"How is he, Dr. is he ready?"

"Yes, the chip has just been activated. Everything is in place and working Sir."

"Marvelous, now I just need to take him to the Commander. (Snaps twice) Guards please escort Alex to Commander Mitchell's Space Room. "

Something was different about me. My hair was fine. There was nothing in my teeth. There were no wrinkles in my clothes. I couldn't quite put finger on it but I know something was up. Where am I even at? I had never seen this place ever in my life. The room's walls were covered in outer space wallpaper. The floor carpet was jet black. The weirdest thing in the room was the desk that was shaped and painted yellow like the sun. Whoever room this was must have an extreme obsession with space. Walked in was a tall slim male saying, "I am not obsessed, I just think outer space cool." How did he hear me? I didn't say it out loud. Can he read minds? If so, that is incredibly cool. He laughed saying, "No I do not read minds that would be cool though if I actually could. But let's focus, I will explain everything in a moment. Do you know who I am, Alex?

“No, but should I?”

“I am Commander Mitchell of the Human Fleet Assembly. The reason you are here is because we need your help with destroying the Martians for good. The reason we chose you is because you’re different. You may not know this but you were developed in a lab. Dr. Sylvia, your creator, actually used you to test her new instantaneous thinking chip. You were the only survivor that is why you are so valuable. You are the weapon to defeating the Martians.”

Wow, so that explains how he heard what I was thinking and replied so fast. I not sure on how I feel about everyone relying on me to defeat the Martians. I am just a kid. That is a big responsibility. Wait, if I am capable of thinking instantaneously then Commander Mitchell just heard everything. Way to go Alex. “Sorry, Commander this is all new to me.”

“Alex don’t beat yourself up about it. I understand this a lot to take in. As you said your just a kid, and I making it my mission to get you fully prepared for the Martians. So don’t worry. Just remember what you think the whole planet will know, so watch what you say buddy!” he said with a funny giggle.

Commander Mitchell was serious when he said he wont stop until I was fully prepared to fight. We have been training together for six weeks now. I learned so much since then. He taught me everything from mathematics to army techniques and even literature. We played the game Battleship everyday also. I never quite understood why. He simply answered saying “it will come in handy some day, you’ll see.”

Although I felt mentally powerful, I felt the physical features were not present as much. So it was to the gym I went. After 3 weeks of non-stop exercising I became extremely fit and muscular. Now I was definitely mentally and physically strong and ready to fight. I just needed the thumbs up from the Commander.

“Now Alex if you pass this test, with out a doubt you would have proved to me that you’re ready.” Rumor has it that no one has even been close to passing Commander Mitchell’s special test. I also heard that this is the hardest test known to man. Hearing those rumors did not scare me at all. My confidence was high as ever. I was ready.

After the long seven-hour test, I was thrilled to hear that I pass the test with flying colors. I soon became Commander Mitchell’s prodigy. I was given the title Chief Adam Za. I was also the youngest member added to the Human Fleet Assembly.

There was still unfinished business with the Martians. The fight was still on and serious as ever. They invaded our land and killed many and we did exactly the same to them. It was uncertain to say the winner just yet of the battles. We were similar in so many ways it was hard to understand why we hate each other so much. The last fight was the “Battle of the Seas”, whoever won the fight was in control of everyone and everything. This meant the opposing opponent would have to surrender.

The Martians were absolutely ruthless. They threw cannon after cannon at our naval ships. The smallest boat of ours was hit, killing 1,000. That was it. I was fed up and needed a plan as soon as possible. That’s when it hit me, Battleship! I can use my skills to find the exact latitude and longitude of the Martians ships and eliminated them.  

“G9 Go! Shoot it!” I screamed to the men regulating the ammunition.  A minute later, on of the Martian ship blew up into a million pieces. Commander Mitchell was right about the game battleship being useful. With the biggest grin on my face I began shouting out all the coordinates of their ships. “B7, A1, E3, C2, D4 & F6 Let’s go, fire them up!” After the last missile was launched, each Martian ship was taken down. Every one on the boat screamed with joy. We did it. We won. We defeated the Martians.

Once we sailed back to land we quickly celebrated our victory. Commander Mitchell patted me on the back and said, “Great work Alex. I told you could do it. I am also glad I got to watch you do it. You turned from a fifteen year old kid to a young warrior. I am so proud of you!”

 I was extremely proud of myself also. I was the fifteen year old that was the brains of an operation that defeated the powerful Martians. This was an experience I’ll never forget.

"Don’t let your age prevent your from doing something amazing." – The Great Alex Za 

My name is Luis Andrew Clark. The decent into my pitiful life started when I was nine years old. Unbeknownst to me that was when my mother developed Tuberculosis. I remember her as a radiant, soft-spoken, and wickedly funny woman. When the other boys would pick on my because of my glasses or inhaler, she was always there to give me warm sugar cookie-smelling hugs. But the disease spread quickly and took her from me the month after my tenth birthday.

From then on it was my dad and I. He on the other hand was quiet, to him self, and had a stern look that could make a MMA fighter wet himself. With my dad you were better off not talking to him unless you were bleeding to death. Two years later my dad married again, to a woman named Demetra. She, like my dad, could be quite intimidating.

 

Piling on the fun, Demetra had a son named Richard. He was my age and had a sour face. As I grew in this dysfunctional family he became known as ‘Dick’ to my friend David and me. Believe me the name fit. Dick tortured and bullied me all through out middle school up until high school.

 

“What’s up Luis-And-Clark?” David popped into my room in the front of the second floor.

“Nothing much my werewolf compadré.” That was my friend David Lucian, hence the werewolf nickname. He was kind of short, and weird, but he was my best friend.

“So have you talked to Rora yet?” David elbowed me as I sat at my desk doing math homework.

“Nah, she wouldn’t want to talk to me.” I shrugged it off. Aurora Lynn was a popular girl in our school who I used to be friends with until her jock boyfriend and his boys threatened me.

 

“That’s right dork. She is way outta your league.” Queue the annoying and abusive stepbrother from hell. “But I totally wouldn’t mind hittin that fine piece of –“

“Don’t talk about her like that!” I yelled. She was the girl of my dreams, beautiful respectable and brilliant. Yet he talked about her as if she were one of the other girls. With in seconds of my outburst was a fist aimed at my lower stomach. As I doubled over from the blow I felt the mop of dark brown hair on my head being pulled upwards.

 

“Listen here Nerd-Turd, I’ll do what ever the hell I want, and you wont do a damn thing. Got it?” Vigorously I nodded my head as well as I could. “That’s what I thought douche bag.” As he walked out of my room David came and helped me up. I never looked at him for help since he was shorted than me, and just as scared of Richard.

 

“No . . . more.  David. No more. I can’t take this. Its time for a change.” As if fire was running through my veins I dashed to the door, locked it, and back to my computer. Fingers like lightening I typed the only way I knew how to beat Dick.  I was going to find something using the almighty Internet.

 

~One Month later~

How did it turn out like this? All I wanted was a normal life. One where I was cool, had fun, and could be with the girl of my dreams. I never should have gone to that website. I can still remember the words it said.

Youth, Strength, and Agility

Have all you’ve ever dreamed and more.

The elixir of the gods.

 

I never thought that when they meant youth, that I would stay 18 forever. That ‘special’ elixir they were selling was vampire blood, and it came with a price; Eternal Damnation.

 

A week after receiving and drinking the elixir, I started to change. My hair, once stringy and almost black, turned full and grew golden tints. My brown eyes, turned completely black, my naturally tan skin slightly paled. I didn’t know what was happening, but it felt good. I felt stronger, looked it too since I was no longer lanky but filling out my skin. There should have been a damn warning on the bottle.

-WARNING! Don’t drink this unless you never want to see the sun again. -

Yeah that would have been good since my first day as a vampire I ended up getting a huge burn on my arm from the light coming though my blinds.

 

I’m not proud of my choices in life. I never thought I would kill people, or scare the only girl I cared about.

A week after my change I went to a school party that was, thankfully, after sundown. The only one who knew about the ‘new me’ was David. He didn’t take it too bad. He was scared of me at first but soon realized that I was still the same person. So we went to the party, and I tried to keep a low profile. I didn’t buy into the idea of the animalistic cravings for blood, but I didn’t want too many people asking questions that I didn’t have answers too.

 

Then I saw something that made my, nonexistent, blood boil. Richard was holding Aurora in his arms, but she obviously didn’t want him to, since her arms where bracing herself, and pushing away. He gripped her butt, sucked her neck, and I was seeing red, specifically the veins in his neck and arms. I couldn’t help my self. I lunged, flying past people so fast that there was only a dark blur, and gripped him by the shirt. He was frightened at first since I had appeared from nowhere. Then after he realized it was just me a cocky smirk was on his face as if I posed no type of threat. He was painstakingly wrong.

 

I dug my hand into his neck as I walked to an empty room. He started to turn pink, then red, and almost purple from my vice grip. Now I’m going to spare the gruesome details, and just say he didn’t stay purple too long before there was crimson liquid covering the beige walls. I killed him out of fury never expecting that the love of my life was close behind me and saw the entire thing. I turned around when I heard the door knock into the wall. Aurora in all her golden hewed glory stood staring at me, but never running away. Out of shame I opened a near by window, jumped landing in a crouched position and ran for ever-lasting life.

 

I ran, ran away, ran to make distance, and ran for almost an eternity, simply to make a space between my past and me. I stopped only to land in Canada, in a forest, surrounded by trees. I found a cabin, which had been vacant for a long time, based on the lack of electric work and abundance in dust and cobwebs. This would be my home; I would feed off of animals, keep a low profile, and distance my self from the world.

Hopefully

Bernicia Guercio​

            The meteor shower went on for five days straight, which has never happened before not since the beginning of this world. The story is that Galum created us, our God. Galum decided we needed protection, including protection from showers like this, this protection was been up for billions of years but it’s went down and we did not know why. The priest who is child of Galum interprets his father. For us, the Valadamirs we worship him not as a father but as everything. The Valadmirs are an ancient civilization that was here before the beginning of time. The priest says Galum was mad at us for being selfish and his father might end us all. But he will not end me, Galum chose me I am the pure bred.

            A girl is chosen when the priest turns 30, all the girls that turn sixteen that year are examined but only one is chosen. We stood on the steps of the cathedral, and we were examined by the priest, and the purest girl was chosen to breed a child with the priest to continue the line of Galum on going for centuries after us. This did not happen. The Galum gene always wins over Valadmirs blood, they want the purest blood so the Galum gene is not tainted. There would have been no trace of me in his blood, he would have been a boy Galum wills only boys to be the priest, and I had a rune on me that only makes me bare a boy. I have a permanent rune on me that mark me as the priest property.

Maybe it’s the fact that they thought I was pretty or that I went to the cathedral once a day, when we only needed to go twice a week, or maybe because I found beauty in everything. I don’t know why they chose me; the explanation was that your blood was the purest, nothing more. I loved Galum more than myself, I would have done anything for him but surprisingly I was not happy about the fact I was the chosen one. When he announced the chosen one in front of the whole world the Valadamirs lit up.

“Galum has spoken, Valexia Morgenstern is the pure breed.” The priest said with a quiver of happiness. I stood on the pedestal accepting my fate with a neutral look. My stomach churned, as he announced the date that we would of had the child.

“Galum wants the offspring born on the 14 of July,” the priest said giving me my special cloak. The cloak was beautiful, a white silk that wrapped around my neck and down to my feet trimmed with gold and golden bow that wrapped around my waist. But that did not feel right, everything felt wrong.

There was something wrong I knew it, it wasn’t just the meteors my parents would not stay still, they would not talk to me, and people came over constantly. My parents were the cool and collected type, something was wrong and they knew what. Every time I asked my mom told me that the pure bred is not suppose to be worried and she sent me off to my room. I got no response at all from my father; he rushed back and forth from his office to the front door where new faces come in and out of my house.

The sixth day arrived; the meteors had stopped falling from the sky. Galum granted us another day of beauty, or so I thought. There was something that still made my stomach churn, the sun rose like every day but some was not right. My parents still acted strange. My father stayed in his office much like he had for the months before the end came and my mother was in the kitchen looking like something took the life out of her.

“Mother I am not a child, tell me what is going on.”

“There are forces much greater than Galum.” She said sad and distant, looking at her hands that were pale and weak.

“How can you say such a thing? Galum is stronger than life itself.”

“Valexia, I hope you never have to see those forces.” She looked into my eyes with a strong steady hold “I hope those forces are far away, for I fear they are near. Only if…”

“Mother this is insane, Galum created this world and everything in it. He is God, the god of everything.” I thought he was the God of everything.

“There are worlds beyond our world, Galum is not the only creator. Yes he created us but…” her eyes looking dazed, I interrupted suddenly and dismissed the idea of something being greater than Galum.

“GALUM, is everything no force is greater than him.” Angry I stormed out of the door, I went to the cathedral. As I walked down the street everyone greeted me, and offered me groceries, antiques. I forgot for a moment that I was the pure bred; I put a sweet smile across my face.

“I am very gracious for all of your offerings, I shall be back later to accept this wonderful gifts after I return from the cathedral.” I said politely, smiled at everyone and they all nodded. Mother always said a pure bred that walks proud through the streets gives hope to the hopeless. Anyone who lost hope we right but I didn’t know that then. I walked down the street where the cathedral stood, I approached the cathedral and the world shook.

I ran to the cathedral as fast as I could, my golden bow came unloose fell to the ground. The world shook again, I reached the steps of the cathedral and the priest was lying on the steps begging.

He said “Father take the creatures away, save me.” He pointed toward the sky. I had not noticed the things in the sky. The things were shiny silver, and were floating in the sky. I stood their puzzled; I didn’t know what they were. The world shook but this time the force threw by body to the ground. The crawled by way to the priest his eye were closed, I touched his arm and his eyes flung open.

“Come now.” He said and I obeyed. I struggled up the steps of the cathedral pulling the priest to the door. Before we entered the cathedral I looked back. The silver things landed and things came out of a door on the silver thing, they looked like us. I remember my mother talking about the forces bigger than Galum and that Galum was not the only creator. Could it be that we are not alone? I saw one of things that looked like us killing one of the Valadamirs, what happened to our protection? Where was Galum? What are these things? They attacked us tearing down every part of the world. The screams from people echoed through my ears.

“Where is Galum?” I whispered. I watched my world die, Valadamir by Valadamir. They burned my homes, my crops, and my family. I watched my world go to ash as I stood on the steps of the cathedral.

“Where is Galum?” I whispered. I turned but the doors of the cathedral were closed, the priest escaped through its doors. I stood there; I soon turned to ash as well.

 

The Experiment

 

 

            “Don’t leave until you finish your homework” Jessica’s mother yelled down the stairs, barely catching her daughter before she headed out the door. “It’s only Saturday and I’ll be home early” said Jessica dashing out before hearing her mothers reply. She knew she’d be in for it when she came home but this was more important. The ringing has been going on for nearly 15 minutes. Jessica knew she wouldn’t last much longer.

            As she raced down the empty Chicago streets, the winter air chilled her burning face. She always loves the cold; it’s Jessica’s security blanket. Jessica turned right, then left and soon vanished behind a vacant warehouse where the Doctor was waiting.

            “3 months already? Jeez next time I’ll have to make these last longer” the doctor says in a sarcastic tone. “Jut fix it I have places to be” Jessica said as she pushes past the doctor and into his slaughterhouse like office. As Jessica marches into the back looking for her room, she sees other children in the same position as her. Close to the end at any moment but not willing to let go. As Jessica lies on the icy, steel table she thinks of the day she became one of the experiments.

            It was January and her mother was behind in more than 4 months rent. Jessica knew the only reason she still had a home was because it was illegal to evict people in the winter, but winter fades. Jessica remembers the walk home from school when she met the doctor. That day she decided to take the back route it was faster than the main streets but dangerous. Jessica had a lot of homework so she went. She saw the vans with the tables and the ovens as they were moved into the warehouse. Then the doctor saw her and yelled, “Hey, do you wanna make some money?” Jessica said in a timid voice “ Sure.” The doctor walked her into the warehouse and told her to sit down. The doctor went over the logistics, the removal of the lungs, the heart, and the blood loss. He explained that they would be sold to people that need new organs or blood. He showed her the machine, the gears and wires that would soon fill her body. He told her she must keep it a secret because the machinery is not government regulated but, if it works, it could save many lives. He told her this would be the cure to cancer, HIV, and even natural death. Jessica just heard $5000 a month for life.

            As the doctor finished up her “tune up” as he describes it, Jessica asks him why she can’t know his identity. The doctor stops fiddling with the gears and says, “Your question is too dangerous to answer.” He then claims he is finished and walks out the room. Jessica leaves the warehouse knowing some thing is not right but not being sure what. Then the ringing begins again.

            Jessica falls to her knees; with not enought strength to stand she crawls back into the warehouse. She yells for the doctor, who arrives with a smile and says “another experiment gone wrong.” He yells down the hall “Hey Carmon, fire up the oven. This one is almost gone.”  

            “Jeez Jess I thought you’d be dead by now” the doctor says as he walks into her room. “Thanks for the support” Jessica replies as the doctor begins to change her IV, “When can I leave? It’s been 5 months.” The doctor insists that she will never leave. “Jessica, you still don’t get it? You have been here because you are broken. It’s only a matter of time before we toss you out. Like the others” says the doctor as he leaves the room.

            Jessica, stunned by the doctor’s harsh words, gets up from her bed, removes her IV, and walks out of her room. She hasn’t seen sunlight in months and wants to feel the sun’s rays once more before it’s over. As Jessica walks down the hall she sees the new experiments waiting for their turn and her stomach begins to turn. Jessica thinks to herself “this is unacceptable.” At that very moment Jessica knows what she needs to do.

            “I know you think I’m crazy but do an x-ray or something. I’m not insane.” Jessica explains to the police officer. “I find it hard to believe that some crazy doctor can actually turn people into machines without others noticing” says the police officer, “Listen write down the location and we’ll check it out.” Jessica is escorted out of the police station and told to go home. As Jessica begins her journey home her body begins to give out. She falls to her knees and her bones begin to dissolve. Where Jessica once stood, now lays a pile of gears and wires.

           

 

I write because I am told to
I write because I like to pass my classes
I write because I am graded on it
I don't write to express my feelings or to feel better
I write to ensure my high school success
I write to ensure my diploma
I write to be sure that never or ever will I have to say I received an F
Or a D
Or even a B
I write because I am told to
Not for freedom or expression
I write because I am told to

​Why I Write

 

Expressing myself is hard enough

 

To say it out loud is really tough

 

Thinking what I say will be so bad

 

Worrying about if people would laugh

 

Figuring out what to do

 

How to get my words out for people too

 

Homework assignments easiet thing

 

Writing down my own words to say

 

Only thing I can do is write

 

Scared of the wrong I might

 

What to do when I can’t speak

 

Will my words I say get the best of me

 

Afraid of embarrassment from my peers

 

Now I just write down what you want to hear

 

Why I write is a question that I need to answer

 

Why I write something I can’t answer

 

Because I write for many reasons

 

My writing changes more then the seasons

Why I Write By: Bernicia Guercio

I write because writing is easier than speaking

I write because the words flow better

I write because I am not afraid to write anything 

I am afraid to speak the words that are so easily written

I write the words that my mouth stumbles upon 

Writing is a motion of the heart speaking is a monition of the lips

You can pour your heart out on paper

But when speaking we are silent to some matters. 

Paper does not judge, I write 

Spoken words are judged