Doesn't everybug love the feeling of diving into a leaf pile during an autumn afternoon? In this bug academy, a giant leaf pile would be a way for every bug to make friends with each other and have fun! This leaf pile will have countless small alcoves for real bugs to hide, explore, and vibe in. These nooks and crannies also provide valuable shelter for rest. And for us insect-humans, it's a great way to have fun! By having this leaf pile, we will be able to guarantee year-round happiness.

We can jump in it, throw leaves in the air, and hide in it during a game of hide-and-seek (the ultimate hiding spot). As for how this will be accomplished, we will install an advanced pipe system on the roof of the academy, ultimately moving fresh leaves and replenishing this leaf pile. While this idea may seem flimsy and may cost a hefty fee, it is worth it in the long run. A giant leaf pile will provide insect-humans with lots of fun activities, allowing them to rest, relax, and frolic!

In addition, this giant leaf pile will create valuable shelter for real bugs, giving them more flexibility on where they want to stay. If we work on the details more, it is certain that this giant leaf pile will benefit the academy for years to come.

Scene: Abandoned city at night

Lighting: Red lightning sporadically pierces the sky, there are also street lights that flicker (they are very tall). There are no stars in the sky, and there are also neon lights. The neon lights give a “buzzing” sound and are also red, just like the lightning. Unlike the streetlights, they do not flicker, but are very dim. There are many places that are not lit and seem to hold mysterious shadows. Very dark.

City Format: There is one “main” boulevard that goes through the city, and there are cracks rapidly spreading across the boulevard. There are no other roads beside the boulevard. There are no places of residence in the city, but there are long abandoned neon stores that sell outdated and old antiques (there’s nothing in them). Streetlights loom and are on the side of the boulevard. There are lots of alleyways and pathways that lead to dead ends. They are all dark and mysterious. There are also many “buildings” looming in the background that actually do not exist.

Weather: Very bad. The night is very, very dark (no stars, dark thunderclouds loom). There’s a storm, but no rain. Red lightning cracks the air, but surprisingly, there is no thunder.

History: This city only exists in dreams. It is not abandoned because it was never inhabited. Surprisingly, it is in good shape (besides the cracks on the floor and some of the street lights being broken). It only serves the purpose of haunting people. It is controlled by the shadows. They manipulate the light in the city and are responsible for the cracks in the road. (to scare the dreamers that end up in the city).

Architecture: This city is very modern. It has lots of “modern” lighting such as neon lights/street lights, and it actually looks inhabitable – the only problem is that there is nowhere to sleep. So in reality, it’s not a city. (not everything is what it seems like).

I ate the cat. Don’t worry. Let me tell you the whole story.

It all began on a Tuesday. I was walking to the park when I saw a cat. And don’t get me wrong, I love cats! Doesn’t everyone? But this cat was different.

It was yellow. It was orange. It was black. It was white. It was a calico cat, I believe. And I love calico cats, I love them so much that I might love them to death. Literally.

I was feeling particularly hungry that day, so I decided to sit by the park bench to quell my hunger. That didn’t work out, because as soon as the cat saw me, they jumped on the bench and sat next to me.

My stomach rumbled and I was so so so hungry because I had not eaten in two days. I was denied entry into the cafeteria because I had no money and I looked bad and I felt so bad because I was so hungry and I was literally going to faint if I did not eat food.

So I ate the cat. Just kidding, just kidding. You think I would actually do that?

The cat eyed me weirdly. I was at first confused because why would the cat go next to me in the first place? For some weird reason, all cats seem to be afraid of me, so why would this particular cat sit next to me. And second of all, why is it weirdly coloured? And lastly, why is it looking at me like that?

I was starting to get scared so I decided to walk away, but the cat was in my way. What is happening to me? I was starting to panic so I ran as far as I could, and the cat chased me around.

This would be the end. This would be the end of me.

I first thought that I would die of starvation, but I guess that my destined fate was getting chased by a cat.

~

“Hey! Why is a cat chasing a dog over there?” (347 words)

The monster looked me in the eye. I was ready. This was the moment I had been waiting for for many, many, long years.
This was my time to prove myself.

I stood small against the hydra. It was big.

I was a little bit scared, but really, I was ready.

This was the time. This was the chance.

And I ran towards it.

I ducked underneath one of its heads and ran to its leg, hoping my sword would slash through it.

However, there was another head blocking it, so I had to run away.

I had to remember one thing: do not cut off the heads. Everyone knows that. But they just seem so easy to cut off that it is almost impossible to not resist. But, with the training of a decade, I knew what I had to do. I ran back to the entrance of the colosseum, but this time the hydra started following me.

Right on time. I thought to myself. This was all going according to plan. Then, when I was right at the entrance, I turned back and put my sword through one of the eyes of the hydra head that was close to me on the ground.

It was a perfect hit.

The hydra screamed, a very scary sound, and it looked very confused. All its heads were flailing, and everything was going according to plan. I started to hit the hydra’s other eyes with my sword, but this time, it came prepared. It ducked away, and somehow knocked the sword out of my hand.

I froze. This was not part of the plan. When the hydra lost one of its eyes, I would probably win because it would go blind and confused. Now what should I do?

I can do it.

I ran underneath the heads of the hydra, hoping that it could not see me with its blind eye. It worked. The hydra looked around frantically but did not see where I went. Its sword was in one of its mouths, as I saw the glint of bronze coming at the roof of the colosseum.

I never realized how tall hydras were.

Anyways, I started climbing up the hydra. It did not notice me for some miraculous reason, maybe perhaps it was distracted or I was too small. Then I finally did it.

I reached up to one of the heads of the hydra and pulled myself on it. And by some luck, it was actually the head with the sword in its mouth. One of the other heads of the hydra saw me and my heart stopped beating for a second.

I really hope that I would not die.

The hydra head started to breathe fire and shot a fireball in my direction.

Shoot, I thought. I had forgotten that the hydra could breathe fire.

BUt with many years of training comes many years of quick reflexes. I jumped back to the body of the hydra, off the neck of the head, and the fire missed me. The head of the hydra disintegrated, and cheered inwardly.

One head down, two to go. The bad thing was: the sword tumbled down with the head onto the floor, so if I wanted a chance to win this battle, I had to retrieve it.

The hydra started flailing. One of its heads was lost, and one of its four eyes was not working.

However, it still had three eyes.

It saw me climbing on it, and it started bouncing.

Totally unexpected, am I right?

The hydra started jumping like the floor was a trampoline. And for me, it was like the world was spinning.

It was like the Earth was a ping pong ball. Everything became a blur as I tried to cling on to the hydra neck with all of my might.

The floor started cracking with the wright of the hydra. Of course, hydras were the heaviest monster out there. How did I not think about that?

The power was too strong, and I got flung out.

I hit the floor with a crack. I winced and my eyes started watering. The pain that hit my body was UNBEARABLE and I knew that I was going to die.

I know that one of my bones was broken, but I didn’t have to know which one and fix it. I tried to move but it was like my whole body was on fire.

I dragged myself to the hydra neck. Conveniently, I landed close to the sword.

However, the hydra had noticed this, and started running towards me. The floor was already looking very delicate, and I did not want to fall in it.

I was hoping that the hydra would fall through the ground, as it was very heavy and the ground already looked like it was going to crack at any time.

Already, a spiderweb of cracks cracked through the ground.

The hydra seemed to notice this, and walked slower towards me.

I was so close to the sword now. I had already dragged myself for a few minutes, but I do not know if I would ever reach it.

My body was burning. My lungs were burning. I think I broke a bone. I did not know what was happening. The only thought that entered my mind was

Get the sword.

Get the sword.

The hydra kept walking at an ominously slow pace towards me, but I did not care anymore.

Get the sword.

Get the sword.

The hydra was so close to me, yet I was so close to the sword.

I was so, so close. The hydra was a step away from me.

I reached out towards the sword, but it was a few inches away. The hydra kept approaching. I could smell it now.

I reached out again just as the hydra’s head neared my body, and I got it.

Without thinking, I grabbed the sword and swung blindly at the hydra, hoping that I hit it before it got to me.

I sliced off one of its heads.

The hydra looked at me with a triumphant gleam in its eye, and I knew that I had seriously messed up.

The hydra stood there, two heads gone, one eye blind, floor cracked, and it waited.

I stood there, bones broken, on the floor, bleeding, and I waited.

It was time.

The hydra started growing another head.

Where its old head once was that I had just cut off, two new heads sprouted out, the same way a plant would sprout.

Except this time, it was a very deadly plant.

The hydra looked at me with three heads and five eyes.

And it roared.

Terror struck me.

But I knew, deep inside my bones, that I would do it.

I would survive.

With broken bones, I would survive.

I moved under one of the heads of the hydra that had already fallen, and sword in my hand, I waited for the hydra to come.

But this time, nothing happened. No hydra started running and stomping towards me.

What is happening?

I looked up, and I saw a fireball coming in my way.

Shoot.

I ducked, hoping that I would survive, and it missed by an inch.

The fireball struck the old hydra head, and rapidly spread across the neck.

I moved away, mustering up all the strength I had, and started dragging myself away from the fire that was rapidly spreading in the place I was a second ago.

Who knew that hydras were that flammable?

I felt my hair, and it was singed.

And when I looked back at the fire, it had consumed the whole neck, and was spreading across the floor.

Everything was chaos.

The arena was consumed by fire.

The floor was about to cave in.

The hydra stood there, finding me and looking at me with a ferociousness that I would never be able to describe.

And I stood there, shell-shocked. This was not the plan.

But plans are meant to be broken, right?

I stood there, bones aching.

And bones are meant to be broken, too.

With strength I still don’t know where I got, I ran towards the hydra.

Pain shot through my body, and it took every part of me to keep running.

The hydra looked at me. It stood its ground.

The fire was flickering everywhere.

But it didn’t matter.

I ran towards the hydra. It lifted up its foot to stomp me, and in slow-motion, I knew that I could not make it.

So I stopped.

I stopped running.

I gave in to the pain.

Everything stopped.

And the hydra stomped where I would have been if I had not collapsed on the ground a second ago.

The hydra stomped on the ground right in front of me.

And with a sickening boom, it reached the floor.

Like glass, a cobweb of cracks started spreading through the floor.

The hydra watched in horror as the ground finally gave in and collapsed (just like me).

The hydra screamed. It was a horrible, primordial sound that shook me to the bone.

The ground caved in,

and it fell into the abyss.

The hydra fell down.

It was over.

I stood there, bones broken, hair on fire, collapsed on the floor, and I was okay.

I had survived.

I had made it.

The arena continued burning.

(1567 words)

It turns out that the cat was not a cat this whole time.

I was walking home, when I saw a poster to adopt a cat at the animal shelter. I thought for a moment, then said “Why not?”
I had wanted a cat ever since I was a little kid, and now that I am an adult, I can make my own decisions.

I was so happy because I did not have to be lonely at home anymore. As an adult, I lived by myself in a small apartment. I did not have any roommates, any partners, any siblings, nobody. Having and adopting a cat would be so cool and I would be able to have a friend.

I walked to the address that the poster said and I opened the door. There was barely anyone inside, except for one person that was by the register. “Hello! How may I help you today?” He asked.
“Hello! I am looking to adopt a cat today. I am interested in any cat that you have here.”

The boy looked a bit worried for a second, and I thought that he was slightly intimidated by me for some reason.

“OK, that’s great!” He said. “Follow me right here, we have the perfect pet for you.”


He started to walk towards the back of the store, which is weird, because most of the pets were in cages near the front. I did not see any cats or any pets in the back.

He opened one door, and we stepped into the employee room.

“Meet Orange.” He said. There was an orange tabby cat lying there, and I knew instantly that I had to keep it. “Are they male or female?” I asked. He told me that Orange was a male.

“I’ll take him”.


When I got home, I took Orange out of his cage and he started purring. I knew that this was the perfect cat for me.

Then, when I looked at him again, he was a dog. What?

I did a double take, and sure enough, the cat Orange was a dog. That is so weird.

I went back to the shelter the next day and they said that they did not have any cats so they just gave me a dog that looked like a cat. (386 words)

“It’s all because of Prometheus.” Zeus grumbled.

He was always helping those pesky little “humans” that he had created. And they were so lame!

Zeus looked at Hephaestus. “We need to do something. Before long, those humans that he’s always helping will grow out of control, and they’ll start attacking the robots.”

Hephaestus paled. “The robots? He can’t just do that! They’re perfect. I spent a century working on them, and they’re amazing. I’ll let you know what I can do.”

Zeus smiled. He always knew that he could count on Hephaestus to do his deeds, especially because he created the robots that ruled society today.

He closed the hologram, and Hephaestus slipped out of view.

Zeus sighed. Being the supreme overlord of the skies was a tough job, and sometimes, all he wanted to do was slip out of reality and go into virtual reality. Don’t I deserve it?

Out of nowhere, a certain fellow joined the hologram meeting. My, my, my, speaking of the devil.
“Hello Prometheus. What is your business here?” Zeus said, formal as ever.

“Yes, my lord. I was just hoping to take some fire from Olympus to give them to the humans.”

THE BLASPHEMY! Zeus thought. The utter audacity of him to do that. “If you do that, I’m going to have to put you in cyber prison.”

“If you do that,” Zeus boomed, “I’m going to give you to my personal robo-eagle lieutenant. And you’re going to wish you never did that.”

Prometheus bowed down, trembling, and left the call.

Zeus sighed. He’s going to do it, isn’t he? Whatevers. He had some videogames he had to play.

“Hey, did you hear?” A man jostles over, the heavy noise of the marketplace obscuring his words.

“Sorry, what?” Noah said.

“I was saying, did you hear? Apparently some guy made it so the Bible didn’t have to be copied by hand anymore? I think it was called the printing press.”

“Wait, I heard about that as well!” A lady selling spices nearby joins the conversation. “His name was Johannes Gutenberg, right?”

“Ah, yes. His name keeps slipping out of my head.” The man laughs.

“Wait, actually? Noah says. “That’s so co-”

Both of them are gone.

He sighs. Of course.

But it’s actually pretty cool. A small smile appears on his face.

“Ey! Watch where you’re going.” Noah jumps; he almost just ran into a man.

And then he remembers: he’s at a marketplace.

Thousands of vendors are selling various wares: perfumes, scrolls, bread - Noah even spotted an alchemy stand selling mercury and gold.

It was a beautiful mess.

But what was he even doing here?

He spots the lady from before. “Hi again.”

Recognition is a fickle thing. “Who are you again?” She says, then barks at another merchant across the marketplace. “Stop stealing my customers!”

Noah’s smile faded. “Nevermind.” He says. “Could I try some cinnamon?”

The lady’s eyebrows dance. “Oooh, the exotic cinnamon. Ceylon dragons guard cinnamon trees, and for good reason. They pack quite a punch! That’ll be three florins.”

That expensive? Noah frantically digs into his pouch, and after a minute of scrambling, he produces three grubby coins.

“That’ll do.” The lady says.

Noah breathes in the cinnamon; it smells beautiful, exotic, and tropical. “I could get used to this,” he says as he leaves the marketplace.

Maybe he’ll be back tomorrow.

I remember when the world fell down.

I remember when it hit.

But I’m still standing.

I remember when I was built. I was a young wall, an innocent wall. I never knew what would happen.

I always wanted to be a great wall. I knew walls who knew the Great Wall of China, I knew walls who knew the walls of the Berlin Wall, I knew walls who knew the walls of Buckingham Palace. I knew walls who even knew the three walls of the Three Little Pigs. (What an honour!)

‘Alas, I was just a regular wall. I was just a wall of a regular, shmegular home. I wasn’t even an apartment building wall. I was just a wall of a house in New Mexico. What even happens in New Mexico?

It was 1952.

People came and went. After 100 years, I had three families who had lived in me. The first family was an old farmer couple. They were together until the end. The second family were two newlyweds from the hometown that we lived in. (Population: 18). They ended up moving to the city.

The last was a widow (age: 32) who lived with her dog. She liked Earl Grey Tea and waking up with the sun.

It was a bittersweet life. Everyone was okay.

Until the nuclear fallout.

The nuclear testing facility in New Mexico got out-of-control. It exploded. The whole world went berserk. Everything changed. And nothing was okay.

One day, the widow didn’t wake up with the sun. Neither did the dog.

And I knew. I knew that something was wrong.

Nuclear war struck our Solar System.

And there was nothing I could do but stay standing. There was nothing I could do but watch as the world went down.

I was there when humans reached the moon. I was there when the moon got bombed.

And yet, here I still stand.

The last living wall on the planet that doesn’t live anymore.

The sun sets in the distance.

And the world goes dark.

A group of pigs enter a forest clearing, and see a girl already standing there. ““Yo! What’s good?”

“Uh, who are you?” The girl says. “I didn’t know pigs could talk.”

“Hey! Watch your language. And the question we should be asking is, who are you?”

“I’m just a girl.”

“Who happens to wear only red,” one of the pigs snort.

“Says three pigs that wear overalls.” The girl retorts, and she laughs. “Anyways, when I got the letter, I was never expecting me to run into you guys.”

“I got a letter too!” The smallest pig reached out and pulled a letter out of his front pocket. “Who do you think sent it?”

The girl shrugged. “Who knows? Do you think others are going to show up?”

As if on cue, someone stepped into the clearing. “Sorry, I’m late. What’s going on?” The girl wears purple, and has long yellow hair – so long that they can’t find the end of it.

“I like you already.” The red girl says.

The long haired girl smiles. “What’s up?”

A wolf steps out of the woods. “Right on time. Dinner time!”

“AAAA!!” The three little pigs squeal. One of the pigs faint, the other freezes in place, and the last starts running away.

The red girl pales. “How did you find us?”

The long haired girl says, “So you’re the one behind this reunion. Well, take this!” She takes a gigantic frying pan from her pocket and swings it at the wolf – a perfect hit.

The wolf faints, and the red girl high-fives her. “Way to go. That wolf won’t be haunting the forest for long.”

The long haired girl winks. “Thank the frying pan.”

“Heya kiddo, wanna hear a story?”

“Yes!!! Could we do the one about the Rainbow Wolf? Please? It’s my favourite.”

The dad laughs. “Of course, it’s my favourite too.”

He moves closer to the daughter, and the campfire flickers in the distance.

“My father told me this story, and his parents told it to her, and their parents, and their parents, and their parents, all until the Earth was first created.” He spreads his hand out, and the daughter’s eyes widen.

“Wow!! That’s so cool.”

“Once upon a time, there lived a Rainbow Wolf. Nobody knows why, but we just know that he was rainbow. His name was - ”

“Titan!”

He smiles.

“Yep! And this is his story. Once, he was the leader of a wolf pack, the Silver Six. They desperately needed to get some prey. They had been starving for many, many weeks now. But this time they found a deer. It was injured. But they chased the deer into enemy territory. And Titan, with all of his power, ran after the deer, because he knew that if they did not catch it, then the whole pack would die. But he fainted, and when he woke up, he met the goddess Artemis.”

“Woah!!” The daughter said.

“Woah indeed! Artemis granted him three wishes, and his wishes were to…”

“To get wings, be rainbow, and see his family again!!!”

“Exactly!! But Artemis didn’t like the wishes, because they were too selfish, she said. She still gave it to him, though, and that is why he is rainbow.”

“But that’s so mean of her!”

“Why?”

“Because all he wanted to do was see his family again!!! He worked really hard and was trying to help save them.”

The dad nods.

“I think that it was unfair because she granted him any three wishes he wanted, and she got mad at what he chose. She shouldn't've assumed and judged him!! I would’ve chosen that too!! I love rainbow! Why would she be angry because of that?”

The father smiles. “I never thought about that. That makes a lot of sense. I agree with that! That was unfair. Especially because the pack cast him out after he returned.”

The daughter nods. “Yeah! That’s not nice of them. He spent a whole wish to get back to them!”

“I never thought about it that way. You helped me look at things from a different perspective today!”

The daughter beams. “Maybe I can tell the story to my children in the future!”

The father smiles. “It’s a tradition that we can keep going on forever.”

“Can we finish it?”

“Of course! And so, Titan got banished from his pack. However, as a magical wolf, some say that we can still hear his howls at night, especially with a full moon.”

The daughter’s eyes widen. “Do you think that we can hear them tonight? Maybe he’s lonely and needs a new friend!”

The father laughs. “Maybe.

Maybe.”

“Good night, dad!”

“Good night, daughter.”

I’ve been scrolling online for who knows how many hours. I know I should stop, but I just can’t seem to bring my finger a few inches. It just seems wrong to stop, especially because there’s no point. I mean, I’ve already started. I wouldn’t be able to do anything productive, so why just keep going?

“Hey, you!”

My phone is talking to me.

“Yes, you! Stop scrolling!”

I’m not even sure what I’m doing with my life anymore.

Whatever. I close my phone and toss it on the floor. I get out of bed.

The clock says that it’s “midnight already! Go to sleep!”

Why not? I change my clothes. The clothes heap on the floor keeps building up. “We need a home! Put us in the washing machine!”

Fine. I grab the pile and dump them into the washing machine. And I should probably go to sleep now.

But my phone keeps beckoning to me…

“Ew, you stink! Take a shower!” The laundry machine taunts.

Urgh. I really don’t feel like doing this. But I haven’t showered in days.

I trudge to the shower, and I turn it on. The water feels oddly relaxing.

And when I’m done, I brush my teeth. And when I’m done, I go to bed.

Sleep welcomes me (literally).

i watch the rock with steady apprehension
i ignore the moon down to the slightest mention
not out of spite; i simply forget

in my modest nearsighted anxiety
i forget the thorns, spikes in my spineless frame
fingers scraped up like skinned knees
(remember the overalls?)

no one can ignore the discordant piano keys
so slam them harder, my love
you deserve to be seen for more than that
but sometimes you have to settle
for the midnights
before you can climb the ladder
to the daylights

(but perhaps the midnights are much more fun)