SWC November 2022 Writing Competition Entry for Fanfiction Category

Hello! This is a short fanfiction oneshot I drafted about a year ago that I decided to polish this month. It's based off Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon. I won't bother you with an unnecessary introduction, so hope you enjoy ^^
Tropes: Modern au, fluff.
Fandom: Raya and the Last Dragon
803 words.

"All We Need is Raya

“Alright,” Namaari started. “I've got a report due on Monday…another deadline tomorrow…one today…oh! I forgot- there's a description due this week!” she exclaimed, quickly picking up her pen.
“You know I can help you with that,” said Raya, looking over Namaari's shoulder.
“I'm good,” replied Namaari. Raya sighed. She always says that, Raya thinks.
The princesses were in the land of Fang. Its tan color theme sweeping about boardwalks, buildings, and towers. The people of Fang were natural creators, making their island from scratch. Geometric shapes in their architectural creations made their structures slightly harsh. Gold tones made the mood lighten and suggest royalty. And so Raya, Princess of Heart, and Namaari, Princess of Fang, lounged in a courtyard behind the palace. Like other spaces in Fang, the courtyard had symmetric details made with flowers along the gates and a bright hues reflecting the sun's light.
“You know what?” Raya asked unnecessarily.
“Mmm?” Namaari responded, pen twirling in her fingers.
“I'm helping you this time,” Raya said. Namaari just raised her eyebrows and went back to writing. “Er,” Raya started, realizing she didn't know what Namaari actually did at her job. “Do you need anything? Water?” she asked.
“I'm good,” Namaari replied.
“Food?” Raya asked.
“Nope,” Namaari said, laughing.
“Uh- you need some ink?” Raya asked.
“You well know this pen is filled, Raya,” replied Namaari. Raya exhaled. She didn't think it'd be this hard. Suddenly, she got up. “Just a moment,” Raya said, running away towards the throne room.
“Where are you-” Namaari started. But Raya was already too far away. “Eh, nevermind.” Namaari went back to her work, at some places glancing up to watch the dragons gliding around in the air. Moments later Raya came back and sat down quickly.
“Where have you been?” asked Namaari.
“No place,” replied Raya. Namaari returned to her work. Raya just sat there, every so often glancing up at the desk. Soon, someone called. “Na-maar-i,” the voice called. Namaari scribbled down some last words on her paper then got up.
“Just a sec,” Namaari said to Raya.
“Okay, ” she replied. Namaari walked to the throne room. Swiftly, Raya walked over to Namaari's desk. She glimpsed at the papers laying there, spotting the lined paper marked, “Work”.
“Deadline…” Raya muttered to herself. “Deadline…deadline…another deadline…toi. Here we go. ‘Music, cats, silence,’” she read off the list, “…and Raya,” she paused and put the list down. “Alright,” she said, and ran off. She soon came back, her arms scratched and holding two baby serlots. Raya quickly put them down on a cushion,“Ugh. You two behave yourselves,” she said, pointing a finger at them. Music, music, music… she thought. Raya sat there, absentmindedly stroking the serlots laying next to her.
“Aha!” she exclaimed, running away again. When Raya came back, there was a far away sound of a pan flute, lute, and drums. She stood next to the desk and looked through Namaari's documents again.
“Looks like she's got everything,” she decided. Raya absorbed herself in reading the boring papers. There, she created the perfect working space. A steady beat tapping in the distance, a treasured animal close by, and a favorite person near, everything perfect-
“What are you doing?” a voice asked. Raya looked up, startled. Standing there was Namaari, hands on her hips.
“Uhh, hi,” Raya replied.“I got some things for you.”
“Raya!” Namaari groaned. “You've got my papers messed up!”
Raya hastily tried adjusting the large quantity of forms, deeds, and others in flimsy piles. “I'm sorry, I-” she started.
“Raya,” Namaari started sternly. “This is not for playing around.” The Princess of Heart stared at the floor. “I need these - they're important!” Namaari said, stacking the documents into separate piles, neatly placing them in different areas of her desk.
“I brought a couple, um,” Raya began. She pointed to the cats on the floor. Namaari's gaze softened.
“That's really nice, Raya. But,” Namaari started, “But, please don't shuffle these around anymore.” Her voice lowered, “Thanks,” she added. “But, what's that music playing in the background?”
“Oh, er, I did that. It's the band - the soldier band,” Raya said, casting Namaari a questioning look.
“Huh, uh, that's good. Can you tell 'em to play the march though?” she suggested. Raya chuckled.
“The, uh, march? You mean the one for drills?” Raya asked, hoping for a negative answer.
“Er, yeah,” replied the Fang Princess. “Why?”
“Oh, I just thought- you know? Nevermind,” Raya said. And she ran off. Namaari sunk down into her chair and called one of the serlots, who trotted over to her. She caressed the pet in her arms, listening to the change of song in the background. “All we need is Raya now, huh?” she crooned to her cat, who purred in response. Namaari laughed - and for once, paused her work.

SWC November 2022 Writing Competition Entry for Main Category

Bugs In a Jar, a Poem
This is inspired by a line from a book that literally said ‘bugs in a jar’. Something told me it might make a good poem title and so this is what I wrote. This is a ten stanza poem with an AABB rhyme structure. After reading the poem, take the first letter of each stanza and see what it beholds….



by Raya <3

SWC July 2023 Writing Competition Entry for Fanfiction Category

Fandom: Carmen Sandiego
1671 words

A Trip to Madagascar

Introduction::

You control you. Your job is to keep Carmen alive and defeat VILE. She is currently on a mission with Zack, Ivy, and the remote Player in Madagascar. VILE wants to capture a lemur, a species of animal only surviving in Madagascar. The lemur might be used to be Countess Cleo's new fur coat, Doctor's Bellum's experiment, or even be a part of Maelstrom's mind trials. Remember, all your choices are going towards Carmen's crew and the lemurs' safety. Choose wisely!


Chapter 1::

Carmen is on a chartered flight to Madagascar. Player booked her and the team a flight the moment they discovered VILE's villainous plans.
“Wow,” said Ivy, looking out the plane's windows. “This place is huge!” They were flying over the ocean, the island of Madagascar just coming into view.
“I know,” said Player. He was calling in on Carmen's laptop. “Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. Lemurs live only there.

Its forests host ringtailed lemurs, mouse lemurs, and something called aye-ayes.“
”Arr!“ Zack said, giving Player his attention. ”Like pirates?“ Player laughed.
”Not exactly,“ he said. ”They have really thin fingers, though.“
”Neat!“ Ivy said. ”I could use some of those to fix things with.“
The team spent the rest of the ride learning about Madagascar. Player seemed to never let up with his interesting facts. Soon they arrived, the plane landing down in a spot in the trees. Carmen told the pilot he didn't need to stay and wait. She had a different form of transportation she could use. The team walked into the forest, coming up to little hut. A door pushing ivy to the side said ”Ranger In!“.
”This is our stop,“ said Carmen.
”Whoa,“ said Zack. ”This looks like one of those deserted ruins kind of place.“
”Not that much, though,“ said Ivy. ”More like a secret garden hideout!“ She poked her head through some vines.
”Are we in the right spot, Player?“ Carmen asked. Player's voice came through her phone in her hand.
”Yep,” said Player. “I've got your coordinates. Right spot all right.”
“Let's knock,” said Carmen. She knocked. A few footsteps followed and came to a stop near the door. Zack and Ivy lined up behind Carmen. The door opened. Out came you, reader. You are the ranger in this story.
“Hi!” You said. “How can I help you?”
“Hi. I'm Carmen.” Carmen took your hand. You shook it and told her your name. “Nice to meet you,” said Carmen, smiling back. “Did you receive our call?”
You looked a little confused. “Call?” You asked. “I'm sorry, I'm unaware of any calls that came in. When was it?”

“Oh,” said Carmen. A dozen bad scenarios played out in her head. Of course her phone was extra secure being wired by Player. But then again, VILE could have easily intercepted it. Which means . . . VILE knows her exact location. “Um,” she faltered. “Could we come in?”
You took a moment to respond. You usually did let visitors in, when there were visitors to take. And generally they'd call. But this red-dressed woman and red-haired siblings (twins, maybe?) seemed a little odd.

Here is your first fork in the road. Do you let them in, or leave them out there by themselves in the forest?

Leaving them could be dangerous, since they're most likely tourists (of some strange sort). And you'd be making them go out into a forest unknown to them.

Letting them in would be a little out of your comfort zone, but they seemed to have something important. Something other than looking at your displays.

Choice: Leave

You decide to leave the suspicious tourists. Who knows what they may be up to?
“I'm sorry,” you say. “But visitors aren't allowed in without an appointment.” You feel a little guilty since that isn't true, but convince yourself it's for your own safety. The red-headed girl started backward, looking at her brother with confusion. They started to talk, but the woman in red held out her hand.
“Sorry,” you say again, backing into the hut a little bit. “No exceptions.” You take a brochure from the table in the hut. “Here, use this so you don't get lost. It's a big forest, after all.” You give a small chuckle.“ Carmen takes the pamphlet you held out for her. She unfolded it and took a look. You decided to explain the contents of it. ”There's a map in there, along with paths to take, markers to spot, and any landmarks to look at. You'll come across many forks in the trails, so that'll help a lot.“
”It's all right,“ said Carmen, ”we understand.“ Se starts walking away. And, after hesitating, Zack and Ivy follow.
”Thank you,“ Carmen said. She had a look of pure genuineness. You looked back with a wordless apology. ”It's all right,“ said Carmen, ”we understand.“ She starts walking away. ”Zack? Ivy? You coming?" After hesitating, Zack and Ivy wave to you and follow Carmen. You close the door, waving back. Nice tourists, you think. Just for some reason you felt they had something to do with various strange calls coming in. Walking into the hut, you pour a cup of coffee for yourself and go back to your normal life.

You've reached the end of this story. If you'd like to explore other endings, go back to some choices you made and try some other options. Look for the longest ending, an ending with you, Carmen, and her team, maybe you end up with VILE, or another ending with leading you to a ranger lifestyle, anything that may satisfy you. There are many variations of this story, and you can alter them! Until then, el fin.

Though the tourists seem a bit odd, you decide to let them in. Maybe they have information regarding the irregular amount of calls that came in from untraceable numbers this past week. Maybe they are the callers. They sent a chill up your spine. Perhaps you should've refused them.
“Come in,” you say, opening the door and giving them a welcoming hand.
“Thank you,” said Carmen.
“All right!” Zack and Ivy said. The three filed in and you start closing the door, but decide to leave it open in case anything happens.
“Take a look around,” you say, inviting them to view the small exhibit. Photographs, artwork, newspaper clippings, and sculptures lined the walls.
“Wow!” Zack exclaimed, peering at a sculpture of a lemur. “Its tail fell off!”
You laugh. “Yes,” you say. “That is a sculpture I made when I was seven or so. I thoroughly loved lemurs from the start. That there is a ring-tailed lemur. You see the stripes? There are always thirteen black and white alternating stripes on a tail.”
“Neat!” said Zack. Carmen sat down at the table.
“We're actually here wondering about the lemurs,” said Carmen calmly. You sat down too. The siblings came over and leaned in around Carmen. You felt a little bit claustrophobic, a little uncomfortable with their stance. You glanced at the door. It's open. You breathed in.
“Sure,” you said. “What would you like to know?”

“Well,” said Carmen, “we're curious about the population of lemurs.”
“Of course,” you said. “We estimate that there's about three thousand plus lemurs left in the wild. They are critically endangered, so we're doing all we can to keep the numbers up.” You don't want to divulge too much information to this group. Only what's necessary and what you usually tell visitors.
“Anything strange going on? Like, evil strange?” Ivy asked. Carmen glanced up at her, then looked at you, eyebrows raised.
“Er,” you hesitate. This was a coincidence, right? All these unknown callers and strangely acting tourists. “I'm afraid I can't say,” you say.
Carmen breathed in. “It's really important that we know this. Trust us. Please.” You hesitated, but her genuine expression seemed to convince you to give in.
“Okay.”

For the next several minutes, you answer all the group's questions. Somehow your view changed on them while talking. The voices from the calls were male-sounding, although you also think they could've changed their voices easily. And the male here certainly didn't have the same deep talking voice from the calls. So you explain and explain until they're satisfied. Finally, you look at your watch. It's time for your lunch break. Hopefully the tourists would leave soon. You have a scheduled hour with a so-called important person who wanted to meet with you. Unfortunately it disrupted your animal counting duties, but this person you'll be with was very persuasive and you decided to leave your ranger duties for later. A few minutes passed into your lunch hour. You started getting fidgety.
“Um,” you said, interrupting Carmen's flow of speech. “So sorry, but I have an appointment to get to soon. Very important person!'” Carmen smiled at you.
“Well you make sure to be on time, then,” she said, getting up.
“Yep,” you said, also standing. “I want to make a good first impression, you know?” Carmen stopped, her smile fading. “What?” you asked, concerned. You've learned to read Carmen's facial expressions pretty well during your time in conversation.
“You've never met her before?” Carmen asked.
“Yeah, why? None of your business,” you said, suddenly getting defensive. Carmen looked at her accomplices, looking preoccupied.
“This can't be a coincidence,” Carmen said to them.

You looked confused. “What do you mean?” Might they know about your own suspicions? For the first time, you decide to ask them what they're doing. You try to make it casual and curious. “What /are/ you doing here in Madagascar?”

Carmen turned towards you, a look of all seriousness across her face. She sighed. “I'm sorry, I can't tell you right this moment.” She smiled. “Just-” she looked at the door. “I promise I'll explain what all this is. In the meantime, stay safe.”
“What do you mean, stay safe? Is there something dangerous going on?” You come to a new suspicion. “You aren't tourists. Who /are/ you?”