Fiction Writing Summer Camp 2020

Fiction is 

the lie 

through which 

we tell the 

truth 

Fiction Writing SUMMER CAMP 

AUGUST 2020

Contents 

CHAINED UP 

Shonagh M. 

GINORMOUS DEMIGORGON 

Senuri W 

HUMAN 

Éabha K. 

LIFE THREATENING TODDLER 

Laura M. 

THE CRAZY ALIEN 

Kellie C. 

THE JOSHUA CHRONICLES 

CIARAN G. 

THE MAGIC PANDEMIC 

Emily K. 

THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE 

Eoin G 

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD 

Adam R. 

AT THE STROKE OF MURDER 

Ella O.

CHAINED UP 

Shonagh M.

My eyes opened and were pierced by the blinding light above my head. pain, it filled 

my body as I tried to sit up. What happened? I began to think of the night before, 

and it all came up blank. I have no memory of it, it was if it had been whipped from 

my brain. I could only focus on other questions. Where was I? I scanned the room 

and seemed to recognise nothing, although there was not much to recognise. The 

room looked old, abandoned, with very little clues or information. It wasn’t big, with 

not many features. The walls looked to once have been painted white, but the paint 

was mostly chipped away. There were no windows but a lamp which was fixated 

over me in one corner of the room. In the corner opposite there was a door, wooden 

and mouldy but with a bright silver doorknob which was the only modern thing I 

could see. The floor was dirty and wet, with a broken picture frame and a bottle of 

vodka in the corner Infront of me. The more questions I tried solving the more questions 

began to pop into my brain. Just then my head began to ace. 

I looked at my body for the first time since I had woken up and I finally noticed 

something that could give me answers. I was wearing an old blue shirt, which was 

buttoned up. It was a men’s large and again, was something I had never seen before. 

My legs were bruised and bloody with cuts all along my thighs. The blood was 

dried but some of the cuts were still opened and sore to the touch. my hair, matted 

in a mixture of dirt and blood, and what was the most terrifying was my ankle. As I 

looked down my body exploded with fear. The hairs along my arms and legs began 

to stand up as I realised being here was no accident. my ankle was chained to the 

wall behind me. I panicked, trying to tear the mettle chain off my ankle, pulling and 

pulling till my hands were sore, but it didn’t work. I began to breath in to quickly, out 

to quickly, not being able to catch my breath. What had I done? And who had done 

this to me? I began to choke and cough profusely. Blood squirted out of my mouth 

along with dirt and vomit. I covered my mouth with both hands, and tried to stop 

myself from getting even more sick, but I couldn’t stop it. I was to scared, to terrified 

and my body reacted with throwing up. 

I finally wiped my mouth after I was done and sat against the icy wall looking at 

space once again. ‘I needed to get out of here’ it was the only thing I could think 

of. I pulled myself up grabbing the lamp. My body was shot with a tsunami of pain. 

I whelped, but still tried to raise myself up. Fighting the pain, I was standing now 

holding tightly onto the lamp. I tired to move, putting one foot in front of the other. My 

hand was still clung to the lamp refusing to release. I was moving, getting closer and 

closer and closer and closer and then. I slipped. My body slammed onto the floor 

as I let out a cry of pain. The lamp crashed beside me seconds later, my hand was 

still clung on tightly. I lay there on the floor and began to cry. I taught about how this 

could be the last place I ever see. How I might die in these four walls due to starvation, 

thirst, or whoever put me in here. How my family or friends might never hear 

from me again or could never know where I am or what happened to me. tears ran 

down my cheeks as I taught about my life, about all the wonderful things I had taken 

for granted, how I had been so careless with every day, every hour, every minute. 

I screamed, pounding the flood as hard as I could. my body had never felt more

pain, physical or mental. Tears flooded my eyes to the point that I could no longer 

see clearly. I lay there cold, frightened, and confused. I closed my eyes for a moment, 

wanting to be free of the pain, when it all hit me. the night before. The light. 

The shovel. The forest. The eyes, his eyes. And I finally knew what happened, but 

I realised to late. I looked up and he was standing there in the door, ready to finish 

what he has started, but this time, I was not giving up……

GINORMOUS DEMIGORGON 

Senur W.

The clock struck 2:oo and the school bell rang. Finally school was over. All the kids 

jumped up from their seats and were gone from the classroom in a second. Charlie 

was last out as always. He sat in the further corner of class so getting out of the 

classroom was a struggle when fighting through a crowd. Eventually he went to his 

locker. He put his english books back and grabbed the books he needed for homework. 

Charlie didn’t have many friends. He had two good friends named Harper and 

Lewis. 

Charlie rode his bike home with Harper and Lewis. 

“Hey Charlie, mind if we stop at Green’s bakery, I have been craving a cinnamon 

roll…. Mmm..mmm,” said Lewis with passion. 

“Yess, could you guys get me one and I will mind the bikes...please...I will pay you 

later,” begged Charlie. 

“Charlie you know you still owe me $8” said Harper with attitude. 

“Yeah yeah, I will pay you back tomorrow I promise”, said Charlie with a cheeky grin. 

Harper rolled her eyes and ran behind Lewis who was already at the till. Charlie 

watched Lewis and Harper glare at the cinnamon rolls as Mrs.Green was putting a 

fresh layer of glaze. 

A sudden wind occurred, Charlie brought the bikes into the side of the building to get 

some shelter. The wind blew Charlie’s hair. Suddenly a thick layer of fog appeared. 

Charlie walked backwards behind the alleyway so he wouldn’t get wet. As he was 

walking backwards with the bikes he scraped his ankle onthe bike pedal. A streak of 

blood started to drip down his sock. A few moments later, Charlie heard a growl behind 

him. He was standing in a large shadow. His heart started pacing as he slowly 

turned around. Something was drooling down at him. He raised his head and there 

stood a GINORMOUS DEMOGORGON!! He had large spiked teeth and a flower 

shaped mouth. Charlie quickly turned around and sprinted down the alleyway. He 

paced and nearly tripped over the bikes. He quickly grabbed a bike and threw it at 

the demogorgon. The demogorgon grabbed the bike and bent it making it break into 

pieces.. 

Charlie finally made his way to Green’s bakery. He spotted Harper and Lewis and 

screamed at them out of breath “ RUN, RUN….DEMO..GORGAN!! Harper and Lewis 

thought it was a joke until they saw a figure turn in from the alleyway. “NO...NO… 

this is no REAL!!!” shouted Harper. They all quickly ran down the street. Everyone at 

Green’s Bakery quickly escaped through the back as soon as they saw the monster. 

The Demogorgan chased Lewis, Charlie and Harper. They ran onto the road nearly 

getting hit by a car. They sprinted to the police office at the end of the road. The 

Demogorgan was still making his way through the cars so this bought them time to 

address the police department to get their equipment ready. 

“SIR...SIR… THERE IS A DEMOGORGON MONSTER AT THE END OF THE 

STREET...YOU HAVE GOT TO HURRY” shouted Charlie. “Kiddo stop messing 

around….ha demogorgon monster….you kids are funny!” laughed the rude officier. 

“LOOK FOR YOURSELF OFFICER’’ shouted Harper opening the blind. Through 

the window there was the demogorgon making his way down the street through 

crashed cars and people running chaotically. “HOlY COW, CREW GET THE GUNS

READY…..NOW!”shouted the officer. “YOU KIDS GET OUT THE BACK… QUICK- 

LY...NOW...NOW...NOW…”. Harper, Lewis and Charlie ran out the back urgently. 

The crew grabbed the guns and all their equipment. Helicopters started circling the 

Demogorgan to stop it from going off track. 

The crew shot with their guns carefully aiming at the demogorgon. The demo fell 

to the ground. It got back up and started crawling towards the crew. It grabbed one 

crew member with his claws. More guns were fired. The crew member was in danger. 

The helicopter lowered to the level of the demo and quickly released a net over 

the demogorgon. The helicopters then pulled the rope from either side. 

They trapped the demogorgan and lifted it up into the sky with the helicopter. Charlie, 

Harper and Lewis could see it on their way home. It was just floating in the air 

trying to get out. It was GINORMOUS but it looked tiny in the sky. They brought it 

to an old factory where it was investigated. It was caged in a bulletproof cage and 

hopefully a demogorgon-proof cage. They took blood samples of the demogorgon 

and studied it in depth as it is not a familiar being. 

“What just happened, we almost died!”cried Lewis. Charlie and Harper both were 

in a deep stage of mind thinking about what just happened. They walked home in 

silence and trauma. Before they separated their own way home, Charlie said “Call 

me when you get home, we need to find out where this nasty old demo came from”. 

Harper and Lewis nodded and walked away. From the window, Charlie’s mother 

saw Charlie walk in through the driveway and immediately ran to open the door. “Oh 

Charlie, thank god you’re okay!”she cried squeezing Charlie tightly in her arms. “Are 

you hurt, you look pale..”. “Mom, Mom, MOm, stop i’m fine.. can i just go to my room 

to rest” said Charlie, looking slightly out of it. “Yes..sorry..if you need me i am right 

here”, she said looking scared at Charlie. Charlie grabbed his backpack and ran up 

to his room. He jumped onto the bed and grabbed his laptop to call Lewis and Harper. 

Six rings later they both finally answered. “Are you guys okay?”asked Charlie. 

“Yeah..but that was crazy”, said Harper. “How do you think the demogorgon came?”, 

asked Charlie. “You tell me Charlie, it was chasing you, maybe it wanted some 

cinnamon rolls”, laughed Lewis clearly not getting the point. Harper and Charlie 

gave Lewis a look “ Cinnamon children?” said Lewis awkwardly. “Look, we need to 

find out, I have only heard that demogorgons were myths, we have no time to joke 

around”,shouted Charlie specifically at Lewis. “Well my Grandad knows alot on mythology 

and folk tales, can we go meet him tomorrow?” said Harper. “Yeah, I am 

curious how demogorgon came here to the small town of Michigan!’’pointed Lewis. 

“Okay, meet me tomorrow outside Green’s” declared Charlie. “Can we get cinnamon 

rolls... I only had one bite of it today”,jabbered Lewis. Charlie smirked and closed 

his laptop shut. He headed straight to bed to energize himself for tomorrow. 

The next morning, Charlie woke up still feeling some pain from yesterday. He got 

dressed quickly and headed downstairs. “Hey, Charlie, how are you feeling?”, 

asked his mom. “Good, actually mom, is it okay if i go to Harpers Grandads house.. 

for some research”, said Charlie. “Yeah..but... be safe…you have to come straight 

home and take some of these cinnamon rolls i made today”, said his mother passing 

over a blue box. Charlie grinned when he received the cinnamon rolls. 

Charlie walked down the street to their meeting point. He saw Harper and Lewis 

sitting on the curb. Charlie friendly shoved the cinnamon rolls to Lewis. “No way, 

Charlie thank you , thank you” said Lewis with joy, immediately opening the box.

“Okay,let’s get to work!”, declared Charlie leading the way. As they walked past 

crashed cars and destroyed roads, Charlie kept getting flashbacks of yesterday. He 

kept asking himself “what if the demogorgon got him?”. 

They finally made it to Harper’s Grandads house. It was a mysterious looking building, 

At the door stood a friendly looking man with a white moustache, red glasses 

and perfectly brushed hair. “Children, come in!”, he said joyfully. Charlie, Lewis and 

Harper walked in through the yellow door into a furnished living area with hundreds 

of books scattered all over the tables. “Please have a seat” he said, moving away 

the books from the sofa. “Thank you for having us Mr. Carter,” said Charlie politely. 

“Of course, I love some company around here, so what brings you?”, said Mr. Carter 

getting straight into business. “Well Papa, you probably heard about the demogorgon 

who was found on Connell street, we were wondering if you knew or know anything 

about it”, asked Harper. “Hmm… are you sure it was a demogorgon? “ asked 

Mr.Carter as he scrolled through his bookshelf. “Yes sir, we learned about greek mythology 

in school and it looked exactly like the creature in our book” explained Lewis. 

“It had a human figure with a flower shaped mouth” interrupted Charlie. “Okay…..., 

Charlie, how did you run into him, it must have been triggered by blood”, explained 

Mr.Carter. “Well a huge rainstorm and fog surrounded me so i walked into the alleyway 

for shelter...and did you say blood?” said Charlie, looking scared. “Well you see 

Demogorgans get very attracted to human and animal blood,they can sense any 

amount of blood close to them, do you have a cut on you?,”asked Mr Carter. “Uh... 

uh.. well that day I scratched my ankle with the bicycle paddle...b..but it’s nothing 

huge” said Charlie lifting his jeans to reveal a streak of slightly dried blood. Mr.Carter 

looked concerned. He looked through a big book of greek mythology. He tapped his 

finger against the spine. “You kids should go home”, advised Mr Carter. “What...we 

just got started...what are you not telling us?”, said Charlie aggressively. “Look, it’s 

not safe for kids to be going around town when there’s a 9ft killer in town!”, shouted 

Mr.Carter looking stressed. “Look kids, go home, I can’t take care of you, take this 

book and go straight home...understand?”, said Mr.Carter shoving the book gently 

into Charlie’s hand. Mr.Carter opened the door and led the kids outside. 

“Lets see for ourselves”, said Charlie. Harper and Lewis looked confused. Charlie 

faced them and said “Let’s go see the demo”. “Are you out of your mind, you still 

have a cut and did you hear what papa said? He was clearly scared!”,shouted Harper. 

Charlie ignored the statement about his cut. “Lets go, unless you’re a coward 

Harper”, mocked Lewis making weird hand gestures. Harper sighed and stared at 

the boys. “I am not cowardly, you guys clearly need me!”, shouted Harper. Charlie 

raised his eyebrow. “So, we are going?”. The boys started walking and Harper 

walked behind them. Harper strongly regretted what she was doing. But she didn’t 

want to show that she was scared. 

They were walking down the street of the old factory. The weather was gloomy and 

foggy. Charlie got chills down his spine and began to think that this was a bad idea. 

“You good?”asked Lewis. “Yeah...yeah...let’s go through the back, the crew are 

guarding the front”,said Charlie guiding the way to the back of the old factory. They 

made their way through the edge of the factory. Strong fumes of gas were blocking 

their senses. They covered their nose with their jackets. They made it to the back 

where they found a small hole below a mount of mud. 

Charlie boosted his way up to have a peek. Surrounded by darkness, there stood 

the demogorgon with light glistening his slimy body. The Demogorgan was unoccupied 

and left alone. It was sitting with his knees up eating meat that the specialists

probaby left him to keep him out of trouble. “Charlie, get down, the demo can smell 

blood from your ankle”, shouted Harper quietly. Charlie actually listened to Harper 

and got down. Lewis got up to have a look. “Holy moly, guys this is epic!”,whispered 

Lewis with his eyes wide open. “Let me see”, whispered Harper shoving her way up. 

As Lewis was getting down he slipped on the wet mud. “Shhhh...g..guys.. I think he 

heard us”, whispered Charlie. Harper slowly tried to have a look. “Guys...GO..quick 

he’s trying to get out”, shouted Harper. Charlie and Lewis ran towards the forest beside 

the factory. Harper quickly got down and started to run behind them. 

The Demogorgan could smell the slightest bit of blood that was close to him. He 

barged through the cage and pulled the bars apart. He was so attracted to the blood 

and a sudden power rushed through his body. He escaped the cage and crashed 

through the small hole by tearing it apart. He ran with both his hands and feet. He 

spotted Harper who was running a few meters behind the boys. Harper turned back 

and saw that the demogorgon was close to him. Harper panicked and tripped over 

a stone stuck in the mud.. She got herself up but it was too late. The demogorgon 

bent down and grabbed Harper by its slimy claws. “HELPPPPP…...HELPPPPP …... 

PLEA..S.SE.!”, cried Harper trying to wriggle out of its hands. Charlie and Lewis 

turned around. “HARPERRRRRRRR!”, shouted Charlie. 

Suddenly, a big blue flash occurred and the Demogorgan jetted into the sky. The 

force was pulling it into the sky. It reached into the sky leaving a red star figure. It 

started to rain. 

“HAR..PER.ER!”, cried Charlie. Lewis found Harper’s necklace covered in blood. 

The only thing that was left behind. The boys stared at the necklace and started crying 

frantically. The force took Harper with it.. 

Police officers began to pull up to investigate the scene.People were crowded looking 

up at the sky. The officer took Charlie and Lewis away from the police car to be 

questioned. 

The red star figure remained in the sky. 

Charlie believes Harper is not dead. Where she was taken, he does not know? 

No one knows.

HUMAN 

Éabha K

Naomi Price stands in the doorway, and reminds herself that she is human. She is weak, she is 

biased, she will make mistakes, and she will survive. 

She grips her satchel’s strap tighter and walks in. 

The entrance hall is packed with people, as usual. She doesn’t know most of them, and probably 

never will. The crowd is easy to navigate and she slips into the nearest corridor without a problem. 

The corridors are far more cramped and lonely than the room behind her, and she sighs with relief. 

There are no windows, and the lights are dim enough to make things hazy without obstructing 

sight. Unsettling to most, but not dangerous. The walls are mostly bare, apart from a few notice 

boards and a generic painting or two. It would be easy to get lost here. 

Naomi does not get lost. She has the map of this floor memorised, and could get to the head office 

in her sleep. 

She is not sure why she would ever need to get to the head office in her sleep, but preparation is 

always good. 

She takes a minute to breathe when she reaches her destination at the centre of the building, 

where the walls are thickest and hallways most narrow. No one is expecting perfection. That is an 

unrealistic goal. 

Naomi knocks. 

“Come in,” says a voice from inside. 

Naomi’s chest tightens. Breathe. 

She opens the door. 

Inside is one person. Behind the sparsely decorated desk, leaning back, with her arms crossed. 

Miriam Black. 

She gestures to the lone empty chair in front of her. 

Miriam is an extraordinary woman. She is head of the facility, and responsible for many of the most 

important breakthroughs this facility has made. She is famous for using herself as a test subject, 

when not given permission from her superiors to go to the public. Her metal arm and leg shine in 

the harsh light of the office’s fluorescent bulbs. Naomi respects her like she would a sniper that 

never misses.

She stares at her as she sits down. Miriam looks like she’s studying her every move, and considering 

who she is, that is a reasonable assumption. 

Naomi does not make assumptions. She forms hypotheses and then tests them. If need be, she 

adjusts her idea to suit her findings. 

Her boss watching her does not warrant so much effort, so she doesn’t bother. 

“Good morning,” Miriam says. 

Naomi gives her a small wave as she tries to find a position where plastic isn’t sticking into her 

skin. 

Miriam watches. “I think you know why you’re here.” 

“You haven’t told me.” Naomi decides crossed arms with knees pressed together is optimal. 

She looks taken aback. “I thought you’d have picked up on context clues.” 

“The context is that I was called to the head of the institute’s office. What clues are there to pick up 

on?” 

He frowns. “When you put it like that it sounds stupid.” 

“That’s because it is stupid.” 

Miriam snorts and messes with the ends of her short hair. It is at least thirty percent synthetic. 

“I think the problem is you’re not seeing everything. The context is that you have been working 

here for several years, and have shown a high aptitude for the work we do. Yet, you are not being 

used to your full potential.” She tapped on the table. “You’re being promoted.” 

Naomi’s expression goes to just the bad side of neutral. “No.” 

That surprises her. 

“I didn’t realise you liked your job.”

“I don’t like working.The job itself is fine.” 

Miriam tilted her head, and Naomi’s eyes caught on the silver that faded into the pale skin of her 

jaw. “Really.” 

No. Her job is consulting on smaller projects. People bring things to her, maybe a custom-ordered 

false tooth, or a prosthetic prototype that isn’t working, and she fixes whatever’s wrong with their 

designs. It’s always their designs. She is an add-on. 

But it is safe. She knows what to do, and she does it well. So few people ever got to experience 

that. 

She nods. 

Miriam sighs, and it looks so fake Naomi almost laughs. “Can I at least give you the pitch?” 

“Go ahead.” 

Miriam smiles, and she isn’t much good at that either. It’s too tight, and it doesn’t reach her eyes, 

but the effort is appreciated. 

“You’ve shown an amazing aptitude for designing and building many types of body modifications. 

Unfortunately, like I said, your talents are not being utilised.” She pulls a stack of papers from a 

drawer in her desk. “I would like to change that.” 

She explains how being transferred would work, that the gears are already turning, that she could 

be working properly in only a few days. 

“I would be monitoring you, of course, but you would be working on your own designs and plans.” 

Miriam stands up, planting her hands on the tabletop and leaning forward. “Can you imagine it? 

Seeing something you made come to life? Bringing it yourself?” 

Naomi can. She’s never gotten a real taste of it before, but she’s been chasing that feeling since 

she started working here. 

“I should warn you, things can get gruesome.” 

“We’re giving people who’ve had their limbs hacked off new body parts. I don’t expect it to be 

clean.” 

Miriam makes a sound that could be a laugh, if it wasn’t so mechanical. “Is that a yes?”

The work was new. New means dangerous. She could keep her current position, and everything 

would go back to normal. Does she want normal, though? Does she like finding what she spent 

most of her time on exhausting? Is restlessness the price of security? 

Naomi signs the papers and goes home smiling. 

New department means new locations means new maps to memorise. The basement was exclusively 

for those working there and test subjects, so she never had to know her way around before. 

Naomi’s going there now. She can feel the cortisol and thyroid pumping through her veins. 

She flaps her hands unconsciously, ignoring the looks some people throw her as she passes. 

She’s barely escaped the entrance hall without smacking someone’s face. Maybe she had. It 

doesn’t matter. 

The elevator down is innocuous. Miriam appears next to her as she waits for it. 

“Not taking the stairs?” She’s looking at Naomi’s compression gloves, then matching socks. They 

both almost match the dark brown of her skin. 

“No.” 

They wait in silence. 

The door opens with a cheery ding, and the two step in. 

Miriam is so made of metal that she almost blends into the walls. Naomi studies the craftsmanship 

on the ride down. Her boss has two different coloured eyes. 

“Is it false?” 

“What?” 

“Your eye.” 

Miriam thinks about that. “It is functionally an eye, and I think that means it’s real.” 

“An odd way of looking at it, but valid.”

Miriam’s smile looks a little more real this time. “You’re going to do very well here.” 

The door slides open, and Naomi follows Miriam out. She knows the way, but something seems 

wrong about keeping in step with her. Like she would be intruding on Miriam’s space if she dared 

stand beside her. 

She leads her to a large metal door. 

“Ready?” 

Naomi nodded. 

Miriam opened the door. 

They are met with screaming. The shrieking, guttural sound sends Naomi’s hands flying to cover 

her ears. She almost falls to her knees before someone taps on her shoulder. 

She flinches and whirls around, keeping her palms flat against her head. 

Miriam stands next to her, doubled over laughing. She holds a bulky pair of headphones. Naomi 

snatches them when they’re held out and clamps them on. The sounds stop. Noise-cancelling. 

Good. 

Wiping away the few tears that collected in her eyes, she sees Miriam say something. She looks 

like she’s shouting. When Naomi doesn’t react she gives a thumbs up sign. Naomi begrudgingly 

returns it. 

Taking more deep breaths, she shakes out her hands. 

“Can you sign?” 

Miriam taps her chin and nods. 

“Why did you do that?” 

Miriam flexes her fingers, like she’s about to do a magic trick. 

“I wanted to see how you would react. Results were as expected.” 

“Glad to be of service.”

Now that she’s over the initial shock, Naomi takes in her surroundings properly. 

She’s in a large room, with rows of metal tables. Dozens of people hover around each one, with 

clipboards and lab coats. It looks like a Home Ec class, but with money for supplies. Sparks fly 

from a few tables, and several people use industrial saws and drills on their projects. 

The ceiling is tiled, with every third square being a light. Naomi has to squint to combat every reflective 

surface trying to cut into her eyes. 

It’s too much. 

Miriam doesn’t think so, and she strides across the floor. People part in front of her, and she clears 

a wide path through the throng. Naomi follows her. 

They go into a storage room at the back wall. It’s darker, and smaller, and there are no other people. 

Naomi slouches against the wall. 

“Thank you.” 

Miriam starts looking at all the scrap metal piled around the room. “How are you finding your first 

day?” 

“Who was screaming?” 

Miriam’s eyes glint even in the dull light. “Volunteer subjects. They agreed to this.” 

Naomi shrugs. “Will there be a lot of it?” 

“Always.” She points at the headphones. “You can keep those.” 

“Where do I begin?” 

Naomi’s body is useless, mostly. It moves her head around, and lets her make her thoughts tangible, 

but the cons outweigh the pros. 

It messes with her mind. She panics for no reason and fears things that don’t exist. 

Her eyes scream if it is too bright and cry out in the dark. Her ears can make an airhorn sound like 

a whisper and a dripping tap into a drill. Her mouth makes her gag around food it does not like,

and it does not like much. 

It does not tell her when she is in pain, because she is always in pain. Outside help can alleviate 

the pressure, but it is always there. She cannot describe when asked, because that would mean 

putting into words that which does not make sense in linguistic logic. She has tried before, and 

failed each time. 

She loves it. 

It is an inconvenience, and when the headache in her bones rears its head she wishes for it to 

stop, but she cannot. It will never stop, and that is lovely. 

In an age when people think of themselves as gods, it is nice to be reminded that she is human. 

Naomi is carrying a tray of food to one of the subjects. There is still screaming, but she can’t hear 

it anymore. The screamers made their choice, they knew what they were getting into. If they didn’t 

know, then they should have. 

The food on the tray is for a young woman. Naomi knows nothing about her other than that she is 

lactose intolerant, and she prefers her tea with milk. This perplexes the people making her tea, but 

Naomi understands. The needs of the mind outweigh the restrictions of the body. 

She passes the woman her tea and places the tray on the narrow plastic table. It is the only furniture 

in the whitewashed room, apart from a small bed in the corner. 

She doesn’t remember falling asleep in work, but she remembers waking up in a bed like that a 

lot. They’re not very comfortable. 

The woman takes a sip and smiles. 

Naomi sees her get sick later, and respects her for it. 

She brings food to others. When she is not working on her designs of nerve endings made from 

steel and electricity, she likes doing it. 

There is a man. He is older, with greying hair and wrinkled skin. He wears the same brand gloves 

as her. Sometimes he tries to lift the tray. He never can. 

There is another man, who never eats the food she brings him. His cheeks are hollow, and Naomi 

is certain that if he were to remove the thin white smock he wears she would be able to count all 

his bones.

She does not need to count his bones. She knows how many a human has. But it would prove a 

point. 

She can’t say she particularly likes them, but they are fun, if not interesting. 

When the lactose-intolerant woman dies of an infection after surgery, she isn’t sad. 

When the old man goes into a test room and doesn’t come out, she doesn’t weep. 

When the thin man keels over and doesn’t stand back up, she clears his tray again and moves on 

to the next subject. 

They chose this. 

Naomi wakes up, and she is not in pain. There is no protest from her joints as she bends, and her 

hands don’t call for her gloves. 

She sits up. Uncomfortable bed, white room, plastic table. Impossible to tell if it is the same as last 

time, but she doesn’t think so. It doesn’t feel the same. It feels new. 

How long has she not been in pain? Had she been in pain last night? She doesn’t remember. Her 

gloves and socks are laying on the ground in front of her, which means she wore them to work 

yesterday. She was in pain yesterday morning, at least. 

Could she still feel pain? Had her body finally given up and stopped bothering sending her brain 

signals? She’d read reports on brains blocking out certain sensations, but if that was the case, 

why now? She’s been in pain since she was a teenager. What changed? 

Naomi stands up, disoriented by how easy it is. She feels like she was carrying weights her whole 

life, and she has just dropped them. It doesn’t feel right. 

The room is dark. The paneled lights of the ceiling hadn’t been turned on yet. It was still early, 

then. 

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and turns the flashlight on. Reflexively, she slaps a hand 

over her eyes to shield them from the light. It is unnecessary. No pain comes, and she counts another 

sense out. 

She looks around the room. No changes from last night, from what she can tell. Except… 

She drops to the ground, crawling on her knees and keeping her face near the floor. Yes, there’s a 

tiny stain. Red, and coagulated. She touches it, and sees that it’s fully dry. There’s another, a few

centimeters away. Another after that. And another. 

More and more and more. She follows the drops into the sterile hallway outside. They lead to the 

bathroom. She goes in. There is a horizontally long mirror over the sinks. On the other side of the 

room are five stalls. The blood stops at the door. 

Something occurs to her, and she rises from the counter. Setting the phone down so she can use 

her hands while still seeing what she’s doing, she lifts her jumper over her head. Then her shirt. 

Then her vest. She removes her trousers too, but leaves the underwear on. 

She inspects herself in the mirror. No cuts. Plenty of bruises, but that was normal. She tries poking 

areas she knows are extra sensitive, but all she feels is normal touch. Pinching her stomach and 

arms does nothing either. 

She opens the cupboard under the sink and digs around. She comes back up holding a pair of 

dainty scissors. They’re used by subjects for nails and sometimes hair. 

Deep breath. 

She plunges the pointed blades into the meat of her thigh and bites her lip until it bleeds. 

She can still feel pain. 

She tries a few other places, but they all come back positive. 

It’s about the time she decides to go find someone to help her that she realises she is bleeding 

strangely. The cuts she made varied in depth, but they all pour blood at the same rate. She grazes 

the surface of her palm, so light it would break skin without drawing blood. She bleeds all the 

same. 

Curious, she dips her fingers into the pool growing in her hand and lifts them to her lips. 

It is blood. And it is cold. 

Naomi has Miriam backed up against the wall of the wall of the storage room. Miriam is clutching 

her metal jaw, trying to slot it back into place. 

The mechanism doesn’t work like that. It will never fit properly again. 

Good.

Naomi is not wearing the headphones, because the screams and whirs of the machines don’t hurt 

anymore. 

“What did you do to me?” 

She might be shouting. It is so hard to tell. 

Miriam laughs, and blood seeps out of her lips and drips to the floor. She does not seem to care 

about the pain she is in. Maybe she doesn’t feel it. 

Is this how Naomi will be, eventually? Completely free of pain? It looks awful. 

“I’m not sure what you mean. Can you explain?” 

Naomi punches her again. 

“I was something, and now I am something else. I’m not sure what I am now, but I don’t like it.” 

Another punch, square in the nose. If she hits hard enough, the bones will be pushed back into 

Miriam’s brain and she will die. She doesn’t hit that hard. 

“You are something new. Isn’t that exciting?” 

Naomi pulls back and grabs Miriam by the head. She slams her forehead down and brings her 

knee up. Miriam doesn’t make a sound as they collide. 

“No. Why did you do this?” 

Blood is covering both of their clothes now. 

“You were in pain. Now you’re not. You should be thanking us.” 

“You didn’t ask. I didn’t get a choice.” 

“Would that have changed anything? The outcome is the same, either way.” 

“There were others. Who?” 

Miriam is near hysterical. She lets herself drop to the floor, choking on laughter. Naomi kicks her

stomach, and she laughs harder. 

“All of us! The whole department’s been watching you for months. God, you are so oblivious. Do 

you think it’s normal for people to just fall asleep at work, then wake up hours later in a bed someone’s 

tucked them in to? Did that happen before? Should we add narcolepsy to the list of things 

we’ve cured you of?” 

“You haven’t cured me of anything.” Naomi grabs a piece of metal from a shelf nearby. Heavy. 

Sharp. “You just made me angry.” 

She leaves Miriam’s impaled and broken form on the floor for someone to find. 

It’s possible that everyone in the institute had a hand in her transformation, but Miriam didn’t say 

that, and Naomi isn’t taking any chances. 

She tells the volunteers to go home. None refuse. One asks what’s happening, but all they get is 

a vague “Bad things.” They leave with everyone else. 

She makes sure no one is out sick. If she misses someone, it will be a pain to find them. 

It’s her lucky day. 

She checks the map in her head. She knows every exit route. Every crack in the wall that could 

save a desperate person’s life. She fills the cracks in, and the holes too big for plaster she fills with 

rocks. 

Once that’s done, it’s just a matter of finding the most exposed electrical wiring. 

Being burned is a strange feeling. She will ever experience it. 

Some people are still clawing at the doors as the fire consumes them, others have given up. Some 

were taken by the smoke. Lucky. If Naomi still had lungs, she would like to have been like them. 

As it is, she stands in the middle of the room, peeling off her clothes. Then her skin. Then everything 

that pretends to be muscle. If she could, she would tear away all that masquerades as human, 

but that is impossible, now. 

She is left with her shiny skeleton and whatever now makes up her brain. She realises she never 

checked if her eyes were real. It doesn’t matter now. 

The melting point of her metal frame is high, but the flames rise higher.

LIFE THREATENING TODDLER 

Laura M.

“And I assume you understand how stressful it is to now be the solo bread winner for your family 

at the mere age of seven-teen.” I said, which was a lie, I am lying to the twenty-something-year-old 

manager of this Non-GMO cupcake shop. Can cupcakes even be genetically modified? I am lying 

in hopes she’ll give up on her present plan of trying to fire me and take pity on this small, bright 

eyed and teenaged girl in front of her. She does not. 

“Niamh.” She sighs, we’re been here for thirty minutes and she has gone through four pieces of 

chewing gum, maybe this is her version stress-eating. “We just don’t think ‘Gluten-Free Goodies’ is 

the best suit for you and, we’ve decided we should part ways.” She promptly stands up and points 

to the door leading out into the main part of the bakery where I have worked for less than two 

weeks. I don’t understand what I’ve done wrong, beside eat seedless grapes. 

As I hand her my apron which had a cartoon cupcake lifting wights on it, I decided I’m not sad 

about leaving because, when you removing baked- goods that double as body builders from your 

clothing choices the only real way to go is up. Now, how do I explain this to my mother? 

“You’re back early.” My mother is reading an e-book on the coach and I have to decide the best 

way to tackle this situation, she may be five foot two but she is single most terrifying woman on the 

planet and the only reason she hasn’t taken over the world is because gardening is higher on her 

list of interests at the moment. I’ll bite the bullet. 

“Fired.” I throw my bag down. She looks up and she sighs. 

“Again, I mean honestly Niamh what is your problem.” 

“I don’t know maybe it’s my hair.” it is very flat. 

“This is the fourth job this year Niamh, this is seriously worrying” 

Let me take you down memory lane of the jobs of my past, I have had a total of three jobs not 

counting the bakery, the first one was dog-sitting in which I accidentally used human shampoo 

when trying to bathe the creature and gave Milly the Maltese a perm, the second was at a local 

café where I spilt coffee on our local celebrity Adam Mccann who has appeared in three Lidl 

Ads and vowed to tweet about the incident and, the last job was mowing lawns, let’s just say Ms. 

Ryne’s lawn has a lot fewer garden gnomes now. 

“It might be, and I’m just spit-balling here, my social anxiety and bleak out-look on life that has 

stemmed from past relationships not working out therefore creating a fear of committing to not only 

people but also working environments?” 

We stare at each other. 

“You’ve been reading ‘Woman’s Way’ again haven’t you.” 

“The horoscopes are always just so accurate Mam.” 

The phone rings, and however is calling is now my hero. 

“Linda.” my mother gushes in her fake mother voice, which is really just an updated version of the 

customer service voice, and I take back the whole my hero thing. 

Linda is my mother best friend and, thanks to a lawsuit her father won back in the 1980s, so rich 

it would make your teeth hurt. She’s also the most annoying person I’ve ever been unfortunate 

enough to meet. 

“WHAT!” my mother yelled with such disbelief I think someone must have died. 

“Lin, but wine night is a tradition.” I let out a sign of relief, the only thing that seems to be on its 

death bed is their social life. 

I go to walk away but mother dearest grabs my arm, she has an idea and I feel the fear set. 

“Well, luckily for you Linda I have a recently unemployed girl with a lot of time on her hands and 

would be delighted to lend a helping hand.” 

“If you think I’ll give up my free time to serve you and your pals rosé you’ve got the wrong gal.” I 

whisper-shout. Is this rock bottom, spending my hours with the Pinterest loving yummy mummies

who have daughters called Granola? 

My mam puts the phone of her shoulder and gives me a death stare I could only hope to achieve 

one day, Medusa could never. 

“She doesn’t need a waitress; she needs a babysitter.” 

There are a handful of questions that fill the average person with fear, some of these questions are 

“Any last words?” “Are you alone?” and who can forget about “Can we talk?” The only questions 

that causes me to break a sweat however is “Will you babysit my small child?” 

I don’t like children and the feeling, based on numerous field studies, is entirely mutual. Babies on 

the street cry when they see me and my four-year-old cousin has vomited on me so many times it 

can no longer be considered a coincident. 

“Tell her thanks but no thanks.” 

“She’d love to.” and with that she hangs up. I am consumed with disbelief, and I know there’s no 

arguing with Maggie but that doesn’t mean I won’t try. 

“I’ll move in with Granny.” 

“I’ll rent you room out of Air BnB.” 

“Touché.” 

“Get ready,” she turns her back to me “we’re going to Linda’s.” 

Linda’s home is white. White coach, white carpets, white curtains and white wine. Shoe’s off at 

the door to preserve to whiteness. Unless her child is a marshmallow, I don’t understand how this 

place is so well, clean. 

Linda descends the stairs in a wedding dress and I assume this is one of those breakdowns rich 

women have when they have so much money and not many hobbies. I look at my mother and she 

seem unfazed, maybe this is Linda’s pjs ? 

“Ladies.” Linda is speaking as if she is one stage about to address thousands and, unless Ryan 

Tubridy has sneaked up behind me with a camera crew, it’s just me and Mother Dearest. “You’ve 

caught me at a bad time.” I’m sure she’s not the first woman to say that while wearing a wedding 

dress. 

“Linda you look enchanting.” My mam proclaims with her hand on her heart and I have to try not to 

vomit. I mean seriously, enchanting. She shoots me a look as if to say, it’s your turn to suck up to 

Miss Linda now and I am nothing if not complying. 

“Yes, Linda it’s very ‘Don’t tell the Bride,’ chic.” I say and I think my mother is going to have a 

heart-attack. Linda simply nods and turns back around. 

“Seriously? ‘Don’t tell the Bride.’ “ 

“Well I was going to say ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ but I thought that was too far.” 

“Maybe you should go live with your Grandmother Niamh.” I can’t tell if she’s being serious or not 

but I don’t intend on finding out. Linda the Great has returned, dressed like a middle-aged blogger 

from Instagram with at least, fifty thousand followers. 

“Apologies for the fashion show girls, me and John are planning on renewing our vows soon and 

I wanted to see if the old thing still fits. “Her and John got married two years ago so I have no idea 

what old thing she is referring to, unless of course she’s talking about herself. I’m about to brainstorm 

this idea with the two of them but them of course but then, a child appears. 

“Niamh.” said Linda “This is Liam.” Liam is a six-year old child with ginger hair and a tiny noise 

covered in freckles, he has to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Liam lifts the arm of his stuffed 

rabbit and waves it at me, I wave back. I’m not completely heartless, I have an aretorty or two left. 

“well,we’ll be back at eleven, he can’t eat gluten, red meat or anything blue and don’t light anything 

on fire. Maggie.” Said Linda as she turned to my mother and as I process the infomaton. “Let’s

go wine and dine,” and by wine and dine she means eat the olives out of her martini. My mother 

waved at me to say goodbye, links arm with Linda and the two are out the door before I can 

change my mind. 

I turn to look at Liam and I bend down to make sure him and I are at eye-level. “Hi Liam, I’m Niamh,is 

there anything fun you want to do today ?” 

Liam looks up at me and calmly states “I don’t like you.” 

“Exscue me.” I am in a state of shock, I mean I know kids don’t like me they just don’t usually tell 

me outright to my face. 

“I. Don’t. Like. You.” He furrowes his brow but it just makes him look like a rasisin. 

“May I ask why?” I am still trying to be nice but the urge to boot him down the stairs like a football 

suddenly becomes overwhealming. 

“You’re weird.” 

“We’ll I’m not exactly mad about you either.” I’ve been alone with this child for less than five minutes 

and now we’re mortal enimies, this is defiently not the direction I saw the evening going 

in.”But we’re stuck with each other, so go watch some ‘Paw Patrol.’ or colour in your little colouring 

book and we don’t even have to talk to each other.” To me this sounds like the best idea I’ve ever 

had but my bestie Liam had other plans. 

“Ok. I’ll colour.” he walks over to another white draw and take out a pack of rainbow crayons, 

he shoves the stuffed rabbit under his arm and proceeds to slowly open the packagening. I look 

around to see if there are any colouring books handy but I can’t see one, 

“Liam, theres no paper do you need me to go get some or-” my sentence got stuck in the back of 

my throat when I see that Liam had started to draw a portrait of himself and the famous rabbit on 

the walls of his mother’s sitting room. I am so never having kids. 

“LIAM.” I yelled as I dived for the crayons and stop his masterpiece before he could finish writing 

‘I hate Niamh’ on the curtians. Liam looks at me like I’m the crazy one here as I snatch every last 

crayonal crayon out of his tiny claws. “What are you doing.” 

“I’m letting my creativity flow.” He said like it was obvious and that I was a fool for not realizing this. 

“Can’t you let your creativity flow onto some sheets of A4 paper like a normal child.” 

“I’m not normal.” 

“Yeah well, I could’ve told you that.” I take out the phone and snap a picture of it to my mother with 

the captions ‘any chance you know someone with spare white paint lying around?” 

She responds almost instanly with just three simple words, 

‘You’re so dead.’ Great. 

“Liam, it’s time for a snack.” I grab his hand a drag him into the kitchen hoping to find some dinosaur 

shaped chicken nuggets or at least a capri sun, and then some food for Liam of course. 

He climbs up onto the countertop and stares at me with his cold-dead eyes probably still mad at 

me for interrupting his art work. 

“What do you want to eat?” I ask and he shrugs, of course he’s a picky eater as well as the son of 

the devil, I mean honestly kid pick a struggle. 

I open the fridge and all I can see in protein shakes as far as the eye can see, I push everything to 

one side and I pull out the only solid food I can see, a carrot. I turn to hand it to Liam who is, once 

again, looking at me like I’m crazy. 

“It’s for you friend.” I say as I nod to the stuffed rabbit that I think it literally attacked to his arm. I 

was hoping this carrot would be a peace offering but Liam just takes a big bite out of it instead and 

then proceeds to spit it out all over the floor. 

“I’ll order a pizza.” I say as I whip out my phone and place the order all the while trying to avoide

stepping on Liam’s carrot surprise. 

The Pizza arrived and I will forever be enterally grateful to whoever invented online delivery. 

I open the door to greet the delivery guy when Liam makes a run for it but I grab the back of his 

hood and yank him inside before he even sees the front gate, I’m getting good at this babysitter 

thing. 

“Sorry about him, he’s deranged, How much for the Pizza again?” I say as I hold the money in one 

hand a liam’s hood in the other. 

“it’s 15 euro 45 cents.” he said as he cast a concerning gaze down at Liam who is trying to gnaw 

off my hand. “Cute kid. “he said. 

“Throw in a free garlic bread and he’s all yours.” The pizza man didn’t find this funny and by the 

increased squirming, neither did Liam. I close the door before the police get called on me. 

I look around the house that I have now successfully Liam proofed. I scrubbed the Crayon off the 

wall thanks to a very helpful forty-year-old Mam on YouTube, I have scrubbed any and all carrot 

chunks off the kitchen and I have locked all presses shut encase Liam walks to let his ‘creativity 

flow again. ‘I’m pretty proud of myself. I Put the pizza boxes down on the kitchen and turn to offer 

Liam a slice, but Liam is not here, because of course he isn’t. 

I hear footsteps coming from upstairs and a loud thud and my babysitter scenes are tingling, I 

throw one last longing glace back at the pizza knowing it will be cold and soggy by the time I get 

back from trying not to murder Liam, and I rush up the stairs. 

The first thing you see when you walk up the stairs is Linda’s walk in wardrobe with dresses made 

in France and shoes made in Italy and in the middle of it all, is Liam. Liam with a pair of scissors. I 

hate Liam. 

“Liam darling, whatcha doing.” I know he wants me to freak out but I’m not letting this tiny sadist 

win, even if he’s about to put a slash in his mother’s Louis Vuitton handbag. 

“None of your business.” and he snips the scissors in my direction. Where did ever get those scissors? 

I look over to my right to see a sewing box tumbled over, of course Linda sows why couldn’t 

she have a different hobby like Yoga or fishing? 

“Liam drop the scissors.” 

“No way.” 

“I’ll let you eat gluten.” 

“I don’t want that.” 

“You can scribble of the curtains again, remember that? That was fun.” 

“You’re weird.” 

“you’re not exactly a prize either,” I look directly at Liam to see that he is sitting, on his mother’s 

wedding dress. The one from earlier. The one she plans on wearing when she gets remarried 

to the same person, because rich people are strange. The one that if anything happens to it my 

mother will pack me off to Granny’s cottage for the rest of my life. That wedding dress controls my 

destiny and a six-year-old lump is currently on top of it. 

“Liam come on lets be friends.” I have a feeling he won’t accept my olive branch. 

“Why? No friends your own age?” Have I mentioned that I Hate him? 

“Liam, your mother will kill you and me if you put holes in any of those dresses.” 

Liam shakes his head “She won’t kill me. I’m six, you’re the one who left me on my own and gave 

me sissors.” 

This child is a tiny evil genius and I’m starting to fear that I am not match for him, and then he notices 

the wedding dress.

“NO.” I yell as he goes to make the tasteful mock neck and V neck and he pauses. 

“What are you gonna do about it?” and he laughs, like an actual evil laugh. Dose Linda know she’s 

raising a bond villain? Then I notice something, if our dear sweet Liam has scissors in one hand 

and the dress in the other, Where’s the rabbit? 

I look over to see Mr. Rabbit sitting upright on the floor and I dive for him, Liam yells out a “NO!” 

but it’s too late. Mr, Rabbit is my hostage now. 

“If you make even a tiny incision on that dress, Mr, Rabbit is going to have no head.” This has to 

be rock bottom, threating a six-year-old with decapitating his stuff rabbit while he’s about to go all 

Red wedding on his mother’s dress. 

“You wouldn’t.” Liam, for the first time all night, looks like a kid and I have no remorse. 

I pull Mr. Rabbit’s head ever so slightly just enough for a single stick to rip. “I would.” 

My phone rings and it distracts Liam so I throw that teddy right into the next room and he dives for 

it, dropping the scissors and the gown in the process. He is reunited with his dear teddy and just 

as he’s about to stroll out of the room, I slam the door close in his face. I lean all my weight against 

the door to prevent him from escaping and I answer this phone call. It’s Linda. 

“Hi Niamh, just checking in, how’s my boy doing.” I hope she can’t hear him hammering the door 

with his fist through the phone. 

“Amazing, we are the best of friends .” I can hear my start to curse my name now. 

“Well you’ll be happy to know we’re coming up the drive now! See you in a giff.” I hang up the 

phone and move away from the door as Liam falls out onto the corridor flat on his face. |I can’t 

help up laugh. 

“I hate you.” He said still faced down in the rug. 

I lift him up and dust him off. “I Know.” 

I race down the stairs and shove the pizza boxes in the bin before her majesty graces us with her 

presence. I shove the sissors behind my back and the door open just in time and I am panting 

from all the sudden excersie. 

“Liam.” Linda gushes and he wraps her arms around her son. 

I look and my mam and she look at me. We high five instead. 

“well I’ve sent your mother the money via revolut for minding my angel.” I make a mental note to 

bully my mother about having revolut in the car. “Thanks again Niamh.” 

“It was no hassle.” which is the lie of the century and when Linda looks away, I stick my tongue out 

at Liam. 

“See you next week Niamh.” 

“What?” said Liam and I in unison. 

“Your mother said you’d mind Liam whenever I need you, and I need you next week.” I’m going to 

kill that woman. Linda or my mother whatever happens first. 

“Yay.” Said Liam which so much excitement I almost believed him. Almost. 

I plaster on a fake smile and bend down to ruffle Liam’s hair, as I do so I whisper to him, “the Easter 

Bunny isn’t real. “Expecting him to freak out. 

He takes the paw of his loved teddy and bops me on the noise with it as he whispers back. “I 

know.” 

I don’t frequent Mass, but that Kid has to be the Devil.

THE CRAZY ALIEN 

Kellie C.

The time had finally come. The moment that all of the aliens onboard spacecraft #2597 were 

waiting for. They had traveled for weeks in search of a new planet that they could, hopefully, call 

home. All of the others stood at the windows surrounding the spacecraft. Some pressed their faces 

against the glass to get a better look. Some stood on their tip toes at the back of the group, trying 

desperately to get a glance at what they hoped would be their new home. Some pushed their way 

through the crowds, their impatience showing. All of them were excited, some more than others, 

but there was one alien who was the most excited, and his name was Ricky. 

Most people have some idea in their mind as to what they think aliens look like. Some people think 

that they’re green, some think they’re blue, some think they’re pink, and some think they look just 

like us. Well, I’m sorry to say it... but they don’t all look the same. There’s one alien, Bob, who’s 

orange and has a wig… no, I’m not talking about Trump. Now, you may be wondering how the 

others know about Trump, and I’m about to tell you. They once visited planet Earth, but they decided 

not to stay because the humans seemed to be struggling to get the global warming crisis under 

control, as well as many other things, but we won’t get into that right now, that’s a story for another 

day. The aliens always heard the humans complaining about Trump, but they never understood 

why. They found themselves thinking ‘’he can’t be that bad’’ but when they heard his opinions on 

various subjects they decided that yes, he was, in fact, he was even worse than they could have 

expected. 

Anyway back to our descriptions. Another alien, Marissa, is green with short yellow hair. Ricky? He 

was a little bit different compared to the others… okay, he was a lot different. Ricky didn’t have just 

one colour… well, he had all of them. Ricky could change colour whenever he wanted to, it was almost 

like a super power. Ricky had a personality bigger than planet Optimars. He was the kindest, 

most caring and funnest alien you’ll ever meet, and this is Ricky’s story. 

The spacecraft had finally landed on planet Mallow and Ricky could feel the excitement filling up 

inside of him. This feeling was similar to a sugar rush and he couldn’t help but change colour. He 

went from red to pink to yellow to blue to orange. He resembled a disco ball at that very moment. 

He clapped his hands in excitement, as their leader, Splash, approached. Everyone stood in line, 

waiting to hear the announcement that Splash was about to make. Everyone stood quietly in their 

lines.. All of the aliens, except Ricky. Ricky was dancing around in his line, talking at 100 miles per 

second. 

“Ricky!” They all yelled, telling him to be quiet. Ricky stopped dancing and tried to stay still. Splash 

told the aliens that they should take a look around and see if they find anything suspicious on this 

new planet. If they found nothing suspicious then they would make this their new home. As soon 

as the spacecraft doors opened Ricky pushed his way through the crowd and out onto planet Mallow. 

The planet Mallow had been floating around space for centuries. It was a peculiar planet, which 

made it stand out to others who were seeking a new place to call home. The planet hadn’t been 

home to anyone for hundreds of years but it was evident that the previous home owners had left 

their mark on the place. The planet was bursting with colour! Not one spot of black, white or grey 

was to be seen anywhere. It was the brightest plane that there ever was. Colourful animals ran 

free on the bright patterned grass. If an Earthling visited planet Mallow they would say that everything 

is upside down, topsy- turvy, backwards, in short they’d think it was crazy! 

The first thing Ricky noticed was how bright and colorful the planet Mallow was. The spacecraft 

was a dull grey colour, and Ricky felt that he didn’t belong there. He always felt like home was 

somewhere else, somewhere far away from the spacecraft. The one thing that Ricky liked about 

the spacecraft was the fact that all of his friends were there. The aliens looked around the planet

Mallow. It felt like you were standing a rainbow. Ricky decided to go and start exploring this wonderful 

planet. 

As Ricky walked along he noticed how different everything was. He saw a couple of trees, on planet 

earth the trees had been green, but on planet Mallow the trees were orange. The orange leaves 

blew in the wind, while the pink tree trunks kept the trees standing tall. Ricky then came across a 

park full of fruits. On planet earth oranges were orange, bananas were yellow and apples were red 

or green, but here on planet Mallow it seemed that everything was different… just like Ricky was 

different. The oranges were blue, the bananas were purple and the apples were yellow. 

The sun on planet Mallow soon became blocked by a large cloud, but the cloud wasn’t grey, nor 

was it white. The cloud continued to change colour repeatedly before it started to rain. Instead of 

droplets of water landing on Ricky’s head, it started to rain skittles. Small colourful sweets fell from 

the sky. Ricky opened his mouth and tilted his head back, gulping down the sweet tasting candies. 

Ricky let the sweets melt on his tongue, flavours exploding inside of his mouth. I’m going to let you 

in on a little secret… When Ricky was on board the spacecraft, no one would let him have any 

sweets, simply because he’s crazy enough without them! Ricky loved sweets. His favourites were 

gummy bears, sour patch kids, lollipops and especially skittles. He thought he was in paradise. It 

was raining skittles! It was at that moment that Ricky started to feel at home. 

As Ricky continued along on his journey he saw someone who resembled himself. The alien was 

a dull grey colour. That’s the thing with all living things, you can tell when they’re sad. If a human is 

sad, sometimes they’ll cry, sometimes they won’t say much, but you can always tell when they’re 

upset. If a flower is sad, it’ll bow it’s head while slowly closing it’s petals, at least that’s how it is 

on Planet Juno. It’s the same with the others. If an alien is sad, just like the one Ricky had come 

across, they appear to be a dull grey colour. This is why Ricky was forever changing colour, because 

he was the happiest character around. Ricky walked towards the alien and asked if she was 

okay. “I don’t fit in here’’ The alien told Ricky. The alien sat there with a colorful spade as though 

she were trying to dig her way off the planet. “I don’t fit in where I’m from either. Everyone thinks 

I’m a crazy alien” Ricky chuckled a little, although he was quite sad. “How about we trade places?” 

suggested the grey alien. Then she began to sing; 

“I’ll make you a trade, 

Here is my spade, 

You can dig in the sand of the colourful land. 

You can stay here all day, 

With the animals and play, 

We’ll trade places, Hooray!” 

Ricky agreed that he’d be happy to swap with her. Ricky sat down on the ground and began to dig 

up the colourful soil. 

When the aliens gathered they decided that they didn’t want this to be their new home so they 

decided to leave. Splash welcomed the grey alien aboard and they soon learned that her name 

was Lisa. They gave Ricky his bags and wished him good luck. His friends were quite upset to see 

him leave but they wanted nothing more than for him to be happy. Everyone waved goodbye to 

Ricky and they set off. After a couple of days of Lisa being aboard the spaceship she soon turned

to a yellow color, because aliens become colourful when they’re happy. That must mean that Ricky 

was the happiest, and craziest, alien of all! 

Ricky stayed on planet Mallow for a couple more days, before something strange started to happen...Ricky 

wasn’t changing colour anymore. He paused for a moment, stretching his arms out in 

front of him so he could get a better look at what colour he was. To his dismay he started to notice 

that the tips of his fingers were almost white. He could feel the worry slowly creeping into his mind 

as questions began to swirl around his head. What was happening? Was he okay? He sat down 

for a moment, staring at his arms in confusion. 

Ricky stayed there for a while longer, hoping he could make some sort of sense of the current situation. 

He exhaled gently before an idea sprung to mind. He remembered that his friends had left 

his bags on the planet Mallow before they took off. Ricky raced to the opposite side of the planet, 

stopping to say ‘’good morning’’ to the elephants, even though they couldn’t answer him because 

they couldn’t speak. 

When he finally made it to his bags he rummaged through them before pulling out a small green 

handbook. “A guide to us” by Commander Splash, was written on the front of the book. The book 

was so small that it looked like one would need a magnifying glass to read any of the words. Ricky 

started to flip through the pages, his urgency and impatience starting to show. He stopped on page 

132 and started to scan through the page. Under the heading “What does it mean if my fingertips 

are white?”, he found the answer. He slowly lowered the book, staring out at the pink sea. “I’m 

lonely?” He mumbled to himself. He plopped the book back down on top of his bags and sighed 

gently. 

The more Ricky sat, the more he thought about his friends that he missed so much, and the more 

he thought about his friends the lonelier he became, and slowly the whiteness started to spread 

further up Ricky’s hands. He started to give up. Everyone knew that if the white colour spread all 

over your body that you would be forgotten, and there was no way for Ricky to get off this planet. 

There was no hope. Maybe this would be the end of Ricky the crazy alien… 

As Ricky sat there thinking of all his friends, a small purple frog came bouncing towards him. Ricky 

didn’t even look down at the purple frog, he simply stared out at the sea. “What’s got you down?” 

croaked the frog, as he sat down next to Ricky. “I miss my friends” Ricky said, before the realisation 

hit him. Someone or something had just spoken to him! There was someone on the planet 

who could talk! He turned swiftly to the frog. “You can talk?” Ricky asked, clearly shocked by what 

he had just heard. “Yep. My mama always told me that I could talk before I could jump. I’m quite 

the chatterbox. Oh, do tell me, what’s got you down?” The frog spoke rapidly, starting to bounce 

around a little again. Ricky sighed and mumbled “I’m… I’m lonely. I thought this planet would be 

the best planet ever, but without my friends it’s no fun!” Tears slowly started to build up in his eyes. 

The frog seemed taken aback by what Ricky had just said. “Why are your hands white?” The frog 

asked. When Ricky looked down at his hands he noticed that the whiteness had started to spread, 

and by the looks of things it was spreading faster than before. “Is there no way you could call your 

friends?” The frog asked, sticking his tongue out quickly so he could catch a small fly that had 

been flying around for quite some time. Ricky shook his head. “I’ve got an idea” The frog said as 

he started to bounce away. “Follow me!” He croaked, looking back at Ricky. 

The small frog looked exhausted from all of the hopping around he was doing so Ricky knelt down, 

and told him to hop onto his hand. The frog leaped onto Ricky’s hand and gave him directions. 

When they finally came to a stop, in front of a huge house, the frog jumped off of Ricky’s hand and

told Ricky to push open the large orange door that stood in front of them. The door swung open 

slowly after he pushed it. They both entered the house, the frog leaped around the room until he 

came across a small button on the floor. “Please keep your hands and legs inside while the carriage 

is in motion” The frog portrayed a theme park worker before jumping on the button. The floor 

swung open wildly and both of them dropped into a small carriage beneath them. As soon as they 

both fell into the carriage it started to speed along the tracks. Ricky couldn’t help but scream, unsure 

if he was scared or excited. 

After what felt like a lifetime of speeding through winding trails the carriage finally came to a 

stop. Both, Ricky and the frog, fell out of the carriage, giggling to themselves. “That was crazy” 

Ricky laughed, both of them breathless. Before anyone could speak another word an old woman 

stepped out of a room next to them. “Richard? Is that you?” She called out. The frog bounced up 

and said “it is I, Richard, the noble king of the marsh land”. He laughed and jumped onto the old 

woman’s shoulder. “We need your help with something Evanora” The frog whispered. “The alien 

back there is lonely. I think we should help him get back to his friends” He suggested. 

Ricky was thrilled to learn that there was someone else on the planet who could speak, but why 

was this woman hiding away in this giant house? The woman turned to face Ricky, taking hold of 

his white hands in hers. She tutted away to herself. “You made a mistake coming to this planet. 

The planet looks so lovely from the outside, but once you’re here you start to feel lonely because 

not many of us can speak. You miss your friends, dear?” The old woman had long sharp nails 

that scratched against Ricky’s hands. He slowly nodded his head. “I guess it’s true what they say, 

home is where the heart is...and my heart is with my friends. Oh, please could you help me? Maybe 

you could come with me? We could all escape from this lonely planet” Ricky suggested. 

Evanora and Richard were part of the group who had lived on planet Mallow before the others 

arrived. Their group was called ‘’the randoms’’, simply because they were chosen at random 

selection. It’s not very original, is it? Anyway.The randoms were a group of witches, wizards, werewolves, 

vampires and many more. Evanora and Richard tried to escape with the rest of the group 

but they weren’t strong enough to fight the battle at hand. The rest of the group escaped, but no 

one ever came back for the pair that were left behind. Evanora and Richard became the best of 

friends, planning everyday how they could try to escape. Maybe Ricky would be their ticket out of 

there. If they worked together then anything was possible. The randoms had planned to go to planet 

Earth and hide amongst the average, everyday people. 

Evanora slowly shook her head. “When you’ve been on the planet for as long as we have, you become 

a prisoner. The planet won’t let us leave” She let go of Ricky’s hands and walked towards a 

couple of shelves on the wall. She reached up and slowly lowered a broom from the highest shelf. 

“This is the strongest broom known to witchkind” Evanora spoke while staring at the broom in 

her hands. “When you try to leave all of the things on the planet will try to stop you. The trees will 

stretch out their branches, trying to pull you off the broom. The animals will chase after you, trying 

to scare you so you’ll fall off the broom and they can keep you here. I’ll get my wand and we can 

fight them off together. Ricky?” She paused for a second, turning to face him. “This is going to be 

the scariest battle you ever experience, so you have to promise me one thing. Promise me you’ll 

stay strong, and that you won’t stop trying to get off this planet, no matter how scared you are. 

Promise me” It was obvious that Evanora wanted to help Ricky, but they had one shot, and one 

shot only, so they had to make it count. 

Evanora handed the broom to Ricky as she rushed off to get her wand. She threw a black bag 

over her shoulder before shoving some potions into it. She turned around and threw her black 

cloak on before pulling the hood up. She inhaled deeply. “We’ve got one chance. Let’s make it 

count” Evanora said before swirling her wand around. She cast a spell and before they knew they 

were standing on the patterned ground. “Climb onto your broom and kick off with your feet, and

whatever you do, don’t look back” As soon as she finished talking Ricky pushed off on the broom 

and started to fly upwards. Evanora watched as he started to fly and for a moment it looked like 

they were going to get off the planet easily, but then she noticed the branches start to stretch out. 

Evanora reached into her bag and pulled out a potion that would cause the trees to shrink. She 

threw the potion right at the root of the tree and started to run, tossing potions at all of the trees 

that started to move. 

Ricky kept zooming on the broom. He gripped the broom tightly in his hands as the branches 

made grabbing motions at him, trying desperately to knock him off course. When Evanora had 

shrunk all of the trees he noticed how quiet everything went for a couple of minutes. Ricky’s heart 

was pounding as he urged himself to keep looking ahead, just as Evanora had told him to. After 

a few moments of silence, Ricky couldn’t help himself, he looked back and saw that Richard had 

been turned into a huge fire breathing dragon. The silence was soon ended when a herd of elephants 

came charging towards them. Ricky turned back around and kept his eyes looking straight 

away. Richard, now in the form of a raging dragon, was breathing fire in front of the elephants, 

knowing that they would be too scared to cross the line of fire. 

Richard didn’t notice that one of the elephants had run further up and was now racing towards 

Ricky. Before Ricky could even process what was happening, he felt the elephant’s trunk wrap 

around his waist and pull him off of the broom. Ricky fell to the ground, the broom was mere meters 

away from him. Evanora ran up to Ricky and cast a spell on the elephant to turn him into a tiny 

fly. “Get up! We’re almost there” She yelled at him, tossing him the broomstick. Evanora turned 

Richard back to a frog and jumped on the front of the broom. She placed Richard in her black bag 

and they all took off on the broomstick. 

Evanora leaned forward so as they could go faster and before they knew it they were off the planet 

Mallow. Evanora continued to race ahead, telling Ricky to hold on tight. She closed her bag 

over so Richard wouldn’t come flying out in the middle of space. After a couple of minutes of flying 

Ricky noticed a large grey aircraft floating in the sky. “There they are!” He yelled, relieved, as Evanora 

zoomed towards the aircraft. 

When they reached the spaceship Ricky knocked on the window, smiling as he watched all of 

their shocked expressions. Splash opened the door for them and they zoomed inside. “Ricky!” 

they all exclaimed. Evanora climbed off of the broomstick, standing sheepishly to the side. “What 

happened?” They asked in unison, staring at both Evanora and Ricky. Evanora then pulled Richard 

out of her bag and transformed him into a wizard. Ricky explained to everyone that the planet 

Mallow was too lonely and that Evanora and Richard had been trapped on the planet for so long, 

but they were finally free. 

When Ricky looked over at Evanora he noticed how young she looked. She had become younger 

because she wasn’t on planet Mallow anymore. She gave everyone a small wave. “Nice to meet 

you” She said softly, looking at Richard and nudging him, telling him that he should wave too. They 

both stood there waving and everyone gave them a warm welcome. “I realised that it was no fun 

without all of my friends. Without the help of Evanora and Richard I would probably still be trapped 

on that planet…” When Ricky finished talking Splash stood up and cleared his throat. “I would like 

to thank you both for helping Ricky return home safely. You are both welcome to stay for as long 

as you’d like, forever if you please” He gave them a small smile and everyone cheered for them. 

Everyone slowly started to get settled in. Ricky introduced his new friends to everyone on board 

and he finally realised that this was his home and these were his friends, even if it did take him a 

whole journey to a different planet to realise that. Ricky soon learned that being different wasn’t a 

bad thing… it was a great thing!

THE JOSHUA CHRONICLES 

Ciaran G.

Josh sat alone in his room, reading his favourite book as dawn crept through his window. He 

glanced up, blinked a bit and realised he had been reading for hours and it was 6AM. That wasn’t 

ideal. Josh looked back down at his book and saw that he was about halfway through it. He promised 

himself that he’d just finish the chapter he was on and then get as much sleep as he could. 

Josh was lucky to have found this book in the first place. When he went to Waterstones during his 

monthly ritual to find new books to devour, the book he was reading at the moment had been left 

behind the counter. “Are you sure you want that one lad?” The shopkeeper had asked Josh, “This 

book has never been a bestseller.” 

“How bad could it be?” Josh had replied. 

“This particular edition has been behind my desk for 13 years now.” The shopkeeper informed him 

with a grim look on his face. 

“13 years huh? Must be an unlucky book then. I think I’ll pass!” Josh had joked. 

The shopkeeper had laughed for just a little too long before reassuring Josh that he doesn’t sell 

cursed books. In the end, the shopkeeper had given it to Josh for free and Josh had rushed home 

that day, his curiosity bursting at this mysterious book he had gotten his hands on. When he’d 

opened it up for the first time, he noticed that there were a lot more rips and tears in the book then 

he anticipated, meaning a good portion of the story was lost to time. Josh stopped worrying about 

that after he started reading though. He’d sat down to read at 8 in the evening and here he was 

now. 

The book had starred a young boy who had spent his entire life indoors. The conflict was instigated 

when several shadowy creatures had started appearing out of the darkness and laying waste 

to the land. It was somewhat of a horror fantasy-type story, what with the evil shadow creatures. It 

was lucky then, that Josh was such a big horror fan. He started to wonder why the book had never 

sold. It seemed perfectly good to him. 

Josh had always loved reading, ever since he was a little lad. He didn’t have many friends, so 

he just made fictional ones, whether they be in his head or in the pages. He was happy that way. 

Reading was his safe place, where all his thoughts drifted, and he could absorb himself into a 

fictional world. It was paradise. Josh sighed. He’d reached the end of the chapter but before he 

put the book away for the night, he decided to sneak a peek at the next chapter, to give himself a 

taster of what was to come. But what he read didn’t seem right: 

Josh sat alone in his room, reading his favourite book as dawn crept through his window. He 

glanced up, blinked a bit and realised he had been reading for hours and it was 6AM. That wasn’t 

ideal. Josh looked back down at his book and saw that he was abo 

Josh slammed the book shut. 

That paragraph sounded familiar. Too familiar. It sounded like Josh a few minutes ago. Josh was 

probably overreacting though. Probably. Maybe he should sneak another look… 

Josh slammed the book shut. That paragraph seemed familiar. Too fami 

Josh started to panic. He was reading a chapter describing his actions. What did it mean? Was the 

book actually cursed or haunted? What did that shopkeeper know? What was going on? Suddenly, 

an idea came to Josh. If this book is telling the Josh’s story, what would happen if he read ahead a 

bit? Josh skipped a page ahead, chose a random spot on the page and started reading. 

nning away from The Shadow was all Josh could do. He couldn’t fight back, he couldn’t get help, 

he was on his own. How could you fight back against a shadow? There’s no body to attack, no 

consciousness to reason with, you ran or you di 

Josh stopped reading and a cold sweat trickled down his face. If the book was mirroring his life, 

what did that passage mean? Was he about to be chased? Josh didn’t know what to do, but he 

reasoned that as long as he wasn’t being actively chased by a “shadow”, he’d be perfectly safe. 

Josh laid down the book, gazed out the window into the pitch black of the night sky, and tried to 

sleep.

Josh woke uneasily and started grasping for his watch. He eventually clasped it and squinted to 

look at the time, the idea of falling back asleep still threatening to take over. 7AM. He’d slept for 

an hour. Given the circumstances, Josh was grateful he’d gotten any sleep at all. He peered out of 

his window and noticed that it was still dark. Josh frowned, the strangeness of the situation waking 

him up a little. Wasn’t it usually bright around 7 during summer? And, when he thought about it, 

wasn’t it dawn just an hour ago? The sun didn’t go back down did it? Suns don’t tend to do that. 

And didn’t that book say something about a shadow? 

Josh leaped back just in time to avoid getting impaled by a shadowy tendril piercing through his 

window. The book had told Josh to run so Josh ran. He didn’t see any sign of his parents on his 

way out of the house, but he hoped they were safe. All Josh could do at that moment was run. He 

didn’t dare look back; he didn’t dare do anything but run as fast as he could away from the shadow. 

He stopped to catch his breath and looked around. The sky was as black as it was at midnight, 

despite it being early morning. Everyone was still asleep with only the occasional car driving by, 

seemingly unaware of the early darkness. That made Josh ponder if any of this was real, but he 

then decided he didn’t really want to let the shadow catch up to him and find out. With the land this 

dark, a creature as dark as the shadow could easily sneak up on Josh and catch him unawares. 

His only choice was to keep running. Running away from The Shadow was all Josh could do. He 

couldn’t fight back, he couldn’t get help, he was on his own. How could you fight back against a 

shadow? There’s no body to attack, no consciousness to reason with. You ran or you died. 

After another while of running, Josh found a cranny to sneak under so he could read the book 

again. This was all too crazy for him to process. A magic book that starred him that could also 

apparently predict his future had found its way to him, and on top of that, he was being chased by 

one of the shadows from the book itself. Or was Josh completely losing his mind? It didn’t really 

matter to Josh. None of it did. His only hope now was the book. It warned him of the shadow the 

first time, maybe it could tell him if he was going to survive or not. 

scar drew a sword from his scabbard and raised it at the shadow. He muttered a few words in 

a language Josh didn’t understand and suddenly the sword had lit up the sky with its glow. The 

sword was pointed straight at the shadow as it flinched from the light, thrashed about the place 

and tried to fight off the glow. All at once, the glow became too much for the shadow and with one 

last desperate howl, it burst apart and light returned to the world. Josh was speechless. 

Josh looked up from the book with a newfound sense of optimism at his situation. He would escape 

the shadow, he just needed to find somebody with a magic sword named Scar. Josh shook 

his head. It was all too crazy to believe, but Josh wasn’t going to argue with results. In the passage 

he read, it described Josh and Scar facing the shadow down, so maybe if Josh went near 

the shadow, his destined saviour would arrive to save the day. It was a bold plan but, thanks to the 

knowledge that help was on the way, Josh was feeling a little bold. 

Luckily, Josh didn’t have to look for long. Those were the benefits of having a shadow chase you 

down he supposed, it would always find you, even when you wanted to be found. The shadow 

materialised in front of Josh and stared him down for an agonizingly long time. All of a sudden, it 

drew itself to full height, grew a new shadowy tendril and lunged. Josh stood his ground and just 

as he was about to be skewered, he was pushed out of the way by a teenage boy, maybe around 

the same age as him. The tendril missed them both and the boys got to their feet. Josh opened his 

mouth but before any words could come out, the other boy, Scar presumably, shouted at him to 

run and took off. Once they were safe, Josh could only ask one question: “Hi, what’s your name?” 

“Oscar” the boy replied. 

Josh was stunned. Oscar, that was the boy’s name. And with that sword and that name, Josh 

knew exactly who Oscar was. The protagonist of the book he was reading. “You look different to 

how I’d imagined Oscar.” Said Josh without thinking. 

“What?” 

“Oh, uh, nothing.” 

“…Alright then. So what’s your name?” replied Oscar, looking suspiciously at Josh. 

“Josh”

“Well then Josh, do you know what that thing out there is?” 

“I-I think I read about it. In a book.” 

Oscar looked at him again and Josh felt compelled to hide the book from him. If Oscar found out 

he was potentially a fictional character, that would not go down well. Oscar stood up and gazed 

out of the cranny they were hiding in. The shadow had found them. “Once I’m done with this thing 

Josh, I’ll give you as many answers as I can!” Oscar shouted back at Josh over the deafening 

shrieks of the shadow. 

“I might be able to give you some answers too!” Josh shouted back. 

Hero and Villain stood face to face as Josh watched on from the side-lines wishing he could do 

more than stay still and not have a complete nervous breakdown. Oscar drew a sword from his 

scabbard and raised it at the shadow.

THE MAGIC PANDEMIC 

Emily K.

The crisis of the year. This global pandemic is taking over the country. Over 2000 cases reported 

today- Layla turned the TV off angrily. If this pandemic hadn’t been happening she would be 

at dance class right now with all of her friends. The plus side of this pandemic was that you got 

to stay in your pajamas while doing your homework though she didn’t think it would last long as 

her mum had been giving her odd looks about it when she came down in the morning. As much 

as she hated normal school she kind of missed it now. She didn’t get to see her friends and her 

favourite teachers even though she didn’t really have many friends anyways. She was sort of the 

class bookworm. Sometimes she felt really alone and like she didn’t belong, like she was meant 

for a different world, where people understood her. Most of the time she felt she understood books 

better than people! Layla shook her head and told herself to stop daydreaming. One of Layla’s 

weaknesses was daydreaming. On the other hand her academic studies meant a lot to her so 

she tried to get out of the bad habit. Layla looked down at her watch and saw that it was nearly 

half past three. “Oh no! I’ll be late for my online class!” she rushed into the bathroom and checked 

that she didn’t have any food in her teeth. Layla was a pretty girl with bright blue eyes and short 

strawberry blonde hair that was always neatly kept away from her face by a light blue headband. 

Layla was about to turn away from the mirror when she saw something sprouting from her back. 

“It couldn’t be. Could it?” she thought to herself. She thought back on all the far fetched tales her 

grandmother had told her when she was little. Her grandmother used to say that once you turned 

twelve you would begin to sprout wings and then your mentor would come to guide you to the 

fairytale land. It can’t be real, Layla thought. She refuses to believe it. She turned away from the 

mirror and realised her online class had already started. “Screw it,’’ she said.”I’m going to go visit 

grandmother and boy, does she have some explaining to do!” 

When she reached the small, cosy cottage in the woods that she was so familiar with she found 

that her grandmother was already waiting for her. She ran into her grandmother’s arms and started 

crying. “Grandmother, I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she sobbed. “I know, I know” it’s 

going to be ok. Let’s get you inside” her grandmother replied. When Layla’s nerves were finally 

settled with a nice, big cup of tea, her grandmother began to talk. “Do you remember those stories 

I used to tell you when you were little?” Layla nodded her head meekly. This was the news she 

had been waiting to hear ever since she looked in the mirror. “Everything is true,” her grandmother 

said. Layla sobbed into her arm and answered “What does this mean for me? How do I get to this 

fairytale world?” “Since I am the fairy godmother I will cast a spell to send you there. Layla you 

must be careful. You only grow wings when something dangerous is happening in the fairytale 

world. You are the chosen one. It’s fate. Every chosen one skips a generation. I was the chosen 

one and now you are. You must save the fairytale world.” Layla felt overwhelmed. On one hand 

she was excited for this adventure because she loved fairy tales ever since she was young but on 

the other hand all this information was overpowering her as she had no idea what she was getting 

herself in for. “I’m ready,” she said with a confident smile. 

The last thing Layla could remember was her grandmother spouting some magic words that she 

didn’t think were in the English dictionary. Suddenly Layla found herself swirling around in pitch 

darkness and landing on a soft bed of grass. She looked around and took in her surroundings. Everything 

in nature in the fairytale world seemed more heightened than on earth. The trees looked 

more lush and green. The flowers seemed to dance with happiness. The sun seemed to sparkle 

like the most expensive diamond in the world. Layla was eventually brought out of her daydream 

by the sight of something human size scuttling past her. For some reason she thought it was a 

rabbit but that couldn’t be possible, could it? “Hey! Can you tell me what’s going on? Please?” 

she smiled her sweetest smile. The rabbit edged a bit further away from her. “Do you have the 

virus?? Everyone is terrified”.The Evil Queen put a horrible curse over the fairytale world making 

nearly everyone get the coronavirus” he said. Layla was confused. “I thought the virus was just on

earth.” The rabbit replied with a grave expression on his face. “It must have spread from here. The 

queen only did this because she wanted to torture Snow White and all the people that looked up to 

her which is basically everyone because Snow White is just about the nicest person you will ever 

meet.” Layla couldn’t believe this. She felt really bad for Snow White but she was so happy that 

she was in the right place and her grandmother had not transported her to the moon! “I’ll figure 

something out. I am the chosen one. I’m here for a reason. Where can I find the Evil Queen?” she 

said. “Past Red Riding Hood’s kingdom, to the left of Rapunzel’s tower and then you are there. 

It’s a dark dilapidated place you’ll know it when you see it. Nobody ever goes there. The queen 

is more powerful than you think. Be careful. Here’s a map to help you” He said. “Thank you” she 

replied and with that she was on her way. 

As she passed bushes and bushes of red roses she realised that she must be close to Red Riding 

Hood’s Kingdom. From her grandmother’s stories Red Riding Hood was described as a beautiful 

young woman with blond locks and blue eyes. Her only downfall was that she was quite vain and 

spent a lot of time obsessing over what she looked like. This was due to a fractured childhood of 

being bullied for being a bit overweight. This was Red’s own fault as most of the time she would 

eat all the treats that she was meant to deliver to her granny. All in all though Red wasn’t a villain 

though you didn’t want to get on the bad sad side of her. Layla was feeling awfully tired and wondered 

if Red would allow her to stay the night. As her journey continued she remembered that it 

would be quite hard to enter the queen’s castle. About 15 years ago when Red was elected by 

the citizens [now called ‘Red Hoodians’ ‘hoodians’ for short] she ordered for there to be a giant 

wall built to keep out the wolves. Ever since that traumatising day of her life when a wolf attacked 

her granny she has been terrified of them. As Layla approached the guards guarding the castle 

she told them that she was the chosen one. They immediately let her pass without a doubt. Layla 

looked up in awe and disbelief as Red Riding Hood’s castle was made out of wicker to resemble 

a wicker basket. Layla thought it was quite funny as she had never heard of a castle made to 

look like a basket of food! Layla was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open so when the 

wooden door flew open she got quite the shock when she saw the queen. Red Riding Hood was 

dressed head to toe in glittering red jewels with a dress that could only be described as a wedding 

dress except in red. She had a massive crown perched on top of her head which looked like it was 

heavier than her itself and her beauty nearly took Layla’s breath away. “Ermm excuse me?” Layla 

said shuffling from foot to foot. The queen looked annoyed for a second as she looked up from the 

mirror she had in her hand. She quickly smoothed down her dress and put her best smile on. “Oh 

yes. The chosen one. Now I can think of many, many reasons why you want to stay in my kingdom 

but I guess the most obvious one is because you just wanted to see me!” she gave a little tinkly 

laugh. Layla rolled her eyes discreetly. This was worse than she thought. She couldn’t wait to get 

to bed! 

Layla woke up to thousands and thousands of Red Riding Hoods staring back at her. Well, maybe 

not thousands but it sure felt like it. The guest room she was staying in was adorned with pictures 

of Red. Everywhere she looked there was Red dressed in some little red number. “Creepy” Layla 

thought but at least she had gotten a good night’s sleep. She looked at her map and saw that 

Rapunzel’s Tower was the next destination. Anything would be better than listening to Red go on 

and on about herself. After a fulfilling breakfast Layla set out on her next task. The forest became 

thicker and eventually she could see the roof of a tower peeking out of the trees. When she got 

close enough she looked at her map to see if she had to go left or right. “Left” she said with a determined 

voice. Just as she was about to set off again she noticed someone softly crying from inside 

the tower. “Hello?” she said cautiously. “Stay away! I have the virus!” came a faint voice. Layla 

was a kind and pure person so she reluctantly put on the red glittery mask Red had given her and 

started climbing the vines to the tower. Halfway through a long mane of golden blonde hair was let 

down. Layla gasped in awe as she realised one of her favourite princesses was less than five me-

tres away. “Thank you!” Layla squealed. When she was inside the tower she saw a beautiful young 

woman with hair that looked like gold. She was wearing a pale pink mask to match her delicate 

pink gown. Layla kept her distance as the queen edged away bit by bit. “I am the chosen one. I 

am here to defeat the Evil Queen and rescue Snow White from captivity.” Layla said determinedly. 

The queen’s facial expressions relaxed a bit as she said tearfully “I wish you well and I truly hope 

you succeed but I am worthless to my kingdom” with that she broke into fresh tears. Layla locked 

eyes with the queen and said “You are Rapunzel, Queen of The Corner Kingdom. You are one of 

the most powerful women I have ever heard of so dry your tears and go lead your kingdom like the 

true queen you are!” Layla was shocked by her sudden outburst but felt proud of herself. Rapunzel 

gave her a wan smile and thanked Layla for her empowering words. “The world needs more 

people like you” Rapunzel said. Layla beamed with pride. Wait till she could tell her granny that the 

one and only Rapunzel complimented her! 

As Layla continued her journey again she shivered as she pulled her thin jacket around her shoulders. 

The difference between the Evil Queen’s kingdom and the rest of the kingdoms was obvious. 

The trees were getting more wiry and darker and everything felt dead. She felt so alone but 

then she remembered her quest and what she had to do. As she looked up she felt a chill going 

through her spine. She was here. Suddenly the doors to the rundown castle were flung open and 

Layla felt a sort of magnetic force pulling her inside. Layla looked up and saw the Evil Queen staring 

down at her with her beady eyes. “Finally. You’re here. You took your time” I guess now that 

you’re here I have to kill you both.” the queen said with a malicious smile on her face. “Both? Who 

else is here?” Layla said, confused. As she looked around the bare room she saw a pretty young 

woman with skin as pale as snow, hair as dark as coal and eyes as green as a forest. Of course 

Layla thought to herself. She hates Snow White. “A villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been 

told yet. I’ve been hurting for a long time but I’m afraid I have to do this. Says the Evil Queen.”Now 

who wants to die first” the queen says as she throws her head back and cackles evilly. “Please 

don’t do this. I have faith in you to be the good person that I’ve always known was inside of you.” 

Says Snow White. The Evil Queen laughs at her statement. Snow White realises that all hope 

is lost for her evil stepmother. “Nobody is going to die here,” Layla says with a calm and steady 

voice. She looks around the room and searches for something that she can defeat the queen 

with. Nothing. Layla is just about to give up hope when she feels a tingling sensation on her back. 

Of course! She’s a fairy! Layla closes her eyes and focuses. She visualises the fairytale world 

being virus free - and earth. She visualises all the kingdoms and their monarchs being at peace 

and most importantly she visualises the Evil Queen banished from all evil. As she’s visualising all 

this her head is thrown back and she spreads out her arms. As she focuses harder she gradually 

feels her wings growing, bit by bit until the entire room is taken up by her wingspan. She reaches 

out and touches one of the white, fluffy wings. She smiles softly to herself. She knew she could 

do it. She just had to believe. Snow White gives her a reassuring smile. Layla smiles back. What 

an adventure! 3 princesses in two days! Layla looks up at the sound of the Evil Queen wailing in 

horror. “No my plan is ruined! All because of you- suddenly there’s a bright flash of light and she’s 

swirling around in pitch darkness again except when she opens her eyes she’s safe in her grandmother’s 

arms. “I’m so proud of you, little one. You’ve not only saved the fairytale world but you’ve 

saved our own. The two dimensions are now virus free” her grandmother says with a loving smile. 

“I’m proud of myself too, grandmother. And I can’t wait for my next adventure!”

THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE 

Eoin M.

Dax smiled widely as he jumped out of bed the morning of the flight. The day of Dax’s holiday 

adventure had finally arrived. This was something that would turn his friends green with envy, a 

story to tell for years to come. Brazil was not the everyday destination for an average teen it was a 

proper adventure. Dax had always been independent but this was his biggest lone adventure yet. 

All those months of blood, sweat and tears, doing messages for granny, cleaning mom’s car every 

Saturday and working hard to get his grades up at school had finally paid off. He had posted on 

Instagram that he had an adventure coming up but would be keeping the destination under wraps 

until he reached it, what a surprise he had in store for his followers. 

He had got such a great deal online he had spent his weekends searching the net for the right 

accommodation for his limited budget and had struck gold when he found a budget friendly airbnb 

in a little Brazilian town called Jardin Behala. He booked it instantly as he couldn’t let this offer go 

and he didn’t want to spoil his adventure by looking in to it too much, after all he wanted a bit of a 

surprise too and a sense of exploration. Air Brazil had a Christmas flight sale and he had used his 

Christmas gift from his parents to cover the cost of the return flights. Dax waved his Mom and Dad 

goodbye at Dublin airport and joined the check in queue for security. He was on his way, bring on 

Brazil. 

On the 11 hour economy flight from Ireland to Brazil Dax got chatting to an old man sitting beside 

him who was off on a business trip to Brazil, his name was Bryan. Bryan asked Dax what he was 

going to do in Brazil and where was he staying. Dax told him proudly of his plans expecting Bryan 

to be super impressed with this 18 year old adventurer taking off to such far-away lands. The first 

indication of what was to lay ahead was Bryan’s response “Oh Dear, that place is a dump” said 

Bryan with a furrowed brow. Dax could not tell whether he was being sarcastic or not so he said to 

him “is it really?” Bryan said “the whole of Behala is Brazil’s biggest dumpsite!” Dax’s heart froze in 

disbelief “the whole of Behala” Bryan replies again “most of Behala, nearly all of it”. Dax was disgusted 

after all his hard work, he had worked days and night’s even months to pay for this holiday 

and it all came down to staying in an Air B&B in an actual dumpsite in Brazil. In sheer disappoint 

he shrugged his shoulder and turned over in his cramped seat to sleep for the rest of the flight as 

he knew he would need all his strength for the rest of the adventure ahead. There was no turning 

back now he was flying away from the Emerald Isle and heading for Brazil. 

Dax slept fitfully for the rest of the flight and awoke to the loud bing alerting passengers that their 

flight was preparing for landing. It was early morning in Brazil and as Dax bid farewell to Bryan 

and disembarked that plane a wall of heat hit him on exit. The airport was a riot of colour, ladies 

in brightly coloured local dress performed Samba in the arrivals lounge and little tourist souvenir 

shops were filled with magnets, football Keyrings and Brazilian Cigars. Dax’s phone was clicking 

and he was posting photos on his Instagram to alert all his followers to his arrival. He almost forgot 

Bryan’s sobering news about his destination for a minute. Then he remembered and decided that 

maybe Bryan was exaggerating, how could this wonderful country have such a place. Dax looked 

around the arrivals lounge for the bus stop and there he saw it the stop for Behala off he went to 

join the queue. 

The first noticeable issue was of course the smell on the bus, the stifling heat and lack of air 

con soon had Dax sweating buckets. He gulped the bottle of water he had purchased in the airport 

greedily. He had only been on the bus five minutes and he felt dehydrated already. At first it 

seemed normal enough the environs of the airport road were not the worst. Like many other airports 

there were lots of industrial type buildings and plane hangars. It was when they took the turn 

marked Behala that things went from bad to worse. The dump was nowhere to be seen but the 

smell had reached him already. It was a smell like no other, Dax covered his nose with his jumper 

sleeve which had the smell of home. How he wished that he had stayed there now. After a half 

hour or so the bus the driver shouted next stop Behala. Dax got off the bus, vomited on the side of 

the road and gingerly took in the scene before him. 

Miles and miles of rubbish heaps like mountains stretched out before him. His iphone was no help 

there was no coverage, Dax had wanted an adventure but this was most definitely not what he 

had in mind. Dax was on the verge of tears, what a horrible situation to find himself in what was 

he going to do? Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted a small boy who must have been six 

maybe seven years of age rooting through one of the mountains of rubbish he stood beside. The 

young boy came closer and said “Fabio at your service, you look like one who has been conned

y the boss gang. Did you book Jardin Behala on the computer?” Dax regarded the boy who 

was black with the dirt and who’s each rib was visible through the thin layer of skin yet this child 

seemed much wiser than his years. “Yes, yes I booked Jardin Behala online could you point me in 

the right direction said Dax fully intending to get a refund and get the next smelly bus out of there. 

“There is no Jardin Behala said Fabio this is a trick that the boss gang play to make money from 

rich men. 

The horrible truth was now becoming fully clear to Dax, he had been conned!!! the lovely photos 

on the Air B&B picture had been a fake destination and he was now in a country he didn’t know in 

a dumpsite with no way out of there. “I help you sir, I get you to Rio” said Fabio. Dax pulled himself 

together, this little child Fabio was all he had to guide him now. “Follow me sir” said Fabio and Dax 

did. It was the stuff of nightmares, emancipated looking children rooting in rubbish, men fighting 

over scraps of junk and women picking what looked like litter and sorting it into little piles. Dax had 

a sudden realisation of just how privileged and lucky he was to have the life of luxury he was used 

to. “The bus stop a long way sir, I share my bread with you” said little Fabio. Dax hadn’t realised 

just how hungry he was as Little Fabio broke his dirty bread in two and gave half to Dax. This child 

who had nothing and was probably hungry most of the time chose to give a complete stranger half 

his food. That’s it thought Dax and took his phone out to capture the lives being led by the residents 

of Behala dumpsite. Dax was determined that he was going to share this story with the world 

and repay Fabio’s kindness to him a hundred fold. They sat down a moment to eat their bread and 

then got up in the hot midday sun and walked onwards together.

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD 

Adam R.

When Blue was sent out to observe the open world, he didn’t expect to see such 

disparity between here and life in the Greenhouse. The vast cities he had seen in 

media still stood, but they were lifeless: empty, with rubbish lining the sidewalks. All 

the stores and eateries still stood, abandoned but untouched, as if they were frozen 

in time. Blue remembered there was an administrative decision by the government 

(what was left of it, at least) to preserve all of the businesses that closed long ago. 

The local school still functions, but every student monotonously follows orders like 

worker bees, wearing white shirts and lightly shaded trousers and skirts. That is, 

until the teachers put on an old film, which revives their souls and piques their interest. 

During these fleeting moments, the dull world they live in is illuminated by 

the flowing imagination of the past, the world that once was. Modern cinema and 

colourful animations were of high value, and only those inside the Greenhouses had 

ever seen them. Blue, not captivated by the show as much as the students, looks 

out the window to the plant life on the ground outside. Wilting and slowly dying, the 

crop patches do not fare as well as those in the bright Greenhouses. Further away 

is a grid of about a dozen apartment complexes, where hundreds, thousands live. 

Cramped and poorly insulated, the apartments make Blue feel lucky to be part of the 

top 20% of humanity to live in cozy glass domes of wealth. 

On the horizon, he also sees a greyish moving line edging closer. He feels a sinking 

feeling in his stomach, as though something terrible is about to occur. Later, the film 

ends, and everyone applauds with joy, until a lazily dressed student bursts into the 

room. “The Greenhouse is being raided!”. Blue, shocked and worried, sprints out of 

the classroom, leaving the solemn students in class. Once on the main street, an 

armed blockade blocks the road. Blue needs to get past these men to get home. 

He slips from a fast-food store into a clothes shop, and from the clothes shop into 

a bakery, edging his way forward while making sure to remain undetected. Finally, 

he creeps around the parked armoured car, and no more armed men are in sight, 

but there is a tent set up on the road further down. Blue, letting his guard down after 

dodging the armed men and distracted by the tent, does not notice the plastic 

rubbish on the ground until after he has stepped on it, making a loud crumpling 

sound. “What was that?”. Nowhere to hide, Blue begins sprinting, using this time as 

a head start. Thankfully, the tent has a straight passage through, as both doors are 

open wide. He hopes that no one is inside and begins to come in one side. In the 

split-second Blue runs through the tent, there is a flash, and he is temporarily blinded 

in his right eye. However, the presence of the guards now pursuing him gives 

him a burst of adrenaline which allows him to push forward and lose them. Exhausted, 

Blue is finally home. He looks up from the ground to see the Greenhouse being 

consumed by an inferno. Men wearing fire-retardant suits carry out charred crates of 

supplies and plant pots through the bright white flames. Blue tries to force his way 

through to search for his friends, but he only burns his arm and leg by touching the 

red-hot metal beams. His screams of pain draw attention 

to him and he is spotted by his pursuers from earlier. “He’s...He’s got colour!” they 

say as they restrain him. Dragged away by his arms, Blue can only watch as the 

metal supports of the Greenhouse collapse with a piercing mechanical screech, 

crumpling the dome, loudly shattering dozens of windows, and crushing everything 

left behind underneath iron and broken shards of glass. He is shoved into the back 

of a lightly shaded car with his limbs bound. Blue looks into the rear-view mirror, 

hoping to see the Greenhouse another time. Staring back at him is a blue eye, his

ight eye. The driver says to him that they will be arriving at the “compound” soon. 

The car drives through the gates and into a car park surrounded by tall wire fencing. 

As he is pushed out of the car, dozens of people scramble to get a look at Blue. 

They all have patches of colour on them. On their eyes, on their hair, they all have it 

somewhere. Inside, there are even more of them wandering around the facility. Behind 

bars, Blue realises that this is a prison. A prison for those with colour. It surprises 

him greatly. After all, a bit of blue in a monochrome world ought to be celebrated, 

do you not think?

AT THE STROKE OF MURDER 

Ella O.

“Michelle, do you still have my eyeliner?” Alex said, straining slightly to be heard over the 90s pop 

hits blaring from a small speaker in the corner of her bedroom. 

“No, sorry, I do,” Lily replied, putting on the lid and tossing it back to her. 

Michelle spun around to face the other two, a gleeful look on her face. 

“Tonight is going to be the best night ever,” she proclaimed. 

“And why’s that?” Lily replied, her eyes meeting Alex’s as they shared a smile. Michelle was always 

incredibly optimistic about their nights out, despite the fact that she was usually the one who 

ended up with her head down a toilet the next day. 

“Because,” Michelle continued, turning back around to face the mirror, “tonight is the night I’m going 

to make a move on Jamie.” 

She let her statement hang in the air, waiting for the other’s reaction. Alex and Lily’s eyes met 

again, as they did, the two girls burst out laughing. Michelle turned her head sharply to hide her 

expression, no doubt hurt by their laughter. Noticing this, Alex tried to backtrack: 

“Listen Michelle, it’s not that we don’t believe you, but we’ve been friends with him since 2nd Year, 

and you’ve never even hinted at the fact that you like him. What makes you think you’ll be able to 

‘make a move’ on him tonight?” 

Michelle thought about this for a second. 

“Well,” she said, in a measured tone, “we graduate in six months, and then I’ll probably never see 

him again-” 

“He’s only going to Trinity, Shell,” Lily interrupted with a grin. 

“-I’ll probably never see him again,” Michelle continued, “and I think I’d regret it if I didn’t do anything. 

Also a New Year’s kiss is the perfect excuse.” 

“New year, new you?” Alex offered. 

“Exactly!” 

“Well, I’ll drink to that!” Lily said, grabbing the abandoned bottle of vodka from the ground and 

pouring three shots. Michelle picked two up quickly, seemingly glad to have moved on, offering

the second one to Alex. 

Alex shook her head. 

“Yous actually want to arrive at the party in one piece, don’t you?” she said, raising one eyebrow, “I 

can’t drive us if I drink.” 

“Killjoy,” Lily muttered, throwing back her shot and Alex’s. 

Anger flared inside Alex for a second, and she opened her mouth to bite back at Lily’s jab. She 

always acted like Alex was a goody-two-shoes, even though she was literally just obeying the law. 

Thinking better of it, she closed her mouth again. If her and Lily got into a fight now, she wouldn’t 

speak to her for the rest of the night. Forcing herself to calm down, Alex checked the clock. 

“Come on we’d better get going so Michelle has enough time to build up the nerve to actually talk 

to Jamie tonight.” 

They arrived at Mia’s house, where the party was being held, a little after ten. Alex marvelled 

again at how big it was; you could probably fit her whole house in Mia’s sitting room. Despite the 

size of the house, the party was relatively small. About twenty of her friends from school lounged 

around the sitting room, or stood talking in the kitchen. Mia squealed when she saw the three 

girls. 

“Yay, you’re here!” she exclaimed, “and oh my god, you all look fab! I love your hair Michelle!” 

The girls reciprocated with similar compliments, and they chatted for a bit before Mia rushed off to 

stop someone from going upstairs. 

The three girls turned to each other. 

“Right, I’m getting a drink,” Lily said, grabbing Michelle’s arm, “and you’re coming with me. There’s 

no way you’ll go anywhere near Jamie sober.” 

The two of them headed off towards the kitchen, leaving Alex standing alone in the middle of the 

sitting room. She stared after them, slightly hurt by the fact that she’d been completely ignored. 

She sighed, then started to spin around slowly on one foot, eyes searching the room for someone 

to talk to, when hands suddenly squeezed her shoulders. She let out an involuntary squeal and 

spun around to face her boyfriend, David, grinning like an idiot. She hit him on the shoulder. 

“You asshole, you scared me!” 

“I’m very sorry,” he said insincerely, leaning in to kiss her. Her expression softened, and she 

kissed him back before pulling away.

“Thank god you’re here, Lily and Michelle have abandoned me,” she sighed dramatically. 

“Well, I would never abandon you,” he said grandiosely, “I was going to go and talk to the lads, if 

you wanted to come with me.” 

Alex’s face screwed up a little bit, which made David laugh. Her least favourite people in her 

extended friend group were the “lads”. They were obnoxious, and loud, and quick to make sexist 

jokes at the expense of their girlfriends. But, they could be a bit of a laugh, which was exactly 

what she needed, the remaining tension from the almost-fight with Lily still stressing her out. 

The “lads” happened to include Jamie, Michelle’s long-time crush, who rose to give Alex a hug as 

she walked towards the group with David. 

“All right?” Jamie greeted the two, who nodded in response. Out of all of the lads, Alex liked Jamie 

the most. He never joined in with the jokes she hated so much, but he also never made any move 

to stop them. 

The rest of the group looked up, shouting out their greetings, and moving to make space for them 

to sit down. Alex and David squeezed onto the couch next to Jamie and joined the conversation 

he had been having with Liam and Tom. 

“If Mike’s fit to play next month, we’ll have a good shot at getting through to the semis,” Liam said, 

mid-conversation. 

The boys nodded in assent as Alex let out a groan. 

“I did not come to a party to listen to yous talk about hurling,” she protested. 

“Hey, you’re the one who joined us, not the other way around,” Jamie said with a grin, but he graciously 

steered the conversation towards exams. 

“How’s everyone fixed for the mocks then?” he offered, and this time it was the boys’ turn to groan. 

Jamie and Alex had both been studying since the start of the year, whereas the other three had 

been taking a somewhat more relaxed approach. 

“Still have two months, don’t we?” David said, meaning of course, that he was not prepared in the 

slightest, “just because you want to study medicine, Jamie, doesn’t mean we all do.” 

“Yeah, I’ve got my heart set on jam making myself,” Tom added, earning a laugh from the group. 

As the boys started up a conversation about other fictional college courses, Alex turned to Jamie. 

“All set for the HPAT then?” she asked him.

“As much as I can be, I suppose,” he replied, looking more nervous than she had expected. 

“Don’t tell me you’re actually worried,” she teased, “you’ve basically been studying since first year.” 

“I know, it’s just…” he trailed off, biting his lip, “I don’t exactly have a Plan B; this is all I’ve ever 

wanted to do. This is it for me.” 

“I know,” she said softly, “but you have nothing to worry about. You are so ready for this.” 

“Yeah,” he replied, unconvinced, staring off into space. He shook his head, as if trying to shake 

his doubts away, and turned back to Alex with a smile. 

“Anyway, you’re still planning on Journalism in DCU, right?” he asked her. 

Alex didn’t respond straight away, unconvinced that she’d settled his nerves. Eventually she 

sighed, and smiled back at him. 

“Yeah, I’m really looking forward-” she was cut off as Liam and David pulled her abruptly to her 

feet. 

“No more talk about school, this is a party!” David proclaimed, “We’re dancing.” 

“Are we indeed?” she said, throwing an apologetic smile to Jamie as David pulled her to the middle 

of the room. 

An hour later she was reunited with Lily and Michelle, the latter significantly more drunk than when 

she’d last seen her. They made their way towards the group, towards Jamie, Michelle swaying on 

her feet a little bit. Alex pulled them away. 

“How much did she have?” she hissed at Lily, eyes flashing with anger. 

“I swear she had like one glass of wine!” Lily replied indignantly. “It’s the nerves, I think.” 

“The nerves are making her drunk?” Alex repeated sarcastically. 

“...Yeah.” 

“Unbelievable,” Alex muttered, turning to Michelle, “are you alright, love?”

“I’m fiiiine,” she drawled, eyes slightly glazed over. 

“Go and get her some water!” she snapped at Lily, who rolled her eyes and headed back towards 

the kitchen, stopping briefly to talk to Jamie and Tom on the way. Alex asked David to watch Michelle, 

before following Lily into the kitchen. 

“Hey!” she said, tapping Lily on the shoulder. Lily turned around, a bemused expression on her 

face. 

“Can I help you?” Lily asked with faux sincerity. 

“What is with you tonight?” Alex asked her friend desperately. 

“I don’t know what you mean.” 

“Sorry, allow me to clarify: what’s with all the eye rolling, and passive aggressive digs at me? 

What’s with letting Michelle get plastered? What is with you tonight?” 

Lily didn’t respond straight away. She stared at her friend for a long couple of seconds, seemingly 

struggling with whether or not to tell Alex something. She sighed. 

“Listen, I’m sorry, I had a big fight with Allison before I got to yours tonight. I think she’s going to 

break up with me,” tears glistened behind Lily’s eyes. 

Alex’s face dropped. Allison and Lily hardly ever fought, so if it was enough to make Lily cry, it was 

serious. She reached out to hug her friend, squeezing her tightly. 

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,” she mumbled into her hair, “if she does, she’s an idiot.” 

Lily pulled back, nodding and swatting at her tears. She shook her head, embarrassed to have 

shown so much emotion. 

“Come on, let’s go and sober Shell up before midnight,” she said, grabbing two pint glasses of 

water. 

The girls rejoined the group that now consisted of David, Michelle, Liam, Jamie, and Mike, a late 

arrival to the party. His crutches were propped up on a nearby chair, and Alex shook her head 

slightly; how did Liam think he’d be fit to play next month? The next hour flew by as the eight of 

them discussed the year ahead, in between taking turns to get Michelle water or coffee, until she 

seemed almost sober by the time midnight approached. 

Someone yelled out that it was a minute until midnight, and everyone gathered in the living room,

counting down. Lily and Alex pushed Michelle towards Jamie, and watched as she made flustered 

conversation with him, leaning closer to him to be heard above the shouting, as the clock approached 

five seconds. 

“FIVE!” 

Michelle started to look sick. Jamie shouted beside her, taking a gulp of his drink. 

“FOUR!” 

She turned back to Lily and Alex, nerves evident on her face, and they gave her a thumbs up. 

“THREE!” 

Jamie’s hand scrambled at his throat, eyes open wide, as he looked frantically around the room. 

“TWO!” 

His drink slipped from his hand, smashing on the tiles below him. 

“ONE!” 

His whole body seemed to go limp, as Michelle looked on, horrified. 

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” 

Jamie collapsed, hitting the ground with a dull thud. Michelle screamed, stepping backwards 

hurriedly. Alex, Lily, and David pushed through the small crowd, and more screams echoed in 

the room as people began to realise what had happened. Alex fell to her knees beside an unconscious 

Jamie, as Lily went to comfort Michelle, wrapping her arms around her. 

“JAMIE,” Alex shouted in his ear, shaking him lightly, “JAMIE!” 

She had never been more grateful for the first aid course she’d done last year. She shouted in 

his ear one more time before pinching the back of his hand sharply. He didn’t move. She turned 

her head to look at his chest. It wasn’t moving. Alex looked up at David who had been hovering 

helplessly. 

“Call an ambulance,” she said in a low, urgent voice, before interlocking her shaking hands and 

starting CPR. Her mind was blank aside from counting the compressions she had done.

‘...27, 28, 29, 30, breath, breath, start again. 1, 2, 3…” 

She had no idea how long the ambulance had taken to come, it could have been anywhere between 

three minutes and an hour, but suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder and she turned 

around to see a young woman smiling at her. 

“You’ve done a great job, love, but we’ll take it from here.” 

Alex stepped back, letting the paramedics load Jamie onto a stretcher. Blinking, she looked 

around the room. Lily and Michelle were sitting on a couch in the far corner of the living room, 

Michelle’s head on Lily’s shoulder as the two of them stared off into space. Mia’s parents had appeared 

and were talking to one of the paramedics at the door. The whole room was deathly silent, 

some people whispered in small groups but that was it. No one seemed to want to leave and, as 

the ambulance drove away, Mia’s parents agreed that everyone could stay there until there was 

news about Jamie. 

The news did not come for another three hours, when Mia’s mother came out of the kitchen, 

phone in her hand, eyes rimmed red. 

“I’m afraid I have some very bad news,” she started shakily, “Paramedics were unable to resuscitate 

Jamie, and he was pronounced d-dead at 12:34am today.” 

A ripple of gasps and sobs spread around the room. People started talking all at once, filling the 

silence immediately. Alex sat back in her chair, suddenly feeling very tired. Stupid first aid course, 

what was the point in doing it if she couldn’t even help someone when they needed it? She turned 

to see David staring at her and realised he’d been speaking to her. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” she mumbled, tripping over her words. 

“I asked if you were ok,” he said softly. When she didn’t respond, he continued: “you did everything 

you could, you know? Thank god you were here, no one else would have known what to 

do.” 

“It didn’t matter though, did it?” Alex said, more to herself than to David, “he’s still dead. It didn’t 

matter that I knew CPR, or to call an ambulance. He’s dead.” 

David didn’t seem to know what to say to this, and she turned her attention to the other people in 

the room. Michelle was openly crying now, Lily rubbing her back. Alex should be there for her too. 

She moved towards the two of them slowly. She picked up fragments of conversations as she did, 

but something Mia said caught her attention. 

“I think someone killed him, poisoned him or something,” she said, scandalised, whispering to her 

friend Sarah. Alex was not the only one who had heard this; Lily’s head snapped up:

“Shut up, Mia,” she said, slightly too loudly, and other people around them were drawn into the 

conversation, “he had a heart attack or drank too much or something. No one poisoned him.” 

All the heat suddenly seemed to be drawn out of the room, as this theory was turned over in everyone’s 

minds. After a second, Liam spoke up. 

“I reckon Mia might be onto something,” he said slowly, mind churning, “I mean did anyone else 

see his face before he collapsed? It was like he couldn’t breathe or something.” 

Michelle lifted her head, a distraught expression on her face, clearly reliving the moment in her 

mind. 

“Yeah, like when you have a heart attack,” Lily snapped. 

But even as she said it, something seemed to click in Alex’s brain. She had seen Jamie’s face 

before he collapsed, and it hadn’t seemed like he was having a heart attack. He’d clutched at his 

throat, not his chest. She’d thought briefly that he was having an allergic reaction, despite the fact 

that he’d been tested last year and all that came back was hay fever. She replayed the moment in 

her mind. Had he had a drink in his hand, or was that her imagination? She squeezed her eyes 

shut, struggling to remember. She had been so focused on starting CPR, that she hadn’t even 

noticed the glass on the ground, and her knees had been cut to pieces- wait, glass! From Jamie’s 

drink! Which he had taken a sip of right before he- 

Her eyes flew open, the final puzzle piece falling into place. Her eyes swept the room, full of her 

friends and a cold hand gripped at her heart. 

Jamie hadn’t just died, he’d been murdered. 

And one of the people in this room had done it.

Fiction Writing Summer Camp 2020

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