Amber Hiles's Blog, page 3

Fairest of Them All

Who is fairest?
Who deserves the title most?
These two questions
are so different
it would shock most.
When someone is declared the fairest,
it is usually fair
which they are the furthest.
They think themselves
a mighty god,
and everyone else,
the equivalent of cod.
But when someone stands up
to their tyranny,
that person then shows,
they are fairer than any.


Gavin is a 7th grade poet.

The Hotel Horrors

Chapter I: I Hope You Enjoy Your Stay

In a small town somewhere in California, there is a single, 34-year-old-woman named Veronica. She had recently moved into town, and had only enough money for a hotel room, and even that would only last a few days.

She walks in, noticing the odd decor: gargoyles, oddly shaped vases, and creepy paintings. The person at the check-in counter greets her. “Hello! I’m Edward, and welcome to Gratsten Hotel, we hope you enjoy your stay here with us.”

Veronica seems slightly uneasy, as if being watched. “Uhh, what’s your cheapest room here?”

“That would be room 105, miss.”

Veronica nods, and heads upstairs. As she makes it to her floor, she sees two people, seemingly both in their twenties, a male and female. The girl says, “Ooh, my big strong man.”

Veronica cringes, “Eww.”

The male looks at her, and says, “What, you jealous?” He steps closer, “KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY WOMAN!”

Veronica replies with, “You can have her, dingus,”

“That’s what I thought.” He walks away.

A man with a large forehead walks up to her, and says “Dat’s Bwock n’ Beddy; dey came hewe a fue weeks ago, but dey’re aww ober eat udder.”

“OOkay?” Veronica walks away, and as she turns the corner, she bumps into a very large man. He simply growls and pushes past her. “Jerk.”

The man with the lisp walks back to her, and says, “Dat’s Jack; he’s been hewe da wongest. He got dumped by his wife.”

Veronica ignores the man again and enters a room. To her surprise, she sees a woman practicing with her katana, and she hasn’t noticed Veronica yet. “Oh, sorry, wrong room.”

The woman faces her and scowls. Veronica takes the hint and walks out, closing the door behind her.

The man with the lisp shows up again, saying, “Oh, we don’ know who dat is; she don’t talk much.”

Veronica is about to walk away, but then faces him, and says, “Why do you keep following me? Just go!”

The man with the lisp walks away, sad, and Veronica can’t help but feel slightly guilty. She walks to the direction of the assigned room, and opens it. She sees it is very small with cheap wood and such. Under her breath, she says, “Well, this is what I get for spending $80 on a hotel room.”

She lies down on her bed and prepares to fall asleep. Little does she know what will come in the morning.

She wakes up, and heads downstairs to see if they have anything good in the kitchen. She walks up to Edward, who is still at the front desk. “Hey, you guys have any food here?”

Edwards looks up from his newspaper, and says, “Certainly, miss! What would you like?”

“What’s the cheapest thing you have?”

Edward holds out a half-eaten bag of peanuts. “That’ll be 25 cents, miss.”

Veronica chuckles and says, “I mean on the menu.”

Edward chuckles, and says, “Everything is the same; out of your price range.”

Veronica grumbles and slams a quarter down on the counter and takes the peanuts. She sits down at a table next to the entry. She tries a peanut and says, “These are actually pretty good.”

All of a sudden, a man in a tuxedo walks in. He looks covered in money, head to toe. Edward instantly stands up, and says, “Mr. Gratsten, welcome! What brings you here?”

Mr. Gratsten looks at him, and says, “Oh, nothing, I just wanted to pay a visit to my hotel and its guests,” He looks over at Veronica, and says, “You deserve MUCH better food for such a pretty lady like yourself. Edward, fetch this piece of art some breakfast, would ya?”

Edward nods and heads into the kitchen. Veronica looks at him, and says, “I’m quite alright.”

Mr. Gratsten looks at her, and says, “You SURE are.”

Veronica cringes, and says, “Hey, don’t talk to me like that!”

Edward walks back out with a tray of two eggs, 5 strips of bacon, and a sausage patty. All of a sudden, the lights go out, and all that is heard is a gunshot and a scream.

Chapter II: The Mystery Begins

The lights turn back on, and Mr. Gratsten is dead on the floor, a bullet in his head with a pool of blood surrounding it. Veronica sees Edward holding a gun. “It was you! You shot him!”

Edward is taken back by this accusation, and exclaims, “I did no such thing. This gun was merely for self-defense, I assure you.”

The other hotel guests, other than the woman with the katana, pool in. There is an old woman, who Veronica hadn’t seen around, as well. “Oh, my… what have we here?” the old woman says.

The man with the lisp dramatically steps in front, and exclaims, “Wooks wike we hab a mythtery on ouw hands!”

Betty snaps her fingers in a sassy manner, and says, “I am SO giving this hotel a bad rating.”

Brock stomps his foot, and says, “How DARE you upset my lady like that! The nerve of some people.”

A few minutes later, a detective arrives. “I’m detective Sanders; now, when did the murder happen?” he asks Edward, who is currently the only suspect.

“It was 9:36, sir.”

“Hmm, that’s oddly specific; almost as if something was PLANNED.”

“I will have you know, I would protect Mr. Gratsten with my LIFE.”

“By taking it? It’s obviously you. It’s always the butler.”

“I am NO butler!”

“Close enough. Let’s go.”

Veronica steps in front, and says, “C’mon, at least do SOME searching.”

Detective Sanders sighs, “Why can’t this ever be easy? I’ll give it another shot.” He pushes past Edward and examines the body. “Well, I think he was shot.”

Veronica looks at him, and says, “Well, THAT was helpful.”

“Hey, don’t get sassy with me, missy, or you can get some SERIOUS jail time.”

“Whatever…”

Edward enters the storage room, and sees Brock and Betty making out. “That is revolting! No guests here; you have a room, now use it!”

Brock and Betty sigh and walk away. As he’s walking out, he sticks his tongue out at Edward. As they walk out, they see Jack stuffing something into his bag as soon as he notices them. “Whatcha got there?” Brock asks.

Jack shakes his head.

“Okay!” Brock and Betty head upstairs. They enter a room, but its the wrong one, and they see someone in a shadow, and can’t make out who it is. They are holding a gun.

The figure exclaims, “Wrong room!”

“Oh, crap, take her!”

“Wha-” Brock pushes Betty forward and bolts out of the room. Gunshots and screams follow.

Chapter III: The Plot Thickens

Just as Veronica, the woman with the katana, the old woman, the man with the lisp,  and the detective arrive to gunshots, the assailant escapes through the window. “Hmm… this is most mysterious,” Detective Sanders says dramatically.

“Oh, don’t act like you know what you’re doing,” Veronicca says.

Brock comes running in, and says, “I definitely did NOT run away; the killer had superhuman strength and shoved me out of the room, and killed Betty!”

“Riiiiiiight,” Veronica mused. “Why would they leave one witness but not the other?”

“Uhhhh… Jack did it! I saw him shove something in his bag! He isn’t here, either!”

“That makes sense… but neither is Edward!” Detective Sanders says.

“He was in the storage room, couldn’t have been him,” Brock says.

“Wait, did you… think something through?” Veronica says to Brock.

“Don’t act so shocked,” Brock says.

“I think I’m going to investigate the kitchen,” the detective says, and he leaves.

Veronica decides to head downstairs for a while, maybe leave and try to find a job. She steps out, and is confronted by the man with the lisp. “I fowgod to pwopewy intwoduce mysewf, I’m Deff.”

“And I have better things to do than talk to YOU,” Veronica says, before walking away. She still feels a little guilty, but knows she can’t try to make friends when someone here is going around murdering people. She walks downstairs and sees the detective eating in the kitchen. She doesn’t see Edward anywhere for some reason. All of a sudden, she hears the detective scream.

She rushes into the kitchen, and sees a large cut on the detective, but he’s still alive. The woman with the katana is standing over him. “That’s what I get for using a katana… no way to make sure they die before screaming.” Veronica screams at the sight, alerting the woman with the katana. “Great, a witness.”

The woman swings her sword at Veronica, but misses, and says, “I’m Monique, by the way. Just thought you should know before I murder you.” Veronica hits Monique with a pan, but Monigue retaliates with a swift cut on her leg. Detective Sanders has a gun, but he’s too busy crying in a corner to do anything with it.

Monique is about to finish off Veronica, when two large hands grasp her shoulders, and throw her. Its Jack! “We gotta get out of here, NOW!”

Jack picks up Veronica and runs out with her, leaving the detective. “Why’d you save me?”

“We both know he isn’t gonna do a darn thing about it.” Jack sets Veronica down in a chair. “They’re going after Edward next; we need to get to the police!”

“They? As in more than one?”

“Sadly, three. Only two of them are committing the murders, though. Monique, and-” Gunshot to the back of Jack’s head.

Chapter IV: An Epic Chase Sequence

There is a cloaked figure with a gun, who says, “Oh, how I pity you.” They sounded just like Edward. Same accent and everything. But how? Jack had said they were going AFTER Edward.

“Who are you!?” Veronica screams.

“Your DEATH!”

Edward rushes through with a gun and shoots the cloaked figure. “GAH!”

“Come with me; we must hurry!” Veronica and Edward run out of the room, hoping to escape. Edward keeps his gun in hand. 

Monique lands in front of them with her katana, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Away from you!” Veronica says, and she grabs Edward’s gun and starts shooting, narrowly missing each shot.

“You aren’t very good with a gun, are you? Like your spirit, nevertheless.” Monique lunges, but Veronica dodges. The cloaked figure limps in with his gun, barely standing. 

Edward sneaks next to him and punches the figure across the face, knocking off the mask. It turns out to be…

Jeff!?

“Wait, lisp guy?” Veronica asks.

“That is correct! This hotel was in my family’s name for generations, but Gratsten murdered my father and stole it!”

“Now we will have our revenge!” Monique joins in.

“No, Monique, it’s my bad guy moment!”

“You always get the bad guy moments!”

“That’s because I was father’s favorite!”

“Whatever.”

“You guys done?” Veronica asks.

“Yeah,” Monique says.

“So, who is in charge?”

“Uhh, well, me,” Jeff says.

“Well, I guess that kinda makes sense. Nice fake lisp, and I guess your real name isn’t Jeff?”

“No, it’s Jefford. Wait, hey, we’re supposed to be killing you!”

“Let’s go!” Edward grabs Veronica’s wrist and runs out with her. They make it outside and see Detective Sanders heading into his car to get away.

“I’m outta here!” The detective calls out.

“Hey, wait, you can’t leave!” Veronica calls after him. Detective Sanders simply holds his hand out the window, holds up the peace sign, and drives away.

“Don’t worry, we have my car!” Edward tells her. Edward and Veronica step inside, and Jefford starts shooting at them.

As they get away from him, Monique jumps off a building and lands on top of the car, holding her katana in the roof of thee car so she doesn’t fall off. “Ohh, yeah!” she calls out.

“Hold on!” Edward tells Veronica. He takes a hard turn, and Monique springs forward and gets ran over.

“NO!” Jefford calls out. He starts shooting desperately as he catches up on Monique’s motorcycle. He’s catching up, and Edward takes another hard turn, causing Jefford to drive up a ramp and crash into a river.

“Wow, we actually did it!” Then they hear gunshots and Brock’s screaming. There was someone else in the mix.

Chapter V: The Puppeteer

Veronica and Edward ran to the area they heard the gunshots. They saw Brock lying against a car, and all of a sudden, a fire starts in the hotel. “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!?” Veronica calls out.

Edward helps Brock up, supporting his weight. When they made it out, they saw firefighters and police. “Brock, who did this?” Edward asked.

“I- i- it was ah, uh… a giant monkey with a gun! Oww.” Brock was bleeding out and needed serious medical help.

“Be serious, pretty boy. Who?”

“O- okay… it was…” Brock whispered something, just loud enough for Edward and Veronica to hear.

“Really? You aren’t lying again, are you?” Veronica asked skeptically.

“No, its the truth! It was the- owww.”

Edward approaches the police officers. “Officers, we know who is behind this!” Edward explains who it is to the officers, and they laugh. “You must believe me!” 

The fire was put out, and the officers scanned the building. All of a sudden, Detective Sanders comes out, and says, “It was him! The British guy!”

“What? I am English, thank you very much. And it wasn’t me!”

“You seem the most suspicious,” an officer says.

“You cannot be serious! It wasn’t him! He was with me when-” an officer pushes her to the side and grabs Edward.

“You are making a huge mistake!” Edward tells them. The officers don’t pay him any attention and arrest him.

They drive away. Brock is taken away in an ambulance, leaving Veronica on her own. “Well, this was a mess!” She kicks a pebble. “I need to find them!” Veronica gets in Edward’s car since she has the key, and drives off.

She arrives at a diner ;the car in the lot matching one of the hotel resident’s cars. She steps in and sees the old woman. “It was you!”

“I haven’t a single idea what you mean, deary.”

“You were the only one besides Brock in the hotel, but where were you when it was lit on fire and Brock was shot?”

“Why I was here, enjoying a nice meal.”

“Oh, don’t try that sweet old lady crap on me. I saw your car when I made it back after hearing the gunshots, and when I got out, it was gone.”

“Just like your life is about to be!” The lady pulls out a gun, but Veronica grabs the lady’s hot soup and splashes her in the face with it. The woman fires crazily, and Veronica tackles her and pins her to a wall. “So what if I’m responsible for a few murders? I didn’t do the actual killing!” The lady kicks Veronica away with surprising strength.

“How are you so strong?”

“I needed to be prepared.” The lady pointed her gun at Veronica, about to fire, when Edward jumped through a window and tackled her. He managed to disarm her, but a bullet was fired.

Chapter VI: The End

Edward rolled to the side, a hole in his gut, and the old woman reached for her gun. Veronica kicked it away, and the police arrive. “Crap!” The woman says, as she runs out. Veronica picks up the gun and chases after her. “You won’t take anymore from me than you already have! My husband was taken, then my daughter, and my son is a cripple now!”

“They were in the wrong!” Veronica calls out. The woman hops into her car, but Veronica shoots the wheels, causing the car to crash into a wall. The police see what happened.

“She killed that old lady!”

“Wait, no, officers, you don’t understand!”

“We understand enough!” The officers grab her, and the woman crawls out of the car with a shotgun.

“Wait, no, get her!” The woman starts firing the shotgun and takes out an officer. The others take cover, but Veronica grabs the handgun and shoots the old woman, killing her.

A few weeks later, Veronica and Brock, who is in a wheelchair, stand in front of Edward’s hospital bed. “So, uh, since Betty’s dead and all, you think we could ever, y’know, be a thing?” Brock asks. 

“Yeah, in your dreams,” Veronica answers.

A doctor walks in, and says, “I’m afraid he may not have long.”

Detective Sanders walks in, and says, “Ohh… um… this is gonna be awkward then.”

“You!” Veronica calls out to him, “You wrongfully accused him, and he risked his life for mine!”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Detective Sanders mumbles.

“Why are you even here?” Veronica asks him.

“Well, after this whole incident, the police station decided to pay for a vacation for you if you keep this whole situation, well, under wraps.”

“You got my friend murdered and just expect me to…”

“We’re in!” Brock cuts her off.

“It’s settled then! See you in a few weeks,” Detective Sanders says before leaving.

And so our Murder Mystery ends, and they all lived happily ever after except for most of them; well, only two of them, really. This is really bitter-sweet. Whatever. It’s over, nonetheless…

Or is it? BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM…

Gavin is a 7th grade writer.

Photo credit to Canva Ed.

I’m Not Going Back

If I had known that night what would haunt me for the rest of my life, I would’ve never gone. I wouldn’t have done anything I did. But I wanted to know where my older brother was going. Why was he sneaking out so late? Why wasn’t I invited? I wanted to know, but now, I wish I hadn’t found out. 

It was August 2nd around 3 o’clock, and I had been bored all day scrolling through TikTok. It was dark and rainy. I needed to do something. I decided to take a nap. Maybe my dreams will entertain me, I thought to myself. 

When I woke up, it was already 6 o’clock. My mom was home preparing spaghetti for dinner. And Kevin was clearing his schoolwork off of the table. Who does school work? It’s so boring, and there is nothing important about it. Kevin, my older brother, by the way, is the most boring person on the planet! He doesn’t do any sports; and all he does in his free time is read dictionaries which explains why he has no friends. I, on the other hand,  am a seventh grader, I play tennis and softball, and I have lots of friends.  Well, maybe not lots, but more than Kevin!

Anyway, after dinner, (which was delicious by the way) I texted my friends for a little bit and then watched TV. Eventually, it was ten o’clock, which meant off to bed. Soon enough though, it was midnight, and I couldn’t fall asleep. I probably shouldn’t have taken a three-hour nap, but it was Friday, so I could sleep in tomorrow if I had to. 

At some point, the door to Kevin’s room opened. I looked out of my partially opened door to see him dressed in all black. With his phone in his hand, I watched him walk quietly past Mom’s room toward the door. I knew I shouldn’t have followed him, but wherever he was going was probably more exciting than just laying in bed here. So I wore a jacket and followed him, not knowing the long night ahead.

We live in the country, so I knew wherever he was going, he wouldn’t be walking there. I followed him out to his little gray car. Accidentally, I stepped on a crunchy leaf. Crunch! Kevin turned around with a shocked look on his face. 

“Kathrine, what are you doing here? Why are you following me?” he asked quietly. 

“I couldn’t sleep. And if you tell me that I can’t come, I’ll go inside and tell Mom,” I replied stubbornly. He let out a long sigh. We walked the rest of the way to the car, careful not to make too much noise. When we reached the car, he unlocked it and we got in. 

“So, where are we going?” I asked, just now realizing that I had no idea. I figured that we were going to somewhere stupid like the 24-hour open gas station down the road, but I watched as we drove by it. “Where are we going?” I asked, more confused this time. There was nothing open anywhere, it was the middle of the night. 

After a minute he replied, “We’re going to grandma’s house. I downloaded a ghost-finding app on my phone, and I read some stuff, so I thought it would be fun to try it out once,” he said.

Wait a minute, ghosts? I’m terrified of ghosts! There is no way I’m going ghost-finding. Maybe, I can stay in the car and listen to the radio. No, that wouldn’t help, I can’t be alone in the middle of nowhere!

“Oh, yeah that sounds super fun!” I lied, “Are you sure it’s safe though?” I asked nervously.

“Don’t worry, the app will tell us what to do. Don’t be a chicken,” he teased. My cheeks reddened, I hate it when he calls me a chicken. After about ten minutes, we turned onto the gravel road our grandma used to live by. Soon enough, we were there. I got out of the small car, my legs shaking as we walked up to the old house. 

I chose to stay close behind Kevin who looked completely chill and not at all worried. As we walked up the creaking steps, I thought about going back to the car, back to safety and warmth. I didn’t want to be called a chicken. Kevin opened the door. Creak! A horrible, awful, wretched smell came out of the house. I gagged and Kevin plugged his nose with his fingers. 

“What is that?” I asked. It smelled like a combination of moldy pizza and dirty gym socks! 

“No one has been in here since she died; whatever was in here then, is in here now. It’s better to breathe through your mouth,” Kevin said, trying to sound confident. I could tell he was at least a little scared. We took another step, and Kevin got out his phone. He opened the ghost-hunting app, which had a little ghost icon. 

We walked into what used to be the kitchen. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. All of the dishes were put away neatly in the glass cupboard. There was a bowl of something, but I couldn’t tell what it was from all of the mold. Everything is where it was when she left. All of the family pictures were still on the fridge. It was like she had just left to pick up groceries or something, but she was gone. Kevin’s phone made a ding sound.

“What does that mean,” I asked, scared of what the answer might be. Please don’t mean there’s a ghost. Please, please, please. But I had no luck.

“It means there is a ghost or something around, we have to follow the arrow,” He said. I stepped toward him, his phone had a small arrow pointing at the stairs to the basement. A breeze came in from the still-open door. We walked to the stairs, and the floor creaked and groaned below us. 

Kevin’s phone dinged again. And again. There was something down here. I looked at Kevin who was staring at his phone. The arrow was moving back and forth, the ghost was awake and moving. We made it to the bottom of the stairs. I looked up and down, there was nothing to be seen except for the laundry machine. The arrow had stopped, pointing right in front of us. Air blew at my face from somewhere, Kevin felt it too. We looked at each other, terrified. 

Kevin’s phone died.  

We took a step toward the stairs, and an old vase fell right where I had been standing, just seconds before. We started to run up the stairs, but the door closed, and locked, before we could get there. We were locked in the basement of a haunted house in the middle of the night. I was terrified. It can’t get any worse, right?

Someone chuckled off to our right. Soon the chuckle became a laugh. And the laugh got louder until it was screaming! The screaming laughter continued. Kevin and I were frozen in place, staring at each other in awe. We stood for a little while longer, but soon I couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Stop! Please stop!” I shouted at the invisible ghost. The laughing stopped. I looked at Kevin, unsure of what to do next. 

“Umm, my name is Kathrine; this is Kevin. We would like you to unlock the door, please,” Was I crazy? I was talking to a ghost. But it must’ve been around 1 am, and I was getting tired and hungry. We waited for at least 5 minutes before the ghost answered. 

“Youhhhh, little Kathrine, all grown up,” he said in a raspy voice. “And Kevin, such a big boy now! Oh, this will be fun. I will have ghost friends!” As if on cue, thunder boomed outside. The ghost appeared from behind a bookcase. He was old and withered; he had no hair, and his shirt was torn to pieces. Kevin screamed. 

“Oh, so Kevin remembers me!” The ghost said in delight. Does Kevin remember him? Remember him from what? I stared at him.

“B-b-b-Barney,”  Kevin said. “When I was 6, I found a book on that shelf where Barney had come from. When I opened it, he came out. He thanked me and disappeared,” Kevin said shakily. The room became cold, and Barney became green. It started to rain. How it was raining inside, I do not know. I know that it was Barney’s fault. I reached my hands into my pocket to warm up. 

I felt something in my pocket, so I took it out to see. It was a bobby pin! A bobby pin could unlock the door, which would set us free. But would Barney come too? I didn’t know, but if I didn’t try, we could be trapped in here forever… 

I poked Kevin with the bobby pin. I looked at him to see if he knew what I was thinking. He nodded. I took a step up, acting casually so that Barney wouldn’t be suspicious. I took another step, and then I ran. I ran faster than I had ever run before. I reached the door and picked at it with my pin. Barney noticed. He began to run up the stairs too. I was too slow.

Barney started pulling at my jacket, but the amount of time he’d been down there had made him weak. Kevin pulled him off, right as I unlocked the door. We scrambled out and locked the door behind us. I sighed in relief, but I wasn’t out of the house yet. Barney was balling and pounding on the door, asking us to unlock it, but for some reason, he couldn’t get out. He was trapped. 

I took one last look around the house and decided when I walked out the door, I was not coming back. We went through the kitchen, and out the door. After we closed the door, Kevin and I sprinted out to the car laughing the whole way there. 

Even now, I still sometimes think about Barney, his ragged breath and wrinkled skin. Sometimes I have nightmares about him like he’s in my house or something. But I know for a fact that I will never go looking for ghosts ever again.

Death Trips

(Based on a true story*)

In the heart of a sleepy town stood the notoriously eerie Oakwood Hotel. Once a bustling place, it had fallen into disrepair, haunted by whispers of a resident ghost and an elusive serial killer, known only as Lady Death.

 On Halloween night, fueled by curiosity and daredevil courage, James—a thrill-seeker with a penchant for the paranormal—decided to investigate the hotel. Armed with a flashlight and his unwavering nerve, James stepped into the dimly lit lobby. The air was thick with the scent of old wood and dust, and every creak of the floorboards echoed like a whisper from the past. He explored cautiously, each step taken with both anticipation and dread.

 As he ventured deeper, the atmosphere grew colder. He passed through long-forgotten corridors, each turn leading him further into the heart of the hotel’s secrets. The faint sound of piano keys, untouched for decades, seemed to play a haunting tune, guiding him toward the main hallway. It was there, at the end of the hallway, that he saw her.

 Lady Death. Clad in a tattered black gown, her presence was both menacing and surreal. The dim light from James’ flashlight flickered, casting eerie shadows that danced around her—for a moment, time seemed to stand still. Then, in a swift motion, she began to charge at him, her footsteps heavy and deliberate. Heart pounding, James braced himself for the worst, but just as she drew near, the unexpected happened. Lady Death’s foot caught on a loose floorboard, and with a startled yelp, she tripped and tumbled to the ground in a heap of dark fabric.

The room fell into silence, broken only by the echo of her fall. James stared, wide-eyed and bewildered. The fear that had gripped him loosened its hold, replaced by a mix of relief and amusement. The menacing aura of the hotel seemed to dissipate at that moment, replaced by an almost comical absurdity. Gathering his wits, James decided it was time to leave. As he walked back through the corridors, the once-terrifying hotel seemed almost welcoming. He exited into the cool night air, a grin spreading across his face.  

*This is not based on a true story.

Caleb M. is an 8th grade writer.

“Death Trips” won third prize in the October contest: Horror Narrative.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: A Review

An old man, sprawled across the ground with his eyes torn out. Jacob runs toward it and finds that the corpse is his grandpa. Jacob travels to Wales after his grandpa dies to learn about the wonderful children’s home his grandfather lived in during World War II. He finds out that it was bombed a bit after his grandfather left to fight in the war and that all the children living there died. While exploring the abandoned house, he finds some peculiar things… and people.

This film had a 110 million dollar budget, so I was surprised that the director, Tim Burton, wasn’t able to afford better actors. Asa Butterfield (Jacob) did a decent job, but I felt that his face didn’t emulate Jacob’s emotions in different scenes. He seemed particularly worried about something in every scene; as if Butterfield didn’t want to be acting in the film. He didn’t breathe life into Jacob; he portrayed Jacob very flat, like he wasn’t a person, just a character from a script. That ruined the experience a bit for me. 

Ella Purnell’s (Emma) acting made me sigh so many times because it was incredibly forceful and not at all natural. She got “stuck” in a power line during the end half of the movie, and her flailing made me look away from the screen in disgust. However, she was done dirty by the hair and make-up department because they gave her an incredibly fake blonde wig; that drew my attention from what I was meant to be focusing on, the plot, to Emma’s hair. They also gave her the wrong shade of lipstick, as if that couldn’t easily be fixed. I don’t believe that she was at all the right fit for the character Emma, and I’m certain there were other actors who could have done a much better job. 

Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), however, was very well-portrayed. At first, I wasn’t sold on her acting, but it grew on me. She portrayed Miss Peregrine as a sort of quirky and intense character. I thought she animated Miss Peregrine and added some fun spice. Also, she was multi-layered in a way that wasn’t there in the book. She seemed inhuman in lots of scenes, but in a particularly sad one when she had to part with her children, she brought lots of sincerity. As she was saying goodbye, one tear dripped out of one of her eyes. It was beautifully tragic. 

The villain of the story, Barron (Samuel L. Jackson), did a good enough job portraying Barron as unhinged, but he didn’t make Barron stand out as anything other than a generic villain. Well, rather, a harmless-seeming villain. All the joke lines that were thrown in just made Barron look like a laughing matter, even though that seemed not to be the intention. At some points, I wasn’t laughing at the jokes that were made, and instead I was laughing at the movie itself. 

“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is a movie that should have been left as a book. Tim Burton changed a lot, to the point where he just needed to stop. However, that obviously didn’t happen, as we now have yet another uninspired D-list flick on streaming. I had very high expectations, given it was directed by Tim Burton, whose film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” I had just watched and rather enjoyed. None of Tim Burton’s quirky, weird, and fun personality shone through this movie. It was a movie that was very smothered in the creative department, but perhaps if the author of the book had been more involved, it would have been good. The movie was very predictable, which was odd since most of Burton’s films have weird unimaginable twists. Yet this one was very cliché, with lots of instantly predictable turns. If I hadn’t already known Tim Burton directed this film, I could never have guessed. I do suppose every director has one or two flops, and this was clearly a creative flop for Burton. Although, it was certainly a commercial success, grossing 296.5 million dollars worldwide, so not a total flop. 

The camera work is what brought this film to life, as opposed to acting, music, sets, and costumes. I loved the green and blue hues that were seen while Jacob was in Florida and Wales, which then transferred to peachy pinks and yellows once he traveled to 1943. It was like “The Wizard of Oz” in the way that Kansas was black and white but Oz was in color. I also thought the clever use of shadows was incredible, using trees and branches as fingers. All the thought that went into this was amazing. According to artofvfx “As a starting point we would base all our initial designs and ideas on a realistic foundation, backed up by real world reference.” That just shows all the effort that went into the camera work.

The main theme of the movie was “Don’t tamper with life.” When Barron tried to become immortal, there were everlasting consequences for his actions and all those he convinced to participate in an experiment with him. It was sickening to see them transform into these tall, long-legged creatures that looked like demented Barbies, as their faces had a surprisingly similar shape to those of a Barbie, and the limbs as well. However, that just shows what happens when tampering with the living forces.

The film was utterly unenjoyable to me, which is why I gave it a rating of 2/10. The sole reasons for that rating were Eva Green’s excellent acting in this blockbuster and all the well-done camera work. This film didn’t appeal to me, since I don’t enjoy fantasy horror films, but it would most definitely appeal to a fantasy lover, or perhaps someone who enjoys films with elements of horror and the quest for immortality.

Norah K. is an 8th grade writer.

Photo cred: Vanity Fair

That Halloween Night

Here it was again. Halloween. It wasn’t Emma’s favorite time of the year. She just didn’t find it interesting. She liked the horror, but Halloween had turned into this magical, cutesy day with a bunch of colors. Here is her story:

“Honey! Are you ready for school?” Emma’s mom yelled up at her.

“Yeah just give me a sec,” Emma replied. Emma had school today, so she’d better hurry. “Emma!” Her mom checked on her. 

“Yeah! Hang on,” she said again, grabbing something from her closet and throwing it on.

She pulled her hair back into a messy pony, went downstairs, grabbed a piece of toast, and headed out the door. When she got outside, she noticed tons of Halloween decorations. She really did not care for them.. A minion blow-up. A nice-looking witch waving at passers-by. Pumpkins painted like happy Disney characters. She walked to school, since she only lived about two blocks away, taking in all the cuteness. 

On her way there, she noticed something black in the bushes by Ms. Larson’s house. “Hello? She called into the bushes. What are you?” she asked. She was hoping for some sort of mystical intrigue.

“MEOW,”  said a cat. 

“Wait a second. That myth; if you see a black cat on Halloween, you are lucky; wait or is it unlucky?” For the sake of any Halloween fun, she wanted it to be unlucky, but she didn’t want bad karma. Karma is a cat, purring in my lap cuz it loves me.

She continued on her way to school seeing more Halloween decorations. She tried not to look at them though. She had had enough. They were everywhere she looked. It was hard not to notice all of the festive, adorable decorations. Blech!

When Emma got to school, she immediately saw her friends. 

“Hey guys!” she exclaimed running up to them. If anything could pull her out of the Halloween funk, it was her best friends!

“Oh hey Emma!” Lilly said.

“I love your shirt,” Elleigh said.

“Oh thanks; it says, “GHOULS AND GOBLINS,” said Emma.

“Wow, classic,” said Lilly.

“It’s the only thing I could find that was Halloween-y,” said Emma.

They walked into school and found their class. They sat down and started a lesson about pronouns. After class, her teacher announced, “If you are wearing black you may leave.” Yes! Emma liked that. She was wearing a black shirt and black sweatpants. She went with her friends since they were wearing black too. The rest of the class sat there, dumbfounded, but it turned out Miss Peterson was just teasing. Everyone else was out the door right after them.

When Emma walked into the cafeteria, she noticed teachers at the front. She got her food and sat down. Once everyone was seated, they announced, “Halloween trivia time!” 

“Oh great, I suck at this,” she said. Her friends, in fact, had not pulled her out of her funk. Guess she would have to do that herself.

She hadn’t looked much into Halloween since it turned so magical and “sweet.”“First question,” the teacher said. “What animal is said to be unlucky if you cross its path?”

Emma slammed her hand on the table and raised her hand crazily. 

“Emma?” said the teacher.

“A black cat,” she said. 

“That is correct! Come get a treat,” the teacher announced. “Actually,” the teacher went on as Emma walked up for her chocolate bar, “the fear of black cats and other black animals started in the medieval times. In the 16th century, it was believed death was imminent if a black cat laid on someone’s sickbed.” She laughed aloud. “We know that’s not the case. Black cats are just as lovely as any other domesticated feline.”

After lunch, Emma walked to science eating her treat that she got from knowing the answer about the black cat. Funny thing is that she just crossed paths with one that morning.

“Wow, Emma,” Elleigh said. 

“You must have really wanted a treat,” Lilly said right after. 

“Hey, back off,” Emma said. I actually saw one this morning, but yeah, I guess. And that one wasn’t that hard either.” Emma corrected. 

“You crossed paths with a black cat?” Lilly asked? “You’re in for it now.”

“Yeah, maybe we should avoid Emma,” Elleigh said. “We don’t want her bad luck to rub off on us.”

After school, despite the warning of the black cat, they all went to Emma’s house. They were going to be scary triplets for Halloween. They got into their costumes, had some dinner, and ran out the door to go trick-or-treating. 

Once they got to the first house, they saw a blow-up that was a “Paw-Patrol” character dressed as a vampire. Double blech. 

“Can we please skip this one?” Emma begged. 

“No, you’re fine,” Lilly answered.

“Ugh,” Emma agreed. 

She didn’t want to agree but whatever. They got candy and went to the next house. The porch light was red, and on the porch was cobwebs and what looked like a coffin. 

“Ring the doorbell,” Lilly said.

“You,” Elleigh pushed Emma forward. 

“You guys,” Emma said, walking up to the house.

As soon as she approached the door, there was a loud yelling and screeching as the coffin flew open, and a zombie popped out. All three girls screamed. The zombie chased them off the porch and off the lawn yelling and gurgling.

Once the girls caught their breath, Elleigh said, “I guess only tricks at that house.”

They all laughed. Emma looked up. The moon was bright, and maybe this night would be scary and fun, after all. They turned down another block. They agreed they had enough of this one.

“Wow!” Emma said, looking at all the houses around her. “These houses are all scary.”

She couldn’t believe it, so she ran around trying to find a house with not-scary decorations. She couldn’t find any. Her friends were almost dying of laughter when Emma saw yet another black cat.  It turns out, Halloween was not that magical anymore. It was… scary Or, at least to some people. Emma figured it out– it was all about perspective.

Cadence H. is a 6th grade writer.

Battle Birds

“If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world … They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks,” said Major Meridith, commander of the War on Emus. 

After World War I, many discharged Australian soldiers returned home to settle and farm, but the economic downturn in the early 1930s, coupled with the damage to Great Britain’s economy (on which Australia heavily relied), caused severe hardship. Then, the emus arrived. Twenty-thousand emus migrated south after the breeding season. They tore into the fields of South-Western farmers. These farmers were inexperienced, and the destruction added to the rampant poverty.

The soldier-settlers, as they were called, were aware of the effectiveness of machine guns. Instead of going to the Ministry of Agriculture, they went to Minister of Defense George Pierce and demanded the deployment of machine guns. Pierce agreed. He was going to start a war on emus. The government was less enthusiastic, but pressure from the population caused them to give in. Some in parliament considered this good military propaganda, so they sent a cinematographer from Fox Movietone to record the historic event. The government appointed Major G.W.P. Meridith of the Royal Australian Army to command this war.

Meridith began the first battle on November 2, 1932. The soldiers opened fire and the emus scattered. Two days later, the soldiers attacked the water source that the emus were using. Thousands of emus were clustered and in range when they opened fire. One of the guns jammed after a few shots, and the emus immediately scattered. Three days into the operation, only thirty emus had been killed.

In an attempt to help the soldiers, farmers tried to herd the emus using trucks. However, the emus were much faster than the trucks over the rough terrain. One truck even collided with an emu, but the emu survived and the vehicle was damaged. Major Meridith and his team attempted to mount a machine gun atop a truck and drive after the emus, but the emus outran the range of fire and escaped.

By this time, Defence Minister Pierce was in hot water with parliament. Many in the government said that if anyone deserved medals from this fiasco, it was the emus. They had “won every round so far” stated one member of parliament. On November 8th, 1932, just 6 days from the beginning of the operation, Major G.W.P. Meridith and his soldiers were recalled. Only 986 emus were killed and the soldiers had used exactly 9,860 bullets. The emus had won.

They still destroyed crops and were a nuisance to farmers in South-Western Australia. Eventually, the government sent soldiers back out into South Western Australia. They failed too; by now, more than 25% of farmers had abandoned their land. The problem was solved by one man, who had built a better fence. 

Ultimately, the war on emus stands as a curious and rather comical footnote in Australia’s history. Major Meridith and his soldiers may have failed to control the emu population, and the damage to the farmers, but the bizarre conflict served as a reminder that sometimes, unconventional problems require unconventional solutions.

Alex G. and Jonah I. are 7th grade writers.

They earned first placed for this essay in the September 2024 writing contest.

Violent Video Games are Impacting You

I’m in build mode trying not to get killed. All of a sudden, my avatar takes too much hit damage and I die. I throw my controller at the TV. Crack. Oh no! 

I swore. Only 2nd place? Why couldn’t I just have won the victory royale? “I was so close!” I scream. Just then, my younger brother comes into my room and starts teasing me. Wrong moment for that. I tear after him down the hallway and push him hard. He goes tumbling down the stairs. Double “Oh no!” 

This is what violent video games like Fortnite are doing to kids. Did you know violent video games increase aggression and cause negative thoughts and emotions? This means the people who are getting exposed to violent video games are actually harming themselves. 

Gamers do not think that violent video games make them more violent. They believe that violent video games can help them learn new things for real-life situations. They justify the violence by saying it prepares them for disaster situations. Just because they claim to be learning lifetime skills does not mean they won’t become dangerous and more aggressive due to exposure. 

Fortnite is one of the games that can lead to increased aggression. When you first get into the game, you want to land somewhere in the middle where a lot of other people are not landing. This gives you a good chance to go and loot guns and axes, bullets, health bottles, and shields. This game is about trying to kill other people and survive out of the other 100 people that load in with you. In this game, people also want to collect the most weapons, shields, and health to have a better chance of winning. Fortnight can lead to bad behavior like aggression and bad thoughts. Fortnight is also for kids that are 13 and older but according to Statista, about 45% of kids younger than 13 play Fortnight meaning that young children are exposed to violence at an early age.

It does not take a long time for people to become violent when playing violent video games. According to Roanna Cooper, “Although playing violent video games may not necessarily determine violent or aggressive behavior, it may increase precursors to violent behavior.” Again, violent video games lead to anger and aggression.

Many violent video games affect the brain. According to Healthy Gamer, “Previous research showed that just 10–20 minutes of violent gaming increased activity in the brain regions associated with arousal, anxiety, and emotional reaction, while simultaneously reducing activity in the frontal lobes associated with emotion regulation and executive control.”

Violent video games have the largest effects on teens’ actions. According to Atticus Kenny, 97% of teens in America play video games and 66% of that play violent video games. This increase in violent video game usage has led to more aggression and bullying, especially for teens.

Violent video games are just making kids more violent. It does not take long for gamers to become aggressive. Playing violent video games makes people more violent and makes them have a higher chance of doing other mean things like bullying.

Kate S. is a 7th grader writer.

Kate won 2nd prize for this essay for the September 2024 writing contest.

Photo cred to Canva.

How To Care for a Pet Parakeet

Have you ever wanted to have a pet parakeet? If you have, keep reading so you know how to take care of them. Hello, my name is Phoenix, and I will be informing you about how to take care of a pet parakeet. I have two pet parakeets at my home, so I already know the basics. I will be educating you about what supplies you need, how to train them, and other things you should know. I hope you find this educational and helpful.

The first thing I’m going to teach you about is what supplies you need to take care of parakeets. The first thing you’re going to need is a big enough cage for a parakeet, one a parakeet can explore a little. The next thing you need is a place where they can drink water; their cage should already have a place where you can put this. I recommend getting two water containers so they can take a bath in one and have a place where they can drink. You should have seeds for them and some millet. Also, you should get items they can walk on and a cuttlebone that they can peck at and scratch. Parakeets sleep standing up, so you don’t need to buy a place for them to sleep.

The second thing you need to know is training. You should spend about 30 minutes training with them each day. You should use millet as a treat for this purpose. I learned that parakeets really like millet. You should cover all sides of their cage except the side that is facing you. This is so they give all of their attention to you. One thing you could do is teach them how to talk; you do this by speaking really slow. Start with one syllable words first. For example, an easy word is “hi.” If you have time, you could place your finger in their cage, and after a while, they will get used to you. After training with them for a while, when they get used to you, you can open their cage so they can go out.

The final thing I’m going to tell you about is other things you should know. One thing is that I recommend getting two parakeets. If you get only one, it will get lonely, and if you get three, one will get left out because only two hang out with each other. You should refill their water and food about every day. Under their cage, there is a tray that you could pull out; it will have their poop, so you should clean it about every week. You should know that birds don’t really like having things on top of their cage. Here are some fun facts: they poop every 15 minutes and when they sleep, they will be standing with one leg. 

I hope this will help you if you get a pet parakeet. It has all the facts you should know about such as the supplies, how to train them, and other things you need to know. Also, I hope you like the fun facts. Most of this information helps with other birds too. Again, I hope this is educational. Thank you for reading.

Phoenix H. is a 6th grade writer.

Chicken Nugget’s Space Park

“Can you stop running!?” screamed Bob. 

Bob, Luke, and Austin were chasing Bob’s German Shepherd, Chicken Nugget, or CN. Luke was the one who gave CN a chicken nugget and was, therefore, responsible for his name. This was normal behavior for Luke because he liked to play pranks. Austin was in the back of the chasing group because he was the nerdy stay-at-home guy. He didn’t tend to get out and run a lot, so it was hard, naturally, for him to keep up. That was probably why Austin was breathing so heavily. The whole reason he showed up was because they are on Saturn. You see, Austin is obsessed with Saturn. Like, extremely obsessed. He has posters, books, and everything Saturn.

Furthermore, they are on Saturn because they are building a space park. The reason for that is well, CN. CN was getting bored a lot. He even became depressed. Bob wanted CN to have fun and now they’re here. Of course, Luke brought a 20-piece chicken nugget, and of course, CN snatched the cardboard case and ran off with it.

“Got you!” Bob exclaimed as he grabbed CN.

“Finally,” Austin wheezed, “we can get back to work.”

“Don’t be too sure,” Bob mumbled.

“I’m going to go relax,” Luke stated, walking away with his soppy chicken nugget container.

Austin argued with Luke. They argued for about 2 hours, by Bob’s annoyed estimation, but only 20 minutes, according to the watch. Then something nobody expected happened; Chicken Nugget barked.

“Woof!”

This would be normal for any other dog. Lots of dogs bark. The streets of neighborhoods everywhere contain the sound of dogs. Chicken Nugget, however, was not your average German Shepherd. 

Chicken Nugget was mute. He has never made a noise. Ever. He has never barked, yipped, or even whimpered. That means when CN barked everything stopped completely. The mute dog who never before made a sound barked. Bob was glad the noise stopped but still was very confused. CN barked again.

“Did CN just bark?” Austin asked.

“Yes, I think so.” Bob answered.

Those two tiny barks changed everything. Luke helped build. Austin got up and played with CN so he wouldn’t steal anymore chicken nuggets. The whole time CN, the mute dog, barked happily. The happy barking dog (and Luke’s chicken nuggets) put pep in their step.

“I say we name this place Chicken Nugget’s Space Park.” Luke suggested.

“I think that is an awesome idea.”

Everyone agreed.

“Woof!”

Jori M. is a 6th grade writer at MMS.