The thick fog hung over the clearing, cold and heavy. The forest was unnaturally quiet- no birds, no bees, no animals. This is the place. Aurora clutched her dagger tighter, so tight that her knuckles turned white. Peering through the veil of the mist, she saw three figures, cackling over a green fire. The flames were tall as the trees, not even fazed by the white cloud of fog. Only one creature in all of Jade Kingdom could make flames like that. Sirens. They were hunched ugly things with hearts black as their faces. But their strength lay not in their ruthlessness- no, the source of their power came from their voices. So sweet, so enchanting… They could sway anyone to their will. Fighting them was like fighting a dragon- it was a fight with the odds firmly against you. No. Aurora thought. Stay hidden. Sneak away. Don’t move a muscle. Then, the oldest and ugliest hag spotted her. Her mouth curled upward into a smile. A gruesome sight it was: toothless gums with nothing but two, long, bloodied fangs. “Come, Princess,” she sweetly. “Come and join our feast.” Aurora stared at her defiantly. She had a feeling that ‘join us for a feast’ really meant ‘become a feast,’ which was something one generally wants to avoid. Keep them distracted. Make them fight among themselves. Then run. The siren laughed- a strangely entrancing sound. For a split second, Aurora felt a desire to obey the siren’s every wish. Snap out of it, idiot! she thought. Don’t fall for their traps. She returned the smile. “Sorry to disappoint you,” she said, “But I have a prior engagement.” Then she ran. She dodged tree roots and oozing mud. She could hear the sirens closing in. Faster, she thought. Faster! She kept running. Then she saw it. A tiny opening. A ray of sunshine. If only she could get there… Throwing her dagger behind her, she bolted for the ting yellow beam. A scream told her she had hit her target. One down, two to go, she thought. But no time to celebrate. The other two were angry, getting closer. She reached the spot of sunlight. Tearing apart the brambles that covered it, she crawled into the sunlight. The sirens’ wails faded into the distance. Safe… she thought, for now.

There’s more- want to have a go at our Historical Fiction Short Story Contest? Learn more here.

Papa Kevin, grandparent of three boys, all under 5 years old missed playing with his grandkids. And Kevin only lived a third of a mile away. But then he came up with a great idea that shotputted him to #1 on the awesome grandparents list. The family was all experiencing extreme cabin fever until they got a call with instructions to go onto the front porch. The three kids were super excited when they spotted a drone coming their way, with what was that? The drone then dropped a box of donuts into the oldest child's waiting arms. The kids were excited to eat the donuts, and the parents were happy for the distraction.

Watch this video to learn more.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump held a press conference with the media around the current Coronavirus pandemic. While being interviewed, Trump Stated “I see the disinfectant where it knocks it[coronavirus] out in a minute — one minute — and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?” He continued to say “Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.” After his press conference, people in different parts of the United States started ingesting disinfectants in hopes of curing and protecting themselves and their families. Items people ingested included bleach, tide pods, and hand sanitizer. Experts soon alerted the public that while Bleach may kill microbes and other and such, it also can kill humans. Ingesting disinfectant is proven to be dangerous, and officials are still encouraging people not to ingest antibacterial and disinfectant substances. Trump also suggested that people expose themselves to UV rays, convinced that heat kills the virus. Experts have warned that exposure to UV rays could have horrible consequences, and it is ill advised to ingest disinfectant or to expose yourself to harmful UV rays.

To our readers: we urge you- don’t be convinced by fake news and please do not ingest anything not explicitly intended for swallowing. Also avoid UV exposure: it is extremely harmful and can hurt you badly.

• Read

Read that book on your shelf that’s been there since the beginning of time. Who knows? Maybe it’s good.

• Take a virtual museum tour

Is there a museum you’ve always been dying to visit? Many museums now offer virtual tours on their websites or on YouTube. It’s not the same as going in person, but it’s better than being bored!

• Go for a run

But, please, BE SAFE. Wear a mask, keep 6 feet of distance from anyone you meet, and wash your hands afterward.

• Play popular Google Doodles!

Google has brought back 10 of its most popular Google Doodles, including Loteria, Halloween 2016, and Cricket!

• Watch sports reruns

With professional sports postponed and canceled, sports channels are showing famous games and documentaries for free - check that out!

• Play Coronavirus Ninja

The world depends on you...Don’t let the virus kill you!

• Learn a language

Is there a language you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t had the time for? There are many apps to help you learn a new language. Try it out!

• Look at pictures of puppies.

• Play board games

No, not bored-games. Board games. You can play Pictionary, Scrabble, Sorry, Monopoly, or if those aren’t good enough for you, there are plenty of fun board games for sale on Amazon.

• Stop procrastinating and do your income taxes.

Wait a minute. We’re kids. We don’t have income taxes. Oh well. You can still tell your parents.

• Learn your tongue-twisters.

Never ever beaver be tongue twisted again. Practice so that the next time you see your friends, so next you won’t get burned by the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

• Practice typing

What’s your WPM? Believe it or not, there are typing courses you can take to be able to type faster. Can you top 100 words per minute?

• Binge watch

Make full use of your Netflix or Hulu subscription and watch all your favorite shows all the way back to season one. Or, get a free trial and watch everything for free! It’s not like there’s much else to do. Oh wait, I just made you a whole list.

• Read this article

Hmm, I guess you did that, too.

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Ben Behnken will fly to the ISS from American soil for the first time since 2011 on May 27 from the Kennedy Space Center. They will be flying SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which is a much cheaper replacement for the Russian Soyuz, which cost as much as $86 million per seat. This is the first time that the Crew Dragon will be making a manned flight. The Crew Dragon is the successor of the space shuttle, the winged spacecraft that is still what most people see when talking about space vehicles. It is far more technologically advanced, using touch screens and a largely autopilot system, rather than a multitude of switches and buttons. Doug Hurley, mentioned above, was also on the last space shuttle flight as well. The astronauts could stay in space for as long as 119 days- approximately two-thirds of a year.

Source: CNN 10 May 7

The 2020 NFL Draft began on the 23rd of April and ended on the 25th, and was the start of a new decade of choices. While no fans attended, it was still a thriller to watch. Well, for some people. Others had to experience poor choices by their team. That's why we are going over the winners and losers of the NFL Draft. You may have doubted your team from the beginning, or you may not watch football altogether. But if you do watch football, then get ready for some interesting results.

WINNER: Henry Ruggs, Las Vegas Raiders (Former Oakland Raiders)

The Raiders have left Oakland, and plan to move to Las Vegas during the 2020-2021 season. Not only do they get a new stadium, but also a new rising star in Henry Ruggs, who played WR for Alabama Crimson Tide. They finally have a good WR, and this choice may boost their offense for seasons to come.

LOSER: Michael Gallup, WR, Dallas Cowboys

With the 17th pick, the Cowboys drafted a new WR, CeeDee Lamb. This was an unnecessary move by the Cowboys, as they had almost no reason to draft a WR. This brought down the ratings on Michael Gallup, who was then ranked into third on the depth chart after a stunning season.

WINNER: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Chiefs

Many people, including Anthony Reid and myself, think that Edwards-Helaire could be an amazing addition to an already incredible team. When the Chiefs picked him at #32, a ton of fans believed that the team will now be an even better championship contender.

LOSER: Marlon Mack, RB, Colts

While Jonathon Taylor could be a great addition to the Colts, it brings down the ratings on Marlon Mack, who had an incredible season last year. Marlon Mack isn’t ultimately gone, it’s just that he won’t be playing much at all, which could really damage his skill. Coming into the draft, he was a good player. But that rating might go away now.

Now, I should note that we all have our different opinions on this topic. But the people who did the research could find out which prospects/registered players won, and which ones lost.

1. UFC

The UFC is the first sport scheduled to return on May 9th. If all goes well, games will be held without spectators and televised.

2. NASCAR

NASCAR is set to return on May 17th at Darlington. If held, it will be televised on FOX. Up to now, racers have been participating in virtual races(leading to one hilarious scenario where a daughter unplugged her father’s game set mid-race).

3. NFL

Being the only sport whose schedule was unchanged by the pandemic, the NFL held its draft on schedule in April on TV, and many are hoping that its season will begin without delay on September 10th.

4. Tennis

The French Open was moved from its usual May date to Sept. 20. Wimbledon, scheduled to start in late June, was canceled for the first time since World War II. The US Open, scheduled for Aug. 31 to Sept. 13, is still on, although organizers said they were considering all options.

5. The Olympics

The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics are no more. They are now the 2021 Summer Olympics. :(

6. Everything else

Unfortunately, all other sports are indefinitely postponed, some even having canceled their seasons. However, ESPN is streaming South Korean baseball games, which has started its season without fans.

Source: New York Times article Where the Major Sports Stand Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic by Victor Mather and Joe Ward

In the past few weeks there have been many things that have been canceled or postponed. Prom dates, important games, concerts, and even weddings. But a main thing that we all have been missing is baseball. The opening game day pitch was recently pushed back to March 26. Fans are devastated. The crack of the bat and the run of the bases will not be happening for another month. But kids and parents all over the world have been coping with not being able to play….and to watch. Kids have been playing baseball in their backyard, and putting on mini games with their family. Some people say that this shelter in place has brought their family closer together.

Dear Everything News,

I just can’t stay organized! I forget assignments, miss due dates, join Zoom Calls an hour late…

What can I do?

Sincerely,

Disorganized

Dear Disorganized,

We get it. It’s not easy to keep track of a bunch of work. But it’s always a good idea to make a schedule. If you think that you can get yourself to sit down to work each day, a schedule like this should work- just make a copy of the document linked above and spread out your work for each day. But if you feel like that’s not enough, I suggest making a more rigorous schedule- maybe with times set out for each activity. You could talk to a parent or other adult for help enforcing it.

Hope this was helpful,

The Tiger Times Advice Column Team

Have any suggestions for the advice column? Tell us here.

If you can get the following questions right, you must literally have a photographic memory! (Or you’re looking the answers up, but, hey, no hard feelings.)

Question 1: Select the option that is the first 37 digits of pi.

1. 3.14159265358979323846264331047250288

2. 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288

3. 3.14159260000000000000000338327950288

4. 3.14000037667676767676767876767950288

Question 2: Which of the following are capital cities of countries? Select all that apply.

1. Mumbai

2. Novosibirsk

3. Debrecen

4. Addis Ababa OR Addis Abeba

5. Warsaw

Question 3: In the famous equation E=mc2, c2refers to which of the following?

1. The amount of energy squared

2. The speed of light

3. None of the above

Question 4: What does "Desideratum" mean?

1. Something needed or wanted

2. A perfect place

3. Something awful

Question 5: Who wrote the poem "The Owl and The Pussycat"?

1. Edward Lear

2. Charles Dickens

3. Anonymous- nobody knows

Question 6: How do you calculate density?

1. p=m/V

2. a*bc/V

3. m=p/B

Question 7: Which of the following is the correct name for a 130-sided polygon? Select all that apply.

1. Triskaidecagon

2. Tridecagon

3. Treidecagon

Question 8: Who invented the lightbulb? Select all that apply.

1. Thomas Edison

2. James Bowman Lindsay

3. Joseph Swan

4. Alexander Lodygin

5. Mathew Evans

6. Hiram Maxim

7. Alessandro Cruto

8. J.P. Morgan

Go here to submit your answers and get your score! If you do unnaturally well, you may be featured on our leaderboard. (Don’t get your hopes up- this is truly impossible.)

1. Run one mile and receive $1,000

2. Run 5 miles and gain the power to fly for an hour

1. Stumble upon a lifetime supply of gloves, sanitizer, and masks

2. End the pandemic for the world but be the last person to get the virus

1. Have school stay closed for the rest of the calendar year

2. Have school open during summer

1. Be followed by a swarm of bloodthirsty mosquitoes wherever you go

2. Live alone for a month in a whale's stomach (assume you survive it)

1. Have a bird named after you

2. Have a tree named after you

Tell us your answers and share ‘Would you rather’ questions- here.

Question 1: What would you use if you were lost in a city?

1. Your own mind

2. A map

3. A compass

4. Your nose

Question 2: If you were offered the below four things but you could only take one, which would you choose?

1. A business of your own

2. A million dollars

3. A chance to be on any sports team you want

4. Candy

Question 3: What is your favorite kind of music?

1. Classical

2. Jazz

3. Pop

4. Hip Hop

Question 4: What is your favorite color?

1. Blue

2. Yellow

3. Green

4. None of the above

Question 5: How calm and composed would you say you are?

1. Somewhat true

2. Absolutely

3. Sometimes, but I am a little tense

4. No way!

If you chose mostly As then you are a:

Chimpanzee!

You are very smart and make cool and composed decisions.

If you chose mostly Bs then you are a:

Dolphin!

You are very logical, and make sure to think before you act.

If you chose mostly Cs then you are a:

Fox!

You have great battle instincts and are awesome at sports and games.

If you chose mostly Ds then you are a:

Horse!

You are very noble and loveable. You'll do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love.