“Okay Oliver, your mother and I will be home around midnight. You’re 13 years old and I think you’re ready to look after yourself. Remember, don’t let anyone inside and call us if it’s an emergency.”

“Yes sir” I responded. This was so cool. I’d have the entire house to myself for six whole hours. But what was I going to do?

I have bad anxiety and I really don’t like horror movies. I remember my friends Craig and Kelly made me watch a very scary movie two weeks ago. I knew it was only a movie but I was terrified. I hid in Kelly’s bedroom until it was over. They’re a year older than I am and teased me for being such a ‘baby.’

Anxiety- feeling of worry, nervousness over something with an uncertain outcome 

Tonight I decided to watch the same movie on my laptop. I gave myself a little pep talk before uploading the film. In my head I knew that the evil men in masks were actors and that the blood wasn’t real. But that didn’t stop my heart from racing or my body from shaking. I sat on my bed, took a deep breath, and pressed play.

No! No! No! I was five minutes into the movie and I felt like crying. It was sooooo frightening. How can anybody enjoy these movies? I started to feel dizzy and nauseous. I wanted to run but my legs wouldn’t move. I closed the laptop and went to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. It seemed to have calmed me down. That was until I heard a disturbance outside my house. What do I do? I thought about hiding under my bed but decided to investigate.

“Waaassssuuuuppp!”

I picked up a baseball bat as I quietly made my way outside. Much to my relief I saw a couples of raccoons rummaging through a garbage can. I shooed them away and cleaned up the mess they had left. I was sweating and breathing heavily but at least there were no monsters. When I went back inside I decided to play my X Box until my parents came home.

Rummaging- to search through in an untidy manner

I made sure to triple-check that I had locked the front door only to find two police men inside my house.

“What are you doing here?” I shouted.

“Responding to a possible break in” one of the officers said in a monotone voice.

“Um, I never called the police” I replied.

There was something strange about the officers. It was as if they were in some sort of trance.

“You should come with us” the other officer motioned towards me.

Monotone- tone of person’s voice with unchanging in pitch or emotion

I bolted up the stairs as the officers lunged towards me. They were closing in when they appeared to have slipped on some marbles. Where did the marbles come from? I ran into my room, locked the door, and pushed my dresser against the door. I could hear the officers pounding from outside. I looked out the window to see that more officers or whatever they were, converging upon my house.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got experience with intruders” said an unfamiliar voice.

Converging- closing in on

“Oh, that’s good…..Hey, wait! Who are you?”

“My name is Kevin. My parents left for vacation without me.”

“Uh, sure. What’s going on?” I asked.

“We’re under attack by an alien race called The Tumi.  I call them ‘Intruders.’  They fly rockets over cities and drop bacteria from the sky called MTGs.  If anyone inhales or ingests them they become living zombies.”

“Whoa! What are we going do?” I panicked.

“Follow me to the attic” Kevin responded as I noticed a slight change of tone in his voice.

Bacteria- diverse group of single-called organisms

I reluctantly followed Kevin into the attic. But not before he was able to set a few booby traps that took out some Intruders. But the more of them we took out with mousetraps and fireworks, the more Intruders took their place. 

“I’m used to dealing with bumbling burglars. Time to head to the attic. Hurry!”

I opened the attic door as a ladder dropped down for Kevin and I to climb. We pulled up the ladder and dragged a heavy storage box on top.

Booby Trap- device set up to harm or surprise another person

“So, are we just gonna wait these creatures out?” I asked but received no answer. “Kevin? Kevin? You okay?”

I turned to see Kevin doubled over in pain rolling on the f ground. As I approached him he hissed at me. He had been infected by the MTGs and now he was coming for me. Kevin was about to spread the alien fungus to me when he was blasted by a laser beam. He immediately turned into a stinky pool of green goo.

Fungus- plant without leaves, colour, or flowers that lives on other plants or decaying matter

Standing before me was a giant alien with one humongous eyeball and a mouth full of razor sharp fangs. But was he friend or foe?

“Do not be alarmed human. My name is Baddux, Sentinel of the Stars. I’m here to save your planet from the wicked alien outbreak.”

“K……” I muttered as I was at a total loss for words.

“Follow me as we will conquer the all-powerful Zygotriton.”

“We?” I stammered. “And what’s a Zygotriton?”

Sentinel- soldier or guard whose job is to stand keep watch

Baddux blasted his way through The Intruders as we boarded his spacecraft. By now the creatures had entirely surrounded my house. A couple of them tried to climb inside but were shaken off the ship as we escaped into the dark night sky. Whew! That was close but could I really trust Baddux? It seemed as though I had no choice. Hopefully this bizarre fever dream would come to end after we defeated Zygotriton. I mean how tough could this dude really be?

Fever Dream- very strange experience (usually not good), that seems more like a dream than reality