"Scary" Story Contest.

WINNER: Hope C.

 

 

          Shivering, I crept through the dark woods as quietly as I could. A biting wind blew through the forest, and I was very cold. Thunderclouds blocked out the moonlight, making it hard for me to see where I was going. The flashlight I held in my trembling hand was flickering on and off; it wouldn't last much longer. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled. The storm would arrive any moment.

          Why exactly was I creeping through woods in the middle of the night? I wondered that myself. All I knew was that my destination was the abandoned mansion. With every step closer, I felt my heart beating faster. Just a few more seconds and I'll be there, I told myself.

There was another burst of lightning as I arrived at the mansion. It was in a large clearing in the middle of the woods. It was a big and creepy-looking place, and to make it worse, there were rusting statues of gargoyles perched on the roof and balcony that seemed to be watching my every move.

I slowly approached the house. It's not too late to turn back, I thought. But I willed myself forward. Just as I stepped onto the porch, the rain began to pour out of the sky. I was relieved I hadn't been rained on, but... that meant I would have to stay here until the storm stopped! I was shaking like a leaf as I stepped up to the front door and twisted the doorknob. Locked. What now? I wondered. I glanced at the torrents of rain falling from the sky. There was no way I'd make it even a few steps without being completely drenched from head to toe. If I tried to make it home in that weather, I would catch hypothermia for sure.

A rat skittered out through a crack in the porch boards, and I screamed. I leaped back in fear, slipping on a puddle of rainwater. I plummeted backward, hitting my head on the ground. Everything around me became hazy and blurred, and I couldn't move.

I suddenly felt cold, bony hands lift me off the ground. Darkness began to cloud my vision. Then... I blacked out.

          I opened my eyes. I felt dizzy; my head hurt. Where am I...? I wondered. I was in a room. I slowly sat up. I was in an empty room. There was a fireplace against one wall, and some furniture covered in white blankets. There was a portrait of a stern, unhappy-looking woman on one wall. Other than that, the room was empty. I heard a grandfather clock somewhere else in the house chime twice. Two o' clock in the morning... I thought. Wait, I've been here five hours?! I got to my feet and leaned against the wall to support myself. I gingerly reached to the back of my head where the pain was throbbing. I had a good-sized lump on the back of my head.

There was a door at the opposite end of the room. I carefully made my way towards it. Suddenly, I heard a thump upstairs, then a blood-curdling scream, coming from somewhere above me. I stopped walking, fear paralysing me.

          I heard footsteps that sounded like they were in this very room! They were coming toward me, but I couldn't see anyone approaching. Terrified, I dashed to the door, flinging it open and running in to a long hallway. I slammed the door shut behind me and ran quickly down the hall, ignoring the pain in my head. I heard another scream that echoed throughout the house. As I neared the door at the end of the hall, I saw a glowing figure. A ghost!! Panic-stricken, I turned and ran in the other direction. But there! Another ghost awaited me! I had nowhere to go – I was trapped!

There was a door in front of me. I opened it and quickly entered it.

“You can't get away! You will never get away!” An eerie voice laughed evilly.

I shut the door and leaned on it heavily, panting and sweating. I was in a dark room. The house was silent, except for the grandfather clock ticking in the corner. I was frightened, so frightened that I didn't know what to do. The clock sounded again... bong... bong... bong...

As the last sound faded away, a chilling silence fell over the entire house, then...

I heard a chorus of ghostly wails from all around me. Ghosts swooped down from the ceiling, groaning, screaming, crying. I frantically looked around for a means of escape. A door. It lead to the balcony.

I opened it quickly and stepped onto the balcony, wet with rain.

           “Help me!” I shrieked to the world. “Help! Help!”

No one will hear you, my mind told me. It's no use. Just give up. I ran to the railing as raindrops splattered on me. There were two evil-looking gargoyles sitting motionless on the railing. All of the sudden, they came to life! Their dull black eyes became a glowing red, and they both let out terrifying screeches. They flapped their wings and lifted off the banister. Both of their bloodshot eyes were trained on me. Panicking, I peered over the edge and looked below. There was a small pond below. I was so high up, but...

I glanced at the gargoyles, who flew at me, their sharp claws outstretched. I didn't hesitate as I leaped over the rail, plummeting several hundred feet down. Then, I stopped falling. The gargoyles' cries faded away. The ghosts' wails ceased. It seemed that time stopped. I was in complete darkness. Far away, I saw a light shining. It grew brighter and brighter until I was engulfed in light. Then, I heard a voice say,

          “You can never escape! You will never get away!”

This was accompanied by malicious laughter.

Time resumed.

I crashed toward the pond at break-neck speed, then... I splashed into the water. It felt like I had slammed into a brick wall. I sank underwater, stunned by the blow... I sank deeper and deeper with each moment. I suddenly felt tired, exhausted, like I hadn't slept in years. I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep... Somewhere deep inside me, a voice cried out, NO!!! I then realized I was going to drown if I didn't surface for air... but I was so, so tired... Don't give up! the voice shouted. Don't give up!!! The realization that I was drowning made me gather up as much energy as I could and move my arms and legs, propelling myself upward. My lungs were burning; every movement was excruciating. I knew that if I didn't get oxygen soon, I would be dead in a matter of seconds.

As I got closer to the surface, I felt strong arms reaching around me and pulling me upward. Suddenly, I was lying on a stretcher in an ambulance, shivering. Where am I...? I was so confused.

“The ghosts... the... but... the house...” I said weakly.

“Shh, you need to rest. You almost drowned.” It was my mother. Oh, I was so glad to hear her sweet voice!

“Drowned?” I croaked, coughing again.

“Shh, darling.”

“What happened to me, Mother?” I whispered hoarsely.

“You fell through the ice in the pond. Don't you remember? You were under for a long time.”

“But I was being chased by... but...” I shut my eyes in confusion.

“You almost drowned,” she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

I almost drowned? There were no ghosts, no gargoyles? It was all just a nightmare?

Maybe not.

Maybe it was real.

 

 

 

Contest: Scary Story

We have been talking about how our story is all stories and not much activity outside of the group story so here we are with a contest! Anyone, boy or girl, between the ages of ten and eighteen are welcome to participate! The deadline is Saturday, March 28. You must write......

A scary story!

Rules:

500-2000 words. Anything more than 10 words over or under WILL be disqualified.

Make it shivers-up-my-spine scary, but not outright horrifying! Nothing super gory or psychotic please! 

The idea is to get some practice with writing, so please make sure that you have written this story specifically for this contests and that it is your own! 

Our first, second, and third picks will be posted on this blog. After that, everyone will have a chance to vote for the winner. The winner wins... ummm... the title of 'Epic Story Writer' and will earn lots and lots of honour. Send your pictures to k.s.epicstories@gmail.com 

Any late entries will be disqualified.

Can't wait to read all of your scary stories!

Keona & Somiya

'Keep Writing Epic Stories!'

Pirate Story- Chapter Nine: Red Morning- Kaylan T.

Chapter 9: Red Morning

By: Kaylan

As Esmeralda stood there trembling, there was an ominous boom of thunder in the distance. All of a sudden the old saying came back to her mind: Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning.

Was it a bad omen? Esmeralda shivered some more, and not just from the cold. Asher stood solidly beside her, stone-faced, but as thunder rumbled again, this time followed by a crackle of lightning, his hand drifted from his side to clasp hers. Standing there, she was filled with calm. No matter what happened, she would face it with a friend by her side.

            The entire boat was lit up by a flash of lightning. Esmeralda was terrified. The sky looked like it was bleeding. Gathering her senses, she remembered what Caspian had taught her about figuring out how close a storm was. She counted ten seconds before thunder crashed. 2 miles. But would it come on time?

The clouds opened up and let loose a deluge.

            “Get on with it,” Captain Straton growled at his men.

            Esmeralda and Asher were shoved forward. Esmeralda couldn’t help but let out a cry as she tripped on a wedge of sodden planking. A sailor prodded her forward, and as she looked up she saw Asher already on a stool, his head in the noose. His eyes were wide and his fists were clenched, but he said nothing.

            She was shoved up on the stool next to his. The captain’s eyes glinted with bloodlust and some of the sailors were grinning, relishing the moment.

            “Now, who first?” Straton said, rubbing his hands together. He strode forward, boots making a clop sound against the wet boards.

            “Sir!” Eli came rushing up on deck. “Sir, we have a problem.”

            Straton ignored him. “Alright, the boy first. I want to see this one suffer.” And he jabbed Esmeralda in the side with a long finger. She stifled her cry. The rope rubbed against her neck, and she was dreading the moment her feet would swing and all her weight would be on her neck.

            “Sir!” Eli said again, and this time the captain backhanded him across the cheek. The cook reeled back, but didn’t leave. “The galley is flooded! I think one of the boards in the hull came loose. We must patch the hole while we still have time!”

            One of the sailors had been peering out into the distance. “Cap’n, the storm is less than two miles away now.” Esmeralda couldn’t help but smile. Caspian knew his stuff. Well, had known his stuff.

            Don’t think like that, she scolded herself fiercely.

            A wave crashed up against the side of the boat. Water came pouring over the side and one of the sailors was swept over the side.

            “Man overboard!” someone shrieked.

            The captain swore. Then he kicked out the stool from beneath Asher’s feet. The boy’s eyes bulged and his hands came up to his throat as he swung there, helpless.

            Esmeralda gasped and ran towards him. “Asher!” she screamed. He was still breathing. He was still alive. She must save him.

            Then a huge wave came over the side of the boat. Esmeralda was knocked over by the stream of seaweed and salt water, and everything went black.

***

She was drowning. She couldn’t seem to move her limbs. Esmeralda watched, almost mesmerized, as a flurry of bubbles escaped her lips and disappeared into the gloom. She felt enveloped by a strange sort of peace.

            Then the water was disturbed by a thrashing nearby. She drifted around and saw something float towards her. Its arms were waving and its legs were kicking fiercely. It was shooting up towards the surface. That’s not fair, she thought. What about me?

            As it passed her, she caught a glimpse of its face. The boy looked strangely like Asher.

            I must be dreaming.

           Esmeralda closed her eyes and waited for herself to wake up.

Chapter Eight- Keona: Caught

Eli grabbed her hair with one hand and Asher’s ear with the other and dragged them down to the galley.

“I knew there must be a good reason why you two volunteered and it wasn’t just to get away from an orphanage- that would’ve been easy enough on any old ship,” the cook said, sitting them down on a couple of rough barrels. He pointed at Esmerelda, “I recognized you right away. I was keeping you down here for your protection, not to be mean. I still didn’t understand why on earth you would get on a military vessel, but I decided to let your story play out a bit. I must admit, it was pretty entertaining. Now tell me exactly what is going on, and I might consider not handing you over.”

“I’ll take my chances with the soldiers,” Asher said confidently.

“There will be no chances,” Eli said, “You are her friend and she has been charged with about ten different crimes. It’ll be the noose for you in an instant.”

Asher gulped audibly.

“So, like I asked already, what’s your story?”

So Esmerelda told him everything. How she and Caspian had been best friends and maybe more. How he had gone on his first voyage and caught and possibly killed by pirates. How she had acted as cabin boy on Asher’s ship and they had become friends. How they had finally made their way onto the Providence. When she was done, Eli sat back and sighed.

“That is quite the story, but how can I trust you?”

Esmerelda looked at Asher- this didn’t look good.

“Really, I don’t even find this believable, but I will get quite the reward for catching Esmerelda Valazquez and her accomplice. I might finally get off this ship!” Eli said with a cruel laugh. Esmerelda’s heart filled with horror. One of her biggest fears had come true. She would never find Caspian. She had been caught. She would spend the rest of her short life in the brig with her only friend left- Asher.

Guilt overwhelmed her. She had dragged him into this! It was her fault that he was in this situation!

Eli stood and went to the doorway, calling for guards.

“This girl has just confessed to being the wanted Esmerelda Valazquez and the boy has been helping her out. I caught them and tricked them into turning themselves in. Tie them up and put them in the brig and then alert the captain.

Esmerelda and Asher’s hands were tied with rough ropes so tight they bit into their wrists. They were harshly forced up the steps to the brig and locked in a tiny, damp, dark cell. The door slammed shut and locked with a loud click, but that didn’t discourage Asher from trying to force his way out by ramming into the door until he was dizzy.

“Asher, stop!” Esmerelda cried, “It’s pointless.”

Asher knew she was right and sat down on the cold floor beside her.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks, “This is my fault.”

“Don’t tell yourself that!” he scolded, “I volunteered. I couldn’t let you go without me because… you’re the only real friend I ever had, even when you were a ‘cabin boy’. There was no way I was going to let you run off like that.”

Esmerelda knew he was right, but she still felt guilty.

“I’m just really sorry we never found Caspian,” Asher told her, “I know how much you love him.”

Esmerelda shook her head, “It was probably just a wild-goose chase anyways. He’s dead, Asher. The Maelstrom never takes prisoners.”

“Don’t talk like that. You know he’s not dead.”

“How do you know?”

“Because if you love someone, he must be a really great guy; and if he loved you back, he wouldn’t just die on you, fierce pirates or none.”

Esmerelda sighed, “If only it were like that. It’s not up to anyone when they die. We’re living proof.”

“We aren’t dead yet, Esmerelda. Don’t talk like we are.”

Ten minutes of silence passed before the door swung open.

“My name is Captain Straton of the Providence. I know who you are,” he said, pointing to Esmerelda, “What is your name, boy?”

“Asher.”

Straton obviously was waiting for a surname.

“I never knew my parents,” Asher told him.

Straton nodded, “Perhaps if you had, you would not be in the trouble you are in now. Nevertheless, I’m sure the two of you know the seriousness of your charges. You will-“

“Sir, we don’t even know what our charges are.”

“Well, stowing away on a ship was one. Burglary, uninvited passage on board a military vessel, evading capture by officers of the law. I honestly don’t know them all, but there are lots and isn’t that enough?”

“Captain, I’ve never stolen a thing in my life and we were accepted onto this ship by your cook-“

“Our cook has no right to accept anyone; that is the captain’s responsibility, and how do I know you aren’t lying?”

“You can’t possibly hang us for any of that, and certainly not without a fair trial!” Esmerelda cried.

“Girl, I am the captain of this ship. If I say you are stowaways, you’re stowaways. Every man on this ship would back me up and you know exactly what is done to stowaways on military vessels.”

Esmerelda knew and so did Asher.

“I will see you both at dawn. If you aren’t guilty, you’d better start praying for a way to prove it or it’s the rope for the both of you.”

***

The door opened the next morning, filling the cell with the reddish light of an early sunrise. Esmerelda and Asher hadn’t slept at all that night and they were both filled with hopelessness. This was it for both of them.

They were roughly pulled to their feet and dragged down the hall. Nobody spoke to them but many sailors and soldiers watched with pity, carelessness, or disgust. What had either of them done to deserve this?

“This is a mistake! We’re innocent!” Esmerelda wanted to cry out, but she knew it was useless. Why waste her breath when it was one of her last?

Silence came over the ship as they were brought onto the main deck. Two nooses hung from the main mast. The knot in Esmerelda’s stomach tightened with dread. She saw Asher’s face pale with utter hopelessness. She didn’t want to die. She hadn’t found Caspian. She felt like a failure. She had failed him, she had failed Asher, she had failed herself; and there was no going back.

  

Analor- Chapter Two

When he came to he stood up. He was at the zoo.

“What happened?” he said.

Just then, Jeremiah came around the corner.

“Aha!” he exclaimed, “finally! Burton punched you,”

“Oh, okay,” he said.

“Surprised?” Jeremiah asked sarcastically.

“Hardly,” Analor answered.

Keona:

Analor got up off of the bench he had been laying on and he and Jeremiah rejoined the group of kids from their school. Analor was bored most of the time and he had a headache, but they only spent a few hours there and then it was time to go home.

Everyone raced to the bus. Analor wasn’t very fast but Jeremiah was and he beat him to the bus.

“I’ll save you a seat!” Jeremiah called.

When Analor got on the bus, one of the teachers came over to talk to him.

“Daniel?”

“Yes?” he asked. Why did this teacher want to talk to him? Was he in trouble?

“I was informed of how Burton hit you. I wrote a note to your mother. She’s going to have to take you to the doctor to make sure you don’t have any serious injuries. Also, Burton may be expelled from the school: I thought you might like to know that.”

“Thank you,” Analor said, “But I don’t think I have any injuries: just a bit of a headache.”

“That ‘bit of a headache’ might mean a major concussion. You know what a concussion is?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Right. So you just have to get checked out quickly. It’s probably nothing but it has to be done for your own safety.”

“Okay.”

***

When he got home, his mom wasn’t back from work yet. He went around cleaning up everything. It was only one-thirty. She wouldn’t be back for another hour. In that time, he planned to make the house shine for his mom and for his sister, Rox, who was coming later on that afternoon.

***

“Daniel? Are you home yet?” his mom called when she walked through the front door.

“Here, mom! I'm in my room!”

Analor had finished tidying up and was now doing his whole ‘check-on-my-iPod thing’.

“Rox called! She’s going to be here half an hour late!”

“Awww,” Analor whined, “Okay….”

He was upset that he would be spending less time with his sister, but he would be okay.

Elijah:

After a while of playing chess with his robot (intelligence level put at 90%) he went down the stairs to see how things were going. Just as he got to the door, he heard the doorbell ring.

 “Mom! Rox is here!” he said excitedly. He opened the door.

“Hi, Analor,” his sister said.

“Hey Rox!”

“How are you?” she asked.

“Good. How’s Michael?” asked Analor.

Rox frowned.

“I'm kidding,” Analor laughed, “how are the both of you?”

“Good,” she smiled. They hugged. Then Michael came in.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said.

“Hi, and please don’t call me kiddo,” said Analor. Then their Mom came down.

 “Come in,” she said. She didn’t look happy. She had just been on the phone for the past few minutes.

“Hi Mom,” said Rox.

“I'm sorry I wasn’t here when you came in. It was an urgent phone call,” she said.

“How urgent?” Analor asked.

“Very,” she said, looking at him with a caring look.

“Who was it?” asked Rox.

“Oh, nobody,” she answered.

Rox raised an eyebrow, “Then how was it urgent?”

“It’s a surprise,” she said. Analor knew she was lying. They went inside.

“I was informed of how Burton hit you,” she asked looking at his black eye.

“I was wondering what that was,” said Michael.

“Um, yeah,” said Analor.

“I understand now,” she said.

‘How does she understand all of a sudden?’ Analor wondered.

“I'm going upstairs. Rox, I need to tell you something,” his Mom said.

“Okay,” she said. They went upstairs.

“Soooooooooooooooooooooo,” Analor said to Michael, “usually when Mom talks to Rox they take a while. What are we going to do?”

“Maybe we could play with this,” said Michael taking out the new Wii-U Zelda game, ‘Hyrule Warriors’. He also took out a Wii-U. Analor smiled and pointed at the cabinet by the T.V. In it was some video game systems. They both laughed. They got it set up. Just then, they heard some yelling.

Analor went upstairs and looked in his mother’s room. His mom was yelling into the phone.

She and Rox saw Analor.

“Go downstairs now,” his Mom said.

Analor listened.

Michael was getting the disk in and getting out the remotes.

Analor thought, ‘Maybe I could listen in on the other line.’

He went into the kitchen and picked up the other phone. Just then Michael came in.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Um… listening through this line to see what they were yelling about.”

“I’ll text Rox,” said Michael. He took out his cell phone. He texted Rox saying, “Hey, what's going on? Who are you talking to that Analor can’t hear? He was going to listen through the other line.”

She messaged back saying, “I'm sorry to do this, but Michael I need to be left alone for a little bit.” Then she blocked him.

“What?!” he exclaimed, then he said, “Analor you can listen on this line.”

Keona:

He heard a man’s voice, “Ma’am, you have to understand. This is what’s best for your son. He can-“

Analor’s Mom cut him off, “I am his mother! I decide what’s best for him!”

“Mrs. ______, your son’s intellect can be a great service to your country. I also understand that you are struggling financially. The funds we will pay for his assistance will be tremendous.”

“Who told you to say that? How did you know that? You've been through my bank accounts too? This definitely makes me want to trust you with my son!”

Analor couldn’t make heads or tales of what they were talking about- only that he was somehow involved.

What does this man want with me?

His mom was talking again, “My final decision is no. I don’t care who you are or why you want my son, there is no way you are taking him away from me.”

Taking me away? What is this all about? What’s happening?

“Mrs. _______ ((still coming up with a suitable last name....)), as the government, we can find a way to do whatever we want. If you choose to walk away from this phone call, life will become… difficult for you and your family.”

Analor heard his mom huff and then the line went dead.

She had hung up.

Analor set down the receiver. Michael was watching him closely.

“Who was it? What were they talking about?” he could clearly see the terrified expression on Analor’s face.

Elijah:

“Don’t really know. We didn’t get on in time, but it was the government,” Analor answered, “they said something about taking me away.”

Just then, Rox and Analor’s mom came down.

“Hi, Mom! What was all the yelling about? And you were really quick.”

“ Um… why don’t you play your game?” was her way to escape the question.

“ Okay. Lets play, Michael.”

***

(The next day)

“Bye, Mom! I'm already late for school!” shouted Analor.

“Bye!” she called.

Analor went out the door. He walked to school. He met up with Jeremiah on the way.

“Hey!” he called.

“Hey! How’s it going?” asked Jeremiah.

“I don’t really know. Has your Mom ever been called by the government about you being taken away?” Analor asked.

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow.

“How did you know?” asked Jeremiah.

“Um, my mother was called too.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I listened on the other line,” he said, then started impersonating the voices he heard over the phone, “They said, ‘Ma’am, you have to understand. This is what’s best for your son. He can-.’ Then my mother said,  ‘I am his mother! I decide what’s best for him.’ ‘Mrs. ______, your son’s intellect can be a great service to your country. I also understand that you are struggling financially. The funds we will pay for his assistance will be tremendous.’ ‘Who told you to say that? How did you know that? You've been through my bank accounts too? This definitely makes me want to trust you with my son!’ Then I thought What does this man want with me? Mom was talking again, ‘My final decision is no. I don’t care who you are or why you want my son, there is no way you are taking him away from me.’ ‘Mrs. _______, as the government, we can find a way to do whatever we want. If you choose to walk away from this phone call, life will become… difficult for you and your family.’ Then the line went dead. I think my mo hung up. I recorded it all and then I memorized it overnight. I had nothing else to do but think about it.”

“Wow,” said Jeremiah.

Keona:

“I know! I don’t know what’s going on or what to do about it!”

“Never heard you say that before,” Jeremiah stated.

“Say what?”

“I don’t know. You always know everything! This must be really bad,”

the truth was, it was really bad. Analor was used to knowing everything. This whole scenario had him very confused and stressed out.

That was okay though. He’d come up with a way to solve it. How did he know this? He was Analor. He knew everything. And when he didn’t, well, he was a quick learner.

Chapter Seven- Chloe: Providence

“Any ideas?”  Esmeralda asked with a weak grin.
“Well, not exactly….” Asher returned the smile.
Suddenly a plan formed in Esmeralda’s mind.
“Asher, you saw how heartless those men were on the way here. Don’t you think they would enjoy having people serve them for free?” Esmeralda asked, hoping Asher wasn’t as greedy as some other sailors.
“I guess, I mean…they’re British soldiers. You can probably expect to be treated like dirt.” Asher seemed a bit hesitant at the idea.
“Well, that’s where you would come in to help me. There probably will be no other women on the ship but I can cook and they may let me help in the kitchen. They would probably take you on as a cabin boy. How do feel about gaining a sister?”
Asher chuckled, “I always wanted one.”
                                                                           ~*********~
Esmeralda and Asher formed a plan, being very careful to cover all the details. They decided Asher would keep his name, and Esmeralda would take the name Mailee because who knows what the soldiers had heard of the search for Esmeralda. They boarded the ship, the Providence, and after a bit of hassle and getting pushed around they were given the positions Esmeralda had planned to be given.

Esmeralda was placed under the order of the cook, Eli. He was a cranky old man who always had a reason to get on to her. She did not enjoy it, but she knew it was worth the whole world to find Caspian. Who cared about the pointless scoldings of an old man? She still did not know why Asher had decided to join her and why she found it so easy to trust him. She hardly saw him as he was usually running errands all around the massive ship, but whenever he could he would come talk to her. From these talks, she learned Asher was an orphan who took care of himself, abandoned when he was younger and kept himself out of the orphanages by being a cabin boy his whole life.

The days passed slowly and Esmeralda often got tired of the same old thing every day. Asher told her that was what it was like on a ship especially when you are just searching the ocean. But after a week at sea a cry was heard from the crow’s nest. A small life boat had been spotted!

The news was passed throughout the ship quickly since there had been really no excitement at all on the ship yet. Esmeralda’s heart swelled with happiness when she heard it was indeed a life boat from the Cleopatra. Asher and Esmeralda had told no one of their search, but Esmeralda could not contain her excitement. She hurried up the rope ladder that went down into the dark, hot kitchen from the upper decks.
“Girl! Where are you going?? We aren’t finished with this! Thinks she can just run off whenever something happens…” Eli angrily shouted behind her.
Esmeralda ignored him in her excitement and ran full fledged into Asher as she reached the deck.
“Es- er…Mailee! They only found dead men on the lifeboat, they had no provisions…but they found a map in one of the men’s pockets. Mailee, we are going to follow the path of the Cleopatra!” Asher said quietly.
Esmeralda clapped her hands in joy, “Finally, Asher! Now we have leads to Caspian!”
She looked up at Asher surprised to see his face had turned  to a shade of white. Esmeralda turned and looked into the angry, bloodshot eyes of Eli.
“Care to tell me who Caspian is, dearie?” he chuckled.

Analor- Chapter One

Keona:
This is a story my little brother, Elijah, and I have been working on for a little while. He's a writer- like me- and so we decided this would be great practice for both of us. Elijah recently requested that I start putting it up, chapter by chapter, on this blog. So, once a week, we plan on posting a chapter of the following story. We have taken turns writing a few paragraphs each, and so you will get samples of both of our work in each chapter.
Hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter One

Keona:

It was a cold, winter day. The snow was half-melted, grey, and slushy. It soaked through his boots and froze his feet. His coat wasn’t quite thick enough to ward off the cold bite of the freezing wind that blew down the alley where he walked. Just ten more minutes of the misery, though; then he would be in the warmth of his school.

“Are you sure you don’t need a new coat?” his mother had asked him a month ago when the cold had first set in.

Knowing how much they were struggling to pay the bills, he had told her no. His old coat would still fit him well. So would his boots. He didn’t want her to have to work more than she already did. Life had been hard since his father left two years ago. They’d had to move into a townhouse. They had fewer luxuries than they had before. It didn’t matter though: they were still together. He and his mom had a special bond ever since his dad left. They had been through so much together.

Still trudging along, the school building finally came into sight. He went to a public school- they couldn’t afford a private one, but he was good with that. He didn’t have a lot of friends, but he had a few. They all called him Analor. That wasn’t his real name- it was the name of a boy in a super-popular movie-series who was a super-genius like him. Analor- not the one in the movie- didn’t brag about his abilities, but he did know that he was smart: supernaturally so. He usually used his abilities to help out his mom, but every once in a while- okay… more than that- he would pull a prank on a friend with it. Most people didn’t like him because he was so much smarter than him. He was a straight-A-know-it-all. Most people used to pick on him, but they gave up after he had made them look dumb with all of his witty responses.

Elijah:

As he arrived at school he met his school-buddy, Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a lot older than him- two years- but they were best friends because they were in the same grade. Analor had been moved up because he was so smart.

”How’s life?” he asked.

“Fine,” Analor replied.

An ear-piercing sound cut through the air.

”Oh! There goes the whistle!” said one of the kids on the playground.

“Can’t wait to start mathematics,” thought Analor. They ran towards the school doors. They went straight to Grade 10 mathematics.

“Hello class”, started Mr. Lyttle, their teacher.

“Hello Mr. Teacher,” exclaimed the group of bullies.

”Excuse me?” Mr. Lyttle asked, wanting a more formal response.

“Hello Sir,” chorused around the room.

“That’s more like it”, said Mr. Lyttle, then he handed out the math pages for the day. The first problem was 25x+37-(-215x)=257.4(-x).

Keona:

“What?” exclaimed Jeremiah, “We’re supposed to figure that out?”

X equals five. Analor thought to himself without a problem. He didn't even have to write the question out. Another one of his nicknames was ‘Human Calculator’ after all.

Math class was only an hour and then it was on to the more boring subjects: Social Studies, Home Economics, and Gym. Analor wasn't a huge fan of these. They bored him. Except for Gym. Gym was just too hard; too… physical.

A few hours more and school was out. Analor was happy to be going home to see his mom. She would need something to cheer her up after a long day’s work and he had just the thing- a report card from the past quarter showing, like always, straight-A’s.

Elijah:

At his house, he went up to his room to unpack his school stuff. He had a report card to give to his mother, his lunchbox, his ‘100%’ marked Mathematics paper, and his pencil, pen, and eraser. He kept all of his school utensils with him because Jeremiah had once returned to school one day to find his pencils and erasers were all missing. After that, Analor kept his with him so that they didn't get stolen. In his room he had a radio, movie posters, a laptop, a computer, a T.V., an iPod Touch, a 3DS, some LEGO, double mini, and his bed and dresser. His mom didn't let him get any of the challenging electric math games, because she didn't like the thought of him being a teenager. She knew he was ultra-smart but she didn't like thinking about it.

Analor had one older sister, her name was Rox, but she was 20 and had gotten married and moved away. His family’s history was half-American and half-Canadian. He had a sign on his door that said, “Only invited humans, dad, mom, or Jeremiah”. He didn't like it when his sister got married to a very rich guy named Michael Roberts, but he had thought about it. Michael actually bought Analor a box full of pieces to make a robot to which he had the remote. It had to work for him, and since then, Michael was on his good side. The robot would say “goodnight” and it cleaned his room for him. It also had its name painted on its side (named after Analor) ‘Daniel’.

He got out his iPod Touch to check on his “Clash of Clans” city, ‘Algebra’, and his clan name was ‘For Dummies’. He was the leader and Jeremiah was a Co-leader. ‘MicRoxy’ was the name of his sister’s city. She was also a Co-leader.

Keona:

While he was at school, he had been attacked several times. Most of the time, his defense had held: all except for the last time, when he got completely burned to the ground.

Oh, well. I still did pretty well.

Analor was the biggest player in his clan. He had quickly advanced in the game and was now in a very high league.

***

“Daniel! Come down for dinner!” his mom shouted. She never called him Analor. She was always her Daniel and he didn't mind at all.

“Coming, Mom!” He went running down the stairs, leaping over the last six and hitting the ground with a loud ‘Thump!’ that shook the house.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?” Analor’s mom asked in a weary voice.

Analor, completely ignoring the question, said, “I got my report card today.”

His mom raised an eyebrow, “How’d you do?” she asked even though she already knew the answer.

“A+ in everything! Especially Algebra.”

“Well, done,” she said, trying- and failing- to hide how proud she was of his and his success.

“Thanks!” he exclaimed. He knew she was always proud of him, but it felt great every time she showed it like this. He changed the subject to the next thing on his agenda, “What’s for dinner?”

“Well, I haven’t done any grocery shopping lately, so we don’t have any dinner foods. Instead, I made-“

“Pancakes!!” Analor interrupted. He loved when his mom made ‘breakfast for dinner’.

Elijah:

In his opinion, pancakes were the best food in the world. He got ready for dinner. He grabbed a fork, a knife, and a bottle of maple syrup. His and his mom’s favorite brand of maple syrup was the Aunt Jemimah. His Mom had made 40 pancakes he ate, ten, his mom only ate four. They saved the rest for lunch the next day.

His sister was coming over at 3:00pm the next day, and he was very excited. He hardly got to see her anymore. They had set two dates every week: Tuesday and Friday. His sister had work at a ToysRus company. She still said he was really young and had gotten him a Mouse Trap board game that he sold for $20.46. He found out that it had sold for more money than usual. Most people thought it was a rip-off for a board game without any strategy. He agreed. It was 5:45pm when they ate dinner. They usually liked eating late: around 9:00 or 10:00pm. He was very thankful that his mother really knew how to cook.

After dinner, he went upstairs to his room. He opened the door to see a mouse trapped in the trap he had made himself. It would take the mouse, and hang it upside down. It would try to eat the trap and eventually it would give up. His robot would check the trap. If there was a mouse or a rat in it, he would take it to a special room that specially made for that. The robot would then take the rodent and clean it from disease, clean everything else, clean all trace of dirt and put the mouse in a cage. The robot would then notify Analor’s iPod Touch, (Michael made a device in the robot that would enable it to send a message to Analor anytime, anywhere) that the trap had worked. Analor would usually (unless he was at school), come and turn on the cage. It would notify an app Analor made for iPod Touches- especially his. The app would make a remote that would hook up a device to the mice/rodents and had a remote for each one. The remote did every kind of care for the rodents. Eventually t was his plan to have an army of mice. He just hoped nobody took his iPod Touch or hacked it. If they did, he would not have any hope of an army for much longer. He also trained the rodents and they loved him and they would also be a family security system.

Keona:  

Most people thought that Analor’s plan for the rodent army was kind of crazy, but he didn't care. It was an interesting way to spend his free time- like a hobby that nobody else had. Yes, he was strange and, yes, he was proud of it.

A few hours later, Analor settled down to read for an hour before he went to bed. He mostly enjoyed adventurous fiction books. Right now, he was sinking deep into a novel entitled ‘Eragon’ by Christopher Paolini. It was an interesting story about dragons and elves. It was deep and very intense- just what Analor loved.

He read a few chapters and then lid down in his bed. His robot turned his light off and he fell asleep quickly.

***

Ten hours later, Analor was up and out of bed. It was Friday and he only had a half-day at school because he had a field trip this morning. To celebrate the beginning of a new term, his class was making a trip to the Toronto Zoo where they would spend the day up until lunchtime. Then they all got to go home early! Analor wasn't much of an animal person so the only part he was excited about was getting home to prepare for Rox’s visit.

He performed all of his morning preparation: brushing his teeth, eating breakfast, and packing his lunch. He was glad to not have to worry about cleaning his room: his robot did that for him.

Most kids took the bus to school but he lied very close so he walked every day. When he was younger, he had some friends that would walk with him but as he got older and his genius began to show more most of his friends forsook him. Now he walked alone.

Elijah:

On his walk to school he met up with Jeremiah.

“Sup?” asked Jeremiah.

“Nothing much,” answered Analor.

“Excited for the zoo?”

“Nope,” answered Analor.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just don’t like animals”

“Okay.”

They walked further and eventually got to the school where they would be picked up.

“I am so excited,” said fourteen year-old Davis.

They got on the bus just as the school bully, Burton got on.

“Watch it,” he said to Davis.

“Watch yourself,” said Analor. Burton hadn't noticed him, and he backed away.

“Laugh out loud!” shouted a random kid. Everyone started laughing. Analor kind of felt bad for him. He also hated being laughed at. He didn't feel bad for long.

“Now you’re up for it,” said Burton.

“Oh-no, I'm so scared!” Analor said mockingly.

Everyone started staring. Burton tensed. His face got weird looking.

‘He looks like the Razac in ‘Eragon’. My imaginary ones, at least,’ Analor thought to himself.

Burton swung a punch at Analor. He had practiced boxing with his robot at home. He ducked.

“Nice try,” Analor stated.

Jeremiah had sat and saved a spot for Analor. The bus driver was used to it: he watched it every time and it happened a lot.

“Charge!” shouted Burton as he did a rhino-like charge at Analor.

“Hello!” exclaimed Analor. He stepped to the side. Everyone on the bus doubled over in laughter. Burton tripped, and smashed his face into a bench. He got up and decided to quit it and sit down. Analor relaxed. He was getting ready to rest his eyes when everything went black and he remembered no more.