The Spelling Bee
Luke Spiteri
My best friend, who is called Clifford, is very altruistic and helpful. He used to help me a lot when preparing myself for the Grand Spelling Bee Competition. Then I had to study specific words by heart. He was going to be one of the judges, and therefore he could guide me well. The competition was going to be held in the coming two weeks, and this was the last Saturday he could help me study, as the following Saturday he was going to graduate.
*******
The day finally arrived and I was so excited about the Spelling Bee. I went there trying to remove all my fears because I had studied all month to win the contest. The first quiz was going to be between me and my worst rival Joe. Fortunately, I won. I had made it to the finals! I was so proud of myself… but the eldest boy in the competition had made it to the finals too. Then Clifford asked me to spell a word he knew I always stumbled on! It was so unfair. And so I lost to the elder boy.
I still cannot believe what my best friend did to me that day. Had it not been for Clifford, I would be the Spelling Bee Champion today.
Snire
Brendan George Vella
Snire was one of the first Vampires in the universe. He was there during the Trojan War and when Jesus was crucified. He was there during the Great Siege of Malta, World War I and World War II. He was known as Rahnar, the Lord of Blood Suckers. But in the early 1890s, he was bitten by a special snake whose venom was injected violently in his blood. A tail grew and his eyes became as red as blood.
In the 1940s he changed his name to Snire, the Lord of the World. Because he had the snake gene, he could walk in sunlight. He had no weakness, only strengths. He was as strong as nothing in the world. He could hold over 10 tons in one hand and he could run at the speed of sound.
In 1955 he realized that guns and science were improving, so he thought of recruiting other vampires and villains to generate a gang. These then found a hideout where to chart their plans. Snire wanted certain army equipment, so at night they broke into the Army Base of America and raided the weapons and body shields. These they hid in their hideout. They even pilfered precious objects from museums, such as the Genghis Khan’s armour, which turned anyone who wore it invisible. Human sacrifices and spells to summon demons were held for the final prophesied war against the Holy ones.
But Snire had a weakness - Sila. The son he had from her was to end his father’s powerful reign. The Demon Priest had foretold what was to come, and so Snire had imprisoned his own son.
The war started. It lasted only five days. It ended with a victory on Snire’s part. He was now king of the universe. He controlled everything. But his ever growing fear of his son Blart never left him. So one day he descended into the dungeons and fed on his own son’s blood. That same blood directly turned Snire to ashes. Blart instantly turned into a Vampire; so he grabbed his father’s dagger and stabbed it into his heart.
Between Future and Past
Brendan George Vella
In a not too distant past, a scientist called Victor Black discovered a particle that could not time travel but could take you to a parallel universe where past and future are one.
Because this theory was a bit crazy, he was kicked out of the World Science Organisation and so had to become a secondary school science teacher for some time. But Dr Black did not give up. He kept on trying and he finally created a Special Particle but was frightened to test it – frightened of the results.
After a month, Dustin, a nineteen-year-old young scientist went to visit Dr Black. He took a camera with him to record all his findings and a hard bound book to write notes on. They went to Nag Nag’s River. It is said that in that river there once lived Nag Nag and his imprisoned army. Nag Nag used to be a scaly lizard that had taken control of the world, but had been captured by the Great Lord and imprisoned in a place where only darkness was known. Here there was a huge concentration of the main element that made up the Special Particle.
Dr Black took out the special device. Dustin held it while Dr Black activated it. The earth started shaking and the water started drying up. The two fell down a hole and blacked out. When they came to, they were in a parallel world, between future and past. They saw a brachiosaurus staring at them. Behind it there was a Viking ship with a jet on its deck. There were cavemen driving cars and helicopters. Dustin took out his video camera and started filming those incredible sights.
Back on Earth, Dr. Black and Dustin won the Nobel Prize for the best revelation to mankind.
Lost at Sea
Nico Mifsud
One fine summer day, my family and I went for a day by the sea. We planned just to lie down, build sand castles and have a great time.
That day my dad took my elder sister and me for a ride on his speedboat. I grabbed my mum’s digital camera before we left and my sister got a book to read. Off we went and we could hear the throb of the engine as it hit the water and just as it got out again.
After about half an hour, my dad realized that the radar was not working properly. By then we were in the middle of the open seas. Dad tried to steer back to land by just turning back from where we had come. He still didn’t know the route and after a few minutes I noticed that the wind was picking up. By then I started feeling slightly scared.
Back on land. my mum noticed that we had been out at sea far longer than expected, so she called for help. Meanwhile my dad was trying to get the boat to safety. However it seemed that we were going round in circles and soon the petrol gauge was pointing at ‘E’ – empty!
Several hours later we saw a blue and red light flashing. The coast guards were looking for us, and thankfully spotted us just in the nick of time. By then even the sea was getting rough. We were escorted back to safety and back in the arms of our worried mother.
We all prayed never to go through that experience again.
2069 Robot
Keith Vanhear
The new 2069 Robot is one of a kind. It has a new and improved voice that can speak about sixty languages. It has a new 6.7 Ghz CPU and a state of the art sound card. It has two new USB ports with infra red sensors. With its new feature - the GPS - you will never get lost. And with a new 6 terabyte hard disk, you don’t have to worry about hard disk overflow.
2069 Robot can tell you how much things cost. If you go shopping and you don’t know the price of an object, you don’t need to ask the shop assistant anymore. Just place the barcode in front of the robot’s eyes, and it will give you the price. With new recipes installed, you can have a new course meal everyday until you are 200! And finally engineers threw in a 56 multi function button remote. You do not need to worry about housework, bills or homework anymore. 2069 Robot will take care of everything.
This 2069 Robot is absolutely brilliant - if you can afford to have one!
The Horn-Tailed Dragon
Sean Zarb Ferrante
In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea lies a cave, and in it lies the legendary yellow horn-tailed dragon. One day, a brave traveller went to this cave where hundreds had been eaten alive while trying to get to the dragon’s golden egg.
The traveller, called Jake, had already been to the cave and miraculously escaped with just one missing limb – his arm. This he had now replaced with a mechanical one. Jake entered the cave when the dragon was asleep, avoiding all the traps he had seen lying about so long ago. Through narrow spaces he passed, circuited round the dragon and pushed on until he reached its egg. Instantly, the dragon woke up. It tried to kill Jake with its horn-tail. The two kept on battling until the dragon fell into one of his own traps. Jake escaped.
On the way home, Jake saw an inscription on the egg, which read: This egg has the power to cure anything. There and then, he was going to apply its contents on his own arm but then remembered Sonny, a friend of his who was dying of cancer. Jake turned round to call on his friend in hospital.
Nuke
Joseph Zammit
One day in our secret agents’ hideout we were preparing for the war that the Germans were going to wage on us. It looked like their ultimate weapon was going to be a one tone nuke that they were going to drop over America. We knew this because one of our agents had been working under cover at the enemy camp.
The place where the Germans were building the nuke was top secret, but we still gained access to it. The nuke had glycerin explosives and highly toxic gases such as sulphuric oxide, that when combined together could wipe out Z miles of land!
It seemed that the Germans’ plans were bullet proof, but not quite, because the nuke was so unstable that even a spark could set it off. So we made a plan to send two agents, dressed up as Germans, to set a hidden time bomb to destroy the nuke.
Everything was going as planned. The agents got in the top secret building without being caught or suspected, and so the plan went on smoothly. The agents found a sketch book containing the date that the nuke was to be dropped. That day happened to be Dak-3 (d-day), so the agents knew they had to act fast. Quickly they planted the time bomb and left. The world soon heard how half of Germany had been wiped out by a military accident which had gone wrong.
The mission had been a success and when the two agents returned to base, the sergeant rewarded their courage with a promotion and a heroic badge.
Breaking Out of Prison
Sean Zarb Ferrante
In the past story of ‘Jak and Daxter’, I, Daxter, had been turned into an ottsel. This time, we were thrown into the future. As soon as we had that painful entrance into the future, Jak got arrested for no reason whatsoever.
Two years later Jak was still in prison. Finally, I managed to blow up his cell door and we made a run for it. A security camera spotted us and crimson guards came after us. For some mysterious reason they were wearing gas masks. A few minutes later, we broke out and I knew that we were safe.
We found ourselves surrounded by water. There was a speedboat but unfortunately it was broken, so we stole a crimson guard’s hover bike. On the bike there was a book entitled ‘Using Crimson Guard Bikes, for Dummies.’ As soon as I was about to open the book, Jak managed to start the hover bike and the book fell out of my hands. The bike was so fast that in a few minutes, we found ourselves in Haven City.
The next thing I knew was that we were regrouped with Kiera and Samos, the two people that had time travelled with us two years back. They told us that Haven City was also known as Sandover Village, the same place where we had started our adventure. Upon hearing this, I just fainted and almost broke my neck falling off Jak’s bike.
I have to conclude my story for now, and as usual keep wondering why and how I get involved in these adventures with Jak. I hate these adventures with Jak.
The War and the Saviours
Brendan George Vella
The moon was full. The Night Elves all gathered to join the hunters, mages, rogues, druids and warriors. The reason for their gathering was that of going hunting for Saberteeth and the Dragons so that they could sacrifice them in honour of their Night Elf Elders. It was the only night of the week when the Elders joined their beloved Night Elves. Whenever they met, their people organized great feasts which they were known for, feasts with plenty of food, beer, folklore music, singing and dancing. There always had been an old Night Elf narrating the unforgettable history of the final battle for life and glory to the young ones.
Foolish Night Elves, they thought that just because they had the Elders’ power, nobody could ever threaten or defeat them. They believed that by winning that final battle they had won the war. How wrong they were ... The Blood Elves, Trolls and the Hordes of Chaos formed an alliance and a real war began!
On that night, one of the Elders was found dead. His beers and wines were all contaminated. It was not the usual poison. It was the spit of green acid from the Death Country. Since one of their Elders was dead, the Night Elves suddenly started doubting on how invincible they actually were. They were peaceful creatures, but a war had to take place so that their people could live peacefully and freely. There was not much to do and all were terrified. They had all lost hope, but one of them, an Elder, believed that there was a ray of hope and that hope was in the arms of Samural and the chosen twenty. The people were all confused as they thought that Samural was dead!
The same Elder wrote a letter to him, asking his help and any other help he could get.
Dear Samural,
Our village is in great trouble. My son, we need your help. I am sending this letter asking you to join me in this very final war. We will need all the help we can get, so please get as many men as you can, along with the chosen twenty.
Please come.
Sarmurus,
Your Elder Father.
As soon as Samural received the letter he prepared his noble beasts, the chosen twenty and another four hundred men who joined him on his journey and to battle. There he was, flying on his Green Dragon; and the four hundred men, riding on Lions, Cheetahs, Great Grey Wolves; as well as the Chosen Twenty, riding on Flying Horses, Gigantic Eagles, Element Dragons, and all the greatest creatures one can ever imagine. Samural and the Chosen Twenty jumped off their beasts as soon as they arrived at the Elders’ village and found that all were awaiting their arrival. Samural approached his father and they both felt that it was time to announce who they were. Everyone was surprised and most questioned how he was still alive after the battle against the master of the Whords of Chaos. So he decided to tell his story...
“With the little strength and energy that was left in me, I drank some water from the nearest lake, but what I didn’t realize was that the lake was the Lake of Eternity! I got up from the ground and in just a few seconds my wounds were healed!”
After five months of training he found out that he had grown even more powerful, so he decided to take part in a tournament for the Dragon Soul and the Demon Soul. He won the tournament. As a reward, he received the abilities of listening and talking to beasts. He became the best of warriors; be it with swords, arrows, bows, daggers, close combat and five to one combat. It was there where he became Samural the mighty, Samural the brave, Samural the unleashed.
Samural’s wish was to have a feast with all the Night Elves; and so that night they enjoyed themselves with plenty of beer and food and folklore music. Then, in the morning they all prepared for battle.
The archers shot deadly arrows from their Dragons and Gigantic Eagles, and then they rampaged the city with their savage beasts. They fought inside the city and killed everyone. They destroyed the Trolls, the Blood Elves but finally, the Final War began... They suddenly changed their tactics. They attacked from the air and also from the ground. They set explosives on the ground… one flaming arrow, and... BOOM! The Night Elves won! They had destroyed their enemies one by one; well, with Samural by their side it was quite easy... The Night Elves won the Final War!
Samural had been the saviour for the Night Elves. About one hundred brave Night Elf allies died that day, but a thousand survived. Samural’s genius plan had been a plan for victory. Samural and the men returned home to lots and lots of beer, food, folklore music, singing and dancing, and yet a new story to be told by the old Night Elf when surrounded by young ones during feasts...
I am a Car
Jamie Tanti
I am a car, a 1967 Shelby GT 500. I have had three owners up till now. The first one was an old man, the second a middle-aged one, and the third a youth of eighteen.
My first owner was a man called Carl. He used to take great care of me. I used to be kept in tip top condition. He used to wash me every week and he used to wash my leather seats and polish them with a special cream. He also used to check my oil and my powerful engine. Lots of persons used to admire me because it was a rare occasion to see a car as luxurious as me. Then one day the old man died, and his son, who was a good-for-nothing and a gambler, sold me to another man for lots of money.
My second owner looked strange with long hair and a dirty smell. He used to leave me parked outside in all kinds of weather. He didn’t take care of me properly and I rusted and started falling to pieces. Finally he got fed up of me and decided to sell me. Lots of people came to see me. Amongst my prospective owners, I noticed an eighteen-year-old youth whom I liked immediately. I so much wished that he would own me! He seemed to have taken a liking to me too. Fortunately, his father bought me as a present for his son’s eighteenth birthday. I was the youth’s first car.
He towed me to his garage, stripped me apart with great care and replaced my old parts with new ones. He bought me a new powerful V8 engine and polished me till I shone like a diamond. When I was ready, he took me for a drive. The pedestrians could not take their eyes off me.
Now we do exciting things together, such as racing other beautiful and powerful cars on Friday nights. Nobody has managed to beat us yet as we are a winners. I simply love my owner and I hope that he will go on taking care of me till the end of my days.
The Golden Book
Alexei Mercieca
A page from a diary of an adventurer.
Dear dairy,
Today was yet another adventurous day in search of the Golden Book. This book had been searched for by my ancestors some years previously. However, it was never found because some of them got killed and the rest were lost.
My crew and I went to the dock and jumped into our yacht. One of my friends was the cameraman and only survivor who had recorded all the previous journeys for the Golden Book. My other mates brought the coordinates and the oxygen tanks so that we could dive underwater. The journey to the selected location took us about four days and was perilous and risky.
Finally, we made it to the cave. We docked our yacht and started putting on our diving suits, cylinder tanks and checking all needed equipment. We took a dagger each in case we were attacked by something. We jumped into the sea and started our search. However it was fruitless, so we decided to postpone till the next day.
We woke up from sleep to a bright, beautiful morning. We put on our gear and went down again. This time we tried a different location and were successful. The case housing the golden book was wedged under a huge rock. Our spirits lifted but soon sank again as we noted the hammerheads hovering around.
We took our daggers to attack, but suddenly an unusually huge fish which we could not identify scared the sharks away. This disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. What could that have been? Could the legend stating that masters of The Golden Book would have an invisible protector for life be true after all? After our unexpected stroke of luck, we immediately used all our energy to wedge the book out of its location.
At long last we made it and climbed slowly back up to the surface. Once in the boat we drove away from that dangerous area. We headed towards a deserted island to check what was inside the box and bring to light the much sought after book.
Finally, we took a long breath and opened the golden pages of the golden book…
The Golden Boys
Zalaf
Jethro Sol Galea
On the tall, broad walls of Fort Zalaf lay blood from the wars. Dry, red and smelly.
But still on the broken walls a few brave archers stood there to face the ugly, green ogres who also had lost some of their fellow men. But that would not stop them – not at all! They chopped trees, mined iron, forged swords, arrow tips and armour!
The fort of Zalaf was built in a strange way. It was situated near the sea and near it was a dark forest which had a quarry and a mine in its centre. The fort itself was well protected from all sides except for the side which overlooked the sea. Every one knew that, even the ogres. So with this knowledge, the ogres decided to surf their way in, using a huge raft. The fort was badly protected from the sea so the ogres waited to celebrate victory.
However, up in heaven, an enchanting cupid creature was watching. This creature would never let the ogres celebrate such a victory because this creature loved a handsome boy that she had saved. This dazzling creature had many different arrows to help her in her toils. She had love arrows, fire arrows, water arrows, swamp and terror arrows, whirlwind arrows and her favourite, the rose arrow.
Cupid immediately prepared all her arms and flew down to the fort and hid. She put on her magic make-up and become invisible. Cupid did not know everything of course, and this enchanting creature was not aware that the boy that she loved so dearly was dead.
She watched the shore for some days until the ogres started to arrive. She shot a whirlpool arrow into the sea and little by little a whirlpool formed killing many ogres. She then shot a swamp arrow and a swamp formed. Ogres started to drown and soon more ogres started coming out of the swamp because cupid forgot that ogres multiply in swamps.
The dazzling creature started firing fire arrows to burn the ogres but it was in vain as the ogres were wet. She was confused. She looked for another arrow, more powerful and found the tidal wave arrow and snatched it. Heroically, she charged towards them and shot it. A massive wave was wrapped around the ogres who were immediately drowned.
In the catastrophe, fort Zalaf was nearly destroyed. The young man was in heaven. When he saw cupid climbing up the wall to heaven he rejoiced and sought to learn all of her knowledge to be by her side forever.
The Explorer’s Stories
Samuel Mallia
My father is an explorer. I haven’t seen him for years. Occasionally, he just sends me an e-mail with a story of his attached. It’s always a good story but I’m always frightened by the incidents that happen to the characters, because once I found out that all his stories are about his own adventures. His recent exploration went terribly wrong.
He and his friends decided to visits an old cave they had discovered when they were younger. ‘The Sea Croc’ they had called it. They took two days to get to it by sea. My father was the first one to get out of the boat and check if it was safe to land. Unfortunately, he slipped and hurt his right ankle. One of his friends went to check if he was OK. He tried to pick him up and drag him, but he was too heavy. Knowing my father, his weight is no joke. His other friend, Frien, the German macho, the dim-witted one, went to help too. Unfortunately, he forgot to tie up the speed boat and as he was approaching to help my dad, the boat gracefully floated away. When everybody noticed, it was too late. They helped my dad up and hoped for a speedy rescue.
After two days of hunger and no sleep, Frien remembered that he had a cell phone in his pocket. When the others were asleep, he called rescue and in a couple of minutes the rescue service arrived. When they landed back on land, my dad was treated for his injuries and fortunately he was well in a couple of days. As for Frien, well let’s say he doesn’t feel his butt anymore…
Well, that’s my dad. I am very excited for him to come back. I just can’t wait to meet him again. I really hope he does not send me anymore of those stories, otherwise I will die with a terrible scare before him.
Suddenly Warriors
Mark Micallef
It was dark. I was scared and horrified. I saw mum wearing strange clothes with a basket of laundry in her hands. She was calling someone to buy her some food for a chicken pie.
I yelled her name but she did not recognize me. Then I saw the name of the game I was in. It was Narnia. I looked down at myself. I was a warrior. I had a sword in my right hand and a shield in the left. Behind me I spotted my friend Glen. The look on his face was as horrified as mine. He had a suit on just like mine. I tried talking to him but somehow I could not.
Then suddenly Glen and I found ourselves on horses. Behind us were hundreds of soldiers on foot and in front of us were the enemy lines. A speech bubble appeared over me which said, “Let’s go and get them! We are going to win this battle!” The crowd cheered behind me. However I was not prepared. I did not know what was going on. Then my horse started galloping towards our rivals. I started swinging my sword and cutting off people’s heads.
After what seemed like ages, Glen and I spotted a bright, shiny shield. We went towards it and picked it up. Immediately we found ourselves in an old castle. This meant that we had gone up to level three. We were in an arena facing two dangerous looking aliens. An old man told us that if we managed to win the fight, we would instantly go to the final level upon touching him.
I stared fighting like I was fighting for my life. Eventually and not without difficulty, I overthrew my enemy. Glen soon did likewise. We went up to the old man to touch him and I found myself sitting in front of the computer wearing the old fashioned suit of armour. I was incredulous. This had been like last year’s surprise party – an adventure you do not forget that easily.
One Line
Jamie Tanti
“I still cannot believe what I witnessed that day.” That was the only line Mike had to say during the Christmas play. He was very proud of himself because he was usually never asked to say anything in plays. He spent all the time at home repeating that sentence, although he clearly knew it by heart.
Finally, the great day arrived. It was the day that Mike and his class had been waiting for. It was the day on which they were going to act the play. Rehearsals were over and they were to put on their costumes.
As soon as the curtain went up people started clapping. That roar of sound paralyzed Mike and he could not utter his opening sentence. He kept gazing at that sea of expectant faces, completely frozen to the spot. The twitters of the audience which arrived soon after did nothing to help thaw Mike’s frozen state.
Luckily Claude, Mike’s best friend, came to his aid and spoke out the words for him. The play could finally start and go on to the end. Mike never in his life forgot the opening lines of that play again, except for that only time when he had to say them aloud.
A.D. 2339
Jethro Sol Galea
On my first arrival in the future, I could not see anything. There was a green fog that covered the surfaces. I coughed and sputtered. There was no air for me to breathe.
I sought shelter from this green killer. As I ran, I felt that the land was as soft as butter and as thick as cream. In front of me I could make out a building or something that looked like a building. There was no visible door, or windows at that, and its walls were made of metal.
I felt myself weakening and fell to my knees. The land started folding itself about me, as though I were in mud, and my skin started forming blisters as it became an ugly shade of purple. I blacked out but could still feel. As the muddy earth was about to cover my face, a cold hand reached out for me. It tugged at my arms until I was on a cold metallic floor.
When I revived, I realized that I was in the middle of an empty room. I was cold and wished for a blanket. Instantly a blanket popped out from the floor and covered me up. Then I wished for a warm drink, a bed and a ticket home. I was back home in a flash, and decided that I had had and seen enough.
Thank goodness I will not be alive in A.D. 2339!
One Million Dollars
Mario Formosa
After the exams I decided to play Star Wars online. I had not played war games for over a year, but that day I decided it was time for a change. As the game finished loading, a strange pop-up appeared on screen inviting me to win all levels in order to win a million dollars.
As at that time my family was passing through a rough patch, I clicked OK. Instantly I found myself in the game. All the characters were life-like. It was amazing. It was like playing in 3D. A space ship arrived and took me to fight the Zombies and aliens. After four hours we won the battle and I moved on to level two. Level two gave me the possibility of changing my weapon. I chose a Lightsabre as this allowed me to decapitate my enemies from a distance.
Midnight approached but I would not sleep even though I was exhausted. At five in the morning I dropped off and when I woke up I found myself in my bed in my room. I switched on the computer and realized that a virus had destroyed all my computer’s functions. It must have been the million dollars pop-up.
Not only had I not won myself and my family the million dollars, but I now had to pay the technician to get rid of the virus and set the computer working again.
Catch Me if You Can
Karl Micallef
While my mother was hanging clothes on the roof, I sneaked into my room to play a new computer game.
I switched on the computer and started playing ‘Catch Me if You Can’. Suddenly a window popped up mysteriously and I started worrying as I thought that maybe I had done something wrong. I pressed OK and found myself on a motor way full of dead people.
In the distance I saw a bobbing light coming towards me. It belonged to a muscled man carrying guns. Timidly I asked him my whereabouts and he answered in a booming voice, “You are in Catch Me if You Can, and in order to win, you have to find the key to the real world.”
I started walking down the road, when suddenly I was attacked by Zombies. I fought back but suddenly the Zombies were transformed into a huge, horrible monster. I used my gun, an X2H4 and blew up the monster into several pieces.
I walked on, hunting for the mysterious key all the time. Then, right ahead, I spotted a tunnel. I walked through and was hit by a stinky smell of rubbish and blood. I could even hear the dripping of water in the distance – drip, drip, drip.
Suddenly something grabbed my hand. I spun round and saw a Corsha. The Corsha had two heads, and one of them shot laser beams from her eyes. She had the key in her left hand. I started fighting her but she was too powerful for me, so I decided to blow her up instead. With the key in my hand, I knew I could return home anytime.
A lock appeared right at my feet and when I turned the key in the lock, I found myself at my computer desk playing ‘Catch Me if You Can’.
At the Press of a Button
Joshua Pulis
I was playing a brand new computer game, attempting to pass all the levels, when suddenly a strange window popped up and the game crashed. I felt dizzy and looked away, but when I went back I realized that I was in a totally different place!
I had no idea where I was, so I started walking. I thought the environment looked strange yet slightly familiar. I kept spotting things that I had already seen before. Then it hit me. I was in the very game I had been so keen on playing!
I was so amazed that I could not believe my eyes. Then suddenly a soldier appeared. Instinctively I took cover. It was then that I realized that I needed weapons to protect myself. As I was thinking this, a gun appeared in my hands – my favourite, an AK-47, a Russian gun, from the Russian rebels.
I aimed at the soldier and shot, gaining points as he dropped down dead. I was speechless. This was the most amazing game that I had ever played! Then I realized that the soldier could have been me. Here I could really die and not just lose a life like in the real game. So, I moved on stealthily not to be noticed. On the way I found some ammo for the gun. In the ammo stock there were also some hand grenades.
I continued on my way when suddenly I spotted a group of five camouflaged soldiers. I recognized their uniform, which was not a Nazi German uniform, but a Russian one. I rushed out to greet them but they were about to shoot me. I explained that I was not German and when they saw my Russian gun, they seemed to accept this. They took me to their headquarters and there I explained how I got there. They did not seem surprised. They told me that I had a special button in my belt which I could press to get back to my world.
I did exactly that, and zapped back into my room. Once back, I started relating everything to my brother, but somehow he would not believe me…
A Tragedy the World will Never Forget
Kurt Farrugia
It was February 15th 2010 when an airbus A380 was on its way to Manchester from Miami. It was a 10- hour flight with 315 people on board. After 9 hours the first problems became apparent.
To start with, the plane was low on fuel. The gauges went haywire. Engine one and four were dead. Then the lights went out. In pitch darkness, the passengers started yelling the names of their loved ones on board. Engines two and three were now dead too, but the plane had started gliding towards the runway. However the ordeal wasn’t over yet. The tyres couldn’t be lowered as there wasn’t enough power!
The plane finally landed but neither the crew nor the passengers were safe because the plane couldn’t stop and there was a truck loaded with four fuel tanks right ahead! The plane collided with the truck and exploded. All 315 people on board died instantly. On the runway, another 20 people lost their lives. The fire fighters took hours to dominate the flames.
An investigation was held immediately and after two years, the truth came out. The maintenance crew was found guilty of utilising second hand screws which jeopardised the engines’ efficiency. Each person was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and fined $50,000 as reparations.
This incident was the worst air traffic incident ever recorded so far. A monument was built to commemorate the victims. Their families however needed no monument to remember the cherished departed in their hearts.
Prestige 10
Stephanos Cutajar
Yesterday I was playing a computer game called Call of Warfare II. A strange pop-up that I had never seen before appeared on screen. Without reading what it said properly, I pressed OK. I was instantly in the game. I was confused. I did not know what to do. Then a message appeared in front of me. It said, “If you want to return to your normal life, you have to play the game till the end. This means that you have to play till Prestige 10 level 70.”
For some people this is impossible because Prestige 10 level 70 means seven hundred levels in all. However I was lucky enough to have been playing Prestige 9 level 1 before I found myself in the game, and this was where I was now. This meant that I only had to go up one hundred forty levels in all.
I also knew all the tricks of the game, such as what the best weapons were, and chose the M4A1. I was in the scrap yard and went out shooting. In all I got twenty seven kills – quite a lot everything considered. Instantly I went up three levels. Initially it is easy to ascend levels, but when you reach level thirty five, it gets harder. Back home, it took me a week to go up to level seventy.
Finally, I reached Prestige 10. It seemed that I had lost my ability to shoot and took one week to go up seventeen levels. However apparently I was doing fine, because I got a message saying, “Your game is harder now. This is so as you were doing so well. We have now removed all the aiming attachments from your gun.” This time it took me six weeks to reach level 70 and finish the game. Once there, a message appeared which read, “You have now finished the game. As a result we shall allow you to go back home.”
I felt so relieved yet worried as to what my parents might have done in my long absence. There was only one way to find out, and so I pressed OK.
Parrot Island
Jean Paul Buttigieg
In Europe, there is a small, abandoned island called Parrot Island. Legends and myths state that ghost pirates appear every Tuesday night to seek revenge.
My friend Sam and I had to write a report about a legend or a myth. When my grandfather told me about the Parrot Island legend, we decided to write a report about it. We also decided to go to Parrot Island to take some photos. Sam's uncle insisted on taking us there. He also promised our parents to protect us from any danger.
On Monday night, we met at 9.00 pm and sailed to Parrot Island. Sam's uncle, or Uncle Bert as we liked to call him, brought a map with him in case we got lost. I also brought a camera to take photos of the ghosts. The ocean was calm and very quiet. The ride was very long so Sam and I slept.
In the morning, we woke up on Parrot Island and saw that Uncle Bert was making breakfast. We quickly ate two eggs and some bread slices each.
After breakfast we started our report while Uncle Bert looked for branches for a small hut. At night, we began hunting for ghosts but we found none. I thought, “Legends are just legends. The stories are not real.” Although, we were really tired, we continued our search, but still we saw nothing. Uncle Bert proposed going back for some sleep. We accepted his suggestion and turned back.
At 11.00 pm, we lay down in the small hut Uncle Bert had built for us. As I was sleeping, a terrible smell reached my nostrils. I noticed that Uncle Bert and Sam were still asleep. So I went outside to investigate. I couldn't believe my eyes. The whole island was submerged in a green gas. I turned back to the hut and woke up the others. We took our camera outside with us and searched the whole island. Suddenly, Uncle Bert froze. Behind a tree, we saw a pirate’s ghost. Not believing our eyes, we took photos without flash in order not to scare him away. The number of pirates increased steadily. But Sam suddenly sneezed and the whole ghostly crew turned their glazed eyes on us. They looked bloodthirsty. Terrified, we ran back to our boat, grabbed our things and abandoned the island. When we looked back, the pirates were gone.
At school we included our precious photo in our report and got an A+. Our teacher was so pleased with our report that she had it published and this became a best selling article in no time at all. Ten years later, a film was released.
2339
Christian El Ichati
It was in 2339 when the Nuclear War took place. The war was between Russia and America. It began because of oil crises.
The Russians found oil between the border of America and Alaska. So they fought about who the oil belonged to. After a year of dispute, the war started. The Russians gave the first blow to America when they fired 150 ballistic missiles towards American soil.
The Americans were warned by radar, and with high powered laser beams disabled the missiles. The Americans fired twenty nuclear missiles towards Russia in return. After that, the ground war started. Many casualties from both sides resulted. After three years of bloodshed and war, there was nothing left.
The Americans gave up. The Russians got the oil at a great cost to human life. Twenty years later the Americans would wage war against Russia and invade it for revenge.
The Hunt
Christian El Ichati
Once when I was with my family having a barbeque, we started discussing the possibility of going to Yellowstone National Park in America. I told them that we would need some supplies for this trip.
One month later we were there. We had taken with us a camera, some gas lamps, a map, a book about the park and we had also rented a speed boat, and as we were going to go hunting for bears, we obviously each bought a hunting rifle.
We set out into the park at noon and soon we were on the tracks of something, though we were not sure what. When we finally saw a grizzly bear, we were awed. It was enormous, about three metres tall – a real monster! I suggested that we take a picture of it before killing it, to show to family and friends. Then we shot it in the ribs. It died instantly. We carried it back to the speedboat and returned to the lodge. We asked a local hunter to stuff it for us, and he told us to come back in a week.
So a week later we were back at the hunter’s lodge. He had created a real marvel. We asked him if he could send it to Oklahoma, where we lived. He told us that it would not be cheap but that it was possible if we paid in advance.
A month later the postman informed me that I had a huge parcel waiting for me at the post office. I went to fetch it and put the bear on show in my living room because I had been the one to shoot it. My family was shocked the first time they saw it and were amazed when I showed them what a glorious animal it had been when it had still been alive.
Disapprovingly, they told me that I had murdered nature.
