And This Week's Winners Are ...

Revenge and Cleaning Sprays

By Caroline Moratti

It was a lonely day for clones. All humans had left the region, packing smart little suitcases and driving off over the dusty plains in newly washed Fords or Toyotas. The move was sudden, without any warning. The cat’s food bowl left half empty, the sprinklers still spraying water over mowed lawns.

BB sighed as she scrubbed the already spotless sink counter. She knew it would only be a matter of time before she would be garbage, a useless robot, dismantled and broken in her abandoned home. The truth was that clones couldn’t function for long without tasks and chores to do. A clone’s brain is hardwired to clean, cook and tidy, not build a social civilization out of the rubble of the humans waste. It was tough knowing you were going to die soon.

Throwing off her rubber gloves, BB ran a hand through her wiry blonde hair. It felt clogged with grease, due to the lack of the cheap shampoo that the humans provided. Her body still needed the basic needs that were normally, predictably provided for, which was now gone, crammed somewhere into the backseat of a car.

Mentally, BB ran through today’s schedule.  She thought about cleaning the toilet bowl again, but she decided the bird feeder needed changing. Slowly, the list of chores would dwindle, as would her strength. Slowly, her hour glass would trickle down to a few grains of sand, and then stop.

BB felt a stab of rebellion twist through her body. Suddenly, she threw off her blue working smock. Why bother working hard to clean the human’s home, when they had all cleared off? It wasn’t fair! Leaving her collection of detergents and disinfectants behind on the vacuumed carpet, BB stormed out the door. When she was outside, she looked back at her home, the suburban nightmare. Technically it wasn’t even hers, but she had laid her head there so many countless times, looking up at the cracked ceiling while the owners slept above.

Saying a silent goodbye to the building, BB kept on walking. Her feet moved along the slabs of thick pavement easily, and BB held her head up high. Opening her cracked lips, she shouted. “People of Paradise Island, commence!” Her voice carried through every crack and splinter of the old town.

Soon, a crowd of clones gathered around her. They were all deathly thin, their cheeks pale and hollow, and their eyes haunted. BB cleared her throat awkwardly, self-conscious in front of so many sagging faces. “Ahem, well, I have called this meeting to discuss...well, umm...our rights as people of a union...and how...umm...this behaviour that we have tolerated for decades must not be...uh...tolerated anymore. Well, we must fight with civil words to not be left...uh behind, as a sort....umm.... of a ghost town. We must not be...cough...forgotten!”

A few distant cheers went up, but the majority of the crowd stood silent. BB spoke again “Look, I know we don’t want to face this issue, but we must fight back! Otherwise...if we dwell here, cleaning ourselves to deat-“.  Her gaze locked on a little girl clone that was standing right at the back, and BB felt guilt well up inside her. “....Cleaning ourselves to boredom, I meant to say. There’s a whole world out there to see, and why are we...uh forcing ourselves to wipe mirrors and dust tabletops when there’s no point anymore?”

BB coughed again, aware of how terrible a public speaker she was. But still, she raised her voice one final time. “Clones of Paradise Island, I beg of you to join me, in an uprising! A last hurrah, a battle to dignify our good name! We shall fight!”

There was a hushed silence, and then an audible clapping started rushing through the crowd like wild fire.  Clones at once started to gather into battle formations, hurriedly discussing plans and weapons.  They went in large numbers, gathering vital items needed from each house. They set off soon after that, using each possible mode of transport to get to where the humans where; Aucktown.

BB felt a sense of pride surge through her heart as she travelled on Highway 87, her long, white legs pedalling fast on a small child’s bike. It was sickly pink, an eyesore, with ‘Barby’ sketched in delicate white lettering. Clones were scattered on the highway, some on scooters, some skateboarding. It was almost comical, if it wasn’t so serious.

Soon, they had arrived in the main centre, Aucktown. It was crowded with people, all speed walking around pavements, carrying huge shopping bags. BB slowly drew her weapon out from her pocket, for protection. Other clones followed suit, all displaying shiny cutlery, mostly bread knifes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of BB’s eyes, she saw something heart-wrenchingly familiar; her old human family. There was the mother, Sally, predictable blue eyes, short blonde locks, tugging the daughter, Mandy’s hand. Mandy was adorable, with long, flowing black hair, and several dimples. The father, Arthur, was quite straight forward and even tempered, with a rounding bald spot at the back of his scalp. A twinge of loss echoed through BB, as she watched her old family laugh and walk on.

As if the other clones could sense BB’s hesitation, they nearly fumbled with their knives and forks, until they had proper grip, and started to charge. Clones descended from everywhere, flashing their shiny weapons, as they viciously pierced human skin, while BB watched, horrified at what she had caused.

“STOP!”  A small voice shouted, from somewhere among the mass of clones and bloody humans. The small girl BB had seen before stepped forward. “Stop this madness! You should be ashamed of yourself! We are not fighters, but cleaners. Why make such a mess, when we will only have to clean it up, and pay the price for injuring another fellow soul?” Her voice trembled, but was still strong.

Slowly, the girl walked towards BB’s old family, who was still cowering in fear, disbelief in their eyes. BB and the thousands of other clones watched as the little clone girl, took the little human girls hand, and smiled. Peace was formed in the palm of friendship, as life moved on.

 

The End.

By Caroline Moratti,

Balmacewen Intermediate,

Dunedin.

Starting School on Fabo2

By Vibhava Leelaratna

One day in the planet Fabo 2, I started school but I didn’t want to. When I walked into the entrance door there was pineapples squashed on the floor.

When I found out who was my teacher I vomited instantly like a sick dinosaur. My teacher was called Lizard Pimple!!!! She looked just like her awkward name. But when I found out who was the principal I needed to go toilet really badly. Her name was Feijoa Nose and I could see that. She is so mean I feel like fainting in front of her. But at least I found a friend who’s name is Dan Carter (not the actual one). He got named Dan Carter when the actual Dan Carter’s Jockey underwear fell on his head when he was born. There is a bully in the school called iPhone because when he was born; his belly button was shaped as an iPhone. He bullied me and calls me Smelly Peter Pan on my first day of school. I always have dreams of iPhone as a cup of tea.

The school lunch is horrible! They have Orang-utan Poo for Morning Tea and Jackal Snot for Lunch!!

At school we watch video clips about different types of animals in Planet Fabo 2 dancing. Also we are making valuable things into junk like Flat Screen TVs into banana peels.

At break time people sit on each other and squirt squashed pineapples at each other. But I just sit there with my awesome friend.

Principal Feijoa Nose shouts at you if you don’t wear character costumes everyday like Superman, Harry Potter and Freddy Krueger. I went to detention for not wearing a character costume. I didn’t wear one obviously because I didn’t know so it isn’t my fault.

For sports we play Spartonin and Floatamot. Our school is the best at Spartonin in the whole planet Fabo 2. But they don’t let people like me play it.

These are all the reasons I hate school and I felt like going home at the beginning of school like a scared pussycat.

by Vibhava Leelaratna,
Maungawhau School

Exploring the Quadropus

By Caroline Moratti

The camera zooms in on the creature which is scuttling around the ocean floor. The creature looks startled and proceeds to rush away along the sand.

A voice which sounds distantly like David Attenborough begins to speak:

We are here, Ladies and Gentlemen, to witness such an unusual species that have sprung up in Old Zealand recently, among the ancient sea floor. Its name, the Quadropus, appears to have migrated from the Northen Pacific Ocean. The Quadropus, or it's Latin name, Quada Lasomhunga, often enjoys feasting on mushroom-like creatures, non-salty seaweed, and long walks on the beach.

The camera focuses on the Quadropusses mouth, as the creature begins to shriek suddenly, it's lips mouthing the English letter 'W'

Ah, the Quadropus has began it's natural mating call. This unusual sound vibrates through the ocean, signalling to all the female Quadropus that there is a willing mate nearby. Once the male has chosen his partner, the two Quadropusses begin to build an ahem 'nest', so to speak, collecting small fragments of rock, wood, and pebbles.

The sound begins to stop as the Quadropus freezes, as if seeing something that the camera hasn't. The vision is blurred for a few seconds, as the camera swings around to film the approaching intruder.

Well, it seems we have a predator on our hands. As predicted, the Saturwhale has smelled prey, and is rapidly approaching the Quadropus. We are caught between a almost playground school fight. It is as if the fish are screeching "Fight, Fight" as the surrounding waters are quickly divided into territory. I am literally quivering with excitement, as this is such rare...uh..moment on that we are witnessing.

The two animals circle each other, snarling loudly.

It is quite a wonder to see this play out before our eyes. The Quadropus is really quite amazing, even when attacking another fellow sea-life. Look at it's purple tentacales spiral around the water, almost playfully. It's body glades through the water, prepared to attack. So fasinating...so utterly fasinating. Completely unlike human society, that it babbles me.

The Quadropus suddenly lashes out to the Saturwhale, baring it's teeth. A audible snapping noise can be heard. The camera struggles to get any good footage from the wild rush of blinding water that swallows up the two animals.

Beautiful, the call of the wild that descends from deep below the sea. The Quadropus is widely known for it's trivial fighting skills and it's beautiful velvet eyes. It's whole appearance is as graceful as a model on Vogue. The Quadropusses beauty is only to fool onlookers though, because behind it's small, delicate mouth is vicious teeth, sharp enough to pierce metal.

Slowly, drifting from the whirl of water, the camera can see a silhouette race away, the disappearing of the Quadropus, after finishing his dinner.


By Caroline Moratti,
Balmacewen Intermediate,
Dunedin.

Spartonin by Izaak Glynn and Matthew Sansome

Equipment: 2 teams of six ( three boys and three girls ) 2 flags , 4 people in the field , two people using ballista’s on top of each team cave , eight swords , 12 sets of armour, two phoenix’s and eight shields.

Playing field: this game is played in a coliseum with two cave at each end with booby traps such as fire pits, piranha pits and spike pits. In each teams cave there is a forge for weapons, a cage for phoenix’s and medical packs.

Rules: no mercy, no ballista destroying , no smuggling of lethal animals or creatures and no smuggled extra weapons.

Game play: on the top of each team caves there is two ballista’s and a flag.no enemies can enter the caves, and apart from the rules above there are no other rules. This game is to the death and in the world cup the last team standing after 57 games is the winner. There are 20 teams and the team who wins is granted millions of dollars, immortality, the cup and praise from the country.

Teams and history: the two newest teams are the west fabo2 talons and the north fabo2 eagles. The current champions are the east fabo2 jaguars. The greatest Spartonin player is the captain of the first world cup winning team, the north east fabo2 pumas. His name is Jason jasonsin. He was born in the rough streets of south north FaBo but then he left to fabo2. The creators of Spartonin was I. glynn and m. sansome, they are the two awesomest people in the galaxy. These two boys created Spartonin on the 16th of September 2001 and since then it has became a major sport. Spartonin has been played galaxy wide for 10 years. This is the greatest game in the history of sport. The next world cup starts in 2013 and the cup is held every 2 years on south north west north fabo2 in drolas stadium.


Floatamot  by Rebekah Gooderham

Floatamot is an extreme game with 83 mixed teams each team has 10 players. All team are made up from daring genies. Floatamot is to be played over the deserts deep in the hearts of Africa.

The objective of the game is for each team to find all 1725503 flags while floating 10,000 meters above the ground. Floatamot isn’t as easy as it sounds; it is also a game that teaches you the safety of flying with no safety gear. There are a range of obstacles within the air (e.g. planes, balloons, giant ice creams and the odd rugby ball.

What you will need to play this game:

A lot of different obstacles i.e. planes and giant ice creams

A powerful genie

1725503 flags

830 fake moustaches and beards ( 1 beard and moustache for each player in the game)

Red silk ribbon

Two pointed bamboo sticks

925378 different prizes

A sense of direction

A bag of 36 chocolate bagels

A contract to rent out the deserts deep in the heart of Africa

A whistle that can be heard 203 miles away

A referee

How to play
You have to get the magical, powerful genie to make all the flags float in random places above the deserts. Spread the obstacles around the area. Jab the two bamboo sticks into the ground in the warm, golden sand. Rap the red silk ribbon around the pointed bamboo sticks. Let the referee get ready. The referee counts down from 1025490, when the referee gets to 0 he or she yells “FLOATAMOT”. All the genies sit on the ground with their arms and legs crossed and their eyes closed. The genies will slowly rise (levitating). Some of the people that enter the games aren’t actually genies; you can tell who these people are because they are sitting on the ground. The referee will pick up the bag of chocolate bagels and star throwing the chocolate bagels at the people who claim to be genies. There is no universal limit to how long this game lasts. The longest time for Floatamot to be played was 105 hours, 31 minutes, 28 seconds and 561 milliseconds. All the genies get into their teams in the air, and then they fly around everywhere trying to find the flags the same colours as their genie lamps. The first team to get to the finish line with all the correct coloured flags wins. The winners get an extremely powerful, purple magic carpet. But all the 10 people in the winning team have to find out a way to share the magic carpet in the three minutes the have until they have to return it. The referee has to give out the 925378 prizes randomly to the other players. Floatamot is very fun, active and tactical game.so if you’re a genie and you want to play Floatamot then just go to your local African desert with some of your genie friends and PLAY!

***********

Bruno McCall - 

Dark Night 

It's a dark gloomy night 

I'm wide awake in my bed 

The trees are scraping on my bedroom window 

The stars are shining 

Through the clouds 

Like silent eyes watching my every move 

I creep down the stairs 

The floor boards creak 

I get a glass of milk 

And gulp it down 

The dog starts barking 

Hush now hush 

Hush 

I leave my glass 

And I tip toe 

Up the stairs 

Into my bed 

I can't get to sleep 

So 

Down I go 

And open the door 

I walk outside 

I feel the rush of chilly fresh air 

Walking and walking 

I can't stop 

I try to resist the beautiful sight 

A big bright light 

Rises slowly as dawn ends the night 

My shadow 

Prances away 

And says 

I am Dew Moon 

The night shadow 

I gasp 

When my shadow 

Disappears from 

My view 

I stride back home 

Happily

Knowing 

I will meet Dew Moon

Again

************** 

The night shadows 

by Matilda clack 

"I'll ride away from my old life on the night of Christmas eve 

With some holly berries in a basket I hang upon the reins. 

The snowflakes embroider my pitch black hair as pretty as the decorated town 

I pull a strand of Ivey to make a pretty crown.

And now I will ride away to find a place to live, under never ending skies,

just like my eyes grey-green and willing to give. 

The merry church bells are ringing; midnights on its way 

 My pitch black hair rippling in winter's breeze. 

 My name is dew moon as sweet as blossom trees. 

 A new life is ahead of me, no more poor I will live in happiness and this is just 

what I'll sing 

 "The moments of life we use to thread our golden crowns 

We hang them above the dragon's breath 

And mesh them into towns 

Those towns hold a secret no wise man could uncover 

The power of happiness and loving one another" 

 

And this is what dew moon sung, 

did and lived upon for all of her happy life.

********************** 

Night by Emma O'Shaungnessy 

The night is cold and bright. 

The moon is shining with light. 

Dew Moon is a cat with a golden coat looking at the moon. 

A little girl is looking at the moon .. With popcorn! 

The twinkling stars look at the moon.

*****************

Melindiana’s amazing cave discovery.

By Isla Jackson

Mel you’re on in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and ACTION! Everybody starts cheering and clapping. The crowd loves me Melindiana thought!

“Hi I’m Melindiana Jones. I specialize in amazing archaeology discoveries. Today I am here to tell you about my next adventure!” The crowd oohed and aahed. “I am going to discover the secrets of……! Drum roll please!” Everybody thumped and made a heck of a ruckus until Melindiana yelled, “stop!” Everything went quiet. “I am going to discover the secrets behind CAROLINE CAVES!” The crowd gasped! Everybody knew about the Caroline Caves. Nobody dared to go into them because of how deep they were. Melindiana went on and on till the end of the show talking about the adventure that lay ahead and how she would record her adventures in a diary. “Goodnight my followers, my adventure begins NOW! Oh and god bless you.” Melindiana disappeared behind the curtain. Applause followed.

“I must get to the nearest train to the caves!” “Oh and Simon forget the latte, my adventure is waiting for me and I’m late for it!”

Half an hour later Mel got to the Caroline Caves wearing a purple floral hat, blue satin shirt , brown waterproof pants and a satchel around her shoulder. Where do I start she thought? There were two tunnels ahead, one to her left and one to her right. She walked around. Over and over again in her head she wondered “where do I go, I’ve only just started?” She patted the wall and jumped back startled. The wall she had just patted made a huge crash and dust went everywhere. Melindiana covered her eyes and coughed. When she was sure the dust had gone she slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to find that there was a small door in front of her. The caves were really dark but the hatch she had opened was filled with sunlight that danced on her back like little yellow disco lights. Melindiana was filled with joy as she stepped through the bright entrance. It led to a room filled with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts and opals in the ceiling, on the ground, in the walls , EVERYWHERE!

“This is an archaeologists dream!” Melindiana exclaimed! Apart from all the crystals in the room there were little blue birds tweeting in a high-pitch that was sweetly magical. There was an aqua lake dappled gold from the magnificent light. The lake was filled with glorious fish streaked with colour! Red, green, yellow and blue, diving in all directions. Mel fell head over heels in love with the sight. The gold and aqua lake made Mel feel warm and fuzzy. So warm that it made her shiver. “I should have lunch. I must find a spot to have lunch because this concrete ledge is no good at all!”

Without knowing she stepped forward and let out a long ear piercing scream. Mel was fell dozens of storeys. She was swirling round and round until she hit the ground with a boom! Melindiana looked around shaking “I-I’m alive?” Mel pinched herself hard “Ow, no I’m alive!” Mel looked left, right and down. “AHA!” she exclaimed! “I fell onto a mattress! Somebody must have put it here. I shall eat lunch first though.” Melindiana ate half an orange and one grilled cheese sandwich. It tasted heavenly, like what was around her. The cheese was oozing into her mouth and the bread was as soft as the mattress beneath her.

After lunch Melindiana went back to work. She picked up a diamond as big as a telephone and stuck it into her satchel. Then she picked up a little purple stone and a lime green stone. The odd thing about them is that is that they both spelt C as in Caroline Caves. She stuck them in her satchel as she may need them for later.

Melindiana walked for hours around the lake sticking strange things in the satchel that she may need or use as memories. Soon she came up to three small huts, all circles. Circle house, circle windows, circle door and circle steps. “Hello, Hello? Anybody there?” Mel looked around eagerly. I don’t think I am the first person to discover the caves. She heard a gasp and out of the door came a little man. Mel stepped back and her heart began beating. Who is this, she thought? Is he dangerous? Is he human? “Don’t worry lass I’m human, I’m not gonna hurt ya. Top of the morning to ya!”

“Um yeah you too, um sir!” Melindiana was a little bit frightened of him. His eye sockets drooped a little like he hadn’t slept for weeks, He was surprisingly skinny and you could see his ribs, the bottom part of his shirt and pants were ripped off and he had little shiny wisps of grey hair behind his ears. Mel couldn’t decide if he reminded her of a baby bird or a lonely human but she was pretty sure he was a lonely human. “Haven’t seen other humans in years, you’re quite pretty too. Tell me pet, what’s your name?”

“My name is Melindiana Jones; I specialize in archaeology and have come to explore the Caroline Caves!” The little man let out a little chuckle and said “well you certainly are I’ve been expecting you.” “You have! What for?” Behind that door over there are some extremely weird creatures.”He whispered “What kind of creatures?” “You’ll see.” He replied “By the way my name is Albert.” Mel Smiled for the first time in hours. “I was an archaeologist too and got stuck but that doesn’t matter. It’s been a long day; Get some rest I’ll show you tomorrow.” Melindiana sighed a big long sigh of relief and fell asleep in seconds.

“Melindiana, Mel wake up” a croaky voice said.
“Let’s go.” Mel said cheerfully. “Just have something to eat first! Do you have anything?” asked Albert. “Just a pizza I’ll halve it because I am sure you’re hungry!”

“Haven’t eaten anything like that in ages” Albert replied. The two of them ate heartily sharing jokes and telling stories like they’ve known each other forever. “Let’s go eh?” Albert said. “Oh I’ve been waiting forever and a day!” Melindiana replied. The two of them chuckled and walked to the door. “So how do we do this?” Mel asked. “You just rub like you did with the first door.” Albert replied. Mel gave it a tingly little rub and KERBAM the door burst open. The two crept inside and saw little monsters with blue fuzzy monobrows, yellow skin and only one eye. There was one big one talking to all eight thousand of them (It seemed). “Googly Schmoogely finkle.” Suddenly they all roared and cheered and squeaked. “They want to destroy the humans; I studied their language when I was down here. Follow me!” Albert whispered.

“See that door over there you need to put the two C diamonds you found into the door and then the monsters will die and then who knows what’ll happen?” Melindiana gulped. “Ok” she said shaking. Mel crept to the door with Albert following close behind. The monsters started closing in on her. She finally got it! She stuck the C’s in and turned around the monsters were turning into dust. Melindiana was amazed! Then a lady in a white robe floated down and said “you have defeated the smoogles and I am now free! I may grant you one wish what shall it be?” “For me and Albert to return to the human world and I will live happily ever after!” “Your wish is granted”. The lady said.

Seconds later Melindiana and Albert were back in her city! They both did a jolly dance. Melindiana wrote her book and Albert grew his hair back and 5 years later they married and who knows what they’re doing now! Perhaps another adventure?

ACROSS THE LAKE

By Arabella Cameron

One very balmy morning by the Illing Lake, a mouse called Sophia was strumming her guitar as the sound of the rising dragonflies awoke the day. Sophia the mouse had a secret, she was not really a mouse she was really a banana, the reason she got turned into a mouse was one day, the wind was so strong that it blew the tree witches baby away, the tree witch was really saddened and turned into an evil tree witch and she was so sad she sent changing fireworks everywhere, and Sophia got hit and that is how Sophia turned into a mouse afterward the tree witch was so sad she died so did the baby boy and they were never mentioned again. Not very interesting I know very boring and normal, but Sophia was happy because it was stupid being a banana.

Anyway after a breakfast of acorns and nutmeg wine she went down to say hello to her friend the chocolate eating fish who was enjoying a pleasant breakfast of a soggy kit cat. They chatted for a while about grapes (random) then all of a sudden they heard a loud splashing sound, it was Jim the strongest worm ever he was so strong that he could swim really deep and carry a cat. He arrived at the end of the bank then started rolling in a puddle of mud. When he had finished Sophia said “now what did you want to tell us “ war he said war between leaf lords and rainbow warriors, because the rainbow warriors want spring to come but the leaf lords keep on dropping leafs, they say that we all need to go until the war is over.

Well what are we waiting for screamed Sophia, we are going to leave right now. Sophia began screaming out orders Jim you go get us a boat Chocolate eating fish you go get Bruce who was a frog and I’ll pack all the food.

50 minutes later, they were all ready Sophia had 4 bags of food one of the bags was full to the brim with chocolate and chocolate milk for the chocolate eating fish another one was full with dead lady bugs and spiders eggs and coffee for Jim the worm another one had dead fly’s, tuna sandwiches, and a bottle of water for Bruce the frog and the last one had scrambled eggs, tined peaches, pumpkin soup, pink sponge cake and rosemary and nutmeg wine that one belonged to Sophia.

Jim had found a splendid boat called Wild Water ship that had a sail and shone in the morning sunlight, but at the moment no one felt like admiring it because the wind was so heavy it felt like a scratchy cotton blanket and the chocolate eating fish had gone and got Bruce.

They were all very exited and nervous as they held on to the gleaming rails that lead them to the boat. They had been on the boat precisely 11 days 3 hours and 44 seconds. Sophia and Bruce hadn’t seen each other in months so they spent every moment talking “ did you forget about me? Questioned Bruce no said Sophia “ you were asleep in my heart and it hurt to much to wake you up, “ and they finished that conversation by embracing each other warmly, they all enjoyed a lovely tea of nutmeg wine and pumpkin soup then they all went to bed.

In the morning they all awoke to hear Jim yelling land ahoy, they all hurried through breakfast of pink sponge cake and coffee then walked off the boat the found a pretty pink blossom tree its pretty pink blossoms danced in the wind like 5 year old girls at a dress pink party it was giving of such a beautiful perfume, they all wanted to stay under it until the war went so the did.

Sophia made some sweet crisp beds out of the blossoms and leaves, and there was a pond under the blossom tree where the chocolate eating fish lived. They lived there for quite some time but on day they got a letter that said you can come home now the war is over we all realized that winter comes before spring so until winter is over the leaf lords can still drop leaves. “Well fancy that “said Bruce “that is stupid “ well when you think about it it was a beautiful mistake because we all got to spend time with each other” smiled Sophia so they all returned home and lived happily ever after.

AIN’T NO COWARD

By Caroline Moratti

The alleyway was dark....too dark...Sam Spader thought, as the darkness leered at him. Hands trembling,he reached for his gun, and felt calmer as soon as his palms touched the coldmetal. The truth was; Sam Spader, dark law officer and tough guy, was a coward.He thought as a hero, when inside, he was a wimp. The cigarette smoke thatclouded him when he sat at his office, projecting an air of mystery, hid histrue self. It was his deep secret, something that no-one ever knew.  But being a detective was all he ever knew howto do. He could hardly be a florist or a shopkeeper, when he had felt thethrill of a gun shooting another human. The rush he got when a bullet went off was like drugs to him. But yet, he was scared.

Stepping into the alleyway, Sam felt his hands get sweaty and moist, making him almost drop his weapon. He would need his gun later on though. He was after Tom Trouble (T-dog, for short), a gruesome murder and pastry chef. Tom was known for his bad cooking and bloody hands. This ain't gonna be easy, thought Sam.

Suddenly, Sam heard footsteps metres away from him. Ducking behind a near-by dustbin, he prayed for safety. There were so many things he still wanted to do: eat spicy Mexican food, buy a dog toy, buy a dog. This couldn't be the end, Sam panicked.

Very bravely, Sam cocked his gun, stepped out behind the dustbin, then heroically ran away.

Sam didn't stop running until he had reached his old apartment block. Shutting himself away in his bedroom\office, Sam began to cry. He was a failure, a disappointment. His Mama would look down from heaven, and see that her son was a good-for-nothing scaredy cat. And everyone knew that cats were stupid, not awesome like dogs.

Sam took deep breaths to stop his blubbering sobs, and made an attempt to dry his red eyes. He knew what would cheer him up: a nice homemade curry, with some chocolate fudge brownie for dessert, and some re-runs of "Greys Anatomy". That sounded perfect.

And Sam was right. After a delicious meal, and some nice soaps on the telly, Sam didn't feel so depressed anymore. Just lonely. He curled up on his couch, tired of waiting for something to happen.

After a tasty breakfast of "Lucky Charms" in the morning, Sam felt ready to tackle some work again. He hit the intersection of Mean Street's 1 & Mean Streets 2 whistling. After some satisfying work of getting cats out of trees, stupid cats, Sam felt like he was ready to go to lunch break.

He ordered 'The Great Goatini" at McRonalds, and tucked in to the giant burger. Half-way through getting Special Sauce splattered on his bib, something happened.

A mean-looking gangster, strolled up to greet him, smirking. "Hey, you got the jelly beans?" He asked in a hushed whisper.

"..Umm..yes..all apart from the red ones..." Sam stuttered, and pulled a handful out of his pocket.

The man looked confused. "No man, I mean the money. Jelly beans is our code word, Remember??"

Sam was shocked, but he tried not to show it. He was caught right in the middle of a mob plan! "Ohh..the cash..umm..yeah.." He whispered back, lying as best as he could. This time, he spoke louder. "Yes, I have the JELLYBEANS at my place." and winked suspiciously at the gangster.

The man nodded at Sam, then indicated for Sam to follow him. In the big rush, Sam quickly left his un-paid for burger, half eaten on his plate, and slipped out after the man onto a crowded street.

Sam hoped he could keep up the lying until he could discover the whole gang, and what they're up to. This was the first time in years he felt like he wasn't a coward anymore. He was a real detective! 

The gangster led him down a series of streets, until he stopped outside a shabby-looking music store. They both silently went inside, Sam's heart beating like a humming bird. This was it! His big career break-through!

As the pair tried to casually stroll down the aisles of CD's, Sam spotted someone at the end. Tom Trouble!

The man next to Sam called out to T-dog. "He's got the cash!"

Sam tried to nod, but he was too excited. "Excuse me for a moment guys...I have to uh...check out this week's Top 40." Sam lied, making a quick dash for the door.

Once he was outside, Sam called the police on his mobile. It only took minutes for the flashing lights to fill the streets, as the cops rushed out of the car, holding handcuffs.

"I've heard there was a crime committed. Where's the scumbag?" One of the policemen asked Sam.

Sam was about to answer, when another cop shouted at him. "No, that's the criminal right there!" She pointed at Sam. "That's the piece of filth!"

"What?? No!! Listen, Tom Trouble is inside!! You have to arrest him!!" Sam shouted at them, as the handcuffs were clenched around his hands.

The police shook their heads. "We don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, you're under arrest Sam Spader for stealing."

"Stealing??!!"

"You stole a hamburger at 12:32, is that not correct?" The cop questioned.

"...I..I was going to pay for it later!!" He spluttered, his face going pale.

The cop shook his head. "That's what they all say. Sorry mate." As the police bundled Sam into the back of the car.

The Gambler Makes Good

by Matthew Illing

“You lose!” said a mechanical voice. ”Darn this game …. I’ve spent $500 in gold and still haven’t won!” Eddie kicked the machine in disgust. “Take that ya stupid gambling game, I’m going home!” Eddie stomped out of the saloon still muttering under his breath.

Eddie was a foolish gambling farmer who needed money quick. Eddie was about to head home, when a sign nailed to a pole caught his eye. It read, “$50,000 in gold for whoever catches Octo-puss. Dead or Alive”.  Octo-puss was an evil villain with one blue eye as cold as ice, and eight guns. Octo-puss had escaped from Cactus City Jail, and was still on the loose. “That would be a great way for me to save the farm”, thought Eddie, “or I could take my prospecting equipment to find those sapphires at the same time”.  In the heart of the Tussock plains was rumored to be a deep hole containing sapphires as big as bowling balls. Eddie wandered home and was soon fast asleep, dreaming of sapphire and gold.

Eddie was up at dawn.  He threw a few things into his rucksack and was soon heading out of Cactus City on his trusted horse Kenny, in search of his fortune.  Eddie and Kenny traveled for three days solid until Eddie began to realize he had a slight problem - they were running out of supplies fast. Eddie hadn’t put much thought into packing rations for the trip and now regretted it. He had only packed 200ml of water and a bag of rice, and being foolish, Eddie had eaten all the rice at the beginning of his journey.  As his stomach rumbled again, Eddie realized what he had done and began to snivel. “I wonder what heaven’s like?” he thought feeling sorry for himself. Suddenly a plan came to mind and he began drawing it in the dirt.

Eddie hung the empty rice bag on a long piece of tussock grass.  He was trying to catch a giant meaty dragonfly which had been buzzing annoyingly overhead. After an hour of waiting patiently, it flew into the bag. “Yes!” Eddie shouted as he grabbed the bag and hit it repeatedly to kill it. It was now time for phase two of his plan.

Eddie ripped multiple pieces of tussock out of the ground and tied them together to make a small lasso. He attached the dead dragonfly to the rope and placed it about 25 meters from his makeshift shelter as dusk approached. He waited, his tummy growling loudly.  Soon he heard it – a ferocious hissing sound.  The ten red eyes of the deadly Sucker-Punch spider glowed.  Sensing its prey, the spider launched itself onto the dragonfly, stripping pieces of scaly flesh from it.  Despite the risk to his life Eddie launched himself at the spider. The spider didn’t sense him until it was too late. Eddie landed on its black, hairy back and started hacking its head with his pickaxe. The spider hissed ferociously, but being driven by hunger Eddie held on tight, like he was riding in a rodeo. He hacked until there was a deep hole in its skull, and seizing his chance Eddie ripped out the spiders blue brain. The spider let out one last terrible hiss, then collapsed to the ground. Unable to control his hunger a moment longer Eddie began to eat the juicy flesh of the spider.

After a good nights sleep and no more hunger pangs, Eddie set out again.  He soon came to a humungous, deep black hole. He was about ride around it when a strange glinting caught his eye. Eddie stopped to examine the hole more carefully.  His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he realised the glinting could be a bright blue, sparkling sapphire.  Tying his rope to a crevice in a rocky ledge, he abseiled down to the crook where the Sapphire was sitting. But as he got closer he realised that it wasn’t the glint from a real sapphire after all, but one of the eight automatic pistols of the most evil villain in Western history, Octo-puss.

“Well, what do we have here?” drawled Octo-puss. “Yet another little fool from CactusCity I’m guessing”.  Eddie launched a punch, hoping to catch Octo-puss by surprise, but Octo-puss easily caught it in one of his big hands.  “That’s not the way to go foolish one,” Octo-puss said waving his gun. “Just give me the sapphire and I’ll take my leave,” Eddie told Octo-puss hopefully. ”You really think I’m going to let you have it.  I forget how silly people from Cactus City are” bellowed Octo-puss.

“Well then you’ll find this silly,” said Eddie, launching another punch, but this time catching Octo-puss off-guard. Octo-puss brought all eight guns into the battle, firing lead bullets everywhere. Eddie slipped behind a rock corner as the bullets flew past him, and seizing the opportunity brought out his pickaxe to claw out a sapphire as big as a trashcan lid. Levering it free Eddie picked it up and used it as a shield as he ran into battle. Octo-puss fired at him but it was no use as the bullets just bounced off it harmlessly. Eddie reached Octo-puss and used the strength of the sapphire to push him into the wall, killing him instantly.

Eddie put the giant sapphire in his rucksack, together with a few more he quickly mined up.  Hanging Octo-puss’s lifeless form over his back, he climbed back up and rode off into the night.

Eddie arrived back in Cactus City four days later. The city folk stared as he rode into town. The sheriff approached him, and seeing the lifeless form of Octo-puss slung over Kenny’s back, handed Eddie a pouch. “Here’s your gold as promised”. Eddie grinned with delight and turned to head back to his farm, or may be he would make just a quick stop at the saloon on the way …

Ear Love

By Caroline Moratti

(a FABO2 Romance)

Donovan tried to see through the thick mist which was temporarily blinding him. He had grown up around it, lived with it, every day and every night. It was only now, that he longed for something more. The pure white irritated his eyes, and he was sick of the overwhelming sweet cloud taste that lingered with him. Stupid mist. He thought angrily, clenching his pale fists.

The truth was Donovan had met a girl. A girl from a whole different country, a girl who wasn’t like everyone else. Before that meeting, all the girls in Donovan’s life had been the same; Genetic blonde’s with more pigtails than brains. They were the ones who laughed at Donovan and his strange body, as it merged from hot to not. In the morning, they always happily flirted with him, smiling with sharp, white teeth. Then, by afternoon, he was suddenly invisible to them, nothing of interest.

That’s why Ginacar was different. She had been visiting The Fog Cliffs of Dover on a holiday, when they met. She had smiled, and remarked to him that she thought the mist was stunning, so romantic. Donovan secretly disagreed, but he was stunned to silence by her...ears. They were the biggest, pointiest, perfect ears Donovan had ever seen. When the couple first kissed, Donovan could smell the almond vanilla scent the earwax carried, and it smelt like heaven.

But she was gone now. Donovan had last seen Ginacar in the restaurant below his apartment. They had had an argument, something about how he only loved her for her ears. Donovan remembered vividly how white, pale her ears were, when she walked out on him, gone forever.

His obsession with ears had begun when he was five. His pet rat had nibbled and mutated his Ken doll so badly, that all that was left was an ear. At first Donovan was upset, as his now deceased mother had given him that doll. But the pain Donovan felt was put into nurturing that ear. He carried it in his pocket everywhere, stroking it with his fingertips. He gave that plastic ear baths and feed it at mealtimes. And now, Donovan put it to good use, as a piece of jewellery...a necklace. His father had thought it strange he hadn’t made it into an earring, but Donovan never listened to his dad anyway, not since his father had decided to grow a moustache, one of Donovan’s pet hates.

So anyway, Donovan was upset about Ginacar. Very upset, to be fair. He had decided to try and track her down, but didn’t have the concretion skills, or the imagination, to think where she would be. All Donovan could remember was she liked really big bouncy castles in shapes of depressed eagles and puppies. That wasn’t much to go on, despite a country fair being held a couple miles away from town, held in some caves.

Anyway, Donovan decided not to go. Tonight was bingo night after all! Also, Ginacar wasn’t very pretty when she had her hair down, or wore hats over her beautiful ears. In fact, she wasn’t even that smart, or informative.

In the end, he went. It was a combination of things that made him go, like how Donovan remembered Ginacar had left a pie at his house, and Donovan didn’t like pies, so he decided to return it. Also, he needed more petrol, so he decided to drive someplace, and he kind of liked going to caves. Driving
through the thick, dense bush, he decided that maybe he’d been too harsh on Ginacar. She had seen him in the afternoon, and hadn’t even screamed, and only threw up three times!

Maybe love was like a goldfish tank, Donovan mused. You put two goldfish in there, and they fall in love. Take one goldfish away, and the other one eats its children. Simple!

As the slightly awkward man drove up towards the set of caves, he got out of his car, as that was the only logical way of getting out of one’s car, and slowly started to walk to where loud noises were descending from. Inside the caves, thousands of brightly coloured lights flickered at him, and carnival music played over and over again. But in the centre, was a giant, bouncy castle, in the shape of a very sad, lonely puppy.

Bingo! Donovan thought, but then was a bit annoyed, as tonight was bingo night. Hopefully Ginacar was worth it. She probably wasn’t, but Donovan didn’t really care about that. Tonight was about him.
He spotted Ginacar at once, who was bouncing on the castle. Immediately, he spotted her ears...her lush, gorgeous ears. Anyone could fall in love, any gold fish could eat their children, Donovan realised, but only one person could have ears like that.

A Horror Story By Annabelle Ritchie Wolf sniffed hesitantly at the air, hoping for a little sniffle of chocolate. Nope, none. He sighed, and went back to nosing inside every bush for the chocolate moose he so craved. His ultraviolet (no, not glass) eyes raked the dying ferns when suddenly a fridge appeared out of nowhere. He looked away, then back again. A deep sniff of his long purple snout told him that inside there was.... something. Chocolate. Chocolate - moose? He lunged suddenly for the fridge when suddenly he was repelled by, it seemed, an invisible something. He tapped the air, feeling rather foolish seeing his furry purple paw touching nothing, but something was actually there. He traced the invisible wall all the way around the fridge - it seemed to make a sort of dome. Just then he almost trod on  a red button -  it said 'Do Not Push'. Alright, then, thought Wolf, and didn't push it. He decided to report back to Base. This was odd - he might even get a promotion! You see, Wolf worked for a organization called 'The Lost Forest Search Team', although Wolf thought that the name 'team' seemed to imply less animals. The chocolate moose hunt was being conducted by about a tenth of the team, all of whom were of the Explorer species. Not the entire search team was made up if Explorers, though - there were the Yetis and the Snow-Stems and the Piano Accordions and the Yoninoonahs and the Gakalakahs and even the Grim Reapers(this was only a short list – many more existed). All ten species had a different job - the Grim Reapers job was to find some way of reversing death and therefore bringing back the long extinct fluffy pavlovas, as the Piano Accordions was to find out why not a single member of all the other species could withstand music - they conducted these experiments in a bulletproof and soundproof room. Highly adequate, thought Wolf, that the Yoninoonahs job was to participate in the Piano Accordions experiments. Wolf was the latest in a long line of pure-blood explorers, and that was a good thing – mixed breeds often died or had major brain malfunctions. No-one knew why – although hopefully they soon would. The Snow-Stems long line of research had nearly reached a conclusion, although the actual result would become clear in the next century or so. Time wasn't really a problem; each species lived at least three or four hundred years long. The average explorer age was 392, allowing each descendant a reasonable amount of time to live their life. So far the sought after Chocolate Moose was no closer to being caught than it was last millennium, but Wolf was sure that he, of all his species, was the one. The fridge could be a key step up in his! Then he would be able to put his feet up and do research in weekends instead of just endlessly looking through the forest, day after day. Maybe he could even leave the Lost Forest.... imagine, climbing through the air holding all your trust in a hunk of wires and metal! Thought Wolf. He reached Base, and looked excitedly up at the bright green A-frame. Today could be the day! He dashed in and looked at the bored female Gakalakah sitting at the admin desk. "Yes? You're back early." She droned on in a voice that cracked from answering the telephone all day. " I found a fridge." She looked at him thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose that counts as an interesting discovery. Upstairs, on the left, then the door straight ahead. Department of newly discovered artifacts. Good luck!" She called after him as his purple fur brushed the floor, scattering tendrils over the newly polished lino. This was good! He was being put straight through to the experts. That had to mean something! He pushed open the door at the top of the stairs, and was immediately confronted with a small wooden plaque saying " Department of newly discovered artifacts." He ploughed on, and came face to face with royal red carpet, and a ceiling had scenes from the FaboBible painted on. Then Wolf's eyes flickered to the Yetis and he felt a cold prickly sensation underneath his skin. The Yeti immediately before him was slipping a dagger into anothers back! The victim fell to the floor with a massive thump. Wolf started to speak. "Hey, I...think.... why did you kill him?" He finally queried. "What? Me? Kill him? You must be joking, m'boy! To think something of the sort is quite ridiculous!" He let out a booming Yeti laugh, as did all the others. "Nah, he must be dead from the overwork. We've had at least 20 others go the same way." Wolf looked incredulously at the murderer. He had killed all of them! But he had to act normally, else he might kill Wolf too. "Oh... anyway, I've come to tell you about a fridge in the middle of the forest? It just popped up behind me. I could smell chocolate inside it, but there was an invisible barrier. And then there was a button beside it saying, do not push... then I came back. I didn't push it." "Sounds interesting. Did you note the coordinates?" "Yep." Wolf said in relief. "Do you want me to take you there?" "Yes." Wolf walked out of the elaborate room. As they ran through undergrowth he suddenly realized he was alone, quite alone, in the Lost Forest with the murderer! He ran a little further away from him since he realized this. When they reached the fridges clearing, Wolf's face crumpled in despair. It wasn't there! "I planted that fridge. You are too dangerous, Wolf. Let me kill you, as I will eventually kill all your species." Wolf felt a dagger slide between his ribs, then felt no more. And the motto of the story is to shout out what you know to be true – don't hide it! A Science Fiction Story By James Kerr Once upon a time on planet FaBo2 Zeeblebarf 1 was collecting soft, juicy berries from the Guggalugga tree, for his tribe. Then, Kaboooooom! Kabannnng! At first he thought to himself ‘‘I wonder what that could be?’’ He took the short cut back through the dark woods to his tribe. There in the smouldering ruins was a magnificent, glowing meteorite.  ‘‘Ahhhhhhhhhh, we will get you!’’ said a mysterious voice and there coming out of the village or where the village used to be was a group of zombies. Hardly recognisable, but then he realised it was his family “Mum, Dad, I’m your son” Said Zeeblebarf sounding tearful in his voice. He tried to think of a way to get out then he suddenly remembered the tribe’s time portal. Whirrrrrr! The machine was warming up. He jumped inside the portal, kaklunk! Whirr! Buzz! As he was time travelling he thought, thank Zeus the deactivation of the time portal had been delayed. ‘Whirr! Kaklunk! He came out in this weird world with big tall buildings. As soon as he got out he deactivated the time portal. Soon he found his great great grandson Zeeblebarf the fifth “Where am I?’’ said Zeeblebarf 1. “Why, you’re in the Holuni Tribe. We have the most modern sky scrapers’’ said Zeeblebarf the fifth. “Eh what?’’ said Zeeblebarf 1. ‘’Oh sorry, your knowledge must not be quite as strong as the rest of us here’’ said Zeeblebarf the fifth. ‘’Do you want to come to my house to see my parents?’’ said Zeeblebarf the fifth. “Why not?’’ said Zeeblebarf 1. So they went to Zeeblebarf the fifth’s house. When they got there Zeeblebarf’s mum noticed a strange glow about both of the Zeeblebarfs, so she looked in her old, trusted, blue, medical book then she froze ‘‘What’s wrong mum?” said Zeeblebarf anxiously. ‘You have got the power of explosive diahorreah and the power of freezing people” said mum sounding scared. “How do we get rid of it?” said both the Zeeblebarfs at the same time. “Well it also notes here that you can go to the top of the mighty, tall pink Mount Songi and drink from the stream” said mum. “Mount Songi!” said Zeeblebarf with his mouth gaping open. So they went up to Zeeblebarf’s room and packed. They packed a machete, pocket knife and food. So they set off on their long treacherous journey up the mountain. They got all the way to the top, but when they got to the stream it was heavily guarded by soldiers with ray guns. So Zeeblebarf jumped out and froze all the guards solid. Then both the Zeeblebarfs jumped out and drank water from the stream and their powers were wiped. They lived happily ever after. Until… A Science Fiction Story  By Caroline Moratti “Luke..... I am your father.” The old man wheezed, coughing noisily. “Dad! I know!! Geese, stop saying that! It’s not like I thought I was adopted or anything!” The boy beside him groaned, scuffing his hands in his pockets. “Oh...I thought your mother might of....never mind.” He spluttered; his voice thin and wispy. “Daddy!! Pick me up!! I’m a princess, and you’re all my servants!!” The little girl whooshed past them, waving a makeshift wand in the air. Luke knelt down mockingly, his eyes a blue earnest. “Daddy’s not feeling well, Princess Leia. But can I have the honour of carrying you?” He held out his arms, and the little girl snuggled in, safe in her brother’s arms. “When will we get there?” She asked sleepily, her mind already drifting. “I don’t know, Princess Leia. But I promise you’ll we’ll get there soon, wherever we’ll end up.” Luke smiled wearily, his lips a cracked brown. But the girl was already sleeping, and her brother continued to carry her down the dark tunnels, even as his arms started to ache. Unfortunately, her dream was nothing but vivid blackness and occasional splats of hamburger sauce in bright mustard yellow, as her pretty plaited head contained no imagination whatsoever. The tunnels the trio were wandering down were the abandoned crater that had been carved into the planet, where whispers about a lost tribe lingered in the tunnels. They continued on walking and sleeping for another hour, until..... “Dad! Dad!! What’s wrong?” Luke turned to his father, who was coughing up a silvery blood suddenly.  “Help! Someone help!” He called down the tunnel, desperate. “Coming!” Rang a thin voice that echoed through the dirt. In awe, the siblings and their dying dad watched in amazement as a yellow police box appeared before their eyes. A sprightly man jumped out, wearing a neat pin suit. “I can help!” He assured them. “I’m Doctor S...Sp...P...Sp...Spock.” “Doctor Who?” Luke asked, not understanding his stutter. “Doctor Sp...Soc....Spk....S....Spock. But most people prefer to call me ‘Doctor Who’. As a little joke, you see. They can’t understand my last name often.” “I can see why.” Luke muttered under his breath, before returning to the urgent situation at hand. “Doctor, my father is seriously ill. Can you help us?” “Of course! But I might need a little help from my home planet, Zoid 6922XC0mK5g2. I’ll have to contact them immediately.” Leia, who had woken from her sleep, looked curiously at the strange man, and then piped up. “I smell garlic!” She declared crossly. “I hate garlic!” Doctor Who froze. “Garlic’s! Oh heavens, they’ve followed me! Children, I’m sorry, it’s not safe! Go, go back! I’ll deal with them myself.” “What are garlic’s?”Luke asked, annoyed, and temporarily forgotten about his father’s sickly condition besides him.  Doctor Who quickly took out a hammer, and started scanning the tunnel walls. “Umm.......Garlic’s are big robots that like to try and kill me. Is that good enough for you?” “Geese! I didn’t ask for your life story or anything!” Luke said rudely, crossing his arms. Doctor Who stopped mid scanning. “Oh no, oh no, this is not good...Okay guys, RUN!!” He sprinted down one of the craters pathways, and the Skywalker family, first surprised, then confused, followed after him. Twisting and turning down under the earth’s pathway, the frail father, the spritely princess, the stubborn teenage boy, and the unusual doctor ran for their lives from the dangerous robots that could also be described as flavouring to food. “C’mon Chaps, I see a door!” Huffed The Doctor, pointing towards an arched doorway built into the dirt. “A door? Down here?” Questioned Luke, before assessing that they have no other option but to go through it. And go through the door, they did. Beyond it was something of a garden. A trickling pool sparkled near their feet, and trees hung plump fruit by the crater walls. A tall, skinny man approached them, opening his hands to them. “Welcome, Friends. I am Zeeblebarf. My fleet crashed here 12 years ago, and we have lived here since. We will welcome you with hospitality in return for utter obedience and usefulness.” “Oh goodie! Well, I’m Doctor Spp...Sp...Poc....Skp....Spoc...” “Spock.” Luke interrupted loudly. “He’s Doctor Spock, and I’m Luke, and my family is my sister Leia and my father Darth. Please, my father is ill, can you help?” “You are travelling with a man of medicine, and yet he does not assist?” Zeeblebarf asked. “Umm...” Doctor Spock mumbled. “Never mind. Come, we will feed you, and then see what we can do to help.” Princess Leia looked up at Zeeblebarf. “You have hamburgers?” She asked, suspicious.   “No, no! We prefer a healthy diet of mutton and carrot stalks.” Zeeblebarf assured her, ignoring everyone’s groans. “Come, Darth, I personally, will heal you.” Seating Darth down at the edge of the water, Zeeblebark moved his hands over Luke’s father’s chest in a circular motion, humming softly. Luke closed his eyes in frustration. For him, this was all mumbo-jumbo. Luke couldn’t picture what might happen as a result of this ‘magic’, because of the lack of imagination. He opened his eyes, only to blink several more times out of amazement. A blue light was bouncing off his father’s chest, shining all over the cave. It was...well...magical. But the moment was ruined. Luke heard a deep rumbling sound from outside the door. “Garlic’s!” Doctor Who explained, hurriedly. “Get ready to fight!” He flung Luke a glowing green stick, which Luke assumed which like a sword weapon in a way. Luke stole one more look at the magic healer bending over his father, and his little sister muttering to herself, then nodded at The Doctor. It was time to fight.   A Thrilling Story By Matthew Illing Hi I'm 67XY3BB, but my friends call me BB for short. I'm a clone slave for Madam Ella Michaels.  She owns a huge mansion in the center of Paradise Island. Paradise Island is a giant incubator with a jungle covered landscape. But yesterday I discovered something disastrous. One day I was walking down the deserted Lotus Lane when I heard a mysterious laugh. I followed the noise to an old brick building. I was about to turn back when the voice cackled something. "Ha ha, with these I shall rule the entire world!" That did it, I climbed through the open window to try and track that sound. I saw light ahead. I ran down a stone staircase and into the light. It turned out to be an enormous hidden lab, and standing in the centre of the room was the pale-faced Sir Daniel Snevil, our multi-millionaire leader. Sir Daniel laughed evilly and explained his plan to himself. "Tomorrow at 6am I will launch a rocket into the atmosphere from the top of Mount Di Angelo. Once launched the rocket will disintegrate when it touches the world's water storage plant in Ethiopia, releasing one ton of pure mercury into the water, poisoning it and forcing the world to bow down to me if they want water". That was enough for me. I rushed back to Madam Ella Michael's mansion to get packing. Ok, so now I was the only one who knew about Sir Daniel's plan.   I know you're thinking I was stumped, and there was no way to stop him, but you would be completely wrong.  I had a plan.  It only had a 1% chance of working .. but if I didn't do it we were all going to DIE!!! First I went to see my friend 78XX39DC.  He owns a weapon store full of stolen gear from all over Paradise Island. At the store I purchased a Mega-vacuum gun, a ray-gun and a Japanese Katana with a strengthened blade. I then started my dangerous journey up the jungle-covered Mount Di Angelo. I reached the launching platform at 5:30 AM.  I now have thirty minutes to foil Sir Daniel's plans. But I'm not sure if I can do it.  All through the night I was chopping and slicing jaguars to pieces as I slowly made my way through the jungle, and now my arms felt like lead. It took me ten minutes to find the moss-covered hatch leading down to the control room, but going down the hatch almost cost me my life. I climbed down into the control room to try and find the master control that launches the rockets so I could put a stop to the countdown. But instead of finding the master control I came face to face with an automatic pistol. "Well if it isn't 67XY3BB," cackled Sir Daniel Snevil. "Stop the launch" I shouted. "Never slave, any final words?" "Hmmmm how about KIAI!!!" I shouted as I back flipped out of the way just as Sir Daniel pulled the trigger. Bang! Bang! Sir Daniel fired again, this time on target.  I managed to just deflect them away with my strengthened Katana blade. I then launched myself at the master control.  Big mistake! Instead of shutting down the rocket it decreased the countdown time to one minute! I then rocketed through the hatch and onto the launching platform with Sir Daniel on my tail. "Ten seconds," said a computerised voice. The rockets started billowing smoke. "5 . 4 .." I ran in the direction of the rocket. ".3 . 2..." I cut the rocket into two with my Katana sword. Mercury spilled everywhere, but I had done it.  I had saved the world.  I had stopped Sir Daniel Snevil from ruling the world.  At that very moment the Mercury reached Sir Daniel. "NOOOOOOO!!!" he shouted as he disintegrated in the hot metal.  My job complete I jogged back down the mountain to Madam Ella Michaels house. When I got there everyone wanted to know what happened up on the mountain. I told them the story of Sir Daniel Snevil's plan and how he died. Then to my surprise the secretary asked me if I wanted to become the  Leader of Paradise Island. I answered with an enthusiastic "Yes" thinking of all the luxuries I'd have. And that's the story of how I stopped Sir Daniel Snevil's evil plans. BB Mystery Story by Caroline Moratti Sher Lock hopped out of the car bursting with excitement, only quickly to remember that hopping had been banned long ago, along with hopscotch. Too much imagination, she thought grimly. She instead settled into a steady walk, as if to scream out to the world- “Look at me! I’m a proper, professional, prompt and persuasive private detective!” Sher was silently glad that she was only screaming in her head, as she had a terrible lisp with P words. A terribly short and stubby man followed behind at a careful distance. His name was Jock McWat, and was also a private detective. “A detective following a detective.” He mused slightly, chuckling. As Sher was so incredibly tall, and Jock so incredibly short, Jock had to take much bigger steps, and was soon lacking behind his target. But thankfully Sher was easy to spot, with her pink deerstalker hat and gumboots. Jock had to run to catch up, but finally he had trapped her in an alleyway; a dark, leering one, at that. Jock took out the gun that he had had clenched in his fist. Trembling, he took a step forwards, and shot at his target. Sher was watching the action below, in a huge house that overlooked the abbey way. “Thank heavens for that!” She breathed. “That was far too close for comfort! Good thing I always carry a duplicate of myself in my purse!” Sher turned at the sound of a footstep behind her. “Who are you?” She asked carelessly, taking in the tall stranger behind her. “I should be asking that question. Who are you and what are you doing in my castle?” The man replied, glaring at Sher. Sher snorted at his arrogant manner. “Castle? Bit over the top, eh?” “You are trespassing, lady. I warn you now, that Glottis Castle is not kind to strangers of any sort. Leave.” “Alright, alright, keep your panties on! I’m going, I’m going!” Sher Lock grinned with mischief. “Anyway, I’ve got a detective case to g-“ Suddenly the door opened, and another man stepped through. “Hey Dre Vil! We need to talk about that assignment you gave me.” He called, and then stopped in his tracks. Sher stopped too, her mouth gaping. “Jock McWat?” She gasped. “Sher Lock? Dre, what is this?” Jock demanded. Dre Vil smiled a toothy grin. “I believe you two know each other then. I leave you guys too it then.” He walked out of the room without another word, leaving Jock and Sher alone. “So Jock...who is this Dre you work for? Last time I saw you, you were in the blue mountains, digging elf portholes.” Sher questioned “A lot has changed since then, Friend. Or should I still call you that? Why were you sent here?” “I was just saying...because a client hired me...to do a special task. I believe the clients name is Fak Ename. Do you know him?” Sher pondered. Jock barked a short, sharp laugh. “No, I don’t believe I do. However it sounds unlike you to agree to be a private assassin.” “What? You just tried to kill me!” “As you will try to do the same to me eventually.” Jock agreed. “This client of yours...Fak Ename? Or should I say Fake Name? He wanted you to kill me, didn’t he?” “Dre Vil...Dr Evil!” Sher burst out. “They must be the same person!” They both looked towards the door where Dre had just gone through. They were both such fools! “Where do you think he went?” Sher asked, lighting a pipe to settle down for a long haul of much detective thinking. Wat’s son smiled, looking a lot like his father for a second. “Sher, my dear.” He began. “That’s where the real mystery starts.” The Star of Scotland by Matthew Illing One day in Glottis castle Dr. McWat a famous inventor and Sher Lock (Sher for short) a world famous detective were making X-ray vision glasses. Suddenly a maid burst into the room. “Sher! Sher!” “What” replied Sher calmly. “The Star of Scotland has been stolen!” “WHAT!” Sher and Dr. McWat both shouted “The king wants you to retrieve the Ruby, and then bring the thief to the courtyard tomorrow where he will be hung. “Well Dr. McWat we better start solving this mystery before it’s too late,” Sher exclaimed. “Ok Dr. Wat is you ready to roll?” “Yes Sher,” replied Dr. McWat. The two detectives were walking down the stone corridor sporting X-ray vision glasses, Gizmo watches and automatic pistols. ”Ok Dr. McWat what our lead?” “Well I’ve got reports of an old supply cupboard in the infirmary opening at night,” replied Dr. McWat “so I guess that’s where we start looking,” Dr. Wat continued. “Your right Dr. McWat, we should look there first,” marvelled Sher. So Sher and Dr. McWat climbed the spiral stair case up to the infirmary. They then entered to find the cupboard but had a hard time because the sick patients kept asking stupid questions. “What are you doing,” they would ask drunkly. Finally they found the supply cupboard but had a disappointing result. Inside were only needles and Books like Tuberculosis for dummies. But Sher wasn’t satisfied yet, so she switched on here X-ray glasses and found something incredible. The inside of the door handle was hollow and that hollowed out space contained a piece of paper!” Sher quickly extracted the paper using the screwdriver mode on her watch. The Paper turned out to a fragment of and old map leading to a cave in the side of Mount Glottis. So Sher hired a Limousine to take them to the mountain. There they found a twenty tonne boulder blocking the entrance of the cave. There was no way they could move the boulder so Sher and Dr. McWat cut through the stone using there laser mode on there Gizmo watches. The limestone stalactites and stalagmites were like crocodile teeth as the two Detectives walked through the dark cave Suddenly Dr. McWat torch picked up some old carvings in the stone wall. There were people being hung and raging battles but what stood out most to Sher was a strange carving. It was an oval with a hole going down to what seemed to be a cavern. “Dr. McWat I think this is where the Ruby is being kept.” “Just what I was thinking Sher.” So the two detectives crawled out of the cave and drove back to the castle in search of the Ruby. The detectives arrived at the castle at around about 10PM the perfect time to pursue the thief, but they had one problem where was the entrance to the cavern? Sher and Dr. McWat took some time to think about the mystery, but it wasn’t until 11:30 PM when Dr. McWat had a break through. Dr. McWat was going through the footage of the camera’s Dr. McWat had rigged up week ago when he discovered that camera 3 had caught a dark figure open a trapdoor in the sundial and climb down. Dr. McWat then raced down to Sher’s Bedroom. He burst into her room and shouted “Sher! I’ve had a break through!” “What!” shouted Sher Leaping from her chair. “I now where the cavern is!” “Where!” “The sundial!”They Dashed down to the sundial in the courtyard opened the trapdoor just like the thief and climbed down the rusting steel ladder. At the bottom they could see light and here an evil voice. “HA HA, I will be rich with this Ruby in my hands, it must cost five hundred trillion dollars!” ”Four hundred trillion dollars to be exact!” shouted Sher as she and Dr. McWat dropped in the room. “Ah Sher Lock and Dr. McWat what a surprise, to bad you won’t able to see me rise to the Throne and rule the world,” said the figure evilly. ”Oh yeah, try me,” replied Sher courageously. She and Dr. McWat pulled out there Tazers and soon the figure was on the ground. ”I think we should call him The Shadow,” said Dr. McWat. ”Yes you’re right but we better get the chap out of here before he comes too, and don’t forget the Star of Scotland,” replied Sher. “I King Bartholomew the third declare the shadow to be hung!” The crowd cheered and the Shadow was moved into place to be hung. “And now I must knight Sher Lock and Jock McWat. These two detectives have done us proud and from now on they will be called Dame Sher Lock and Sir Jock McWat. The crowd cheered and the people of Glottis castle lived happily ever after, until………   And here's Millie Brown's great opening lines - Sher Lock sighed as she glanced out of the window.  She’d hoped to see a break in the clouds of perpetual doom and perhaps even a sliver of sunshine straining through but instead she found herself staring into the infinite gloom.  “Hmmmppphhhh” she muttered to herself “just another day in paradise at Glottis Castle.  Nothing exciting ever happens around here.”

Joshua Thompson

Check out the winning story below the Judge's Report and don't forget to visit the Planet Page to find out what feature on Planet Fabo will be named after Joshua. Will it be a Mountain or a Pond.....?

Judge's Report

Fairytale sounded like it would be an easy style to do but I must admit it was very tricky to write, especially when you have to set the story on Planet Fabo2 and include Professor N.Spyre and the Institute of Combined Arts and General Creativity. I had to think about it for a long time and have a couple of goes at it before I wrote a story I felt happy with. I can tell many of you guys found it a bit tricky as well as most entries didn’t include all the challenge elements. I was impressed with the number of entries - congratulations to all of you who gave it a go. There were some amazing and fun ideas in your stories.

Special mentions go to Caroline Moratti who had my favourite sentence (“Because then you’ll end up like me. Trapped here, sure, with plenty of imagination, but nothing of reality.”), and Ermina Tajik who made the Granny the baddie and had the vegetarian wolf needing rescuing in her twist on Little Red Riding Hood. And this week’s winner is Joshua Thompson, who had a fresh idea and great plot structure. I really liked your story straight away. Nice work Joshua – your story is now on the Fabo2 site and your prize will be on its way to you shortly.

For future entries, remember to read your story aloud to check that you have all the full stops and commas in the right place and that you don’t switch points of view or tenses. Always check spelling as well. And most importantly keep up the good work. I’m really looking forward to reading all your entries next week.- Melinda.

Joshua's Story

Once upon a time in Faboland everyone was so unhappy. They were unhappy because their children were unhappy and their children were unhappy because when they closed their eyes and went to sleep their fantastic dreams always turned into horrible nightmares of the worst kind. This meant all the children were scared to go to sleep and they were awake and their parents were awake and at school the teachers got cross because the children could not work as they were so tired. At work the bosses got cross because the parents were too tired to work and no work ever got done. It was a tired and a miserable place to live. The saddest of all was Jake because he had the most horrible nightmares. He liked to play football with his friends but was too tired to run. He enjoyed reading books but always fell asleep at the first page. It was all very sad.

Near the land of Fabo at the top of a cold mountain there was an old building that was not used and completely forgotten about.  The Institute of Combined Arts and General Creativity was never used and no one really knew what it was for.  No one knew there was a clever and evil old man living in this building.  He was an old professor called Professor N. Spyre.  He was evil and the reason why no one in Faboland could sleep. He was a boring person with no imagination and he never dreamed.  Well he used to never dream until he invented a machine to see into people’s minds and saw all the wonderful happy dreams the children of Faboland had.  He kidnapped the postman and the milkman who delivered letters and milk to the old abandoned building and he injected them with his new invention to make people into invisible ghosts.  He told the new ghosts if they collected everyone’s happy dreams he would make them people again.  But he was a liar and they had been ghosts for a long long time. Every night they snuck into children’s room and stole their good dreams and because the children saw the ghosts they had nightmares.  They stole Jake’s dreams the most because they were the most exciting because Jake had an awesome imagination. Professor N. Spyre kept the dreams in his imagination room so he could have happy thoughts and not have nightmares.  The dreams floated around in bubbles and the professor would look carefully at each bubble before walking into the one he liked the most which was usually Jakes dreams.

One day there was a big storm around Faboland and the wind blew and blew and heavy rain came down.  The professor did not know this was happening because he was in a dream bubble enjoying one of Jake’s awesome dreams.  But he had left a window open and all the dream bubbles floated away.  Some floated high in the sky and disappeared and some popped against the mountain or crashed into the floor.  But some of the dreams were so exciting that they bounced off the mountain and off the floor because they were stronger.  The people of Faboland saw the happy dream bubbles coming and told the children they could see their dreams.  The children came running and Jake was there too.  Jake saw someone in one of his dreams that he did not know, it was the professor. But no one in Faboland knew who he was but Jake told them all he was not supposed to be in his dream and he should not be there.  When the bubble with the professor in it landed Jake pulled him out. Only Jake could pull the professor out because it was his dream. With so many people looking at him the professor had to tell the truth as he had no imagination to lie. The people of Faboland made him turn the ghosts back into the postman and the milkman and people got letters and milk again.  The professor was thrown into jail for many years and he was bored in his cell because he had no imagination and no windows to look out of.  The children of Faboland dreamed lovely dreams again.  They all lived happily ever after.