Most of our short stories are submitted individually by young writers eager to share their imagination with the world. Others have been selected from our award-winning story-writing competitions. However they arrive, each story is a window into the creativity of young Muslim authors. If you're a young Muslim author wishing to have your work published, you’ll find how to do so in the Submissions section.
by Aisha S. Laiba
Erika walks down the road.“Wow, it’s so sunny,” she says to Emily. Emily agrees, but Emily never actually says anything because she is mute. The road is empty, thin as air. Erika is at school with Emily, but when they enter the classroom, everyone is gone.Erika says in her mind, “Where are they? Did they LEAVE?!”She rushes down to the bus. “Phew,” she says; the bus has not left. After that, they get into the bus. Marcus asks her where they were going. She says the beach.Suddenly, there is a thunderstorm. The bus breaks down and everything is gone, including the bus driver and Miss Camelah, but over there is a strange house, which is also broken down. Erika gets off the bus along with the others. Oliver goes out after that. He finds flowers, very big flowers like none of us have ever seen, so he quickly runs back in.Suddenly something pops up in Erika’s mind. “Let’s turn the bus into a shelter,” she says.Everyone agrees. When they are making the door, they need some big flowers like those they saw earlier, but they are scared of Oliver and his runny nose from allergies, so they decide not to add flowers. They use Veronica’s jacket and a little bit of wood instead – and Tada! It’s done. Sliding curtains!Erika enters though the sliding curtains. Tada! I say we take John (the strong guy) and tell him to adjust the seats to sleeping mode, AKA lying-down mode. Everyone helps, and wow! “Teamwork makes the dream work,” I say as we watch the violet-blue sky at sunset. Outside in the night, it’s as dark as a horror scene. We get back to the bus and fall asleep. In the morning, the sun is bright, and the sunlight is warm and not harsh. The birds keep chirping, and the breeze is cool. The leaves of the plants are covered with dew drops. The level of noise pollution in the mornings is less, as compared to the other times of the day. I wake up everyone else to go outside and see what we can find for our shelter.Emily finds the weird looking hut I saw before, and then BOOM! She’s disappeared. Everyone starts to call her, but nobody manages to find her.“Oh, well,” Marcus says.“OH, WELL?! SHE’S MY BEST FRIEND, MARCUS! WE NEED TO FIND HER!”Day and night we look for her, but there is no sign. I guess she is gone.Suddenly we hear this bizarre, deformed, otherworldly noise. Everyone is scared and stays quiet. Everyone gets back to the shelter and becomes pin-drop silent. We can hear the breathing of a monster coming closer. Suddenly Eve remembers a potion she got from this forest. When she opens it, the monster starts squealing and runs away. Erika is shocked. How? Could it be….Erika is distraught, but everyone cheers her up.“Thanks, guys.”We hear the cold night breeze pass and the endless, dark, night terrors and then complete silence. Next day we wake up to see… WHAT IN THE WORLD? WE SEE EMILY, BUT – not a friendly one; she is holding a knife, her bloodshot eyes looking at one specific person…“Oliver…” she says in a monstrous voice. “OLIVER, GET OUT OF THE SHELTER BEFORE I KILL YOU!”“SERENA?” I say.“HOW CAN EMILY TALK?!” Oliver says.Next to her, I see SERENA, MY DEAD SISTER!!!I run to her and hug her so tight that tears drop. I start to howl.Serena says, “siesta.” Huh? What does she mean? By the way, siesta means naptime, and I have explained that word to everyone.Suddenly, I lose my eyesight like everyone else, and a few moments later there are teardrops on my face. I wake up to see myself sunbathing on the beach.I ask everyone, “Weren’t we in the forest one second ago?”They say, “Yeah, we were.”They also looked confused.“Are we time travelling?”“Maybe, but everything here is perfectly fine.”Weird-looking Oliver says something in Spanish, which is “ayúdanos eri- (help me)….
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by Aisha R. Ashraf
The morning sun rises and shines right on top of my face. I wake up to get ready for school. My eyelids, feeling like they weigh 1,000 kg, finally open to let me see the wretched day in front of me. I open my dusty, wooden cupboard and grab my uniform. I get in Emily’s fifty-seven-year-old red car as I think in my head, “Another day of solitary confinement” – even though you’re surrounded by miserable people. Every day is the same: maths, English, science, English, maths, more maths, science, more English, and then there is history, geography and so on for another three hours until the end of the day. You feel like you’re on your deathbed waiting for the best reward: death itself. Except today was different.Today was… unexplainable, unimaginable.Today… we didn’t do science! There Lilly was, standing in line for lunch. Quiet as ever, wearing her favourite hot pink shirt that says, ‘I LOVE ANIMALS!’ in cursive. Lilly is a really shy girl; she’s basically the ‘odd one out’ of the entire school, considering the fact that she absolutely ‘adores animals’, except for crocodiles because they are known predators to most animals. As she walks through the hallway to class, everyone stares as if she just came from Neptune.Everyone in the school hates Lilly because of her personality, even though they have never even heard her talk before. All they know about her is that she loves animals, but that is basically all they need to know to throw a bunch of hate on her. She lives with her twenty-one-year-old brother, who doesn’t even know her name, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know what trees are. After school, she visits Mrs. Jonathan, the owner of a pet store. Her usual daily routine is going to her deathbed (I mean school), visiting Ms. Jonathan, and then going back to school. She rarely ever goes home to her brother anyway.The next day after school, Lilly returns straight to her house. She doesn’t even stop to look at the pet store. She shuts her door behind her and drops herself to the rough wooden floor. She can’t believe her only friend had the audacity to betray her. Just as she is planning her over-exaggerated, bloody, and painful revenge, she has a flashback from about four years ago.Living the mean girl life that everyone wanted to experience. Back in kindergarten, Lilly was… let’s just say not the same way she is now. Lilly, even though just in kindergarten, was the most popular girl in the entire primary school. And not because she was cute or kind; it was because she was known as the devil in disguise. One glance at her and all you would see were eyes of fire and mischief.Just as she was getting to the good part of the flashback, there was a knock on the door.Her eyes held her tears captive as she opened it.It was Richard, the lawyer!Richard brought Lilly a gift, as not only he but the entire neighbourhood knew what had happened in school. Lilly had a forced smile on her face as she opened the bright pink box. It was a chameleon. Her eyes surrendered her tears, but they were tears of happiness and gratefulness. Lilly looked at Richard’s over-gelled hair and his eternally unbuttoned button up. She got up and almost suffocated him with happiness.Richard, his voice sounding like a hybrid of a frog and a dying horse, referring to the coarseness of his voice’, said, “Whatcha gonna name ‘er?”Lilly stared at her new pet’s multi-coloured eyes and thought, “This animal came to me ata moment of grief, and it brought spirit to my heart.”“SPIRIT!”“What?” Richard said in confusion.“Spirit! That’s what I’m gonna name her.”Richard ruined the moment by saying one of his oh-so-popular uncle jokes.“You want me to kill her to bring out her inner spirit? Hahah!… No… ignore that, let’s start training her.”(2 hours of hardship later)Spirit goes to the loo on Richard’s bushy hair once again. Lilly doesn’t even find it funny anymore. They’ve been trying to train this little piece of something for a while now. Spirit falls asleep and finally shuts those beautiful, innocent eyes.Lilly, still feeling really embarrassed about what happened in school today, asks, “Richard, do you really think Mrs. Jonathan meant to do that to me?”“I don’t know, but what I do know is that tomorrow is a big day for the three of us, so off to sleep, you. I’m gonna go have a chat with your brother.”Lilly falls asleep, praying that Spirit doesn’t relieve herself on her face, and starts having a dream about what had happened in school that morning.(A few hours ago, at school)Lilly was in her geography class when all of a sudden, there were police car sirens going off and the police were right outside the school gate, calling, “We are here to arrest Lilly Smith on suspicion of having stolen 15,000 dollars from the town bank.”Everyone was shocked to hear this, for it was basically impossible for a ten-year-old to rob even a dollar from a bank. But Lilly was more shocked than anyone else in the school because she knew that she had never even thought of doing that.She stepped out of the classroom to face the police with fear in every single tear that fell out of her eyes.She saw Mrs. Jonathan talking with the chief and begged her for help, but the woman pretended she didn’t see the girl. Lilly explained to the police officers that she never even knew that this town had a bank, but Mrs. Jonathan kept on contradicting her and always went against her.The police said Mrs. Jonathan gave evidence that Lilly was the culprit of the crime and would have to get herself a lawyer for tomorrow to prove her innocence in court.Lilly stared at Mrs. Jonathan, sadder than ever, and finally woke up. “Today’s the day,” she says to Richard, who is still half asleep. Lilly is pretty worried because she has Richard as her lawyer, and she doesn’t think highly of his skills. They get to court and sit down. The court ends in a flash, and Lilly doesn’t even care if she is proven innocent or not; she is just listening to the voices in her head saying, “Mrs. Jonathan betrayed you.”She ends up being found innocent, and it turns out Mrs. Jonathan was the actual culprit. As it turns out, Richard’s skills are pretty standard.Mrs. Jonathan begs Richard and Lilly for help, but Richard and Spirit just wave. Lilly, on the other hand, feels bad just leaving her but realises that she is a danger to society.Richard hugs Lilly and Spirit, making Lilly feel surrounded with happiness and love. All of a sudden, she goes back to her flashback from kindergarten…Lilly was in detention once again, but this time, there was a therapist, and that therapist’s name was Amelia Jonathan, AKA Mrs. Jonathan. Amelia was kind and nice to Lilly. Lilly can’t exactly remember what happened, but she remembers that the second it was over, she became the quietest kid in the school.Richard taps her shoulder and takes her out of that mysterious flashback.He asks what happened, and Lilly whispers, “I don’t know…” Year 6Western Grammar School
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by Mariam Ahmed
Context: A historical fiction narrative about a Palestinian girl who is the sole survivor of an attack on her village. I gazed at the freshly dug grave in front of me. I glanced at the other recent graves. Tears blurred my vision as I realised that I was the only one left in my family. I was the sole survivor from a great lineage. The burden of remembering traditions, stories and people was on me alone. Sudden anger enveloped me – anger at the invaders who ravaged my homeland. Anger at the rest of the world who did not do anything about us and kept quiet as they watched millions of lives extinguished right before their eyes. Anger at my family for leaving me alone and making me bear the responsibility of keeping the memories of our family.I walked away, surveying the colossal wall separating us from the enemies. How could a person be so cruel as to kill innocent children and take away another’s sense of safety and freedom? I surveyed the ruins around me. Homes once filled with laughing, happy and cheerful children now lay in destruction. Smoke rose from destroyed memories of laughter, joy, pride, comfort and liveliness.Why? Why would they do this to innocent, pure people who have done no wrong? Why is the world silent in the face of this oppression? This injustice? This discrimination? I walked away from the debris and carnage surrounding me, feeling ashamed, angry, sorrowful and anguished over the demise of my people.I walked through the ruins and looked for any remains from my home… well, not my home anymore. Something caught my eye – a red, faded journal with the year 1973. It was a thin diary. Overcome with curiosity, I took it with me to the misshapen structure made of debris that I called home now. As I walked to it, narrowly avoiding the rubble which could pierce through my skin, I heard voices. I stopped. There was a building partially standing next to me, and the voices were coming through there.“Make sure there are no survivors,” a voice commanded. My heart started beating rapidly. What if they found me? What would they do? Gruesome images came to my mind – bloody executions, being buried alive, drowning – so I ran. I didn’t care if they heard me. I needed to live. I needed to preserve my heritage. I needed to show the world the cruelty of the occupation, the social injustice and the evil that has ruled over our land for years and years and years.“There’s someone alive! CHASE THEM,” the order was given. I heard shouts; guns were loaded and soldiers chased after me, but I still ran. I felt sticks and stones pierce my skin, but I didn’t care. I was used to it. At one point, a soldier shot at me, but the bullet narrowly missed my legs. I ran into an alleyway and climbed the walls. I looked behind me. Two soldiers were rapidly gaining ground towards me. I ran to the edge of the roof I was on and jumped to the next, nearly losing my footing after my landing and almost careening to a ghastly death. Childhood memories of me doing this with my siblings and cousins played in my head, urging me on to find safety.One of the soldiers behind me was not so lucky. The sound of his body hitting the cement resounded in my ear. One down, another to lose. He spoke into his radio in a language I couldn’t understand. Hebrew maybe? I don’t know. I reached another alleyway, climbed down and hid in an alcove. I was so close to that misshapen structure, my home.The soldier reached the edge of the roof. I heard his radio crackling with the sound of many men shouting at once. “Abandon the search,” an angry voice stated. “We’re wasting resources; the hunger will kill her anyway.” Voices of agreement sounded throughout the radio. My heart was still racing. What if he decided to come down here? I would be done for. Sweat trickled down my face as I waited for the radio sounds to die down. Footsteps started going off in the opposite direction. I breathed a sigh of relief.I waited a few moments before I emerged from my hiding spot like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. After I made it inside, the adrenaline left my body, and I crashed onto my worn mattress. Before my mind drifted off to sleep, I felt something in my pocket. THE DIARY. I immediately sat up and took it out. “1973,” the faded cover read. I opened it and started reading.October 6th, 1973I’m hiding in my room right now. They’re calling me to eat but I’m not going to go. As soon as I go downstairs my mother will start yelling at me for not completing the chores etc etc, but it’s not my fault my brother decided to run away and join the Egyptians in fighting the war against the occupation. My mother was heartbroken when she read the letter he left behind. “For freedom. For my homeland. For my family.” My brother’s last words, I guess. But I’m proud of him. He will redeem my family’s legacy. My father’s death will not be in vain. May Allah aid him in his struggles. Well, someone is banging on my door now. I’ll be right back.Was this my mother’s diary? She did tell me about how my uncle ran away to join the other countries in fighting against the occupation…Tears filled my eyes as I remembered my mother stroking my hair and telling me stories of her childhood. I continued reading.October 6th, 1973 ~ continuedTHE GREATEST NEWS! THE EGYPTIANS AND SYRIANS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ATTACKED THE OCCUPATION FORCES. THEY HAVE TAKEN OVER THE CANAL AND BREACHED THE LINES. I AM SO HAPPY. The first defeats of the occupation. My family is celebrating and I will join them soon. THIS, THIS PROVES THAT THE OCCUPATION CAN BE DEFEATED. THEY HAVE A WEAKNESS. Insha’Allah one day, one day we will be able to strike back, regain our land and deal more blows to the occupation.Wait. THE OCCUPATION WAS DEFEATED BEFORE? A huge smile crossed my face, and now tears of happiness flowed out of my eyes. But how were they still in power…?October 15th, 1973The occupation has won again. The armies tried, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t stand their ground. But it’s fine. The initial victory of 6 October proves their vulnerability. They can still be defeated. They will be in the future, with the help of Allah.…Oh, so that’s why. My happiness from the first few entries dulled a bit, but I still felt a sense of pride. They were defeated before; they will be defeated once again. I wrapped up the diary and placed it under all my blankets. My mother’s memories must not be destroyed. As sleep was about to overcome me, I heard footsteps and whispered voices. Oh, no. They were back again. “Check that wooden enclosure for any signs of life,” a male voice ordered. I reached for the nearest weapon available – a wooden stick. I would not go down without a fight. I would seek revenge for my family.As footsteps steadily approached my shelter, one of their radios crackled. “REQUESTING IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE. ALL UNITS REPORT TO JENIN. URGENT ASSISTANCE REQUIRED. THE RESISTANCE FIGHTERS HAVE TAKEN OVER. I REPEAT, ALL UNITS REPORT TO HEADQUARTERS IN JENIN.”“What? The resistance fighters have taken over?”“Retreat. We will come back later. GO NOW.”I heard a flurry of footsteps, a sense of urgency and purpose in the stride of the soldiers as they rushed to wherever they were summoned. I was saved. A smile crossed my face once again. My body erupted in laughter and joy, and happiness flooded me as I digested the news. The occupation was defeated once again.July 5th, 2023The occupation was once again defeated. With the help of Allah, many more defeats will come. Year 11Western Grammar School
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by Anonymous
I wake up in a panic from another dumb nightmare, and I look around while catching my breath. My breathing is nearly back to normal when it speeds back up at the thought of being late for work. I shoot up and check my phone for the time. 9:46. I make a mental note to myself to look for new jobs after I get fired today. My eyes catch sight of a string of texts from Cher. “Why aren’t you at work yet, Cho??’’“I’ll try and distract the boss but she’s kind of snappy so hurry.”Seven minutes later, I’m pulling on my socks and running out the door, gripping my reusable coffee cup, with my bag hitting my side.“Shoot, I left my door unlocked, didn’t I?’’I quickly decide that there’s no time to go back, so I continue running. Besides, it’s highly unlikely someone will go up knocking on a closed door to check if it’s unlocked.I’m still running while I look down at my shoes to make sure the untied shoelaces haven’t gotten too dirty, when suddenly a brute force hits me from the front and my coffee spills all over the both of us.I look up in annoyance. My eyes meet a tall figure wearing a dark hoodie with matching sweats. In the middle of summer. Suddenly, remembering that I caused the accident humbles me.I mutter an apology and try my best not to shoot off while she glances at the damage done to her hoodie. She doesn’t even look up once. I’m taken by surprise when she says, “You’re late, Cho.”My eyes widen.“Do I know you?”I’m about to start running when she tilts her head up, just enough for the light hitting her face to make her mouth visible when she says, “You will soon.” She ends with a creepy smile I’ve only ever seen before in movies. I pick up my coffee cup so I can start running, but I get brave and mutter, “Psycho.” I start running and don’t look back.I quietly walk in to work and slide into my chair at 10:05. “How did you even manage to be late again?” Cher whispers to me as I organise the clutter on my desk.“Why are we whispering?” I whisper back.She straightens up in her chair.“The boss isn’t in a good mood because we lost a big client. Little things are just setting her off.”I sigh and open my laptop. I’m in the middle of skimming the tasks I have to complete today when I hear the familiar thudding footsteps behind me.I turn my chair around and see my boss staring at me, as if daring me.“Do you need something?” I ask her, trying to sound as polite as I can.She just stares at me.I’m about to ask again when she tells me to pack my things and marches away.I roll my eyes and whisper to Cher.“Meet me at the cafe after you finish. I need to tell you something.”I walk across the street to the cafe where Cher and I grew up. We used to come here after school on Fridays and use our spare change to buy something sweet and share it.I pull open the door that says ‘push.’ The sweet smell of fresh jam-filled pastries makes me smile as I walk over to a table in the corner.I get a notification from Cher.“I’m getting off early today so see u in a bit”I put my phone down and watch the cafe buzz with people. I’m smiling to myself yet again when suddenly I get a notification from an unknown number.I open it curiously and am taken aback when I see the message.“Waiting for someone, Cho?”I get goosebumps as I frantically look around to see the creep who’s watching me, but I can’t see anyone on their phone in the cafe. I try to calm down and think of a reply when I get another message.“Don’t bother looking for me, you won’t find me.”I can’t help but feel smart when I reply with what I’ve always wanted to say.“Too bad for you I actually already did.’’I get a message back almost immediately.“Oh really, who am I?”I immediately regret sending the message and decide to just ignore this.I’m sipping on my iced espresso when Cher finally walks in.I wave to her. She sees me and takes a seat, and she asks if I’ve started looking for a new job yet.“Cher, do you really think it’s that easy to get a job? The only reason I got my last one was because you recommended me.”She mutters something, but I pretend I didn’t hear. She asks what I was going to tell her, and I tell her all about the weird encounter and then the messages.“No way. Show me.” I unlock my phone and hand it to Cher.“Do you think maybe it’s the same person you spilled coffee on earlier?”I shrug. “Probably some creep who heard my name when I ordered or something.”I lean back in my seat when suddenly the lights go out. I get up and try to reach for my phone for the flashlight. I hear a commotion, and I call out for Cher.“I’m right here,” she says. An employee’s voice interrupts us.“The lights have gone out, but stay calm and stay where you are. We’re trying our best to fix it.”I jump when someone grabs my hand and places in it a little square that feels like paper.“CHER, WAS THAT YOU?” I shout, not as loud as I wanted to, my voice shaking.I try to scramble away from whoever is in front of me.“Was what me, Cho? I’m still sitting down.”I try to make my way back to our seats, my heartbeat racing. Suddenly, just like in the movies, the lights turn on and Cher gets up and walks to me.“What’s in your hand?”I smooth it out from the crinkles and read it.“Want a hint about my identity? I have one name for you: Felicity.”I drop the note and grab my hand that is shaking like crazy. Cher picks up the note and grabs my hands.“Are you all right, Cho? Who’s Felicity?”I shake her hands off. “Probably just some psycho. I need some time… the creep is probably somewhere here; I should try to lose him,” I whisper to her.“No way. I’m going with you,” Cher says, letting go of one hand and gripping the other one tighter. “Cher, please – I need some time.”She surprises me when she says hesitantly, “Alright, but please call me when you get home.”I grab my stuff and wave to her while I walk out. As soon as I’m out of sight of the cafe, I let out a heavy, shaky breath.How did they find me? I look around to see if I’m being followed and go back to thinking.Did I make a mistake? Did they already find the body?I close my eyes and take a deep breath in and out. I look at my surroundings, the empty park. I still have time to escape. I’ll just book a flight for tonight and head home now to pack my things. Simple.I’m taking out my phone to book the flight when suddenly I see a black car zooming toward me.I shiver as my skin gets covered with goosebumps. The car stops a few metres ahead of me, and someone pushes the door open, making their way to me. I waver between either running or calling the cops and making up a lie.Before I can decide, the figure in the hoodie and sweats reaches me.“Remember me, my dear Cho?’’I freeze. “How did you find her? Felicity, I mean,” I ask, backing up steadily.“Of course, you mean Felicity. She’s all you can think about. She’s all you should be thinking about. That’s what made it so easy to get to you. You were distracted.”My knees suddenly feel weak.“You’re an amateur, Cho. You can’t just expect an inexperienced college girl to murder someone and get away with it when real criminals still get caught. You basically left us a trail to follow.”I suddenly grasp the intensity of the situation and the fact that my mind is screaming at me to run. Out of options, standing there confronted by someone holding a gun, I confess to her.“I never meant for her to die. I meant to teach her a lesson for being a bully. At the end of the day, if you kill me now, you’ll get caught – you’re not a professional either. You’ll go to jail and live a miserable life – do you really want that?” I say, stumbling over my words.The figure takes off the hood, and I gasp. It was Felicity’s sister the whole time. She grins. “Your reaction is making everything I went through to be here worth it.”“You’re going to shoot me? Seriously? After all that, such an underwhelming bullet takes my life?” I say, not even a bit confident of my words.“Oh, the gun? Stage prop. To scare you.”I relax a bit and even find the courage to ask, “So, how are you planning to kill me then?”She laughs.“I’m going to kill you exactly how you killed her.” Year 8Australian Islamic College of Sydney
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by Nuha Anarwala
“Yuna, you need to finish this by tonight,” her manager orders her.“Y-yes sir,” Yuna stutters.Sometime later, “Aah, finally, I finished this darned document. I have about 10 minutes to get to my part-time job, thanks to the manager,” she mumbles to herself while exiting the office. She barely has time to eat, so she eats tteokbokki (Korean rice cake) on her way to her job. Finally, she finishes her tiring convenience store job, where the weirdest people come at night, and leaves to go home.“So tiny and pretty,” Yuna whispers as she passes a nursery on her way home. She stares at the Korean red pine bonsai for ten seconds and leaves, hearing the old lady screaming at her violently.On her way home, she sees the same drunk man she saw at her job, so she changes direction.“Don’t wanna bump into him at this hour of the night,” Yuna whispers as she stares down at her phone, sending money to her mother who lives in the countryside.She arrives home, and the first thing she hears is her stepbrother screaming at her about why she is late, while he plays games on the phone he bought himself with Yuna’s hard-earned money. She nods to him and says sorry, even though she did nothing wrong. She cleans up her house and prepares dinner.“Where is Miss Kim?” Yuna asks politely.“Why do you need to know?” her stepbrother mumbles.The following week as Yuna steps into her office, running late, everyone is standing near the entrance, staring in her direction with different emotions showing on their faces. “Jamkkanman yo (Excuse me),” a voice says in Korean from behind her.As she turns around, she sees a mysterious man she has never seen before. She is awestruck seeing this majestic man walking gracefully among the workers like a major celebrity. His hair is beautifully parted, and he has a neat suit draped on his body, with his shiny gold watch gleaming in the artificial light in the office.Looking like an angel, he walks past her and flicks her forehead, saying with a grin, “Move it princess, you ain’t getting that much attention.” She stares at him in shock. He smacked those words right on her face. That’s when she realises that he is a complete JERK.Sometime later, she hears some office gossip about him being the heir to this company, and apparently his name is Euntae (Oon-tae). “But again, it’s office gossip. Can you trust it?” she sighs in embarrassment.The next day, Yuna finds out that he actually is the CEO of the company she works for.“Lucky jerk,” Yuna whines.“This is no time to be jealous over someone else’s fortune and be sad over my misfortune.” Yuna gives herself hope. “Let’s not worry about that and instead focus on my YouTube lessons,” Yuna scoffs with the little pride she has left.After her long, tiring day at her multiple jobs, she goes back home, and on the way, she sees the CEO.To her, it almost feels as if he is stalking her. After that day, she sees him multiple times near her outside of office hours.“Looks like I worked overtime today as well. I’m scared.” She hears light but somehow heavy (?!) footsteps. “YouTube video 18 | How to make fake moves, Trick 7!”She screams as she attacks with all her might but makes a false move with her num-chuks because she doesn’t want to hurt the stalker.As she looks at the tall, wide, dark figure, she squints her eyes to see who it is, and the second she realises who it is, her feet fall asleep right on the spot.“YOU USE WEAPONS?” Euntae screams, glancing at her confused face.She asks him in a stuttering voice why he follows her around everywhere she goes. He tells her that he thinks he has found the person he is looking for but isn’t sure about it.“W-why were you looking for someone like me?” Yuna asks Euntae.“Can’t tell you right now,” he says with a grin. “But if you really wanna know, then let’s be friends,” he says, knowing her answer.“OK!!!” Yuna screams, saying, “NOW TELL ME pleaaaase.”They make a deal to be friends for a few months, and only then he will tell her what’s so special about her.“Yunaaaa, since we are friends, can I come over to your house and we’ll have dinner?” Euntae asks in a childish voice.“Oh, okay, sure,” Yuna says blankly.When Yuna has a day off work, Euntae comes over at lunch time and decides to hang out as a friend.In her house, Euntae sees Yuna’s stepmother scolding her when they come in, asking why she brought a stranger to her house without her permission. She even slaps Yuna on her face, calling her rude names.Euntae gets angry and lashes out at that wretched woman who dares to lift her hand at an innocent girl. He makes Yuna’s stepmother apologise to Yuna. After seeing his bravery in that incident, respect for Euntae grows in Yuna’s eyes, and she starts calling him her big brother.“Hello, big bro!” Yuna says in a cheesy voice, embarrassing him in front of the other workers while he is snooping around to check on his employees.He asks to talk to her in private and scolds her, telling her not to embarrass him in the office.“Why, you are like a brother to me,” Yuna says, giggling.“Hah, whatever. OK, so I need to talk to you after you finish work, OK?” Euntae says with a serious expression.“OK, fine, then meet me after I finish my job at the pharmacy,” Yuna says in annoyance.After Yuna finishes her job, she meets up with Euntae to discuss whatever he wanted to talk about.“You looked serious, so I didn’t ask questions then. What happened?” Yuna asks.Euntae, with a hesitant voice, explains to her that she is a celestial being who was born in the human realm for a reason. She will sacrifice herself for the happiness of the whole world.“How do you know all this?” Yuna asks.“Well, I’m the demon of happiness, and the goddess of happiness told me about this,” Euntae says.She had to suffer her whole life to understand the importance of this act.“When the moon is half, I will take you to an abandoned temple. You will have to trap yourself inside a glass orb, but don’t worry – you’ll just be asleep the whole time in there unless it breaks and everything gets reversed,” Euntae says. Yuna is confused the whole time as he explains who she is…On the night of the half moon…“AAAAAH,” Euntae screams as he sees a whole family of tarantulas sitting there watching the show of Yuna and him.Yuna pulls his collar and drags him away from the entrance of the temple, further away from the family of spiders. She sighs, saying in the most depressed voice, “I’m here locking myself up, and there you are staring at some spiders, screaming like a baby!”She continues dragging him to the middle of the temple.There is an orb there. Euntae picks it up and channels his energy through it.Nothing happens…Then suddenly it begins changing shape in his hands.“It feels wet but dry and weird,” he whines.The orb turns into a completely different looking orb. He hands it over to Yuna and tells her to put her hand on top of it with the intention of fulfilling her duties as a celestial being.“Will it hurt???” she asks.“I don’t know, but don’t worry, I’m here for mental support,” Euntae reassures her.She immediately starts disintegrating into the orb, disappearing in a matter of a few seconds. As soon as she completely disappears, the orb drops. Euntae starts to cry, wondering if he will ever see her ever again. He goes away from the orb to the entrance of the temple, crying the whole time. He doesn’t even get scared of the spiders that haunt him the whole time in silence.A few days after Yuna sacrifices herself, the world suddenly shifts. The air, the look, the atmosphere just change in a matter of days.“What is happening these days?” Euntae says in an unamused tone.He goes around and looks at the changes the world has gone through. Sad, poor, hungry people on the streets look happier and have hopeful eyes, having ways of earning money.As he roams around, stalking people who were believed to be unhappy before, he feels as if someone is pulling his shirt. He turns and looks, but no one is there.“Some wimpy child pulling my shirt, I guess,” he says in a grouchy voice.He looks up at the sky and sees a transparent figure wearing a blood-red dress. He realises who it is and hugs her when she comes closer.It is Yuna, looking like she has murdered ten people and taken a bath in their blood. He notices that her behaviour has changed. He asks how she got back into the human realm, but then his alarm goes off and he realises that this was a dream, not reality.He suddenly remembers that Yuna has a mother in the countryside. “She probably won’t have any source of money,” he mumbles. Euntae feels bad for her and decides that to let Yuna rest in peace, he might just help her out financially. He meets up with her and clears things up with her by telling her the reality of what just happened to her daughter, which gives her the strength to fight for life since she was her only family.Yuna’s mother starts treating Euntae as her own son and lives in an imperfect utopia. He is happy, and our imperfect utopia is happy. Year 9Rooty Hill High School
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by Anonymous
The midday sun reflected on her hair, turning her golden locks into a walking halo of light. As she strutted into the room, the glinting of steel was the only indication of the stunning weapons that lined every inch of her tight bodysuit, making her into a living arsenal, and her eyes narrowed as if daring anyone to question her dark appearance. That was Vera. The stunning, heartless Vera. I sat, making a show of arranging my suit, one leg lifted over the other in a show of indifference, and tilted my lips upward into an innocent smile. Well, smirk. I knew how I looked, with my golden locks and arrogant smile. A spoiled girl with an oversized ego. But the extravagant exterior contrasted with the dark thoughts playing through my mind. Innocent indeed.Adding an edge to my smile, I pointed it toward the men in black currently making themselves at home. Mine. My house, I remind myself. With my own blood, money and sweat coating every penny put into this mansion. The painting of it inside the huge sitting room didn’t give enough credit to the extravagant dome.With the sun’s rays currently reflecting into the peak, it was only a shadow of the absolute artistry spiralling beneath it with contrasting hues of gold, silver, and midnight black.Outside, cheerful people passed by, ogling the hulking beauty, with awe lining their features and without a single suspicion of what dark dealings were taking place inside. Some were disguised as others, and some concealed themselves to look less than they were, and it made me smile in savage satisfaction. I wasn’t the only one with a mask on.A bright yellow balloon popped into my line of sight, startling me from my bitter thoughts. The girl clutching it had ice cream smeared on her wide-smiling mouth, untainted by the cruel world around her. My yearning gaze and melancholy smile turned sour as it made me think of a girl that once was. A girl that could have been. A life that I could be living…. but was not. This was my life. And I would make sure it stayed that way.“I’ll go get you some cake to go along with that tea,” I exclaimed, the first words I’d spoken since the start of this supposed ‘meeting’. The men gave me a passing glance, their sharp-toothed smiles doing nothing to hide their wicked minds. But I ducked my head to hide my smile. Always underestimating, these men. They had obviously come for something totally different than a social visit. Stalking right past the kitchen, I stopped in front of the wooden antique mirror to adjust my various weapons, tilting my chin so the light from the window turned my orbs into twin flames of swirling, raging emotion, contrasting heavily with my granite-hewn features.Chin up.Head lifted.Back straight.I am Vera Allen, and I will not be afraid. This meeting was supposedly for challenging my ownership of this mansion due to my age and occupation. I mean, I hadn’t inherited a penny from my long-dead parents. But something didn’t add up. Why would these rich-looking men want my house? Why this house specifically? I got that it certainly wasn’t hard on the eyes, but they seemed too convinced that I would just… give it up. For absolutely no other reason than their intimidating looks and threat to go to court. I don’t think another mansion would have made any difference to them – their try-too-hard looks certainly gave that message. In fact, just their Rolexes and Armani suits put together would have paid for this.There must have been a motive. Because behind the casual, feigned indifference act, I could just make out the hints of desperation starting to creep in. Hours of people-watching certainly had its benefits in times like these. Maybe it was the furniture? I undoubtedly had a knack for collecting random furniture, everything put together to turn any room into a piece of artwork. I had nothing of utmost value – except for a couple of paintings and maybe expensive jewellery, some gifted by appreciative strangers. Of course, I had my own silly, personal items of value that I refused to give up. My few yarns of fading wool left from my first blanket as a kid, my favourite Taylor Swift pyjamas, then there was the rin- OH, GOD, THE RING!I rushed back to my suite, almost knocking over a vase in my hustle to pull the piece of amethyst out, studying the tarnished shank. It wasn’t anything special – just a ring from my mother, an heirloom passed down from generations of Allen women to their eldest daughters. But there was always something odd about the ring – the centre stone much too large for its prongs. I had always dismissed the slight movement of the giant amethyst as the product of time and the hollow-sounding stone as just due to an empty hole underneath, a could-be-improved design. But maybe it held something underneath? After being twisted, the stone finally bounced off when I tried to wrench it free, and inside was a rough, grey, fingernail-sized stone. I must have looked confused because the stone reflected a question mark painted all over my face. Why was there a stone inside a ring? Wasn’t amethyst already a type of stone? No explanation was provided but a small, damp, yellowing piece of paper.Where there is a will, there is a way.A proverb?Huh, that was weird. Mum certainly wasn’t the type of person who relied on ‘inspirational’ quotes; she said they were just meaningless words put together to sound meaningful. But of course, this could have been there from generations before. But there was still a missing piece of the puzzle here. The word ‘will’ was written with more obvious force, the ink almost going straight through the rough page, as if the force of the pen on paper alone could ‘will’ the reader to understand.It was as if the word itself was trying to portray a certain message. Well, the most obvious meaning could be that in every one of my foremothers’ ‘wills,’ the ring was the only object inherited by the eldest daughter.But one thing was for sure; it was definitely related to these men. Men who were surely questioning my long disappearance by now.Still puzzling it out, I stumbled back into the living room, hugging my index finger with the ring now closed off again. My previous composure must have slipped, for the men now looked at me with smugness written all over their faces. “Couldn’t afford the cake after all? You must’ve even searched the nearby shops, for all the time you took.” But those smirks slipped instantly as their gazes went to the ring on my finger and then snapped straight to my face, as if catching themselves doing something they weren’t supposed to, and firmly confirming their real intentions for coming.Their eyes were narrowed now, suspicion glinting in their inky depths, and their postures were stiffer, as if readying to bolt out the door. It was obvious now – they wanted my ring. But couldn’t they have already gotten it by force if they really wanted it? For some reason, they were doing this the easy way – having me just hand it over willingly. And there I was again, using that word. Will.Maybe my weapons had given off a stronger impression than I had intended, but I doubted that was why. Still, why they wanted a worthless ring was beyond me.“Well, if you insist on being so stubborn about a court case, we can make a deal. My daughter’s wedding is coming up, and I was wondering what to get her. I want one expensive piece of jewellery from you that you think will satisfy her, and we’ll forget all about today’s meeting,” said the man on the right.I almost lost it right there and then and burst out laughing. He couldn’t be serious; they had come here for an ‘issue’ that could soon be going to court, yet they’d trade it for a piece of jewellery? They could buy an entire jewellery shop if they wanted to. The word ‘subtlety’ was clearly not in their dictionaries. They might as well have shouted, “We want your ring! Your house means nothing to us!”“Would this ring meet your expectations?” I asked, testing the waters.Their faces visibly relaxed, small smiles threatening to break over their stone-hard expressions. They really couldn’t be expecting me to just hand it over.They instantly proved me wrong.“Yep! That would be perfect. She would really like that. Besides, we never really wanted to go to court, you see. Too much work.”Careful to keep my expression open and relieved, I told them I would be right back with the ring packaged carefully. How naive did they think I was?So these were the facts: four rich men practically barged into my house, threatening to file a lawsuit against me for ‘illegally’ owning the house, and suddenly they were willing to drop the case in exchange for my worthless ring.But I had figured them out already. Enough men had demanded and expected things from me in my life for me to know, and their expressions of forced kindness gave it away. Will. They could have easily taken the ring, but they couldn’t take it unless I willingly gave it.Which means one thing – this ring was worth much, much, much more than I had realised. Enough for people to gaslight me for it. And clearly, the whole purpose for all the riddles and hidden stones was for the ring to never ever land in the hands of one of these men. From their faces, I could tell that they all knew it, too. This small piece of stone was far more valuable than it looked, but none of them knew why. And they would as soon as they had time to puzzle it out.But not if I did first. Anonymous
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by Raikah Tafannun Jawad
The moon glistened in the night sky, with the open streets usually empty, the light shining right above Felix as he walked through the pathway. Cars passed by every now and then.Cold gusts of wind pushed past the still nature surrounding the deserted playground, the swings creating a creaking noise which could be heard from a mile away. One of the chains was on the ground, while the other was still hanging onto the wooden posts. The slide was still standing, with a set of mysterious scratches scraped against it, and the seesaw was half alive.As he was walking, he heard a rustle coming from his right side, so he turned quickly to see where and what the noise came from.A second later, he felt something rush past him. He slowly turned, walking towards the basketball court. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and due to curiosity, his feet started moving in a walking mode before he could even think.He was already at the gate of the empty basketball court when he saw a mysterious shadow. Felix felt goosebumps slowly creeping onto his skin as he placed his hands on the cold silver gate with holes. He looked at it again. “The shadow is gone,” he muttered to himself.He pushed open the gate and went inside. The gate slammed behind him. The shadow belonged to a tall figure who was wearing a black coat and pants.It stood there, and he could feel a set of eyes staring deeply into him. He put his hands into his pockets as anxiety washed over him. The figure slowly took off the hood and revealed itself. Felix stood there with his mouth gaping wide open.“Rose, is that you?”His face lit up at the sight of her. Rose ran towards him, throwing her arms around him.“It’s been a while,” she said as she put her head against Felix’s chest, hearing his fast heartbeat.Rose stood back, still smiling at Felix.“So why were you on the basketball court?”She looked at Felix nervously, kicking the ground hard.“I just needed a little fresh air, that’s all.”He looked up at the night sky as a mysterious thought entered his head.“Since we’re already outside, do you want to come with me to investigate the abandoned house?”Rose slowly nodded and took hold of his hand.Felix put his hand onto the silver gate and pushed it wide open.They quickly walked out and made their way towards the abandoned house. On the way, they heard a loud bang.Rose quickly glanced behind her but then ignored it. After a while of walking on the empty streets, they came across a big house.They slowly went through the broken gate, walking towards the abandoned house. The sound of footsteps could be heard from the doorstep…
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by Sara Shamim
The bells quietly chimed, enveloped by the environment around them. A vast forest surrounded the island, the heap of trees, swaying side to side, welcomed by the wind. Hakka placed her footing carefully while making her way through the never-ending mystery of greenery.Hakka has an infinite supply of curiosity. She always has something to explore. She doesn’t have much care or self-awareness. Like a monkey, she only does fun stuff; when it comes to chores such as cleaning up, she would rather just suck on a lollipop and sit on the couch watching Cocomelon without a care in the world.Hakka carries around a toy rat named Sadika. When her nappy is almost full but she really needs to pee, she rips it off and pees everywhere and makes her servant clean it up. Her superpower is making a clean house messy. It’s also one of her hobbies. Her curly locks and big, adorable big eyes always cry for lollipops which, in the end, she eventually gets.It was time Hakka continued her journey of curiosity. Rampaging through the jungle, she began to observe her surroundings.A giant herd of ants spread vulnerably across the ground. Hakka knew exactly how to approach them…Hakka felt invincible. She haughtily stomped on the squad of tiny monsters under her feet. The ants pleaded for mercy, but she didn’t stop, not even for a second. She grinned menacingly.Suddenly, an enormous shadow darkened her view. It breathed heavily behind the little girl. Her heart skipped a beat. She tilted her head and glanced behind her, freezing immediately.A destructive dinosaur was right behind her. A cloud of steam appeared with each breath it took. Drool slowly leaked out of its mouth, and a drop fell onto Hakka’s cheek. Her eyes watered as the T-rex tilted its head to look at her.Hakka immediately crouched down, tucking her head into her stomach, and began to make her escape!She rolled down the green hill at supersonic speed. Her face beamed in excitement.Surprisingly, the dinosaur was already at her pace.He opened his wide mouth, ready for a snack.“EEK,” Hakka screeched. Was she done for?No…What the dinosaur didn’t know was that Hakka had a plan B.She pulled her toy rat, Sadika, out of her curly locks and chucked it behind her.The famished dinosaur briefly stopped to stare in confusion at the rat plushie. The giant thought, “What a stupid girl-““BOOM!” The rat plush blew up, and it was quite a gory scene.Hakka was at a loss for words…“Sadika worked better than I imagined,” she squirmed in delight (totally unfazed by what had just happened).She continued her journey to investigate the world, rolling through the plateaus at the crack of dawn.
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by Shasmeen Arabi
There was Violet, sitting at the airport with Amanda, waiting for Dave to arrive. Her heart pounding with excitement, she felt ecstatic that she’d be able to see him again.She began tapping her feet impatiently in an unwanted melody as Amanda gave her a cold stare implying for her to stop. Violet giggled but listened.Minutes turned into hours, and suddenly it seemed like Dave wasn’t coming.“Where is he…?” murmured Violet.Just as Amanda was about to speak, a tall, pale brunette slowly came by.There he was. Dave.Violet went to greet him but got pushed back. Confusion masked her face as she wondered why he did that.“Yo, you okay?” Amanda said sleepily to Dave, but he just ignored them and left.“Well… that was something,” Violet said gloomily.“Yeah, he seems different… doesn’t he?” replied Amanda.The two of them stood up and decided to head back home.Amanda decided to call an Uber. The whole car ride home was silent.Violet’s head was filled with questions coming in and out like a race car. You could sense her stress from a mile away. Amanda noticed this and tried comforting her.“Hey, don’t worry. He was probably just tired. We’ll talk to him in the morning, okay?” Amanda said.Tears filled Violet’s eyes as she nodded, laying her head down on Amanda’s shoulder. Amanda and Violet were Dave’s childhood friends, and they were worried about him. They had seen him change over the years, becoming more distant and aggressive. They knew that they needed to intervene before it was too late.After a few minutes, Violet’s blinking started to get heavy, causing her to sleep. Her frizzy brown hair took over the place. Amanda chuckled and put Violet’s frizzy hair behind her ear, slowly caressing her head.Violet slowly woke up, confused. She asked, “What are you doing?”“Huh – oh, nothing! Don’t worry about it,” replied Amanda nervously.“Were you stroking my head?” Violet said, confused.Just as Amanda was about to reply, she saw something from the corner of her eye. She looked out the tinted window and saw a group of boys in a rundown park fighting with someone who looked a lot like Dave.An overwhelming feeling of panic took over Amanda as she stopped the Uber driver and dragged Violet outside.“Heyyy! What was that for?” yelled Violet.“LOOK! It’s Dave, he’s in trouble!” replied Amanda.Violet gasped. Just as she was about to run over, Amanda stopped her.“We need a plan, or we’ll get caught up in this mess, too,” said Amanda calmly.Violet came to her senses and agreed.The boys were in the centre of the park, so the girls decided to hide behind a large bush not too far from them.After what seemed like hours of thinking, the two of them came up with a ‘reasonable’ plan. They decided to call the police, hoping that they wouldn’t take long. Violet carefully took out her purple iPhone, her hands trembling. She quickly called the cops and told them what was happening.After what seemed like forever, the cops came as their sirens flooded the area. The gang of boys were seen running out of the park. Cops came rushing to the scene, and a few minutes later, Dave was handcuffed. Violet and Amanda both gave each other a look of shock and confusion. Why was Dave being arrested?While Dave was walking to the police car handcuffed, he turned his head, allowing him to get a view of Violet and Amanda. His eyes widened in anger, but just as he was about to say something, the police officer shoved him in the car.“We’ll be going now. Have a good night,” said the police officer.Violet nodded awkwardly, waiting for the officer to leave. Right as he drove off, she sighed. “What do you think Dave did?” she asked.“I don’t know… but I reckon it ain’t good,” replied Amanda.A feeling of guilt wrapped around Amanda like a blanket. “What if it wasn’t a good idea to call the cops?” she thought to herself.Later, at school…It was 12:04 pm; Amanda was in history class, and Violet was in English. Violet sat down in the front row seat, putting her books down and organising her desk. Just as she was doing so, she noticed a figure passing by.Surprisingly, it was Dave.“How’d he get out?” she thought to herself. After school, she decided to go and talk to Dave, but he wouldn’t listen. It turned out he was involved with drug dealing and was in serious debt to a group of boys.Months passed. Violet and Amanda tried their best to help Dave escape from the grip of drug dealing at school, but their efforts were in vain. The three of them had been friends since childhood, but Dave’s involvement in drug trafficking had changed everything. The two girls saw the pain and torment he was going through, but they were powerless to save him from the clutches of addiction and the dangerous world of drugs.As they tried to help Dave, they were met with resistance from the gang of boys who controlled the drug trade in the school. These boys were ruthless and were not going to let anyone interfere with their business. Violet and Amanda had to be very careful with their every move and word.Despite their best efforts, Dave’s addiction had become too severe, and he was assassinated by the same gang of boys who had been supplying him with drugs.The news of Dave’s death hit Violet and Amanda hard, and they were filled with grief and remorse. They had tried their best to save their friend, but it was too late. As they walked through the empty halls of the school, the silence was deafening. The only sound was the faint echo of their footsteps on the linoleum floor. The walls were bare, the lockers empty, and the once-bustling hallways were now a ghost town.The tragedy of Dave’s death was a wake-up call for everyone in the school. The students and teachers alike realised the dangerous consequences of drug trafficking, and they vowed to work together to prevent anything like this from happening again. The once-divided community came together to create a safe and drug-free environment for all.Violet and Amanda never forgot their friend, and in his memory, they continued to fight against drug addiction. They knew that they could not change the past, but they could make a difference in the future. The lessons they learned from Dave’s death would stay with them forever, reminding them of the fragility of life and the importance of standing up for what is right.
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by Subaita Shamim
I was out of breath but kept running anyway. How much longer were they going to keep chasing me!? It was only a stab! “You won’t get away!” yelled the vampire. It was pouring in the suburb of Rexona. Sheriff Khan tied his shoelaces tightly before using his bear strength to launch himself into the sky. He could see absolutely everything from here. Abruptly, he fell through the sky, disappearing into a particular alleyway. It was a chase for justice.Sheriff Khan ran swiftly through the alleyway and jumped onto the cat burglar, instantly killing him.“Catnapping is a crime,” he muttered over the dead body of a 70-year-old diabetic man.After a hard day of work, Sheriff Khan came home. He got in and slumped onto the couch. He could sense that something was off, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He suddenly got a call and answered with a grunt.“Sheriff Khan? Is that you? Hey, I’ve got something for you!”It was his friend Kootah, who gave him new jobs like taking down Mafia bosses and killing criminals.“I heard that we rediscovered vampire existence. You have to kill them, or they’re going to end all the human race!” Kootah said before being cut off by a poor connection.“Do I really have to kill vampires now?” Sheriff Khan asked himself. Walking towards his kitchen, he observed a box of donuts sitting on the counter suspiciously. His natural instincts told him to throw it away, BUT it beckoned him to open it and see what was inside. He slowly stepped towards the counter in his heavy leather shoes and flicked the box open.He was horrified. There in front of him he saw a skin-peeled cat – the cat he had saved. The scene was red, but what scared him the most was a small note next to the deceased, tortured cat. It read, “See you soon.”It looked like it was written in blood. Now Sheriff Khan had to find out who was stalking him.He gathered essential items: garlic, fire (matchsticks), rope, a plunger… He didn’t think it would be hard to kill them. He called Kootah to ask him for the exact location. After getting everything, he hopped into his private jet and set off.It was a very tropical forest-like place called Deadman’s Doom – that’s literally what the forest was called. It was a beautiful green sight, just how you would normally think a forest looks. It was filled with dead or almost dead trees, and the sky was grey and rumbling, the cold winds freezing Sheriff Khan’s toes.Sheriff Khan swiftly locked his jet. Adjusting the straps of his backpack, he began to make his way towards the never-ending forest. He whipped out an instrument from his bag – a vampire radar. “This will come in handy,” whispered Khan.
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by Suhera Hasan
Part 1: Ahmed’s PerspectiveAs the luminous moon shone down in my eyes, bare trees towered over me like skyscrapers. “Ahmed!” shouted Mahmoud. It was time to go home. Away from the only place with peace and quiet, away from my real friends and away from a place with such natural beauty.I looked down at the overstepping dominating branches, saying my goodbyes. I then climbed down from the trees, not ready to go back to the orphanage.As I was following Mahmoud back to the orphanage, he asked, “Do you ever feel like just running away from problems and never coming back?”A sense of shock ran through my body, yet I nodded with confidence. Mahmoud then stopped walking. He looked at his shoes, fidgeting with his fingers, hesitating about whether to ask me something. “Do you… ehm… wanna leave the orphanage?”Part 2: Amelia’s PerspectiveThe bell rang. It was the end of school. As I walked with Sarah and Khadija, I realised Jamal was waiting for me, and a sudden fake smile appeared across my face.“Oooo… Jamal is waiting for you,” Sarah called out.“Yeah… haha.”“So, uh, Amelia can we go shopping today?” Khadija asked.I replied instantly. “Yeah, sure!”“Oh, I just realised, Sarah and I left our credit cards… you can pay for us,” Khadija said.I said nervously, “But I paid last time…”“Why can’t I ever just have real friends?” I thought to myself.“I-I-I-I have to go…” I said, as anger boiled up in my skin.I sprinted as fast as a lightning bolt while I questioned myself as to whether to sob or to be angry. I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing, but I ran and ran until I realised I was in the middle of nowhere. I scanned the area and saw a local park.As I shed tears, I trudged towards the park and sniffled my nose. I sat on the swing and wondered what I did to deserve a life like this. From the corner of my eye, I heard two boys snickering.Part 3: Mahmoud’s perspectiveAs Ahmed got his soccer ball and his bag ready to leave, I felt a connection as I said goodbye to the orphanage, a sensation that everything would be alright.“Oww… Mahmoud. I’m stuck!”Looking up, I saw Ahmed trapped halfway through the window. I pushed him a little, and he fell with a thud.“I’m okay!” he shouted.And then we were off to start our journey.Part 4: Ahmed’s PerspectiveAs Amelia got up to hunt food for the night, I looked at her beautiful brown hair glistening through the sunset. A small smile sneakily appeared on my face. I looked down at the sand and realised she had left her phone.Just as I was going to call out her name… BEEP! A notification popped up on her screen. “‘Don’t look at it, don’t look at it,” I thought to myself, but curiosity pulled me within seconds. As I looked at the screen, I saw, ‘Mahmoud: Are you in the forest yet?’Confusion sped through my mind like a race car. Suddenly my mouth felt parched and dry. I couldn’t swallow. I ran so fast to the forest, and there I was, looking at Amelia and Mahmoud. My heart shattered into a million pieces. Tears trickled down my face as I dropped Amelia’s phone and ran.
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by Tahrima Taazim
August looked around, seeking a large, grey, stone archway amidst the luscious green trees. Her golden-brown wolf cut swished at the slightest nod of her head. Her clothes matched the earthy scenery around her, but with a more gothic vibe – a sage green sweater, black tights, a black skirt, her canvas bag, and Doc Martens. She had an array of freckles sprawled across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. According to the mysterious parchment letter in her hands, it should be around here somewhere, and unless Google Maps was wrong, she should be in Greenway Park.As a cold hand grasped her shoulder, August swivelled around, only to be met by a slender Middle Eastern girl around her age – sixteen – with glowing olive skin and big, beautiful siren eyes. Those eyes. They shimmered in the sun like deep pools of the green-blue ocean. August thought she could drown in them. The unknown girl was wearing a blood-red headscarf and a matching sweater vest, as well as a pair of black slacks and chunky loafers.“So, you’re looking for the archway too?” her semi-deep, calming voice asked.“Er, yeah, actually, I-”Abruptly, another voice interrupted their conversation. “Have you guys received a letter, too?” exclaimed a tall South Asian boy who was clinging onto his piece of parchment. He was sporting a light caramel sweater, matching caramel slacks and a white button up. He had gorgeous hazel-brown eyes and was quite tall. He reminded August strongly of a golden retriever. He dresses like one too, she chuckled softly.“Err, hi?” she started, only to be interrupted by Nazeera.“Name and age.”Why do I keep getting interrupted? August asked herself.“Muzammil, sixteen. You?”“Nazeera, also sixteen. Your turn, kid.”“HEY! I’M THE SAME AGE AS YOU, YA KNOW?”A dark shade of crimson shaded her cheeks.“August, sixteen.”“It would be really funny if you were born in Augus-” Muzammil started, then was stopped by a loud BANG!Simultaneously, they snapped their heads in the direction of the unexpected noise. It seemed as if no one else in the park noticed the large stone arch or the eardrum-bursting bang.“Hey, how about we try going through the archway?” August asked, desperately trying to change the fact that she was currently the centre of attention.Murmured agreements went around the trio, and in sync, they stepped in.Light flooded into the cracks of August’s eyes, the faint smell of cinnamon rolls rushed into her nostrils, and a cool electric feeling washed over her like a cold sweat on a blazing hot night.What’s happening? she thought to herself. She could hear the other two yelling next to her, as though there were large sirens bursting her ear drums. The strange experience went on for what felt like a thousand years.Finally, August plopped onto the shiny marble floors of what seemed to be a castle. Huh? Where am I? She looked around, her eyes widening when she saw the drop-dead gorgeous Victorian building, which oddly reminded her of the Great Hall from Harry Potter. It had long, stained glass windows and high ceilings. On her right, August saw Muzammil rubbing his eyes sleepily, and on her left, Nazeera stifled a yawn. Everyone looked as though they had just woken up. Everyone except the jade dragon.August’s eyes widened even further, which made it look like her eyeballs would pop out. Muzammil let out a worried whimper, and even Nazeera seemed shocked and scared. Muzammil started backing up, not letting the dragon out of his sight. He seemed terrified. The dragon had his legs crossed – left over right – and was wearing a smart black suit. August pictured her dad wearing one just like it, and immediately, tears rushed to the brim of her eyes, threatening to spill.Salty streams of water ran down her cheeks, one by one, only until a deep, sinister voice startled her.“Welcome,” the dragon smirked — being fed by the strong essence of fear radiating off the helpless teens — “to my humble abode.” He was referring to his mega-sized castle. His smirk grew as each and every one of them seemed to shrink under his command.His long, black claws reached out, almost as if offering a handshake. His large, mustard yellow eyes glared at August, sending a shiver down her spine, and his glittery emerald scales glistened in the sunshine. Cavity-filled, yellow rows of teeth filled his jaw, and August could smell his nasty breath all the way from where she sat. He had short, stumpy horns that were a rich shade of bubble-gum blue, the same shade as his gruesome tongue and the insides of his mouth.Muzammil let out a high-pitched scream.And then everything went black.August found herself in a cage in an old basement. It was musty, and the air felt thick and mouldy, the walls covered in clumps of moss. Cobwebs decorated the corners of the cage. It smelled like blood. Fresh blood. I wonder how many people died here.The dragon strode in steadily on his hind legs, his tail swishing at every step, and a short, stumpy man walked alongside him. He wore a dirty old, raggedly cut apron and inventor’s goggles. He was bald on the top of his head and had messy strands of scarce hair around the sides. He looks like a mad scientist, August thought to herself.“Let’s get to work, shall we? You first,” the dragon demanded, pointing at Nazeera. Her eyes instantly filled with panic, not knowing what was waiting behind the cold metal bars. August could tell that the moment that he pointed at her, her heart dropped down to the crevices of her stomach.Meekly, she tiptoed out of the lair, making eye contact with August as her head hung low. Her ocean-blue eyes begged for help, begged for a saviour. She was muttering prayers under her breath.After she, the dragon, and the crazy man were gone, August turned to Muzammil, her face covered in fear and worry for her newfound friend.“Do you think she’s going to be okay?” she asked, like a child in need of her mother’s assurance.“I don’t know myself.” His face, which was once bright and cheerful, had now turned grim.A bone-chilling scream interrupted them.A few minutes passed.Then an hour.And then she was back.Covered in scars and wounds, with a long, deep cut along her jaw, Nazeera walked back into the cage, completely delusional. She was laughing hysterically, yet tears seemed to have found their way out of her now tired eyes. Her red cut matched her sweater vest. August and Muzammil ran and gave her a big bear hug, asking frantically if she was okay, what he did to her and such. Not once did she reply.“You, boy. Your turn.”Muzammil seemed to have accepted his fate. He walked with his head hung low, silent and salty tears running down his warm, peachy cheeks. He gave a quick nod and then left.The same routine followed.He let out an ear-piercing screech, about an hour passed, and he returned.Muzammil came back, half his head roughly shaved. There was a smaller cut this time, where his head was shaved, but it was even deeper than Nazeera’s cut. He, too, was hysterical and bawling.“Last but not least, the girl.”Butterflies did somersaults in August’s stomach. She followed the dragon into a brightly lit, white room, and the sudden change of lighting hurt her eyes. A collection of various body parts and vials of blood decorated the perfectly white shelves. Although the rest of the room was white, the large table in the centre of the room was blood red. There was an assortment of different tools, ranging from a scalpel to a hammer. The butterflies started performing circus tricks.“Sit,” he ordered.The dwarf-man pulled out a small stool resting underneath the table. August perched herself on its peeling leather seat.“You see, I was once just like you, you know? I was young, human, even. Your age. I was popular with the girls, too,” the dragon chuckled. Huh? Why’s he telling me this?“Then, I was turned into a dragon by a…”The ‘assistant’ slammed August’s head onto the table. Ruby red blood oozed out of her. It felt as though someone had cracked open her skull. He sure is strong for someone his height, she thought to herself, but now my head feels like it’s going to crack open and my brain is going to fall out.The dragon smirked as his assistant held her head down, making sure she couldn’t move. His dirty claws dug into her skin, and as the dragon snapped on an old gas mask, all went black. August woke up trembling, covered in cold sweat. She could remember the ‘dream’ so vividly. I’ve been watching way too many horror films.Swiftly, someone barged into her room.“Wake up! We’re going to the shops.” August’s sister, Annie, shook her violently. “We’re gonna leave without you,” she exclaimed in a singsong tone.That’s when she noticed blood dripping onto her sister’s pillow and matted into her hair. Annie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything, not a single sound. Instead, she sprinted to her mother.Groggily, August got up, wondering why her sister had that reaction. She lumbered to her bathroom and stared into the mirror, shocked and surprised. Wasn’t it just a dream? Did I really get trapped by a dragon? Did someone break in and try murdering me? No, that’s outrageous. After all, I’m not the main character. She shook her head but was still weighing the possibilities.“Never mind,” she sighed to herself. “I’ll just clean up a bit.” She wiped away the blood, applied some antiseptic cream, and put on a Hello Kitty bandage.“I’ll just have to wear a beanie for a few days until it heals.” August was walking towards Kmart, hoping to get a few more beanies or hats to match her outfits. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a girl, specifically one she had seen in her dream. She was with her friends, laughing and holding multiple bags from various designers. She looked just like Nazeera. She knew those beautiful eyes. This girl also had the cut from the dream, the same cut Nazeera was gifted with after she went into the supposed lab.They made eye contact.August looked away.She knew.
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