2022 Middle School Winners
1st Place
"Time"
Sydney Xu
“Lala, what are you doing?” Mom asked, peeking her head into my room where I was bending over books, studying for a test.
“Studying.” I replied without looking up.
“Well, take a break. Go outside for a bit.” Mom said.
She’s right. I’ve been doing it since ten in the morning. Outside, the sun was low and the leaves were rustling in the late afternoon breeze. I might as well practice for the piano concert next week. As I was stepping out of my room, my foot bumped into something. It was a marble. Where did that come from? I was the only child, so it was probably one of my toys that had somehow found its way into the hall. The marble was small and round, different colors stacked on top of each other like Lego pieces.
I picked it up. A weird sensation flowed through my fingertips, like water trickling down my arm. Like an ice cube melting on my hand during a hot summer day. I felt like it was made for me, like a puzzle that clicked. I shook myself and pocketed it. I was probably just a little disoriented from studying.
I headed downstairs.
"We’ll be leaving in five minutes!” Mom called. What?
Confused, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“Your piano concert! Why aren’t you ready yet? Get dressed!”
Heading up to my room, my head was spinning. Concert? Wasn’t it next week? Subconsciously putting on a navy dress, I noticed birds were chirping and sunlight was streaming in. What? Wasn’t it late afternoon?
Throughout the ride to the theater where my concert was at, I was so bewildered. Maybe the concert times got switched and Mom just didn’t get the chance to tell you. And it’s possible that birds chirp in the afternoon.
I glanced at my watch. 8:47 am. Was it broken? After all, it was one of those watches where you have to press a couple buttons to change the time on it. I probably pressed a button by accident.
***
I got home and sat on my bed, rolling the marble around and around in my fingertips. What are the chances that the concert got switched, the birds were chirping louder than before, there was so much more sunlight, and my watch broke, all at the same time? It could’ve just been bad luck, or…
No. That’s completely absurd. Everything could happen except that. It’s not even possible.
Was I… time traveling?
Something caught my eye. I looked closer at the marble. It seemed like it lost a layer of color. The pink layer at the top was gone. It now showed a red layer. No, I was probably imagining it. It’s just a marble, so why should I give thought to it?
Don’t worry about it, my brain and my sanity told me, but a voice at the back of my head disagreed.
Suddenly, I was beyond exhausted. I flopped down on my bed and slept until the next day.
The next morning, I checked the clock. 7:15 am. Good. Regular school day. I didn’t time travel. I peeled off my dress, all wrinkled up from sleep, and changed into a T-shirt and jeans. I had breakfast, then Dad dropped me off at school on his way to work.
“Good luck today.” He said. Luck? For what? Whenever my parents say “good luck”, it’s usually for a big event that I’m participating in or something like that. Why was I not informed about it?
Stop being paranoid. Probably just a weird new way of telling you to have fun at school.
I went to my classroom. It was deadly quiet. Everyone was either biting their lip or tapping their feet. The tension could’ve piled up into a storm cloud and flooded the whole room. I looked around for my best friend, Mary, but she wasn’t here.
“What’s going on?” I whispered to the nearest student.
“End of year exam, duh.” was the reply. “You fail, you don’t graduate.”
My jaw dropped. I went to the nearest desk and sat down. Oh no. It couldn’t be the “time travel” thing. Could it? One year later. No wonder I didn’t know many people here. And how did I know which classroom to go into?
More than that, I was scared. I didn’t prepare at all! I lost a whole year! Calm down. Breathe. I pushed the time travel thought away and focused on the test.
***
That night, I silently had my dinner.
“How did you do?” Mom asked.
“Fine.”
“Were you nervous?” Dad asked.
“A bit.”
I excused myself and quickly headed up to my room, fingering my marble again. It was like a go-to routine that I’ve developed ever since I started time traveling. This time, I saw the red layer had disappeared. Why are the layers disappearing? I shook myself. I needed rest, that’s all.
I took a hot shower, brushed my teeth, and went to bed, and was sucked into a drowsy sleep.
***
I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was a white ceiling. Wait. Wasn’t my ceiling blue? I sat up and scanned the room. A plush white rug, an oak chest, and full length mirror. Huh? I didn’t have these things in my room. Hanging on the back of my door, instead of pictures of family and friends, was a long white dress. A wedding dress.
Oh no. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I leaped straight across the small room. I screamed when I saw myself in the mirror. I wasn’t that skinny, freckled high school kid with tangled brown hair. My chin was more pointy, my skin was smoother, and hair flowing down my back in curls. I looked at the calendar. July 19, 2032?! I collapsed right on the floor. The room was spinning. Everything made sense now. I’ve time traveled ten years? This was probably my new apartment in a big city, judging from the honks of cars outside. And that wedding dress? It couldn’t be mine. But judging from the size, it probably was.
No. This wasn’t happening. I tried to stand up.
Boom, crash.
I was in a huge church with high wooden walls stretching all the way to the glass ceiling. On the left side of the pew, was my family. I recognized my mom and dad, much, much older, my aunts and uncles, and my cousins who looked like they are in college now. My grandparents weren’t there.
I realized there was someone in front of me. Some guy I’ve never seen before. He had jet black hair and a pointy nose. A beard that looked like it was shaved in a hurry covered half his face. Was I seriously getting married to this guy? He had this smug, annoying expression on his face, which I wanted to slap but couldn’t.
I needed to get out of here. I wasn’t going to get married to him. I didn’t even know him. I tore away, ignoring the yells and shouts that followed me. I nearly tripped on my dress, but I didn’t care. I ran into the nearest bathroom.
Pound. Pound. Pound. My heart was racing.
I was time traveling more and more. And the time gaps were much more distant. I needed to find the source of the time travel. Something tugged at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t wrap myself around it.
Boom.
I was standing in a cemetery, wearing all black. I saw a coffin being lowered into a hole in the ground. A photo of my mother’s face was next to her grave. I drew a shaky breath. I knew this was going to happen someday, but… I thought I had more time. With her.
In an alternate universe, everything would’ve been fine. I would’ve graduated, maybe started a family. But I didn’t. Half my life erased. Half my world erased. Half my time erased.
It hit me. What I’ve been going through for around sixty years, in just a matter of days to me. The marble. I’ve kept nothing but the marble. The marble stayed with me since that week before my piano concert.
I searched the pockets of my black coat. Of course it was in the first pocket I put my hand in. Without thinking I grabbed the marble, noticing that half its color had disappeared, just like half my life had been swept away from under my feet.
To stop a train, you need to take away its tracks. To stop a boat, you need to take away the water. To stop time traveling, you need to take away its source. Take away the marble. Tears of hatred and regret cascaded down my face like a waterfall. Empowered by my rage, I threw the marble as hard as I could, as far as I could, watching a rock impact the glass, minuscule pieces flying in all directions. Ending my journey through time right then and there.
This will happen someday. I am sure of it.
.
Honorable Mention
"The Lost Tomb of the Gods"
Henry Roh
Archaeologist and adventurer Charles Cook pulled himself one step further. The dry desert air was unforgiving, with no landmarks or water in sight. Charles was with his twin brother, Arthur. He was identical to Charles, with brown hair and eyes, and light skin.
Not many people would continue onwards for anything, but Charles was determined. In this vast and dangerous place, he knew there was a great place waiting to be discovered. He had searched for years through ancient records, for he had once heard from another of a great pyramid, long forgotten. He had begun to search immediately for the location of this place. His search finally bore fruit when he was translating ancient Egyptian tablets. Only one line could be read from it, as the rest was worn away, but Charles thought it was enough. It spoke of an ancient temple dedicated to the gods of Egypt.
… far deep in the Red Lands, lies the greatest pyramid fit only for the council of gods
He asked other archaeologists to help him in his search but they scorned his ideas and refused. After many weeks of searching for the great pyramid, Charles and Arthur were about to give up. Just as they were about to turn and leave, they found something.
“Look, there is something there!” Arthur exclaimed.
On the horizon, was a giant spike. It was a pure white pyramid. As they got closer, he got a better look at it.
The pyramid was equal on all sides. On the top was a golden centerpiece that gleamed in the sunlight. The surface of the pyramid was smooth and white. A river seemed to surface just in front of the temple, with black soil and green plants on its banks.
Charles stepped forward in awe. He felt as if something was calling to him inside the structure. As he moved closer to the structure, he tripped over something hard and uneven in the sands.
“Look!” Arthur exclaimed, pointing down where he had fallen. What he had tripped over was a sandstone square, with an entrance set in the stone.
Charles and Arthur pulled as hard as they could to open it. At long last, they had pulled open the doors just enough to fit a person. Charles threw down a rope, and they began to scale.
They climbed through a dark hallway and reached the main structure. The pyramid seemed much larger on the inside than the outside. They were in an elaborately decorated room covered with wall paintings. In the center on a stone pedestal sat two curved weapons. They were golden khopesh swords, covered in hieroglyphics.
Arthur strode over to the pair of swords. He picked it up and gave it a test swing “Wow!” He swung it again, this time grazing his other hand. “Ow! It’s still sharp!”
Charles walked over and picked up the other weapon. They walked further into the tomb.
A giant stone cat statue was waiting in the next room. At first, they simply started to walk around it. But then, it began to move.
“You dare tread upon these sacred grounds of the gods,” it said in a slow voice, “You must be punished!” It turned its head, “Ushabti, defend your masters!”
Ushabti were statues that were supposed to defend the pharaoh's tombs after death.
“Umm. Charles? Why is there a magic stone cat here? There isn’t supposed to be stuff this magical, like, anywhere!”
“I don’t know! I thought this would just be an old pyramid! I barely knew anything about it!”
Massive statues with animal heads carrying dual swords began to slowly walk across the room. Some had the heads of falcons, while others had cats and some humans. Some also wielded giant bows. They drew back and fired toward them. They barely avoided getting hit by the barrage.
“I don't think these weapons were for decoration!” Charles swung his blade at a charging Ushabti warrior and launched the statue’s swords away, just in time to avoid getting hit.
As the statues moved closer, boxing them in, Arthur realized something.
“They are all defending that cat over there!” He said. Indeed, they all seemed to be trying to protect the stone cat. They both began to advance toward the cat, and the statues seemed to be getting more and more desperate. Charles cut haphazardly at the enemy, while Arthur valiantly protected him from the sculptures he missed. However, an ushabti leaped forwards and cut into Charles’s arm while Arthur was distracted. Just before it dealt a deadly strike, Arthur slashed the stone cat, and it blew away into dust. Charles collapsed in pain.
“What do we do now?” Charles asked, cradling his injured arm. The round, hieroglyph-covered door opened up.
Arthur pointed at the open gateway, “The only way is forward,” he said.
Charles picked up his sword with his uninjured hand and trudged onwards.
The new room was massive. Statues lined the walls, and there were blazing braziers on each side of the room. A massive throne covered in gold and jewels sat in the back of the room. In the center was a golden pedestal with stripes of blue. Hieroglyphs burned in the air around it. On top of the podium was an object that flashed like the sun, with a loop on the top and a horizontal and vertical line situated on top of each other, part of a single piece. Hieroglyphs and other carvings covered it. It was the Ankh, the Key of Life.
“Who are you, travelers? Why do you dare intrude upon the Tomb of the Gods?” Voices came from above them.
“No! We do not ask why they are here. We must destroy them for daring to intrude upon this grand hall!” The second, more ferocious voice roared.
Two humanoid creatures came out from behind the throne. The first one was more graceful and humanlike, though it had a thin coat of fur and the head of a cat. The second had the head of a hippopotamus and the scales and tail of an alligator. They both wore Egyptian clothing made from polished gold and luxurious feathers.
“Lord Osiris put us in charge here so we can grant the Key to the worthy, who have passed the trial. Don’t eat them!” The first one said. She turned her head, “Welcome to the Tomb of Osiris, lord of the dead. It is here that we now keep the Ankh, the Key to Life. I am Bast, goddess of cats, and keeper of this shrine. This is Ammit. The Devourer. She always seems to want to-” She was cut off.
“I can speak for myself, cat!” She snapped, “Hello, traveler. I am Ammit, the Ferocious one, destroyer of souls, the Hound of Osiris! Be honored, mere humans, and submit to the Test.”
“You do not administer the test! Let that poor injured one heal. He seems to have been wounded by one of your servants!” Ammit growled at Bast, “Approach the Key, Traveler.”
Charles limped towards the Ankh. As soon as he touched the object, he felt rejuvenated and healed. The wound began to slowly close up, surrounded by green light. He picked the key up and carried it down the steps.
“See, Ammit! I told you they would be worthy!” Bast said, jumping up and down happily.
“That one is the only one tested.” Ammit replied, “Try the other.”
“It does not seem that bad,” Charles protested.
“Well, if you were evil of heart, the Key would have destroyed you upon contact. But you were not, so it's all fine!” Bast looked a little too happy, considering they were almost dying. Her face turned serious, “Give it to your brother now.”
Hesitantly, Charles handed it over to Arthur. He held his breath. Arthur, however, passed the test as well.
“YES!” Bast was practically dancing now. “You have proven yourselves both worthy! I was correct, Ammit!”
“Be forewarned, traveler,” Ammit said, ignoring Bast, “The Ankh cannot pass the boundaries of this room. However, you have been blessed by the key. You will live seventy years longer than before from just touching it. It will be split between you both, for as you are brothers, you must share the blessing. It does not give life forever, for all must face the judgment of Osiris in the Hall of Two Truths. You cannot speak of what happened here to anyone or anything. You must leave now, or you will face the wrath of a god,” With that, she snatched the Ankh and she turned her back from where she came.
“Goodbye!” Bast skipped after Ammit.
The door in front of them opened up. The sky was a beautiful sunset. Charles breathed in, and felt calm and refreshed, the same as when he had first touched the Key. And then together they stepped back onto the desert sands.