Remember the storyboard? Well, now we are finished with those scripts! My script turned out way too long then what I normally planned, so I scaled it down majorly and decided only to do part of the exposition, and in the end it turned out to be 5 pages! Below is the script.

1. EXT. FOREST PATH DAY

CARA and JAROD walk through the forest along a hiking trail with hiking gear.

CARA

I swear that guy was insane.

JAROD

Maybe, maybe not.

CARA

(Looks to JAROD with a laugh)

So, how’s your job going?

JAROD

(shrugs and sighs)

A little insane. We had another accident, but we’re all fine.

CARA

(amused) A little insane?

JAROD

Maybe, maybe not.

CARA

(Pushes him playfully)

Shut up.

The two enter a clearing and only JAROD notices something shimmering in the center.

JAROD

What is that…?

CARA

What is what? Anyway, there was also that one guy who- oh my God, what is that?

JAROD

(approaches it)

That’s what I asked

Both approach the shimmering thing as CODEY walks into the clearing from another trail, also dressed in hiking gear.

CODEY

(looks at the shimmering thing confused)

Alright, what is that?

JAROD

No idea

CODEY

(approaches the thing and stares into it)

What happens if we touch it?

(extends his arm to touch it)

CARA

(holds up her arm to stop him)

Don’t!

CODEY

(turns to her)

Why not?

CARA

We don’t know what it can do to you. What if it’s dangerous?

CODEY

(shrugs)

I’ll be fine

CODEY touches it and his hand passes through it.

CODEY

(in awe) Whoa! Oh my God, this is cool!

CARA

(yells) Are you insane?

CODEY turns and smiles at CARA as JAROD just watches in amazement.

CODEY

Possibly.

At that, CODEY turns and walks into the shimmering thing and CARA gasps. JAROD stares at it as CARA grabs him and drags him to the trail.

CARA

(pulls out her phone)

I’m calling the station. That isn’t normal. Not at all, no way. (calls the station and turns to JAROD) That didn’t actually happen, did it?

JAROD

I saw exactly what you saw.

CARA finds out that there is no service.

CARA

You’ve got to be kidding me! Alright, stay here. I’m going down to get better service.

CARA hurries down the trail, and after turning back to look at the shimmering light, JAROD runs after CARA.

JAROD

I’m coming too!

2. EXT. CRETACEOUS FOREST

CODEY looks around in awe at the dark forest around him, bathed by the light from the moon in the night sky. He hears crickets, followed by a growl behind him. He turns in surprise as a baby Deinonychus hops out of the bushes. He smiles and bends down next to it to touch it.

CODEY

Hey boy, hey.

The baby freaks as he reaches out and he pulls back.

CODEY

(reaches out to it again)

Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.

Another growl echoes through the forest and CODEY stands up, startling the raptor and it runs back into the bushes. CODEY hears another growl and rustling in the bushes and he freaks and runs back into the shimmer.

3. EXT. AIRPORT RUNWAY DUSK

An American Airlines flight lands with a skidding halt.

4. INT. AIRPORT GATE N6 DUSK

Maegan hops into the airport with a smile and turns to Dominique behind her.

MAEGAN

Thank God, we’re finally home! (turns around and walks backwards) Tell me you’re excited to see your kids! I can’t wait to see my mother!

DOMINIQUE

Yeah, I guess. I really want to start our next dig.

MAEGAN

(sighs and turns back around, no longer looking that happy) Well, I can always look for a reference. Danny’s been holding back lately when it comes to the exciting digs.

DOMINIQUE

Hm. Well, tell him I’ll die without another dig.

MAEGAN

(amused) Yeah, yeah, sure.

They turn the corner to find a Starbucks.

MAEGAN

(silently) Yes!

DOMINIQUE

Okay, I am not ordering for you.

MAEGAN

Says the one who volunteers to order for us, like, all the time!

DOMINIQUE

Let’s just go.

The two walk to Starbucks and get in line.

MAEGAN

Alright, before you ask, yes, I can give you a ride.

DOMINIQUE

(smiling)

I was just thinking about that

As they wait in line, MAEGAN gets a call and steps out of line.

MAEGAN

I’ll be right back. You know what to get me.

MAEGAN takes a seat at a table and pulls out her phone. When she sees that the call is from DANNY, she sighs and answers it.

MAEGAN

Another false dig?

DANNY

No, this time I’ve got a real one, a big one.

MAEGAN

Alright. Where?

DANNY

You won’t believe this, but it’s in Montana!

MAEGAN

You’re right, I don’t believe it. Isn’t the Southeastern corner picked clean?

DANNY

Yeah, but this one is an enormous Diplodocus! Those things were bigger than a blue-

MAEGAN

I know, bigger than a blue whale. When?

DANNY

No later than next Friday.

MAEGAN

(sighs)

I have that lecture though.

DANNY

Skip it. This is something you don’t want to miss.

MAEGAN

If it pays a lot, then I’ll be there.

DANNY

$36,000 if you stick with it.

MAEGAN

(surprised)

Fine, you’ve hooked me. I’ll try to be there by Wednesday.

DANNY

Can’t wait to see you there. Don’t forget to bring Dominique.

MAEGAN

Kay, see you there! (hangs up) Not.

MAEGAN gets up and approaches DOMINIQUE, who has their drinks.

DOMINIQUE

Who was that?

MAEGAN

(grabs drink and smiles)

No one important. Let’s hurry up and drink these. It’s getting late and I want to be home.

DOMINIQUE

Fine, Miss Impatience.

6. EXT. FOREST PATH DAWN

CARA and JAROD hurry through the forest, without the hiking gear.

JAROD

Do you think it’s still there?

CARA

What? The light thing?

JAROD

Yeah, that.

CARA

It needs a better name.

JAROD

Maybe.

The two soon reach the clearing, but instead of just the shimmering light, there are policemen, tables and tarps set up around it.

7. EXT. POLICE CAMP

CARA runs to DUNN, her commanding officer.

CARA

What is this? I asked for some investigation, not a full scale camp to be set up around the thing!

DUNN

For safety measures. There have been a lot of disappearances and more attacks in the past few days around this area, and we have reason to believe that this is the thing causing it.

CARA

We did see a man walk right through the thing and disappear.

DUNN

He’s fine. We got him out and escorted to his home.

CARA

(angry)

He’s fine, so that means that it isn’t thing causing it!

DUNN

(angry)

You don’t have any proof! It’s just a surmise!

CARA

An inference!

DUNN

(sighs)

I don’t have any time for this. If you have any actual suggestions, tell me.

DUNN walks to a table and consults with the other cops as CARA pulls JAROD to the edge of the camp.

CARA

We need to find out what’s causing the attacks.

JAROD

Isn’t it just that thing? (motions to the shimmering thing)

CARA

Can something that you can walk right through maul and rip apart a human being?
JAROD

But…right. What do you think is causing it?

CARA

(sighs)

Animals. Unless someone psychotic did it.

JAROD

We should start with the Animals.

In class, we were given another assignment to create scripts. At first I thought it would be easy, but we all watched the beginning of the first Harry Potter movie and were told to create a script of it. It was harder than it sounded. After that, we were told to think up a script and create a plot diagram and storyboard for it. I thought at first that I should have my script be a sequel to my story, but I decided to turn away from that and create something different. The final storyboard is below.

I created the storyboard on a Surface in class simply by finding a storyboard template online and editing it on Paint after saving it.

Remember that story scene? Well, we were asked to create a longer story that may or may not have to do with that story scene. I decided to have my short story a prequel of my story scene. I made it about when Maisey first came alive and what it was like for her to learn about Earth and the past of her race.

We shared our story in a roundtable discussion and I got little feedback, most of it being that my sentences were really long. I edited most sentences to my liking, but it seemed that most of them were fine.

Below is the final story.

—

            A breath of life filled the unnamed girl’s geared lungs and the shadowed air around her morphed into a bright atmosphere as the fluorescent lights flickered on above her. She took quick short breaths as she sat up. A cord of clear plastic stained with red was connected to her antecubital space on the other side of her elbow. She tried to snap it off, but it only pulled on her skin, causing further pain. She followed the cord with her eyes to a pack of red liquid, hanging from a silver metallic pole. She tried once more to pull it off gently, but it seemed not to come unstuck. Taking a meaningful, deep breath and biting her lip as to subdue the pain, she gripped the cord and yanked. A hollow snap filled the air and the girl screamed, a sharp stinging feeling filling her arm. After the short burst of energy, the girl held her arm awkwardly, looking at it with not only immense curiosity, but also slight fear. In the place of the plastic cord was a hole of peachy material. Taking quick breaths, she backed into the wall. The hole in her arm was now pooling with a red liquid, the same as in the clear packet hanging on the metallic pole above her.

            She stood up awkwardly and approached the vault door in front of her. It was a stark white, just as the rest of the room was. She reached to the handle, before recoiling after feeling a sting in her arm. Looking back at the hole in her arm, she noticed tons of the red liquid rolling down, dripping down onto the tiled floor, the same color as the rest of the room. It wasn’t until then that she noticed she was dressed in white as well. Everything, white. And then the door opened.

            Two mechanical beings walked in, their hip joints hissing and squealing as they moved. The girl wasn’t at all unsettled by their appearance, she just felt as if it were normal. It was nothing like the pale peach skin she sported below the outfit, but she felt like she belonged with them. What unsettled her was the environment behind the robotic humanoids. Mechanical parts swirled and whirred behind them, creating constant, unconventional humming. The girl had no time to react once the humanoids had grabbed her and pulled her into the dimly lit room. Her heart rate quickened as she tensed and she had to speed up her pace to keep up with the mechanics.

            The two soon stopped at a door, the same kind of vault door in the white room the girl first woke up in. Her blood ran cold as soon as the door swung open, and a larger, more sophisticated mechanical humanoid walked in.

            “Greetings,” it said with a smile. The inside of its mouth wasn’t shining with pearly, white teeth, but instead dark grey mechanical pieces serving their place. “Please, please,” it said warmly, “pull your hands off of our friend.”

            The two beings pulled away from the girl and watched comprehensively as the other, larger one turned to them. “You have other places to be, yes?” The two nodded and walked into the shadows.

The girl tried to say something, a word, a noise; anything. But all that came out was a simple squeak. The mechanical humanoid smiled once more at her, then stepped away from the door to reveal a brighter room on the other side, beige walls and neat white and gray furniture. She couldn’t think of what to do until the robot welcomed her into the room in a comforting voice.

“My name is Ultra. For the moment, I am here to give you a little… I guess you could call it therapy, to get used to this seemingly bizarre world you have woken up in.” It said, motioning for her to sit on one of the white couches. She didn’t.

“You feel weary?” Ultra questioned, sitting down. “Right, right. Your brain is hardwired as that of a human. You respond to fear, uncomforting situations, danger and more with weariness. For you, I guess it’s natural. Please, sit. You have nothing to worry about.”

The girl tried to speak once more, but not a sound came out.

Ultra let out a sigh, standing up and looking at her in the eyes, as if examining her. “I forgot. We must begin the trials.” Ultra approached a door, a regular door unlike the vault door claiming the wall on the other side of the room as it’s space. He opened it and on the other side was a room, much like the one they were in at the moment, but instead it was empty, filled with only a large pod of sorts sitting in the middle.

Ultra walked to it and opened a module. It slid open and revealed that it sported various buttons and levers. He pressed several buttons and pulled a lever and the pod suddenly opened to reveal a seat inside. Ultra turned back to the girl and smiled a smile that the girl now considered ugly, but still the same one he sported various times earlier. “This trial is going to give you the various vocabularies of the world, all of which you don’t understand. The only reason that you understand what I am speaking now is because from the moment you were created, simple Sevanese was hardwired in your brain.”

After a moment of an awkward silence, the girl obediently followed his orders and stepped into the machine. She took a seat and watched as Ultra punched a couple of buttons and flipped two levers, and then the pod shut. She didn’t know it then, but this was the last time she was going to see Ultra for a while.

****

The pod opened for the final time and the girl stepped out, looking at Ultra in surprise. “Why did we go to war?” She questioned. “Are we studying this planet just for your purposes? We must have other reasons! Are we just going to kill them off to gather our resources?”

“So many questions, and no time to answer them. All I can tell you is that you and the others are being sent down to the surface to study the planet as a whole. We will not be gathering any of the needed resources yet.”

“When will I be sent there?” She asked, a mischievous look in her eyes.

“Soon, but not now,” Ultra exclaimed. “We must get you even further prepared for life Ecros.”

“How much more prepared do I need to get! I’ve already learned vocabulary, history, sciences and-”

“You have much to learn! Economy, culture, and much more.” Ultra hissed at her, pressing a button to close the pod. “Unfortunately, these things you cannot learn through the pod. It’s achieved manually, through such things the natives call ‘classes’.”

“But why classes. These things couldn’t possibly be so different from the other topics that they must be learned through a different method.”

Ultra approached a monitor in the corner of the room and slid his metal finger across it a couple times, then looked back up at the girl. “We must also give you an ID Card.”

“ID?”

“Yes. It is a form of identification for the natives.” He explained, tapping his fingers on the monitor and then sliding it into the wall. “Do you remember that list of words you were given during the vocabulary upload?”

The girl nodded, watching as Ultra pressed a few buttons on the side of the panel.

“Those were names given to native offspring for the past three cycles. I need you to choose one.”

“What?” She looked at Ultra, unsure of what to say.

“Just choose one, any of them.”

She gulped and thought hard. She hardly even remembered the names she was given, but one stood out. “Maisey.”

“Good, now a last name?”

Maisey stared at Ultra. “You asked for just one name though.”

“I need just two more.”

“Two! But I-”

“Do not argue with me!” Ultra roared at her. “Sorry, sorry,” he then reassured her. “I do not like to be tested. Just think hard and tell me any name that comes to mind.”

Maisey didn’t take long before she blurted out, “Sierra and, um…Amber.”

“Good, thank you. Maisey Sierra Amber. Nice name.” He pulled the panel back out and riddled around with it once more before pushing it back in and watching as a thin rectangular sheet of plastic shot out of the side. He pulled it out and held it out for her. “For you,” he said gratefully.

Maisey grabbed it reluctantly, looking down at it and noticing a picture of a pale woman with sandy hair. On the top of it said ‘Amber, Maisey S’. Maisey looked up at Ultra, “How long will it take for me to get ready to be sent down?”

“A few Native Cycles, but that won’t be as long as cycles from Sevin. Now, let’s begin.”

For this blog post, I am supposed to talk about one of the worksheets we did in Creative Writing. The worksheet that I’ve chosen is called “Writing Really Good Dialogue”. In the worksheet, we learned not to incorporate everyday dialogue such as “hello, how are you?” into our stories, as it just makes them boring. Instead, we need to make dialogue that either moves the story forward, increases the tension, or helps define the characters.

The Worksheet

The worksheet gave us an example of normal everyday dialogue, and it sure was boring. It next gave us ways to create dialogue that does one of the three things I said earlier; moves the story forward, increases the tension, or helps define the characters. It showed us an example of each of the three.

Along with the examples were two boxes to the left that each had things to help us enhance the dialogue of our characters. The first one told us to make dialogue that used accents or quirks that helped define our characters. The second one showed us various words to use in the place of “said”, because we all know that that word is totally overused.

The Comic Strips

You may be wondering what I mean when I say comic strips in the title. It’s exactly what is sounds like. Comic strips. When we were done reading the worksheet, we were told to create dialogue using characters from our story scenes that either moved the story forward, increased the tension, or helped define the characters. I did all three.

For the first one, I did dialogue that moved the story forward. I had Maisey, who at the time was still an unnamed robot, talking with Ultra, her creator, and the ultimate leader of the Sevian Force.

I did dialogue to increase the tension for the second one. I had Maisey get mad at Ultra after realizing Ultra’s plan to wipe out the humans to get what the robots needed.

For the final dialogue, I used dialogue to help define the characters. For this one, I had Ultra talk with Thomas, the man Maisey first met when she woke up on Earth. Ultra tried to get Thomas to tell him where Maisey was, but Thomas just didn’t know. So, to proove that Ultra was in fact a crazy robot, Thomas was killed.

In Creative Writing, we were given the task to respond to three different prompts in the form of prompts. Below are all three prompts and responses.

Prompt One

The man wasn’t angry, wan’t sad. He had no emotions. The hill he stood on swayed in his vision, and the fog around him swirled in thousands of different directions. The man fell to the ground, short fluttering breaths giving him barely any oxygen. He stumbled around for a moment, before stopping completely and looking ahead, in which he saw another man. The other man’s hands were in his pockets, and the two stared at one another before the other man shimmered away, as if a mirage in a sun-baked desert. The man stared in astonishment as the other man faded away, the fog taking his place. The man ran to the place that the other man stood, his heart pattering and his breath quickening. He scrambled around for a moment before he heard a screeching sound from above him, a sound like metal scraping against metal in a shrill cry of agony. He fell to his knees as bright light sliced through the fog. A dark sphere above descended onto him, a circle in the middle opening like a trap door.

Prompt Two

What are ten free things that I am thankful for? For starters, I am thankful for life. It’s given to me at no cost whatsoever. I am also thankful for other people, who I can hang out with at no cost. I’m thankful for friends, which help me through hard times. I’m thankful for my parents, who help me in every way possible. I’m thankful for the sun, which gives us warmth and light. I am thankful for love, which helps people in the darkest of times. I’m thankful for the Earth, which gives me a home to live in. I am thankful for oxygen, which keeps me breathing. I am thankful for colors, which gives us a beautiful and exciting view of the world around us. And lastly, I am thankful for public WiFi, so I can have the internet wherever I go!

Prompt Three

The simmering green lights danced in the blue sky, swirling in many different directions. The boy stood up in awe. He wore a red baseball cap, a green hoodie, and blue jeans, the opposite of what he needed in the environment he was in. He wrapped his arms around his chest, sinking to the white ground, bathed in green lights. He curled into a ball as the lights continued to dance, expanding to cover the whole sky. Despite the howling winds and the nipping temperatures, the boy felt safe, as if he were a home. The boy’s story began there, in the freezing arctic. A wretched environment meant for only the strongest of people. This boy would be just that, the strongest yet. But for now, he needed a kick start. The growls behind him did just that. He turned in surprise as a white beast approached him, glowing in the green light. He gasped and turned away. Although he was inexperienced in the new world he was in, he knew that the shimmering white teeth and long claws weren’t friendly. He got up as the thing approached, and then he picked up his feet and ran. The thing followed him.

In Creative Writing, we have been given another task; to create plot diagrams and story arcs for a short story we will create. Plot diagrams look like a mountain, which includes the suspense and intensity throughout the different parts of the story, the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. Below is my plot diagram:

A story arc also looks like a mountain, but at the top left it says Good Fortune, and the bottom left says Ill Fortune. It says that because the story arc shows the characters fortune throughout the story as the story unfolds. The most prominent story arc is The Man in the Hole, where the character is experiencing good fortune at first, then falls into a hole of ill fortune, but gets back up to good fortune again. Below is my story arc:

Our next task in Creative Writing was to write scenes from a story. What we had to do was create a plot diagram and determine where in the story the scene would take place, whether it be the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action or the resolution. We had a little time at first to brainstorm ideas for the story, such as the main character, their wants and needs, the setting, and more. I immediately had an idea of what I wanted to write.

Much earlier in the trimester when Creative Writing first started, we had a characterization activity where we were shown four characters, a robot, an old woman, a scientist and a woman in white clothing. I made sure that all four characters were related in some way, as if it were a part of a story. This activity is where I got the idea for the scene.

The following is the final, revised version of the scene.

 

Maisey didn’t worry about her life, for she had never done so. From her perspective, she was expendable. To Ultra, she was expendable. But even now, she couldn’t help but wonder what her once puny existence would turn into. ‘Once puny’ due to the fact that her face is now everywhere.

Her soft footsteps clattering against the concrete ground of the empty subway was sliced in half by the echoes of the voices of the men pursuing her.

“Clear out, clear out!” One yelled and the scuffling of boots and clicks of many guns could be heard.

She turned, her heart pounding out of her chest. The men with guns haven’t quite turned the corner yet, but she was sure that in no time they would. Maisey heard another yell and one turned the corner.

“Freeze!” He yelled, raising the gun he held.

Maisey quickly raised her arms into the air, taking quick small steps back.

“Freeze!” He repeated, a tone of fear mixed with his confident command.

Maisey stopped completely, standing there with her arms raised. Her heart beating a hundred miles per minute, she watched observantly as the man approached her quickly. He pulled out the cuffs just as she extended her arm to slap the man across the cheek.

Ignoring the sudden throb in her arm from the impact, she took the moment of opportunity swiftly and hopped onto the train line.

“Hey, get back here!” He yelled, jumping down as well. He turned back before running after her and yelled to his friends, “I’ve found her!”

Maisey picked up her feet and dashed as fast as her robotic feet could carry her. The obvious, heavy echoes from the men behind her seemed to be quieting. This didn’t stop her escape. She continued to run, hoping to put as much distance between her and the men with the guns as possible.

She stopped as soon as she could hear a loud sound. Her own heavy breath was soon drowned out by the sound as light bounced off of the wall around the corner. This could only mean one thing! Maisey let out a scream as the large subway train turned the corner and came barreling toward her. She quickly grabbed onto the ledge and hoisted herself up, climbing over the railing and turning just as the train rushed by.

The loud sound continued as the rest passed by, sending giant rattles down her spine. As soon as it arrived, it passed by. Exhaling, she turned and watched it roll away, toward the men with the guns. Freshly reminded of the dangers down in the subway, she hurried away in the opposite direction of the men with the guns, toward the supposed exit. As the sound subsided, Maisey hurried along. She soon approached an area of immense darkness. The lights in front of her had all burned out, casting dark light against the train line and walkway beside it.

Maisey took a step into the shadows, but then turned back to the light. In the far reaches of the long tunnel Maisey heard the shouting of the men and shuffling footsteps. They were near. Gripping the cold, wet railing, Maisey hurried into the shadows. Taking deep, panting breaths as if she were a dog, she broke into a run just as the men turn the corner and approached the shadows. Light steps, no sound. It was the hardest she could try. The men turned to each other and exchanged small words, then risked running into the shadows.

Maisey’s stomach felt as if it were flipped. As if it were invaded with a group of fluttering butterflies. She wasn’t afraid of the darkness, but of what lurked within. The Shadows. They weren’t exactly an entity, but acted just like one. They were your every fear, every last one, packed into one thing. A shadow at first glance, as if one on the sidewalk on a sunlit day. But these shadows are everything but. They are shadows produced by the darkness, the opposite of light.

Maisey didn’t stop, despite the threat. Her soft, running steps produced soft pattering, penetrating the piercing darkness. Something completely unrelated to the rattling and crashes produced by the men behind her.

In the distance, she could see light. Only the faintest sparkle, but enough to kindle a spark of hope. She took another turn to face the men with guns, but this time a loud bang rang through the air and something whizzed by her ear. She whipped around and followed the sound in the blinding darkness. Whatever produced the noise slammed into the tiled wall and produced a dazzling display of light. As it fizzled out, various sparkles of light sunk to the ground as chunks of the wall sprayed everywhere.

Maisey coughed as some flew into her open mouth. She spit it out and continued running. She was nearing the light just as a silhouette passed in front. It paused for a moment, turning to her and staring, then ran back into the shadows. Maisey stopped in her tracks as she could hear the softest growl. She held as still as possible, feeling a presence next to her. The soft breeze only willed her hope that the Shadow would pass on, possibly torment the men with guns behind her. She felt a tickle on her neck, followed by another growl. Her fingers began to shake, slight trembling produced by the fear. In front of her she noticed a faint glow, something warm and comfortable. Something approachable. Something she had to avoid.

With her share of experience with Shadows, she knew that whenever one was in the same room as her, she couldn’t trust anything. As the glow approached her, she spat at it. It suddenly flickered out and around her she could hear shuffling. Behind her she can hear sudden screams and yells. They’ve been caught. Something passed in front of her, at a great distance that allowed her enough room to run if the chance presented itself. It didn’t, for the same thing passed in front again, this time closer. Again, a little closer, and once more, even closer.

And then she was tackled from behind. A scream escaped her lips and she fell face-first to the ground. Her hands were grabbed and something was placecd around them. She struggled, but was soon pulled up. Her hands, cuffed behind her back, would serve no help if she lost her balance.

“We got her!” She heard someone next to her yell.

The realization dawned on her and her blood ran ice cold. The men with guns captured her. “No!” She screamed, using her legs to kick in random places in the dark air. They never connected, and soon she lost her balance, falling over onto the cold ground. Her face slammed into the concrete, causing dancing colors and burning spots to erupt into her vision. She scrambled about, trying to get away from the men with guns. No use. She was picked up off of the ground and dragged deeper into the shadows.

She looked over at the man, barely visible in the darkness. “Please don’t hurt me…” She pleaded, struggling once more to get out of his grip, to no avail.

“Why should I?” The man hissed back at her, squeezing her arm tighter, ensuring an iron grip on her.

“I mean no harm,” she said in a deep breath.

“Is that why you killed two of our men?” The man asked, turning her to face him.

Maisey could hardly see his masked face, but she could imagine the anger displayed. He hated her, and she knew it. She couldn’t help what her race had done to them, she could only fix it.

“That wasn’t me…”

“Then who was it!” The man yelled into her face.

Maisey knew that if she told him that the ones who killed his friends were Shadows, he wouldn’t believe him. Not in a million years. She couldn’t think of an answer, for in his perspective, if she didn’t kill them, who did? She didn’t need to give an answer, for out of nowhere, something jumped out and grabbed the man, pulling him down with it to the ground. Maisey was pulled down as well, the man’s firm grip on her arms released. A flurry of gunshots followed, causing orange rain to explode from the impact points.

Maisey quickly got to her feet, her dark figure hardly making a sound loud enough to be heard over the gunshots and screams. Hands tied behind her back, she hurried toward the light. Behind her, the gunshots subsided, followed by the screams. The man was, quite literally, scared to death. This hardly phased her, for she had been chased by them since she was first created. Her mission, of course, to go down and study Ecros, known to the intelligent natives as Earth. The third planet from Selt, Ecros had fairly large amounts of belefis, known as astatine to the natives, which was the only material that could power the Sevian Force. Ironically, it was one of the rarest metals in the universe. By the ounce, belefis could power the Sevian Force for billions of years. They had less than a milligram, last she checked.

Relief spread throughout Maisey’s body as soon as she stepped over into the light. Despite this, she kept going. She needed to find a subway station, and quick. There were still people who wanted her dead, her whole kind. As heartless as they were, she couldn’t let that happen. As she ran, she heard a loud plop as she stepped into something wet and slushy. She looked down to find that her foot was resting on a newspaper. Taking a look around to make sure she wasn’t being chased or watched at that moment, she bent down and examined it. The headline on the first page read “New York Times, April 29th, 2016. Scientist caught transporting illegal substance across state border, says he ‘was doing it for the good of all robots’”

This caught her interest. From what she could tell, the words ‘good’ and ‘robot’ were never used in the sentence when said by any human. She read more.

Dr. Walter Dixon, a well-known professor with a speciality in robotic study was caught yesterday, April 28th, 2016, carrying metrolium, a new, rare chemical considered illegal in all of the United States due to the involvement in the robot invasion the world is currently undergoing.

As much as Maisey didn’t want the humans to consider their arrival as an invasion, they did. Of course they did, it’s human nature. Their fear encourages them to avoid what they don’t know. She continued to read.

Dixon proceeded to explain to the authorities that the reason he was carrying the illegal chemical was to help the robots, and give them what they want. While at the moment we do not know what they want or why they are here, Dixon believes that he does, and that they will “kill us all in terrifying ways” if we do not hand it over. “They want a metal called belefis,” Dixon said. After telling him that such a metal didn’t exist, Dixon said that it is a mistake, and that it does exist. He proceeded to explain the importance of the material to the robots, where he explained that metrolium is created from belefis. When scientists took samples of the chemical, they did indeed find traces of a metal in it, which they confirmed as astatine.

When Dixon was sent to prison, he was mysteriously liberated that same night by one of his students. It is unknown where he is at the moment, and what he could be doing. Some believe that he is trying to get his hands on more metrolium to continue his studies. For now, more investigation is needed to know for sure.

Maisey read on, finding out about what Dr. Walter Dixon did before her kind had “invaded.” He was a professor at a college in New York City teaching students about robotics. She read to the end, where she noticed some interesting words.

If you find Dr. Walter Dixon or his student Alex Ross, report them immediately at 911.

And just like that, the two of them were fugitives, just like Maisey was.

In Creative Writing, we were supposed to create scripts out of the story that we chose, which was the Princess Story. In the last post, I covered the steps we went through in finding the right story, and in this post I’ll cover what it was like to write the actual script, and what it was like to collaborate with the 1st Graders (it was scary).

Script Writing

What we started with was simple brainstorming. We determined that in the beginning, the two ladies, who turned out to be princesses would be sitting on a balcony, talking about whatever princess-to-be’s talk about, and then that their father, the king, walks in with the crown and tells them that only one of them could be princess. He leaves to let them make their decision, and before he returns the two begin fighting, because both of them want to be princess. When the king returns, he is completely dumbfounded, and the younger, prettier but stupider sister named Amanda takes the crown, but Ayesha, the older, smarter, and more mature one grabs it, and then the crown snaps. The king walks away, and the two sisters tries to make it up to him, and Ayesha is sent off to be married and becomes the princess of another kingdom, while Amanda becomes princess in her own kingdom.

Realizing that this was too long, and couldn’t be turned in a video that would be just a little under five minutes long, we got rid of the marrying part and the two sisters just made it up to the king by making him an apology cupcake. This too proved to be too long when we began revising, so we again shortened it, removing the cupcake part and having them just make it up to each other.

Here is a copy of the finished script.

Working with First Graders

While you may expect this to be easy, it was everything but. It was really tough to make them understand what we were saying, because they were younger than us and less experienced in vocabulary. Not only that, but a key member in our group, the original creator of the princess story, wasn’t here, so we had to do it all ourselves.

In the end, we got less that half of our dialogue, so we had to turn the script to the video production group.

In Creative Writing, we were given another assignment. The assignment was simple, we were supposed to create small stories to give to the a video production class, who would create a couple videos with teachers from the school, and work with elementary school kids to create kid voice-overs to create a hilarious video.

Creating the Stories

It started out simply, we are supposed to create ten story ideas using a small template, using a main character, a secondary character, the setting, the situation and the overall theme of the story. My stories all ended up rather confusing and boring, but there were about two that ended up standing out.

The Three Best Stories

After that, our whole group, four people in total, shared each of their ten ideas, and we all had to choose one of them. The first one that we chose was my best.

• The main character was an energetic 10th grade girl, while the secondary character was an angry middle-aged teacher. They were both in a classroom. The teacher was mad because the girl had turned in her homework unfinished, thinking that it was acceptable.
• The second choice was an over obsessed 28 year old woman and a 36 year old woman who were in a palace arguing over who should become the next princess.
• Finally, the last choice took place in a back, where the owner of the bank could only watch in fear as a robber take the people in the bank hostage.

In the end, we chose to go with the princess story.

This is my first post on this blog of mine for Creative Writing! This post will be covering the first task we’ve been given, which is to create a sport out of at least four of these objects; a roll of duct tape, two tennis rackets, a wiffle ball, a spool of string, a stack of plastic cups, and a bag of balloons.

Using the roll of duct tape, the two tennis rackets, the wiffle ball, the spool of string, and the stack of plastic cups, I created the sport Cup Ball. The sport will be set up by a long line of string separating two sides of the court. Both sides will have a table set up. Both will be coated in duct tape, and five cups will be placed face up on the duct tape. There are four players, two on each team. One player will hold a tennis racket, trying to defend the cups from the other player who throws the wiffle ball, trying to get it into one of the cups. If the one with the tennis racket blocks the ball and it gets sent back to the other side, they get to try again, but if they block it and it doesn’t make it back to the other side, or it isn’t blocked but it gets stuck on the tape or doesn’t make it to the table, it is their turn. The goal of the game is to get all of the other teams cups flipped over, to do this, you try to get the wiffle ball into the cups. If a wiffle ball gets into one of the cups, that cup must get flipped over and the wiffle ball needs to be handed back over to the other side. Once all the cups are flipped over though, the other team is still in, and if the ball gets into one of the other teams cups, all of their cups get flipped back over. However, if the ball gets stuck on the tape, the game is over and the other team wins.