stab through his flight thruster, causing One, Two, and I.R.O.E. to plummet from the sky towards the suspension bridge below. They all crashed onto the bridge, sending Two flying and trapping One with I.R.O.E. One used his knife against I.R.O.E., swinging at him. I.R.O.E. spun out of the way and punched One in the side as he pulled a double bladed axe from his own back, and tried to swing it at One. One caught the axe and held it by its handle, holding it back from I.R.O.E. Both of them tried to overpower the other.

“All of you, get off the bridge, now,” Two yelled to the construction workers. The police were gone. Probably trying to find One.

“Why should we listen to you,” Someone on a crane asked.

“You want to get killed in the crossfire of this,” Two asked, trying to get everyone off the bridge.

“Not really,” a construction worker quickly repliedI

I.R.O.E. began to overpower One. He sent the blade of the axe through One’s elbow joint, slicing off his right forearm. Then I.R.O.E. kicked One to the ground

“GAH!” One exclaimed.

“Your creators want you back, and fortunately for me, being in one piece is not a priority,” I.R.O.E. said as he used one of his blasters to blast One in the back, sending miscellaneous parts and blue pieces flying. I.R.O.E. raised his axe, ready to strike One, when suddenly, he was blasted through the shoulder, causing him to drop the axe. Two ran towards I.R.O.E., grabbed him by the head, and threw him into the railing. He used his blaster to shoot off I.R.O.E.’s helmet. I.R.O.E. got up though, and uppercut Two into the steel pillar of the bridge. aAs he turned to face One, One grabbed the axe with his left hand, and swung it, cutting off I.R.O.E. ‘s left arm. He shoved I.R.O.E. onto his knees with his foot, and swung the axe again, directly into the side of I.R.O.E. ‘s head. One lifted a stunned I.R.O.E over his head and threw him off the bridge, into the river.

Both One and Two heard a deep sploosh in the river below. They looked around them at the flaming bridge. A number of different robot parts lay scattered across the bridge along with I.R.O.E.’s helmut.

“I think we’re both even for that,” Two said.

“I agree, now where's my forearm,” One questioned

The Facility

By Rocco Lucas

Book 14 of the Free Candy Series

Robert, Xandaman, and Ham woke up to Sir. Shang Screaming at them.

“WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT’S 5:30! WAKE UP!” Sir. Shang screamed.

Robert slid from the top bunk, Ham hoped down from the middle bunk, and Xandaman got up from the bottom bunk.

“EVERYBODY LINE UP IN THE MAIN FIELD! MOST GROUPS ARE ALREADY THERE!” Sir. Shang screamed.

All of the 15 people in Robert's group ran to the field and lined up next to each other.

“What do you think is going to happen to us?” Robert asked Xandaman.

“I think they are going to give us our jobs we will need to complete,” Xandaman responded.

“I think they are going to let us free,” Ham said.

“Why would they kidnap us just to set us free?” Robert asked.

“Because, Torture,” Xandaman said.

“QUIET!” General TANG screamed. “WE WILL BE ASSIGNING YOU JOBS YOU WILL NEED TO COMPLETE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!”

Robert, Xandaman, and Ham spread out so they would have more of a chance to get the same job.

“WE WILL BE CHOOSING BY GROUP!” General Tang

Robert, Xandaman, and Ham stood next to each other again.

“Group one, you will need to be maintained in the facility,” General Tang said. “Group two, you will be responsible to build new barracks for more prisoners that will soon be arriving. Group three, you will need to work in the field right outside of the facility. Group four, you will be clearing out land for future expansion of this facility. And finally, group five, you need to walk thirty minutes to get to the mines.”

Robert, Xandaman, and Ham were in group five.

“This isn’t just any kidnapping, this is war,” Robert whispered.

Kidnapped 2

By Rocco Lucas

Book 13 of the Free Candy Series

They got out of the cattle car, they were lined up in a row. They were lined up in front of a factory.

“This is where you will be doing hard and intense work,” one of the men said.

“Will we get paid?” someone asked.

Then they got slapped across the face by one of the men.

“YOU WILL NOT SPEAK UNLESS DIRECTLY SPOKEN TO!” The man screamed.

They then headed into the room where they were forced to change into these black and white striped shirts and pants. On each sleeve was a number. Roberts' number was 456.

“What do you think these are for?” Robert asked Xandaman.

“Probably to track us, like a name,” Xandaman said.

Then the men told them to follow them. They all walked for ten minutes until they approached a rundown looking building.

“In here is where you will sleep,” The man said. “My name is General Tang.”

Then they got split into groups. Each group had a different leader.

Robert was lucky enough to be in a group with Xandaman and Ham. West Kanye was nowhere to be found. There were seven other people in the group.

“I will be your leader. You can call me Sir. Shang.” The leader of their group said.

Sir. Shang escorted them to their barracks.

“This is where you will sleep,” Sir Shang said. “Now go to sleep.”

“Aren’t we going to eat? We haven't eaten in days?” Someone said, and then got slapped by Sir. Shang.

“You will eat tomorrow,” Sir. Shang said. “Now sleep.”

Robert and his friends went to bed.

Loose Programming - The Revival

A Series in Seven Parts

By: Dexter Field

One raced across the bridge, past multiple construction crews, all of them trying to tackle him or stop One from reaching the other side. One came to a screeching halt however when he reached a sinkhole in the middle of the bridge. They had taken out a large section of asphalt in order to replace it with a brand new road. A fall into the river would kill One, but he had to get across.

“Stop right there!” A worker shouted through a megaphone, sirens wailing in the distance and getting closer. One was silent, trying to figure out how to get across the bridge, when police cars would screech to a halt on either side of the bridge, and the officers would duck behind their cars, One still illuminated in the spotlight of a crane, it being the dead of night now.

“What is that?” an officer asked.

“It’s one of those escaped robots, taze it, now.” a commanding officer shouted to the other officers to hear.

Shortly after, they’d start firing their tasers at One. The electronic current surging through his circuitry caused him to collapse to his knees. He slipped closer to the hole in the bridge, over the surging waves beneath. One quickly transformed his hand into a knife, sliced through all the taser ropes and jumped across the hole to the other side of the bridge.

His chest hit the asphalt, sending his hands forward, but he started to slip. As he desperately tried to find something to grab on to he began to fall through the hole. Something suddenly grabbed his wrist. I.R.O.E. squeezed One’s wrist and threw him high up into the air. Then he threw his staff at one as if it was a trident. It whacked One across the face. I.R.O.E. flew upwards, grabbed One again and started flying towards the warehouse.

As I.R.O.E. flew over the warehouse, One elbowed him in the face, causing I.R.O.E. to drop him. One fell nearly 50 feet out of the sky, and came crashing down through one of the fake chimneys, and into the room where Two laid.

“I hate skydiving,” One said to himself before noticing Two.

“Oh, finally,” One would say, holding the core in his hand that he had gotten from I.R.O.E.. He plugged the orb into Two’s chest. His LED eyes began powering up.

“Where am I? Oh, right, I'm here- oh come on,” Two said in spite.

“Stop, no, before you say anything, I want to apologise for how I treated you earlier," One said.

“Well, I suppose I am too. But seriously you should be,” Two scoffed.

“Yeah, I know, I was stupid,” One replied.

“That's true, can you break me out, and lets call it even?” Two asked

“Yeah, of course,” One said, just before he ripped the restraints off Two’s hands and feet.

They both climbed up through the chimney and onto the roof as the sun slowly rose on the eastern horizon. Just before they could walk away, I.R.O.E. flew behind them and picked them both up. One slipped but hung onto Two’s foot. They all rose high above the warehouse and the suspension bridge.

Loose Programming - The Return

A Series in Seven Parts

By: Dexter Field

“As much as I hate him, I won't give away where he is.” Two scoffed.

“Very well then.” I.R.O.E. replied.

I.R.O.E. then used one of the little robots to pry out Two’s core, shutting Two off The glowing orb fell to the floor, as it rolled, I.R.O.E. picked it up, and storede it on his chest. Then shortly after, I.R.O.E. flew out of the fake chimney, leaving Two behind in the cold, dark, basement.

Meanwhile, in Central City, One ran across the tops of buildings, looking for Two, likely to try and apologize, when suddenly, One heard I.R.O.E. flying up behind him. One dove out of the way. I.R.O.E landed quickly, tearing up the building of the roof as he slid backwards.

“Oh, great..” One said to I.R.O.E.

“Your friend was a useless kill, I didn’t think I’d find you so easily.” I.R.O.E. replied.

“Who, Two?” One asked

I.R.O.E. nodded, then simply ran at One. One deployed his knives. I.R.O.E. punched One across the face. As One fell back he spun so he was behind I.R.O.E. He seized the opportunity, andtried to stab I.R.O.E. in the back, but I.R.O.E. turned He grabbed One’s forearm, and tossed him off the building, into traffic.

One landed on top of a utility van, causing its ladder to break loose. Before he could get up however, I.R.O.E. landed at his feet, and armed his blaster. Before he could fire, One grabbed the loose ladder and whacked I.R.O.E. across the face with it, causing his laser shot and setting the moving pavement below the van on fire.

“You’re so weak” I.R.O.E. taunted, just before he used a sharp staff to stab through One’s shoulder. The point of the staff went through the roof, locking One to the top of the van. I.R.O.E. tried to shoot at One with his blaster, but One quickly shifted. The blast went straight through the van. Using the momentum from the movement, One pulled the staff out of his shoulder, and used it to whack it against I.R.O.E.’s knee. He grabbed I.R.O.E.'s blaster, aimed it at the fuel tank and fired. It caused the back of the van to explode, sending One flying forward, and the van to do a front flip. I.R.O.E., still on the van, released the orb and ended up trapped underneath. One escaped in the bed of a pickup truck, looking straight at the orb that I.R.O.E. let fall. It had somehow landed in the truck with One.

“Oh, that's what he did to Two…” One said to himself as he climbed to the side of the truck, and knocked on the driver's side window.

“How did you get on my truck?!” the frightened truck driver asked

“It doesn't matter, have you seen a red robot?” One asked.

“Well, yeah, earlier I saw a red robot being flown to that new warehouse on the other side of the bridge, but if you want to get there, you might be out of luck because the bridge is closed.” warned the truck driver.

“Shoot, uh, well I suppose I could sneak by on the open lane, adios.” One said, as he jumped off the truck and onto the roof of the next. He jumped on the roofs of one car after another, slowly getting to the bridge.

As One neared the bridge, he snuck by construction crews and multiple people, until…

“Hey! You’re not authorized to be here!” a man yelled at One. It was almost midnight and pitch black. A spotlight suddenly beamed down on him. One had no choice but to run, now.

Kidnapped

By Rocco Lucas

Book 12 of the Free Candy Series

Someone was at the door. He walked in.

“Who are you?” West Kanye asked.

“I. Am. Ohtani Shohei.” Ohtani Shohei said.

“Come with me and live,” Ohtani Shohei said.

“I will eat you alive,” West Kenye said.

“Am I going to need to call Jackson Michael?” Ohtani said.

“Fine, come on guys,” West Kenye said.

They walked down the stairs to Ohtani’s Truck.

“Get in,” Ohtani said.

“Okay,” Robert said and hopped in the truck.

West Kanye, Xandaman, and Ham quickly followed.

“Now we're getting kidnapped while being kidnaped,” Ham said. “And it's all because of Robert.”

“Well maybe Ohtani is kind,” Robert said.

“WILL YOU GUYS BE QUIET!” Ohtani Screamed. “FOR NOW ON YOU ONLY SPEAK WHEN YOU ARE SPOKEN TO!”

They were driving for two whole days. Then one day they stopped at a train station.

“We will get on the next train,” Ohtani said.

They watched as the next train came to the station. It was a cattle train.

“We’re going in a…” Xandman began.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” I SAID ONLY SPEAK WHEN YOU ARE SPOKEN TO!” Ohtani screamed interupting Xandaman. “Get on the train.”

The train was packed with people, barely enough space to breathe. It was dark, hot, and it had a really bad smell. They all got into the train, except for Ohtani. Two people closed the door.

“We have been here for five days,” Someone next to Robert said.

“Robert, what's going to happen?” Xandaman asked.

“Nothing Robert said.

Days and days passed, there was no water and no food. The only reason they didn’t die of dehydration was because when it rained or snowed some of the water leaked through the ceiling and walls, Robert was lucky. He was next to a ventilation hole, and when it snowed he could scoop the snow that got stuck in the hole and eat it. Somehow they got to the back of the train.

“How muuuch longer?” Ham said in a slow whisper.”

“I don’t know,” Robert said.

Then suddenly the train stopped. The doors opened. And Robert could heard people screaming to get out of the train.

Loose Programming - The Separation

A Series in Seven Parts

By: Dexter Field

After the dramatic explosion on the bridge, One and Two were separated from I.R.O.E., giving them the chance to escape. And they clearly took that opportunity, because after I.R.O.E. made his way around the flames, One and Two were nowhere to be found.

After One and Two escaped, they made their way to Central City In an alleyway, by a dumpster, One and Two hid. Both of them were scratched, scorched, and overall dirty from being in the outside world.

“Why did you ever want to leave the warehouse, One?” Two asked aggressively

“Didn’t you?” One replied with the same aggressive tone

“I used to! I didn’t think escaping was this hard. If we have to deal with all this, why not stay in the warehouse!?” Two angrily replied

“I'm not the one who's scared of heights!” One responded

“Yeah, yeah, like you were ever lifted 50 feet above a bridge!” Two said

“All you do is make things worse, it’s your fault that we constantly have to be fixed because you won't attack in the testing chamber!” Two shouted

“Me!? It's about me? You won't use your blasters whatsoever!” One replied loudly

“You’re too close to fire at!” Two shouted back

“You’re the one who’s really committed, you actually stole stuff for the road!” One shouted

“You always expect others to clean up the messes you make, all the damage you cause around the warehouse!” Two shouted right back

“No! It's always about you, you never think you do things wrong, I know I get us into trouble but I get blamed all the time, even if you do it! There is no way I'm siding with you anymore on any of this! One replied, filled with rage

“Fine then! I'm leaving!” Two said as he got up, and climbed up a fire escape to the top of a short building.

“Stubborn thing.” One said in spite as he stayed in the alleyway.

Back at the warehouse, they were reinforcing and repairing I.R.O.E. and they worked really fast. Shortly after One and Two parted, I.R.O.E. flew past the burning bridge, and into Central City, locating Two on top of a building.

“WAIT NOT AGAIN!!!- PUT ME DOWN!! I SAID TO PUT ME DOWN!” Two yelled at I.R.O.E.

As he flew Two back to the warehouse he flew upside down, into and through a fake chimney and into a basement. He immediately threw Two onto a slanted wall. His hands, feet, and chest were locked to the wall. And two little robots emerged from I.R.O.E.’s back, and pried Two’s chestplate off.

“Tell me where your friend is hiding, or you will never come online ever again.” I.R.O.E. said grimly to Two.

Loose Programming -

The Bridge Battle

A Series in Seven Parts

By: Dexter Field

In the semi they escaped in, on a suspension bridge, One and Two sat in complete darkness in the back of the trailer. The darkness wouldn’t last for long though. Shortly they heard a whooshing noise just outside the walls of the trailer, and a moment later, a black and blue blur crashed through the trailer and stole One.

“Oh god-” Two exclaimed as he watched One basically get ripped out of the trailer.

He grabbed the backpack he had stolen from the facility, and jumped out the trailer as well, trying to see where One went.

On the edge of the bridge, One was held by his chest by a retrieval robot. Apparently, it was the one who flew through the trailer. It had one triangular red eye, a helmet with two horns on either side, wings, a thruster on its back, hands that could become knives or blasters at any time.

“I would ask you to knock first, or rather, announce your arrival, but it sounds really corny to say that, so I'm not going to say that.” One sarcastically told the retrieval robot.

He looked at the robot’s nameplate, it read, “I.R.O.E.” which, little to One’s knowledge, was an acronym for Immediate Retrieval Of Escapees.

“But anyways, I.R.O.E. or whatever your name is, nice attempt at capturing me. It probably won’t work though” One told I.R.O.E.

I.R.O.E. stayed still rather than drop One. It was scanning him or verifying his identity, most likely under human control. Before he could finish, he got blasted by lasers, multiple times, on the left side of his helmet. They only left scorch marks rather than any real damage The lasers were being fired byTwo, who was running down the bridge in the opposite direction of traffic to try and get to One. I.R.O.E. threw One into oncoming traffic, then started flying towards Two at full speed.

“That's probably not good-” Two told himself, worrying.

I.R.O.E. quickly reached TWO, picked him up and flew straight up into the sky.

“Wai- WAIT- WAIT- PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN-AAAGH!” Two exclaimed like a child while being thrown into the air.

I.R.O.E suddenly went into a dive towards the bridge, dropping Two onto the pavement just before he pulled out of the dive.

I.R.O.E. flew in One’s direction. One jumped off a moving car and knocked I.R.O.E off his flight path. It caused him to fall and topple over multiple cars in the road, damaging his flight thruster, and tumbling past an oil truck. The disturbance disrupted its driver enough for him to suddenly swerve sideways. The truck rammed into the median and toppled over, causing a massive explosion sending car parts, sparks, smoke, and shards of metal flying in all directions.

Roberts Home Deluxe

By Rocco Lucas

Book 11 of the free candy series

Robert was in his house, he saw his brother and his mom. Robert was eating lunch. He was eating a hotdog with ketchup and mustard. He was happy. When Robert finished his lunch he went on his Zbox to play Forza Skyline 5. Forza Skyline 5 was his favorite racing game. Robert’s favorite car in the game was the Tamboghini Westo 2023. Robert won a race. Robert got on to his favorite game in the whole world, Earth Coaster 2. Earth Coaster 2 was a roller coaster game.

“Enzo look at how cool my Bright Kinetics looping coaster is,” Robert said.

“Wow, that is so cool,” Enzo said.

Robert spent until three playing on his Zbox.

“Guys, you need to go outside,” Robert’s mom said.

“Fine,” Robert and Enzo responded.

Robert and Enzo were playing Riffle Ball in Fox Park. Robert hit one of the balls and it broke in half.

“Woah! Did you see how far that went!” Robert said when he hit a ball into the woods.

“Yeah, can I bat now?” Enzo said.

“Sure,” Robert responded.

Enzo hit a few balls before it started to rain.

“Time to go back in,” Enzo said.

As they were walking home Robert saw his friend Xandaman.

“Hey! Xandaman! Are you doing anything today?” Robert asked.

“No, I was just about to head home due to the rain,” Robert said.

“Oh, you can come to my house,” Robert said.

“Okay,” Xandaman said.

Xandaman and Robert were walking to Robert's house when they noticed Enzo was gone.

“He probably ran home when I asked you if you wanted to come to my house,” Robert said.

“Yeah,” Xandaman said.

When they got to Roberts room they wondered what they were going to do Xandaman Wanted to play Dario Cars on Roberts Wintendo Witch.

“Dario Cars is my least favorite game,” Robert said.

“Is it because you always lose?” Xandaman said.

“No,” Robert said.

It was getting late. “I need to go home, it's eight o'clock,” Xandaman said.

“Goodbye,” Robert said.

It was around nine PM when Robert heard 3 big bangs. Robert suddenly woke up, he was dreaming. Someone broke into the hotel.

Loose Programming - The Escape

A Series in Seven Parts

By: Dexter Field

One knocked on Two’s head, trying to wake him up, in the dead of night.

“What?” Two asked when One knocked on his head

“WHAT!?” Two shouted

“Perfect, you’re awake.” One stated

“What do you want, One?” Two questioned

“Come on, don’t you wanna escape?” One asked

“Really? Oh, now you feel like acknowledging it!” Two annoyingly asked

“What do you mean?” One replied

“Well, I mean, first of all! I’m always saying things like ‘you ever wonder what would happen if we went outside the warehouse?’ ‘what if we escaped, y'know?’ you literally took so long to figure it out, and you woke me up at basically the worst time in the day!” Two yelled

“Okay okay okay- just… first of all, shut up.” One interrupted

“How often do we say that?” Two interrupted again

“I woke you up in the middle of the night just because it's the only time we can escape!” One told Two

“You know what, that's a fair point, let's go.” Two replied

One tapped Two’s shoulder and both of them ran through the maintenance hall, Two grabbed a leftover empty backpack and grabbed some stuff as they ran to the loading bays. One and Two busted through the door into the loading bays By the time that they had woken up, grabbed some stuff for the road, and got to the loading dock, it was about 5 AM now, and the first trucks had started coming in, with brand new specialized metals and tech.

Shortly after they dropped off all the new tech and metals, One and Two snuck into the trailer, and were locked in. The truck started driving away, into the rainy day ahead. Two slumped against the inside wall of the truck, the pitter patter of the rain tinkling on the roof, and the ambience of the semi truck all around them. One had his arms crossed, leaning against the opposite wall of Two.

“Well, where do you think we’re going?” One questioned

“I didn’t really plan this much.” Two replied

“Fair enough, me neither.” One answered

The semi truck crossed a bridge, and drove into the main city, but little did they know, back at the warehouse, a retrieval bot had been sent out, and it was coming for them.

Loose Programming

A Series in Seven Parts

By: Dexter Field

In autotech industries’ most recent all purpose warehouses, two identical robots named, “one” and “two”, sit silently. The only difference between them being the number on their sides and their color. Number One, being bright blue, and Two, being red. They sit in two charging tubes, and as the sun rises, they awake. One jumped out of his charging tube and immediately pulled Two out of his.

“Hey! I was sleeping!” Two shouts

“You don’t sleep.” One replies

“Hmph.” Two scoffs.

They’d both stand on their respective pressure plates, one of the pressure plates was glowing blue and the other glowing red to indicate where they were supposed to stand. As the pressure plates moved onto a conveyor and through separate tunnels towards a chamber, they were ejected onto either side of the chamber. The chamber was gray, with fluorescent white lights above them. The walls and the ceiling had multiple scratch and burn marks, along with a one way mirror that is obviously just for the humans to watch.

“Commence test 151” A loudspeaker in the chamber would shout at the robots.

“Alright, come on, I'm gonna win this time!” Two says in excitement.

“Yeah sure, you know we always tie?” One questions.

“Oh shut up!” Two shouts

“Wow.” One replies

They charged at each other, and their hands would transform into different weapons, Two had Blasters, and One would have Knives, neither of which were harmful to humans or biological creatures, but dangerous for robots As soon as they reached each other, they’d kind of get stuck at a stand still. For Number Two, One was too close to shoot lasers at, and Two was too far from One to use his knives. Neither knew that the each was waiting for the other to do something. It seemed Two was waiting for One to back up, and One was waiting for Two to fire. They remained at a complete standstill.

“Test failure, robots discharged.” the loudspeaker would shout in the chamber

The pressure plates appeared to take them back to their charging docks, but instead it continued past the docks and onto maintenance tables, where the humans worked on them both until the second test for the day. They usually have two tests per day, everyday, overworking the humans and the robots, but the robots don’t get tired.

The second test went the same way, and they were shut down for the night, or, rather, put into their charging chambers and left in complete darkness. It was already 4:00 AM , and the humans had left, and One was still awake.

Cool Stories With Robert

By Rocco Lucas

First cool story.

One day there was a boy named Robert. Robert was happy. Then a boy named Ben came up to Robert and spit in his face. Robert was sad. Robert did not like when Ben spit in his face. One day at his school Hockey Follows STEAM Academy they were going on a field trip. When Robert got on the bus he wanted to sit next to Darake. Darake told Robert to go away. Robert decided to sit next to no one. When they arrived Robert was in a field. Then Ben came and when Robert Took a step Ben tripped him. I guess it really was a field trip for Robert.

Second cool story.

One day there was a boy named Matson. Robert was scared of Matson. But Robert was friends with a boy named Xandaman. Xandaman was friends with Matson. Robert always sat alone during lunch. One day Xandaman told Robert Matson wasn’t scary. Robert went to sit with them. Matson took a bag of chips and started crushing them. Robert likes chips. Robert started crying. Robert escaped school.

Third cool story.

Robert was wanted by the FBI. Robert was wanted by the FBI for stealing a whole bunch of chips from a house. Robert just wanted to protect them. Robert doesn’t like when chips get crushed. Robert was hiding in a room. The room was in Agawam Massachusetts. The FBI easily found Robert.

Fourth cool story.

Robert was in solitary confinement. Robert was sad. The security guards got his lunch. There was a bag of chips. Robert opened the bag of chips. They were cracked. Robert got very angry. Robert punched a hole through the wall. Robert ran away from prison.

Not So Possible Easy Mission

By Rocco Lucas

Book 10 of the Free Candy Series

Robert was really sad his plan didn’t work out. “I think we shouldn’t have got in this van,” Robert said.

“Well we could’ve not gone in the van,” Xandaman said. “Also Ham fell asleep.”

“HAM WAKE UP!” West Kanye screamed.

“Oh, I forgot that ROBERT made us get kidnapped again,” Ham said.

“WELL WEST KANYE SAID WE WOULD GET FREE TACOS,” Robert screamed at Ham.

“WHY WOULD YOU BELIEVE HIM!” Ham screamed at Robert.

“I JUST WANTED A TACO!” Robert screamed.

“Guys, we need to stop yelling.” Xandaman said.

West Kanye continued driving.

“So, like, where are we going?” Robert asked.

“Taco Bell,” West Kanye said.

“TACO BELL!” Robert screamed. “I LOVE TACO BELL!”

“Jk,” West Kanye said. “I'm taking you to an apartment complex.”

“Oh, that's sad,” Robert said.

As they continued driving it started to rain. It was also getting dark.

“We are going to stay at this super cool one start motel,” West Kanye said.

“Woah, so cool,” Robert said.

When they got to the hotel, West Kanye went to the front desk and booked a room.

“We are in room 212,” West Kanye said.

They walked up the stairs to their room. It was super cool, but there were only two beds. West Kanye slept on one of the beds with ham, and Robert slept with Xandaman.

It was 9:00 p.m. Robert fell asleep.

Robert’s Crime

By Rocco Lucas

A mini crime 1

Robert’s point of view

Robert was talking to Ned. Ned took Robert’s money and ran. Robert never got his money back. Robert was sad. Robert was lonely. Robert did not like Ned.

Ned’s point of view

Ned was eating his food. Robert came up to him and called him poor. Ned took Robert’s money and said look who's poor now. Ned ran away.

A mini crime 2

Roberts point of view

Robert was Talking to William. William took Robert's money and ran. Robert talked to Mr. Principle. William returned the money. Robert was happy.

Williams point of view

Robert said if he could take the yogurt out of his hand he could have two dollars. William took the yogurt. Robert did not give him the money. William got sad and took the money.

A mini crime 3

Roberts point of view

Robert was walking through Walmart. Robert needed sour cream to make tacos. Robert picked out the sour cream. Robert didn’t have a cart to put the sour cream in. Robert did not want to carry the sour cream. Robert put the sour cream in his pocket. Robert forgot about the sour cream and walked out the store without paying for it.

Walmarts point of view

Robert is lazy.

A mini crime 4

Roberts point of view

Robert walked into an Apple store. Robert had an Iphone SE. His friends had better phones. Robert was sad. Robert went to the display table with all the new phones. Robert took the Iphone 11 Pro Max off of the display table. No one stopped him. He ran out of the store.

Apples point of view

Robert is dumb and takes a phone that gets disabled when it leaves the Apple store. Robert is also dumb because the phone has a tracker.

Possible Easy Mission

By Rocco lucas

Book 9 of the Free Candy Series

Robert was at his house, it was 7:30 p.m. Robert was wondering where his brother was. Robert's dad said Enzo would be home at 7:00 p.m. Robert called Matson, Xandaman, Joe, and Ham.

“What,” Matson said.

“I think my dad kidnapped my brother,” Robert said.

“Why?” Ham asked.

“My brother was supposed to be home by seven but it's already seven thirty.”

“Maybe he’s just late,” Joe said.

“I think he got kidnapped,” Xandaman said.

“So what do you want us to do?” Ham asked.

“We should go on a rescue mission,” Robert said.

“You mean mission impossible? Because that's what the last one was,” Matson said.

“This is not mission impossible, this is mission possible,” Robert said.

“So naming it mission possible will make it possible?” Joe asked.

“Yeah,” Robert said.

“Will it be easy?" Joe asked.

“I don't know,” Robert said.

“So what if we call it the possible easy Mission?” Xandaman asked.

“Then it would be easily possible,” Robert said.

“Xandaman is so smart,” Matson said.

“Meet at my house,” Robert said.

“I won’t come,” Matson said.

“Me neither," Joe said.

Xandaman and Ham got to Robert's house by 8:03 PM. Enzo still wasn’t there.

“Let's get on our way,” Robert said.

As they left Robert’s house it was 8:12. They walked for ten minutes and then a van came up to them.

“Hello, what are you doing?” The man driving said.

“I think my brother got kidnaped,” Robert said.

“Oh, that's a very serious problem,” the man said. “I can help you if you get in my very non suspicious white van that says free tacos on the back.”

“FREE TACOS! I LOVE TACOS!” Robert screamed and jumped in the van.

When they all got in the car the guy locked all the doors.

“By the way my name is West Kenye,” the guy said. “Just so you know I’m actually kidnapping you.”

“NOT AGAIN!” Robert said.

“But the name was possible easy mission.” Xandaman said.

“I guess it didn’t work,” West Kanye said.

Then he drove off.

Valentine

by: Julianne Crist

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Candy is sweet

And so are you

Always around

Kind in each way

we’ll love each other

On this special day

Spread love all around

Make all hearts sway

That's what life’s about

Happy Valentines Day

Faith

By; Julianne Crist

I had it all

Hope

Confidence

Faith

But i was wrong

wrong to hope

Wrong to be confident

And wrong to have faith

I should have seen it

Seen how wrong i was

Wrong to believe

Believe that I have faith in anything

Faith in

Life

Kindness

Myself

I should have never

Had

Faith

Colors

by Julianne Crist

Colors

Dark

Light

Soft like silk

Colors don't define you

Colors are just colors

Just something visible

Something you can't use

Can't hear

Can't touch

The truth is

All colors are,

Are just

Colors

Rescue Mission: Part 2

By Rocco Lucas

Book 8 of the Free Candy Series

As they walked into the home Robert, Matson, and Xandaman went straight to the basement.

“Mom, are you here?” Robert said.

There was no response.

“What if James hears us,” Matson said.

“Well well finally someone with a brain,” James said.

“AAHHHHH!” They all screamed at the same time.

“GET OUT!” Robert screamed.

James got out his potato and threw it at Robert. When the potato hit Robert he flew backwards.

“How heavy is that small potato?” Matson asked.

“It's only 50 pounds,” James said.

“IT FITS IN YOUR FIST!” Matson screamed.

“DID YOU EVER HEAR OF DENSITY?” James screamed back.

“YES I DID!” Matson said.

James picked up the potato and threw it at Matson, then Joe.

“Now you may rest,” James said and walked away.

“Guys we can’t give up,” Robert muttered.

“Yes we can,” Joe said.

“I thought your mom was mean,” Matson said.

“Yeah,” Robert said.

They all got up, and gave up the rescue mission.

Rescue Mission

Book 7 of the Free Candy Series

Robert and his friends were walking down the driveway. It was night. Robert’s house was only half a mile away. As they left James’ property, they saw a car pull into the driveway.

James got to the driveway and shoved Robert’s mom out of the car.

“STOP ACTING LIKE A BABY!” James screamed.

“AHH AHH AHHH! NO! NO! NO! PLEASE NO! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME! !” Robert’s mom cried.

James quickly led Robert’s mom into the house.

“Did you hear James scream at someone to stop acting like a baby?” Robert asked.

“Yeah, that was like the loudest thing ever.” Matson said.

“The person that screamed kind of sounded like Robert’s mom.” Joe said.

They turned onto Robert’s street.

“Almost to my house.” Robert said. “Maybe my mom can drive you home, or scream and throw the keys at me,” Robert said.

They continued walking to Robert's house. Robert and his friends were getting hungry. They saw Robert’s house getting closer and closer. They arrived at his driveway, then walked to his door and knocked. No one answered.

“What if we go under the dog door?” Robert asked.

“Wow,” Matson said.

They got in the house but Robert’s mom wasn’t there.

“What if my mom got kidnaped?” Robert said.

“Let's go back to James’ house and rescue your mom,” Matson said.

“What if only Robert, Matson, and Xandaman went and Me, Joe, and dexstar stayed back,” Syed said.

Robert, Matson, and Xandaman went outside and started walking to James’ house. When they got there it was 7 P.M.

“Okay. we break in through the front door?” Xandaman asked.

“Yes,” Robert said.

They walked to the front door, and kicked it down.

On my own

By: Julianne Crist

On my own

Alone again

Left in the dark

Sad and confused

Scared and shaken

Thought i had friends

Thought people cared

Thought they were there for me

I was wrong

They never cared

They never loved me

They lied

And I believed them

I was there for them

I cared about them

But they left me

On my own

Robert’s Home

By Rocco Lucas

Book 6 of the Free Candy Series

James stepped out of his truck. And walked to Robert’s front door.

Matson, Joe, Ham and Robert were going to escape James Lebron’s house. As they were walking up the stairs, one of the stairs broke in half.

“Uh Oh.” Robert said.

“I think we should jump.” Joe said.

“Bad idea.” Matson said.

“We should go in the closet and see if there’s a wooden plank.” Ham said.

As they opened the closet door. They saw someone.

“DEXSTAR!” Robert screamed with excitement. “But why are you tied to a chair with tape over your mouth?”

Robert removed the tape and ropes.

“James put me in the closet.” Dexstar said.

James Labron knocked on the door of Robert’s house. Robert’s mom answered.

“Who are you?” Robert’s mom asked.

“I am James.”

“I can already tell I hate you,” she said.

Without pausing, James kidnapped Robert's mom.

Robert, Ham, Joe, and Matson saw a wooden plank, nails and a hammer. Robert grabbed the hammer, nails, and the wooden plank. He brought the items to the staircase, and nailed the stair back in place. They walked up the stairs and left the house.

James took Robert’s mom in his truck.

The truth

By: Julianne Crist

Many things are said

Jokes

Accusations

Lies

But one thing you don't hear too often

The truth

People lie

People cheat

People break the rules

Some don't understand

Some do it for fun

And others do it for no trouble

People can swear

Laugh

Cry

Joke

lie

But the one thing no one hears,

The

Truth

Betrayed

By: Julianne Crist

Betrayed

Alone

Feeling nothing

I thought he had my back

I thought he was there for me

I thought he loved me

But i'm not so sure

I tried

I cared

But not him

To him

I am nothing

To him

I'm in the past

Not future

Not present

past

A simple flee

Just trying to exist

But not to him

He doesn't understand

And for that, i feel

Betrayed

The Home

By Rocco Lucas

Book 5 of the free candy series

“Well I have plenty of food, so hop in my truck.” The man driving said.

“Yay! Free food!” Said Robert.

While they were driving to the guy's house, they passed Robert’s trailer home.

“Can I get out of the car here? It's my house.” Robert said.

The man driving said, “No” and wrote on a piece of paper.

They finally got to the house. It was in the middle of a forest. They got out of the car. The man told them to follow him. When they stepped in the house, it smelled like mold. The guy closed the door and locked it.

“Are you sure this is a safe environment?” Robert asked.

“No.” The guy said. “By the way my name is James.”

“JAMES LABRON!” Robert screamed. “I’M SCARED OF YOU!”

“Ha ha ha.” James Labron muttered. “Now go in the basement.”

“Why?” Robert asked.

“BECAUSE I SAID SO. NOW DO IT!” James screamed.

“OKAY!”

Robert, Joe and Matson all went into the basement. James locked the door. As Robert, Joe and Matson were walking down the creaking stairs the air kept getting more, and more damp.

“It smells here.” Joe said. “It smells like toes.”

“You’re smelling yourself.” Matson said.

“Not nice.” Joe said.

“It’s true.” Matson said.

“I hate you.” Joe said.

“I hate you.” Matson said.

“I hate you more.” Joe said.

“Well now I hate you more.” Matson said.

“Now your mom just broke her back.” Joe said.

“NOOOO!” Matson said. “Where did Robert go?”.

“HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO KNOW!” Joe screamed. “MAYBE IF YOU DIDN”T START FIGHTING WE WOULD BE WITH HIM!”

“YOU STARTED THE FIGHT!” Matson said.

“Guys I’m right here.” Robert said as he climbed down the wall.

“Why were you on the wall?” Joe asked.

“I found a hole at the top we can escape out of.”

They heard a whip.

“Let's just stay here.”

They finished walking down the stairs. They saw a mouse run right past them. Then they heard a noise, someone was saying help.

“Who’s here?” Robert asked.

“Me, Seed Ham Muhhad.”

“SEED HAM!” Robert screamed with excitement. “I thought you just went to Dubai for 3 months again.”

“I wish.”

“Well now we should try to escape.”

“James Lebron said we need to make him weapons of mass destruction.” Ham said.

“WOW.” Robert said. “I like weapons of mass destruction.”

“He’s gonna use them to take over the world. AND KEEP US AS SLAVES!” Ham said.

Then a mouse went over to Ham and bit him.

“Why did that stupid mouse bite me!” Ham said.

“He is a rat.”

“Okay Robert.”

Let's escape.”

James went to Robert’s house, because he wrote down his address. He stepped out of his truck.

Not too Perfect

By: Julianne Crist

There she was

Strutting down the halls of which she owned

People gave looks and glares

But no one ever dared to talk

If she talked to you, your whole world would turn around

If she looked at you, you’d be under her spell

But is she all that it seems

The perfect girl

People say when she goes home, she talks on the phone with Shawn Mendez

People say when she sleeps, she grows beautiful flowers

People say, if she talks to you, her eyes glow bright

But no

When she gets home, she listens to music

When she sleeps, she snores

When she talks to people, it's only ever her friends

The truth is,

She’s not too perfect

Summer Gone

by: Aurora Bresky

Oh the days of summer have gone

The wind starts to bite and the nights grow long

The green will fade

In a simple trade

A rest of growth

A simple sigh

So don’t be sad when things start to die

In their place is beauty to behold

The majesty of death that shows inner gold

The brown,red,orange, and yellow that truly gleam

The glows of rest that flow from the green

As you see the flower buds and leaves begin to decrease

Do not worry they will not cease

Fore the life of the forest will come back after a while

Like the refreshing joy of a sweet smile

So now let us bask in the artistry of death

Let us rejoice at the way of rest

And let us see through new eyes

The way that life is both a cycle and a surprise

Homeless

By Rocco Lucas

Book 4 of the Free Candy Series

Robert and his friends were super excited to go home. It was 8:36 AM.

“I’m so thankful that Rogan didn’t eat me.” Robert said.

“Same.” Matson and Joe said.

Robert saw a road sign. He was on Elm Street and he couldn’t see the end of it.

“Ever saw Nightmare on Elm Street?” Robert asked.

“No.” Matson and Joe responded.

“Me either, but I heard it’s scary.”

“Well then let's get off Elm Street.”

So then Robert and his friends stepped onto the grass next to Elm Street.

“Do you even know what Nightmare on Elm Street is about? Because I don’t?” Robert asked.

“I don’t know what it even is, I thought it was a book.” Matson said.

“NO IT’S A MOVIE!” Robert screamed.

“I thought there was a movie based on a book.” Joe said.

“Isn’t that every movie?” Robert said.

“No, did you ever even watch a movie?” Joe asked.

“Well I did, 4 years ago.” Robert responded.

“I knew it, HA HA!” Joe said.

“Well that's because my mom stopped paying electricity.” Robert responded.

“Sorry.”

“Ok. Um. Where did Matson go?”

“WELL IF YOU DIDN’T START FIGHTING WE WOULD BE WITH HIM!”

“YOU STARTED THE FIGHT!”

“Guys I’m right here.” Matson said as he popped up behind a rock.

Robert, Joe, and Matson were turning the corner onto Main Street. They were really hungry, but had no money.

As they continued walking they started getting more and more tired. They saw a restaurant, and went inside but saw the prices, and left. While walking on the side of the street they found one single dollar bill. They couldn’t really do anything with a dollar so they split it into three pieces and ate it.

“Yum.” Robert said.

They grew super tired and decided to sleep on the side of the street. Even though it was only 2:30 PM. They slept until the sun rose. Robert woke up and then Matson and Joe. They continued walking. Then they saw cars come and go until one of them stopped.

“Why are you boys walking on the side of the street?” The man driving said.

“We're hungry.” Robert responded.

“Well I have plenty of food, so hop in my truck.” The man driving said.

McRocco’s

By Rocco Lucas

Book 3 of the Free Candy Series

Robert was Super scared because of the old man. The old man warned them to leave, “5,4,3,2,1.” The doors closed, Robert & friends were too scared to move. “I warned you to LEAVE! Now to get out you must complete a quest.”

“W-what will t-the quest b-be?” Stutterd Robert. “W-w-will it b-be e-easy?”

“The quest will be to get me a bag of french fries to cook in the fryer. Oh yeah, you have 30 minutes.”

“Ok what if we don’t get it in 30 minutes?” Asked Matson.

“I can’t wait to find out!” Howled the old man. “By the way, you can call me Rogan.”

A fryer appeared on a counter, with oil. Robert started by plugging the fryer into the wall, he didn’t think it would work but it did. “The place has electricity, so turn on the lights,” Robert said. “We’ll be able to find french fries in no time.”

Matson saw a potato sitting on the ground, it was rotten. “Can the potatoes be rotten?”

“NO, I AM GOING TO EAT THEM,” The old man screamed.

“O, okay,” stuttered Matson.

Matson threw the rotten potato at the wall. Robert ran outside, it was pitch black. He saw a faint glow, the same direction the camp was. He ran towards it, maybe for five minutes. He had plenty of time. Robert reached the camp, the spotlight almost caught him as he was running. He did the same thing to get into the camp as he did to get out, but then he remembered something. When he was leaving the camp he noticed how the ground went inward at the gate because of how much time the buses stopped there., so now he doesn't need to wait for a bus to come or go.

So Robert went under the hole and ran to the cafeteria. When Robert got to the cafeteria he checked to see if a door was unlocked to get to the kitchen. The second door was left unlocked. When Robert got inside of the kitchen he looked to see if there were any potatoes. He found carrots, broccoli, beef, chicken, and finally the potatoes. When he found them he ran back out, under the gate and ran back to the McRocco’s.

“5 minutes left,” Rogan said.

Robert cut up the potatoes into a fry like shape and dumped them in the fryer, he took them out 4 minutes later. He ran to Rogan and gave the fries to him.

“Time to taste,” Rogan said. “Mmm… Delicious I shall say. You deserve an award.”

“What is it?” Joe asked.

“You get to leave,” Rogan said.

“YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSS” Robert, Joe, and Matson said.

The Campground

By Rocco Lucas

Book 2 of the Free Candy Series

They finally arrived at the place Smith and his buddy Jordan Michael wanted to go. They woke Robert up and showed him around the campground.

Robert saw a tent, multiple cabins, with multiple kids. Robert got put into one of the cabins, there were two more kids. One was named Joe, the other was named Matson. They were Robert’s best friends that went to Jockey Follows!

Matson asked, “How did you get here?”

Robert responded, “I got kidnaped.”

Matson explained, “Everyone here got kidnapped by Jordan Michel and Smith Will, I was playing basketball when I got kidnapped.”

Robert told Matson, “I got kidnapped because I fell asleep on the sidewalk because of a Dolly Rancher.”

Matson remembered, “Oh yeah your mom makes you walk home. she probably is glad you're gone!”

Robert whispered, “Yea...”

Joe interrupted, “I got kidnapped by jogging to a Denny’s.”

Robert continued, “I will continue with what I was saying before, My mom hates…”

“Quiet everyone!” Smith will Screamed. “I want all of you to go to the cafeteria NOW!...” “ I SAID NOW!”

When Robert was walking to the cafeteria he was thinking about when he would be able to leave. Why did Smith Will need this? Like what did Robert ever do? Robert saw the cafeteria, which wasn't too far away. Robert took a seat next to Joe and Matson.

Smith screamed, “YOU WILL ALL START MINING IN MY CAVE FOR ANYTHING VALUABLE, WITH PICKAXES!” “ NOW LEAVE! GO BACK TO YOUR CABINS!”

When Robert, Joe and Matson got back to the cabin Robert told them, “What if we escape?

Joe answers, “Well we can, right?”

Matson said, “What if we get caught?”

Robert told him, “what could be worse than this?”

Robert, Matson, and Joe went to sleep, hoping tomorrow they could escape. If they didn’t, they would want to escape by 12/23/12, the current date was 12/1/12. Robert woke up at five o'clock. Matson and Joe were still asleep. Robert began preparing escape plans. They said they wanted to escape at seven. When it was six Robert screamed, “WAKE UP!”

Everyone was up. Today they will escape. Robert, Joe and Matson began coordinating plans. Their cabin was right next to the entrance. They could escape through the entrance when the bus comes with more kids. That might not be for a few hours, possibly until night time.

Robert wasn’t expecting a new bus to come at 7:30! Robert crawled past the gate, Matson and Joe followed. They wondered where they were. They got up and ran away from the camp entrance and into the woods. The bus shielded them from view. They wandered around in the woods until they saw a building.

They walked towards it. It was a small familiar hut shaped structure. They recognized it. Robert knew it was a McRocco’s, an abandoned Mc Rocco’s. Robert and friends went into the McRocco’s. When they were walking around an old man jumped out of the counter.

Frightening Stories with Robert

By Rocco Lucas

One night when Robert was finished eating dinner his parents told him he needed to wash the dishes. Robert hated washing the dishes because his hands always got dry and his shirt always got wet. Robert went on his computer to ask AI to write a book about someone's hands falling off doing the dishes. When AI finished the story Robert told his dad to read it, he did not care. Robert’s dad told him that won’t happen to him.

Robert was not ready to wash the dishes, so he took off his Apple Watch SE 2nd generation that has 32 gigabytes of storage. Robert’s brother Enzo was on his Iphone 14 that has 128 gigabytes of storage. Enzo drys the dishes. Enzo gets mad when he needs to dry the dishes.

Robert was now ready to wash the dishes. Robert turned on the water, put soap on the spong, picked up a cup and started to wash it. When Robert had a couple of dishes left he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. He looked at it. His hand fell off. He felt a pain in his left arm. He looked at it. His hand fell off.

Robert screamed as his mom came into the kitchen and screamed, “ROBERT BE QUIET!” Robert was crying. He told his mom that his hand fell off, she didn’t care. Robert went to bed crying. Robert was super scared of the day to come.

When Robert woke up he forgot that his hands disintegrated. When he went to take his phone downstairs he tried to grab it, but he couldn't. He remembered he didn’t have hands, how could he go to school? Robert asked his mom, she told him he needs to deal with it himself.

At school Robert asked his teacher what to do, she said use text to speech. Robert was super sad. When Robert was at gym class he fell super hard on the floor. The next second he was in his bed.

Robert looked at his hands. They were there. Robert had been dreaming. He was super happy he ran downstairs. Then his feet fell off.

The Scary Series - Book #6

Dirk E. the Scary Turkey

Written by: J. Ryan O’Shea

Illustrated by: Joe Bender

It was the morning of Thanksgiving. 13-year-old Henry Murphy and his family lived on a farm outside of Worcester, Massachusetts. The farm had livestock such as cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys. The farm also had crops of mostly corn and blueberries. The farm’s resources contributed to the huge Thanksgiving dinner the Murphy’s had each year. Henry’s dad, Bob Murphy, would grow the crops and feed the livestock. As Henry has gotten older, his Dad has taught him more and more about farming. Henry’s Mom, Elizabeth, cooked the best Thanksgiving meals. And finally, Henry’s little sister, Ava. She was 8 years old and loved everything about the farm. She loved hanging out with the livestock. She liked talking to them, in full-on conversations.

For Thanksgiving, all four of Henry’s grandparents came over. His mom and dad’s parents. His Aunt Sarah and Uncle Andrew come over with their 11-year-old son Ben. Henry and Ben were so close, they were like brothers. They loved hanging out with each other when Ben came to visit Henry or vise-versa. Ben flat out loved Thanksgiving. Except for the part he hates. The part he absolutely despised, loathed about Thanksgiving. An abomination of an event that took place, on the morning of that famous Thursday. The part when his Dad got a turkey from the farm……and killed it for Thanksgiving dinner.

“Henry, do you want to come out with me to the pen? You can help me catch the turkey!” Bob said. Henry had never told his parents about his hatred of the killing and eating of the turkey. He simply didn’t understand why they couldn’t go to the grocery store, just once a year, to get a turkey. Henry was sure the answer from his father would be: “It's a family tradition!” Bob really didn’t like when the outside, modern world was brought up. He liked to keep things old school. Sure they didn’t live exactly like the pilgrims in 1620 or the farmers of the 1800’s, but he liked to have everything they needed, the essentials, from the farm. Bob also wanted his son, Henry, to keep this “family tradition”.

They walked out to the pen. Henry couldn’t do this, but he had to. He had to make his Dad proud.

“Henry, will you hold the net for me? I’ll chase the bird in your direction. You need to capture the bird in the net, OK?” Bob said. Henry picked up the net.

“Sure Dad,” Henry said. Bob went into the corner where the turkeys had huddled up. They knew that around this time of year, something bad happened. They knew the net ment you never returned to the pen. But, they still ran from Bob. The turkeys scattered in all different directions. Running left, right and center. Henry noticed one running right towards. Should he drop the net on it or should he just let it run right through his legs. He closed his eyes. He was so torn. He couldn’t think straight, everything was happening so fast. DROP. He dropped the net. He was waiting for one of two things. His Dad praising him that he caught the turkey or his Dad furious at him for screwing up. There was a moment of silence that seemed to last an eternity.

“Well done Henry!!!” his Dad yelled, patting him on the back. Although Henry lost his breath with the “pat” on his back, he opened his eyes and saw that he had captured the turkey in the net. It was Dirk E. Henry hadn’t told anybody, not even his cousin Ben, that he had secretly named all the turkeys. Only he knew which one was named which. This was Dirk E. Henry looked the bird in the eyes and could see the fear in its eyes. Bob picked up the net with Dirk E. captured inside and brought him into the kitchen. There was nothing Henry could do. The bird was scared to death. There was no way it got out the net in time. Henry walked back into the house and he made sure to avoid the kitchen. He went into the living room and sat on the couch. The day he loved so much had hit it’s time on that day that he hated. Henry was grieving the fact that in a few moments he would hear the CHOP of his Dad’s knife. He closed his eyes and tried to distract his mind. CRRRACK!!!! This noise made Henry jump up and run into the kitchen. He looked up and saw the broken net on the counter, his Dad’s shocked face the broken window above the kitchen sink.

“That darn turkey!!” Bob yelled. Henry looked out the broken window. There he was. Dirk E. He was standing on the hill just outside the window. He had a devilish look on his face. This wasn’t the Dirk E. Henry had seen before. Just as this was happening, Henry’s Aunt Sarah, Uncle Andrew and cousin Ben arrived to the house. Henry ran to their car.

“Ben! Ben!! Let’s go, we have to go looking for him!” Henry said. Ben was very puzzled.

“Looking for what?!” Ben asked.

“The turkey!!!” Henry answered, yelling. Ben walked forward, then they both took off running. As they were running away, Henry could his Aunt and Uncle ask his Dad about what was happening. Bob started to explain just as Henry was out of ear shot. That didn’t matter, though. Henry felt like he was a character in a movie, running as fast as he possibly could. Ben was right behind him.

“Hold up, Henry! Wait!” Ben yelled, now struggling to keep up. “Henry, STOP!!!” Henry came to a sudden stop. Ben walked up to him. They were both out of breath, panting like dogs for air.

“Will you please…explain…to me…what the heck is going on!” Ben asked, still gasping for air in between phrases.

“OK,” Henry said. “It’s a little bit of a crazy story. So, we captured the turkey and then my Dad was about to kill it as he does every year in order to cook it for dinner tonight but the turkey somehow got out of the net, jumped out the window and has now ran into the woods” Ben’s jaw was hanging off his face in shock and confusion.

“So, let me get this straight. We’re chasing a turkey?!” Ben said.

“Not just any turkey. Dirk E. the turkey. Although he looked so scary the last time I saw him, right after he jumped through the window,” Henry explained. Ben nodded in understanding. The boys ran into the woods, on a mission. Every time Ben came to Henry’s house or Henry went to Ben’s house they also loved playing in the woods. Whether they were looking for Bigfoot or now looking for their lost turkey, they loved the woods. Henry knew these woods like the back of his hand. They got out of the open field and into the tree line. Just then, Henry realized Ben was no longer behind him. A cold sweat of fear came over him.

“Ben!!! Where are you?!!” Henry called out. The forest was silent, dead silent. “Ben!!!”

“I’m over here!! Henry, come look at what I found!” a voice yelled. It was Ben. Henry dashed towards the voice. When he came upon Ben, he was death-staring the forest floor, as if it did something personal to him. Henry looked down and there it was. A footprint. A turkey footprint. And there were more. They all led in one direction: further into the woods. They boys followed the prints in order to find Dirk E.

After walking for what seemed like a lifetime, they heard a rustling noise in thick, dense brush. Henry got his hopes up. Maybe it was Dirk E? But he also remembered all the other animals it could be. Dangers animals such as coyotes, foxes and maybe even the gray wolf, something Henry had never encountered before in his life. The boys were stopped, dead in their tracks, staring at the origin of the noise. They then heard another noise, this time from behind. And then a twig break to the right. Both Henry and Ben were scared to death. Suddenly, a loud burst and out came the creature. It jumped high into the tree canopy and landed right in front of the boys. They both opened their eyes and were amazed. It was Dirk E. Henry locked eyes with the bird, much like he did before. Only now, instead of fear and sadness, he saw bravery. It felt like Dirk E. was saying I’m OK. Henry smiled. Dirk E. winked at Henry, and Henry winked back. Dirk E. then turned and waddled back into the woods.

“Uh…what just happened?!” Ben said, very confused. Henry didn’t answer for a moment. He then turned to Ben with that same, happy smile on his face.

“It’s better for him. Out here, in the wilderness. It’s better than being cooped up in a pen and just waiting to be killed in a years’ time,” Henry explained. Ben understood. They then turned back in the direction of the farm. They were both starving for Thanksgiving dinner.

When the boys got back, they were met with a wall of smells. Dinner was just being set to the table. In the time the boys were gone, all four of Henry’s grandparents had arrived. Henry then was it the face with a realization. Did his Dad kill another turkey to use for dinner. Henry had to know.

“Dad, Dad!!! Did you kill another turkey!” Henry asked. Bob smiled.

“No, son. Your mom went to the grocery store to get a turkey,” Bob explained. Henry gave his Dad a huge hug.

They all sat down for dinner, finally. Henry had just sat down, put the napkin on his lap and picked up his knife and fork to dig in. Then he heard something running past the window. He then heard a gobble. Henry laughed.

“What’s so funny, Henry?” Bob said. Henry looked up at Ben. He was smiling, too.

“Nothing, Dad. It’s nothing,” Henry answered. This was the best Thanksgiving ever!

THE END?

J. Ryan O’Shea & Joe Bender, Dirk E. the Scary Turkey. The Scary Series, Book #6

The World Of Magical Cats

By Shreya Varadarajan

Chapter 1

It was a dark evening in the town of Oakville.A young woman coming from a party walked by the woods and into her driveway. She climbed up onto the porch and looked at both sides. No one in sight. She had forgotten her keys in her house again, so there was no way to get inside without using her magic. She pressed her hand to the door’s knob and it creaked open. She stepped inside. You might think that a witch’s house might be full of potions, rat tails and the smell of rotting eggs. But, nah. That was just in fairy tales made by regular people.

“Peppermint?” The young woman called.

A meow came from behind the couch.

“Oh, Peppermint! You’re not stuck behind the sofa again are you?”

A small, cute, cat-like voice spoke, “What do you think? Please help me here, Tina!”

“What would I do without you?”

“Uh…you wouldn’t have a cat that could read, talk and be your best friend!”

“That’s true. Now, let me help you.”

The woman, Tina, crouched down onto her knees and pressed her hand onto the couch. The couch moved, let Peppermint out and went back to normal.

“Thanks, Tina!”

“No problem! Now, let’s meet the others!”

Tina and Peppermint walked up the stairs. When they passed an empty bedroom, Tina stopped.

“I miss Father.”

“It’s not your fault that cancer took him.”Peppermint replied, her voice becoming sad and quiet.

They continued walking to the end of the hall. Instead of stopping because the wall would hit them in the face, they walked right into it. Soon, they weren’t even in Tina’s house. They were in a magical paradise. There was only one type of animal living in this tropical forest, Magical Cats. Different breeds of Magical Cats and their mixes were living the life of their dreams in the paradise that Tina had made to protect them. Colored cats, bigfoot-sized cats, mouse-sized cats, peanut-sized cats and many more types were all around them.

“Can we visit the Newborn Center?”Peppermint asked.

“Sure.I think your sister, Maya, gave birth to some kittens yesterday.”

“What???!!!! She did!!!! Oh, my god!! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Tina laughed and said, “I said ‘I think’. She may still have a few more days.”

“Can we visit?? Please?”

“Sure. But you know what that means.”

“What?”

“You know that if your sister gave birth, you have to stay here to help her.”

“But-”

“It's a tradition, Peppermint. Sisters get together when their siblings have a family.”

“But-”

“Peppermint, please. Your mom won’t be happy.”

“I want to be with you.”

“So do I. But until all your sisters have a family, that can’t happen.”

“Ti-”

“Listen Peppermint. After all your remaining 2 sisters and you have a family and those kittens grow up, you can come back to the Human World with me.”

“Fine, let’s see.”

The two walked to the Newborn Center. The Newborn Center was a red brick building with two doors, one small, one big. One said ‘Cats’ and the other said ‘Witches’. The two entered in separate doors and met on the other side.

A calico cat sat at the front desk reading a ‘Kitty Kares’ magazine. The cat looked up at the sound of footsteps.

“Ah, Ms.Candlewood.What brings you here?”The cat asked, her voice surprisingly screechy.

“Please call me Tina, Emily.I’m good.How’s your voice?”

“It’s okay, I guess. Are you here to see Maya’s litter?”

“It happened?”

“Yes. Just when you left for that party of yours a few hours ago.”

“Which room is she in?”

“Room A16.”

The two walked into Room A16. A blue and pink cat sat on a blanket with 6 kittens bustling around her.

“Maya, it’s so great to see you, grown up and having a family.”Tina said.

“Yes, thank you. Look, some of the kittens got my colors!”

“Yes, nice. Who do you think the other three got their genes from?”

“Peppermint. They’re normal silver tabbies with magical powers. Just like her.”

Peppermint groaned.

“Well then, I’m here to drop off Peppermint.”

Tina was about to walk out of the door when Maya spoke up.

“I don’t need Peppermint. She’s normal without her magical powers.”

Tina turned around.

“Your kittens are the same as her. Just like you said.”

“Because of her. If she wasn’t my sister, my kittens wouldn’t be plain normal. They would be like me or completely pink like my mom!”

“Speaking of your mom, she wants you to stop this discrimination. Just because Peppermint doesn’t have external magical features like the rest of your sisters doesn’t mean she isn’t a Magical Cat. It gives her the gift to go out into the Human World.”

“Whatever. Fine, she can stay.”

Peppermint gave Tina a look that said, “Can we talk about this?Privately?”.

Tina couldn’t resist.

“Do you mind if Peppermint and I talk about this?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

Tina and Peppermint headed out the door.

“Do you want to go or not?”Tina asked.

“Oh, so now you’re giving me a choice.”

“Come on, Pepper-”

“My answer is no.”

“Fine. Let me say bye to your sister.”

Tina peeked into Room A16 and said, “Well, bye Maya.”

“Finally. I mean, you have lots of stuff-”

Tina closed the door on her. She didn’t have time to listen to Maya if it wasn’t needed.

Chapter 2

A car drove into Tina’s house. It was a small silver Volkswagen. A red haired teenager opened the car door and got out. In the front was a woman, an exact copy of the teenager, just a few decades older.

“Well, see you later, Mom.”The girl said.

“Yes, of course. Remember, this class is to help you get your grades higher in French class and learn more about the language your parents spoke as children.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Bye.”

The girl turned away from her mother and the car sped away. She climbed up the porch steps and rang the doorbell. She tried to open the door and it creaked open. She stepped inside and looked around.

“Ms.Candlewood?It’s Jasmine!”She called out.

The house was empty. The scent of cinnabon buns filled the air. Jasmine decided to follow the scent of cinnamon buns. It led up the stairs and into the wall at the end of the hallway.

“How can a smell come from a wall?”She asked herself.

She walked closer and stopped. She tried touching it and her finger disappeared.

“It’s a portal!”She slapped her forehead, “I am turning into a 5 year old right now believing in this..this..portal thing!”

She took a deep breath and stepped into the portal. Jasmine was no longer in her French teacher’s house.

****************

As soon as Tina closed the door on Maya, the Intruder Alarm went off. It always went off when someone undetected came inside.

“Wait, what day is it?”Peppermint asked Tina.

“A Friday.”

“Yeah…and at 6pm…”

“Oh no…Jasmine’s came in!”

“We need to get Jasmine out of here right now ... .I'll get the cats in Cat Town outside.”Peppermint volunteered.

“Yeah.I’ll get her and use Memory Magic on her.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah… . If not, you guys will be revealed to the Human World…. .We don’t want that. It was a really big problem the last time we let the secret out.”

The two left each other, Peppermint getting the cats out of town to not be revealed to the intruder who was in this case, Jasmine, and Tina trying to find Jasmine to use her Memory Magic on her.

****************

Jasmine walked a few steps into this queer paradise. There were vegetables, trees, fruits and flowers like no other. At least in the world she lived in there was none like them. A rustle came from under a purple tomato plant.

“Hello?”Jasmine called as she bent down to pick up the leaf covering whoever was under it.

“Oh my gosh!It’s a human!”A cute and squeaky voice exclaimed.

“Ashley, please be quiet!You’re revealing us!”Another voice exclaimed.

“Hello, is someone here?”Jasmine called out.

She picked up the leaf and she saw 2 cats, one small and one big. The bigger one was a light shade of purple and the smaller one was blue and pink. The two ran at the sight of her.

“Okay…”Jasmine got up and continued walking.

“Ms.Candlewood!”She called out at one point, “I’m lost ... and I’m tired… . “

She sat down on the cool ground, alone and isolated. She took out her phone from her pocket.

“No signal.”She said with a sigh.

*********************

Peppermint ran into town and screamed at the top of her lungs, “Everyone get OUT!”

One of Maya’s friends, Elizabeth, walked up to her.

“Why should we?Why should we listen to a regular cat?”She asked.

Peppermint decided that she’d had enough of this for the day, so she replied, “You should because I was chosen to be Tina’s companion.”

“Fine.Why should we get out?”

“The Intruder Alarm near the Newborn Center rang.We need everyone to go to the Safety Quarters NOW!”

At this, all the cats ran in the directions of the numerous Safety Quarters spread out in the forest.

“Phew.Let’s get back to Tina.”Peppermint said to herself and ran to the Newborn Center.

**************

Tina was in the darkest part of the forest, taking the only shortcut from the Newborn Center to the portal.

“She couldn’t have gotten far.She was dropped off at 6:00, according to her mom and it’s only 6:15.”Tina said, looking at her phone.

Her phone displayed the words ‘No Signal’ and turned off.

“I must be getting closer to the portal if there’s no signal,”Tina said to herself.

She walked a little more and came to a clearing.

“The portal.”She whispered.

On the road to Cat Town, there was only mud. But now there was mud with tracks.Fresh tracks in fact.

“Jasmine.”

*****************

Jasmine sighed. She had no way of contacting her mom or Ms.Candlewood because her phone was off and she was thirsty from all that walking and had left her water bottle in the car. At least Ms.Candlewood would’ve given a glass of water if she’d asked. But she was no longer in Ms.Candlewood’s house. The only living things she had seen in this ‘world’ are two strange looking cats. Thinking of those cats, she needed to go on. What if she discovered a new species? Then her Aunt Emma wouldn’t complain to her mother that she was just a lousy teenage girl who only cared about makeup. Her excitement led to a burst of energy. She got up from the cool ground with a grunt and continued walking.

She didn’t like walking in an eerie place at all. The only sound she could hear was the slosh, slosh, slosh of her shoes walking on mud. Her shoes were getting muddier and dirtier by the millisecond. She wouldn’t mind if they were some cheap old shoes, but these were her most expensive and new shoes. But she wanted to get a good reputation. Not from just her family, but from the entire world. No one ever liked her the way she was except her parents. Her Aunt Emma complained about her wearing makeup, Aunt Mary complained that she was spoiled and her grandparents complained that she was getting too much exposure to cosmetics. She just wanted everyone to stop complaining about her. She was the way she was and they had to deal with it.If not, well too bad she’s world famous. That was going to happen very soon. After a couple of miles, her phone switched on with a beep. She looked at it surprisingly.

“At least now, I can capture some evidence.” She said with a smile.

Chapter 3

Tina followed the fresh tracks on the mud. It led to a patch of cool grass. After the patch of grass, even fresher tracks started. Before she began to follow the newer tracks, she checked her magic. She had to. Both the door opening and saving Peppermint from the couch had exhausted her magic and now, she was walking more and more, making her magic useless when she got to Jasmine. She needed energy if she wanted to refuel herself and be able to use magic when she got to Jasmine. Unknown to all intruders, every plant in the paradise is edible to every species. So, Tina sat down on the patch of grass where Jasmine had once sat and took a few pink berries from the plant next to her. The thought that Jasmine was getting farther and farther away from her and closer to discovering the magical cats or had already found out, was bugging her, so she plopped the berries in her mouth and continued following the tracks, chewing the berries.

****************

Peppermint had just finished moving all of the litters, including her sister’s, into the Newborn Center Emergency Room which was below the building, when she got a whiff of someone approaching the Newborn Center. It certainly wasn’t Tina, as the girl was shorter than her. Like Jasmine. But Peppermint didn’t know what to do. Should she stay with the litters and the Newborn Center cat employees or go upstairs and hide, supervising Jasmine. She decided to go upstairs and hide because even if Jasmine saw her, she would just think she was a regular cat and someone needed to make sure Jasmine did not go to the basement where the emergency room was located.

Peppermint slowly crept up the stairs and opened the door to the sitting room. She closed the door behind her and quietly ran behind the sofa as she heard footsteps approaching. Jasmine appeared at the doorway.

“Is anyone here? Any magical cats? Pink and blue? Various colors?”Jasmine called out, her phone out in front of her.

‘Oh no, she found out! I have to make contact with Tina immediately!But how?I guess I should just wait until she loses faith.’Peppermint thought as she crouched behind the couch.

*****************

Tina was at the very end of the trail to Cat Town after following the tracks in the mud. She was getting closer and closer to Cat Town, but she couldn’t see where the tracks at the farther end of the trail led. After a couple of miles, she could see them. They led to the Newborn Center.

‘Oh no!”Tina thought.

She ran the last mile to the Newborn Center and walked through the door with ‘Witches’ labeled on it.

It was eerily quiet when she walked in.

A voice was calling out, “Is anyone here? Any magical cats? Pink and blue? Various colors?”.

‘She found out! I should go and use my memory magic on her right now!’Tina thought.

Tina dashed down the hallway and into the sitting room. She saw a gray tail sticking from behind the couch.Peppermint.

“Jasmine, what are you doing?! Let’s go back!”Tina said to Jasmine when she saw her.

Jasmine turned around and said, “No way! I am super close to proving to the entire world that I’m not just a lousy teenage girl!”

“And how are you gonna do that?”

“By taking a picture of….a magical cat.”

“You don’t need to prove yourself. If they don’t like you the way you are right now, they’re not worth it.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

Tina paused and said, “To find you. Your mom said you were dropped off, but I couldn’t find you in the house, so…”

“How’d you know about the portal?”

“Jasmine, stop asking questions! Let’s just go. You can prove yourself later!”

“Never! I’m this close!”

Peppermint looked at Tina pleadingly and Tina dashed at Jasmine, clutching her arm and dragging her out of the Newborn Center. After running a couple of miles away from the Newborn Center and back onto the trail, Tina stopped and let go of Jasmine.

“Ow.Your grip’s really tight.”Jasmine said, clutching her arm.

“Sorry about that,”Tina replied.

“Why did you drag me out? I wasn’t doing anything wrong!”

Tina looked at her hands. A green spark lit her finger for a second and then vanished. She was ready to use her Memory Magic on Jasmine.

“Come closer. It’s a secret.”

Jasmine looked both sides, shrugged and moved closer to Tina.

Tina had almost grasped Jasmine’s arm and wiped her memory when Jasmine ran away and towards the portal screaming, “I will come back to reveal your secret to the world!”

There was a whoosh and Jasmine was gone.

Tina had been wrong about Jasmine. Who knows what she was going to do.

****************

Jasmine stepped out of the wall, looking at her phone. She was texting her Mom that she would be coming a little early from French class as Ms.Candlewood had some business to attend to. She left the house and in a few minutes, a car drove into the driveway. She hopped in, looking at her phone. As they drove away, she looked at the house and smiled.

“I’m going to reveal your secret very, very soon, Tina Candlewood.”

Chapter 4

Tina dashed into the house via the portal and ran to the window that gave a good view of the driveway. Jasmine was hopping into the car. Soon, the car drove away.

“This is not okay.”

**************

Peppermint came out from her hiding place and walked towards the basement door. She opened the door and ran down the stairs. Litters of tiny, scared kittens filled the basement or in this case, the Emergency Room.

“The intruder has escaped.”Peppermint announced to the room.

Millions of murmurs and whispers went across the room.

No one knew what Jasmine was going to do.

**************

Jasmine walked into her room. Her room was filled with Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and cat posters. She plopped onto her bed and scrolled through her photos from earlier.

There she had it. Clear proof. A picture of a blue and pink cat.

“Tina Candlewood and her little secret are going down.” Jasmine said.

The Puppet

A Christmas Horror Story

By Hudson Falco

Hey, come here. Let me tell you a little story. A story about a kid and his puppet.

It was Christmas, and all this kid wanted was a puppet. A puppet. That was all he wanted. So, on Christmas Eve, when he went to bed, all he could think about was getting a puppet. He hoped he would get one.

Well, his wish came true. When he went downstairs, he saw a puppet sitting on the table. It was a fine little puppet, with a sleek jacket and everything. The kid was so excited, he started playing with it right away. He was having so much fun.

But the puppet wasn’t. When the kid went to bed, the puppet leaped onto the kid’s face and said, “YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ME, OK?” The kid had no choice but to obey the puppet. If he didn’t obey the puppet, the puppet would terrorize the kid. Hurt him, maybe. The puppet forced the kid to do bad things, like steal stuff and lie.

But, after two weeks, the kid had had enough. One night, the kid snuck down to where I……I mean, the puppet was sitting, and grabbed it and ran out of the house. He ran all the way to the lake, where he threw the puppet as hard and long as he could, and watched it sink into the cold, dark waters.

The End

Free Candy

By Rocco Lucas

One day there was a kid named Robert, it was the day before halloween. Robert was walking to school. When Robert was halfway there he saw a truck that said Free Candy. Robert thought when he comes walking home he can get the free candy. Robert saw a whole bunch of kids on the bus, he wondered why his mom wouldn’t let him take the bus. She always said it was dangerous. When Robert got to school he saw his friend get off the bus. His friend was Xandaman.

Xandaman told Robert, “if your mom let you take the bus, you would be on mine.”

Robert responded, “well atleast I can talk to you now.”

Robert went into the school. He attended Hockey Follows, STEAM academy. Robert went to Step on Knee Elementary back in elementary school. Now Robert was in first period, science. Robert liked science. When Robert got out of science he ran out of school.

Robert wanted to get candy, he ran all the way to the free candy truck and screamed, “I want candy!”

The guy gave Robert his candy, and Robert walked away. Robert was walking on the side of the street and looked at his candy. He really wanted to eat it. It was his favorite candy, Dolly Ranchers. Robert opened one of the Dolly Ranchers and ate it. Robert was happy not to be in school, but he knew he needed to go back. Robert went back to school and he went to his period four class, gym. Robert hated gym because it took up a lot of energy. The gym teacher told Robert he was fat, Robert did not like to be called fat. He thought that was mean. When he got to the front office he told the secretary that the gym teacher called him fat. Robert was still sad when he got to lunch. Robert ate a Dolly Rancher, ham sandwich and Cheese Lit’s.

When Robert got out of school he decided to take the bus, but when he got on the tires popped. The bus had to be repaired. Robert could not go on the bus, so he walked home. By the time he got to the free candy place it was 9:30. Robert asked for some Dolly Ranchers. When Robert continued walking home he ate all of the Dolly Ranchers at 10:00. He still wasn’t home. Robert was tired, more tired than ever. Robert got slower and slower until he fell asleep on the sidewalk.

While Robert was sleeping Robert's mom was at their house waiting for him, at 10:30.

Robert’s mom told Robert’s brother Enzo, “I think Robert is gone!”

Enzo responded, “why do you hate Robert so much, he’s my brother.”

Robert’s mom said,.. “Well I hate Robert.”

Robert woke up at 12:00. Robert saw a van coming towards him. Robert got up and tried to run, but he couldn’t. Robert fell again as the truck came closer and closer. He tried to scream but nothing came out he just couldn’t. He got picked up at high speed. Robert looked to see who was in the truck with him, but before he could do that they tackled him to the ground. Robert got blind folded and tied to a chair.

One person whispered, “do you know where we are going?”

Robert responded, “to a house?”

Another guy yells at Robert and says, “No! Every time you guess wrong will you get scared?”

Robert said, “are we going to the ocean?”

The guy screamed, “NO!” Robert got scared.

The guy told Robert, “I am Smith Will.”

Robert said, “I know your wife.”

Robert fell asleep.

They finally arrived at the place Smith and his buddy Jordan Michael wanted to go. They woke Robert up and showed him around the campground.

The Store

By Lorenzo Lucas

“Make sure you go to the store. If you want, ask for The Secrets. But you can't just ask straight out, the clerk will just say that it is not real. If you get the right clerk, the one with curly hair and glasses, he will show you The Secrets. Just don't make him mad, all I know is that something bad will happen…”

All I can think about is that store. He gave me a slip of paper with the address, it is not far from where I am today. I am on a trip to Ohio, for work. After work today, I am planning to go to the store. 360 Park Avenue, Columbus Ohio. I checked my phone. It would be a 20 minute drive from where I am downtown. I could leave work in an hour, but my boss always needs to take forever to talk about how great I am. Today, I will leave through the side door. Of course, my boss stops me in my car. “Hey Bob! You did so great today! I can't believe you did 70 files today - while training! I think I will-” I left the lot.

After the drive, I arrived at the store. Although being 20 minutes away from downtown, every building was a small shack. The store was no different. I walked in, with a bell chiming when I opened the door.

“Hello there!” The clerk said.

“Hi”. I replied as I walked up to the counter.

The man had curly hair, and I saw glasses next to his cash register.

“How may I help you today?” He exclaimed.

“Well, I need to know something - it may be rather, how do I say it, weird.” I told him.

He put his glasses on. I smelt the musty air of the shop. I saw lots of objects for sale around. There was a little section of the store with food, the floor was black and white tiled over there. I looked down, and saw the old, green carpet.

“What is it that you're looking for?” He said, mysteriously.

“Well, I needed something, like a game.” I told him.

“We have Monopoly, cards, and Scrabble.” He told me.

“No, not that” I said.

“We have other board games too, over there.”

He pointed to the board games section of the store.

“No, not that type of game.” I told him.

“Well what do you mean?” He exclaimed.

“I want something - from you.”

He looked at me cautiously, I hope I said the right thing. He looked around the shelves behind him for a little. He gave me a folder.

“Take a look inside, it is a fun little game.” He told me.

I wonder if this is The Secrets. I look, and inside is this very real looking photo of people playing games. I flip the page, and there are instructions on how to play a game. I touch the wrinkled paper, but am surprised to feel that it is flat. I look back at the first page, and the picture is gone.

“Is this a joke!” I yelled.

“No, no it is not. This is very real, you could be one of those people in that photo that you just looked at. Many people have always wanted to, but only those 14 have been through the process.” He told me, very seriously.

“I don't believe you.” I shot back.

He started shaking his arm, and it turned a violet color. It started to grow. It had hulk-like veins, and oversized muscles. You could barely tell it was a human arm.

“YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!” He yelled.

He slapped me hard, right across the face. The next thing I saw was somebody looking at me. I couldn't move, but in the corner of my eye I could see the board game from the photo, and the now very faint voice of the clerk...

Robert’s Journal

By: Rocco Lucas

A mini story #1

Robert was watching tv one day. When he finished watching Willy Wonka, a rip off story, he surfed the channels to find a new movie. He saw Judy Justice, he watched it.

When he finished watching Judy Justice he was sad, Judy Justice called him fat. The rest of his life he said, “Judy Justice offended me!”

A mini story #2

Robert was at home one day, his brother and dad were at the park. Robert was too lazy to go to the park. Robert just wanted to play with toys, specifically his Batman toy.

When Robert was playing he saw an ant on his arm, he got up and ran to his mom screaming. Robert’s mom asked what was wrong Robert said there was an ant on his arm, Robert’s mom got the ant off of his arm.

A mini story #3

Robert was in his house playing on the Xbox. It was a hot summer day. Robert’s brother Enzo was on his computer. When Robert got off the Xbox he wanted to go in the pool with his dad.

When Robert went in the pool he was so happy. Robert loved the pool. Enzo was crying like a baby because he said it was cold. So Enzo got out of the pool. Enzo dried off and went off the deck. When Enzo was walking around his dad told him not to step on the hole, but Enzo did. Enzo got stung by a bee.

A mini story #4

Robert was in Florida and he was happy. Robert got off the plane and started going towards the luggage area. Robert loved collecting his luggage. When Robert saw his luggage he got ready to grab it. When Robert grabbed his luggage he went to his parents. Robert's dad was trying to get an Uber. No one knew how, taxis were expensive. When Robert’s dad got the Uber they got in it and drove to Disney’s Animal Kingdom lodge.

When Robert got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge he went to the shop. Robert saw a chair that cost $300. Robert was sad everything was expensive so he left the store. Robert was walking around so he went outside to look at giraffes. Robert was getting very hot, so he went to his room and they went to the pool. Robert saw the tiny water slide, he wanted to go down it to enter the pool. Robert went down the slide and hit his foot against the bottom of the pool. He scrapped it and couldn’t go in the pool.

The Scary Series - Book #5

The Scary Headless Horseman

Written by: J. Ryan O’Shea, with help from Joe Bender

Illustrated by: Siyi

A couple of weeks back on Halloween night in Northern Tarrytown, New York, a town nestled on the Hudson River, a boy named Daniel was going trick or treating a with his friends, Timmy and Martin. Daniel loved hanging out with his friends. But if there was something he loved most, it was his yo-yo. Anywhere he went, his blue yo-yo was always in his pocket. Daniel loved to do tricks with his yo-yo.

While walking trick or treating, Daniel saw a weird looking glowing pumpkin out in the woods. It seemed to be floating at least 8 feet off the ground.

“Hey guys, what’s that?” Daniel asked, pointing to the pumpkin.

“I…I don’t know,” Timmy said, slightly shaking in fear. He gets scared easily. Yet he still likes Halloween.

“Well there’s only one way to find out!” Martin said, with a grin on his face. He started to walk slowly toward the treeline.

“No, no, no, no…no, no, NO!!!” Timmy said. “I know exactly what you’re thinking and we’re not doing it!!!!”

“Oh, come on! I have my yo-yo to protect us,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, come on, Timmy! It’ll be fun!” Martin agreed. Timmy didn’t say anything. He just kept his arms crossed.

“Fine, we’ll just leave you here, all…by…your…self!” Martin smirked. Daniel laughed. They started to walk into the woods. Timmy took a double-take, seeing that his friends were actually walking into the woods.

“Hey wait up!” Timmy yelled, running after the boys. They walked through the thick brush. The bushes and trees acting as walls in between them and something that could be 5 feet in front of them.

“Come on guys! We have to be getting closer to that pumpkin,” Daniel said. Clenching his yo-yo so hard it might break. His hands were sweaty. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little scared. Not as scared as Timmy. The boys kept walking when all the sudden they heard some rustling in the bushes just next to them.

“What was that!?!” Timmy jumped.

“Oh calm down, it was probably just a squirrel,” Daniel said. Timmy slightly nodded.

“Yeah. It could be a squirrel…or it could be BIGFOOT!!!” Martin yelled. He scared Timmy so much, he scrunched up in a ball on the forest floor.

“Oh come on, Bigfoot isn’t real,” Daniel said.

“He is too!” Martin argued.

“Fake!!” Daniel yelled.

“Real!!” Martin said back.

“Fake!!”

“Real!!”

“Fake!!!” As Daniel and Martin were arguing, Timmy got up and what he saw was far scarier than the Bigfoot joke. Just past Daniel and Martin was a large black horse, and its rider was wearing jet-black boots, a navy coat, and he was holding a sword. But that wasn’t the scariest part. His head…his head was a pumpkin. A glowing pumpkin with a face carved into it.

“Abuduh….ahh…abud….a….guys!!!!” Timmy was shaking as if there was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

“WHAT!!!” Martin yelled. Timmy pointed. Martin and Daneil turned around and they were speechless.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” the boys screamed at the top of their lungs. They then ran as fast as their legs would carry them!!!! They came to this clearing in the woods and they had a chance to catch their breath.

“What……in the world was that!!!!” Martin yelled, pointing back into the woods.

“I…I don’t know!!!” Daniel said, his hands on his knees, out of breath. Timmy was again scrunched down in a ball on the ground. He was shivering so much it looked like he was on the top of a mountain in sub-zero temperatures.

“That…...that was the huu….headllle…..the headless horseman!!!” Timmy announced, standing up. He was still shaking. He looked as if he wanted to start balling his eyes out crying.

“The what!!!” Daniel yelled. He was still holding his yo-yo.

“The Headless Horseman!” Timmy yelled again. Daniel and Martin looked very confused. “Legend has it that in 1790, right here in Northern Tarrytown, a man named Ichabod Crane was on his way home from work on horseback,” Timmy explained. “Then suddenly from out of the woods came a horse. And its driver was headless!!!” Timmy yelled.

“No…way!” Daniel said, leaning in closer. Martin had his arms crossed, rolling his eyes.

“This horseman chased Ichabod Crane. And that’s it. The legend ends there. Although after that night, nobody saw Ichabod Crane ever again, and Northern Tarrytown became known as Sleepy Hollow,” Timmy said, he was acting out every single action with emphasis. Daniel and Martin looked as if they were hypnotized.

“And the legend says that a black horse with a headless rider still prowls the woods of Tarrytown searching for a head,” Timmy said, in a quiet, scary voice. Daniel had his jaw dropped down to the floor. Martin was very skeptical.

“None of that ever happened!” Martin said, his arms still crossed.

“It did, too!!” Timmy argued back, standing his ground.

“OK then. How did the Headless Horseman become headless?” Martin asked, leaning in closely to Timmy, waiting anxiously for his answer.

“The legend says that the horseman served in the Revolutionary War. And on October 28, 1776 in the battle of White Plains, which isn’t too far from here, a cannon ball accidentally hit his head, taking it off,” Timmy explained confidently. The boys were silent. Martin and Timmy seemed to be in a staring contest. Daniel noticed this and stood up to separate the two of them.

“OK, that’s enough,” Daniel said, looking at his friends and then looking into the woods. “We have to find a way out of here,” he said, taking action. Just then, the boys heard a train horn. They all looked up.

“We must be close to the Tarrytown train station,” Timmy said, pointing in the direction of the horn. “Maybe we could get there and then find our way home.” The boys started to walk through the woods and they came upon a parking lot. And just past the parking lot was the train platform, and on it was a sign with a green bar on top and under that is said in black, bold letters: Tarrytown. The boys walked across the parking lot and onto the train platform. Just as they got to the platform, a train came around the corner, slowing its speed to come to a stop at the station. The train pulled up to the platform and stopped perfectly.

The doors opened and the train’s announcement system made a ding-dong sound that made Timmy jump. It then said, “This station is: Tarrytown. This is the train to: Croton-Harmon. The next station is: Philipse Manor.”

“Philipse Manor! That station is in Sleepy Hollow! I saw a map in school that said that!!” Martin said.

“Yeah! That’s why I’m trying to tell you guys, sort of,” Timmy pleaded. “We’re in Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman’s home, practically! Do you see how this all makes sense!!” Martin and Daniel just stared at Timmy.

“Oh come on!!. We saw the Headless Horseman, and then I told you guys the story, and then we ran, and then I told you guys the legend and Martin, you didn’t believe me, and now we’re here!!!” Timmy was out of breath. The train pulled away from the station. The boys didn’t know what to do. They were so close yet so far from home. The boys were just about to walk away when they heard neighhhh. A sound that only came from a horse. They turned around and there he was. The Headless Horseman. It was on the tracks, just feet away from the boys. They were frozen. Their eyes locked to the Horseman and his horse. After a few seconds, the boys took off running. Down the steps, into the parking lot and back into the woods.

“Why did we run into the woods!” Daniel asked. He was still clutching his yo-yo.

“I don’t know! We just ran!!!” Martin responded, yelling. The boys were running as fast as they could. They came back to the clearing where they were just a few minutes ago. Even though it felt like a life-time ago. They stopped for a moment. The Headless Horseman was out of sight.

“Come on. We came in this direction, let’s try to get back home!” Daniel said, yo-yo in hand. Martin and Timmy followed suit and there was. The Horseman was right back on their tail. The boys ran some more. They ran right through the thick brush. Nothing was stopping them from getting away from the horseman. The boys came to a road and they all stopped instantly. They all looked at each other, very confused.

“Wa…wa…wait!!” Daniel said. “Isn’t this the road we started this whole night on!” Martin and Timmy looked around at their surroundings.

“Oh yeah!” Timmy said, a feeling of realization came over him.

“Oh, thank god,” Martin said, taking a huge breath of relief. The boys started to walk back in the direction of town on the road. This felt like the first time in their lifetime they weren’t running. They got the part of the road where the woods meet the residential part of town. The boys looked down and there it was. A crushed pumpkin. The boys looked at the pumpkin, looked at each other, and then looked back at the pumpkin.

“OK. I guess it’s over,” Martin said.

“Yeah,” Timmy said calmly. There was a pause with silence.

“First one home gets all our candy!!” Daniel said, taking off running. Martin was just behind him.

“Hey wait up!!” Timmy said, slowly catching up. It had been a long night. And the boys were on they’re way home.

As the boys ran away, the slight sound of a horse's hooves hitting the pavement and an evil laugh were heard at the treeline between Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow.

THE END?

J. Ryan O’Shea & Joe Bender, The Scary Headless Horseman, The Scary Series

The House

By Hudson Falco

Ten months have passed since…….The Problem, as my friends call it. That day was Halloween, 1983. When I found out that my house was haunted. Sooooooooo, I'll just tell you about it.

It was midnight on Halloween, 1983.

“Why are we doing this?” I asked as me and Steve, My best friend, approached my basement door. “

Because I’m not believing some silly news article from 1785!” Steve said, “

Well, it seemed pretty real.” I answered. If I know Steve, Which I do, then I should have known that you can’t convince him to stop trying to investigate something paranormal. So, me and Steve went down into the basement.

I will never forget what I saw. Creepy furniture, weird dolls, and most of all, the monster waiting for us. It chased us, and we ran out of the house. Well, at least I did. I don't know if Steve made it out. I never want to go back to that house again. So, for now, I’m just going to forget what happened that night. Me and my family had to move out of the house, and the town. I never saw Steve again. The house was destroyed. I hoped the monster never come back. And, if you are reading this, this is also a warning. Do not visit the site of this house. Just in case the monster is still out there.

The End…Right?

Buddy - A Dog Story

By Shreya Varadarajan

Nobody knew how the dog got into the school. The first sighting of the dog was when Mr.Gregory was assigning us homework in our math journals. The new girl, Elizabeth Donna-zind, had left the door open when leaving the classroom to go to the bathroom. Daniella, my best friend, was sending me notes in crumbled pieces of paper. Every second she was stretching to my desk with a paper in her hand and dropping it on the edge. I don’t want to be yelled at by Mr.Gregory in front of half of 6th grade and get detention again!

”Jenna…”Daniella calls to me in a whisper,”Look.”

She points to the bag where Mr.Gregory puts all of his food in. I sighed and stole a glance. I could not believe my eyes. The bag was opened and a large golden dog was sticking its face in it, looking for food.I looked at Daniella, shocked.

“Pinch me,”I whisper to Daniella. She reached for my arm and pinched.

”Ouch!”I muttered.

So…a dog was in my school. Not what you see everyday is it? I turned around and the dog was eating Mr.Gregory’s lunch, a hamburger and 2 oatmeal cookies.I looked at my math notebook.Mr.Gregory would be so mad!! I glanced at the door and the dog was heading out into the hallway. Soon, the new girl, Elizabeth, came from the bathroom and saw the ruined bag.

”Mr.Gregory, ”Elizabeth said,” your lunch bag’s ruined.”

Mr.Gregory turned. He was horrified. Hayley Hills, the most popular girl in 6th grade, turned to her besties and whispered that the school was full of rats. Daniella and I locked eyes. Both of us were the only people who had seen the dog wreck Mr.Gregory’s lunch bag. The bell rang for lunch. Everyone closed their books, packed up and ran to the cafeteria to get the best seats at Hayley’s table. Daniella and I were not in such a hurry because our best friend and the third member of our trio, Leeanna, always came late to lunch because she liked to study in the library for half an hour. Leeanna was in 6th Grade Group two, while Daniella and I were in 6th Grade Group one. That’s why we could only meet during lunch and after school during the school week. On weekends, we go out for ice cream and dog-sit our neighbor’s dogs. Speaking of dogs, I wanted to know where that stowaway dog was.

Daniella and I searched the cafeteria for the dog.The dog was nowhere to be found. Probably, Mrs.Hankins, the worst lunch lady in the school threw him out. Poor dog. Just then, the golden dog came up to me. I gave him a little bit of my ham and cheese sandwich.He gobbled it up as if he had never eaten anything for the past week.Maybe that was true.I didn’t want Mrs.Hankins to find him, so I took a ribbon and tied it loosely around his neck. Then, I took a long string and connected it to the ribbon.

”Okay buddy,” I sighed, “Let’s get you in my locker.”

I pulled on the string. He started walking towards me. Doing this, I got him to the very end of the hall, where my locker was. I opened the door and got him in with another piece of ham and cheese sandwich.I closed the door, locking him in.

”Okay, Jenna,” I whispered to myself, “Remember to take him when you walk home. Mom’ll know what to do.”

A felt a tap on my shoulder.It was Leeanna.

”Math with Mrs.Habino was horrible,”She said.

”Same with Mr.Gregory.”I replied.

When Leeanna went to go get lunch, Daniella and I went outside in the School Yard and sat on an empty bench.

”Did you see the dog?”Daniella asked me.

“Yeah. Locked him in my locker,” I replied, eating the remaining of my ham and cheese sandwich.

”Oh, that’s why half of your sandwich is missing.”She said, surprised.

”Yeah.”I smiled.

”You must be hungry,”She said and gave me a chocolate chip cookie, “Here.”

I unwrapped the wrapper and took a bite out of the cookie.

”Thanks a lot,”I said.

“No problem,”She replied.

”Wait, did you really lock him in your locker?”She said, shocked.

”Yeah, why?”I said, looking at her.

“He can’t be there during the night! The custodians will clean your locker and he’ll be discovered!” She shrieked.

”Whoa, calm down, Daniella. I’ll take him home on our walk. No biggie.”I said, turning to her.

”Oh, okay,”Daniella sighed.

The bell rang.Daniella and I ran to science, the last class of the day.After science, Daniella and I walked home with Buddy, my new dog.

The Scary Series - Book #4

Scary Uncle Sam

Written By: J. Ryan O’Shea

Illustrated by: Joe Bender

It was Scott’s favorite day of the year. July fourth. Independence Day. “The Fourth!” Whatever you want to call it, Scott always counted down the days to the Fourth of July. It was the one day a year that Scott’s whole family and the whole neighborhood had a huge barbeque dinner in the middle of the street. The party has gotten so big, that the city’s police officers have blocked off the street.

Charleston, South Carolina has been home to this huge party for as long as anyone can remember. Even Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez can’t remember when it started, and they’ve lived in this neighborhood for nearly 70 years! Charleston plays a big role in the United States’ history. It was where the Civil War began on April 12, 1861. That’s the reason there were such big parties for holidays like July Fourth. This neighborhood has such a big party that in 2009, the city put a life-size bronze statue of Uncle Sam at the end of the street.

During the Fourth of July, the statue is lit in red white and blue spot lights. Scott was scared of the statue when he was little, but now he’s used to it. If Scott had to choose a part of the 4th of July weekend that he loved more than the barbecue dinner, it would be the fireworks. It didn’t matter where you were, you could see fireworks for miles in any direction. Mayor Edward always set off the first firework from the town hall on the 4th at 8:00 PM sharp. After that, people from all over Charleston shot off fireworks. From their house, their business, some people even set some off from the beach in Charleston Harbor. This year, Scott’s neighborhood would join the firework party by shooting off some after the barbecue. It was going to be the best weekend of Scott’s entire life.

Scott’s mouth was still watering after dinner, the barbecue was so good, as it always was. Scott was running around with his friend’s; Robert, Michael and Kelly. He checked his watch frequently, making sure they didn’t miss the first firework. It was 7:42. They had 18 minutes.

After 16 of those minutes, Scott joined his parents and his friends joined their’s. Mr. Finn was getting the fireworks ready, he would be the one setting it off. Scott constantly was looking at his watch and counting down the seconds until 8:00 PM. “10…9…8…7…6…” Scott counted down in his head. “5…4…3…2…1…NOW!” He couldn’t have timed it any better, the sky lit up with a big BOOM! as the first firework was set off. You could hear the cheers from around the city. Everyone in the neighborhood was cheering and clapping.

After it wound down, Mr. Finn gave a nice little speech: “Hey…hey everybody. I just wanted to say that this is a huge honor. To set off the first firework that this neighborhood has ever set off. And I hope these traditions, both the barbecue and the fireworks, continue on for generations to come!” He looked at Scott and the other kids in the crowd. “And so with that, let’s start the countdown!!” Mr. Finn said. “5…4…3…2…1…” The crowd cheered. THUMP! The firework came out of the black tube and…it didn’t go up. In fact, it went up a couple feet and slowly turned. Somebody screamed and everybody went running for cover. The firework shot forward, right toward the Uncle Sam statue. No! Scott thought. POW! BOOM! An explosion of fire and colors came out of the Uncle Sam statue. But, it didn’t get destroyed. In fact, it got colorful and very life-like. Suddenly, an evil laugh belted out from the statue and it ran forward. Scott was in shock and his jaw dropped. The statue, that was a human now, just ran out of the neighborhood towards the center of town.

Scott, Robert, Michael and Kelly were out of breath. They had been running for what seemed like forever. They had to stop the Uncle Sam statue from ruining July 4th. They stopped running to catch a breath. “Look! It’s him!” Michael said, pointing towards a boat in the harbor. And next to the boat on the dock, was the Uncle Sam statue untying the boat from the dock. “We got to catch him!” Robert yelled! “Well then let's go!” Kelly said, running ahead of the boys. “Come on guys!” They all ran towards the dock. They got there just after Uncle Sam pulled away on his boat.

“All right guys,” Michael said, stretching. “I’m going to swim after him. I spent 3 weeks last summer taking swimming lessons. It’s hard but it’s doable.” During this, the rest of the kids saw a speed boat. They untied it from the dock and all got on. “Uhh, Michael! What are you doing?” Scott said, on the helm of the boat. Michael looked at them and then looked down at the water. “Yeah, I should probably come on the boat and not swim…” Michael said, realizing. Kelly, Robert and Scott all nod their heads slowly. “OK,” Michael said softly, getting on the boat. Scott pushed a couple buttons, turned some switches and pulled a couple leavers and the boat started. He pushed one leaver up and the boat started moving. They all cheered.

“We’re coming for you, Uncle Sam!” Michael yelled, throwing his fist in the air. They quickly caught up to Uncle Sam’s small sailboat. Michael and Robert jumped on and tackled Uncle Sam. Kelly came on and put a blanket over him. They dragged him onto their speed boat and then towed the sailboat back to the dock. The kids then switched on and off to carrying Uncle Sam back to their neighborhood. Once they were back, they put Uncle Sam down in front of his pedestal.

“Scott!” he heard someone call his name from behind him. When he turned, he was his mother running at him with his father right behind her. “Mom! Dad!” Scott smiled, running towards them with open arms. “Scott! Oh, Scott! Where did you go? We couldn’t find you!” his Mom said, hugging so hard he felt like he couldn’t breathe. “I went to catch the Uncle Sam statue. Me, Robert, Michael and Kelly. We caught him and brought him back. He’s nice now, and kind,” Scott explained. His parents were in shock but understood.

The whole neighborhood then gathered around Uncle Sam lying on the ground. Kelly, Robert, Michael and Scott all helped him up. Michael spoke first. “So, uhh…happy Fourth of July!!!” he said. The crowd laughed. “Um…so this is our Uncle Sam statue now. This is what we will be doing every year on the Fourth of July. We’ll be eating barbecue, setting off and watching fireworks. But to add to that, the Uncle Sam statue comes to life now, every year only on the Fourth of July,” he paused.

“This is our new tradition for the Fourth of July. I think we’ll have a lot of fun with it!” Scott said. He looked up at Uncle Sam and they both smiled at each other. The living Uncle Sam statue was the newest and best tradition for 4th of July that this neighborhood, in Charleston, South Carolina, had ever seen!

THE END

Summer By the Ocean

By - Maddie Kahn

Imagine not spending time on the beach in the summer…

Imagine your summer vacation wishes not coming true…

Well… for this fictional character, June, it’s true. Instead of having fun, June spends her summer vacation helping her mom look after all the endangered animals at her family’s endangered-animals-clinic. But June is tired of NO summer vacation. She wants one to happen. VERY badly.

***

“June! I have a surprise for you!” June’s mom calls.

June runs downstairs, “Yes, mom?” She asks.

“This year, you, me, your dad, and brothers are going on vacation!”

“YES!” June cheers, practically jumping up and down.

June waited and waited for July 16th to come, the day she’d finally leave her little small town. Then, the day came.

June is going to Block Island, an island off Rhode Island. “YES! VACATION!” Drew, June’s brother cheered in the car.

June had to cover her ears because her brothers were being so loud. And they hadn’t even left their road yet! Being a triplet drove June crazy sometimes. “Guys, we’re only on the ROAD, chillax!” June says.

June has to constantly police her brothers, mostly Drew, who acts less 13, and more 7. “Oh, are we being to LOUD?” Drew taunts.

June rolls her eyes, takes out her earbuds and iPod to listen to music.

Later…

The Johnsons finally arrived at Block Island a few hours later. “Cool.” Oliver says.

Oliver was MUCH calmer than Drew. He mostly just followed in his brother's footsteps. Because, who else was he supposed to be? A mouse. He’s quieter than a mouse in his heart. “It’s more than cool! It’s VACATION! I can’t wait to spend time on the beach tomorrow!”

Great. Now Oliver had to follow in MORE footsteps. Maybe he should be himself…

June was so excited, that she winded up just like Drew, crazy loud cheering. Thankfully, she was able to keep herself under control. June sat in her room of their beach house, and saw Oliver walking up the stairs sadly. “Ols, what’s wrong?” SHe asks.

“I don’t like being like Drew.” He mutters.

June didn’t know what to do. Drew and her were spirited. “Well, maybe DON’T be Drew.”

Oliver looks at June with a questioning face, “How?”

“I… don’t know.”

Oliver scowls at June, and June hides her face by putting a book up to her face by pretending to read.

Oliver enjoyed the feeling of being tough, and this summer by the ocean, he was going to prove that he’s his own person.

***

June had so much fun swimming in the ocean, she might as well be part fish. She was happy to finally swim outside the pool. She’d only been to the ocean three times, for quick, one day vacations. And now she knows what she wants to be while spending the summer by the ocean, a swimmer. She’s good at it. She also takes swim lessons.

***

Drew was happy, and VERY excited. But the only problem was that he’s a bit TOO happy and excited. But wasn’t that natural? He’s also competitive. He plays practically every sport possible. “Mom?! Where’s Oliver?!” Drew asks.

Drew’s mom comes to see him. “Taking a walk with June. Why?”

“I was going to have a catch with him.”

“Oliver isn’t you, Drew.”

“I know.”

“Well, you treat him like that. I think you need to learn how to accept that not everyone you meet is an exact copy of you.”

***

The triplets each walked away from that vacation with 3 valuable lessons, and they looked back to that vacation happily forever.

Notes -

ENJOY YOUR VACATION! SUMMER IS PRACTICALLY HERE!

~ The End ~

A Boy Named Robert

By Lorenzo Lucas - Based on “Roberts Journal” By Rocco Lucas

In the year 2012, a boy named Robert was born. “He is so adorable!” said his mom. “I hope he becomes rich and famous.” Said his dad. Two years ago, Robert was in 5th grade. He was excited for middle school. “I will get all A’s!” Robert said excitedly. This year, Robert is in Middle School. In Dog Elementary School, he was the most popular kid. In MOMS, standing for Monroe Middle School, he is the biggest loser. He actively tries to avoid Timothy Templeton, who looks big and strong, but acts like a big baby. “Huh whuh?” Said Timothy, when the teacher told him to stop laughing at Robert getting the answer wrong. “What me? I didn't do anything.” Every day, Robert would get picked on by Timothy. Whenever the teacher told Timothy to stop, he would say “I didn't do it.” or “I didn't mean too.” This always makes Robert sad, and he never goes home happy.

One day, MOMS had a pizza party. Timothy ripped Robert's pizza out of his hands. When Robert went home, he drew a cruise ship. “If I was rich, I would own a cruise line. I would have 100 kids, and have them live on the Robert of the Seas.” When Robert got older, he lived on a cruise ship, had a cruise line, and had 100 kids. “Why did I work for your cruise line?” Said Timothy, a big failure after getting expelled from high school. “ You were a bully, and the bully fails.” Said Robert. “So don't be a bully.”

It’s Almost Summer!

By: Sidney Lampley

It’s almost summer,

School is almost done,

I know you might be sad,

But you will have lots of fun,

You can sit by the pool,

And relax all day,

While listening to music all day on replay,

Or you can go to camp and play lots of games,

It’s better than staying home and rotting your brain,

And even if sports is not your cup of tea,

It’s summertime and you are finally free,

To do what you want with no distractions

If you listen to me your summer will be full of action,

You can draw or paint and color too,

I know I can’t believe it’s true,

Just spend your days sipping cola,

Or even you can take up yoga,

There are so many things to do that are fun,

Really anything under the sun,

And maybe even go on a road trip

Or maybe even take a ride on a ship,

I really hope your summer is awesome,

So look at this poem if you are feeling any boredom.

The Scary Series - Book #3

Lucky the Scary Leprechaun

Written By: J. Ryan O’Shea

Illustrated by: Joe Bender

“It’s perfect!” Gavin’s Grandpa said. Gavin was at the town hall setting up a float for the town’s yearly St. Patrick’s Day parade. The date, Sunday, March 12th. Gavin’s Grandpa had designed and built most of the float. It was a giant leprechaun. Standing nearly 30 feet high.

“It’s got to be the tallest float in the parade!” Gavin said to his grandpa. In just a few minutes, at 2:00 PM sharp, the Police chief will blow the whistle and the parade will step off. The parade route is to leave the town hall, take a right onto Field Point St. and the another right onto West Elm St. Finally, a right onto Teller Avenue. At the bottom of the avenue, is a reviewing stand. Mayor Edward is on the stand, announcing each band and float as it passes by.

“Lucky, you’ll do great!” Grandpa said, staring up at the Leprechaun.

“It has a name?” Gavin said.

“Of course. He has a name!” Grandpa said.

Gavin and his grandpa did the final touches on the float and drove it out onto the road from the back parking lot of the town hall. A man named Jude came to the window of the truck and told Grandpa where to line up.

“OK. You guys are going to line up…” he said looking through his papers.

“Uhhh…behind the N.Y.P.D. Bagpipes. Right there.” He said, pointing.

“Great, thanks! I’ll try not to run them over!” Grandpa said laughing.

Gavin and Jude smiled. They pulled onto the street and that's when everything changed. There was a huge thud and everyone started running away. Away from the truck. Away from Gavin and his Grandpa. Lucky had come to life and was now running through the town. “We gotta catch him!” Grandpa said. “Grandpa, I’m gonna go run down to Mayor Edward and tell him to cancel the parade! We can’t have a giant float running around during the parade!” Gavin exclaimed, out of breath.

Grandpa took all that information in.

“OK. But be careful!” he said.

Gavin nodded, shut the door and ran down the path to the grand-stand.

When he got there, Mayor Edward was surprised to see Gavin.

“Gavin! How are you? I thought you were riding with your Grandpa. You know he’s a great guy and…”

“Stop. Mr. Mayor…I need to tell you something,” Gavin said.

“What’s wrong!” Mayor Edward said.

“This is going to sound crazy, but…our parade float came to life and is terrorizing the town!” Gavin exclaimed, out of breath.

“OK. Why don’t I call your Grandfather,” Mayor Edward said, sort of laughing.

“NO! He’s busy trying to get Lucky away from everyone!” Gavin yelled.

“Please…please believe me!”

There was what felt like an internal silence.

“OK,” Mayor Edward said. “Ladies and gentleman, we are temporarily postponing the parade for now. The cause is too hard to explain but I can assure you will know why very soon. Thank you.”

Gavin was gone before Mayor Edward finished his announcement. He had to stop Lucky! Gavin ran up the avenue until she ran into the giant leprechaun. Gavin took a deep breath.

“Hey!!!! Hey you!” Gavin yelled up to Lucky. Lucky looked down upon Gavin.

“Stop! Why are you doing this!?” Gavin said.

He couldn’t believe that he was actually trying to talk to this giant of a parade float. Gavin knew yelling wasn’t going to stop Lucky. He needed to find a better way. He looked around and saw a string that was left on the street from one of the balloons. He picked it up and went into action. He had an idea in mind, but it required at least 2 people. His plan was: He needed another person to hold the string as Gavin ran around Lucky’s legs. Gavin looked around to see if anyone was still around. There was no one. Everyone was scared off. Suddenly, he heard an old, beat-up truck coming down the avenue. “BEEP! BEEP!!!!” Gavin looked up. It was his Grandpa. Gavin smiled the biggest smile, ear to ear. Grandpa parked the truck, got out, and ran over to help.

“Hi, Gavin boy! What’s the plan?!” Grandpa yelled.

Gavin explained the plan. Grandpa nodded and they went to work. Gavin gave one end of the rope to his Grandpa while he himself took the other end and started running around Lucky’s legs. Gavin got dizzy, but he kept going. He needed to end this.

“Yes, Gavin! Go! Go! Go!” Grandpa said, jumping up and down and pumping his fist.

Gavin smiled and got the motivation to keep running in circles. When he got to the end of the rope, Gavin tied a knot and nodded to his Grandpa. He nodded back and he pulled the rope as hard as he could. Lucky stumbled, but was still on his feet. Gavin joined his Grandpa and they both pulled as hard as he could. Suddenly, Lucky started waving his arms, struggling to keep his balance.

“Come on! Just a little harder!” Gavin said.

They pulled with all their strength and Lucky fell like a ton of bricks. Thump!

A few minutes later, the police and fire departments arrived to take Lucky. Just as the officers were about to take him away, Gavin saw something in Lucky’s eyes. Something friendly…

“Wait!” Gavin yelled, holding his hand out.

Everyone stared at him.

“Gavin…what are you doing?” Grandpa whispered, giving Gavin a look that clearly said no.

“I’ll take him,” Gavin said, confidently.

Grandpa looked down at the ground, his hand on his forehead.

“What do you mean?” The police officer asked.

“I’ll take him. I’ll take care of him and we won’t cause any trouble.” Gavin explained. “I think Lucky just wanted to spread some St. Patrick’s Day cheer. Please.”

The police officer looked at Gavin, then Grandpa.

“Are you OK with this?” The officer asked Grandpa.

He hesitated and Gavin looked at him, waiting for an answer.

“OK. We’ll take him,” Grandpa said.

One week later, the parade was back on. But this time, Gavin and his Grandpa weren’t pulling a float with their truck. They walked down the parade route, with their float. Gavin, Grandpa…and Lucky.

Lucky was the star of the parade. He was throwing confetti and necklaces to all the people watching. It all turned out to be the best St. Patrick’s Day parade the town has ever seen.

THE END?

The Scary Series - Book #2

Gary the Scary Valentine

By: J. Ryan O’Shea

Illustrated by: Joe Bender

Mr. Wheeler announced to his art class that there would soon be a town wide student art show at the town hall. There was one child in his class, John, who wanted to really show the town his best art work. John was a star student in school. Straight A’s, except for Band. His best grade was in Art, an A+. After class, John brought his drawing to Mr. Wheeler. John loved to name his drawings. “How do you like it? His name is Gary,” John said, smiling. “That’s very nice, John. I definitely think Mayor Edward will like that,” Mr. Wheeler said. He took it and put it on his pile, to be looked at later. All the teachers and students went home that day, a normal day.

Mr. Wheeler came in the next morning and went to his desk in the Art Room. He saw the pile of drawings on his desk, just the way he left it. Well, he thought. The top paper was blank. I thought John’s drawing was on top? Mr. Wheeler thought. He searched through the stack. Every drawing was there, just not John’s. He searched the drawers, the tables, under his desk, under the tables. Still no drawing. Suddenly, a knock at the door. “Just a moment!” Mr. Wheeler said, brushing himself off from crawling on the floor. He walked to the door, opened it and there was a six foot heart. A red heart with eyes, a mouth, arms and legs. Mr. Wheeler stopped and stared at the scary heart. There was a moment of silence. Then the heart said, “Hello! My name is Gary. Gary the Scary Valentine!” Mr. Wheeler still stared in awe and was speechless. Gary then ran right past Mr. Beehler and out the door. “No, stop!” Mr. Wheeler said. He didn’t know what to do or how to stop Gary. Gary was now running around town, taking all the love and happiness away from Valentines’ Day.

The next morning, when John got up, his parents were watching the news. He didn’t know why, but for the first time in a long time, he stopped and actually paid attention to the news. Mayor Edward came on and said, “Ladies and gentleman. I, Mayor Edward, have some breaking news. A huge, scary heart named Gary has escaped from our Middle School and is terrorizing the town. We advise you to stay inside and not go anywhere unless you absolutely need to for an emergency. This means that school has been canceled for the whole town until further notice. Thank you for your time!” Then the TV went to a commercial. John and his family were frozen. They didn’t know what to think. Then, John got a cold sweat coming over him. Oh my…Gary. Gary is what I drew in Art yesterday, he thought.

“Um…Mom, Dad,” he said, nervous. “I think, now this might sound crazy, but…um…I think Gary is who I drew in Art yesterday. He came to life last night…I think,” John exclaimed. His parents looked at him for a moment, then they started laughing. John wasn't surprised. “Honey, that’s…well…….insane! That didn’t happen. It’s OK. Calm down,” his mother said. “Yeah. Enjoy the day off, bud!” his father said. John smiled, and went to his room. He layed in bed and thought…and thought…and thought. This is all my fault, he said in his head. A tear ran down his face. Suddenly, a rush of confidence came over him. Yeah! If it’s my fault…I’ll be the one to fix it! John got his winter coat on, a hat, gloves and his boots and snuck out of the house through the back door. He knew exactly where to go. Where this all started. The art room.

He got to the school and every single door was locked. Until he got to the Tech Ed room door. Their teacher, Mr. Lemchalk has an exterior exit door. He got the door open and snuck into the Tech Ed room, the hallway and up Stairwell D. No one ever used this stairwell. It was only for emergencies. And this is an emergency! John thought. He got to the second floor and walked into the art room. John went in and looked around, twice. He wasn’t taking any chances with his own drawing. He sat down at Mr. Wheeler’s desk. The paper on top of the pile was his. Except it was blank. “I knew it!” John said, outloud. He waited…and waited…and waited some more. Gary had to come back, right?

“Ahhhhh!” John screamed as he jolted awake. “Where am I? What’s going on?” After he got a good look at his surroundings, he calmed down. He was still in the art room. He’d fallen asleep. Except now it was dark. He looked out the window, pitch-black. “Oh, no!” he said. John looked at the clock above the door. It said 3:45. That made no sense. “Oh right. None of the clocks in this school are right!” he said to himself. He checked his watch, 9:45. He took the drawing and ran out the door. Halfway down the stairwell…there he was. Gary. Gary smiled a scary smirk. He reached out for John. John held up the drawing. Then a blinding flash of light……then silence. He looked down at the drawing and there was again Gary, back on the paper just as John had drawn him. John was shocked and also really happy. He ran home as fast as he could.

“Mom…Dad! I did it! He’s gone!” John yelled. “John, where have you been? We called the police to look for you!” his Mom said. There were a dozen police officers in their living room, along with Mayor Edward. John walked up to the mayor. “Mr. Mayor,” John said. “I put Gary back on paper. He’s gone.” “Thank you John,” Mayor Edward said. “You saved all of us! Thank you! John smiled from ear to ear. He felt like a million bucks. He was a hero! “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Mayor Edward said.

THE END?

New Neighbors

By Lorenzo Lucas

It was the middle of summer, a few years ago, when my whole life changed. I lived in Granville, Ohio my whole life. It was a Monday. I was playing video games, and my dad was at work. My Mom often let me play games all day, because there were no other kids in the neighborhood. That all changed that day. The moving truck was pulling into the house next to us. A boy my age knocked on the door, and my Mom told me to come down. He was a little weird, but he seemed nice. He wanted to play football, and my Mom told me I should play with him, so I went outside and played for a little while. He had to go home, and I was glad I could go back inside. The next day, I found out his parents were crazy. They got a chainsaw, and they wanted to expand their house. They went through their wall, the dividing fence, and right through my bedroom wall! Now that my bedroom is open air, I have to sleep in the basement. My Mom still made me play with the kid.

On the first day of school, we got put in the same classes, every single period. We got to pick our own seats, and he would always sit next to me making weird noises. I could not focus in class, and would always get bad grades. I told the teacher, but she told me to stop tattle tailing. Now that I am 18, I am moving out. If it wasn't for that new kid, I would have better grades and not want to move out so soon.

Four years ago, I moved to a new town in Ohio. It is called Granville. My mom wanted to move there because the name sounded sweet. It was hard adjusting, and the school was weird. This was my first time moving. I was so surprised how my whole bedroom fit into two boxes! I wanted to play with the neighbors, and I love football, so I went over. The next day, my parents took out a chainsaw. They thought the house was too small, so they wanted to expand. I was so excited! My dad got all his tools ready, but his ancient chainsaw began stalling and starting on its own and he ran right through the neighbors house trying to turn it off. The first day at my new school was hard, but luckily my new friend was in every class! In my old school, we could not sit where we wanted to, so having this freedom made me super nervous, I was getting confused. Then, I saw my friend walk in! After a while, he stopped talking to me, but I thought that maybe we were still friends. I was sad to hear that he was moving. He was the best friend I ever had.

The Lion's Story

By: Lorenzo Lucas

Long ago, on September 7, 1978, Lion was born. Lion was perfect in every way, and his motto was respect, responsibility, and safety. All Lion wanted was to get everybody he met to be kind. When Lion was old enough he built a school. He called it Jockey Hollow Middle School. He built it right next to his swamp, and only hired the best teachers and staff. He taught kids how to follow his motto, respect, responsibility, and safety. He also taught kids math, language arts, science, social studies, spanish, french and all the unified arts. Lion kept his school in perfect condition, and made sure everybody always tried to be considerate of others.

In February, 2019, School shut down due to COVID-19. When students and teachers began coming back to school, they noticed that Lion had disappeared, and nobody could figure out where he went. The staff was devastated to hear that Lion was missing, and wanted to honor him. Without the Pride of the Lion, the students seemed to have lost some of their own Lions Pride. It even appeared they lost a little of their kindness. Some said students interrupted teachers more than before. Students’ ability to “time manage” and prioritize seemed to take a step backward, and worst of all, some members of the student body were harming school property.

Over the past year or so there have been more and more reports of Lion sightings near the swamp. By all accounts it appears Lion is slowly but surely making his way back to his school- his home. If you want to honor Lion, you can just remember to show respect, responsibility and safety.

Jerry the Scary Snowman

Written by: J. Ryan O’Shea

Illustrated by: Joe Bender

Once upon a time, in the Northeast of the United States. There was a tiny village in up-state New York. They had just gotten 6 feet of snow! There has been no school for a week. The children were getting bored. They couldn’t go to school or even play outside. It was too cold and too much snow! Mayor Edward decided to build a bunch of snowmen in the town center. He wanted the children of the town to have fun with the snowmen. There was one snowman bigger than the others. He was 7 feet tall. Every snowman had a different scarf and top hat. The children created a game. The first snowman to fall over because of getting hit with snowballs, loses. The first day, we were normal. Only 1 snowman fell over. Overnight, there was a blood moon. Little did everyone know what they would wake up to.

The next morning, the children woke up circle-looking snow tracks in the snow. It led all over town. When the children went down to the snowmen, the snowman they had knocked over the previous day, was back up. They were all very puzzled. One child threw a snowball at the big snowman. All the children laughed. Suddenly, that kid got hit with a huge snowball.

“Hey! Who did that!” the boy said. Every child looked at the snowman in horror. The 7 foot snowman was holding a huge snowball and devilishly smiling at the children.

“My name…is Jerry! Jerry the Scary Snowman! I am sick of you throwing snowballs at me! And now…you’re going to pay!” Jerry said. Suddenly, Jerry started firing snowballs at all the children. One child took a snowball right to the head. That child fell flat on his face on the snow. All the children ran away in all different directions. Jerry stood his ground.

The next morning, all the children woke up to the sound of sirens. They went down to the town center and they were in shock. There were police officers and firefighters trying to fend back Jerry the Scary Snowman. The children were cheering on the first responders. Just as the people had Jerry caught, he practically exploded with anger. He rolled away as fast as he could.

“It’s OK, children. It’s OK!” Mayor Edward said. “We will find and capture that horrible monster. Please return to your homes.”

The next day was Christmas Eve. All the children were so excited that Christmas was just a day away. They were also scared. Where was Jerry? The children went down to the town center and what they saw was even more frightening than what they saw yesterday. They saw Jerry captured in a net made of metal. There was yelling and yelling.

“OK…OK!!!” Mayor Edward yelled. “Why are you doing this! Why!” “Because…I am sick of being hit with snowballs!! I HATE IT!!!!!” Jerry roared.

“But we were just trying to have fun!” one of the children said. “Yeah. We didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” another said. There was silence. Jerry’s facial expression changed to a smile.

“Thank you.” Jerry said. “Thank you…so much.” That night, the whole town gathered in the town center to drink hot coco and sing christmas carols. All the children were playing with Jerry. They were throwing snowballs at Jerry. Jerry was alright. He loved the children now.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!” Jerry said!

The End

'Twas the Night before Christmas (Covid Edition)

By Emily Clark

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all in the masks

No one seemed behind them, would Christmas even come?

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, it seems, who cares, would Santa Claus even dare?

The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of cleaning products danced in their heads.

And mama in her rubber gloves and I in my mask,

Had just settled our brains for a long cleaning task

When out on the lawn there arose such a big BANG!

I sprang from the bed to see what was clanging.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, gave a luster of saying that this would not go.

Shops, restaurants, malls, banks, and schools were now closed, and I wondered if this would ever happen again?

But to my eyes I saw a miniature masked man and eight masked reindeer,

Whistling and shouting by name.

Now Tide, Now Germ-X, Now Purell, and Downy! On Pine-Sol! On Lysol! On Dawn and Clorox! Now to the top of the wall to the top of the tree! Now dash away, dash away all!

Now Santa layed a hand on his mask, filling all the stockings and waved goodbye, saying:

“STAY HEALTHY AND SAFE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!”

The Haunted Church

by Emily Clark

Monroe, Connecticut, 1789

“I saw a ghost,” complained Captain Flynn, turning to Colonel Westport. “I saw a GHOST!”

“Nonsense,” said Westport, a twinkle in his eyes. “Ghosts aren’t real, hear me?” He tapped Flynn’s shoulder.

“It’s Sunday,” Westport said. “The bells of St. Peter’s are going to ring any second.”

“Okay,” said Flynn. “But I am not going. If there are ghosts in there, I can’t go.”

“But you have to go to church! Orders!” roared Westport. “If you don’t go, you’ll be put in jail. “

“I’m nervous abo-”

“About what?” asked Westport.

“Ghosts.”

“There’s no such-”

“Hush, Flynn.” said Westport.

“There’s no such thing as ghosts, Father,” said a voice. A small girl butted in. She was probably about four or five, had very curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and a torn dress.

“Alice,” said Flynn. “What are you doing here?” Alice came down to kiss her father. “Are we going to chur now?”

“Yes,” said Flynn. He grabbed his coat and hat, got Alice’s hat and coat, and went out the door.

As the carriage pulled to approach, Alice asked, “Who’s the ghost of, Reverend Abbott?”

Flynn frowned. “Shhh,” he said.

“Daddy, who’s Reverend Abbott?” Alice asked.

“Reverend Abbott was a former St. Peter’s minister who died in a fight with the lay reader. People say his ghost still lies there.”

Alice was shocked. “Why?” she asked.

Flynn ignored Alice. The coachman pulled up to the church, let Flynn and Alice out, and they saw something strange.

As they arrived, a mob of people were standing on the church lawn. There were shouts of “I saw a ghost,” and “I didn’t.”

A gray haired man with a mustache came out and went straight to Flynn. “I need a seat,” said Flynn, pulling Alice’s arm. “Church is canceled,” he said, leaning into Flynn’s face. “There’s a ghost in the basement.”

Alice began crying. A man soon came up and locked the door with a bunch of wooden boards. “People,” he said. “This church is off limits.”

“GO!” the man yelled. All of the people murmured as Flynn took Alice’s arm and turned to the carriage to go back home.

“Daddy,” Alice said. “Is Reverend Alden still in the basement?”

“Yes,” Flynn said. “And he’s back.”

Monroe, Connecticut, 2022

The bell rang at Masuk High School as a group of happy high schoolers screamed out of the building. One girl, Vanessa Oleson, was greeting her best friend Bridget Lewis, as they grabbed their backpacks and headed for the bus.

“Yo, Bridget,” said Vanessa, her teeth fluttering in her mouth, desperate to say hello.

“How are you doing?” asked Bridget. The two girls quickly hugged.

“Bridget,” said Vanessa. “I’m choose St. Peter’s for my research project, and I’m going to the church. Wanna come?”

“Uh, Bridgie, I’m not sure. Aren't there ghosts in there?” said Vanessa, her teeth began to clatter like the bones of a skeleton. “Can you still get into the church?”

“I think so,” said Bridget. “Let’s go to the bus!”

The two girls leaped to the bus and found a seat. Marco Mitchell, Masuk’s best basketball player and trickster, was sitting in the seat across from the girls.

“Yo,” said Marco. “Whaa’s up?”

“Nothin much,” said Bridget. “Well, Vanessa’s coming over to my house and we’re going to St. Peter’s to see the ghosts.”

“THE St. Peter’s?!” said Marco. He looked shocked. “Man, are ya sure you can go? It sounds spooky!” He raised his arms to scare the girls. Vanessa and Bridget leaped and squealed like a pig.

The bus stopped in front of one of the creepiest churches ever. “Is this St. Peter’s?” asked Vanessa. They walked up the creepy steps and took down the wooden boards.

Vanessa and Bridget stepped in, calling. “Hello?” they called.

The front lobby was a mess. Spider webs on the chandeliers, dust in the corner, and a floor that had not been mopped for years.

The girls turned around and walked into the sanctuary. It looked a lot like the lobby They stared at the broken and dingy stained glass window of religious figures and children.

“It seemed like they need a cleanup,” said Vanessa.

Soon, a loud sound came from the doors. It rattled the chandelier and the pews, and finally a white-dressed minister came up to the pulpit and started talking. More white figures appeared, one at the organ, one of a man dressed in an army uniform and a little girl, probably about four or five.

Vanessa and Bridget stood dumb for one moment. They screamed. “GHOSTS! AAAAHGGGHH!”

They ran out the door, far as their legs could carry, leaving their notebooks and backpacks behind.

They ran all the way to Vanessa’s house and her mom was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner.

“Hi, Vanessa,” said her mom. “Hi, Bridget.”

“Why do you look so scared?”

“Um,” said the girls, scared. “We saw ghosts.”

After that, Vanessa, Bridget, and her mom began to giggle.

Summer Poem:

Oh hello summer,

With your cherished smiles,

With your warm weather,

With your endless fun,

With your old friends,

With your new experiences,

With your bright skies,

With your new opportunities,

With your ever-lasting time,

With your colorful beginnings,

And your exciting endings.

~Ishani Tyagi

Valentines Day

A heart has two sides, like us.

A chocolate has a hard shell, that won’t let you in, but then they have a soft and sweet center, like us.

A card has to be opened in order to see the kind message inside of it, like us.

A rose has many layers, like us.

Cupid has a nice bow, but it’s arrows can hurt, like us.

A balloon seems strong, but it can pop very easily, like us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Poetry of Ishani Tyagi

Look

Look beyond those walls,

Shielding you from the light.

Look beyond the people,

Who don’t want you to fight.

Look beyond those rules,

The boundaries that kept you wondering.

Look beyond the doubt,

And keep questioning.

Look far out,

So you know where you are headed.

Look at the path ahead of you,

And give yourself some credit.

Look at the smiles,

Not the sad faces.

Look at the challenges,

And watch as your heart races.

And lastly,

Just look.

A Collection of Secrets

A collection of secrets,

Everyone has.

A collection of secrets,

Everyone hides.

A collection of secrets,

No one understands.

But you,

Lock them up,

Throw away the key.

No one else should see them but me.

A collection of secrets.

Everyone puts on their shoulders.

Praying that they won’t slip away.

Because my collection of secrets,

Belongs to me.

Lock them up.

Throw away the key.

No one else should see them,

But me.

The Star of Inspiration

Inspiration is like a star,

Shining bright on the minds that want to learn,

Sometimes it dies down,

And other times,

It supernovas.

Sometimes,

You ignore it.

And other times,

You embrace it.

Everyone has their own star.

And it shines in many different ways.

But to get to it’s point of greatness,

You need to train it,

You need to harness its strengths,

and strengthen its weaknesses.

Let your star shine.

Your Mark

The pen moves swiftly across the paper,

leaving black traces following it.

The ink flows through the paper,

leaving permanent marks no one can erase.

Not even time.

Time heals everything.

Wounds, sadness, guilt,

But not your mark.

The mark you make on the world is yours to decide,

But it is other’s decision on when to forget about it.

So you have to make your mark in bold ink,

In order for it not to be erased.

These poems and more can be found written in a published kindle book, titled Me and My Musings.

Check it out!

2021’s Chance

I listened as the people cheered, “60, 59, 58, 57…”

The flashing lights on the board caught my attention, and I found myself staring at them unknowingly, until my mother exclaimed behind me, “30!”

I woke from my trance, and quickly joined in the counting.

The people’s voices were muffled by the masks, but that just made them want to shout louder.

This year had been a difficult year; we all could agree on that.

I remembered the day that I welcomed 2020 with wide open arms. I thought it would be a new beginning, a new chapter in my life, and most importantly, a new chance. And it was. It was a chance for everyone to prove that they are strong, that they are resilient, and that they are brave.

“20!”

The hardest part of 2020 was having to accept that life was like this now, and I never really did. No one did. No one got to the hard part.

Because we didn’t need to.

“10!”

We understood that we could get through this, we understood that we could do it.

So we never accepted it.

“5!”

The voices all turned to a whisper, just for a moment. Just for a moment I could hear the excitement and anticipation in their voices.

“4, 3, 2, 1. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”

The ball dropped.

The people smiled.

The city exploded into a wave of colors, lighting the way for the new year.

This was my new beginning, my new chapter, and most importantly, my chance.

This year would be a difficult year, we could all agree on that. But I would welcome it with wide open arms.

~Ishani Tyagi

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