Me?!
Indeed it was making its way towards me, it's chocolate eyes seemingly glinting hungrily. And here I thought that we were the ones that should look hungrily at chocolate.
"Quick! Just confess it!" It was the president's vigorous voice. "If you do it by yourself, you might feel better!"
She was right. I should do it by myself. But was I brave enough? I certainly didn't feel brave. My knees were shaking and my teeth were chattering. The chocolate cat certainly wasn't waiting. My knees turned to jelly as it came closer, closer, and closer still.
"Hurry! Just do it!"
The president's voice was muffled as if I was underwater. My body was numb. My mind felt like an over-inflated balloon. I couldn't move. I couldn't run. I couldn't even think!
Help. Help me. What am I supposed to do?
It was almost on top of me now. I took a deep breath-
"I HATE EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD! I HATE MY GREEDY GOOD-FOR-NOTHING PARENTS AND THIS SCHOOL AND I HATE MYSELF!"
Breathe out.
"IF I WASN'T A STUPID ALICE THEN THIS STUPID ACADEMY WOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN MY PARENTS MONEY AND TURNED THEM INTO GREEDY GOOD-FOR-NOTHINGS!"
That day was when I found out I was one of the legendary and powerful Alices that were granted with a special ability (called Alice Ability), and then they had received a million dollars in an envelope a week later. As soon as that happened, a limo had appeared at our shabby front door and had whisked me away into the most prestigious and mysterious school that I had ever been to. And they never let me out. I wasn't allowed to go home, or use technology to email or phone my family. I wasn't even allowed to send letters to them. I was trapped in my so-called paradise of a school. After that, they went berserk with greed. As far as they were concerned, they didn't care that I would never return. But they did want her to also be an Alice. When they found that she wasn't an Alice...
"And then they wouldn't have abandoned my little sister..."
My voice had gone thick as I tried to blink back the hot tears that stung at my eyelids.
"BECAUSE OF THEIR GREED MY LITTLE SISTER PERISHED. BECAUSE OF THIS STUPID SYSTEM THAT THIS STUPID SCHOOL HAS."
The adrenaline was wearing off and my mind felt like a marshmallow.
"But I don't hate this school much anymore. Because the people here are empathetic and they understand."
I could feel my consciousness slipping away like the morning frost.
"......so....."
I struggled to get the last words out. The truth. I had to tell it. I had to.
"...I don't feel alone anymore."
As soon as the last word left my lips, I drowned in the blackness.
The Precious Weapon
Sreeya Bugata
“Thud! Thud! Thud!” the sky hollered.
“Whoosh!” the wind roared.
“Crack!” the land unattached.
Everything went berserk.
She arose on this magnificent mega-planet, as her mother disappeared into sightlessness.
“She is a confident, fearless, powerful, adventurous and angelic girl, who gives her family enchantment. She is all set to begin her mission!” said the priest, feeling pure proud of Crystal, to her dad.
I established my mini butt on my cozy seat and remained calm and flexible.
“Excuse me, is that seat next to you 2A?” an unknown adorable woman questioned me as she carefully eyed every individual blank seat with her lovely jade eyes.
I said yes, by nodding my head.
She organised her stuff and said: “It was dim, so it was awfully tough for me to explore my seat.”
“Yeah, they should have switched the lights on,” I said.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Crystal.” she said delightly with gorgeous smile on her face.
“I’m Justin, nice to meet you too,” I said as we shook our hands.
I unlocked my liquidly sky blue eyes unhurriedly and mopped them smoothy.
I look to my right, to get an excellent look at Crystal, but there was no sign of her.
I observed this massive train, which was totally empty. There was no clue of anyone, apart from my old best friend, Mark Robinson.
“Scurry up ‘unenergetic cat!’ ”
Mark teased me, as he arranged my bag accurately.
“When did the bus arrive?” I questioned him.
“Ten centuries ago.”
Butterflies instantly stuffed my stomach as I entered the backyard of Mark’s
brand new house. He was renting it. I felt plainly anxious, that I desired to dash back to the train station.
“I’m not going to proceed here!” I cried out an ear-splittingly cry.
“I’m sorry Justin, I’m aware that you’ll panic, but...”
“Sorry Mark, no butts!”
“Please I’m sorry. I certainly want you to live with me, because... You are the only actual terrific friend I have,” said Mark.
I complied because I could sense how abandoned he felt, but the thought of living next to a graveyard still alarmed me.
When I was being entertained by a daily T.V programme at midnight, the door shrieked. “Whack, Whack!”
I opened the door feeling uneasy, but it didn’t last long. The person who was waiting to be responded to was: Crystal.
“Hi Justin, what are you doing here?”
“My friend rents this house, I’m living with him,”
“Oh, I came to say hi to my friend, but I didn’t know that she moved away. I go this university, which is in next street.
“How does a cup of coffee sound like?”
“Flawless!” She said smiling.
Next morning, the manager showed up with a package.
Manager: “Hi, can I put this post in the room?”
Me: “Sure, but what is it?’
Manager: “Not your business.”
Me: “Actually, this is my business because my friend is renting this house.”
Manager: “It’s an album, you can’t see it.”
Me: “Ok, I’ll put them away. Why is there special room in this house, anyway?”
Manager: “Um... because... we put our extra stuff in that room for events.”
As I placed the album on the top rack, I intentionally made it plunge out
of my hands. The album dived out of the box. I fingered it up and had a scan
of it. I couldn’t ignore my eyes, as I visioned Crystal in every single picture.
“Who is this?” I questioned him as I pointed to Crystal’s face. His eyes flashed down and he replied: “I’m going to tell the truth now. This is that woman's house, and she died 20 years ago. She killed herself for a reason, but no one knows what. Her name is Crystal.
My brain discharged. My heart collapsed. Everything went amuck in my brain. It
got worse, when the door and the clock in unison screeched “Ding dong!” at mid-night.
“Stop looking like an owl, with your mouth open,” Crystal said as she patted my head as if I was a puppy.
“Don’t dare touch me!” I hollered in apprehension, as I looked at Mark locking himself in the bathroom.
Crystal seemed crestfallen.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, feeling melancholy.
“Who are you? Why’re you here? What do you need?” I questioned her, as I passed the picture to her.
The puzzled look on her face begin to disappear as she observed the picture carefully.
“You’re a ghost.” I said in fear.
“Stop it! I’m not a soul, I’m organic!” she exclaimed in inflammation, as she settled herself next to me.
“I’m reborn. That person in that picture is my sister in my first life. He is Kayla Crystal and I’m Mckayla Crystal. She was in love with a guy called Bill Carson and they both got married. My sister didn’t distinguish that she was getting defrauded, until she saw Bill with another girl. He told my sister that: he married her because she was rich, not because she was beautiful. My sister thou
ght he was pathetic, so she took her own life. I went beserk and banished him out of town.
Ten years later he showed up with unnatural, undefeatable powers, on the day of my anniversary. It was very hard to destroy him, but using my intelligence
I buried him in my castle, where my wedding was going. After I buried him, I made an announcement : the castle was closed and no one was allowed in. After two days, I heard mysterious sounds coming from the castle. I went back to have a look.
“Do you know what happened to me?”
He asked. When I didn’t respond, he answered his own question.
“I died!” He cried in displeasure. “Let me out and I’ll destroy you and your family!”
I didn’t wait for him to say anything else. I locked the castle and hurried to the church.
When I explained everything to father he said: “the solution is your death.”
“My death?”
“Yes”
“If I die, who is going to kill him?”
“You’re going to be re-created to include him in the same family.”
“Why do I have to die?”
“Because, you’re the weapon. After you die, I’m going to burn you and collect the bones and make a powerful sword, which will defeat him.
“I’m ready to die.”
My mouth dropped down, as I listened to her precious history.
“I’m ready to help!” I and Mark said in unison.
“It’s so windy out here,” Mark said as he and I fished for the sword.
“What’s this?” He asked, pointing to a box underneath him. When I opened it, I couldn’t believe it. It was the sword!
“Good luck!” said, as I handed the sword to her. After few minutes everything begin to go dement.
The sky hollered. The wind roared and some of the land unattached as Crystal walked out of the castle with stunning smile on her face.
“The victory is ours!”
Dedications
This publication could not happen without the generous contributions from:
Bernestine Singley
Amanda Staley
Param Paramalingam
The Southcombe Family
Tracey Berkahn
Jane Lauren
Secrets
This edition first published in New Zealand in 2015 by ZR Southcombe in softcover.
Copyright © 2015 by Z.R. Southcombe Limited
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the authors' imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any way for any means without express permission in writing from the author.
This work is protected under the statutes of the copyright act.
Printed and bound in Auckland New Zealand by www.bookprinting.co.nz
978-0-473-34524-2
First Edition
For further information go to www.zrsouthcombe.com
About the Editor
Z.R. Southcombe (Zee) is a writer & artist. Her books are written for children, but with their wild sense of imagination, rich vocabulary and emotional resonance they are loved by readers of all ages. Her paintings are surrealist and focus on the emotive self.
A true creative, Zee usually has a few creative projects on the go, but no matter what project she is currently working on, Zee is usually accompanied by a cup of tea.
Sign up to the mailing list to hear about new books at:
www.zrsouthcombe.com
Did you love Secrets Anthology 2015? Then you should read You Can't Cure A Witch's Curse by ZR Southcombe!
A story of hope, adventure, and a young girl's determination from twice-shortlisted author, artist, and educator, ZR Southcombe.
Sophie's brother, Jack, is dying from a witch's curse, and her only chance to save him is to find a witch.
But their are no good witches, and the closest one is the evil sorceress Rosethorn. Sophie must venture out of her little fishing village, through dark forests and sinister wastelands, to find the witch.
But even if she does - can she really save Jack?
This book is illustrated by the author, with 21 hand-drawn ink illustrations. It will be released in print by Spring (Southern Hemisphere) / Autumn (Northern Hemisphere).
Read more at ZR Southcombe’s site.
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Secrets Anthology 2015 Page 3