The Race

By Jennifer (Age 10, Hong Kong International School)

"Hey there, Catherine!" said Molly as she hurried to Catherine.

"Oh hi Molly!" said Catherine as she ran toward her friend. Suddenly, she felt cold. It started off from the shoulders, all the way down to her legs. It felt like a whole minute to Catherine, but it only took half a second in real life. Catherine felt like drinking a cup of hot chocolate, though it was summer, and they were outside in the hot sun. She felt herself tilting left, then everything turned black.

****

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"Catherine! Catherine! Wake up!" said a voice as Catherine opened her eyes and was blinded by the lights. "Are you okay?" It was Catherine's nurse, Mrs. Ralph.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Catherine, as she sat up from the sofa.

"What happened, Catherine?"

"Well, I was running, when all of a sudden I felt cold, from my shoulders to my feet, then I started to tilt, and everything turned black," she felt a sting on her forehead. "Ouch!" Catherine cried aloud, as she felt the bandage.

"You scraped your head," said Mrs. Ralph, as she gave Catherine a cup of water. "Now, where were you when this happened?"

"I was outside on the playground."

Mrs. Ralph got up from her seat and walked to her desk. She typed a few things and gasped. "Catherine, I want you to run from the couch to me." Catherine got up, and started to jog forward. It wasn't long before she had the same feeling again and fainted. "Catherine! You have a disease called myotonia congenita!"

"What is that?" asked Catherine as she got up from the couch again. Her head was throbbing, and she couldn't think correctly.

"Well, that means whenever you run, your muscles freeze up, and what that happens, you faint," explained Mrs. Ralph. "I must go inform your parents. You need to go home."

****

A few hours later, Catherine was home in front of a lot of worried faces. "Catherine, how could this happen?" said her mom. "Why didn't we know?" asked her dad. "Why has it never happened before?" asked her helper.

"I don't know," was the reply to all the questions.

"You will never be able to run again," said her mom.

"But the marathon of the year is coming up!"

"I know, but how will you win?" asked her mom. There was no reply.

****

The next day at school, everyone was buzzing about the news. "I heard that she will never be able to run again!" said a girl. "But the marathon is coming up!" said another.

"How will I win?" thought Catherine. "How will I win?" 

There was no chance she would win anyway. She was the slowest runner, and she would definitely be the slowest if she had this disease. From that day on she walked, hopped, and crawled, but she never skipped, galloped, or ran. 

On the day of the competition, it was raining, but everyone wanted the competition to go on. The rain was like an obstacle. When everyone got to their position on the track, there were many gasps when they saw the worst runner in the world. 

"How will I win?" thought Catherine. "How will I win?" 

Suddenly, the gun shot, and everyone started to run. As Catherine zoomed forward, she fainted, and woke up again. The others were halfway through the race already. Suddenly, a runner tripped and bumped into another runner, who also fell. Another slipped from the rain and three more did too. And because they slipped, they had no control of their direction, and crashed into five other people. There were hundreds of gasps, as the runners lay there motionless. Catherine walked forward. It took her a long time, but it was worth it. She had won. 

****

At school, everyone treated her even better. They complimented her, and were astonished that she had won. "Great job!" said Molly.

"Thanks," said Catherine. "I am actually proud of my disease, or I would have ended up in the hospital like the other players." 

"How will I win?" thought Catherine. "With my disease."

Rubber Ducky

By Jennifer (Age 10, Hong Kong International School)

"Hey, come over and give me a hand!" yelled one of the workers of the Friendly Floatees company. "Okay, be right there!" yelled another.

The air inside the box was thick, and covered with dust. Inside was pitch black dark. Some of my friends had been sent on this boat before, but I never knew I would be too. My friends said that this was the boat to life. You don't want to be treasure in the ocean when you can instead have an owner that will wash you, take care of you, and love you.

"I guess it is my time to live a new life too," I said as I felt the box sway on the angry waves. "I cannot wait!" I squealed to my friend Fred Frog, and my other two friends Barbara Book and Diana Ducky. "Me too!" Diana yelled back. "This is the gateway for a new life," I said to the others, but they could hear the tiny drop of nervousness in me. What if I got thrown away? What if they didn't like me?

Barbara, who was so smart since she is a book that can float, said to me in her mystical voice, "Do not worry, for the hands of God will guide the boat to safety, and there, God will find our perfect owners for us."

Suddenly, I felt myself sliding to the right, as the boat started to move. It was January 10, 1992, and it was midnight. I had been on the boat for six hours. Everyone was asleep, except for Barbara. She was praying and whispering something, but I could not make it out since she was so quiet. Then, out of nowhere, came a rumble as loud as a train. Everyone woke up: all the 29,000 duckies and other floating bath toys.

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"What is that?" I screamed as there was another rumble as loud as a tornado.

"STORM!!!" Barbara cried out. "DUCK EVERYONE, DUCK!"

"Why are we afraid of ducks? I am a duck myself!" I screamed.

"NO! DUCK!"

"I see!" I yelled, as I put my head to the floor like everyone else. We all huddled and slept, when suddenly I felt myself tilting left. I thought it was the waves, but then I noticed it was really serious.

"We are going to fall!" screamed Diana.

"I don't want to die like this!" cried Tom, as water filled the box. Suddenly, the box ripped open, and we all fell out like sand flowing out of a bucket with a hole at the bottom. We all headed different directions.

"Bye!" we all yelled to each other. My friends all disappeared into the mist.

To be continued...

The Wedding

By Jennifer (Age 9.5, Hong Kong International School)

There once was a girl named Clare who was still in high school but already had a baby! This was the night of graduation and she couldn't wait. But that wasn't all there was to be excited about, as she was going to get married right after the graduation! The music started, and she slowly walked forward to the groom. She could feel tears of happiness forming in her eyes. People were watching. Some were weeping, while others were just smiling.

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Suddenly, there was gunfire, and everyone screamed in horror as they watched helplessly as the groom collapsed to his knees and then passed away without another sound. Clare looked at her supposed-to-be husband in fright. "Who did this?" she asked. No one made a sound. "I asked, who did this?!" she screamed as waterfalls of tears streamed down her face. Clare's family rushed to her to help her cheer her up a bit. But nothing seemed to help. Clare did not know what to do anymore so she just started to run. Anywhere was fine with her, as she just wanted to get away.

The next day she found herself in her bedroom. "I must have fainted before I even ran a yard," she thought as she got dressed and went downstairs with her Alex Rider book in her hand called Eagle Strike. "I plan to find out who did this, just like how Alex did," Clare thought. So right after lunch, she zoomed to where the wedding reception had been to find clues. But all she found was an empty room with a trash can inside. She searched the trash 20 times, but there was only a candy wrapper and a tissue. Nothing helped at all. But as she was about to give up, she saw writing on the candy wrapper! She squinted at the tiny letters to try to make out what was said, but all she could read was:

Though everyone is excited about my wedding, I do not love this girl, but my parents are forcing me to, so I must kill...

Suddenly, things began to make sense! She quickly ran to the police station to make sure that the police didn't accuse someone for killing the groom. There was a person in jail who had been found with a gun. She told the police, "There is no criminal! The groom himself didn't want to marry me, so he tried to kill me so that he could marry someone else. This person here is the one that saved my life." She smiled at the "criminal" and he smiled back. He was her good friend John. A few days later there was another wedding, for Clare and John, and this one went perfectly.

Genie in a Lamp

By Jennifer (Age 9.5, Hong Kong International School)

As I opened my eyes, I noticed the sky was pink. I stood up and hit my head on the wall. Suddenly, I smelled something very familiar. I touched the smooth curved sides just to make sure I was in it. I could taste the weird odor one could smell when one opened the Bible. And I was sure I was in a ball.

I waited for three days and I almost suffocated when somebody bounced the ball and accidentally made a hole! So I peeked outside and shielding my eyes as the gleaming sun shone into my eyes. Suddenly I saw a creature with spots on it, wagging its tail back and forth while barking. "HELP ME!" I screamed, and luckily, the girl who bounced the ball noticed me and picked up the ball.

She said her name was Lilly and Lilly asked me who I was. "I'm a genie," I replied.

"Can I ask you for three wishes?" Lilly asked.

"Sure," I replied excitedly and listened to her three wishes: 1, To be the richest. 2, To be the prettiest, and 3, To have a perfect life. "Hmm... I guess I can do that," I said as I tapped my chin. "Close your eyes and think about your three wishes and check if they come true. So she did it.

After I granted the wishes, she was furious! You might be wondering why she hated her wishes. It was because everything was the same. "You are already as rich as you can get, you're already as pretty as you can get, and you already have a perfect life." Then, I think she turned wacko and then evil, because she was so angry. She told her dog to eat the ball!

However, I knew I could leave and be free, or I could die. So I came out, and ran as fast as I could out the window and onto the porch. It was a good thing. I kind of floated on the porch even though the genie magic was fading away, so no detectives could know who ruined their house.