THE BOY 

    AND THE BEAR

By: Alison Francisco and Zainab Ridha

    One day, in a bright and sunny forest, a boy named Will was walking with his mother when she got an unexpected phone call. 

    “Hang on honey,” his mom said, coming to a complete stop. “Just wait right there while I answer this important call. It’ll only take a couple of minutes.”

    At first, Will listened to his mother, quietly sitting down like a good, compliant(1) boy who did as he was told. But after a while, he got bored of his mother’s banal(2) phone call, and began to randomly meander(3) further into the woods.

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    As he wandered deeper into the forest, it grew darker, and he began to grow scared of his surroundings. Uncertainty filled his young little heart as he looked around and he realized he had lost track of him mom and was now utterly lost. 

    Suddenly, a bright, incessant(1) trail of never-ending fireflies began illuminating(2) a path for him to follow. Relieved, he followed the light up to a large, voluminous(3) clearing, where something caught his eyes.

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    An enormous, prodigious(1), grizzly bear was napping conspicuously(2) out in the open. The bear seemed so innocuous(3), peacefully basking in the sunlight. His fur looked so fluffy that Will laxly(4) walked over and decided to carelessly pet it.

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    As soon as his little fingers brushed over the sleeping bear’s back, the bear jerked awake, causing Will to fall back out of trepidation(1) and let out a fearful scream. This ruined the tranquility(2) of the atmosphere and caused quite the disturbance.

    “What are you doing in my forest and why have you awakened me from my slumber?” The bear roared.

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    The bear was so daunting(1), Will’s heart just about stopped and he quickly turned around and sprinted away, not once looking back. Sweat dripping down his forehead, with tears clouding his eyes, he regretted ever leaving his mother. All of the boredom he initially felt melted away.

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    As he felt himself growing too lethargic(1) to keep running, he came upon the same line of fireflies that had originally taken him to the bear.

    “What if this firefly path can lead me back to my mom?” He wondered.

    The very thought of finally being reunited with his mom renewed all of the energy he had lost and gave him just enough strength to once again follow the trail of fireflies.  

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    Sure enough, at the end of the trail stood his mother, still on the phone, oblivious(1) to what her son had just gone through. Without hesitation, he barreled into her arms and wrapped her in a tight ‘bear’ hug. Although his mother was confused, she went along with it, unknowingly alleviating Will’s panic as he relaxed in her embrace.

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    Although he never mentioned what had happened to him, not even once, Will learned a valuable lesson that day:

    Reckless behavior can sometimes put your life in jeopardy(1) and lead you to dangerous situations. It’s always best to just listen to your mother and wait while she’s on the phone.

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AMIDST US

By Zainab Ridha and Alison Francisco

    In the middle of space floats a spaceship with 10 astronauts on board, all of them working on pivotal(1) tasks, each crucial to their top secret mission. 

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    Dark Blue Barbara was working hard on her tasks, diligently(1) completing each assigned step, when she heard the pinging alarm coming from Mission Control. As she rushed into the main control room to hear the vehement(2) message, she saw Cyan Cindy also rush in to answer the urgent call.     

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  EMERGENCY MESSAGE!

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    “We have just received word that two spies had gotten on the spaceship before launch and are planning on sabotaging this mission. Our sources tell us they are dangerous people and one must be prudent(1) and careful when trying to warn the rest of the crew,” Mission Control stated. 

    Dark Blue Barbara and Cyan Cindy nodded gravely, both shocked at the flagrant(2) situation they were now in. 

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2 SPIES!!

    “We need to tell the rest of the astronauts,” Cyan Cindy exclaimed, hurriedly getting up to leave.

    “WAIT! We need to be careful who we trust and be more furtive(1) when giving out information. This should be a secret until we’re absolutely sure who’s innocent and who’s not,” Dark Blue Barbara whisper-shouted. “One way we can tell whether or not they’re guilty is watching them perform their tasks. As this is a crucial mission, no one should just be standing around doing nothing. That would corroborate(2) who the spies are and would be a dead giveaway.”

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    Cyan Cindy and Dark Blue Barbara agreed to meet back at the main control room in a couple of hours to share whatever relevant(1) information they might have gathered on the rest of the astronauts that could be important. In order to cover more ground, they split up and went their separate ways.

    At first, Dark Blue Barbara didn’t notice anything too out of the ordinary. Most of the astronauts she passed were working hard on completing their tasks and weren’t really doing anything wrong. 

    However, she noticed something a little eccentric(2) about the way Brown Barry was acting. Instead of completing tasks in an orderly manner, he was rather stagnant(3) as he stood in one place, watching others do their tasks.

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Important 

   Work