My unfinished story:

I clung onto the ledge of the tower balcony for dear life, my legs dangling below me. I looked up in terror at the figure who had struck me down. How did I get myself into such a precarious yet stereotypical situation? I’m glad you asked.
My name is - or was - Evan Ahmed, he/him pronouns. My life was doing pretty great until I accidentally stepped through a portal to a magical world.
It was a windy Sunday afternoon, and my dark, umber hair blew wildly in my face despite it not even being shoulder-length. It wasn’t that long, was it?
I put the thoughts out of my mind as I shoved through the underbrush. There seemed to be a lot of bushes in my way, and it was starting to get tedious hacking at them. Couldn’t a guy take a walk to his boyfriend’s house in peace?
I eyed the gray and red weaved bracelet on my wrist. Neviah had a matching one, just with purple and red instead. It was a symbol of our bond. It sounded kind of cheesy on paper, but it meant a lot to me. He meant a lot to me.
I began to drift off into the infinite dreamscape of love thinking about his deep hazelnut eyes, his afro that seemed to get softer every time I ran my hands through it, and his mischievous smirk that never failed to make me blush…
…until I was shaken out of my thoughts by another bush slapping me in the face. Way to ruin the moment. Making my way through, I felt a chill run down my spine. Woah. What was that? I looked behind me to find a completely different environment behind me, the path I came from having disappeared mysteriously. I turned around to find a very strange-looking town in front of me. It seemed familiar somehow.
I struggled to comprehend what had just happened. One moment, I was taking my usual shortcut to Neviah’s place, the next I was in some sort of half medieval, half sci-fi village.
I wasn’t able to observe much more before a girl around my age jogged up to me.
“Excuse me, but do you need some help?”

Daily: I step into the crowd in the room. From all of the buzz, I hear something about a…trivia night? Next thing I know, I'm whisked away to another room with other campers. First question, why is the sky blue? I'm put up to the platform. “I-I don't really know, something about how blue is easily…something about how blue is easier for light to reflect?” I say. No one tells me if I got it right. Another person steps up. A girl, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. They ask her, who wrote the Gettysburg Address? “President Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln.” she says. Then she sits down. A boy steps up, with red hair and green eyes. They ask him what colors you can't see in a rainbow. I know this one. The boy looks around for help. He answers one part of it. I step up and answer the rest. “Ultra-violet.” I say. As a bonus, they ask me what color that would look like. I dig in my brain for it, I know that I've learned it in science class. “Um, red…?” I say. I step down. More questions get asked, and everyone in the academy files out of their rooms. My group was called the Lions. First place gets called, the Pandas. Second place gets called…the Leopards. Then the judge grins. “Just kidding. The Lions won second place!” he says. My team cheers like crazy. Who would have thought? I fit in already. (250 words in total)

Through the darkness, a horrifying shape started to emerge, turning and twisting viciously. It towered over me, bright eyes blinking in the eternal darkness. I blinked: what was it? It seemed to have changed form again, and now I couldn’t tell if it was just my brain playing tricks on me in the shadowy moonlight, I guess I hadn’t slept for at least 14 hours.
But still, I didn’t want to take a chance, so I fled. But somehow, even though I could vaguely remember how I got into this old abandoned house, when I got to the nearest exit, the walls seemed to have morphed in each other. Leaving no exit.
I was trapped.
Footsteps sounded behind me.
Clack. Clack. Clack
In a state of turmoil, I turned and raced frantically the other way, trying to escape the beast that was chasing me. The last time, I had blinked and everything around changed, so I blinked as fast as U could, heart pounding.
But it was too late. The demon from inside the mysterious windowsill had crept up behind me. All around me, crimson drops splattered to the ground, and I ducked. The stench of rotting flesh filled my nostrils and so I cautiously turned around.
There was the beast that I had tried to escape from. Large as life, with a gruesome head covered in a thin matted fur and sharp fangs that protruded from an ugly misshaped mouth. The claws were scratched and broken, damaged in action. His belly had a chunk missing, leaving on open gash with what looked like a life of its own. The legs were powerful and strong, looked like it was enough to kill anything that came too near for his liking. Me in that case.
‘Hey, there’, I whispered cautiously, backing away.’ Didn’t except to see you here? Well, I really must be going, I can’t be late for my …. meeting’
The creature snarled, and I jammed myself into the wall, as he moved in even closer.
Don’t let him hurt me. Don’t let him hurt me. Don’t let him hurt me. I willed.
A large throaty rumble escape from him throat. I wished the ground would swallow me up.
But maybe I shouldn’t have wished that, as the ground rumbled. Its lid open, and I fell into this endless, void abyss that stretched on forever. But the creature followed me….

2.8 daily

432 words

i continued the amazing, wonderful, spectacular, incredible, marvelous zura's writing <3
here's zura's writing that i continued


Some get sent into the world with a glitch in their system. Something that effects the way they function.

Some get special abilities and tools to use in the world.

It's peculiar, isn't it? The way this world works. And why Earthlings are such complicated little creatures.

I've done countless studies on Earthlings. They are rather confusing, but fascinating nevertheless. I enjoy studying them very much. I think my favorite thing to study is Earthling teenagers. They make amazing subjects. I've studied heartbreak, mental health, social media, relationships, puberty, mood swings, and nearly everything about Earthling teenagers. It's truly enthralling! I've learned more than many Earthling scientists have, but I'd bet if I went down and gave the information to them, I wouldn't last long. Or I would be held captive or used as an experiment. I shuddered at the thought.

“Hephzia,” Somebody called.

I turned around and repressed a sigh. “Yes, Master.”

“I need you to bring up the newest files from the Council. They need proof that Dr. Elxein's studies on Earthling toddler's is accurate. I reviewed them as well, and some information does not seem entirely accurate. You're the only other Alien who would be able to study these things,” Master said, waving one of her arms in the air.

I hesitated. “How did you gain access to the files. You know it's strictly prohibited, even illegal, for those outside of the council to view the files.”

Master pointed to her forehead.

I gasped. It was the mark of the council. A star with eight points. It was glowing on Master's forehead. “You made it into the council?! I never knew that you had any interest in doing so!”

Master nodded. “Yes, I never did bring up the subject. But, ever since I was a youngling, I've wanted to be a part of the council. Now I want you to know that just because I am part of the council, doesn't mean you're free of being my assistant.”

I nodded. “Yes Ma'am. I understand. ”Wait, you asked me to bring up the files. How am I going to do so without getting in trouble?“

”Do not worry about that. I will give you access to the files,“ Master replied.

”But that's is not allowed Master! You could get in big trouble, and even be kicked from the council and executed,“ I said, my eyes widening.

She shrugged. ”Yes, I am very aware of that. That is why we need to do this in private. I am going to prove these councelors that I am worth keeping on their Council."

We can’t possibly know?’ Lila remarked.
‘Of course, we can! There is clearly more wheels than doors in the world’, argued Jake
I shrank back, not sure to think. Is there more doors than wheels in the world?

- if anyone wants to expand on this for the daily loll

Weekly! I was very happy to do this Weekly, found it enjoyable, and is very excited for the next one!


Weekly - 2300 Words


Poetry - 300 Words

Free-Verse -

I felt the wind
On my face
It made me feel skinned
As I wait for my case

My life is like a movie
Without all the snacks
My father keeps saying groovy
My brother got a battle ax

I feel my life slipping
Right through the cracks
My stomach is flipping
I thought of those snacks

Sonnet -

I felt my heart beating,
Love in your eyes,
My soul close to completing,
I can’t help but think, I just got a prize.

My love never failing,
As I say your mine,
As I see you tailing,
As we’ve been together since nine.

I feel like i’m falling,
As you say I love you,
Suddenly I’m calling,
I love you too!

My heart is still bawling,
Even 6 years later,
I still feel like I’m falling,
You look good as a waiter!



Acrostic -
I live for the feel of the wind
May breezes twisting my hair
Happy faces surround me
Always staring out to sea
Party lights shining bright
Perfect girls skipping around
You know happy lights, never bound.





Villanelle ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA-

A - My soul never bound
B - Never sing alone on a mic
A - Something lost and never found

A - Funny days my brother crowned
B - Both life and death alike
A - The pile death on the mound

A - I feel It calling my sound
B - I then met a guy named Mike
A - I heard it calling my sound

A - Life slipping into the ground
B - Like I was falling onto a spike
A - Something lost and never found

A - My soul never bound
B - Both life and death alike
A - The pile of bones sitting on the ground

A - My body not safe and sound
B - Like I was upon that spike
A - I felt it calling my sound
A - Life slipping farther…into the ground.



Elegy Focus on death-

Fire burning,
Killing all,
Their stomachs churning,
Like shopping at the mall.

Necks being snapped,
Boys being stabbed,
Lips being chapped,
Friends being backstabbed.

Those are the tales,
Of oh so great people,
Out-of-jail bails,
Saddening the townspeople.






Essay - 500 Words

Which is better - Bananas or Apples?
Which is better - Bananas or Apples? {Yes, yes I will be giving you a 600 word essay about fruit. Don't question my choices, ok?}

Because the fruit is produced from a single ovary on the flower, a banana is actually classified as a berry, botanically speaking. A banana is an elongated, edible fruit - botanically a berry - produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called “plantains”, distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless bananas come from two wild species - Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa acuminata M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name for this hybrid, Musa sapientum, is no longer used. Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fiber, banana wine, and banana beer and as ornamental plants. The world's largest producers of bananas in 2017 were India and China, which together accounted for approximately 38% of total production. As you can see, these fruits have a vast and quite complicated history.

Now onto learning about apples. Apples are red fruits, as I'm sure you already know. An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree. Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found today. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe and were brought to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and European Christian tradition. Apples grown from seed tend to be very different from those of the parents, and the resultant fruit frequently lack desired characteristics. Generally then, apple cultivars are propagated by clonal grafting onto rootstocks. Apple trees grown without rootstocks tend to be larger and much slower to fruit after planting. Rootstocks are used to control speed of growth and the size of the resulting tree allowing for easier picking. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples. Different cultivars are bred for various tastes and use, including cooking, eating raw and cider production. Trees and fruit are prone to a number of fungal, bacterial and pest problems, which can be controlled by a number of organic and non-organic means. In 2010, the fruit's genome was sequenced as part of research on disease control and selective breeding in apple production. You can probably already guess what I am going to say. I'm saying it anyway. Now that you've read all about apples, you will know they are rather complicated and have a large history.

Now for the question- which one is better? On health and technical terms, a banana is much better for you than apples. This is because bananas have many more vitamins than apples. Making them healthier for you. But that's not what I'm basing the question off of. Sure, bananas are healthier- but I, personally, think apples are better than bananas.

<3





Script Writing - 700 Words

Fantasy-Horror type

SCRIPT -

Alarm clock ringing

DAISY: groans

MOM: Daisy! Come on, sweetheart, it’s time for your new school!

Daisy bolts up in bed

DAISY: WHAT?! Oh, no no no! I’m gonna be late!!

Daisy runs downstairs
MOM: Honey, how are you already in your clothing?

DAISY: I slept in my clothes for this exact reason, Mother!

Daisy runs around collecting items

M: Honey, aren’t you going to eat breakfast?

Daisy finishes grabbing her things, and kisses her mother on the cheek

D: I’d love to, but I really have to go! Sorry, mom!

Daisy yells back at her mother while running out of the house

D: I’ll see you tonight, Mother!

Daisy’s mother stares at her while she leaves

M: That girl…that crazy, flawed little girl. She has no idea who she’s running from.

Daisy appears running towards a white and light blue building, and almost bumps into a large group of girls

D: I’m sorry-

A girl with light brown hair and green eyes stares her down, scowling

One of the girls, one with blonde hair and blue eyes, mutters; who does she think she is, bumping into Scarlet like that?

SCARLET: Who do you think you are?! You cannot just walk in on people like that!

Daisy has a shocked, yet angry look on her face

D: I didn’t mean to bump into you, you rude…you rude apple eye! There's no reason to be so rude!

The outside of school suddenly gets silent. Everyone staring nervously at the two girls fighting

S: UGH! Do you even know who you're talking to?!!?! I am Scarlet, the MAYOR’S DAUGHTER! My father WILL hear about this!

Everyone stared nervously as Scarlet stormed by them, hoping they do not catch her eye

Blondie: Scar, we have to go teach her a lesson she will NEVER forget!

S: We will, Phaedra. We will.

Phaedra smiles at Scarlet, and Scarlet smiles back

S: Now, Fae, you know we just HAVE to go ‘talk’ to the younger kids, give them a surprise!

Fae: Oh, of COURSE, sister - of - another - mister!

Meanwhile, with Daisy

D: Goodness, why was that girl so extremely RUDE?

Daisy laughs it off and walks up towards the school

D: First day- I’m so excited!

Daisy looks around once in the school, wondering how in the world she’ll get to her classes

A boy she’s never met before walks up to her

Cal: Hiya, newbie! Want me to show you around?

D: Who- me? Oh, uhm, sure, I guess?

Cal: Great! My name’s Cal, by the way! Just thought you should know! A cutie like you should get to know all of the boys' names here- y’know, for when they ask you out!

Cal winks, and Daisy smiles shakily, wondering- ‘What is truely up with this guy?’

Eliza: Ok, no. Cal, leave the new girl alone! God, why do you HAVE to be so annoying to every new girl that comes here?! God!

Daisy stares at this red haired girl with green eyes. ‘She kind of looks like an apple, with her eyes as leaves’.

Eliza looks at her for a moment, grabs her hand, and pulls her away from the brown haired boy with brown eyes.

C: OH COME ON, ELIZA!

E: SHUT IT, CAL!

D: What- why- when- where- who-

E: Sorry about that guy. Don’t go near HIM. He’s a complete flirt, and a player. He may be cute, but he is NOT a good person.

Daisy looks back at the boy, what’s his name? Cal. Daisy looks back at Cal, trying to tell if Eliza is right. Sure enough, she sees him kissing one girl, sending her off, then kissing another.

D: I now officially hate Cal. It’s official. He’s SUCH a brat! I mean, what type of person kisses a girl, sends her off to class, and just immediately kisses another one?

E: Cal does. Everybody in school KNOWS he’s a player, so now he goes off on the new girls. You’ll see that there are quite a few new people every few weeks. It’s like he feeds on new people to keep him alive.

Eliza rolled her eyes. Daisy smiled at her.

D: Well, what’s your name? I’d like to be friends, if you don’t mind!

E: Well, I’m not popular or anything, but I’m Eliza! And, yeah, I'd love to be friends with you!

736 words


Non-Fiction - 800 Words Total
Two Types! 400 Words Each


Journalism -
Opinion - Informational - Journalism -

Covid Nineteen has made a large dent on the history of the world. It's been going on now for 2-3 years, and some people say they can't even remember a time without masks. Just this past week there's been millions of cases.

Covid nineteen has been part of everyone’s life since mid-March 2020, when most schools, businesses, and communities quite quickly changed how they operated to prevent the spread of the virus. Because the disease infected a large number of people all over the world, scientists and expert people call this a pandemic.

For over a year, many kids attended school at least partly from their houses; their parents might have worked from home, too. This was all to avoid catching the virus from other people outside their homes.

Lots of people helped their neighbors throughout the pandemic. First responders, like healthcare workers, police officers, and firefighters, kept people healthy and safe; essential workers such as grocery store employees, delivery drivers, and postal workers worked in-person to make sure other folks had what they needed to live. I find these types of people very brave and I am very thankful to those who risked their lives for others. Nearly 190 million people in the world have been infected by COVID-19, and more than four million people have died. But the good news is that the number of people getting the virus in the United States is going way down, thanks to testing, vaccines, and other preventative measures, like wearing masks and social distancing. I wish I could say everything was fine, and I wish I could sugarcoat things, but I can't.

Covid was something that came from China to the US. We cannot blame the chinese- that is NOT what I'm saying, but Covid Nineteen did come from China, as far as we know. Scientists don’t know the exact origin of COVID -19, and they might never have all the answers. But they do know that some diseases start in animals before spreading to humans. Cows, bats, and camels are among the animals that have spread diseases to humans in the past. With the first cases popping up in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The affected humans were all connected to a nearby market that sold live animals. You catch Covid Nineteen by being near either sick people, or another person with the disease. Stay safe, and use this information to your benefit.




Travel Guide -
Travel Guide - Mexico -

Mexico is an increasingly popular places, with people all across the world visiting and moving daily. But, if your a tourist who wants to know the most amazing and fun places to go to, you'll need a travel guide. Here are the top three places to go to if you happen to find yourself in Mexico :

Number One - Cancún and the Mayan Riviera

Lying along a beautiful stretch of coastline on the Gulf of Mexico are the resort destinations of Cancún, Playa del Carmen, the island of Cozumel, and beyond. Collectively these are known as the Riviera Maya.

This magnificent area along the eastern edge of the Yucatán Peninsula attracts some five million visitors each year, in the process generating huge tourist revenues. Despite these numbers, you're unlikely to feel like a part of a crowd due to the Riviera's wide beaches, endless crystal-clear water, and plethora of best all-inclusive resorts.

The area also boasts numerous fun things to do, such as dolphin and stingray swims; snorkeling among reefs and tropical fish; as well as scuba diving in the world's largest underwater museum, a spectacular collection of sculptures submerged at depths of up to eight meters.

Then, of course, there's the region's many ancient Mayan ruins, with some of the closest sites within walking distance of the beaches, while the largest and most impressive – Chichén Itzá and Tulum – are just a few hours away.

Number Two - Puerto Vallarta

Another of Mexico's increasingly popular beach destinations is the Pacific coastal city of Puerto Vallarta. Often shortened to just Vallarta, the city first appeared on the vacation radar in the 1960s as a play place for North America's social elite and has since become extremely popular among foreigners looking for second homes in a sunny, warmer climate. Many parts of it remain untouched by modern development.

Nowadays, thanks to the many things to do in Puerto Vallarta, the city is as likely to attract an older cruise ship audience looking to swim with the dolphins as it is younger travelers looking for adventure, found here in activities as diverse as paragliding and jet skiing.

For those who like vacationing at a little slower pace, the city also boasts many locations to shop for arts and crafts or to simply stroll along pleasant beachside promenades with their many green spaces and sculptures.

Of course, like any good resort destination in Mexico, you can't leave the city without visiting the best beaches in Puerto Vallarta.

Number Three - 3. Cabo San Lucas and the Los Cabos Corridor

At the southern tip of the beautiful Baja Peninsula, Los Cabos-often referred to simply as “Cabo”-is one of Mexico's top beach destinations. Consisting of a large stretch of coastline that extends from the towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo and known as the Los Cabos Corridor, this 30-kilometer stretch of pristine beaches attracts visitors the world over for its clear waters, diving, snorkeling, and fishing. It also hosts the world's largest marlin contest.

Numerous resorts have sprung up that cater to all tastes and budgets, from luxurious spas to golf-centered properties offering some of the best courses in North America. For the most part, however, Los Cabos most appeals to big-budget travelers. It is one of the luxury capitals of Mexico. In addition to spending time on the beaches and exploring Cabo San Lucas, one of the most popular activities is swimming and snorkeling around the famous natural landmark El Arco de Cabo San Lucas, a huge archway carved out of the coastline where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific.

608 Words

<3

Unfinished writing for today's daily.

This is from two years ago and it's pretty bad lol but everything else is only developed in my brain and not actually written down enough for someone else to be able to write something from. So… here you go:

Haylin stood stock-still in the reeds, waiting for fish to swim into her net.
She already had one net full, but was trying to get another for extra credit.
Today was the annual Veratown Learning Centre Advancement Day, and fishing was the last of the many the tests Haylin had to pass to get to Wilderness Survival Level 2.
As she stood by the edge of the swamp, her mind kept wandering.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
Grandmother didn’t think the Learning Centre’s Wilderness Class was a place for “young ladies”.
For a year now, Haylin’s older brother Tyde, who was now testing to get to Level 5, had been helping her sneak out, but there was always the threat of Grandmother finding out.
Once her net was filled, Haylin carefully and silently made her way back to the Wilderness Centre.
Deonn, the lead teacher and Tyde were already there, as well as a few people Haylin didn’t know.
Tyde smiled at her as she walked up with double the required amount of fish.
Deonn took out her clipboard and made a note. Haylin couldn’t be sure, but it looked like she had written a “200”

“I don’t want to wear that ridiculous dress!” Haylin shouted at Grandmother.
“When I was your age, on the normal continent, young ladies always wore dresses, no matter what.” Grandmother said, as though it was guaranteed she would get her way.
“Well, you’re not my age anymore, things have changed, and I don’t want to wear a dress!” Haylin hadn’t even noticed the insult to her beloved, magical continent.
“ You will wear this dress, or you will not go to the Learning Centre Advancement Day Celebration.”
Grandmother kept her voice calm, but Haylin could tell she was getting impatient.
Haylin decided to compromise. “What if I wear a different dress?”
“No, you can’t”
“Why?”
“Reasons.”
“Such as…”
“ The dress belonged to your great-great-grandmother.”
“That’s not a good reason!”
“ The deep blue colour matches your name, and your eyes.”
“I don’t like my name!”
“You will wear the dress, and why don’t you like your name?”
“Fine” Haylin grumbled, not wanting to explain her hate of her name.

Haylin literally means “Heron” but other meanings that can be taken from it are “Majestic”, “quiet”, and “elegant” Haylin didn’t like those meanings one bit.

Haylin grabbed the dress and stomped to her room. When she got to there, she noticed there had been a change: The desk had gotten bigger, and moved a bit.
Cool, I like it, Haylin thought.
Houses in Geltimal were like that. Always growing. Always changing to suit the inhabitants. Most of the house was suited to Grandmother, but the top level was all Haylin and Tyde’s.

“Argh, this dress is so long and tight” Haylin complained as she climbed back down the stairs.
She tripped on the long skirt and fell down two flights of stairs.
“What was THAT?” Grandmother shouted. “Young ladies are meant to be graceful.”
“It’s this stupid dress! I tripped-“
“Watch your language! Young ladies don’t say such things!”
“Sorry, Grandmother” Tyde said as he came into the room. He put his arm around Haylin. “She doesn’t mean to be rude.”
“Yes, of course” Grandmother said, although it was obvious she didn’t think so.
“You’d best get going.”

The Learning Centre wasn’t far away, so Haylin and Tyde were able to walk.
There was a way through the town, but the path through the forest was not only shorter, but also much nicer.
It was a little-used path that Tyde had found three years ago, and now they never went to the Learning Centre through the town. Most of the trees were old, but there were some newer shoots farther in, in an area that was burned in a forest fire a bit before Tyde found it.

She remembered the first time Tyde had shown her the path.

Nine-year-old Haylin was sitting in her room playing with her spirit dolls.
Twelve-year-old Tyde walked in, an excited smile on his face.
“Haylin, you need to see this” he said.
“What?” Haylin asked.
“You’ll see when we get there.” Tyde said mysteriously.
“Get there? What about Grandmother?”
“She doesn’t have to know.”

Haylin chased Tyde along the small dirt road they lived on. It was closer to a Learning Centre than where Mother lived, but Haylin sometimes wished they lived with her instead of harsh, strict Grandmother.
Haylin expected Tyde to keep going until the road intersected Veratown Main, but he stopped about ten feet from the intersection and crawled under the hedge.
Haylin followed, staining and tearing her dress in the process.
Grandmother wont be happy about that. Haylin thought.
They emerged on a path surrounded by a tunnel of trees.
Sunlight fell through the leaves in a dappled green glow that seemed magical.
“Isnt it amazing?” Tyde whispered.
“Where does it go?”
Tyde gripped Haylin’s hand. “Why don’t we find out?”
One way stopped at a dead-end not very far along, and the other way went into the village, two blocks south of the Learning Centre.

They took that same route every day since then.

When they arrived, the lawn area in front was already busting with kids. Most were between the ages of eight and eighteen, but a few were as young as four.
“Tyde! Haylin!” Their friend Loka called from across the field.
Her dark hair was up in a ponytail.
Loka was fifteen, the same age as Tyde, but even though Haylin was three years younger, they were still good friends.
Tyde and Haylin ran over.
Loka opened her arms and Haylin hugged the older girl fiercely.
Because they were at different levels of everything except swimming, they rarely saw each other.
“Haylin, Haylin, where are you?” she heard heard. It was Nila. “Come on, we have to go!”
“See you later” Haylin said to Tyde and Loka. “Good luck!”
“Good luck” Tyde said back.

Unfinished story for someone to use for the daily! I couldn't find one, so I just wrote one instead Multiple people can use this, by the way!
_________________________________
The night is daunting when it seems to last so look long.

A silver moon looks down from above, silently watching as I move down the cobblestone streets. The wind whistled behind me, like a shadow giving a warning whisper.

I ignored it.

There was nobody around. There usually aren't people out and about, not at this time. As I peer into houses, I see people hugging, laughing, enjoying each other's company.

It's something I've often wished for.

When did things go so wrong…?

The night is daunting when it seems as though it will never end. A cloud hides the moon, telling it to shield its eyes and look away.

I can't help but notice the echo of the wind's sigh, fading into the night.

My hands are trembling. I hesitate as I look onward, gritting my teeth, telling myself that this is the only way. After a moment, I let out a deep breath.

This is it.

I've arrived.

Unfinished writing for the 3/8/22 daily
(originally written in November 2021!)
+250 words, feel free to add more to the story!

I was alone, stranded on a beach somewhere. I was by myself, with nobody. It was sandy, and the sand was brown with light peach mixed in because of the tiny grains of sand that looked similar to gravel. There was a shore and blue waves lapping far into the distance. They say that water isn’t actually blue, it’s more of a clear color. This is because of the sun reflecting off of the waves. So as I stood amongst the shores, behind me was a small rock formation that was gathered in little clumps. The rocks were grey. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and it was daytime on this shore. And my hair was being blown back by the salty wind. I was standing alone, on the shore. It was just me, and the waves. I was driving a speedboat. (It was a motorized speedboat.) The water splashed behind me and I felt the wind behind my hair. I had a life jacket on, an orange one. The speedboat was white, but the handlebars were simple. It zoomed all the way across the waves, with the handlebars and the steering wheel not flying off, surprisingly! There was even a padded white seat and a configured seatbelt to hold and strap me safely into place. I sighed and gripped the handlebars. Time for me to take charge of this once and for all. I turned on blast mode and hydro, and we zoomed through the water as fast as

I’m not the type to wake up 9:00 in the morning but I had a pretty scary nightmare, But I don’t remember the nightmare so I let it slide my mind, I brushed my teeth took a bath and everything a normal teenager does. Today was my best-friend’s so I took the pink pastel glowing cat ear headphone’s she’s been wanting for weeks, So I wrapped it up and gave it to her when I reached school she’s the kawaii cutie type while I’m your cliché tomboy who’s always surrounded by girls and guys I mean I do enjoy the attention but some-times I just want to be left alone by myself well let’s just enjoy the attention while we still have it right? The bell ringed so I excused myself and ran over the corridors and somehow reached class in time. Everyone expects to me to be perfect and amazing, But can’t anyone the pressure under the surface? I feel berserk as a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus…It just pains, Forget that! After class a friend of mine ran over and gave me a tight hug “What why?” I asked my words filled with curiosity, she replied with a bright smile which even the sun couldn’t copy “You got first place in the annual exam rankings!” “What’s new? I always get first place.” “Shouldn’t you at least smile?” I somehow forged a fake smile and walked away, I heard my name in the Announcement “Lea Catherine’s come to the principal’s office. I knew I couldn't be in trouble so I went to the office and saw a pretty girl with a pastel purple turtle-neck with blue sweat pants and beige high-heels on look and I fell in love with her I could notice her blushing the principle noticed, I mean she was bisexual so yeah (The principle is me lol) And that was the beginning of our LONG love story. || After their marriage || ”Sweetheart can you buy some chocolate?“ Said my wife Ava ”There already some in the fridge, love“ I replied dryly ”Mom, Mom!“ My daughter Olivia said, ”Yeah?“ I replied ”I got A+ In all my exams!“ She said, her words filled with excitement ” Oh ! good job how much money do you want ?“ ”Mmhh“ she pondered ”100 dollars!“ ”And here you go" I said as I handed her the hundred dollars _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Half my stories are love stories even though I'm single XD
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Words - 370 ! || Cabin - non-fi ||

Unfinished story!! Multiple people can do this!

I had never seen such a thing. Now, in my 11th year of life, this thing stood right before me. It looked like someone's face was engraved into a rock, but for some reason, the rock was alive. I got shivers up my spine. It had two pointy rocks on the side of it coming out of the sides, and two pointy rocks coming out of the bottom. It kind of looked like arms and legs. I didn't know whether I was imagining this or not but the face on the rock had a totally different expression. It had, the smile of a clown…

From @opheliio: Newspaper clippings crowd her floor. So many, piles upon piles of stories. Photos. Cold cases. Anything that could possibly be related to him.
Anything that could possibly be related to me.
As they scour the room, looking for evidence to use against her, one in their team stands apart.
“This isn’t right.” Their voice rings through the room, making it colder somehow. “Something’s missing. This is—was more than a story to her. It was an obsession.”
Someone doubts them, you can sense it in the air. But he holds his tongue, not daring to voice any concern of his. Second guessing them never turns out well, and I should know.
Unfortunately, not everyone does.
“How would you know that?” An intern, not well acquainted with the inner workings of this team. Without the knowledge that while this member of the team isn’t the leader, they call the shots. They make the rules.
They turn on him. “I’m the one who brought you here, all of you, and you doubt it?”



“I-I didn't mean to!” he replies, cowering below the steely gazes of the others.
“Good.” The leader spins, picking up one of the papers and crumpling a bit between his fingers.
I clench my fingers together, resisting the urge to swoop down there and pull that precious paper from his dirty fingers. But alas, I must stay up here, hidden within the rafters. It's not as if I'd be able to influence anything in their world anyway.
The team continues scanning the room, paging through the articles. How could they be so oblivious? They're missing the most obvious conclusion; it's right in front of them.
I sigh, settling even deeper into the dark wood of the rafters. They may never find out the true solution to this case, not if I don't help them.
My new ghostly powers could be quite helpful in this situation…
The leader stops mid sentence as a newspaper blows towards him in an unusually strong gust of wind.
I grin as he takes the bait, picking the paper up and not-so-carefully unfolding it.
“The obituary for… the man who lived here?” he says slowly, his words filled with cloaked questions.
He scans the page, eyes darting from one clue to another.
Turning to his team, or, as he would probably say, his sidekicks, the man announced, “I know what we need to do.”
In a hurry, the detectives file out of the house, speeding away in their cars with the sirens (unnecessarily, I might add) wailing.
I can't help but be interested in where they will go from here, and I slip my spirit through the crack in the window, rushing through the air after them.
I call upon the wind to help me along, and its cold fingers seem to slip into my very soul as it pushes me forwards, helping me to gain on the fleet of police cars.
Finally, trembling with anticipation and cold, I catch up.
I latch myself onto one of the cars' roofs, a small thump sounding as the hardened air surrounding me pushes into the car.
Swerving into the station's parking lot, the car screeches to a stop, and I fall forwards, scrabbling for a grip on its hard roof. As I hurtle off of the top, I suddenly remember that I can float.
The detectives are chatting with each other, something about exploding watermelons, as they obliviously hold the door open for me.
Little do they know, this case will change everything.

Daily 3-8-22
Luna’s start: As the war raged on, the sinking sun cast it's golden light on a small, lonely cottage. Out in the distance, soldiers fight bloody battles to the death, knocking down brothers and friends and enemies alike.

But one soldier chooses to separate from the rest. He sneaks away, turning into the thicket of green leaves that make up the deep forest nearby. As he follows the cobbled stone, he arrives at the wooden cottage with a sign.

Pulling off his blood-stained armor with a grunt, the soldier calls, “Narik, I'm home!”

Another man, coppery skinned with dark brown curls and shaggy blue clothes makes his way out of the cottage, his eyes widening at the sight of the soldier. “Akan!” Narik calls, waving wildly at his boyfriend with a bright grin.

Akan smiles as Narik meets him on the path. “Is the war won already? Are we safe?” Narik asks.
Akan’s grin fades. “No.” he says, then looks over his shoulder. “But it’s best if we discuss this inside.”
Narik casts him a worried look, and as soon as they are inside, he turns around and looks at Akan, almost accusatory. “What did you do?”
Akan sits down with a sigh. “I couldn’t. There were people everywhere, killing each other. Nothing but screams and blood. I didn’t want to be there, I was forced to.”
“I know.” Narik remembered all too well the night that the messenger had come. The idea of losing Akan had been too horrible and, in that moment, too real. “So… you left?”
“The battle is on the outside of the woods.” Akan said. “I left, and came home. I promised you that I’d come home.”
“They’ll come find you, and kill us both!” Narik turned toward the door, as if the soldiers were already coming to the door, weapons at the ready. “Why did you leave?”
“I saw my brother.” Akan’s voice was quiet, and he turned away so that Narik wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes. “He was with the other army, only a few feet away from me. I called for him, told him that he was on the wrong side, and he turned toward me, and-” Akan broke off, then pushed ahead, forcing himself to finish the sentence. “Another soldier of the Kingdom killed him.”
Narik took Akan’s hand. His anger at the danger that Akan had put them in had faded, despite that the threat still remained.
“I’m sorry,” Narik whispered, kissing Akan gently. “Is that why you left?”
Akan nodded. “I couldn’t keep killing. That’s all this is. It’s not a fight for our freedom, it’s a reckless, useless slaughter of innocents. My brother made some bad decisions that landed him on the wrong side of the war, but in the end, we’re all innocent.”
Narik had no response. There was nothing he could say or do, nothing but sit beside Akan and help him through his grief.
Days passed, and Akan began to smile again. Not much brought him happiness, but whenever his expression brightened, Narik had to hide a smile of his own. A week passed since Akan’s return, and they both began to think that they were safe.
They were wrong.
Two weeks after the battle, the door of the cottage was flung open. The soldiers burst through the doors, and Narik ran to meet them.
“What is this about?!” he asked, alarmed, though he knew exactly what they wanted. He tried to keep the fear out of his voice.
“Where is he? The traitor?” one of them asked angrily, swords drawn.
Akan ran up behind him, and the three soldiers immediately moved towards him, ready to kill. Narik tried to stop them, but he couldn’t. In a matter of seconds, Narik fell to the ground, blood soaking through his shirt. Weapons flashing, the soldiers pounced forwards. Unarmed and outnumbered, Akan didn’t stand a chance. The soldiers left the two men lying on the floor of the cottage, bleeding. They walked away, confident that they would die.
Narik was already dead.
Akan, with his last strength, pulled himself across the floor and touched Narik’s bloodied fingers

419 words continuing @melovesushi's writing:

“Ah, uh, yeah, some help would be great,” I saay. Usually I would try to figure things out myself, at least first, but… was I just teleported? Who knows? There's no way i can figure /that/ out for myself. So, asking for help it is.
The girl smiles at me, laughing a little. “Yeah, they all do.”
“Huh?”
The girl doesn't answer. All she says is, “Follow me.”
Reluctantly, I do.
This girl leads me into this building. It's large, made mostly of stone, but somehow it's very high-tech at the same time. One things for certain, it's like nothing I've ever seen before.
The girl doesn't turn back once. She just walks forward, clearly with purpose, long red-brown hair bobbing gently behind her. Something must make her trust that I will follow her. I wonder if it has anything to do with the “Yes, they all do,” that she gave me. This whole situation is incredibly confusing. By now I must be late. Well… assuming time is still moving in the same way. Which, for all I know, it isn't.
“We're here,” the girl says, coming to an abrupt stop in front of a wooden door with a rounded top and some sort of keypad imbedded in it. It reminds me of Star Trek. The girl presses her palm to the keypad, before tapping out a series on various buttons that appeared at her handprint. Then, the door swings open.
On the inside, four men sit around a transparent table. It's a very strange table, and I can;t exactly tell how it works. It's very obviously /there/ but I can't explain how it's there. Just like everything else in this place.
“Hello, Evan Ahmed,” two of the men say in unison. Well, that's creepy.
“How do you know my name?” I ask. Obvoiously that isn't the only creepy part, but it's the only one I can ask about without sounding rude.
“How do you know your name?” The other two men ask, also in unison.
Honestly… that's a pretty good question. I've never considered that before. Probably the same way I can speak English, or walk, or anything else I learned by observation and accustomization.
“I think it's rather normal to know your own name,” I finally say. “It's definitely more normal than knowing a random kid's name anyway.”
All four men laugh in exactly teh same way. “Oh, you're not a random kid,” they all say.
Alright, this unison thing is getting /seriously/ disturbing.
“You've been chosen.”

Weekly .1
(Total word count- 2814)

Part One: Poetry (311 words)

Poem 1: Fire
(Haiku)
13 words

Flames of blazing light
The world engulfed in embers
Only ash is left


Poem 2: “Goodbye”
(Blackout poem of page 354 from Darkstalker by Tui T. Sutherland)
42 words

All the powerless control
All things never been
Everything I did
For our future

Can’t you trust me?

A breath
You were always this way
I tried to save you

Her fury
Flooding through her
“Good-bye, my love”
Her whispered blackness
Gone

(I do have a copy of the page with the words blacked out, if you need that I can attach a photo - don’t worry, I didn’t desecrate a book, I typed the page into google docs and highlighted the words I wanted to remove with black)


Poem 3: Waiting
(Elegy)
54 words

Cold breath, cold hands
A seat by the window
Watching, waiting
“Where are you”
She says.

Cold heart, cold soul
Always by the window
Hope slipping away
“Come back to me”
She says.

Her whispers barely audible
Echo in the moonlight
Cold words, cold tears
Frozen on her face
“I need you,”
She says.


Poem 4: Stargazing
(Acrostic)
67 words

Stars. Pinpricks of light speckling the-
Tar-black sky, illuminating the vastness of what we cannot see-
Above our heads.
Rays of silver falling from the far-away moon, coating the darkness in a subtle-
Glow.
A lone girl, watching the-
Zillions of stars, spiralling and orbiting-
In the expanse of the universe,
Never failing to spot the constellations that sparkle and wink as she-
Gazes at the sky.

Poem 4: Regrets
(Pantoum)
135 words

I remember the time we first met
Engulfed in moonlight, I begged you to stay
But you were the rose and I was the thorn
The smoke shrouding secrets best kept hidden away

Engulfed in moonlight, I begged you to stay
I had never foreseen it would end up this way
The smoke shrouding secrets best kept hidden away
Falling for whispers of broken desire, decay

I had never foreseen it would end up this way
The flames of our legacy burning our souls
Falling for whispers of broken desire, decay
Rebuilding a future from all of our scars

The flames of our legacy burnt up our souls
After all, you were the rose and I was the thorn
Rebuilding our future from our broken parts
Sinking in regrets from the time we first met

Part Two: Essays (501 words)

Why you should eat mangoes every day
(501 words)

Should you eat mangoes every day? Some think that eating such a sweet fruit so regularly can’t be good for you. Yes, mangoes can contain a lot of sugar. But fruit sugar is different from processed sugar because it’s balanced out by fiber and nutrients that help your body. Mangoes are actually really healthy, and paired with their amazing taste, mangoes are a great way to boost your health. There are so many ways to add this delicious superfood to your diet - you can have them fresh, dried, blended into a smoothie, or in a sorbet. You can even get mango chutney and mango jam! Mangoes are essential to our daily health, and contain so many great nutrients. And if you don’t like mangoes, you can always drink a tea of boiled mango leaves to help regulate insulin levels! And even if you ate a different variety of mango every day, it would still take over a year to try the many mango varieties grown worldwide. Eating a mango every day will make you feel so much happier and healthier, and will definitely be worth it.

How exactly are mangoes so good for you, then? Mangoes are high in Vitamin C, which is essential for your immune system. According to healthline, one cup of mango contains 76% of how much Vitamin C you should get in a day. Mangoes are also rich in Vitamin A, which boosts the health of your bones, skin, eyes and immune system. And if that wasn’t enough, mangoes also improve digestion, help in maintaining cholesterol levels, cleanse the skin and regulate diabetes. It can even improve concentration and memory! This amazing fruit can also help fight cancer, as mangoes are a high antioxidant fruit and do an incredible job of suppressing cancer cells, reducing the risk of many different cancers. Mangoes are also helpful for supporting your cardiovascular system, and are a great source of magnesium and potassium. They’re also cooling and protect against heat stroke - perfect to eat on a hot summer's day!

Mangoes help your body in so many ways. They can unclog pores and they give your skin a healthy glow. They’re a superfood, and they can help with weight loss. They can protect against so many diseases and help your immune system. And they taste great! What more could you want? This sweet tropical fruit is a great substitute for sugary junk food, too. Candy is really unhealthy and not good for your body at all, but mangoes taste just as great and are way better for you. Dried mango slices are a great snack to eat instead of cookies or potato chips. You can drink mango smoothies instead of fizzy drinks that are stuffed with sugar. Mangoes are tasty, juicy and packed with all the essential things your body needs. Sliced, dried, mashed, juiced, smoothie-d, cubed, peeled, diced, grated, in a salad, or just fresh, mangoes are an essential superfood that you should eat every day. You will not regret it!

Part Three: Script Writing (1058 words)

Elise
(1058 words) hhh I know I went a bit overboard-

(Note: The original story was something I wrote for a weekly last session, about a thousand or so words. I can attach the original if you need proof.)

The stage is set up as a bustling museum. People are coming and going, chattering quietly, observing the paintings. A group of students is at the front, ZARA, ARI and KIERA standing a little way off from the others.

ZARA
This is stupid.
ARI
I know, right?
Flicks hair over her shoulder
KEIRA
Ewww, is that ketchup on the ground? Oh my god, Ari, did you just step in it?????
ARI
I did not. (indignant)
Flicks hair
ZARA
Rolls eyes
Let's go.
Starts walking away
ARI
Where?
ZARA
Shrugs

ZARA, ARI AND KIERA start pushing their way through the crowd

ZARA’S phone suddenly starts ringing

KEIRA
Who’s that?
ARI
Pick it up!
ZARA
Reaches into pocket, and takes out phone
I- I’m not sure if I should (scared)
KIERA
Reads over shoulder
Who’s El- Elise? Who’s Elise?
ARI
Why is your phone so dark? Turn the brightness up, I can’t see. (curious)
ZARA
Guys, I don’t think I should pick this up. (uneasy) I- I’ll be in trouble.
KIERA
The teachers can’t see us from all the way over there.
ZARA
Let’s … go somewhere else. Through here.
Sets phone onto silent and puts it back in her pocket
KIERA
Zara, you’re hiding something. We can tell.
ARI
I know, right? I definitely knew that.
Flicks hair
ZARA
I’ll tell you later. Come on.

ARI, ZARA and KIERA walk to the other side of the stage

ZARA takes out her phone and stares at the screen, hesitant.

ARI
So who is Elise?
ZARA
(hurriedly) No-one. I’m… hungry. Does anyone have any food? (desperate to change the subject)
KIERA
I think there’s an apple in my bag. (pause) Zara?
ZARA
What? (defensive)
Hangs up on Elise’s incoming call
KEIRA
Geez, no need to be rude.
Rolls eyes
ZARA
Well, I’m sorry. (annoyed)
ZARA
Through here.

ARI, ZARA and KIERA open a door and walk offstage

LIGHTS DOWN. Set changes to a quiet room full of paintings, with pristine white walls and no furniture. There’s only one small group of people there, talking quietly next to a painting. LIGHTS UP.

ARI, ZARA and KIERA begin to walk through the paintings.

KEIRA
You still haven’t told us who Elise is.
ARI
Yeah! Tell us!
ZARA
(stammering) Ummm, did you, uh, did you hear about Michayla? And how she, um, how Charlotte stole her, her lunch? And then-
ARI
Oh yessssss, and then Michayla threw the water at her!
KIERA
And then the teacher found out and Charlotte got in trouble, yeah we know. Girl, that's old news.
ARI
THE TEACHER FOUND OUT? Kieraaaa, why did you never tell me that????
KIERA
Rolls eyes
Fine, so- (mimes explaining the rest)

ARI and KIERA fall behind as KEIRA mimes explaining to ARI.

ZARA’S phone starts ringing again

ZARA moves upstage, blending into the group of people by the painting. She picks up the call.
ZARA
(scared) H-hi Elise

ZARA listens as Elise responds. The audience can’t hear what Elise is saying.

ZARA
E-elise I’m sorry, truly, I-
ZARA
I had to- Elise, don’t you see-
ZARA
It’s not my fault you got in trouble- but I didn’t tell- even though you were breaking the law, Elise, even though you had done it so many times before, no matter how much you hurt me I never told anyone! Don’t you trust me?
ZARA
Well, I don’t trust you either. I- I’m not scared of you! (angry, scared)
ELISE
(cold) You’re terrible at lying.
ZARA
Sorry, I’m clumsy, I must have accidently put you on speaker, let me just- (frantic)

KIERA finishes her story and releases ZARA isn’t with her and ARI. KEIRA and ARI turn around and jog over to ZARA.

ARI
You still haven’t told us who Elise is. Honestly, I thought we were friends.
Flicks hair
ELISE
Who’s this? (suspicious)
KIERA
She’s Ari - Arielle - and I’m Kiera. Zara’s been avoiding picking up your call for ages.
ELISE
Has she? Oh, what a shame. Are we not friends any more, Zara? (cold, malicious)
ZARA
I-
ELISE
Those brats with no brain cells could never satisfy you, Zara, and you know it.
ARI
Hey! Rude! Zara, I do not like this Elise of yours.
ELISE
Well, that's nice, because I don’t like you either. (pleasantly)
Pause
Let’s get on with it. You told your parents about me, Zara, didn’t you? That you didn’t want to be around me any more? Regretting it yet?
ZARA
I didn’t tell them!
ARI
(uneasy) Maybe we should go back to the group.
ZARA
Yeah- Bye Elise.
Hangs up.
KIERA
That was intense. What happened between you two?
ZARA
Nothing, it's nothing. She just thinks I told on her for… doing something. She wants payback.
KIERA
(awkward) Well, um, you still want some food?
ZARA
I’m not hungry.
KEIRA
Umm…. where’s the rest of the group?
ARI
I don’t know. Where should we go? (nervous)
ZARA
Over here?

ARI, ZARA and KIERA walk over to a door marked ‘STAFF ONLY’
KIERA
Here. It might be a shortcut.
ARI
You… sure? (hesitant)
ZARA
It’ll be fine. Come on.

ARI, ZARA and KIERA open the door and slip inside.
LIGHTS DOWN. Set changes to a room filled with dusty cardboard boxes. EMMA is sitting down by the wall. LIGHTS UP.
ARI, ZARA and KIERA walk on.

EMMA
Stumbles to her feet
H-hi? (nervous)
ZARA
Hi Emma.
ARI
Hey, nerdy girl. You have any food?
ZARA
I thought Kiera said she had a-
ARI
Nevermind.
KIERA
Oh my god, is that a drink bottle? The water fountains here are just so gross. Do you mind if I-
Picks up drink bottle from beside EMMA
ZARA
Goes rigid
I- fancy drink bottle-
KIERA
What is the matter with you?
ZARA
E- elise… She had one (voice turns to a hoarse whisper) exactly like it.
KIERA
Are you like having a panic attack or something? You okay??? (worried)

ZARA bumps into KIERA, who drops the drink bottle. Water splashes all over everyone, completely soaking EMMA, ZARA and KIERA and getting water on ARI. KEIRA and ARI scream, EMMA stumbles backwards into a cardboard box, sending other boxes tumbling down. KEIRA, ARI and EMMA try to dodge the falling boxes. ZARA’s phone suddenly begins to ring. She stands hesitant for a moment, and then throws her phone across the room and runs offstage.

LIGHTS DOWN.


Part Four: Nonfiction (944 words)

Paper, Expository
(487 words)

Paper. It’s essential to our everyday lives and has been for thousands of years. But when was paper invented - and are we wasting it? Well, the word paper comes from papyrus, which is a plant that grows abundantly along the Nile river in Egypt. The Egyptians used Papyrus to write on long before paper was invented - and continued to use it for over 3,000 years. But the first person to make paper as we know it was Ts’ai Lun, a member of the Chinese Imperial Court. In 105 AD, Ts’ai Lun mixed mulberry bark with hemp, rags and water, then mashed it into a pulp, pressed it out, and dried it in the sun. About 300 years after Ts’ai Lun’s discovery, papermaking travelled to the region that is now the Middle East, and another 500 years later, it reached Europe. One of the first ever paper mills was built in Spain, and soon it reached Italy, France and Germany. As paper began to get easier to make, it began to be used for books, bibles and legal documents. Discovery of chlorine in 1774 led to its use in bleaching the paper, and in 1798 the first paper-making machine was created. At the beginning, the papermaking process stayed practically the same as the Chinese method, with linen and cotton rags being the basic materials. However, paper mills were facing shortages and demand for paper was high - so in 1800, mills began to change to using wood pulp.
Today, the world produces 300 million tons of paper each year. That’s 821,917 tons a day! It’s estimated that 24 trees make 1 ton of standard office paper - so roughly 7 billion trees are cut down for paper a year. That's a lot, and it can make you think - are we wasting all this paper being made? Are we wasting our trees? Well, paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills - and global consumption of paper is expected to double by 2060. From 2001 to 2019, 386 million hectares of global forest were lost. Deforestation is one of the main environmental problems we’re facing, and 42% of all trees harvested is used for paper. To post a Sunday edition of the New York Times requires 75,000 trees, and with all the paper we waste each year, we could make a 12 foot high wall of paper from New York to California. And the global consumption of toilet paper, if laid out, could circle the circumference of Earth 50,000 times.
But while we’re talking about numbers and facts, recycling 1 ton of paper saves around 682 gallons of oil and 26,500 litres of water. Recycling is a big thing you can do to help - and reusing paper is great, too. Especially if you use a lot of paper for your writing! So remember to think of the environment before you throw out your paper <333

Malala, Biography
(457 words)

Malala - who is she?
Malala Yousafzai grew up in the Swat Valley, Mingora, Pakistan - with her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai; her mother, Toor Pekai Yousafzai; and her two brothers, Atal and Khushal. She was named after Malalai of Maiwand, a heroine of Afghanistan, who, when helping the wounded in a battle in Maiwand, realised her side was losing, and ran onto the battlefield, rallying the troops and using her own veil as a flag. Her selfless bravery inspired many, including Malala Yousafzai’s father. Malala’s father ran the Khushal school, and believed education was very important. He spoke out for what he thought was right, encouraging Malala to go to school even when more and more girls began to drop out of school due to the Taliban.
The Taliban invaded Malala’s valley in 2007. They insisted girls cover their heads, closed girls schools, and would shoot anyone in their way. Malala was one of the few girls of her age that continued to go to school. When she was 11, she used the pen name ‘Gul Makai’ to write about life and going to school under the Taliban for the BBC. She continued to speak up about girls' education- sometimes anonymously, sometimes in interviews for TV. Malala and her father were quite well-known, and many believed her father was going to be the next Taliban target. But no-one seriously thought the Taliban would shoot his fifteen-year-old daughter instead.
It was the 9th of October 2012 when Malala was shot in the head on her way home from school by the Taliban. Her school bus was boarded by a masked member of the Taliban who asked the students “Who is Malala?” He shot three times - hitting Malala in the head, a girl next to her called Shazia in the shoulder and hand, and another girl in the arm.
Ten days later, Malala woke up in hospital in Birmingham, England. She had been driven to the hospital in Swat, helicoptered to another hospital in Peshawar, airlifted to another hospital in Rawalpindi, and finally flown to England.
It has taken Malala six surgeries to recover. “Nine years after being shot, I am still recovering from just one bullet. But the people of Afghanistan have taken millions of bullets over the last four decades. My heart breaks for those whose names we will forget or never even know, whose cries for help will go unanswered.” Malala posted in August, 2021.
She won the Nobel Peace Prize when she was only 17, the youngest person to ever get a Nobel Prize, and she continues to stand up for the right’s of girls' education now, even so far away from her home.
“One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.”

unfinished story for the daily march 8! this is from march 6 and i wanted to continue it but i didn't haha

When I wake up one morning, it’s the trees I’m thinking of. They’ll be flowering by today, I know. The blossoms that fill the town each spring, that blanket us in a sea of soft pink; that season is starting today. I jump out of bed, hair sticking out in all directions, and run out of the house. Nobody else is here. I suppose it’s early, but then again it’s absolutely worth it to wake up early today.
The orchard is on the furthest side of town. I never know why they call it an orchard when the trees yield nothing but petals and sweet scents - petals and sweet scents that will be appearing today! I break out into a run down the cobbled streets. Passing the tall houses, one after another, painted in absurd colors - and the stores, their wooden lettering just a little bit off. All deserted on the outside, in favor of getting some sleep today. And finally, I turn the corner.
I close my eyes, smiling, to try to smell the flowers before I see them. But there’s nothing, not the slightest bit of flowery perfume coming my direction. I reach out in front of me and feel a tree branch, and I open my eyes.
The tree has no flowers.
It has no sweet scent.
It has nothing but black leaves. I tug on one, but it won’t come off.
All around the orchard, each tree has black leaves. There’s no trace of the blossoms that usually fill our town this time of year. And then I realize what this means.
You see, our town is peculiar. These trees aren’t simply our pride and joy. They’re everything to us; they’re our life force at the core. So these leaves, these black leaves—
“Mom!”
That’s why no one else came to the orchard with me.
“Angeline!”
That’s why the town seemed deserted.
“Carter!”
They’re gone, all of them.
But I’m still here, and that means that there’s a tree left.
I go to the far end of the orchard and I see it: the biggest one there is, towering over the others, a tire swing extended out over the sea. It has tiny pink blossoms, the ones that should have been everywhere else today.
I curl up on the tire swing and I wait, I wait, I wait, for someone to come get me and tell me the trees are okay.

JollofRice123 wrote:

Unfinished story for someone to use for the daily! I couldn't find one, so I just wrote one instead Multiple people can use this, by the way!
_________________________________
The night is daunting when it seems to last so look long.

A silver moon looks down from above, silently watching as I move down the cobblestone streets. The wind whistled behind me, like a shadow giving a warning whisper.

I ignored it.

There was nobody around. There usually aren't people out and about, not at this time. As I peer into houses, I see people hugging, laughing, enjoying each other's company.

It's something I've often wished for.

When did things go so wrong…?

The night is daunting when it seems as though it will never end. A cloud hides the moon, telling it to shield its eyes and look away.

I can't help but notice the echo of the wind's sigh, fading into the night.

My hands are trembling. I hesitate as I look onward, gritting my teeth, telling myself that this is the only way. After a moment, I let out a deep breath.

This is it.

I've arrived.

I hesitantly touched the door, sliding my fingers down the oak wood, and touched the doorbell. It played the sound I remembered back when I was a kid. The door swung open. The building was more larger than I had remembered. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for centuries. The dust played around on the walls and the peeled wallpaper started to wave.

Just then a woman approached me. I had no idea where she had come from, she just approached me. “Who are you coming in at this hour? Are you a spy?” “No Mother, it’s me,” I said, taking off my hood. At first she couldn’t recognise me and she had slight confusion in her face. Then she began to see. Her mood completely changed, although it wasn’t as expected.

I thought she would have yelled at me for running away when I was eleven. But instead, she welcomed me in with open arms. “I’m sorry mother. I really am. I shouldn’t have run away like that,” I said, slightly crying. Maybe a tear or two fell down. “I’ve been living on the streets in the alley by the corner of the bakery. My only company for the last five years were the garbage rats, the neighbourhood cat and the man in the moon.” I didn’t know why I didn’t notice earlier but my mother had flooded the room with her tears.

“For years I had been stealing bread from the next door bakery, and food from the Saturday market. I would wash my clothes in the lake, nude. Then I would use the cardboard boxes as shelter. “

I always thought that I was the weakest link of the family. I always felt forgotten. I made every single mistake. I couldn’t help but run away on the very night we had visitors. My parents had told them embarrassing things about me and I sat there in the corner crying.

“Where’s father, Georgie, and Courtney?” I asked. A few moments later I saw this beautiful woman, I had no idea who she was. She walked elegantly down the stairs holding the rusty wall as she came by. “Oh my goodness!” I said in shock. “Courtney?”

At first Courtney had a ten minute rant about me running away. Then her mood swinged. “Anyway, I’m so glad you’re back, Elliot! We’ve missed you so much!” After hearing everything that was going on, Father and Georgie came down the stairs too. We all had a family hug. I had missed these old days. I had missed having a family. I had now overcome my biggest fear of coming back to them.

440 words continued!

Me losing a word war. WC: 314.

Jacob ran his hand through his hair. “We’re lost, aren’t we?” He shot a glare at Yolanda, who returned it with a fatal glance.
“No, of course not.” She said, discreetly turning her map upside down. “We are one hundred percent totally not lost and we never will be.”
“Which means we’re lost.”
“Yeah, all right, we’re lost. But I don’t want to think about it.”
“It’s very scary, huh?” Jacob teased.
The stars above were shining through the trees, creating small patches of light to guide them.
“No!” Yolanda protested. “It is not scary. I just… miss Mama’s casserole! That we were going to have for dinner!”
“I bet you’re afraid of the dark.” Jacob crossed his arms, a smirk painted on his face. “And I am also willing to bet that you haven’t known where we’re going for the past sixteen minutes.”
“Why such a specific time?” Yolanda asked. “Maybe I do know where we’re going. But have you ever stopped to think that maybe I don’t want to take you there? Yeah, take that!” She kicked a rock, and it hit something. She shrieked.
“Afraid of the daa-ark.” Jacob sang, laughter in his voice. He snatched the map from her hands and turned it to the right side. He began to follow it. “Come on, scaredy-cat.”
“I AM NOT A SCAREDY CAT!” Yolanda huffed. “You’re the scaredy-cat!” She mumbled. She shuddered. She did hate the dark, but she did not want Jacob to know that. Instead, she started humming to herself. Hmm hmm- she sounded out.
“Stop doing that, please.” Jacob pleaded. “That is soooo annoying.” He kicked rocks every which way just to scare her.
“PLEASE STOP DOING THAT.” Yolanda screeched in his ear, trying to focus on some cricket chirping or some owl hooting, something that wasn’t the fact that they were lost and that mama’s casserole was all.

This is my unfinished story that I unearthed. I wrote it a long time ago, but I'll probably finish it sometime…

(Fern)

It all started the day I got my first pair of LaserBlades. LaserBlades are like ice skates, only with a “Laser blade”. You can change the color of the blade, of course. The LaserBlades can take you anywhere in Spaceway Station. Well, almost anywhere. The off-limits area and Spaceway Station’s core are part of the no-go section. All you have to do is tap your heel and say “LaserBlades, take me to _____” (For example, the pizza place, where I’m headed now.)
The LaserBlades automatically map out the quickest way there and you arrive in seconds.

Spaceway Station is the size of a small galaxy and is always expanding. Everything is connected to the core, so if someone hacks the core, they can have COMPLETE control of EVERYTHING in Spaceway Station. Around 62 septillion people live on Spaceway Station. Of all the stations, Spaceway is the best and biggest.
My name is Fern McNally, and I’m 10 years old. I’ve lived on Spaceway Station my whole life. I have no siblings, and my best friend is Pepper Kitsthen. I have wavy, brown hair that falls down to the middle of my back and green eyes. I’ve just gotten the pizza, and I’m heading to her house with it now. “Hi!” She exclaims as I arrive. Pepper is a tall girl, with long, red hair, blue eyes, and freckles. She is sitting on the patch of grass outside of her house. “I have the pizza!” I tell her, and she grins. “C’mon! We have this new light-up table!” I rush inside. Her house is neat, as always. Her new table was made of metal, and light strips run down the sides. “Cool!” I exclaimed. We set out the pizza and plates, and, realizing I needed to go to the bathroom, I excused myself.
When I was washing my hands, I thought I heard voices and then I knew I heard a crash. I rushed out to see what was wrong. The front door was hanging open, and Pepper’s chair was pushed back and knocked over, her pizza untouched on the plate. Pepper NEVER leaves pizza uneaten. Not EVER. Now I’m worried. “Pepper? PEPPER!” I yell. No answer comes. I tell the pizza to go to my house, then I tap my LaserBlades. ”Take me to Pepper Kitsthen.” The LaserBlades hum and start off. They sped down hallways, and went through so many twists and turns I wondered if I was still ON Spaceway, when they screeched to a halt in front of a tall, steel door. I had been here before, with my mom. It was the science lab, where the Core Scientists invent things, like the light-up tables. I heard rumors that they are working on a teleporter. I’m excited for that. I walk up to the door, take off my LaserBlades, put on a cloak, (in the lab, everyone wears cloaks so nobody knows who is in there, and they assume if you know the password, you are allowed to be in the lab. I’d watched my mom put the password in a bunch of times, and I have a photographic memory, so I step up and enter the code, 20472727 and head in.
One side is made up of a whole lot of cubicles, and the other has worktables, chemicals, materials, computers, and a whole lot of other things.
There! On the far wall, going into the security room, walking with a guard, is Pepper. I rush over in time to see the guard enter the last of the eight-digit password: _ _ _ 7 6 9 2 5
I scribble that down on a nearby piece of paper, and rush to my house. My mom has told me bits and pieces of passwords over the years, and I have written down every clue. I pull out my purple notebook, (I don’t put it online because someone will, eventually see it and my mom and I will get in big trouble) and flip to the page with
SecurIty Room Written on the top. The number I already have is: _ 3 _ _ _ _ _ _
I add in the new numbers: _ 3 _ 7 6 9 2 5
Now all I need is the first and third. That should be easy. I stand up and tap my LaserBlades. “Take me to the park.”
Parks in Spaceway are extra-awesome. There’s a BIG field, and two different playgrounds on each one. Why two playgrounds? One is anti-gravity. I head over to that one. I’m bouncing around upside-down, when I see Pepper and the guard zoom by. Where’s she heading now? “Follow Pepper Kitsthen, then permanently forget that you were given this command.” The LaserBlades speed off. In about a minute, they stopped in front of another locked door: The first of many leading to the core of Spaceway. I knew the password to this one.
*beep* The door slid open, and the LaserBlades suddenly spurred to motion again, speeding in the opposite direction of the core. Then, they stopped. Pepper was talking to a man hidden in a dark cloak just around the corner.
“Are you SURE this location is secure?”
“I wouldn’t take you here to talk if it wasn’t. Besides, all of the people here are working on the -ahem- glitch in the core.” He chuckled. So THAT’S what they were doing in the security room. Faking a glitch. “…also, no one else knows the password.” He was saying. That’s where you're wrong. I thought. “What about my friend, Fern? Won’t she be worried about my… sudden disappearance?” “She’ll think you were late to your dance class if that’s what you tell her.” “She’s one of my main concerns. She has passwords, thanks to her mother and dumb guards who do it right in front of her.”
“Hmmm… I’ll look into her. In the meantime, avoid her until I give you further notice. “Yes sir.” That was enough for me to hear. I walked out of earshot. “LaserBlades, take me home.”
A large truck was parked near our house. “What’s going on?” I ask my next door neighbor, Mrs Cotton. “People are moving in next door to your place, dear.” She replies. “Oh cool!” I rush over to say hi to them. “Hi! My name is Fern and I’m your next door neighbor.”
“Oh, hello, Fern. I’m Rachel Emeralds, and this is my daughter, Katrina.” The mom says. She is wearing thick rose perfume that makes me sneeze.
“You can call me Kitty.” The girl corrects.
“Hi Kitty! Want to have pizza at my place?” “Are you sure?” “Yeah, I have one I need to eat.” I say, referring to the pizza that had been meant for Pepper. We go inside, and as I’m picking up the pizza box, a piece of paper falls to the floor. Kitty picks it up before I can do anything. She reads it, and her eyes widen. “What’s it say?” I ask her. Without a word, she hands it to me.
Dark Keeper 9, this is our plan to get control of the core. Further instructions will be sent later.
Create a distraction to busy the Core-Keepers
Send in a spy to scout around
Repeat step 1, but take the Keepers captive
Send in the Dark Keepers to load in a spike
Kill the Core-Keepers one by one if there’s any resistance—and make it a public event so a clear message is shown.
Regards,
The Dark Council








(Kitty)
“What do we do?” I ask my new neighbour and friend, Fern. “I… I don’t know.” She replies. “Obviously, someone is trying to get into the core. And I think it’s up to us to stop them. Where to start?”
“Let’s start by looking at the list we found and figure out where they are in the plan,” I suggest.
“Okay. Step one is to create a distraction to busy the Core-Keepers. I saw them do that. So next they're going to send a spy into the core, and that means we have to do something… big.”
That’s when the idea that threw us into the middle of things came to me. “Let’s intercept the spy.” “What?” Fern gasps, looking a bit confused. “Let’s intercept the spy,” I repeat. “You know, spy on the spy, figure out exactly what they’re doing, and maybe capture them!” “…That’s not a bad idea, actually,” Fern says after a pause, “but we’ll need to figure out some details. The main thing is, when are they going to send in the spy.”
“If I were them, I would do it tonight. They’ve already created the distraction, so the Keepers will have their hands full. So now is the perfect time for them to do it,” I pause, then add, “And besides, why would they create the distraction in the first place if they weren’t about to send a spy in? It would make no sense.” Fern nods, “I know where they’re going to try and access it. There’s hidden panels somewhere around the core. If they’re sending in a spy, then they don’t actually don’t know where they are. If we can keep them from

The Story Continues…
Read the first part, written by @melovesushi, here: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/582424/?page=52#post-6100019

Continued by Wari
594 words

She, too, seemed to come from some kind of historical science fiction mashup story, her body covered with coppery armor that looked really heavy, but didn’t seem to encumber her movements very much. On her head was a helmet made of the same material, with a turquoise gem set into the metal just above her forehead.

I stared, my thoughts stuck in a loop of disbelief and confusion, before I remembered that she had asked me a question. “I’m sorry, what?”

The girl sighed, rolling her eyes as if this situation was familiar. “I said, do you need help?”

I wasn’t sure of the answer to that myself. Maybe I was hallucinating, or dreaming. Yes, I decided, this seemed very much like a dream/hallucination.

Desperate to wake up, I closed my eyes and pinched my arm, hard. A sharp twinge of pain made me wince. When I eased my eyes open again, nothing had changed. The girl was still staring at me in annoyance.

Ok, I was probably hallucinating then. How did you wake up from a hallucination? Was it something that just ended on its own, or did you have to do something or take medication to stop it?

A soft cough interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to see the armored girl tapping her foot impatiently. “Look, you’re not dreaming, and you’re not imagining this.” She said the words as if reciting them from a script.

“It’s pretty obvious,” she looked me up and down with a distasteful look, “that you’re not from around here, so you must be one of the Outsiders.”

She had my attention now. “What do you mean, Outsiders?” I asked defensively.

“The World between Worlds gets visitors from other dimensions all the time,” she informed me in that same talking-to-a-toddler tone—it was really starting to get on my nerves.

“Wait, so you’re saying this is another dimension?” My voice rose to an embarrassing pitch, but I was too worked up to care. “How on earth is this even possible? One second, I’m… uh, walking through my town, and the next, I’m in another universe?!?”

“Well, you’d better get used to it,” the girl said bluntly. “Look, can you find your own way to the Registration Office, or do you need directions?”

I gave her a blank stare, feeling as if my brain had shorted out. She groaned, grumbling something under her breath as she tapped her helmet with her fingers.

“Outsider detected, needs an escort to the R.O.,” she droned. For a second, I wondered who she was talking to. Then the gem on her helmet glowed, and a blue person sprang up from the ground, making me jump three feet in the air.

“Message received,” the being announced serenely. “The Registration Office is awaiting the new arrival.”

As it spoke, I realized I could see the ground and buildings through it. Was it some kind of high-tech hologram? I didn’t have much time to puzzle it out, before it reached out to grab my arm. I half-expected its hand to pass right through me, but it latched on with a freezing grip.

“Hey, wait!” I protested, struggling to free myself. “Look, I have no idea what’s going on, but how do I get home?”

The girl in copper armor tilted her head and smiled sadly, the first sign of sympathy I had seen from her. “You can’t. You’re stuck here, forever.”

Shock filled my body, but before I could fully process her words, the being holding my arm disappeared, and the world went blue.