Once there was a nymph called Ryeset. She was a beautiful nymph, with long golden hair, deep purple eyes, and rosy cheeks. And every night, as the sun touched the sea beyond the thick vegetation of Ryeset’s home, and the moon began to rise as the sky grew dark, she danced. She danced for the moon, and for Artemis, the goddess of the moon. Once, Artemis took her flying in her silver chariot. And just before she left and the sun rose, she said “Ryeset, if you ever need a favor, call on me, for you are my favorite of all the nymphs.”
Ryeset was the loveliest of all the nymphs, and for this, Aphrodite was jealous. So she called her son, Eros. “You must shoot that nymph Ryeset with one of your arrows while she sleeps.” She said, “And when she wakes, I will bring her a troll, or a goat to love.”
“No mother.” Eros said. “I will not shoot someone just for one of you cruel tricks. Not after what happened with Psyche.” So Aphrodite thought for a minute. What about Artemis’s twin, Apollo? Yes, yes that would work. So she said,
“Shoot her, and I swear by Styx that I will bring her Apollo. After all, shouldn’t the most beautiful nymph have the most handsome god?” Eros could see no harm in this, so he went and shot the girl with on of his arrows. Then Aphrodite made an excuse to fetch Apollo from Mt Olympus, and brought him to where Ryeset was sleeping.
Ryeset awoke, and immediately fell in love with Apollo. But before she could so much as stand, Apollo had disappeared. “Where did he go?” she wailed. “Will he ever come back? Oh Aphrodite, can you bring him back?”
“I could, but I won’t.” The goddess said. “And for daring to be as beautiful as I am, I curse you. You are madly in love with Apollo, but he will never love you back, never notice your beauty that you don’t deserve. Because you’ll be invisible for eternity!”
She left as Ryeset disappeared.
“Artemis, help me!” Ryeset cried.
Immediately, the goddess of the moon appeared. “Where are you?” she called.
“I’m here. Aphrodite cursed me. I’m to be invisible for all eternity! And I love your brother! Oh, can’t you help me?” Ryeset pleaded.
Artemis thought for a minute. “I can’t bring you back; your beautiful face is gone forever. But I can give you this.” And she made a dress of clouds, coloring them a gorgeous combination of gold, purple and pink. “This dress will change a little all the time. That way, you’ll always be beautiful, never exactly the same twice. That’s all I can do for you.” And then the goddess left.
Apollo was just barely beginning to drive his flaming chariot, the sun, across the sky, and she rushed to meet him. She flew across deserts, plains and oceans, and hovered by him, her cloud dress glowing with her happiness. But as he got farther across the sky, he flew higher than she could, so she had to follow below. And as her unhappiness grew, her dress faded to white. But when Apollo sank low in the sky to finish his journey, she caught up with him at last, and her dress became colored again. And after he left and the sky became dark, Ryeset flew back across the sky, to wait for him when he came the next day. And to this day, she continues doing that, creating the sunsets and sunrises that we love to watch.
Friday, May 1, 2009
The Ring
She came to me in a dream. She was panting, her face was pale, but her voice was forceful. “They’re after me,” she said. “It’s too late to stop them, they’ll be upon me in a minute. Take this, don’t take it off and don’t tell anyone who you got it from. Because once they have me, I’m sure they’ll come after you.” She slid a plain gold ring on my finger, and then the darkness enveloped her.
When I woke up the next morning, the ring was still on my finger. The dream came back to me. The woman’s face seemed familiar; although I was sure I hadn’t seen her before. Of course it was a dream, strange things like that happened in dreams. Or was it? If it was only a dream, where had the ring come from? I pushed the matter from my mind and went about my day. Or, I tried to. I was going to take the ring off, but her face kept coming back to me, and I couldn’t. I didn’t tell anyone where I got it from, I would sound ridiculous if I told them a lady in my dream gave it to me, instead I told anyone who asked that it was given to me by a friend, and they said no more on it. Two days passed, and I tried not to think about it. Then the ring started chaffing me, and in frustration I slid it off and flung it on the floor. It must have been a practical joke, someone giving me that ring. As for the dream, maybe there was some new technology that let you send dreams to people. I had no idea, but I was completely put out by it, and I was not going to let myself be creeped out. Still, it took me a while to get to sleep that night.
I dreamed pleasant dreams, then like a commercial breaks through a TV program, her face came through, the image of the darkness surrounding her. My eyes flew open and I sat bolt upright. Then I noticed a faint light in the dark room. I looked for the source, and saw the ring. It was glowing, a soft golden light. And in that light, I noticed the darkness around it. It was swirling, writhing, a monster, like the darkness in my dream. I had never been afraid of the dark before, but this, this was something else, something unnatural, frightening. Then, it saw me. I stood, paralyzed by fear. This darkness, it was evil itself. There was nothing more frightening than the fact that somehow it knew me. It’s writhing stopped, and it came towards me. It left the ring for just a moment as it turned towards me, and in that instant, the ring blazed with uncontrolled golden light. That snapped me out of it, and somehow I knew that the ring would protect me, that I needed that ring. I crossed the room to it in one bound and scooped it up. The darkness creeping up around me was blown back the instant I touched it. I slid the ring back on my finger, promising myself I would never take it off again. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but it wasn’t a coincidence or practical joke, this was something real, something powerful.
I tried, but simply couldn’t fall back asleep. Finally, and 5, I decided I was done trying, and thought I would go for a walk through the cool stillness before dawn. The sky was just beginning to lighten around the edges when I stepped outside. It was a chilly morning, so I wore my coat, scarf, gloves and boots. I set out at a brisk walk to the park, then through it, on my way to my favorite spot. There was a bench under a curly willow tree, with roses to the side, their sweet fragrance filling the air. But as I approached, I realized there was a man sitting on the bench.
I would have turned and gone back, but he saw me and beckoned. Now you may think me foolish, but I went to him. It would have been rude to walk away now that he’d seen me. As I drew closer, I noticed a strange smell. Of course, I could smell the roses, the soil, the chill fresh air, but under those scents was another, one I had never smelled before. It was almost like the smell of burnt cookies, sweet but awful at the same time. The man patted the bench next to me for me to sit down. The scent grew stronger, it was overpowering, and then, suddenly, it was like my brain cleared. The smell was there, but it wasn’t so overwhelming anymore, just there, and really quite pleasant. The man began to talk. He was actually fairly handsome. But if I hadn’t been under his spell, I would have noticed when he flashed a smile at me, that his teeth were sharp and pointed, or that his hand when he touched my cheek was cold, stone cold.
We talked for about an hour, until I realized I had to hurry home or I would be late for work. He asked me to meet him later that evening for dinner. The place he suggested was my favorite place, and it was very expensive so going there was a rare treat. I agreed with alacrity and moved through the rest of the day like in a dream. Then about an hour before I was to meet him, the thought of the ring crossed my mind. It was a bit suspicious that he would know exactly where to find me, especially with my encounter with the darkness the night before. Did he know about my ring? But no, I chided myself, how could he? I wore gloves the whole time. I realized the darkness seemed to be following me although it was still light. It lingered in the shadows, its appearance diminished by the light, but not its power, that I knew. But I knew it wouldn’t dare come near me as long as I wore my ring. Reassured, I pushed aside all nervous thoughts.
An hour later, I was completely ready. The doorbell rang. It was him, here to pick me up. I felt a brief wave of uneasiness; because I didn’t remember telling him where I lived, but I quickly squashed the thought and walked down to meet him. He drove me to the restaurant, and while I was with him, all thoughts of suspicion completely left me. I was calm as a clear summer sky.
A week passed. We spent as much time together as possible. Every time I saw him, I fell more in love. I hardly noticed his smell anymore, in fact I hardly noticed anything but him. I had no doubts about him anymore, and I all but forgot about the trailing darkness. Once, I briefly wondered why I even wore that silly ring, except it was pretty and I remembered it was from someone special. I decided to keep it on.
One evening, exactly a week and a day since I’d first met him, he picked me up and we walked to the park and through it, to my favorite bench. We sat and talked, watching the sun set, and the twilight begin to turn to night. Then he took my hand in his, and asked me, “Why do you wear that ring?”
“I don’t really know. It was given to me by a friend.”
“Take it off.” When I hesitated, he pressed, “Please, do it for me.”I pulled my hand out of his and grabbed the ring with my other hand. I got a strange feeling, like I was sentencing myself to my doom, but I ignored it. An owl hooted, a cricket chirped. It was a new moon that night, and cloudy, covering the stars, but I could make out his face. He seemed… strangely excited. I pulled at the ring. It was stuck. I pulled harder.
The ring flew off my hand. The darkness swirled, pounced. I came back to myself and realized what was happening. I screamed in terror, the most terrified I had ever been in my short life. Desperately, I looked around for the ring, but I knew it was in vain. Beside me, he laughed, the cruelest laugh I have ever heard, and dissolved into more darkness, surrounding me, swirling, surging, writhing, swallowing me up.
I was in it. I was gone. I became one with it. I was blackness. I was evil.
I was a vampire.
When I woke up the next morning, the ring was still on my finger. The dream came back to me. The woman’s face seemed familiar; although I was sure I hadn’t seen her before. Of course it was a dream, strange things like that happened in dreams. Or was it? If it was only a dream, where had the ring come from? I pushed the matter from my mind and went about my day. Or, I tried to. I was going to take the ring off, but her face kept coming back to me, and I couldn’t. I didn’t tell anyone where I got it from, I would sound ridiculous if I told them a lady in my dream gave it to me, instead I told anyone who asked that it was given to me by a friend, and they said no more on it. Two days passed, and I tried not to think about it. Then the ring started chaffing me, and in frustration I slid it off and flung it on the floor. It must have been a practical joke, someone giving me that ring. As for the dream, maybe there was some new technology that let you send dreams to people. I had no idea, but I was completely put out by it, and I was not going to let myself be creeped out. Still, it took me a while to get to sleep that night.
I dreamed pleasant dreams, then like a commercial breaks through a TV program, her face came through, the image of the darkness surrounding her. My eyes flew open and I sat bolt upright. Then I noticed a faint light in the dark room. I looked for the source, and saw the ring. It was glowing, a soft golden light. And in that light, I noticed the darkness around it. It was swirling, writhing, a monster, like the darkness in my dream. I had never been afraid of the dark before, but this, this was something else, something unnatural, frightening. Then, it saw me. I stood, paralyzed by fear. This darkness, it was evil itself. There was nothing more frightening than the fact that somehow it knew me. It’s writhing stopped, and it came towards me. It left the ring for just a moment as it turned towards me, and in that instant, the ring blazed with uncontrolled golden light. That snapped me out of it, and somehow I knew that the ring would protect me, that I needed that ring. I crossed the room to it in one bound and scooped it up. The darkness creeping up around me was blown back the instant I touched it. I slid the ring back on my finger, promising myself I would never take it off again. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but it wasn’t a coincidence or practical joke, this was something real, something powerful.
I tried, but simply couldn’t fall back asleep. Finally, and 5, I decided I was done trying, and thought I would go for a walk through the cool stillness before dawn. The sky was just beginning to lighten around the edges when I stepped outside. It was a chilly morning, so I wore my coat, scarf, gloves and boots. I set out at a brisk walk to the park, then through it, on my way to my favorite spot. There was a bench under a curly willow tree, with roses to the side, their sweet fragrance filling the air. But as I approached, I realized there was a man sitting on the bench.
I would have turned and gone back, but he saw me and beckoned. Now you may think me foolish, but I went to him. It would have been rude to walk away now that he’d seen me. As I drew closer, I noticed a strange smell. Of course, I could smell the roses, the soil, the chill fresh air, but under those scents was another, one I had never smelled before. It was almost like the smell of burnt cookies, sweet but awful at the same time. The man patted the bench next to me for me to sit down. The scent grew stronger, it was overpowering, and then, suddenly, it was like my brain cleared. The smell was there, but it wasn’t so overwhelming anymore, just there, and really quite pleasant. The man began to talk. He was actually fairly handsome. But if I hadn’t been under his spell, I would have noticed when he flashed a smile at me, that his teeth were sharp and pointed, or that his hand when he touched my cheek was cold, stone cold.
We talked for about an hour, until I realized I had to hurry home or I would be late for work. He asked me to meet him later that evening for dinner. The place he suggested was my favorite place, and it was very expensive so going there was a rare treat. I agreed with alacrity and moved through the rest of the day like in a dream. Then about an hour before I was to meet him, the thought of the ring crossed my mind. It was a bit suspicious that he would know exactly where to find me, especially with my encounter with the darkness the night before. Did he know about my ring? But no, I chided myself, how could he? I wore gloves the whole time. I realized the darkness seemed to be following me although it was still light. It lingered in the shadows, its appearance diminished by the light, but not its power, that I knew. But I knew it wouldn’t dare come near me as long as I wore my ring. Reassured, I pushed aside all nervous thoughts.
An hour later, I was completely ready. The doorbell rang. It was him, here to pick me up. I felt a brief wave of uneasiness; because I didn’t remember telling him where I lived, but I quickly squashed the thought and walked down to meet him. He drove me to the restaurant, and while I was with him, all thoughts of suspicion completely left me. I was calm as a clear summer sky.
A week passed. We spent as much time together as possible. Every time I saw him, I fell more in love. I hardly noticed his smell anymore, in fact I hardly noticed anything but him. I had no doubts about him anymore, and I all but forgot about the trailing darkness. Once, I briefly wondered why I even wore that silly ring, except it was pretty and I remembered it was from someone special. I decided to keep it on.
One evening, exactly a week and a day since I’d first met him, he picked me up and we walked to the park and through it, to my favorite bench. We sat and talked, watching the sun set, and the twilight begin to turn to night. Then he took my hand in his, and asked me, “Why do you wear that ring?”
“I don’t really know. It was given to me by a friend.”
“Take it off.” When I hesitated, he pressed, “Please, do it for me.”I pulled my hand out of his and grabbed the ring with my other hand. I got a strange feeling, like I was sentencing myself to my doom, but I ignored it. An owl hooted, a cricket chirped. It was a new moon that night, and cloudy, covering the stars, but I could make out his face. He seemed… strangely excited. I pulled at the ring. It was stuck. I pulled harder.
The ring flew off my hand. The darkness swirled, pounced. I came back to myself and realized what was happening. I screamed in terror, the most terrified I had ever been in my short life. Desperately, I looked around for the ring, but I knew it was in vain. Beside me, he laughed, the cruelest laugh I have ever heard, and dissolved into more darkness, surrounding me, swirling, surging, writhing, swallowing me up.
I was in it. I was gone. I became one with it. I was blackness. I was evil.
I was a vampire.
Captain Shawna's Battle
Shawna was the most feared pirate ever. She had pirate written all over her-- one glance and you knew she was someone you wouldn’t want to cross. She had bushy red hair, so fiery orange it was hot to the touch (not that you’d want to get close enough to touch it). She was tall, fierce, and strong—she could lift the world with one hand. Her ship was the biggest and fastest around, and her crew almost as feared as she was. She was as merciless, tireless and unstoppable as the sea she sailed on. What she wanted, she got, and no one could stand in her way. She was queen of the seas, men quailed before her. The few who dared to fight her instantly regretted it.
But after she had sailed around the world a few dozen times and collected an uncountable amount of loot, she became bored with the whole business. Sailing the seas wasn’t nearly as glamorous as it sounded. After all, it was just water, and being surrounded by water wasn’t really that exciting. Plus being cramped up on a ship wasn’t that fun, even if it was an especially large and superior ship. But it wasn’t the ship life that really bothered her, no, she was a true pirate, she could handle that. What bothered her was it was all so easy. She longed for a challenge, a real opponent. Hardly anyone dared to fight her, and those who did she took down easily and quickly. She wanted to fight someone who would push her to the limits, someone she could really use all her skills against.
Unfortunately, she could think of no such person, ship, or crew like that that existed. So she took the problem to her crew, to see what they could come up with. Her crew sat in silence for quite some time. Then, the youngest and newest member of her crew, Gabby, spoke up.
“I have an idea,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. She shook like a leaf as all the pirates eyes focused on her.
“Well, tell us your idea.” Shawna said. “Go on, we’re not going to make you walk the plank if we don’t like it.”
“Well, where I come from, there’s this story about a boy who created a monster. I don’t remember how it ended, but the story told exactly what he did to make it. And the woman who told it to me swore it was true.”
“A monster? Just what did this monster look like?” Shawna asked
“Well, it, it was human form, but, like, more than a human, relentless and strong and smart.” Gabby babbled.
“A human-like monster. I rather like that idea. Now, if it could be taught to sword fight, it might make a worthy opponent.” Shawna said, looking at Gabby, considering.
“Well, I think would think it could, but I don’t know. The boy in the story knew wrestling, so that was how the monster he made fought. But since you know sword fighting, maybe….”
“Very good Gabby. Leave now while I think this idea over.” Shawna ordered and the pirates stood and left without a word. No one disobeyed Captain Shawna.
She thought it over the whole night. Finally, the next morning, she called her crew up on deck.
“I have decided.” She told them. “We will create the monster. I will have a worthy challenger at last! Gabby, what do we need to do?”
“Well, you need a piece of your home, a board from the ship should work, then soak it in a cloud, then you put something that represents your fighting style in it, so a sword should work, and then a bit of your own blood, then toss it in the sea.” Gabby said in a rush. She had been thinking about it all night, not wanting to disappoint Captain Shawna should she decide to create the monster.
“All right then, let’s get started.” Shawna said, reaching down and prying up a board from the deck. “Now Gabby, will fog work for a cloud?”
“I, I” Gabby stuttered.
“Out with it girl!” Shawna roared impatiently.
“Yes, I think so” Gabby said. “I heard the story a long time ago, I could have forgotten… I’m not sure if it’ll even work!”
“It’ll work,” Shawna declared. “It gets plenty foggy at night this time of year; we’ll leave the board on deck until then. Now go below and bring me every sword we’ve ever taken. I want to choose the perfect one for my rival.” The pirates all quickly left and returned with a huge selection of swords. Fancy ones, plain ones, heavy, light, rusted and shining. Shawna spent the day trying out the swords, giving each a twirl. The minutes seemed to pass agonizingly slowly. Soon her frustration built and she began throwing the swords she didn’t like. Her crew didn’t dare venture on deck. Finally, night fell and cooled her temper. Only then did the pirates come up on deck to see the sword she had chosen. It wasn’t the fanciest or shiniest, but it was nearly identical to her own.
“This is the one I will use.” She declared. “It’s the only one with the right balance. My challenger will have a sword as good as my own. I want this to be a fair fight. Now everyone below deck!” This time, Shawna followed the pirates down. After all, she would need sleep if she was to fight the greatest sword fight of her life the next day.
Shawna stepped out on deck as the sun was rising and the fog fleeing before it. Her pirates followed her a few moments later. She turned and looked them over. “Today’s the day! Wait, where’s Gabby?” The pirates all muttered and shrugged. “Go fetch her for me-no, I can’t wait. I don’t need her anyway.”
And she strode across the deck, picked up the sword and thrust it through the center of the board from the ship. The board started to glow slightly. All the pirates gasped. Shawna’s face remained impassive as she reached for her dagger. She had just pressed it to her skin when the door to the deck burst open and Gabby appeared. “Stop!” She cried. “You have to stop! I remembered the end of the story!” Shawna turned slowly towards her, her eyes glowing like hot coals.
“Silence!” she roared.
"You don’t understand, I” Gabby tried.
“Gag her!” Shawna ordered. The pirates near Gabby grabbed her.
“No! I’m trying to save you! You can’t” But before she could finish, the pirates had stuffed a wad of cloth in her mouth, and were holding her tight. Poor little Gabby was no match for the burly pirates, and she watched in horror as Shawna ran the blood from her arm across the board and flung it into the sea. Splash! The ocean seemed to explode where the board hit. Giant waves beat the ship, the wind picked up, singing a haunting melody.
And then a ship emerged, as big and grand as Captain Shawna’s, but solid black. The ship sailed towards them, and the monster came into sight. He looked like a man, only deep blue with eyes the color of lava. Shawna drew her sword and tensed as the ships met with a deafening crash. Both she and the monster leapt at the same time, meeting on the railing. Clickity-click screech! Went their swords as they parried, dancing onto one ship, then the other. They lunged and blocked, twirled and jumped, but neither could gain the upper hand. The fight went on and on. Sparks started flying from their swords, setting the ship ablaze. The pirates, who had been standing there open mouthed, sprang into action, pulling buckets of water from the sea to put out the flames. One pirate, panicking, fired off a cannon. The cannonball traveled around the world so fast, it went back in time and killed the dinosaurs.
In all the excitement, Gabby was forgotten. She pulled out her gag with disgust, and looked at Shawna sadly. “She should have listened. There’s nothing I can do about it now though. If only she had listened.” There was no point in her staying, so she hunted through the ship for some food, and then lowered a lifeboat and climbed in. She pushed off rowing towards the mainland she knew was off in the distance. Her life as a pirate was over. She knew that the fight would never end. That was what she had been trying to say; you can’t beat it. Because Shawna used her own blood, just like the boy in the story, the monster had become exactly like her, so neither could ever win.
Meanwhile, back on the rail of the ships, the fight continued. A few pirates followed Gabby’s example, dropping lifeboats and fleeing the ship, as the fire from the sparks grew, despite their best efforts to drown it. The smoke and fire increased—the ship was burning up, the flames devouring the wood before the sea could put it out. What was left of it would be swallowed by the sea any moment, and all the pirates had leapt overboard, when the monster too leapt. But not into the water, no, he jumped straight up, landing on a cloud. An instant later Shawna followed him. The two continued to fight on the cloud. The sparks from the swords crashing together created lighting, every time they jumped thunder boomed. And still their fight goes on today, creating the mighty thunder.
But after she had sailed around the world a few dozen times and collected an uncountable amount of loot, she became bored with the whole business. Sailing the seas wasn’t nearly as glamorous as it sounded. After all, it was just water, and being surrounded by water wasn’t really that exciting. Plus being cramped up on a ship wasn’t that fun, even if it was an especially large and superior ship. But it wasn’t the ship life that really bothered her, no, she was a true pirate, she could handle that. What bothered her was it was all so easy. She longed for a challenge, a real opponent. Hardly anyone dared to fight her, and those who did she took down easily and quickly. She wanted to fight someone who would push her to the limits, someone she could really use all her skills against.
Unfortunately, she could think of no such person, ship, or crew like that that existed. So she took the problem to her crew, to see what they could come up with. Her crew sat in silence for quite some time. Then, the youngest and newest member of her crew, Gabby, spoke up.
“I have an idea,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. She shook like a leaf as all the pirates eyes focused on her.
“Well, tell us your idea.” Shawna said. “Go on, we’re not going to make you walk the plank if we don’t like it.”
“Well, where I come from, there’s this story about a boy who created a monster. I don’t remember how it ended, but the story told exactly what he did to make it. And the woman who told it to me swore it was true.”
“A monster? Just what did this monster look like?” Shawna asked
“Well, it, it was human form, but, like, more than a human, relentless and strong and smart.” Gabby babbled.
“A human-like monster. I rather like that idea. Now, if it could be taught to sword fight, it might make a worthy opponent.” Shawna said, looking at Gabby, considering.
“Well, I think would think it could, but I don’t know. The boy in the story knew wrestling, so that was how the monster he made fought. But since you know sword fighting, maybe….”
“Very good Gabby. Leave now while I think this idea over.” Shawna ordered and the pirates stood and left without a word. No one disobeyed Captain Shawna.
She thought it over the whole night. Finally, the next morning, she called her crew up on deck.
“I have decided.” She told them. “We will create the monster. I will have a worthy challenger at last! Gabby, what do we need to do?”
“Well, you need a piece of your home, a board from the ship should work, then soak it in a cloud, then you put something that represents your fighting style in it, so a sword should work, and then a bit of your own blood, then toss it in the sea.” Gabby said in a rush. She had been thinking about it all night, not wanting to disappoint Captain Shawna should she decide to create the monster.
“All right then, let’s get started.” Shawna said, reaching down and prying up a board from the deck. “Now Gabby, will fog work for a cloud?”
“I, I” Gabby stuttered.
“Out with it girl!” Shawna roared impatiently.
“Yes, I think so” Gabby said. “I heard the story a long time ago, I could have forgotten… I’m not sure if it’ll even work!”
“It’ll work,” Shawna declared. “It gets plenty foggy at night this time of year; we’ll leave the board on deck until then. Now go below and bring me every sword we’ve ever taken. I want to choose the perfect one for my rival.” The pirates all quickly left and returned with a huge selection of swords. Fancy ones, plain ones, heavy, light, rusted and shining. Shawna spent the day trying out the swords, giving each a twirl. The minutes seemed to pass agonizingly slowly. Soon her frustration built and she began throwing the swords she didn’t like. Her crew didn’t dare venture on deck. Finally, night fell and cooled her temper. Only then did the pirates come up on deck to see the sword she had chosen. It wasn’t the fanciest or shiniest, but it was nearly identical to her own.
“This is the one I will use.” She declared. “It’s the only one with the right balance. My challenger will have a sword as good as my own. I want this to be a fair fight. Now everyone below deck!” This time, Shawna followed the pirates down. After all, she would need sleep if she was to fight the greatest sword fight of her life the next day.
Shawna stepped out on deck as the sun was rising and the fog fleeing before it. Her pirates followed her a few moments later. She turned and looked them over. “Today’s the day! Wait, where’s Gabby?” The pirates all muttered and shrugged. “Go fetch her for me-no, I can’t wait. I don’t need her anyway.”
And she strode across the deck, picked up the sword and thrust it through the center of the board from the ship. The board started to glow slightly. All the pirates gasped. Shawna’s face remained impassive as she reached for her dagger. She had just pressed it to her skin when the door to the deck burst open and Gabby appeared. “Stop!” She cried. “You have to stop! I remembered the end of the story!” Shawna turned slowly towards her, her eyes glowing like hot coals.
“Silence!” she roared.
"You don’t understand, I” Gabby tried.
“Gag her!” Shawna ordered. The pirates near Gabby grabbed her.
“No! I’m trying to save you! You can’t” But before she could finish, the pirates had stuffed a wad of cloth in her mouth, and were holding her tight. Poor little Gabby was no match for the burly pirates, and she watched in horror as Shawna ran the blood from her arm across the board and flung it into the sea. Splash! The ocean seemed to explode where the board hit. Giant waves beat the ship, the wind picked up, singing a haunting melody.
And then a ship emerged, as big and grand as Captain Shawna’s, but solid black. The ship sailed towards them, and the monster came into sight. He looked like a man, only deep blue with eyes the color of lava. Shawna drew her sword and tensed as the ships met with a deafening crash. Both she and the monster leapt at the same time, meeting on the railing. Clickity-click screech! Went their swords as they parried, dancing onto one ship, then the other. They lunged and blocked, twirled and jumped, but neither could gain the upper hand. The fight went on and on. Sparks started flying from their swords, setting the ship ablaze. The pirates, who had been standing there open mouthed, sprang into action, pulling buckets of water from the sea to put out the flames. One pirate, panicking, fired off a cannon. The cannonball traveled around the world so fast, it went back in time and killed the dinosaurs.
In all the excitement, Gabby was forgotten. She pulled out her gag with disgust, and looked at Shawna sadly. “She should have listened. There’s nothing I can do about it now though. If only she had listened.” There was no point in her staying, so she hunted through the ship for some food, and then lowered a lifeboat and climbed in. She pushed off rowing towards the mainland she knew was off in the distance. Her life as a pirate was over. She knew that the fight would never end. That was what she had been trying to say; you can’t beat it. Because Shawna used her own blood, just like the boy in the story, the monster had become exactly like her, so neither could ever win.
Meanwhile, back on the rail of the ships, the fight continued. A few pirates followed Gabby’s example, dropping lifeboats and fleeing the ship, as the fire from the sparks grew, despite their best efforts to drown it. The smoke and fire increased—the ship was burning up, the flames devouring the wood before the sea could put it out. What was left of it would be swallowed by the sea any moment, and all the pirates had leapt overboard, when the monster too leapt. But not into the water, no, he jumped straight up, landing on a cloud. An instant later Shawna followed him. The two continued to fight on the cloud. The sparks from the swords crashing together created lighting, every time they jumped thunder boomed. And still their fight goes on today, creating the mighty thunder.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
choose your own adventure - amazing aliens
1
“Three, two, one, blast off!” you call. But wait a second, isn’t it supposed to be the rocket that blasts off, not you?! You look down, to see that fire is coming out of your huge boots. Someone filled the boots with rocket fuel, and told you the boots were really tall, to make you taller, so the rocket drivers could see and hear you better. You are going up and up. Pretty soon, you’ll go through the atmosphere, and into Outer Space. Wouldn’t that be cool, going into Outer Space? But wait a minute, isn’t the atmosphere really hot? And you’re not wearing any special heat proof equipment at all. What should you do?
If you try to pull back, turn to page 2. If you just keep going, turn to page 22.
2
You lean back, until your boots are pointing strait up. Now they are making you go down. But you’re leaning back too far now, and you flip around, until you’re back on your feet. You try leaning back again, when something soars in from Outer Space. It looks like two plates, one flipped over on top of the other, with a bowl flipped over on top of that. Except it has windows. And it’s black, and it has blinking colored lights. But the thing that comes out is even weirder than the whole space ship itself. The thing looks like a moldy piece of cheese, with huge round eyes, a big red mouth, very long arms, and teeny tiny feet. And it reaches out, and grabs you.
If you fight it, turn to page 4. If you let yourself be pulled in, turn to page 3.
3
You hope it’s a nice alien, and let yourself be pulled in. The alien smiles at you, and sets you down in the middle of the space ship. Other aliens that look like pieces of cheese look at you, and then the one that grabbed you comes back to you, this time holding a little brown bag. It takes a handful of golden dust out, and sprinkles the dust over you. You feel yourself changing, and look in the mirror. Now you look like a piece of orange cheddar cheese, with little round eyes, and long arms with teeny tiny feet. You are an alien.
THE END
4
You kick, hit, and even bite. But the alien continues to pull you in. It glares at you, and then, not moving from where it’s standing, it throws you into a prison, and locks you up. I have to get out of here, you think. Who knows what they’ll do to me. But do you? If you step out of the space ship, you won’t have any air. And if you stay here, the aliens will probably kill you, or keep you prisoner forever. What are you going to do?
If you try to escape, turn to page 5. If you stay with the aliens, turn to page 17.
5
If you’re going to escape, you’ll need air. But how are you going to get air? Wait a second, all I need to do is just figure out how the aliens breathe, you think. So you watch them closely. They don’t breathe. Well then how are you breathing? You look around your little room, until you see a cord coming out of the wall. You follow it, to the wall, and begin ripping off the outside of the wall. Finally you come to what you were looking for: an air tank. Somehow, you get it onto your back, and get out of the prison, and then out of the space ship. But then you see something scary. Earth is nowhere in sight! Should you keep looking, until you run out of air, or go back to the aliens?
If you keep looking, turn to page 21. If you go back, turn to page 6.
6
You quietly slip back into the space ship, go back into your prison room, and start taking your air tank apart and putting it into the wall. You see a smaller alien coming towards you, so you quickly stuff everything in the wall, and try to cover it the best you can. The cheese-like alien opens the door, gives you a toothless smile, and holds up a bright yellow suit. She points to the suit, and then to you, telling you to put it on. You shove the huge suit on over your clothes, and start to pull one of your boots off. “Naoda!” she shouts, and shakes her finger back and forth, which you figure must mean no, so you stop. The young alien smiles again, and gently takes your hand, leading you out of the prison. She takes you over to the door, and opens it. Outside is a world of swirling green-blue gas. You’re probably right above Uranus. The alien, still holding your hand, jumps from the space ship. In the air, you pull out of her grip, and land pretty far away from her. She calls to you, saying something that sounds like “come quickly!” Should you trust her or not?
If you go to her, turn to page 8. If you run away turn to page 7.
7
You run and run, not looking where you’re going, until you trip and fall into a very, very deep crater. Your rocket boots break when you fall.You can’t get out, so you stay there until you starve to death.
THE END
8
“I…am…not…an…alien.” Every word the young girl alien--who said she wasn’t an alien--says seemed hard for her to find and say.
“Yes you are, and you’re really starting to freak me out by speaking English,” you say. “Are you trying to lure me into something?”
“No!” she shouts. “We’re trying to help you!” Now her words came out faster, and don’t seem so hard to think of.
“We?” you ask.
“Yes, me and all the other part humans. You see, we are alien on the outside, but we still have the mind of a human, and still consider ourselves human. The reason they kidnapped you is to turn you into an alien. First they drop you off here, to turn your body into an alien body. Then, after that happens, they take you, and make your mind alien, and then you’re done, and you help kidnap other humans. Of course, that takes a long time, so if you’re cooperative, they just sprinkle you with powder.”
“But, then why were you on the ship?” you ask.
“I escaped the brain changing, by pretending I was already alien. The others hid out here.”
One of the other alien/humans steps up. “Come with me. I’ll take you to our home,” he says. You know you shouldn’t go with strangers. Should you go or not?
If you go with him, turn to page 9. If you stay turn to page 10.
9
You follow him into a small cave. There is nothing there, except for a dresser.
“You sleep here?” you ask, looking at the disgusting damp floor.
“Naoda, bleep sheyoo saoon weeashee.” He replies in alien. (or, in English, “no, but you soon will.”) Then he hits you on the head--really hard. When you wake up, you’re in the alien’s space ship. The alien you trusted and followed has betrayed you, sprinkled you with powder, and turned you into an alien.
THE END
10
“No! I mean, no thank you,” you say.
“Please, I insist you come,” the alien/human says.
“Yeah, and I insist that I’m fine. I’ll stay with, um, what’s your name?” you say, looking at the alien/human girl.
“I am…..Melanie,” she says. “Now come with me. We need to get going.”
“How?” you ask, “doesn’t Uranus have an atmosphere?”
“Yes, but it’s thin. Your suit will let you through, and since we’re aliens, or at least have alien bodies, we can go through. However, the alien ship is still close by, and they have very good eyesight, so once we’re out, I suggest you take that suit off. And before you can answer she has called two other alien/humans and all four of you have formed a circle, holding hands.
“Three, two, one, jump!” Melanie says and you all jump. You are going through the atmosphere. “Now drop the suit!” she yells. You hesitate. If you drop the suit, you’ll freeze and you won’t be able to breathe. “Do it now, or we’ll be seen!” shrieks Melanie.
If you obey, turn to page 11. If you leave the suit on, turn to page 20.
11
You shrug the bright yellow suit off, and take a last big gulp of air, because sure enough, you can’t breathe. And then, when you’re about to let your breath of air out and give up, Melanie pulls a mask out of her shoe and puts it over your mouth and nose. It’s an air mask!
“How long will this last?” you ask Melanie.
“Six hours,” she replies. “So we’ll have to--what’s that?”
“It’s a space shuttle--from earth!” you shout, and begin waving your arms wildly. The space shuttle slows and stops just a few feet away from you.
“Why, what’s this? A kid out this far in space, by herself?”
“Yes, but--’’you start to say, and look around for Melanie. She is hiding behind the ship, with her two friends. She puts a finger to her lips, so you don’t mention her.
“Well, hop in!” the pilot says and opens the door.
“Umm…” you look over at Melanie. Go, she mouths. You climb into the ship. Then just as you’re about to leave, you hear her scream. You look back, and see the aliens dragging her into their ship. What are you going to do?
If you go and try to rescue her, turn to page 13. If you stay in the ship, turn to page 12.
12
You stay in the shuttle, and go with the astronauts to their mission on
THE END
13
“Um, my friend needs help. I gotta go!” you say, and before the pilot can ask what’s going on, you are out of the ship. You point yourself towards the alien’s ship, and the rockets on your boots turn on. They got you into this mess. Maybe they can get you out. The aliens have just shut the door, so you sneak around the side and peep in through the windows. They’re bringing her around to the brain changing room. Fortunately, all the stalls are full. But they won’t be for long. Should you break in through the windows right now, and try and fight? Or should you go back to the door, force your way in, and try to sneak up on them. Or there’s always the option of just going back and staying in the shuttle.
If you go in through the windows, turn to page 18. If you go in through the door, turn to page 14. If you go back to the shuttle, turn to page 12.
14
You zoom to the door, and push on it as hard as you can. It opens; they haven’t locked it. Your rocket boots turn off, and you run through the ship, past prison cells, down corridors, and around sharp turns, until you finally reach a door with a picture of a brain on it, that you hope is the brain switching room. You gently push open the door. Inside all the aliens are gathered around the stalls with their backs turned. One of them is holding Melanie’s arm. You can’t see the other two alien/humans. Melanie looks around and sees you. You put a finger to your lips, and then bite the alien’s arm. It yells, and lets go of Melanie. You grab her arm and start running. An alarm sounds, and aliens take off in all directions. “What happened to the others?!” you shout as you run.
“I don’t know! I think they got away!” she yells back. The aliens are gaining on you. You run down a corridor, and find a dead end. There are two doors near the end. One has a big X on it. The other is unmarked. The doors are your only hope to escape. Which one should you go through?
If you go through the door with the X on it, turn to page 15. If you go through the unmarked door, turn to page 16.
15
You look around, then push open the door with the X on it. Inside is something like a laboratory. There are all kinds of test tubes, liquids, and powders. Then, and the end of the table there is a big flask with swirling and bubbling orangey-pink liquid. Melanie stares at it, then reaches out a finger and touches it. Her finger bubbles for a second, then turns paler and paler, until it is a human finger.
“Oh, I know what this is!” she exclaims, “It turns you back into a human. Hmmm. One swallow ought to do it.” And she raises the flask to her lips and takes a gulp. Slowly her body changes from alien to human.
“Find a lid for the flask!” you say. “We’ll take it to all the others on Uranus.” Then you find a door and open it, and thankfully it leads outside. You grab Melanie’s hand and use your rocket boots to get you both to Uranus. All the children take a sip of the liquid and turn back into humans. Then you get out and find the space shuttle, and the bewildered pilot takes you all back to earth. Melanie’s parents turn out to be your neighbors, so you can still be friends.
THE END !!!!!!
16
You quickly rush through the unmarked door, and find yourself standing on a step, that drops off into space. You’re about to take a step off, when Melanie stops you. “Wait a second,” she says. “I just remembered something.” And she opens the door, glances around, and then dashes off down the corridor, yelling “stay there!”
A few minutes later, she returns, with two little gadgets, shaped remotely like cell phones clutched in her hands. “I’m not sure, but I think they might have seen me,” she gasps. “Now let’s go!” And you quickly step off the ledge.
As soon as you’re a safe distance away from the alien ship you tell her, “okay, you owe me an explanation. What is that thing you have in your hand, and why is it so important?”
“This thing? It’s a phone that lets you talk to anyone in the galaxy, as long as they have the other one. So you’re going to take one back to earth with you, and I’m going to take one back to Uranus with me. You’re an astronaut, right?”
“In training.”
“Whatever. Right now we can just use them to talk, but when you’re an astronaut, you can tell me where your mission is to, and I’ll meet you there. Now get off to that space shuttle, before they discover us here!”
So you wave good-bye to her, then go off the space shuttle. It takes you back to earth, and you use the phones to keep in touch with Melanie.
THE END
17
You stay in the ship. After all, you’re safer in here than out in space, right? You finally drift off to sleep, and are awakened by a smaller alien. She gives you a creepy toothless smile, and holds up a bright yellow suit. She points to the suit, and then to you, telling you to put it on. You shrug and slip it on over your clothes. You start to pull your boots off. “Naoda!” she says, and shakes her finger back and forth, which you figure must mean no, so you stop. The young alien smiles again, and gently takes your hand, leading you out of the prison. She takes you to a door, and opens it. Outside is a world of swirling bluish-green gas. You’re probably right above Uranus. The alien, still holding your hand, jumps. In the air, you twist out of her grasp, and land pretty far away from her. She calls to you, saying something like “come quickly.” Should you trust her or not?
If you go to her, turn to page 8. If you run away, turn to page 7.
18
You kick the window as hard as you can, and it shatters. You launch yourself through it. Immediately, long alien arms snake around at you. Once again, you kick and hit and bite. You knock over a few aliens, but you’re way outnumbered. One grabs you. It has a bottle of dark nasty-looking green liquid. It is about to pour it on you, when another arm snakes out and grabs the bottle. It’s Melanie! She pours a few drops of the liquid on the alien. It freezes.
“Grab the other bottle! In the cupboard, by the stalls!” she screams. You dart to the cupboard and grab the other bottle and help pour it on the aliens. It slows them down a lot, but this won’t last too long.
Then you have an idea. You grab one of the slow moving aliens and shove it in one of the stalls. It doesn’t resist, and after a minute, the door swings open, and the alien steps out. It looks lost and says, in English: “What’s happening? Where am I?” So if you put an alien in the stall, it changes their brain back to a human one. You yell what you found out to Melanie, and shove another one into a stall. This one comes out, saying something in a language you don’t understand, but you know it’s German, not Alien. You shove another alien into a stall, but it comes back out still speaking alien, and tries to grab you. You splash more dark liquid on it, and it stops. So that must be a real alien, not a human. Finally, you have all the aliens either changed or frozen.
Then Melanie shouts “come on!” and runs out of the room, after throwing tons of the green liquid on the aliens. Everybody runs after her. She bounds down halls, through doors, and finally comes to a corridor with only 2 doors. Looking nervous, she pushes the door with the X open. Inside is what looks like a science lab. There are powders and liquids in all sizes, and all colors. At the end of the long table there is a bottle of swirling and bubbling orangey-pink liquid.
Continued on page 19.
19
Melanie stares at it for a moment, and then, before you can stop her, puts it to her lips and takes a swallow. Now she is bubbling, and slowly changing. Her skin is getting paler, her arms shrinking, and her legs growing, until she is a human. She passes the bottle around to the other now human-aliens. Just as the last one is changing back, the real aliens speed around the corner. Melanie grabs the bottle and a lid, and whispers to you “I’m taking this to the children on Uranus.”
The aliens are attacking you now. You kick back, and squirm out of their reach. The freezing green liquid is gone now, but you throw some of the other things on the table at them, gradually making your way towards the door.
Suddenly the door flies open, and Melanie storms in, flanked by her friends from Uranus. They have an electric blue powder in their hands, which are coated in a dark green slime. “Everybody out!” she screams. There is a mad rush towards the door. When everybody is gone, she, ignoring the snaking arms, tosses the powder at the aliens, and runs towards the door. Her friends follow suit. The aliens stiffen up, and fall over, unmoving. “That should freeze them for another century.” Melanie says, “and hopefully by that time, they’ll all be dead!”
“So that’s what that powder was for,” you say. “But where did it come from, and what is that stuff on your hands?”
“That powder came from the core of Uranus. And that slime was from the layer just outside the core,” she replies. Then you go find the pilot of the space shuttle.
“Oh my,” she says when she sees you. “You’re not all going to fit in my ship.”
“That’s okay,” you say. “Could you just tell us what direction Earth is?” She looks at her charts, and then points you in the right direction.
“Everybody hold hands,” you say. “I’ll use my rocket boots to get us home.” And you do that, blasting through space until you finally make it back to Earth. There you all split up and go back to your houses. Melanie’s parents are your neighbors, and you are best friends for the rest of your lives.
THE END
20
You leave the suit on, and the aliens spot you easily. You have failed. Because you didn’t trust Melanie, the aliens have found you, and now you are aliens: Melanie is too, and all the children from Uranus, and it’s all your fault.
THE END
21
You set off to find Earth, and wander around in space, until a space ship finds you 2 days later. It’s a good thing too, because you are dehydrated, starving, and very low on air. They bring you back home, and you decide to never ever become an astronaut. Instead, you write books about your adventure in space.
THE END
22
You’re going to go through the atmosphere, and you’re going to die. But there’s nothing you can do to stop that, so you let yourself float through the atmosphere. To your surprise, you aren’t feeling the heat at all. In fact, it feels just comfortably warm. Okay, next problem. What are you going to do when you get out of the atmosphere? There’s no air in space. But when you emerge from the atmosphere, you find that you can breathe. The boots seem to be putting a force field around you that protects you from heat and gives you air. Just then, something whizzes past you. Your curiosity gets the better of you, and you point yourself after it. You catch up to it easily. But the thing (which looks suspiciously like a miniature you--at least it’s got some kind of weird, neon green space suit, with boots like yours, but smaller, and orange) puts on a burst of speed, and stays just out of your reach. Soon you are rushing past Pluto. Now you are at the far reaches of the solar system. You are coming up to a planet, a very teeny planet, hardly 100 miles around, with swirling pink and purple fog. The little creature soon disappears into the pink and purple fog. You follow, down, down, down into the strangely colored fog. You hit the ground with a thump, and are unable to see anything in the fog. Whatever you’re sitting on sure feels soft, though. You wait for a while. And then, unexpectedly, the fog flies up to the sky, and the air fills with a slightly pink light, that seems to come from nowhere. You are sitting on the thickest, softest, and driest moss you’ve ever seen. Why, it could almost pass for a green pillow. When you stand up, you find that it’s resilient as well, and puts a spring in your step. On either side of you are huge trees, with chocolate brown, smooth bark. Around the base of the trees are bushes, that are heavy with berries. Pink ones, blue ones, green and yellow, every color imaginable. You pop a green one in your mouth. It tastes like mint! Another handful of berries leaves you surprisingly full. You look up, and come face to face with….. is that a teddy bear?! It sure looks like one, only it’s alive. Others are crowding in around you. This has to be a dream, right?
If you run away, turn to page 39. If you stay, turn to page 23.
23
The closest teddy bear to you starts to speak. “Why is you here, Great Earthling?” he squeaks, and bows low. It looks pretty funny. In fact, this whole place looks pretty funny. It’s like Build-a-Bear has come alive, because all the teddy bears are wearing funny clothes. The one who just bowed to you is wearing a black suit coat, and tattered orange soccer shorts.
“What is you thinking Puffles?” says a smaller teddy bear who is wearing a thick shawl as a skirt, and the top part of a swimming suit. “We is all knowing that the Earthling is coming to help us defeat…,” here her voice dropped to a whisper, “the Yoosaa.” All the teddy bears’ eyes grow wide at her words.
“You is looking confused,” says Puffles. “Is you having any questions?” He bows again.
“Um, yes,” you say. “What is this place, who are you, where on Earth do you get your clothes, and what are the Yoosaa?” There are several gasps at your last question.
“This place is being Teddytopia. We is being the Teddyians.” Puffles bows, then continues. “Not all our clothes is coming from Earth.” Seeing your puzzled face, he says “You is saying where on Earth our clothes is coming from, and I is saying they is not all coming from Earth. Some is made from bark and moss. Some we is finding on our travels to Earth,” he explains. “And we do not speak of the Yoosaa.”
Just then, there is a scream. A Teddyian wearing a swim suit, sandals, and sunglasses comes running in, so fast that his sandals fall off. “The Yoosaa is coming! The Yoosaa is coming!!!!” he screams.
Puffles grabs your hand, and the Teddyian with the shawl grabs your other hand. “You is coming with me and Fluffles,” he shouts over the noise, and pulls you to a gap in the roots by a tall tree. Should you resist--after all, what if this is a trap? Or should you hide with the Teddyians?
If you pull away, turn to page 24. If you follow, turn to page 25.
24
You yank your hand out of Puffles’. Puffles tries to keep pulling you for a minute, but as he’s only waist-high to you, it doesn’t work, so he runs towards the hollow by the roots. The Yoosaa, which you discover, are giant blue flying pigs, are delighted at such easy prey. They scoop you up, and bring you back to their rocky and cold planet. There they force you to clean, feed, and serve them for the rest of your life.
THE END
25
You dart in the hole after Puffles and Fluffles. Giant blue, flying pigs come zooming down, and immediately begin tearing up moss, breaking branches with their wings, and wolfing down berries. They are quite terrifying. All the teddy bears are trembling, so much that you are afraid that the tree will start to shake, and they’ll find you. Then Fluffles gives a little cry next to you. She quickly slaps her paw over her mouth, then gasps again with her paw muffling the sound. “Wuffles,” she moans, pointing to a little teddybear that is still laying on the ground, sleeping, and occasionally popping a berry in it’s mouth. The Yoosaa have spotted it too, and one of them starts ambling towards it. Some of the teddy bears grab onto Fluffles to stop her from running out. What should you do? Should you run out right now, and try and get Wuffles, or wait and go after him when the Yoosaa leave, or just stay here and try to get back to Earth?
If you go right now, turn to page 35. If you wait until they leave, turn to page 27. If you do nothing, turn to page 26.
26
You just sit there. And sit, and sit, and sit. It’s hard to keep quiet, to not demand answers to all the questions whirling in your head, plus you’re getting hungry. Finally the Yoosaa eat all the berries in that area, and move away, to a crystal clear lake, where they splash and slurp up water, before starting on the berries on the other side. And the Teddyians decide it’s safe to whisper. “How long will this last?” you ask.
“The longest attack ever was a month,” an old Teddyian says sadly. “They completely tore Teddytopia apart, ate all the berries, drank half the lake, ripped up the moss, knocked down the trees, and then squashed the berry plants.”
“We’re going to have to spend a month in here, with nothing to eat?!”you wail.
“SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” all the Teddyians hiss.
“Not a month. When they take captives, they only stay about a day,” Puffles says, “and we’re quite prepared. There is lots of berries in here Great Earthling.”
“What will they do with Wuffles?” you ask, dreading the answer.
“Who knows? Nobody that was captured has ever come back alive,” says Fluffles, with tears in her eyes. Okay, there is no way you’re going to go after him, if the Yoosaa will just kill you. Nice as this planet is, you decide that as soon as the Yoosaa leave, you’re going to get out of here. And sure enough, when the pink and purple fog starts to set, the Yoosaa, much fatter than before, fly off. The Teddyians bring you to one of their treehouses, and the next morning, you fly off for earth, with one of the Teddyians as your guide. You make it safely back to Earth, but you can never quite forget the disappointed look in Puffles’s face when you told him that you weren’t going to fight the Yoosaa like they thought, but that you wanted to go home.
The End
27
You sit there, for what seems like forever. Then the Yoosaa move off, having eaten all the berries in that area. They take Wuffles with them, crushing your hope of just being able to run and grab him. The Teddyians finally seem to feel it’s safe to whisper and pass out some dried berries from a shelf in the tree.
“How long will the Yoosaa be here?” you ask.
“When they have a captive, only one day,” Puffles replies.
Okay, that gives you one day to plan.
“I’m going after Wuffles,” you say.
“Oh, no! No, no, no!” Fluffles says. “Great Earthling, you is not to risk your life for Wuffles. You is too important.”
“You said I’m here to fight the Yoosaa, so that’s what I’m going to do, by rescuing Wuffles,” you say stubbornly.
“How is you going to do it?” a little teddybear next to you asks.
“Um, I’m going to follow them, and somehow steal Wuffles back, maybe when they’re sleeping,” you say. “So, do you know what it’s like there?”
“Only one has escaped, Chief Bamazamielilblam. He says the planet is rocky, and rough, so you might be able to use the rocks as cover. And the Yoosaa sleep for a day after tearing Teddytopia up for a day, but they are light sleepers, and terrible warriors. One of them could squash 50 Teddyians,” Puffles says.
The Pink and Purple fog is coming down, and the Yoosaa are leaving. Do you still want to go? After all, you could always stay here, and then go home.
If you go after the Yoosaa, turn to page 29. If you go home, turn to page 28.
28
“Um, actually, I don’t think I’ll get out of there alive. Maybe Wuffles will escape on his own. I just want to go home,” you say. The Teddyians look a little disappointed, especially Puffles and Fluffles, but they take you up to their treehouse, where you spend the night sleeping on moss mattresses, and woven blankets. The next morning, you say goodbye to the Teddyians, and a Teddyian named Cupcake shows you the way back to earth. You become an astronaut, but can never forget that you had a chance to save Wuffles, but you didn’t.
THE END
29
You wait a minute, then blast off with your rocket boots. You follow them, at a distance. They fly back their cold planet, and you hover uncertainly above it. How long will it take for them to put down the captive, and fall asleep? You soar down into the clouds and wait. The Yoosaa don’t appear to be doing anything with their captive. There is no jail, nothing to keep him in. They plop down in a circle and fall asleep. Then you get it. They don’t need a jail. They’re making a wall around Wuffles with their bodies. Well, that shouldn’t be too hard. All you have to do is fly down and scoop him up. But then you realize that your rocket boots really aren’t so quiet. Puffles had said they were light sleepers, and you won’t be safe in the air either, because they can fly. So your options are either flying down really fast, and grabbing Wuffles, and then trying to fly away, or turning your boots off, and trying to squeeze in between them.
If you fly down, turn to page 30. If you turn your boots off, turn to page 31.
30
You get ready to fly down. Wuffles doesn’t appear to be tied, just asleep. You stretch out your arms to be ready, then zoom down, hurtling towards the ground faster than you’ve ever flown before. When you’re about 50 feet above the ground, they hear you and start to wake up. You grab Wuffles, who is heavier than you had thought, and soar up into the sky. The Yoosaa are on their feet now, and in the air. They’re fast, much faster than you’d expect. They’re gaining on you quickly. You head for Teddytopia, then realize that if you go there, the Yoosaa will follow, and maybe kidnap more unsuspecting Teddyians. So you veer off, towards something, anything else. Wuffles is starting to wake up, and is squirming, making him harder to hold. Then you see an asteroid. That gives you an idea. You zoom towards it, faster and faster. It looks like you’re going to crash. Wuffles, apparently thinking so, covers his eyes and squeals. The Yoosaa are on your heels now. You’re going to crash! And at the last second, you pull away, making all the Yoosaa slam into it. But as you turn to go to Teddytopia, your left boot hits a rock sticking out of the asteroid, and goes dead. Your other boot is dying too. Going that fast for so long wasn’t very good for it. You fly, slowly, back to Teddytopia, and crash on the moss. All the Teddyians cheer and crowd around you. Fluffles hugs Wuffles, and then begins scolding him for not paying attention. “The Yoosaa?” whispers Puffles. “Are they gone?”
“They crashed into an asteroid,” you say proudly. “But my rocket boots are broken.” The Teddyians aren’t able to fix them, and while they do have a few pairs, none of them fit you, so you stay with them for a month, while they make a new pair your size. Then they take you back to Earth on one of their trips to find things.
THE END
31
You land a ways away from the Yoosaa, so you don’t wake them up, and slip off your boots. They’re way too bulky for you to move silently. You slowly, carefully make your way towards the pack of sleeping Yoosaa. Your feet crunch quietly on the pebbles that cover the ground. With every step, you worry that the Yoosaa might wake up. Your heart is thudding, so hard you think they might hear it. Slowly, very, very slowly, you walk towards the Yoosaa. There are not many openings. Obviously, these Yoosaa know how to make themselves into walls that are escape proof, in case there might be someone who would try and rescue one of their prisoners. You doubt any Teddyian would ever be brave enough to do that, considering how they quivered with fear at even their name. But there are two gaps, one bigger one, but it’s by one especially large Yoosaa’s head. The other gap is smaller, but it’s in between two Yoosaas’ curly tails, so it’s less likely that they’ll hear you. Which space should you squeeze through?
If you go through the gap by the Yoosaa’s head, turn to page 40. If you squeeze through the gap by their tails, turn to page 32.
32
The gap by their tails should work, you decide. Even though it’s smaller, they won’t hear you. So you take a deep breath, and crunch quietly towards it. Then you drop to your hands and knees, and try not to squeal as you kneel on the sharp little rocks. You inch forwards, and hope that they don’t shift position. Finally, you make it into the circle. You creep up to Wuffles, and wake him, very gently, hoping that he won’t get scared and cry. When he groggily opened his eyes and sees you, you pop a berry in his mouth, then another, to make him trust you. Fluffles had given you the idea, by telling you that Wuffles loves to eat. Then you motion for him to be quiet, and get ready to creep back to the opening. But they have done the thing you hoped they wouldn’t: they shifted positions, and now you’re trapped. You can either send Wuffles through the tiny gap that is way too small for you to fit through, to get your rocket boots, or you can wait for an opening.
If you stay here, turn to page 33. If you send Wuffles to get your rocket boots, turn to page 34.
33
You sit there, waiting, for hours. It’s all you can do to stop yourself from screaming and stomping with frustration. Why can’t they just shift, just a tiny bit? Why did this have to go so wrong? It was a brilliant plan, just those fat, ugly Yoosaas messed it up. Wuffles is getting restless, and you’re running out of berries to feed him. He seems to have gotten plenty of sleep too, so he’s not about to fall asleep, but you are exhausted. It’s the middle of the night. You haven’t slept since… was it only two nights ago? A lot has happened in the past 1 ½ days. What if you just closed your eyes, just for a minute--after all, they’re still sound asleep, and they don’t seem to be moving. And the next thing you know, you are waking up to see a Yoosaa leaning over you, with a horrible greedy smile on it’s ugly face. Oh no! You fell asleep, and the Yoosaa woke up and found you there, right in the middle of their circle, and were perfectly delighted to see that you had imprisoned yourself. They hadn’t even had to do any work, and they got a prisoner for free, without losing one. Your rocket boots are useless; they’re way over by the big boulder, and they’re no way to get them. You have just let yourself be captured, and there’s nothing you can do.
THE END
34
There is a tiny gap, way too small for you to get through, but Wuffles might be able to. So you whisper to him that he needs to go through the hole in the Yoosaa wall and be very, very quiet. Then he needs to find the big boulder with the dent in the middle, and get the boots behind it. And then he needs to bring them over here, still being very quiet, and put them outside the gap. Then he needs to squeeze through and come to you. “Can you do all that?” you whisper. He nods, and then slips through. You wait and wait, wondering and worrying about what’s taking him so long. It didn’t take you this long to get over here, did it? What if he got lost? What if he didn’t know which boulder to go to? What if he couldn’t carry the boots? What if he wakes the Yoosaa up? Then you hear him coming back. At least, you hope that that quiet crunching is him. You see your boots outside the gap, and know he’s back. “Ta-Da!” He whispers. You decide that the safest way to do this is to slip your feet into the boots right there, since they won’t fit through. Then you tell Wuffles to hold on tight to your boot, incase you wake up the Yoosaa, and have to blast off. And then you start wriggling through. It has gotten a little bigger since you sent Wuffles, so you barely squeeze through. Of course, you could have squeezed through earlier, but it wouldn’t have felt as safe as having to the boots on, and knowing you can blast off if you have to. You creep away from the Yoosaa, and blast off, taking Wuffles back home. The Teddyians, who thought they would never see you or Wuffles again, are delighted. You haven’t destroyed the Yoosaa, but at least you and Wuffles got back safely. You stay for the celebration that they throw, with funny dancing, and all kinds of berry treats. Then talk to Puffles.
“I didn’t destroy the Yoosaa, but I think that if you post gaurds to watch for them, and keep tons of food in your tree hide-outs, you should be fine.” You tell him. He tells your suggustions to everybody else, who all like them, and then they take you home, and promise to visit you on their next trip to earth.
THE END
35
There is no way you’re going to let them take Wuffles. They’re just pigs! And they’re really acting like bullies. You don’t like bullies. How can the Teddyians just sit there, and watch their planet be torn apart, and their friend be kidnapped, and possibly killed! You can’t stand it. You’re not going to just sit here, no matter what these Teddyians do! Puffles sees you tensing up, and quickly grabs you and hisses “No!” But you don’t listen. You start to stand up. Puffles, seeing that he won’t be able to stop you says, “Their skin is tough, from the rocks, and they can flatten you easily.” You don’t really see how this is any help, but you nod and then stand up. You slip out quietly, so the Yoosaa won’t know where the Teddyians are, and then march up to a Yoosaa. You kick the nearest one in the face. He doesn’t seem to feel it too much, it was just enough to make him jerk a little. Then it open’s it’s mouth in a horrible smile that reveals yellow, broken teeth, and fangs. You kick him again, much harder. This time it jumps back. Then it advances on you, it’s teeth bared. More Yoosaa are coming. You are way outnumbered. They’re way too big and tough. There is no way you can fight them alone. What are you going to do?
If you yell to the Teddyians to help you, turn to page 37. If you blast off with your boots, turn to page 36.
36
You turn on your rocket boots and zoom away. You aren’t exactly running away, you’re kind of hoping that they’ll follow you, and maybe forget about Wuffles and leave him there. They sound like they’re following you. You turn around quickly and look at them. They don’t seem to have Wuffles with them. But there’s not much time to look. They’re really fast. You start zooming away. You’re not going to be able to keep this up forever, and they’re starting to gain on you. Then you have a brilliant idea. Maybe you can use the fact that they’re so big against them. All you need is a big planet.
THE END
37
“Help you guys! Come on, grab some sticks and help! We can outnumber them! We’re smarter than them! Help!” you shout at the Teddyians. At first, it doesn’t seem to have done any good. But then Teddyians start pouring out of the trees. They’re small, but there’s a lot more of them than Yoosaa. Some of them are carrying sticks, or baskets, or weaving tools, or are just using their paws.
“Get their faces!” you yell. There is an uproar as the Teddyians, who were just a moment ago cowering in underground caves, start hitting every inch of the Yoosaa that they can reach. The Yoosaa jump around, nearly squashing a few Teddyians. The Teddyians keep fighting. They jump onto them from the trees, and jab at them with their sticks. You kick and punch, and occasionally fire your rocket boots in their face. But the Yoosaa aren’t going to give up that easily. They start stomping around, and snapping their teeth at everyone who comes near. They start breaking the Teddyians sticks, and the Teddyians begin losing their courage.
Then Fluffles starts singing a song to the tune of Yankee Doodle, that goes like this:
“Cuddly Cutie walked through the trees,
Eating the yummiest berries.
She tripped on her own silly shoes,
And landed in the blue lake!”
The Yoosaa nearest her stops fighting. It starts shrinking. The music almost seems to be putting a spell on it. The other Teddyians, seeing the effect join in.
“She laughed, and laughed and laughed and laughed,
until she got the hiccups!
Then got back on her furry feet,
And cheerfully skipped away!”
Continued on page 38.
38
Now all the Yoosaa are freezing, and shrinking. The Teddyians sing it again and again, until the Yoosaa look like tiny plastic pig toys.
“What do we do with these guys now?” you ask.
“We take them back to their planet. And if they unshrink and attack us, we will be ready. We will fight, we will sing, and we will win!” Puffles says.
There is a celebration that night, for the Teddyians and your bravery, and the defeat of the Yoosaa. They have delicious berry treats, and funny dancing to their Cuddly Cutie song. Then Puffles, Fluffles, and Wuffles take you back to Earth.
“Keep you boots, make sure they’re full of fuel, and come visit us sometime!” Fluffles says.
“And bring some cool clothes!” Wuffles adds.
“I will.” You promise. And you do, and have a wonderful time with them.
THE END
39
This place is really freaking you out. Seriously, moving--as in alive--teddybears. They’re wearing the weirdest clothes too. This place is just too good to be true. Those berries were too delicious to be real. Oh no! What if they were poisioned? Is this just a joke, set up by the people way back at the space station? If it is, then it isn’t very funny. But it’s a little too realistic to be a joke, and if it was, wouldn’t they be jumping out and shouting boo, and laughing right now? You are out of here. You turn on your rocket boots, and blast off. You’re zooming off, you don’t care where, just to get away from that freaky place. Then, after you’ve been flying for several minutes, you come to your senses, and realize that you don’t have a clue where you are, or which direction Earth is in. You keep flying, and hope that you’re going the right direction. But you’re not. Eventually, your boots run out of fuel, and you are still hopelessly lost somewhere in the galaxy. You never make it back to Earth, or any other planet.
THE END
40
The gap by the head should be better. It’s bigger. You squeeze through, quietly, very, very quietly. This Yoosaa has little whiskers, that you can’t really see until you’re this close. They’re tickling you. Then you realize that, oh no! You’re about to sneeze. You scramble to get away from it’s head; that’s probably the worst possible place to sneeze. But as you’re hurrying, you aren’t careful, and kick a few rocks. And they’re not just little pebbles, but about half the size of your feet. One skids in by Wuffles, waking him up. He starts crying, loudly. One goes in the other direction, hitting little rocks. One hits the Yoosaa you were creeping under. Wuffles screaming, and the sound of the rocks already had him half awake, but this rock wakes him up all the way. He roars, knowing that this means a prisoner is trying to escape. You run up to Wuffles and grab him, trying to ignore the little sharp rocks that you’re stepping on, and try to blast of with your rocket boots. But then you remember that you have left them waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back there behind the boulder. There’s no way to get them now. You put up a good fight, but you’re way outnumbered. And they’re enormous! They’re strong too. Their skin is like iron. Although, it would be, seeing as they lay on rocks all the time. Eventually, they capture you, but not before you’ve sent Wuffles running towards the boulder for your rocket boots. At least he’ll have a chance to escape. Then maybe he’ll tell the Teddyians. Maybe they’ll come rescue you. But that doesn’t happen. Wuffles escapes, but you stay there, forever. What did you really expect. The Teddyians are positively terrified of the Yoosaa. They won’t even defend themselves, much less come and attack them!
THE END
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