Cruel Beauty By Rosamund Hodge: Epilogue

Okay so for my novel study at school I chose to read Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (Its like one of my all time favourite books!) and one of the assignment we had to do was to write and epilogue to the book. Here is mine.

*PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU RE PLANNING ON READING CRUEL BEAUTY*

Cruel Beauty

ROSAMUND HODGE

Epilogue

GRACE FRANKS

Sunlight seeps through the gap between the curtains and falls upon my eyes. The birds outside the window sing their sweet melodic tune and I sigh at the peacefulness of it all. Although the curse The Kindly Ones bestowed upon us has been broken for over a month now, I still, along with, the entire kingdom of Arcadia, smile with delight when the radiant heat of the fire that hangs in the sky like a Hermetic lamp, hits my face. I roll over and find Lux still deep in his dreams. As I watch the rise and fall of his chest, I realize how simple and tranquil my life is now.

“I Love you Dear, but will you please stop watching me while I sleep.” Lux’s deep voice catches me off guard.

“Oh! I’m sorry shall I just walk to the kitchen and slave away in there to cook you a lovely breakfast while you fall back into your dreams?” I tease.

Lux turns on his side and stares into my eyes, his face serious. “You are my dreams, and my desires, and my world, but most of all you are my reality. If one day I do have a dream that I wish to come true, I will wake up and realize that everything I will ever want or need is lying in my bed next to me. Don’t you ever forget that.” He gently leans in and places a kiss upon my forehead.

I can only form three words after that. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Lux whispers in my ear. “However a cooked breakfast does sound good though.”

“That is never going to happen.”

Lux grins. “No, I didn’t think so, but it was worth a try.”

We lay there for a while, heads touching, wrapped in each other’s arms. When suddenly Lux pulls away and sits up.

“We should get married.” Lux declares.

“You forget Dear, we are already married.” I respond.

“Yes, but I wasn’t there. Technically you married a stone man. This wedding would actually mean something. We will stand upon the tithe-rock, give our vows, we may even write our own if we like, and after the ceremony is over we shall celebrate with the people of our kingdom and dance, and eat and live life like it is supposed to be lived!”

“I think it is too late to start following the rules of life now. We may have lost our chance at that a long time ago.” Lux leapt out  of the covers, walked round to my side of the bed and knelt down in front of me.  

“Nyx Triskelion, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife? Not the way we are right now with only papers and signatures to document our matrimony, but with songs and dances and vows and all of the little things that will make our love known to the world. We will have the birds soaring above us in the ocean, we call the sky, and the people of the earth wearing ribbons in their hair and gold chains dangling from their necks to bear witness as I become yours and you become mine. As we become one. Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” It only comes out as a whisper, and I am surprised I even managed that. I believe Lux heard me though, for in an instant his lips are upon mine and we become lost in our own little world.

I sit in front of the mirror as my sister, Astraia, ties my hair up with delicate pins; each one decorated with a miniature ruby. I close my eyes and think back to the first time I ever met Lux. Although I didn’t call him Lux, back then his name was Ignifex and he was trapped, just like the rest of the kingdom by The Kindly Ones and their curse. I cannot believe that after all we have been through Lux and I managed to find love. I remember once, while lounging on the couch in the library, Lux recited a poem.

Thunderous nights and perilous dreams,

Will make the beast begin to scream,

Come save me dear!

Come rescue thy!

The darkness starts to fill the sky,

It crawls and creeps from deep beneath,

The children start to bite with teeth,

The black begins to burn my skin,

The world starts to slowly spin,

Its faster now the light is dim,

Survival’s looking pretty grim

You’ll be safe my dear, it’s quite alright,

But I think it’s time to say Goodnight.

At first I was going to ask Lux, who wrote the poem, but I realized he did. To others, it may be a poem of a mad man speaking of his bizarre fears, or of a man dying and saying that his wife will be okay, but to us it is the Children of Typhon and how, unsuspectingly while almost killing Lux in the process they were the beginning of our love for each other.

Once Astraia is finished with my hair I take a look in the mirror. She has intricately woven miniature roses and ruby pins throughout a long braid that begins on the right side of my head weaves all the way over to the left and falls into loose curls that hang over my shoulder. I stand up and Astraia helps with my wedding dress. Lux chose my dress secretly, so I have no idea what it looks like. I silently worry that I will hate it. Once it is fastened at the back with an array of scarlet ribbons, I position myself in front of the mirror to look at the dress.

Without meaning to, I let out an involuntary gasp. Oh Lux, you can write poetry, serve the Kindly Ones, make me fall in love with you, and you can even pick the perfect wedding dress for your bride. What can you not do? I feel as if I do not deserve you. You wrote and memorized your vows not even a month before the wedding and now, standing here, I have nothing I can say.

The white dress hugs me until it reaches my waist, where it then floats down to the floor elegantly. Rising up like flames across the bodice is an eloquent design of red lace. It curls around my shoulders and reaches down to my waist like leaves falling in autumn. The mesmerizing detailed stitching of delicate roses that climb across my back like the roses that scale our courtyard wall is astonishing.

I am beautiful.

Astraia places my veil over my head and makes sure it stays in place by attaching a garland of roses to it.

I ride a carriage to the village where a sea of villagers was waiting to greet me. The sound of violins playing my favourite song fills the air, and then the crowd dispersed, leaving in their wake a path leading up to the tithe-rock. Standing upon the rock was Lux. He turned around to face me, and at that exact same moment the sun appeared from behind a cloud and sunlight illuminated Lux’s body. He looks like an angel. No he is an angel, and he is about to become mine.

As I take my place beside Lux, I look into his eyes, and his face breaks into a large grin that grows all the way up to his eyes. I cannot help but smile too.

The ceremony begins and my father, before witnesses gives me up freely to Lux and wishes us a life full of happiness and joy. Then the maidens of the village sing hymns to Hera and Artemis. After the hymns, we gave each other a gift. Lux took my hand in his then places a  ring on my finger. I look down and saw that it was a gold ring, of small size that was engraved with a rose vine wrapping itself around it. Right in the middle was a ruby that glistened when the light hit it. I have never seen such a beautiful piece of jewelry in all my life. It makes my gift seem meager in comparison. Astraia passes a box into my hands, that holds Lux’s gift inside. I open the box and take out the gift with care. It is a golden chain of long length, that stops right at his heart. Dangling from the chain is a golden key with a ruby heart embedded in it.

“In our last house you had a key for each room, and only let me in a few. This key is the only key that you will need in our new house and that is the key to my heart.”

“I love you.” Lux whispers, so only I can hear.

“I love you too.” I reply.

We drink from the same cup of wine, Lux holds the cup while I drink. Finally it is time for the vows that will bind us together. Usually we would recite pre-written vows that have couples have been saying for centuries, but since we are technically married, we decided to write our own. Lux says his first.

“The first time I laid my eyes upon you, I knew you were the one. I knew this because of your fiery soul, your loving heart, your deceptive mind and most importantly, even though all of Arcadia loved me with fear, you were the only one that loved me with love.” Lux leaned down and kissed my hand that was clasped in his.

After almost a month of worrying about my vows, I finally know what to say. I take a shuddering breath and speak.“The first time we were married, I was trying to plunge a dagger through your heart any time your back was turned.” I smile at Lux. “After a while though, I learned that killing you would leave a hole in my heart, and would be the death of me.”I take a deep breath. “We may still be foolish, and vicious and cruel, and we never try too hard to be cheerful,” I look up into his eyes and the rest of the world disappears, except  for the light of the sun shining down on us, “But I know we have finally learned how to love.”

Lux envelops me in his arms and we are lost in our kiss.

Darkness Lingers

Darkness Lingers is inspired by the book Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.

Darkness Lingers

Thunderous nights and perilous dreams,

will make the beast begin to scream.

Come save me dear!

Come rescue thy!

The darkness starts to fill the sky, 

It crawls and creeps  from deep beneath,

The children start to bite with teeth,

the black begins to burn my skin,

the world starts to slowly spin,

it's faster now the light is dim

Survival's looking pretty grim

you'll be safe my dear,

it's quite alright

but I think it's time to say goodnight. 

My Darling Pan

My Darling Pan

Written By Grace Franks

Based on the Works of J. M. Barrie

My name is Wendy Moira Angela Darling, and when I was twelve I ran away with a boy, named Peter Pan. Now many of you know the story; the one I told J. M, Barrie, however, I told James that my two little brothers came to Neverland with me. That I can tell you was a lie, along with many other things. I am here to tell you the truth and along with it uncover some secrets I have been keeping for a very long time. My name is Mrs. Peter Pan, and this is the untold story of Neverland.

Our story begins on a night like any other, the moon shone high in the night sky and the stars watched over the children like guardian angels. Mother was reading a book to my two brothers, John and Michael, while I made up a story in my head. My brothers laughed so I turned and saw Nana licking Mothers face. Normally you would find it odd; your nurse licking you mothers cheek,  however not many families have a dog as their nurse. Thats when I saw it, right in the corner of my eye. it was only for a second but I swore I saw a boy looking in through the window. Now it could not be a street beggar, as many might of thought it would be, because the nursery is on the second floor of the house. No street beggar could ever climb that high. As soon as I saw the boy though, he was gone. I did not even get a good look at him. The only thing I did remember were his brown eyes staring at me as though I would disappear if he looked away. I realised I must have been still thinking about my story and my imagination must have slipped into reality, so I did not tell Mother about the boy for all she would do is worry. Once Mother had said goodnight my brothers and I fell off to sleep. Yet the boy at the window creeped into my dreams and his piercing brown eyes haunted me throughout the night.

A whole week passed before I saw the boy again. It was during the night as well; though this time he came inside through the nursery window. I pretended to be asleep so the boy did not notice me staring at him. He was strange, he did not wear what young men wore, he did not walk as young men walked, and from the look of it he still had all his baby teeth. As the minutes ticked by the boy looked through my drawers, in my dollhouse, and under my brothers beds; he was looking for something but I did not know what. Eventually he left the same way he entered and I was left with thoughts of a boy clad in dirt and wearing an outfit fashioned out of autumn leaves that rustled as he walked.

The night on which the first of many of my adventures have said to take place was the night I learned of the boy with the brown eyes name. I lay awake in my bed as Nana howled from outside in the garden. Nana broke the rules today so Father punished her by making her sleep outside. I wondered if Mother and Father were having a pleasant time at the ball they were attending. When the nursery window started to open I was given quite the shock. For it was not the boy but a small figure surrounded by light that was lifting the window. The harder I looked the more I noticed about the strange figure. It was only about three feet tall and its shaggy blonde hair fell across its dirty face. you could even say it was a dragonfly if you  weren’t looking hard enough. The dragonfly was very furtive as it flew into the nursery and searched the room thoroughly. Whatever it was looking for it seemed it had not found it for it made the most high pitched sound I have ever heard. I writhe at the sound and a shiver runs up my spine.

Not soon after that the boy walked in, no not walked flew. I do not know how I have not noticed it before but this boy actually flies. He talks to the dragonfly and heads off into the hallway where he searches through the chest of drawers where my mother keeps all her linen. Suddenly what looks to be a shadow flies out of one of the drawers. The boy grabs the shadow by the foot at tackles it to the floor of the nursery. He sits just below my bed now, trying to get the shadow attached to him. I realised it must be his shadow for he has not got one. I finally muster up the courage to speak to the boy.

“Boy, what are you doing on my floor may I ask?” I say calmly even though my heart races faster than a cheetah chasing a gazelle across the African plains.

“I’m trying to get my shadow to stick but no matter what I do it does not work” The boy replies.

“I could sew it for you” I say a bit too quickly.

“ Okay, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try”

As soon as he says that I am off to the chest of drawers to get our sewing box. I sit back down beside him on the nursery floor and bring out a needle and some string. I thread the string through the needle and get to work. In less than three minutes the shadow is attached to the boy and his grin grows immensely that it almost reaches those bright brown eyes of his.

“Oh the cleverness of me!” He exclaims.

“Of course I did nothing”

“Well you did a little”

“goodnight then” I climb into bed and close my eyes. I hear the rustling of the leaves of his outfit and hear him whisper in my ear.

“ My name is Peter by the way. Peter Pan.” I sit up nearly knocking him in the face on the way up.

“My name is Wendy Moira Angela Darling, it is nice to meet you Peter. Pray where is your mother Peter?”

“ I don’t have a mother”

“Father?”

“I have no father either Wendy”

“why Peter?”

“ I heard them once talking of when I should become a man, so I ran away. That is when I found Tink.”

“Tink?”

“Yes my fairy Tinkerbell. She is awfully fast and likes to hide from me when I am not looking.”

“But Peter there is no such thing as” Before I can finish my sentence Peter has a hand over my mouth and I am pushed up against the wall.

“Do not ever say that, for every time someone says that a fairy somewhere drops down dead.” At that exact second the dragonfly I saw earlier flies out from its hiding spot and rests upon Peter’s shoulder. It is then that I realise it is not a dragonfly but the fairy Peter talked about. Tinkerbell. I take a closer look and see a girl with pointed ears and a sharp and prominent face that looks as though it was made of glass and would break at the lightest of touches.

“Wendy run away with me.” Peter says dissipating my daydream of glass fairies and dragonflies.

“ What did you say Peter?!”  

“Runaway with me, runaway with me to Neverland”

“What on Earth is Neverland?”

“ Neverland is where I live, it’s a place where you never have to grow up and you don’t have any parents telling you what to do! We just have to fly to the second star to the left then it is straight on until morning.” Peter said it with such passion I could almost see it bursting out through his beautiful eyes.

“ Though I do not know how to fly Peter”

“I shall teach you, I will even let you bring your brothers along with you!” My brothers, I had almost forgot about them. Should I wake them and tell John and Michael that there is a boy here who is to teach us to fly? No, I do not want them to get in the way of me having fun with Peter as younger brothers usually do.

“Teach me to fly Peter! You do not need to take my brothers as they will not appreciate you as much as I do.” I hope I sounded convincing enough that he will not question my motives as why I do not want my brothers with me.

“Well then Wendy Darling just take my hand and I shall teach you to fly with the winds!” I place my hand in his and feel his calluses rub against my soft skin. Our hands fit perfectly together as if we were made and cut from the same fabric. The fairy Tinkerbell shoots me a look and I shy away from her. Peter puts his other hand in his pocket and produces a handful of golden dust. “fairy dust” He whispers in my ear. Peter blows it softly on me and slowly I begin to rise. Before I know it I am touching the ceiling. I hear the sound of the front door opening and I know that it must be my mother and father back from the ball.

“We have to leave now, my mother and father will come up any second to check on me and my two brothers, take me to Neverland Peter.” I say hurriedly.

“Okay Wendy. Next stop Neverland!” And with that we were off flying across London just as my parents walked in the nursery and found me missing. What an adventurous night this has been. Peter guides me through alleyways and buildings, and saves me from hitting Big Ben while I was too busy gazing at the splendor of it all.

We flew throughout the night and only rested on a cloud to gaze at the beautiful sunrise. It was only until we shot through the atmosphere and were then in space that I realised how far Peter’s home was from mine. Peter shot me a mischievous smile and when he turned around to look where he was going again we started travelling at the speed of light. We looked like shooting stars as fairy dust fell off of us as we raced through the stars. Once we started to slow down I noticed a small orange planet glowing in the distance. Surrounding it was a ring of gold dust of what I can only suspect to be fairy dust. This must be Neverland. I have never seen such a beautiful thing in all my life.

Now most of what I told James Barrie about Pirates and Indians, Mermaids and Fairies, Lost Boys and crocodiles was all true. What I didn’t tell James however was that the pirates were jolly fellows that loved a good laugh, that the Mermaids told you your fortune for a something nice in return, and the crocodile didn’t eat Captain Hook’s right hand, no he lost it cooking a mighty fine stew. He just said it was the crocodile to make him look more fierce to his shipmates. And the biggest secret of all, The Lost Boys. I told  James Barrie that the boys fell out of their prams when the nurse wasn’t looking. That is a complete and utter lie. Peter and I stole them.

This might come as quite a shock so I shall tell you how this happened. All of these happenings began once I had been in Neverland for six years. Peter and I had explored every part on Neverland together and uncovered secrets that had been hidden for many years. It was three days before my eighteenth birthday and I already knew what my wish would be, for although I said to James that you do not age in Neverland, that does not happen until you reach the age of twenty. All I wanted for my birthday was for Peter to say he loves me, over these five years my feelings for Peter had grown. He had become more than a friend to me, he had become the one I thought about all day and all I could think of as I fell asleep. I did not tell Peter of my wish because he was always talking about a girl named Tiger Lily and I would not get in the way of his happiness. Well the night before my birthday Peter took me down to the small ravine where we used to throw rocks and see whose would reach to bottom first. He took my hands in his; our callouses rubbing against each other and then Peter began to speak.

“ Wendy, now that are to come of age tomorrow, I shall like to announce my feelings towards you. I have known you since you were not yet even thirteen. A girl who sewed a shadow back on to a boy who creeped into your house in the middle of the night. I know I have not always been the kindest of people. I have used you as a target when my anger boils up to the point where I cannot contain it. You just stood there and took it. When Tiger Lily was close to death from a crocodile bite you held me in your arms as I cried. I love you Wendy Moira Angela Darling and I always have.  I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I know that one life in Neverland is forever in another. Marry me Wendy and we shall live the most spectacular life filled with pirates and Indians where no one has to tell us that we are too young or naïve. Marry me Wendy and we shall rule Neverland together!” All I can do not to scream with joy is to look into those coffee coloured eyes that are bursting with light as Peter gets more excited with every word he speaks. He truly is a wondrous being, Peter, you can tell everything he is thinking through his eyes. Most would say its a weakness, I say it is a strength.

“Peter Pan, before you give yourself a stroke  please calm yourself down!” You can see the light drain from his eyes as he realises I am speaking.

“I truly am speechless at what you say Peter, and all I can think is ‘Why did you not announce you feelings sooner?!’ The light in his eyes returns as I speak.

“Really Wendy?”  

“Yes, I love you too Peter. I always have; did you know I pretended I was asleep the nights you came in through the window just so I could stare at you and those magnificent eyes of yours.”

“ I know. Because I did the same thing when you fell asleep in the willow tree every night for six years. I watched the way your brunette hair fell across your face, and the way the moonlight shines off your soft face like starlight.” the thought of him watching me sleep makes me blush. “I love the way you blush at the most innocent of things and the way your eyebrows weave together as you puzzle over questions you do not know the answer to. Marry me Wendy.”

“Okay”

The wedding came two weeks later, I wore a dress woven of white lilies and silk stolen from a house in London. My hair was pinned up with pearls Peter found in a chest in a hidden cave. Everyone in Neverland attended. As I walked up the aisle Peter turned around and his face lit up, and from that moment I knew my life would never see a bad day again. Peter and I said our vows, put a ring on each others fingers that we found while running away from a crocodile, and then the minister spoke in a placid tone, as if he had said it many times before and was sick of his job.  

“I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Pan, you may now kiss the bride.”

For a second all we do is stare at each other, not knowing exactly what to do, for we had never kissed before. Then before I had time to react Peter leaned in and placed his lips on mine; and it was magic. I did not know how long the kiss lasted but I do know that I had never felt that happy in all my life. A year past and we were as happy as ever, though we thought it was time we had a child. The only way you can have a child in Neverland is to steal it from Earth. So that is what we did, we stole six baby boys and took them as our own. Their names were Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Curly, and the Twins. Peter and I loved them dearly.

Though one disastrous night, it was stormy outside so Peter went out to check on all of the Indians to see if they were okay. Peter always did that for he worries a lot. Hours must have past and I was terribly stressed he never spent that long outside he knew how dangerous it was to stay out in the storms long. Suddenly two days had passed and there was no sign of him, the Indian villagers told me that he did not come and check on them that night with the storm. He didn’t even make it to the village. When finally a year passed I had to finally give up and agree that he must have died. And for a year after that I sat at home crying. We were meant to have a forever, yet he only gave me nine years.

It was Nibs who brought up going back to London. I agreed because everything I looked at reminded me of Peter. The fairies guided us back to London and I guided my six boys to my old home. Mother and Father were gone but Michael still lived there. He did not know who I was at first but after some persuading he eventually figured out it was me.  Michael let me live in his house for as long as I needed. It was at one of my brothers balls that I told J. M. Barrie of my tales. He put on a play about it the very next month. I stayed in Michael's house for three years until one day when I heard a knock on the door.

“Hello?” I said looking through the peephole. All I could see was the back of a mans body. He wore a top hat and a fine tailored suit that fit him well. Though when he turned around I almost fainted.

“Hello Wendy” Although his voice had deepened and he had grown a beard I know those eyes anywhere.  

“Hello Peter.”

It turned out Peter had survived the storm but had been drifted out to sea in a strong wave that tore over the land. All of his fairy dust had floated away so he could not fly back to me. He was stranded on an island for forty-nine months. Once the Pirates had found him and he had regained his strength he came straight to London to find me.

We decided to stay in London and live out the rest of our days there. We saw our boys grow up and become men, and we saw our grandchildren become adults as well. Once it was finally time for us to go we made one last trip to Neverland with the help from Tink. Though as I told you before everyone stays at the age twenty in Neverland; so when we arrived we were not the old and wrinkly selves we were before we left. We were the mischievous and young versions we had once been seventy years ago. I guess I really did get my forever Peter talked about. Neverland was the greatest gift I ever received from my darling Pan.

The End.

Nexus

So in class we are reading the book Divergent written by Veronica Roth. For our assignment we had to create our own faction ( in Divergent, when you turn 16 you pick a faction to live in and you never see your family again if you pick a different faction than the one you grew up in. Faction before blood). Anyway my faction was called Nexus. Nexus is Latin for connection and is what I was basing my faction on. Here is a poem I wrote about my faction.

What is to come of us when we are dead and gone?

We go our life divided by these chains we call our home

they separate us by choices we make

and those by we did not

If you were faced with a decision how will you decide?

with bravery or honesty

with peacefulness or selflessness

with intelligence or none?

These chains start to tighten

pulling you into binds you cannot escape

Thoughts and speculations explode in your mind

how will you be free?

Separate our people and this is what you get

the world collapsing in on itself

from rumours and suspicion

factions divided us

now we must connect again

all you need is the chance to choose

for you a different life

for when you are connected anything can happen

The Game

For Health in school this term we covered the Circle of Courage and for our final project I wrote a short stories for each of  the four quadrants. This is my story on mastery, and if you also notice is a prequel to Sin.

The Game

Waking up in a red room with no way out is not how I usually like to start my day. This however is Dominatus and you have a one in ten chance of being chosen for The Game. I guess I was that one.

The Game is a series of challenges set to find the perfect human. Once you have completed The Game Dominatus will take your blood and make clones exactly like you. So far everyone who has woken up in this room has died. I stand up and look at my surroundings. Wow they really do like the colour red, there are red walls, read floors, red ceiling, red table, red chairs...wait chairs? As in plural, there are two chairs, there is only meant to be one. What is going on? As soon as I asked myself that question a hatch opened in the ceiling and two men, who are also wearing red, lower a girl into the room. Well this is different. As soon as the men dropped the girl on the ground they left and the hatch shut. I walk over to her and see if she is alright. I bend down and look her over. She is beautiful, I mean there is good looking girls and then there is her. Her hair is long, blonde and braided over one shoulder with a flower holding the braid in place. Her face is sharp and prominent, yet is probably as smooth as silk. She is wearing a grey t-shirt with a peace sign on it, a pair of shorts that go down to her knees, and a pair of shoes that look like they have been worn every single day for the past year. That may turn a few guys away but that is exactly what I want in a girl. A girl who doesn’t care about what she looks like or if she is following all the latest fashion trends, a girl who is different. Ha that’s going to be hard to find in a world full of clones once they find the right person.

“Excuse me but can you please stop staring at me?” While I was daydreaming about her she must have woke up.

“ Oh yeah sorry, just checking if you were all right.” I tried to act cool but I could clearly see that was not working.

“Well as you can see I am perfectly fine. Now can you move so I can stand up please?” I move away from her but I still make sure I am close to her. Okay time to begin the small talk.

“ My name is Adam Aetas by the way.”

“I’m Eve Winters, so we’re in The Game huh?”

“Yes, but I don’t know why we’re both in the same game though.”

“ It’s the 100th episode of The Game so this must be their way of celebrating, ‘lets kill two teenagers instead of one’  they are some messed up bunch of freaks.”

“Hey but with both of us here we might win” I say optimistically. As soon as I said that a countdown started to begin indicating that we only have ten seconds to compose ourselves until The Game will broadcast live in over sixty countries. Three,two,one.

“Welcome to The Game. You have been selected by the citizens of Dominatus to participate in the largest broadcasted game show in the Bodes Galaxy. You will compete in a number of challenges to win your freedom. If you do not succeed you will die. Good Luck and lets hope you become the masters of The Game.“

The first challenge is always riddles, my strong point. I don’t know how well Eve is at riddles though, I hope she is because what happens if there is a riddle I don’t understand?As Eve and I sit down at the table a red box drops down from a hatch on the ceiling. We open it up and inside is a piece of paper with three different riddles. I read the first riddle out loud.

“I cannot be seen; I cannot be felt. I cannot be heard; I cannot be smelt. I lie behind stars and under hills, empty holes I fill. I come first and follow after, I end life and kill laughter. What am I?” Oh crap, this is going to be harder than I initially thought.

“What?! How hard is this challenge meant to be? No one can guess that!”

“Okay lets just think of this logically” I say trying to reassure her. “There must be an answer otherwise they won’t have included it in The Game.”

“Okay, hmm, I lie behind stars…” We both think quietly for a second but I realise the countdown for the first riddle is almost up. We have to think of something otherwise all I’ll be seeing for the rest of my life is complete Darkness. Wait that’s it!

“ It’s darkness! You can’t see, feel, touch, hear or smell darkness, it lies behind the stars and under hills, empty holes it fills. It has to be darkness there is nothing else that would fit.

“Well write it down then!” I quickly grab the piece of paper and write darkness on the piece of paper. all of a sudden the room turns green telling us we got the answer right.

After that we flew through the riddle section, the mathematics one too. Then the science, art, history, general knowledge when we finally came to the last section of The Game. This section is so hard they don’t even have a name for it. Only one other person has reached this far in The Game and they failed. What if we fail too?

“What do you think it is going to be?” In all my worries I totally forgot Eve was here.

“I don’t know, it could be anything.”

“Lets hope we can do it then.”

“Remind me to ask you out on a date if we survive this” I say all to confidently

“Remind me to reject your offer and put you down with some really awesome one liner if we live through this.” Wow was not expecting that.

The next box lowered down from the hatch and inside was...absolutely nothing. What are we meant to do? there is a five minute timer about to start and we can do absolutely nothing to save ourselves from being killed. I want to destroy The Game and I want to destroy whoever’s sick mind came up with this stupid idea of entertainment. I turn to Eve, she has tears running down her face. I have to do something about this. I cannot just stand by and watch as Eve cries. Then it hits me, we have already got everything we need to master the game. The boxes. You see usually they get rid of the boxes after each round but this time they didn’t, I didn’t that much about it before but now I understand their purpose. I tell Eve that everything is going to be okay and that we will live through this but I need her help with the boxes. We begin piling the boxes up on top of the table once we have place them all and made sure they are stable we start to climb them. Once we reached the top I quickly looked at the time. Only two minutes left. I looked up to the ceiling and saw the faint outline of the hatch. I push my hand on the hatch and voilà! The hatch opens, we beat The Game! I let Eve climb out first then I quickly scramble out. We are the masters of The Game!

The next few months seemed to fly by, Eve and I became CEO and Chairman of the Eden Project, everywhere around us was clones of ourselves and Eve actually agreed to go out on a date with me. Eve and I mastered The Game, what will you master?

Written By Grace Franks