There once was a young girl named Abby who loved to camp. It was her favorite thing to do. During her adventures, everything was usually normal - nothing out of the ordinary. This time, however,  something breathtaking happened. It all started when the bright orange fire glowed in the dark night. There were colorful lights hanging on the camper that was parked just above Abby on a hill. There were crackling sounds from the fire, and faint hoots from a nearby owl. Calming sounds of the crickets chirping by beating their wings together. The green grass swiftly blew under the picnic bench, while Abby happily ate smores, under the night sky. She looked up and saw stars. Abby loved the way they shimmered against her eyes. When looking up at the sky, Abby not only saw stars, but planets too. Abby could also spot the big dipper through the green leaves from the tree above.

Abby saw something bright falling fast from the sky. She instantly knew it was a shooting star, so she closed her eyes and made a wish.

“I wish…. I wish I could have an animal to snuggle with and share lots of memories with,” Abbt whispered.

By the time Abby was finished, the star disappeared just beyond the horizon. She sunk back down in her chair, and kept her eyes looking at the sky. All of the sudden, a bright blinding light flashed before her. Abby still looked at the sky in shock, until she felt something warm, licking her on the cheek. She immediately looked down and saw an animal in front of her, a gryphon. The whimsical, dreamy creature just stared at her curiously. So… Abby stared back. Then, the animal followed her to her trailer. In the trailer, Abby taught the Gryphon about the stars and how to wish. Slowly, they started becoming friends. Abby now knew - her wish came true.

Lily, 6th Grade, Embarks On Adventure

Follow Lily and her faithful dog, Ochre, through a portal to a world that needs their help.

Lily, sixth grade girl who spends three hours a day in the library, thinks her library would be perfect if it wasn’t for Mrs. Ivory, the librarian who would do anything to punish Lily. Lily’s best friend is her dog, Ochre a Burmese Mountain Dog who follows her everywhere. One day while longing for an adventure, Lily steals a key lying on Mrs. Ivory’s desk. She tries all the keyholes around the library and then finally, a door labeled “RESTRICTED” opens to a hallway of dark, dusty shelves filled halfway with books. On one particular shelf, a book catches her eye. It is not dusty, unlike the others on the shelf. Before she can investigate, footsteps echo nearby and a flashlight appears around the corner.

“Why are you working so late today, Mrs. Ivory? Maybe trying to clean up, this place is indeed super dusty.”

While the investigator was saying all this, Lily was tiptoeing towards the door. Her backpack was thumping on her back and she hoped…

Slam! Lily didn’t see it coming, she felt a jolt of panic as she frantically burrowed herself beneath the books.

A lush, fantastical forest greeted Lily as she opened her eyes. Lily lifted herself up despite the pain she felt from the collision. The air here smelled like honey. She could hear a waterfall in the distance…or was it just the wind? The grass here had dapples of teal on it. Wait a minute, those were flowers! A nearby tree full of interesting fruits caught her eye.

She was reaching for the fruit when…”Stop! You are not to pick those without permission!”

These are like apples, she realized. The speaker is a girl with hazel colored eyes. She wore a cloak made out of leaves.

“Give me that,” she said, and snatched it out of Lily’s hand, “What brings you to the land of Glow Worm Thicket?”

“W-what?” Lily stammered.

“Yeah Hazel! She has literally no idea what you are saying!” a girl with similar features says.

“I know, Lynx. Why do you always have to be so annoying? Where’s Sundew?” Hazel demanded.

Meanwhile, Lily was in the middle of the clearing, befuddled. That was when she noticed that book in her lap. She flipped to the middle to find an interesting page to read. That was when she noticed that the pages were blank. The title was gone too. What was the point of keeping a boring blank book? She chucked it at one of the nearby bushes.

The bushes scowled. Or rather, a scowling teenager emerged from the bushes and threw the book back at Lily.

“What now?” Sundew snapped, “Oh, I bet it’s one of the Conquerors’ allies. Who are you anyway?”

“Me? I just got teleported into this strange world and I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Do you have any idea what this place is or who you are and what this type of plant…?” Lily replied.

“Stop. Asking. Questions,” interrupted Sundew, really annoyed, “ First of all, you are sure you don’t have anything to do with them?”

“Yeah, nothing - absolutely no idea what you are talking about,” Lily answered, “Can…”

“Lynx, ask Sora if she’s available. Sora, now,” ordered Sundew.

“You. Get up, we’re walking now. I only have three simple rules. First, follow us, you are not allowed to walk anywhere you like. Second, no talking, I especially hate hearing you yap. Third, DO NOT PICK OR TOUCH ANYTHING YOU SEE!” hollered Sundew, 

making everyone jump.

Part 2

Sora was apparently a tall figure with an air of authority about her. She glanced at the group, wiped her eyebrow and sighed.

“Sundew, Hazel and Lynx - all here at once? What is going on today? And why do you have this innocent little girl with you?”

With that, Lily explained her entire story from the beginning. Sora raised her eyebrows a couple of times but at the end, she was quite convinced that Lily was no threat to her land.

“Can someone tell me who the Conquerors are?” asked Lily.

“They are a group of people who love to destroy. They have gathered numerous followers and are threatening our forest along with many others. We are very anxious because just a few days ago, one of our neighboring tribes surrendered to them and we are in danger of going to war. We are a peaceful tribe,” Sora explained sorrowfully.

Suddenly, an explosion sounded in the distance.

“Hazel, can you go get the weaponry? Sundew, you gather all of the good warriors. Lynx, you gather the rest of the tribe - tell them to meet me here in the cave. I’ll go prepare the resources and supplies,” directed Sora.

“What about me?” asked Lily.

“Sadly, you have to leave. We must gather our defense and send Glow Worm Thicket into lockdown. At dawn, we must be ready to defend against the Conquerors and their little army” Sora explained.

“But…” Lily cried.

“No. If I lose this forest today, my friends, family and tribe may never have a future.” Sora said.

There was no point in arguing. Lily put on her backpack, signaled to Ochre for him to follow. But first, she needed to know where to go. She sat down and opened her bag. There was the book, some beef jerky, dried mango, three packs of juice, homemade dog treats, her water bottle and her jacket.

“Ochre, you want some food?” she shook the dog treat in the air.

Ochre leapt up into the air and clasped it in his mouth. Lily poured some water into his mouth and he wagged his tail happily. She packed her bag and creeped into the underbrush. She was considering finding a soft spot to rest for the night when a cozy little cottage caught her eye.

Lily knocked on the door once and waited for a reply. Surprisingly, the old man that opened the door was really nice and he said that his name was Sorrel. He offered Lily some dinner and a room to rest in for the night - but Lily decided to sleep in the living room with Ochre on her lap.

“Oh they’re going to war? I’m surprised, I thought I taught my granddaughter well enough,” asked Sorrel thoughtfully.

They ate a meal of traditional sage, basil and lavender stew, garlic bread, chestnut cake and some ginger tea.

That night, Sorrel offered to teach her how to make the traditional stew.

“Wow, this stew is much better than Sora’s best stew!” exclaimed Sorrel, tasting it.

“Do you have a map I could use?” said Lily.

“Maps? Plenty. Take them all you like,” he replied, gesturing to the closet.

The following morning at dawn, Lily bade him farewell and set off toward the river that Sora mentioned.

Upon the arrival of the Conquerors, Lily asked one question that changed the history of this world.

“Hey, guys, you want some stew?” Lily asked.

“You made the traditional stew! Wow, it looks better than the stews I make,” chuckled Sora.

Lily winked and placed the lilac colored stew in the middle of the clearing, and all the 

“Ooh, this looks good, let’s try it,” said one Conqueror, tasting the stew.

As soon as his eyebrows went up, the others took turns and ate it too, spoonful by spoonful until the giant pot was empty.

“You know what? Let’s stop causing climate change, this stew is so good!” cried one Conqueror.

“You're right. How about we have a feast or party every year?” asked another.

From that day on, they always had a holiday called, “The Day When People Never Starve”, where the two groups would eat and celebrate a festival to keep the peace.

A Story About Being Introduced to the Night Sky

Hidden Wonders in the Ocean and Sky

The moonlight shined down on my back as I waded through the water. I glanced at the glowing luminescence and swam towards my sister.

“You good, Lyla?” I asked, the waves had knocked her off her feet.

My 6 year old sister stared up at me with her innocent eyes and smiled a gleeful smile for a moment. She proceeded to splash around in the waves as if nothing happened.

“What is this and why are we here?” Lyla asked shyly.

“Well these are dinoflagellates, a type of plankton,” I replied, scooping up a handful of water.

“Dinoblahlitates? Dinoflahtellates!” she exclaimed triumphantly, trying it out on her tongue for the first time, “Why are we here then?”

“We’re here to see a meteor shower, remember?” I continued, “The debris left behind by Halley's comet.”

“Pfffft! Stars and comets are boring!” exclaimed Lyla.

“Trust me, they are much more than you think,” I said with a wink.

An hour later, the meteor shower finally came into view. The eerie glow illuminated the sky and patterns of what seemed to be small sardines swam quickly in the water but it was only a reflection of the sky.

“What is that?” Lyla exclaimed.

“It’s the meteor shower that I was talking about,” I replied.

“Oh, it’s really beautiful,” she said, still looking at the sky in wonder.

It was a beautiful day and young Ella was sitting in her room reading a book about animals. Ella was ten years old and loved to read, but she loved animals even more and wanted to be a vet when she grew up. Ella was in the middle of an interesting passage about rabbits when she heard a knock on her door and her mom yelled, “Ella, go outside you have been cooped up in your room for too long!”

“Fine,” Ella groaned.

“Don’t give me an attitude young lady and no you can’t bring your book outside!” Ella’s mom retorted just as Ella was about to grab her book.

“She knows me too well,” Ella thought sadly.

Ella changed into some blue overalls and a white shirt with a rabbit on the pocket. She opened her window and climbed out the windowsill of her first story house instead of using the door. Ella was a shy, quiet girl but very adventurous and never did things by the rules when she was alone. As her red sneakered feet hit the soft dirt she gasped, as she saw the beautiful pine tree forest right in front of her. She really hadn’t been outside much and this proved it.

Ella walked into the forest and took the off-trail, running happily along the path. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shimmer in the bushes. She ran toward it as fast as she could and came across a broken nest as big as a small cottage! Inside the nest was a small turquoise and gold egg sitting all alone. Ella tried calling out to anyone who might own the egg but there was no response, only silence. Ella knew a lot about animals and knew that she couldn’t leave that poor egg in the forest all alone. Ella called out once more and hearing nothing gingerly picked up the egg, cradling it in her arms. As the sun set, Ella was already back in her room reading again, the egg hidden in her closet.

Every day Ella checked on the egg, it was normal for a week but one day after she had come home from school she heard something.

“Crack, Crack!”

Ella raced to the closet and almost threw the door off its hinges in excitement when she saw a baby green and silver dragon emerging from the egg.

“AHHHHH!” Ella screamed in excitement and terror.

Ella’s parents burst into the room and stared at the dragon in front of them. They exchanged a look and calmed Ella down quickly.

“Honey, we have something to tell you,” Ella’s dad said.

“We are secretly magical creature caretakers, but we retired long ago,” Ella’s mom added.

Ella was speechless as she learned she was officially a magical creature caretaker and almost screamed in excitement when she learned that her small dragon she hatched was now her familiar.

“You will go to caretaker school to learn more,” “It’s the same one where me and your mom met!” her dad said with a dreamy look in his eyes.

The next day Ella packed her bags with clothes, stationary and a small bag of her favorite candy. After saying a long and sappy goodbye to her parents she hopped on a giant flying squirrel and flew to Caretaker Preparatory.

~5 years later~

Ella smiled as she posed for her parents’ camera holding her graduation diploma. Cinder saton her shoulder glaring at the camera and spit fire out of his mouth for show. Ella had greatly enjoyed her time at Caretaker Preparatory. She had made a new friend named Anna, and they had a lot of fun together. They had taken the same classes, decorated each other’s lockers, celebrated each other’s birthdays, and even shared a dorm room.

“Ella get over here!” Anna yelled

Ella rushed over and gave Anna a hug. Cinder growled at Ember, Anna’s red and gold dragon.

“What are you going to do now that we’ve graduated?” Anna asked.

Ella shrugged and stared off into the distance sadly.

“My parents want me to go to a special college to learn more,” Ella said almost in tears.

“Noo,” Anna whined “I wanted to start a business together!”

“Me too!” Ella said back.

Anna and Ella started to walk over to their dorm to finish packing up. Anna started to pack when suddenly she saw something on Ellas desk.

“Ella, did you forget this?” Anna asked as she picked up a slip of paper and handed it to Ella. On it were the words “Ella, come find me at the castle in England. I have something of the utmost urgency to show you” signed by your twin sister, Princess Gemma.

To be continued……..

Nov. 17, Late Night.

The sea thrashes back and forth like a violent monster. The clouds are the color of charcoal and enveloping the ship. Wind whips the sails back and forth, threatening to tear them off the mast. Rain falls in torrents, slapping the deck with a frightful force. Lightning flashes through the sky, temporarily lighting the scene before thrusting it back into darkness. Nothing can be heard over the sound of the storm. The crew hides underdecks in order to not be thrown off the ship. Strong  winds carry the boat far off course. Nothing can be done until the storm passes.

Nov. 18, Late Afternoon.

The sea is calm. A light wind blows through our sails, and the stars are peeking through the dark clouds. We are off course, and  it is hard to pinpoint our direction. We are traveling slowly, about 15 knots. The crew is recovering, and spirit is down. We cannot continue with morale this low, we must find our way back on course.

Nov. 18, Sunset.

Sunset has finally come. With our new knowledge of the cardinal directions, we will soon be able to find our way home. The appearance of the stars is a blessing. To stay on track, all we need to do is follow the constellations to the east. We are saved.

Nov. 21, Midday.

We have been sailing in this direction, and should soon come to port in Germany.

Nov. 22, Early Morning.

We have reached the docks. All our cargo has been delivered, and we sit safely in the harbors. If not for the stars, we would have all been lost. Our next voyage will take us back to Spain, hopefully with better luck avoiding storms.

“We travel, not to escape life. But for life not to escape us.” 

Jenna was a highly adventurous individual who often dreamed of traveling to new and exciting places. During the scorching summers in Connecticut, she attended a survival camp in Turtle Cove. Jenna had become very familiar with the campground and its surroundings. On the final day, Jenna and her group embarked on a hike through the mountains of Eagle Range, but Jenna became separated from her group. Rather than feeling frightened, she saw this as an opportunity to explore. While navigating the muddy terrain of Crocodile Swamp, she stumbled upon an old and weathered building. Intrigued by her discovery, Jenna approached the building and was surprised to see a silhouette of a doorway illuminated by a radiant rainbow hue.

As she stepped through the doorway, she was greeted by warm, sparkling winds and a breathtaking landscape. In front of her stretched a vibrant grass field with an array of boldly-colored flowers, while to the east lay a glistening ocean where the winds were stained with a salty aroma. In the west, a majestic golden mountain range towered above her, creating a sparkling dust, carried by the warm winds from beyond the mountains. In the distance, a magnificent castle with bricks white as snow and piers sharper than knives stood surrounded by a crystal clear moat. 

The scenery was truly breathtaking, but Jenna's curiosity lay with the creatures that inhabited the region. Pegasus and unicorns basked in the warm rays, their pristine fur coats gleaming brightly. Mermaids swam joyfully, their tails resembling delicate stained glass. A shadow fell upon the castle as a massive dragon emerged, peering at Jenna before retreating to its resting place. The dragon's reptile-like skin was dyed with a dark-red tint, adorned with black spikes, and its enormous wings lay tucked comfortably into its body. Through the clouds around the mountain, Jenna spotted the figures of baby gryphons dancing freely among the mountain's ridges.

Upon crossing the threshold, Jenna was immediately encapsulated by a joyful emotion. She felt as if a happy spirit had embodied her as she crossed. However, her experience was suddenly cut short as she blacked out upon entering the doorway. Jenna awoke in her cold and creaky bunk bed in the camp cabin, realizing that the enchanting world she had witnessed was merely a figment of her imagination. Determined to find the mysterious doorway again, Jenna searched for it during her hike to Eagle Range but was unable to escape the supervision of her group. As the school bus announced its arrival with a cloud of exhaust; the campers eagerly lined up to go home. Jenna boarded the bus feeling disheartened, unable to prove the reality of the world she had seen. As the bus began to move, Jenna caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a pegasus flying out of the corner of her eye, only for it to vanish when she turned her head.

A story about a curious, young gryphon

There once was a brave gryphon, his name was Star. Star always wondered what he was named after. Then, on a clear, shining night, Star saw something different, something he had never seen before. It was a bright blur of light falling from the sky. Star ran to the tallest hill he could see, gazed up at the sky and saw the bright light. The illumination neared him, and he backed away. Then, he ran back to his house and found his mom also admiring the bright thing.

“Mom, do you know what that is?” Star said with wonder.

“It’s a shooting star.”  she replied.

“Do you know where it came from?” asked Star.

“It comes from just above us in the night sky.” she said, looking up.

Star and his family lived on an orange and purple planet called The Planet. There were many orchards of oranges on The Planet. They slept in a big, smooth, purple circle they called a hover.They weren't the only ones outside of their hovers. Everyone admired the shooting star. Suddenly, Star felt like the shooting star was calling to him. He wondered if the shooting star had to do with him. He wanted to get an even closer look, but that would mean jumping off the planet. There was a rule on The Planet that didn’t allow any gryphons to leave. Star didn’t know why they made that rule, and he had never broken a rule before. He paced back and forth for some time, but then made a decision. He thought no one should control his destiny. Star decided whatever happened would be worth getting a better view of the star. Star braced himself, and without much preparation, leapt off the planet. As he jumped it seemed as if the stars were moving around making space for his destiny to be accomplished. Then, he landed on another large planet that was green and blue, amazed by the scene before his eyes. Tall creatures without wings, a blue substance contained in see through bottles, and small creatures on leashes sniffing green leaves. Star, in awe, and taking in the whole scene, realized he was rewriting the stars of his own destiny.

For a big-headed ant colony that lived on someone’s front porch, it was a busy day. Many new major ants were emerging from their pupal stage. One of them, named Potato, began to move his legs for the first time. Potato really liked food—because it was the only thing he knew about.

Just as Potato got to his feet, the whole nest started to shake. A giant hole opened up above them! Ants swarmed outside to defend their home. Two soldiers, Door and Kevin, hurriedly carried Potato away from the chaos—majors were too important to lose.

But before they could get far, the ground trembled again. A massive napkin swooped down, scooping them up! The ants tumbled through the air and landed in a trash can with a loud crash. Potato hit the side of the napkin, tearing it.

“RUN!” yelled Kevin as he scrambled toward the edge.

The others followed until they reached a tall wall. Turning back, they spotted a crack near the base.

“Is there food in the crack?” asked Potato eagerly.

“Yes! Let’s go!” replied Kevin, hoping to motivate him.

The ants squeezed through the crack into the wall. Inside, it was dark and dusty. Kevin led the way—and bumped straight into a dust mite.

“AAAHH!” he screamed.

“Is that the food?” said Potato, squashing the mite without hesitation.

Door sighed. “Let’s just keep walking.”

After a few minutes, Kevin spotted a faint light ahead. But before they could reach it, hundreds of dust mites swarmed around them, leaping onto Door.

“AHH! RUN!” Door shouted.

Potato sprinted toward the light while Kevin tried to save Door, but there were too many. Door shouted for him to go. By the time Kevin broke free, Door was gone. Covered in dust and grief, Kevin raced toward the light.

Outside the crack, he found Potato staring across the porch.

“Look! I found my home!” Potato said excitedly, pointing to their colony. “They look so happy—they’re dancing!”

Kevin squinted. “They’re not dancing—they’re fighting! That’s a war!”

“Potato, you have to help them!” Kevin urged.

Potato frowned. “Is there food?”

Kevin sighed. “No food.”

Still, Potato ran toward the battle. “Hello! I want food!” he shouted to the nearest ant.

A strange ant named Bob grinned. “Come with me—I have food.”

Potato followed him straight into the enemy nest. Inside, the enemy ants tried to brainwash him with pheromones. But when no food appeared, Potato grew angry and stormed deeper into the tunnels. Frustrated, he slammed his body against the walls, causing part of the nest to collapse. Acting fast, Potato escaped through a gap and burst outside—into chaos.

Flames raged across the porch. Giant humans poured water from above.

“POTATO! RUN!” shouted Kevin from afar.

Potato didn’t hesitate. He grabbed a fallen larva and ran with the others. Together, they fled and found safety near a parked firetruck. There, the ants began to rebuild their home.

For the first time, Potato wasn’t thinking about food. He was thinking about possibility.

“I don’t just want to eat,” he said softly. “I want to explore.”

Kevin smiled. “Then maybe you’ve rewritten your stars, Potato.”

And from that day on, Potato was no longer the ant who only cared about crumbs—he was the ant who dared to chase the unknown.

“Little Red!” Mother called, “Go to the baker to pick up a loaf of bread for Granny”

“But Mother,” Little Red whined, “I just went to Granny’s!”

“I don’t care! It’s time you get out of the house. Your father and I don’t have time for you!”

Just as Little Red walked out the door to go to the baker’s, her father said to his wife, “I’m sure that the baker put the poison in the bread, but are you sure it will work?”

Just as the words escaped his mouth the wolf with outstanding hearing walked by. He crept to the window and put his ear against the wall, careful not to make a sound. The wolf was known as the Big Bad Wolf but inside he was actually a kind hearted fellow who had a soft spot for children. He had to do something!

Later...

Little Red had just walked out of the baker’s shop and started down the path to Granny’s house. She noticed the baker gave her a piece of sweet milk bread. Her favorite! She wanted to gulp it up right then and there, but then she had a thought.

“I will share this with Granny when we get to her house. She will like that, I hope!”

The wolf who was following her breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, “Maybe she will last until Linda’s house. She would never trust me!”

“No… Granny won’t mind if I take a few bites”

The Wolf watched in horror as Little Red sat down on a rock and took the milk bread out of her pouch. She was about to take a bite when the wolf jumped out of the bushes with his teeth bared. She screamed and dropped the bread. Unfortunately her tongue licked the bread! The wolf held his breath as Little Red stood there screaming. All the sudden her eyes drooped and she sat down on the rock sleepily. The wolf’s mind raced wondering what he should do. She only took a lick of the poison so she wouldn’t be hurt, just asleep for a while, so he did what any wolf would do-— he gave her a nip on the cheek.

“Ow!” Little Red cried “what was that for?!”

“I’ll explain at Linda’s,” the wolf said.

Later...

“I can’t thank you enough, Wolf! I don’t know what she would have done without you!” Linda exclaimed gratefully.

“Wait a minute… do you know each other?” Little Red asked.

“Yeah,” Wolf replied, “Me and your grandmother go way back.”

“I was the only one who knew who he really was,” Granny replied.

“It’s a good thing he was watching to scare me out of eating that bread!” Little Red exclaimed happily, “but I have a question, what would have happened if I had really eaten that bread?”

Wolf sighed, “Well your parents used a bad poison but it wasn’t deadly.”

“It’s a highly advanced remedy that some scientists in Asia discovered.” Granny added.

“Well you guys still have not answered my question!” Little Red said impatiently.

“It would have put you to sleep for about 7 years,” Wolf said in a whisper.

“Really!?” Little Red exclaimed, surprised.

“Your parents thought that if you were asleep for that long you would wake more mature.”

“In my opinion they are completely wrong!” Granny said angrily, “I can’t believe that my own daughter would do that!”

“This is kind of off topic,” Little Red said sheepishly, “But I’m hungry.”

“Well let’s not keep you waiting! We can have milk and cookies to celebrate!”

After that Little Red lived happily ever after with Granny and Wolf.

A story about a starfish who fixed a problem that still exists today

Stars…they aren’t just in the sky. What if I told you that they could be found underwater? One in particular, a star named Bright, had gone on a huge adventure. Bright’s luminescent skin, a bright blue color, experienced life in green seaweed under smooth blue water. During the night, the sky would turn darker and darker, as some small and white dots became whiter and whiter. One day, this usual routine stopped, the sky was just dark. Bright was determined to get to the bottom of this problem.

Bright moved forward towards the surface of the water, until she came in contact with something she wasn’t familiar with. It was gray and had a rough texture. Bright moved forward… and then…

Vroom!

Bright felt a strong push of wind against her face. She clung on to the surface as much as she could as much as she could have managed to hold on. Bright was struck with fear.

Bright pushed forward and just made it over that rough surface and into a lush green wonderland… but that didn’t last for long. Bright soon fell into a loud, scenic, and shining environment, with stars sprinkling around them. Bright knew - she was at the place she had been searching for. The bright blue star looked up, and saw blinding lights up in the sky. However, they were not the natural, small glowing bright lights. These lights were much more vast and almost gave her an unpleasant stare.

Bright reluctantly moved forward. After some time she looked up and saw another skyrocketing building, with a floating sign on it saying: “The Power House, Sources of Energy!” Bright resorted to entering the building, as scary as it was. Once the doors opened, there was a big red sign on a door in front of her that said ‘DO NOT OPEN’ Ignoring the warning, she slipped in and then saw a huge red lever in the corner of the room. Unable to fight her own impulse, Bright pulled it. Immediately, all the lights in the city went blank. Slowly, Bright saw tall, standing creatures with pale skin emerging from other buildings, walking with two legs…

I opened the glass door and walked through the book-filled aisles towards the novels’ section, and dropped my backpack on the soft carpet. It was embroidered with “Abby” in bright gold letters. I must have passed 1,000 books because the sky had turned dark and the library’s lights were dimming. On the bookshelf there was a mysterious book with monsters on its side. I reached for the book and felt a flash and was getting pulled into a portal. Then, I tried to grab onto the wooden bookshelf, but lost my grip. I must have fallen asleep for a while because when I woke up, I knew I wasn’t at the library anymore.

I stood up brushing dirt off my new skirt and tee-shirt. I saw trees painted in gothic colors, giant hills, dark forests, and bugs that resembled fireflies. I wondered if my parents were worried.

Stomp! Stomp! I heard footsteps in nearby woods. I slowly walked towards the sound and BOOM! 

A monster, double my size, was in front of me.

“I’m sorry I didn't mean to scare you,” the monster explained. “You see I’ve been here for years trying to help this land, but this evil goblin is in control and is trying to get everyone to obey him. He and his goblin army came from a land called Goblin Greenland, and he has shown no mercy to any creature.”

This was a lot to take in, but I knew I had to do something. He signaled for me to follow. We came to a camp hidden in the forest where all the creatures had been living in tents for years. An elf was addressing the group.

“We are going to break into groups, and all go through different entrances,” the elf said. “One group will distract the guards, and we’ll have a chance to kidnap the main goblin. We will take the main goblin, and the other goblins will chase after their master through the portal to Goblin Greenland.”

That's it, I thought. If we manage to get the goblins through the portal to Goblin Greenland, I’ll ask them to send me home through a portal too.

Everybody grabbed ropes, shields and spears.

The head elf came up to me and asked, “What's your name, my dear?”

I replied,  “I’m Abby. Can I help in the attack?”

“Why of course. The more the merrier!”

“Also, is it possible that after the attack you could send me home through the portal to the mainland?”

“Yes. Now, let's get to the attack. It's quite the hike to reach the goblins' base.”

We walked through the forest, and I saw the goblin base. I pulled my curly brown hair back and looked at the enormous, dark gray castle. Goblin guards were everywhere. The monster from earlier grabbed my hand and rushed me to the back of the castle. He told me to step back, and he kicked down the large, metal door. We raced up a spiral staircase and I peeked through a glass window covered with spider webs and saw another group.

“Okay, we’re going to distract the guards so the others can kidnap the main goblin,” he said. “Oh and, by the way, my name is Oolai.”

“Alright, what should we do, yell or smash a window?” I asked.

“Good idea,” he replied. “Let’s do both.”

We yelled and smashed a window. The guards came running into our trap.  We ran to the planned meeting spot, where we saw three other groups coming fast, one pushing the main goblin up the mountain.

“Okay listen everyone! We need to head to the Goblin Greenland portal,” the chief elf explained.

When we got to the portal entrance, the elf beckoned the portal to open, shoved the goblin inside. Before I knew it, he was gone. Then, we watched all the goblins file in after him. Everyone cheered that they could now take back the land they once owned.

“Abby, thanks for your help. Do you want...to leave now?” Oolai asked with a sad tone.

I thought for a moment.

“What if I go now, but you leave the portal to the mainland open so I can come back if you ever need me?” I replied and before I knew it, I was back in my bed. The only thing that went wrong was convincing my parents where I went. I learned that I am not the best liar, but a great monster!

The second part of the audio can be found here. 

----------

It was a dark and stormy night. 

A young girl was fast asleep in her bed. Her name was Rapunzel. She had magical golden hair with the power to cure any wound and make anyone young again. Her parents had always admired her hair but they only wanted it for themselves.

On this stormy night, Rapunzel’s parents crept into her room with sharp metallic scissors that gleamed in the moonlight.

“Quickly, before she wakes up!” Queen Tempest whisper-shouted to her husband King Ivin the Terrible.

Suddenly a dark mist filled the room. It reached out toward Rapunzel as the queen shouted, “No, she’s here!” waking Rapunzel up.

When the mist cleared Rapunzel was gone!

~10 years later~

It was a bright and sunny day. Rapunzel was sitting on her lavender bedspread, her head stuck in a book. It was June 21st, Rapunzel’s birthday and Gothel was going into town to get Rapunzel more pastel paints and books as a gift. But Rapunzel hated her birthday for one reason and one reason only: it reminded her about her horrible childhood and her lovely golden hair that caused her to be stuck in the stone gray tower and stopped her from exploring the world.

“Remember to stay inside when I’m gone!” Gothel said to Rapunzel.

“I know mom!” Rapunzel retorted.

“Teenagers,” Gothel said and rolled her eyes as she jumped out the window.

She fell to the ground like a magnet and just before she hit it she pulled on her plum purple dress and floated down gracefully. When she was out of sight, Rapunzel raced out of her room and ran down the spiral stone stairs to the first floor bathroom. It was a small circular bathroom with a mirror on it and a bear skin rug near the bath. She grabbed some silver scissors and cut off her hair till it was to her shoulders. She then dyed her hair a lavender color and shook her hair out.

“I feel so free!” She shouted as she twirled in her purple dress. “I can go to town now too,” she said to herself thoughtfully as she packed a bag full of food, books, and a map her mother had left on the table. But just as she was about to climb out the window, a prince with messy golden hair and a crown with jewels climbed through the window. He was wearing a blue uniform and had a silver sword at his side. He glared at Rapunzel angrily and pointed the sword threateningly at her throat and said,

“Come with me or.. you cut your hair?!”

He stared at her with disbelief and stomped his feet yelling “No, no, no! What will the queen say!”

Rapunzel was very confused as she looked at the prince running around looking like all was lost when something dawned on her. “I think he is working with my mother to get my hair!”

Rapunzel quickly tried to run to the window to climb out but a blanket was roughly thrown over her and all turned black.

~ 10 minutes later~

When Rapunzel awoke she was very groggy. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, she was in her old room back at the castle which was filled with lots of fake family photos. Rapunzel wrinkled her nose at the sight of them as if they had a smell. Just then King Ivan the Terrible burst through the door carrying sharp silver scissors and was tailed by the Queen Tempest.

“He was right, she did cut her hair!” shrieked the queen angrily.

Rapunzel tried to stand up but the king pushed her back to the bed yelling loudly, “She still has some left!”

Rapunzel backed away as her evil father tried to snip her hair off and hit the wall.

“Help!” she screamed as she closed her eyes preparing for the worst. But a warm hand closed around Rapunzel’s own as a tugging feeling started to pull both of them back to where they started. As Rapunzel’s feet touched the ground she opened her eyes and looked at the person in front of her, realization crashing over her when she saw Gothel’s face.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” Gothel yelled angrily.

“I’m sorry, I was just sick of always being in that stupid castle!” Rapunzel yelled back angrily.

Gothel put her hand on her head, sighed, and took a seat in a faded orange plush chair by the fireplace. Rapunzel took a seat in the faded green one across from her and looked down at her hands ashamed. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Gothel.

“I’m sorry I was just trying to keep you safe,” she said sadly.

“I know but I think we should work something out,” replied Rapunzel as she looked her mother in the eye.

~1 year later~

Bye mom, I’m going out!” Rapunzel yelled as she gathered her lavender handbag and walked to the window.

It had been a year now and Rapunzel and her mother, who officially adopted her, had come to an agreement and reported the king and queen’s crimes,a ending their rule. Rapunzel was now allowed to go out of the castle freely after so many years.

“Ding!” Rory’s alarm rang and she changed out of her night gown. As always she glanced at the photo of her parents and her mind flashed back to when she was a baby and her parents had……

“Rory,” Flora called. “Come down!” Rory rushed downstairs. But couldn’t stop thinking about her parents who had been cursed to sleep forever.

“Flora, what happened to my parents again?” Rory asked.

“Well, you had just been born before three evil witches jumped in. We called them the FMF,” Flora said “They decided to try and curse you but your parents jumped in front of you so they were cursed instead. Then we put a spell on the witches so that they could only curse you when you turned sixteen.”

She decided to save her parents by killing the witch so that night she set off.

Being out in the wild was amazing. There were birds and Rory developed a love for singing. One day Prince Philip heard Rory singing.

“Hello, I’m Rory,” Rory said.

Prince Philip looked at Rory and fell in love . “What is such a beautiful princess doing in the woods?” Prince Philip asked.

Then he recognized her.

“Wait, you're Princess Aurora?” Philp asked.

“Um, Yes.” Rory replied nervously.

“Wait, you live with the three fairies right?” Prince Philip asked “That was the myth.”

“Yeah” Rory replied.

“The three fairies you live with are actually the three witches who accidently made it so they only could curse you when you turned sixteen.”

Just then it struck her, Prince Philip was right, FMF stood for Flora, Merryweather and Fauna.

“I shall defeat the evil witches,” Rory said bravely.

“Well first you’ll need some weapons," Philip said”.  He led Rory to his town and discovered that she was especially skilled with a bow and arrow. The day Aurora turned 16 they were ready, and Rory went back as Philip hid near a window. When she came in, the witches were in their real form; they wore dark cloaks and glared at Rory. Then they attacked. Luckily Prince Philip jumped through the window and tossed her bow and arrow. Since they were both so skilled the witches died quickly. Just then Rory’s parents came down since the curse had been broken and embraced Rory in their arms.

A few years later Rory and Philip got married and they all now lived happily ever after.

Smack! 

The mini palm hit her face so fast she barely had time to open her eyes. When she did, a tiny face with a pointy hat looked down at her while standing upon her stomach. When she sat up he went tumbling off.

“ What was that for!?” he cried as he rolled to a stop a few feet away from her shoes.

“What was THAT for?!” She mocked “ What did you HIT me for?!”

“I was TRYING to wake you up!!! I had already tried tickling and jumping on your stomach!”

“Well....nevermind.  Where AM I?”

“Ugg! Humans, always so clueless!” he responded “ You're in Gnome land you ding dong!”

~ 15 minutes later ~

The duo had set off into the unknown when Finnius the gnome had promised that he would take Zara (the human) home if she helped with his job at the lumberyard. He led her to a clearing full of the tiny creatures pulling twigs. There was a gruff looking gnome standing on top of a shoebox yelling directions at the workers. When his eye caught Finnius he scowled then smirked.

“Well look who decided to join us,” he said loudly. “Thought he’d split town because he didn’t give me my PAYMENT!”

“You didn’t tell me I would be helping out with a deranged mad gnome!” 

Zara whispered to Finnius, “We should probably RUN!”

“Just follow my lead,” Finnius responded. “Well!!! I’ve come BACK to give you your money.  You just have to wait a little while…”

“ You know I don’t like to wait, Finnius!!! You’ve made a mistake!” The boss gnome yelled.

“ I....I wasn't finished!!” Finnius squeaked.

All of a sudden the gnomes that had once looked completely harmless now seemed absolutely terrifying as if they had teeth made of daggers!

“You know what, let's go with plan B!”

“And that is.........?” Zara asked.

“RUN, you ding dong!” Finnius yelled.

They charged down the mountain and up the ravine. Zara was obviously faster and could run for longer but the gnomes were very clever and put sharp sticks in catapults and started launching them at her legs so it felt like little spider bites. At one point she scooped up Finnius and carried him down the hill. They had escaped the lumber gnomes and had landed in a cave with a glimmering portal at the end of it.

“What IS that?!” Zara asked.

“Well as fate would have it, that's the portal to the human world.” Finnius responded.

“ Wait....will it bring me back to my room? Just where I left?”

“Yep! And It will be like time paused. You will go back right where

you left off.”

“ But I feel like we JUST got started. I don’t want to leave Gnome Land!”

"We appreciate that, but it’s time you go back to where you came from."

“But, I love it here! The grass is so green and the water is so clear.”

“What is with me getting interrupted today!” Finnius mumbled

“The leaves are so colorful…”

“I wasn’t finished!!” He cut her off  “I MIGHT be able to give you a necklace, a VERY special one that would be able to transport you back to Gnome Land.”

“ Really?” Zara exclaimed, surprised.

“ Yep, but don’t overdo it or I might get sick of seeing your face!”

After he had given her the necklace Zara walked bravely up to the portal and was about to step in when she looked back. She gave a nod of appreciation to Finnius and stepped into the portal.

~Later~

Zara  sat down on her bed and thought about what had happened in the past few hours. She couldn’t tell if she was happy or sad, maybe a mix of both. All the sudden a voice rang out from the hallway

“ Zara! Where are you?!?! You have a soccer game in THIRTY MINUTES! You were supposed to be there an hour ago!”

“ Oh shoot!” Zara mumbled as she staggered down the stairs.

The End

The full audio recording of this story can be found here.

The highly anticipated basketball championship was approaching, and I was a wreck. 

As an 8th-grade student at North Star, my passion for basketball has been unwavering since the age of five. I have dedicated countless hours to playing basketball; alongside my peers, in both the sweltering heat of the spring and the cold, rainy winters. 

As the MVP of the basketball team, I aimed to leave a lasting legacy in my final year at North Star. On the day of the Championships, I got in the car; adorned in my vivid blue jersey with white letters. Attempting to distract myself from the impending game, I had slicked back my hair into a high ponytail. Upon bidding farewell to my parents and entering the gym, the atmosphere was abuzz with flying basketballs and the distinct squeaking of shoes. The brightly lit gymnasium illuminated both our opposing team and my familiar team. The sight of my team gave me a sense of relief. The commencement of the game drew near as the big clock on the wall struck 30 seconds, creating a surge of butterflies in my stomach. My heart was beating loudly throughout my body. Subsequently, the alarm struck zero, indicating that it was time to take my place on the sideline.

I was starting, and despite the trembling of my knees, I took my position in defense. As the opposing team initiated the game with possession of the basketball, I found myself defending the girl with the ball. To my surprise, I managed to steal it, and after sprinting to the opposite side of the court I decided to do a layup, but my attempt was unsuccessful, marking the first occasion on which I had missed a layup. 

This turn of events left me feeling deflated, and led to a series of missed shots, which made me frustrated with myself. At halftime, burdened by feelings of humiliation and frustration, I stormed out of the gym. Then I encountered a beautiful bracelet lying on the floor. The bracelet was created with a beautiful pattern featuring vibrant shades of purple and blue. Then I saw my name on the bracelet. When I saw my name, I started to believe that the bracelet had been a gift from the universe to bring me luck in the game. Upon putting on the bracelet, the resumption of the game was announced by the routine alarm. My coach fortunately granted me a second chance to partake in the game. I walked once more to my starting position. I then found myself again in possession of the ball, swiftly advancing towards the opposing side. After executing a well-timed pass to my teammate, the ball was returned to me as we positioned ourselves for the offensive play. With limited time for contemplation, I seized the opportunity to take the shot before the opposing team could intervene. As I released the ball, it sailed through the air and to my astonishment, it went in.

I executed successful plays, accumulating points and securing numerous ball possessions from the opposing team. As the game drew to a close, the scoreboard showed 34:12 in our favor. Just as soon as I felt proud and excited about winning, a profound sense of guilt washed over me because everyone was calling me the MVP but really the bracelet had won the game for my team.

When I walked up to my best friend, Jessica, she directed her gaze toward the bracelet on my wrist, offering a knowing smile. She then revealed that she had planted the bracelet outside, with the intention of giving me a sense of motivation by making me believe the bracelet would bring good luck. Days before the game Jessica recognized that I had been in my head a lot before the game and she knew that I might not do my best in the game because of my thoughts. Jessica then comforted me by saying that the bracelet had done nothing for the game, it was all me that had won the game for my team. Just like that, all the guilt that built up inside me rushed out and I felt like I could breathe again. This made me question and think about everything that I said was impossible. 

After contemplating for a bit, I finally came up with a conclusion; anything is possible with the right motivation and confidence. Ever since Jessica taught me that I am more capable than I thought, I have reached new highs and acquired many more achievements over the years.

Ring! 

“Finally” I thought “school is over!” As I took my usual route home I saw the sewer rattling and glowing.

I lifted the lid and fell down the hole landing on the side of the sewers. But when I looked around I was shocked. I heard music, smelled delicious food and saw people laughing and partying.

At least I thought they were people but then I heard a splash and saw a tail go under. That’s when I almost fainted.

These “people” were mermaids!

Just then a very pretty mermaid with a crown swam over to me. “Um, who are you?” I asked.

She glared at me and said snarkily, “I’m the Queen of Oceania,” as if that were obvious. But my eyes were drawn to a young mermaid about my age staring at me.

“Well you can stay and relax until tomorrow when you become a mermaid like all the others,” said the queen.

“But I don’t want to be a mermaid!” I exclaimed.

At that everyone glared at me except the young mermaid. “Seize her!” The queen yelled. Two mermaids dressed in armor grabbed me by the arms and brought me to an underwater jail.

Luckily the jail filled with air as soon as they closed the door, since basically all of the mermaid world was underwater and I didn’t have gills like the mermaids.

The queen came later to “check on me” and gave me a snobby look as two guards gave me a plate of seaweed that looked a month old (I didn’t touch it).

In the jail I was freaking out! “Will I ever get out of here!?!” I thought.

Luckily later in the day a young mermaid swam in front of my cage. I recognized her as the young mermaid from earlier.

“Hi,” I said, “Um, do you think you could help me get out of here?”

“Of course!” she replied, “I’m Coral, but we have to be quick, the guards will be here soon.”

She opened the cage door and handed me a snorkel. I swam right behind her as fast as I could.

“Coral!!” I heard a loud booming voice from behind us but I couldn’t see who said it. We swam into a seaweed forest where we could no longer be seen.

“Oh, that was my mom,” Coral said. “She’s the queen of Oceania. You met her earlier, right?” I nodded. “And also,” I said, “my name’s Stacey.”

“Oh!! I like that name! But anyway, my mom’s probably looking for us. She knows you escaped,” Coral said.

We swam farther into the forest, and then up and down. Then I saw a platform above me and I knew it was time to go. Coral nodded at me and gave me a thumbs up. Right before I went up I took off my star necklace and gave it to her. She gave me a necklace that had a seashell with a star engraved into it. I gave her a hug cause I knew I’d never see her again, and then went on my way back home.

Chapter One

Once upon a time there was a twelve-year-old girl named Jenna. Jenna loved exploring the woods behind her house when she had time. But her parents made her go to private school and it took up a lot of the time she used to spend exploring, plus it was boring. One day Jenna was walking through the woods behind her house, after ditching her very boring Spanish homework, and saw something glowing behind a clump of redwoods. Jenna was naturally curious and ran behind the redwoods to see what it was. There in front of her was a sparkling golden portal in-between the branches of the trees. She reached her hand out to touch the portal and was sucked in! When she hit the ground she felt seasick. She was lying on soft green grass that felt like cotton candy and something was breathing long hot breaths on her face. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped in surprise when she saw a cute black cat… with giant purple wings and long purple horns on its head!

“AHHH!” Jenna screamed and jumped up.

Now on her feet she looked around and realized she was standing on a cliff. It had a forest in the background and it overlooked a small town with many giant crystal houses. There was even a market with more of these “cat-dragons” roaming around. The cat opened its mouth and said, 

“Who are you and why are you here?”

Jenna replied, her voice shaking “I just stumbled upon a portal and fell in,” “I mean you no harm.”

The cat gave her a long look and then gestured with its paw for Jenna to follow.

Chapter Two

Jenna followed the mysterious cat down a path that led to the village. Along the way the cat shared its name, “I’m Shadow and welcome to The Crystal Grove! We build everything out of crystal and everyone comes…. Er used to come here to get crystal.” Shadow grew quiet and continued walking down the path until he reached the village. “Anyway on a happier note, here we are!” Shadow led Jenna through the village and market. There was a crystal mine and a crystal forest on the edge of town but the town itself was filled with sandy colored stone paths. There were also small pools of water that surrounded the open space that wasn’t filled with stone. In the center of town was a giant crystal palace with colorful hydrangea bushes along the edge. Shadow led Jenna to the entrance of the palace's doors and motioned for her to step through. He gently nudged her inside when she hesitated. Jenna gasped when she saw the inside. There were many halls filled with portraits of a white cat with beautiful blue eyes and matching blue and gold wings. Shadow led Jenna down a hall made of pale pink crystal, into a throne room. On the throne was the same cat in all the portraits lining the halls. Shadow bowed to her and motioned for Jenna to do the same. Jenna hastily bowed, blushing when she tripped over her overalls. “That’s Queen Sapphire, our leader!” Shadow whispered to Jenna as he helped her up from the floor.

“What do you need?” the queen asked in a bored sarcastic voice.

“I picked up this girl on my way back from the Moon Market,” Shadow explained, “She came from one of those wild portals.”

“I see….” the queen said.

Queen Sapphire was definitely interested now as she was sitting up on her throne.

“Is she the one?” Queen Sapphire asked, looking at Shadow hopefully.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Shadow replied.

Chapter Three

“What is going on?!” Jenna yelled at Shadow as the trio walked out of the castle.

“I will tell you a story that might help you understand,” Shadow replied sadly as he looked at the crystal forest. “Long ago we had a sacred sapphire that protected us and everyone else from evil. We all worked in harmony for many years producing enough crystal for everyone's needs, but one day humans found our land and stole the gem hoping to make money off of it. They hid it somewhere in our land when they realized they couldn't go back with it. Many cat-dragons claimed they have found it but we have been too scared to check it out. The lands where it was claimed to be hidden are very dangerous. Without the gem we began to die off and many of the other creatures we were living with left us to live a better life. After the gem was stolen, our queen called a seer to tell us our fate. The seer recited a prophecy that we have been waiting to fulfill for many years.”

“What’s the prophecy?” Jenna asked.

“One day an unlikely hero will emerge from the wild portals and find the gem to restore all power for cat-dragons. They will be destined with the power of illusions and will save the land of The Crystal Grove. That's the prophecy,” Shadow said.

“.... Is it me with the illusions?” Jenna asked.

“We don’t know. Many “unlikely heroes” have emerged from the wild portals, but you're the first human and one that hasn’t tried to destroy us,” Shadow replied.

After a few minutes of walking the trio was now in the crystal forest located on the edge of town. Queen Sapphire walked in a circle until she stopped in front of a clump of four trees the colors of the rainbow.

“Step in the middle please Jenna,” the queen said.

Jenna gingerly placed one foot in the middle and when nothing happened she put the other one in too. Suddenly, bright lights were sucked out of the trees and swirled together to make a rainbow amulet which clipped itself around Jenna’s neck.

“It’s her..” Queen Sapphire and Shadow whispered in unison as they gazed up at Jenna.

“Please, will you go find our sacred gem and save The Crystal Grove?” Shadow asked with a pleading look.

“Of course, I would be honored!” Jenna replied happily, overwhelmed with many feelings.

Chapter 4

“We are saved, my citizens!” Queen Sapphire yelled to the cat-dragons roaming around town.

“A hero has arrived from that prophecy that was read to us long ago and she will save us!”

“She sure has high expectations,” Jenna whispered to Shadow.

“She just wants to make sure that everyone's okay. We have lived in this town for many years and this is really exciting.” Shadow whispered back.

“......I need one volunteer to accompany this hero on her adventure,” Queen Sapphire was saying.

The crowd of cat-dragons murmured and they all began backing away except for one cat. She was a calico cat with gold horns on her head and pale pink wings with gold streaks.

“My name is Coriko (Core-ee-ko) and I would love to accompany you on your journey” the cat said in a voice as soft as clouds.

“Then it's settled! You two will leave tonight with a map and find our gem!” Queen Sapphire said to

them.

Later that night Coriko and Jenna set off with only a map and a jar full of sparkling fireflies.

“The map says to head east, through The Dream Lands, The Flower Orchard, and finally to The Crystal Ocean,” Coriko said to Jenna.

“The gem should be in a secret cave located just a bit north from the Crystal Ocean.” Jenna replied, reading a slip of paper the queen had given her before they set off on their adventure.

“These lands sound so nice, how can they be dangerous?” Coriko asked Jenna.

Jenna shrugged and the two set off to find the gem, neither of them knowing the dangers coming their way.

Chapter 5

Coriko and Jenna arrived at The Dream Lands at dawn. The Dream Lands were a forest of soft cotton candy-like trees and sweet smelling scents. They had been walking all night and they were both very tired.

“Coriko….CORIKO!” Jenna yelled at Coriko who had fallen asleep on one of the soft bushes. But Coriko didn’t wake up. A voice spoke out of nowhere

“The Dream Lands…. They make people…. Fall asleep and dream the most pleasant dreams….. So pleasant…… yet they will never wake up.”

Jenna looked around and realized the voice was coming from the map.

“How do I wake her up?!” Jenna yelled hysterically. “We just started, she can’t not wake up!”

“Calm down young one… there is still hope,” the map said.

“Please tell me! I can’t lose her!” Jenna said.

“You must go into her dream and make it bad… so bad that she will just want to wake up.” the map replied. The voice faded and Jenna was left in The Dream Lands alone.

“How do I get in her head?!!” Jenna yelled into the nothingness.

“.....Just close your eyes and you will be there,” the map said in a very annoyed voice.

Jenna closed her eyes and let the cool breeze wash over her. Before long she was standing in the middle of a ballroom and Coriko was dancing with another calico cat. He had blue and gold wings, gold horns, and a gold crown on his head.

“Seriously?!” Jenna thought.

She rolled her eyes and looked around for something to ruin the dance. She spotted decorations and raced over to them. One by one she pulled them down and stuffed them onto the food and drinks. Coriko didn’t see her but she also didn’t seem bothered by the broken decor. Jenna hurriedly looked around for something else to ruin and spotted a gramophone playing the music. She rushed over and smashed it on the ground. The music stopped playing and the prince seemed to lose interest in Coriko. Suddenly both of them landed back in The Dream Lands, neither of them asleep.

“What was that for?!” Coriko yelled.

“I was trying to save you! We need to move on if we are going to get that gem!” Jenna yelled back.

“Right…sorry. We should probably start walking in the direction of The Flower Orchard,” Coriko said quietly.

“Yes, that's what we should've been doing this whole time.” Jenna said still a little annoyed with Coriko.

The two of them set off east again, this time looking for The Flower Orchard.

By sundown that day they had reached the gate to the orchard.

“Look, Jenna there's a sign! Coriko said.

Coriko was right! On a small wooden signpost a message in dripping black paint read “ALL THOSE WHO ENTER… BEWARE!! THERE ARE MANY DANGERS IN THIS ORCHARD!”

“Well that's dark. I thought the orchard would be sunshine and rainbows,” Coriko said, looking wearily at the sign.

Jenna sighed and pushed open the iron gate. It creaked and groaned as if it hadn’t been oiled in a long time. They stepped in through the gate and gasped. The sight was beyond magical! There were many trees the color of the rainbow with many exotic fruits on the branches. In the center was a sparkling pond and if you looked closely you could see small fish swimming around. Drinking out of the pond was a white unicorn with a rainbow mane and a gold horn. Jenna and Coriko walked up to the unicorn hoping to get a closer look when they heard a growl.

Chapter 6

“What was that?” Jenna whispered to Coriko.

Slowly they both turned around and saw a wolf. It was the color of snow and had bright green vines wrapped around it.

“I’ve seen this before in one of my books!” Coriko said in an almost whisper “It's The Wolf of the Forest, it's a very rare mythical beast that only appears when its master commands it too.

“What does its master want with us?!” Jenna yelled, making the wolf growl more.

“I don’t know! It probably thinks we're intruders!”Coriko said.

Then out of nowhere the wolf pounced! Jenna and Coriko barely dodged it when it snapped its jaws shut on thin air.

“Use your amulet!” Coriko yelled, running around in a circle frantically trying to make the wolf dizzy.

“Oh yeah!” Jenna said and pulled out her amulet.

Jenna opened her mouth to ask how it worked when a blast of shimmering light burst out of the amulet and zapped the wolf. The wolf fell to the ground but jumped up as fast as it had fallen. It bared its teeth and prepared to pounce again but Coriko spit a stream of strawberry colored liquid on the wolf and it fell once more but didn’t rise this time.

“Strawberry milk! Everyone hates it.” Coriko said, answering the disbelief on Jenna’s face.

“That was very brave of both of you.” said a voice.

The girls turned around to see the unicorn, thankfully not hurt, smiling at them both. Sparkles flew out of the unicorn's gold horn, one landing on each of their hearts.

“This will keep you safe in times of danger.” the unicorn said

“Thank you.” Jenna and Coriko said in unison.

The girls walked out of the iron gate once more and started their journey to the last place on their list…. The Crystal Ocean.

Chapter 7

After walking for many hours the duo couldn’t seem to find The Crystal Ocean. The only thing they managed to find was miserable weather.

“We’ve been walking in circles!” Jenna yelled angrily as they passed the same rock for the fifth time that hour.

“Maybe we took a wrong turn?” Coriko said uncertainly.

They were just about to pull out the map when Jenna spotted something glowing in the distance.

“Look!” Jenna shouted pointing to the west.

“Is that the cave or the ocean?” Coriko asked.

“Who knows, let’s check it out!” Jenna replied, already sprinting toward it.

Coriko took off flying above Jenna.

“Look!” Coriko yelled

Up ahead there was a cave shimmering with crystals. They were everywhere. Growing inside and outside the cave and behind the cave was an ocean with crystals illuminating the bottom.

“This must be it!” Jenna said as she started to climb up the rocks to the cave.But the rocks were slippery from the recent rain and she slipped down onto the wet sand.

“Can you carry me?” Jenna asked Coriko.

“I can try but I think you're too big.” Coriko replied.

Coriko grasped Jenna’s hands with her paws and flapped her wings as much as she could. They rose a bit higher than before but it was too much for Coriko and she dropped Jenna onto the wet sand again.

“Go without me!” Jenna said to Coriko. “I can find a way up... Somehow.”

“No, there has to be another way!” Coriko said.

Coriko looked around desperately for something to carry Jenna up and spotted something on the other side of the cave.

“I think I see some steps!” Corkio shouted and flew over to the other side.

Jenna groaned and started swimming through the water which was surprisingly warm for such drab weather. After a few minutes of hard work Jenna emerged from the water to the other side and saw pale blue crystal steps leading up to the cave. She ran up the steps and saw Coriko waiting by the entrance to the cave. The pair walked through the entrance and trudged through muddy water until they reached the back of the cave.

“There's nothing here!” Coriko groaned as she stared at the back of the cave wall.

“Maybe we’re missing something.” Jenna said.

She felt along the cave wall feeling for something out of the ordinary. Suddenly a stone came loose and the wall spun around revealing a secret compartment. Inside were small steps leading up to a podium where… nothing was on it.

Chapter 8

“WHAT!” Coriko and Jenna yelled.

“This has all been a wild goose chase!” Coriko groaned.

“I mean we were going off rumors not facts.” Jenna said still very disappointed.

“We should go back to the town and tell them the bad news,” Jenna said. “Maybe they have another lead we can follow.”

“Sounds good.” Coriko said.

They walked back up the steps where the unicorn from The Flower Orchard was waiting.

“What are you doing here?” Jenna asked.

“I came to give you a ride back.” The unicorn said.

“How did you know we needed help?” Coriko said, kinda suspicious of the unicorn.

“I am a unicorn… I know stuff.” The unicorn replied coolly.

The unicorn bent down and the two climbed on. Suddenly the unicorn jumped into the air and took flight running along the clouds. In less than a minute they had returned to The Crystal Grove.

“There back!” Queen Sapphire yelled, as she came running into the center of town out of her palace.

When she saw their faces she knew something was wrong though.

“Did you find it?” Shadow asked, he had come out of the castle with the queen.

“It was a wild goose chase.” Jenna said sadly.

All the faces fell and the queen spoke, “I have to show you something Jenna.”

Jenna nodded and started to follow the queen and Shadow into the mines. Coriko tried to come to but the queen refused to let her. “This is for only Jenna to see.” she said

The trio walked in through the entrance and stopped at a fork in the path.

“While you were gone we heard rumors that our gem was destroyed. We didn’t want to believe it and hoped you would have found our gem but it seems the rumors might be true.” Queen Sapphire said sadly.

“How would it have been destroyed?” Jenna asked.

“Long ago there was a dynamite accident in the mines and the gem was being held near it in The Crystal Forest,” Shadow said.

“We think that the gem might have been destroyed in the accident. We didn’t think to mention it until now. Sorry.” Queen Sapphire added.

“What should we do?” Jenna asked.

“We hope some bit of the gem survived and is still in the forest but we don’t know. We want to look around and see if we can find at least a fragment of it.”

The trio walked out of the mines and into The Crystal Forest. They walked to the spot where Jenna got her amulet and started looking around. Jenna was searching around a small clump of crystal saplings when she spotted something on the ground.

“Look!” Jenna yelled pointing to an area just to the right of a sapling. The two others gathered around and gasped when they saw a small fragment of a gem. The gem.

Chapter 9

After that the events went by really fast. The trio brought back the gem and the town was overjoyed! After the gem was placed in a vault safe below the castle a message was sent out to the other creatures that used to be living there and asked them to visit or come back. After all that it was time for Jenna to go home.

“Can’t you stay?” Coriko pleaded as the queen, Shadow, and Jenna neared a wild portal.

“I wish but I need to go. My parents are probably worried about me.” Jenna said sadly.

“Don’t worry, time hasn’t passed that much back in your world.” Shadow said.

They all grew quiet as they neared the portal. Jenna stepped up to it and put her hand out but turned at the last second.

“Goodbye!” she yelled as the portal sucked her in.

“Come back soon!” Queen Sapphire yelled back.

Jenna arrived back on the forest ground. It looked like it was only dinnertime and she hadn’t been out long. As Jenna trudged back to her house she looked back at the redwoods hoping she would see another portal but it was just plain old redwoods.

“I will be back,” Jenna whispered looking at the redwoods. “I will be back.. I promise.”

The End

One day, a boy named Griffin got accepted to North Star Academy. It was a boarding school that accepted students from all over the world. It was rated as one of the best schools in the world. Everyone was expected to get A’s in all their classes. If they didn’t, they would automatically get expelled. It was a very harsh school and had very strict rules. Griffin struggled in some subjects such as math and science. He was on the verge of getting expelled. He had no friends at the school because he was socially awkward. But one day, everything changed. A new boy named Felipe came to school from Spain. He was assigned as Griffin’s roommate and before long they became good friends.

Felipe and Griffin were doing homework in their dorm room when suddenly, Felipe’s phone started buzzing. He answered it, smirked, and hung up. Felipe then told Griffin to wait for him in the room before he left. But Griffin curiously peeked outside the door and caught Felipe going into a mysterious portal that had appeared in the wall. Just before it closed, Griffin jumped in. 

When he looked around his face went white and he was horror struck. He was in a dark hallway with skulls and bones plastered on the walls. At the end of the hallway there was a dim light, and he saw a woman and a man dressed in all black attire. Felipe walked over to them and bowed his head. The woman dressed in black attire screeched, “How is the mission going, Draco?” Her voice was as icy as the snow yet it was as soft as silk. “Draco?” “What mission?” Griffin wondered. Then he saw a huge poster with a list of thousands of boys his age each one had a box next to their names and most had checks in the boxes. As he quickly scanned the names he was shocked when he saw his name “Griffin Margetson” at the bottom of the list.

“The mission is going smoothly,” Draco said, “I will trick the foolish boy into our trap, at exactly midnight we will go to my dorm and steal his soul.” He bowed one last time and then turned around and walked back towards the dorm.  Griffin’s back was glued to the wall and luckily it was so dark that Draco couldn’t see him. The portal opened again and Griffin leapt through it. He watched Draco go into the room and then waited a few minutes to follow. “Hi Felipe,” Griffin said. “Sorry, I left my textbook in the library”.

Soon they went to sleep. At 11:30 Griffin crept out of the room and into the cafeteria. He grabbed some pots pans and spoons to hit Draco on the head with and then put on some oven mitts for protection. At 11:40 he rushed to his bed and saw that Draco was gone. He took the opportunity and stuffed some stuffed animals and pillows under his blanket which he pulled up to cover his “face”. 

Ding! 

His alarm for 11:50 rang and he rushed to hide behind the door. Then all of the light in the room was extinguished and it was now pitch black. Suddenly Draco and his parents crept through the door and pulled off Griffin's bed covers. Their jaws fell to the floor and that was when Griffin banged all three of them on the head with a pan. Just then the dorm advisor, Alex, rushed through the door and yelled “WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?!” Then he saw the knocked out bodies on the floor and was shocked. “Come with me,” Griffin said. He grabbed Dracos skull keychain and walked down the hall. He went to the wall with the portal and it immediately opened. The dorm advisor walked in and stared at the poster with all the boys' names. “That’s why all those people went missing,” Alex said. Then they locked up Draco and his parents. From then on everything at school was normal and Griffin made tons of friends.

“A wall?” asks Ms. Piggy.

“Not just any wall,” I (Mr. Piggy) say, “It’s a dam!”

“A dam of bricks.”

“It’s what the people want!”

“They wanted a dam. I don’t think a dam of bricks will be the strongest.”

“I’ve spent 3 months building it, it was made with the taxes of the town, the town filled with the people who wanted it.”

“People are coming in their Sunday best, we are here in our Sunday best, the mayor will be here in his Sunday best.”

The thought of the town finally giving their feedback was nerve wracking, but if they wanted to complain about bricks being the material they choose then they should complain to the funding. The thirty minutes leading to when the town’s population was going to see the dam was so long yet so short.

Soon the first family came, the wild hogs; Mr and Mrs Hogerald and their kid, Blub. Then it was the rabbits; Mr and Mrs Hareinson and their kids, Hayley, Cartson, Grabiel, Letty, Chilly, Bronicil and Beck. Rabbit and bunny families are hard to remember with all their kids. In all honesty I lost count of families when I was trying to remember the Hareinson children's names, but I saw how many families came when I changed my train of thought; practically the whole town was there, no, the entire town was there. 

There was the mayor, Mr Badgersanchez, a badger, The councilmen, Ms. Aliphant, an elephant, Mr. Colton, a horse, and Mr. Desnyman, a desert rain frog. There was the contractor, his nickname is ‘Big Al’, he’s an alligator.

“So today’s the day you have to show them the wall…dam…thingy…” Stutters Big Al.

“Will they like it?” I ask.

“They had to pay for it…kinda… and it’ll benefit them… even if it's brick…”

“Will they criticize it because it’s brick?”

“Not at all!  Actually, maybe they… actually, they most likely will… actually, they will… but it’ll be fine so go get them, Tiger… or Pig… or Pork Chop… wait, no… ignore that…”

Now, pushed on the stand to present to them, I announce “This is our new–”

“Wall?” questions Mrs. Hareinson.

“No, a dam” I answer.

“A dam of bricks?!” Gasps Mr. Hareinson, followed by other marks of criticism.

“Bricks aren’t even that sturdy!”

“It could fall easily because of the space between the bricks!”

“You used our tax money for a brick wall!”

“Please, please, it’s strong! And I can show you!” I reassure them, “I can punch the dam and it’ll be okay, I can body slam into the dam and it’ll be okay, a truck can hit it and it’ll be okay.” I give the dam a punch, the punch as light as a feather, but it falls down.

The bricks fall left and right. And the water, oh the water, it just pours and pours and pours and pours and floods. And the best clothes of everyone are now dripping wet. Wet socks, wet hair, wet shoes, wet everything!

The shouts of the people get ten times worse than before. Big Al, the mayor and me and Mrs. Piggy all hide our faces.

It feels like an eternity until I can get open. While I dry our clothes I begin to think. That was the third time we’ve made a brick dam, and they always fall down. If only we actually waited for good funding, or even did good funding, then maybe it’ll be successful. But we’ll have to spend two months planning and getting approved and another three months building all over again.

“Oh, the way bricks fall."

Michael hated cafeteria food. The tacos had no flavor and the spaghetti tasted like rubber. No matter how much Michael and his friends complained, nothing ever seemed to change. But one day, something unexpected happened.

As usual, Michael grabbed a taco, sat down with his friends and started chatting away. When he started eating his food, he heard a tiny scream coming from his tray. He looked down, blinked, and pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming and then looked closer at his plate. His eyes widened but his scream was paralyzed by his fear. The taco was alive, taco sauce dripping from its mouth, beef spilling out its sides, legs and arms popping out, and its two dark blue eyes staring into Michael’s soul.

Michael dropped his fork, completely freaked out. He looked across the room and saw his girlfriend Sarah pointing at her tray screaming that her taco was alive too! The whole cafeteria went nuts! Between all the chaos, both of their tacos started sliding towards each other forming a giant taco monster.

Kids panicked, screaming and running away from the monster. With its giant arms, it started grabbing people. Michael had no choice but to grab his fork and started stabbing the taco until it started to turn into a normal taco again. The cafeteria fell silent, and everyone was astonished by what Michael had done.

After that day, everything changed. It turned out that the poor-quality food that caused this mess was because the school didn’t have the budget to buy better foods. The government stepped in and decided to raise the food budget to make sure that every school had fresh, delicious, safe food to serve.

Michael would never forget that day that his taco came to life.