Steppingstone School

Newsletter Volume 34

Issue 20

February 6, 2014

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Table of Contents

Mid-Winter Break

Auction Donations

Scrip Order February 7

Game Night February 7

Spirit DayPostponements

January High Steppers

January's High StepperButton Design

Writers of the Month

Mid-Winter Break is Friday, February 14 through

Monday February 17

Parents, just a reminder that school will be closed on Friday, February 14and Monday, February 17 for mid-winter break.

Reminder: Please Bring in your Auction Donations

Parents, your Auction Committee is ready for your donations. Wecertainly welcome gift certificates and gift baskets from your favoritelocal eatery or store, but we would also welcome items such as thefollowing:

ChocolateWine and SpiritsLottery TicketsTea and Coffee (for silent auction)ToysGift CardsEvent Tickets (for an event April 2014 or later)New Books, DVDs, Music CDsAccessoriesElectronic items

Auction acquisition forms are available on the school's website.

Thank you, we appreciate your support!

Send Your Scrip Order Tomorrow, Friday, February

7th

Have you had a chance to shop SCRIP yet? With the families whoare participating, we have already earned over $800. Please take amoment and peruse the order sheet this week.

You can pay by check or go online and sign up, linking a bankaccount. This program is the simplest of fundraising. The return forthe school is anywhere from 3% for Amazon.com to 18% for retailerslike LLBean and Lands End with many popular restaurants and shops

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Runner of the Month

Doodle 4 Google isBack!

From Tortoises toCatfish by JackLorenzen

Friends of the RougeWorkshop

The Lone Apprenticeby Danny Mondrusov

Calendar of Events

Thursday, February 6

6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Auction SteeringCommittee Meeting Friday, February 7

5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Family Fun Night withDiscovery Toys Tuesday, February 11

6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

SPARC SteeringCommittee Meeting Friday, February 14

No School

Mid-Winter Break Sunday, February 16

Weekend Warriors

12:00 to 4:00 p.m. Monday, February 17

No School

Mid-Winter Break

Wish List

Rosetta Stone CDs

for Chinese, $350

Purchased!

Rosetta Stone CDs

for Japanese, $350

Purchased!

Lysol Wipes

falling comfortably in-between.

If you're a Groupon shopper, you can purchase Groupon SCRIP in theamount you need and immediately redeem it at Groupon.com just asyou would a credit card, making the school a cool 9%.

Additionally, SCRIP is getting ready to introduce a new service aswell, one that will turn your phone into a gift card. The details havenot been released but more information should be available soon.

What becomes of the money earned? A portion of it is used to coverthings like Game Night's pizza, salad, and water so that you need onlycome to the party and enjoy yourself.

Thanks again for your participation,

Alison Kenyon

PS. Send your order in an envelope stapled to your child's plannersheet, but if you forget or prefer, you can bring it to the Friday GameNight. Alison will be there!

Game Night is tomorrow, February 7 at 5:30 p.m.

For those of you who are attending, Game Night will start Friday night at5:30 p.m. Extended Day students can plan to stay until the event begins. Pizza, salad, and bottled water is being provided by our SPARCcommittee, and dessert is being provided by the Haase Family! Many thanks to all who have helped coordinate the event! Can't attend? You can shop the Discovery Toys catalog online. Proceeds to benefit Steppingstone School.

Spirit Day Postponements:

Programmer & Artist of the Month

Because of all the school cancellations due to inclement weather,Computer Programming and Art classes have not met sufficiently tochoose a Programmer or an Artist of the Month. We're hoping thewinter weather extremes are over so we can get back on track in timefor the March Spirit Day.

Congratulations to our January High Steppers!

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A wirelessmicrophone forclassroom, $130 onAmazon

Purchased!

Craft Lite Cutter($20)

6 glue sticks ($20)

Construction paperof various colors

Annual

Giving

2013-2014

$1,000 to $4,999

Richard & Nancy

Houdek

Reef & Kiyo

Morse

Katherine Okla

$500 to $999

Fran Eldis

Bob & Joan

Rozelle

Sanjiv & Cynthia

Shah

$250 to $499

Matthew &

Carolyn Kidder

Fred & Clair Harb

"High Stepper" students completed all of their work on time and

were in their seats, ready to work at 9AM every day for the priormonth.

Congratulations go to: ANNEKA BOCK, KATARINA JEVTIC, JACK

LORENZEN, and ROHAN SHAH. Keep up the good work!

Honorable Mentions (those who missed the award by just one day)

were Filip Jevtic, Maya Sheth, and Brooke Whitney. Keep at it

and shoot for next month!

January's High Stepper Button Design

This month's High Stepper buttonwas designed by PHS studentLindsay Bock. It is reminiscentof Calvin & Hobbes cartoons,calling to mind a snowball fightbetween Calvin and hisclassmate, Susie. Nice work, Lindsay!

Writers of the Month for January

Johnny Anway and Danny Mondrusov

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$100 to $249

Bob & Donna

Coffin

Sharon Dudek

Jean Jaffke

Ralf & Laura

Lorenzen

Keiko Morse

Dirk Van Den

Muijsenberg

William & Karen

Schanerberger

Craig & Lori

Warner

Bill & Heather

Wisniewski

Jack Wright

$50 to $99

Cedric and

Teressa Butler

Shawn & Teresa

Clark

Jason Roder

Up to $49

Sandra Blay

Narang, Rushil

Google Calendar

Too many dates to

remember?

Please check ourSteppingstoneSchool GoogleCalendar if youhave a questionabout the date of anupcoming event,committee meeting

Occasionally, we find we have difficulty choosing "the" standoutwriting. That happened this month when we read Johnny's story, an

unusually well-written/dictated piece for a 6 year old, 1st grade

student. It was also true that the story written by Danny Mondrusovwas much more sophisticated and well-written than that of most other

8th grade students. In fact, Danny's might qualify as a small book

although length is not a criteria for quality writing.

Johnny's story follows, and Danny's is posted at the end of thisnewsletter. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did.

Candy Land

by Johnny Anway

age 6

Once upon a time, a gingerbread man named Bob was waking up inhis house made of graham crackers. He got out of bed and went overto the window. The trees that he saw were made of lollipops, the hillswere made of chocolate, dazzled with green licorice, the snow thatwas falling was made of powdered sugar, and there was a riverflowing with soda pop.

Bob went outside and walked down a gumdrop path until he made itto an area of empty land with no grass, no trees, and no flowers ofcaramel, and no houses or buildings. It was very empty. Bob wenthome to get his friends, Mane and Crainy, to show them thiswasteland he found.

"So you found a wasteland?" asked Crainy. Crainy was agingerbread man, and so was Mane.

"Yeah, I did. It's right down that gumdrop path," Bob said.

They remarked at how it could use some trees and grass. Then, theywent off to find lollipop tree seeds to plant. They went to the LicoriceForest. They went on a boat to cross the Soda Pop River, and theysaw gingerbread fish in the river. They crossed the river, and found ahole. Bob reached in the hole and found a brown sack in the hole.Inside the sack were the lollipop tree seeds! Mane, Crainy, and Bobwent all the way back to the empty piece of land, but on their wayback, some evil grapes wanted to stop them, so they could keep the

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or school holiday.

You can also print

the monthly

calendar for easy

reference at home.

seeds and plant grapes.

Bob, Crainy, and Mane went to the Soda Pop River and got somesoda from it. They went back to the grapes and squirted them withthe soda. The grapes got scared, so they ran away after they gotsquirted. The three friends dug some holes in the empty piece of land,and planted the seeds.

Days later, because lollipop trees grow really, really fast, there werelots of lollipop trees, and lots of gingerbread people to pick lollipopsoff the trees. In the middle of the lollipops were seeds, so everyonetook the seeds out, and took them home and planted them in theirbackyard. Soon, there were hundreds of lollipop trees all over CandyLand and people came to get the seeds and plant them so everybodycould have lollipop trees. They were also able to pick and eat them.

The End

Go Nicholas!

Runner Of The Month for January

Congratulations once again to Nicholas Pauken, our Runner of theMonth for January. With all of the snow days, too-cold-for-schooldays, and snow on the playground, our totals for January were a bitlower than usual. Nicholas ran just under nine miles. He still madesure to run a few extra laps to keep his winning streak going.

Doodle 4 Google Is Back

March 20th Is The Entry Deadline

Parents, go to http://www.google.com/doodle4google/ to see how

your child can win a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000

Google for Education technology grant for Steppingstone. Many

of your students have been doing this type of creative doodling foryears with their spelling words in the PHS classroom.

With spelling words, they are amusing themselves. Why not win a lotof money at the same time? One entry will be an assignment, butthey can try as often as they like.

From Tortoises to Catfish, Steppingstone is Home

From Tortoises to Catfish

by Jack Lorenzen

Steppingstone School for Gifted Education is home to very many

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animals. In total there are 11 or maybe even more being housed here.

Two of those are Russian tortoises. They are known as Archimedes

and Azalea. They were welcomed to our school just last year when

the students raised over $200 to buy them! Nowadays, they tend to

hang out in their tank, munching on lettuce, and shooting the breeze.

When it's warm out, they come outside to recess with the students

and explore the area where we play. The students absolutely adore

these shelled companions and love to see them when they can.

The other animals

that reside here are

fish. Steppingstone

is the proud owner

of three tanks. One

of them is saltwater

whilst the other two

are freshwater. The

saltwater tank, in the

PHS room, is home

to two clownfish.

Their names are Pipsqueak and Samsonetta. They share their home

with a sea urchin that crawls around the tank, eating algae and the

excess food. Their home is filled with live corals and rock that

promote a sea-like ecosystem in the tank. They love it in there. The

other animals that live in the freshwater tanks are two plecostomuses

(sucker fish), a comet goldfish, a ryukin goldfish, a red platy, and a

peppered corydoras catfish.

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Workshop

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Filip, Rohan & Rushil

Steppingstone students working hard at the Friends of the Rouge

workshop on Benthic Macroinvertebrates, also known as

backbone-free bottom dwelling aquatic organisms which can be seen

with the naked eye.

Evan & Brooke

Writer of the Month Danny Mondrusov's story

The Lone Apprenticeby Danny Mondrusov

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age 13

Harriet grabbed her protective cloak from the hook by

the door. Going outside nowadays was not an activity to be

taken lightly, and it required much protection. After the heavy

cloak laced with lead was placed on, a streamlined protective

helmet with a small air canister on the back was sealed on top.

The thick rubber boots were last to go on before Harriet made

her way into the airlock. The machine whirred to life, filtering the

air and changing the pressure until it was safe to go outside. A

lengthy process in its entirety.

'When was the last time I went outside?' Harriet

wondered. 'I can hardly remember seeing the sky. Although, it

isn't much to see.' Harriet often had these inside conversations

to keep herself sane in her one-person house. She had been

assigned to it when her parents had succumbed to the many

dangers while doing a task outside of the dome walls a long time

before. It was a hard thought to forget when it had happened

when she was a mature sixteen-year-old. Her twenty-year-old

brain had long since given up on trying to erase the thoughts of

her parents, the feel of her mother's soft hand, her father's

comforting voice during the earthquakes. She simply tried to

avoid them.

Finally, the airlock finished off its job and opened Harriet

up to the outside world. Harriet's eyes struggled to adjust to the

dim light, but once they did, the dystopian world showed itself to

her.

The Witch's Wrath had taken its toll on the land. Before

the fighting had happened, the world was a green place, with

trees lining the suburbs of the country and splendid cities that

were surrounded by forest. But none of those things existed

anymore. The explosions and curses had destroyed the world as

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its inhabitants had known it, and it had also destroyed many of

them too, nearly driving the human race into extinction. Those

left clung onto their remaining hopes of survival and created their

individual camps. Harriet's camp was a small one, two rows of

fifty buildings facing each other, surrounded by ash and dust. No

other life was visible for miles, and all you could see was a flat

wasteland.

The few houses in the area were not built for visual

appeal but for one purpose only: to keep the inhabitants safe

from the deadly hexes that the witch had cast. They were metal

domes, high tech but simple, and they had everything humans

needed to survive: self-replenishing air, food synthesizers

(complete with nutrients) and running water, coming from a

spring far below the earth. But the houses were a depressing

sight, for no life could be seen from the outside.

Harriet walked down the dimly lit path, imagining the

world as it once was. Her only memories of the world before

were not her own, for she had been born long after the Witch

had snapped and destroyed the world. But nonetheless, they

were good memories, of an animal filled forest and children

dancing around playing. Harriet knew that life in that world wasn't

perfect, for it had its fair share of problems. But Harriet

imagined it as just that: a world with no worries or cares. A world

better than the one she was forced to live in now.

Harriet arrived at her destination fairly quickly, for it was

a very small city. Her endpoint was the Main Hall, the largest

dome of the group, and here was where all village matters were

conducted: the maintenance of the underground waterways, the

distribution of the nutrients required for the food, keeping the

village in order, all of the things the "government," as they used

to call it, was required to do and more. It was also a meeting

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point for all of the families so the families didn't go insane

without a social life. Harriet was fine with a life excluding other

people. Her trip here was concerning her part in the village.

The airlock here took a bit longer than the one at home,

being bigger, but the inhabitants of the village had adapted

patience as part of their lifestyle. Nothing in the village was

rushed, for everything must be done perfectly to keep the village

running. Harriet waited silently, although she wasn't sure she

would be happy with what was on the other side.

"Harriet! I'm so happy to see you!" a voice shrilled out

from within the lobby. Although Harriet often preferred to stay

away from most people, there was one person she could

genuinely smile for.

"Hi, Josie," Harriet spoke out in monotone. She then

threw on a smile and ran into Josie's outstretched arms.

Josie was much older than Harriet, possibly even double

her years with a family and kids, but Josie was the sister,

mother, and guardian that Harriet never had. When her parents

passed away, Josie was the one that coaxed Harriet back into

the real world, out of the depression she had fallen into. Even

afterward, Josie continued to care for her, keeping her in the real

world, the only friend in her lonely life. Harriet knew she could

never repay her, but she did the best thing she could by

reserving the kindness she had left in her.

"I'm going to get my village assignment," Harriet

explained.

"So soon? You're growing up too fast for me," Josie

chirped in her naturally cheerful voice.

"Well, I decide I've been lazing around for long enough,

and I need something to busy my hands with."

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"Well good luck! I have to get back to the kids. Don't let

the Council give you a job you don't like!" Josie advised as she

walked away. Harriet sighed, glad to have someone in her life

that knew her as well as she knew herself. She walked through

the bright lobby, which gave her the impression she was walking

through an airy meadow.

Harriet made her way to the receptionist. "I'm here for

my village assignment," she stated curtly.

"I see." The receptionist looked up from her desk and

tapped a few buttons on a strange device. "The Council will see

you shortly."

Harriet took a seat in a mildly comforting chair. She

amused herself by watching Josie fuss with her three-year-old

boy as his six-year-old sister looked on.

After what seemed like eternity fiddling with her hair and

constantly adjusting her cloak, the loudspeaker blared out.

"Harriet James, you may enter to meet the council."

Harriet got up and brushed herself off. Long before, hearing her

parents' last names would have brought her to tears, but she had

grown up and matured. The more she did, the stronger the case

around her emotions got.

As she made her way to the tall, stainless steel doors,

she could feel something pulling her back, as if an invisible force

was opposed to her actions. This force soon crept into her

mind, and she began to feel doubtful of what was waiting for her

through those doors. No, not doubtful. Afraid. As if there was a

great evil waiting for her on the other side.

'What could be on the other side of those doors that is

scaring me this much!?" Harriet argued with herself. 'I have

nothing to fear!'

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But what followed scared Harriet even more than that

worm of doubt ever could. As she perused her mind furiously for

any answers, a deep voice sounded out.

"Your time has come, Harriet Jones," the voice rumbled.

"No," Harriet whispered.

"You will follow in your parents' footsteps. You will fall

trying to finish their job."

"I can't," she whimpered. "I can't die now."

"You will," the voice persisted. "But you can be saved.

All you have to do is turn around and leave. Say you changed

your mind. Just don't pass through the doors." Harriet was on

the verge of a breakdown. She was extremely close to simply

sprinting back into the airlock and staying in her living capsule

without a need to do anything. What was the point in taking the

risk of one of the council's jobs?

Harriet took her first step towards the exit, but then a

warm and comforting voiced replaced the one which had chilled

her to the bone. The one which had always been there for her,

the one who kept her happy in this ruined world.

"Harriet, don't be afraid."

"Mom?" Harriet breathed out.

"You are strong girl, my darling. You will make us proud,

no matter what you do."

"Thank you," was all Harriet could manage. With the

slightest sign of a tear in the corner of her eye (not of fright,

mind you) Harriet walked proudly to the doors.

"You will regret this decision when you fall," the voice

grumbled. For the warmth of her mother lingering in herself, she

pushed the voice away. She glanced around the room. Everyone

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else seemed oblivious to the voice which had just left her mind.

She glanced quickly at Josie, who reassured her with a

comforting smile, Harriet pushed through the doors.

"Josie!" a familiar face greeted her. "Glad you could

come!"

"Always a pleasure Mayor Johnson," Harriet returned the

favor. Mayor Johnson was a man who had long since earned her

respect. He controlled the village with an iron fist and a kind

heart. If he believed something had to be done for the village, it

got done and it was always an improvement. Harriet correctly

assumed that if he was alive during the time before the Witches'

Wrath, he would have been a widely popular leader.

"Come on in, the rest of the council is waiting for you."

Mr. Johnson ushered Harriet through the narrow hallways until

they reach the council room.

"Go on in, I'll follow close behind." His voice was

cheerful, but when Harriet caught sight of his eyes, she could've

sworn they held a dash of dread. Harriet discarded the idea and

entered the room.

The meeting started formally, with greetings from all

around the table. Harriet knew them all, it was hard not to, and

soon the meeting was underway.

"You know why you are here Harriet?" She replied with a

curt nod. "Well, just for the records, Harriet James is here to

apply for a village task." The council silently agreed that this was

the right thing to do.

"Normally, we would let you choose your task, and we

would fulfill your request as fully as possible. But in this situation,

we can only give you one job."

"Why is that?" Harriet replied, mildly surprised.

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"Well," Mr. Johnson said as he looked around the table

as if for assurance, "we have a crisis."

Harriet somehow managed to keep a straight face as the

terror seeped through to the front of her mind. "Do tell. Is

something wrong with the village?"

"No, nothing like that," the mayor continued. "The...

situation outside is getting worse."

"You mean the weather? It's nowhere near strong enough

to damage the domes."

"No, it's worse than that. The soil, the air itself, is

becoming even more poisoned day by day. If this continues, the

village domes will be overwhelmed, one by one, until all of them

have been broken down."

"How could this happen?" Harriet stammered, flustered

by the immense importance of the information flung upon her.

"The poison levels were going down, the scientists proved it!"

"They were. But they've started rising again. And we've

come to the conclusion that the Witch is causing this. We must

act quickly."

When the Witch had first cursed the land, the effects

were deadly enough. Now, with the small shred of humanity the

survivors had, the Witch wanted to eliminate that too? Harriet

was torn between anger at the Witch and fright of the situation.

The group sat in silence, waiting for Harriet's verbal

response. Harriet rolled the problem through herself a few times,

then put together her words.

"I'm assuming that if I was the only one called here, you

want me to do something about it."

"Yes, that is why we've called you here."

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"Out of all the people in the village, you chose me!?"

Harriet exclaimed, bewildered. "How am I, in any way, qualified

to stop the most powerful woman known to man?"

"Harriet," the mayor said softly. "Your parents were not

simply ordinary people. Your parents were affected greatly by

the Witch's power. They acquired the ability to use magic, similar

to the witches, to their will. You, Harriet, are their only living

descendant, and you have inherited their powers."

Harriet was beyond words. Not only were her parents

able to use magic and had abilities other people could only

dreamed of, she herself, apparently could control those powers

hidden deep within her. The information was overwhelming.

"Mayor, I've never even heard about this before. Why tell

me now?"

"Because we are running out of time, Harriet. This is a

crisis we have on our hands, and we have to stop it from

happening."

"Why can't we just wait it out? Maybe this is just a natural

occurrence and it'll disappear after a while, or maybe we could

just give the domes more defense, or we could just, we could..."

"Harriet," the mayor spoke out, stopping her panicked

ramblings. "This kind of thing has happened before."

"Before? When?"

"Four years ago. The year your parents disappeared."

Harriet quickly made the connection. "You sent my

parents out to stop her?" Harriet gasped. The mayor nodded

solemnly.

"And they did stop her. But we sent them out too late.

We had the same idea as you, that the poisoning of the air was

a natural happening, and it would die down. But people started

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getting sick with no clear cause, the few living plants we had

were dying, and the village was falling apart. But when all hope

seemed lost, your parents volunteered to go and stop whatever

the cause was. We held contact up until they found the witch,

apparently casting a spell of poison and such. Your parents

battled her, stopping her spell and reducing her power greatly,

but perishing in the process. Your parents saved this village, and

we are still extremely sorrowful that we can never repay them.

We can never make the same mistake again. We need you now,

Harriet."

After a pause, which felt like years to Harriet, she finally

croaked out, "I can't."

"Pardon?" one of the council members queried.

"I can't do this," Harriet said louder. "I can't use my

powers, I didn't even know they existed until you told me. My

parents never hinted at them or showed me them, and if they did

I never saw them. As far as I know, my parents never had any

powers, and neither do I."

"But Harriet, why would we lie to you?" the mayor

queried.

"You lied to me when you told me how my parents died!"

Harriet yelled. "I thought it was a working accident! Why would

you lie to me then!"

"Harriet, you need to be mature right now. You have to

listen to us-"

"No!" Harriet shouted, louder. "Stay away from me!" And

in her rage, as Harriet got up to leave, she felt her anger course

outwards, trying to escape as it had so many times before. But

now, it felt as it was asking Harriet to direct it. Not wanting to

hurt anyone, Harriet mentally pushed it towards the table,

16 of 27

imagining it bursting apart in dust. And just as she imagined it,

that's the way it happened. The table, along with the papers

sitting on top of it turned into ash similar to the ash outside and

flew outwards, covering, the walls and every inhabitant inside the

room.

"I, I-" Harriet was dumbstruck. She had never seen such

a spectacle. But somehow, she had caused it. She looked

around the room at the council, and the looks on their faces

were a mix of terror and happiness that Harriet had the powers

she claimed she didn't. But all Harriet saw was the terror. She

thought she was a monster. So she turned and ran.

"Harriet, it's all right, come back!" the mayor called after

her. But Harriet ignored him. She didn't stop until she was alone

in the airlock going outside.

Once Harriet was outside, she walked aimlessly, trying to

make sense of the previous events. She had powers, she knew

that now. Somehow, she had inadvertently learned to control

them. And her parents had not died as mere workers, they had

died as heroes, sent to do the job Harriet was now being asked

to do.

Harriet stared out at the valley of ashes, where far

beyond the witch lived in her castle. The witch had been ruining

her life since the day she was born, and now she was trying to

end it. She thought about the world before, and how the Witch

had ruined all that. The Witch needed to be brought to justice,

and now Harriet had the power to do so. She could restore the

world to its former glory.

And suddenly, in that moment, Harriet believed her

thoughts to be true. She I could stop the witch. She could save

the village. And she could finish her parents' job and avenge

them. It all became a reality.

17 of 27

Harriet quietly made her way back into the city hall and

walked into the mayor's office. The mayor looked up and smiled.

"Are you all right Harriet?" the mayor asked.

"I'm alright," Harriet stated. "I'm sorry about what

happened before."

"It's ok. The council is understanding of your situation."

Mayor Johnson paused before asking, "Was there anything else

you needed."

"I'll do the job," Harriet answered quietly. "I'll stop the

Witch."

"Are you sure? After what you've gone through?'

"Don't make me rethink my decision. Like you said, this

village needs me."

"Thank you Harriet. Well, lets get started!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before your parents went on their mission, they

taught me all about their powers and how to use them. Of course

I can't use them, but they taught me them in the case that I would

have to teach someone inexperienced how to use their powers.

In this case, it's you I'm teaching."

In the limited time they had, Harriet learned very much.

She learned to fuel her powers with energy, not with anger. If

anger was all you used to use things to your will, the

consequences could be disastrous. The mayor, although he

didn't posses the powers himself, he knew what the outcomes

should be and how the magic should be performed, and he was

a kind and patient teacher at that. But despite that, Harriet

always felt his urgency, his hurry to get her out to stop the

menace.

18 of 27

Harriet learned to levitate any type of object, how to

repeat her explosion at the council meeting. She learned to

suspend a light in midair, to teleport any objects she needed to

her side. But the most important, by far, was the ability to

compress pure energy and shoot it towards an enemy.

"Compressing energy is one of the most dangerous

things you can do," the mayor explained. "Not enough energy

and the attack has no effect on the attacker. Too much and it

blows up the entire area you are in. Along with that, if you use

too much of your own energy, you end up depleting your own life

force, so be careful to never use too much energy at the same

time." Harriet knew that she was involved with some extremely

serious powers. But at the same time, she was excited to learn

these powers, to follow in her parents' path.

According to Mayor Johnson, Harriet was learning

extremely well. Harriet expected the lessons to be alien and

strange to her, but every time Harriet learned another spell, it

seemed natural and easy.

After two weeks, Harriet had learned all she needed to

know. She had honed her skills as far as she could, and making

mistakes became a thing of the past.

The mayor leaned back in his chair, exhausted from the

intense work they had just completed. Two straight weeks with

minimal sleep, but Harriet had never felt more alive or awake. It

seemed like the newfound powers were coursing through her

veins, keeping her on her toes and staying alert.

"Harriet," the mayor sighed, "you have gone through so

much. Too much."

"It's, all right," Harriet reassured. "I have to do this for

the village. And for my parents."

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"I'm glad you think that. But someone like you, with all

you've been through, you don't deserve to get this kind of

pressure put on you." Harriet was silent for a few moments,

trying to figure out what to say.

"Well, nobody really deserves what's coming to them.

But in times like these, someone has to rise up and make a

difference. I'm proud that I have the opportunity to make that

difference. I won't let this chance slip."

The mayor nodded solemnly. "You are a brave girl. I

believe in you, Harriet. I know you will succeed."

The rest of the day went by silently as Mayor Johnson

helped Harriet finish her preparations. She would be traveling by

foot, for there were no animals or machines to help Harriet travel

over the wastelands. The two finished her preparations quickly,

and with their pleasantries behind them, and one final glace back

towards her village, Harriet set off towards the Witch's fortress

off in the distance.

Normally Harriet would wear very heavy clothes to

protect herself from the air, but with her new skills, Harriet could

protect her body and lungs with simple spells. Because of this,

she could move much faster and more easily. She moved

quickly, and soon, the village was out of her sight for the first

time in her life.

Out here, Harriet finally realized how widespread the

damage was. Not only had the Witch vaporized any kind of life,

she had flattened any hills that might have existed before. If

Harriet had lived with anybody else during her extended stays

inside of her house, she might've felt lonely, but she was all right.

She stopped often to catch her breath, and every night

she set up camp. She would put down a simple tent for a bit of

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extra warmth, and for food and water she would simply call it

towards herself, and a sandwich or some fruit, depending on her

mood, would disappear from a stockpile the mayor had in his

room and would appear by her side. Harriet was full, mostly

content, but there was still something nagging her. Something

important.

Then it hit her. The voice she had heard in the town hall,

she had done exactly what he had warned her not to do. She had

walked into his trap. She was going to die. Harriet lay on the

floor, hyperventilating. She was going to die and there was

nothing she could do about it. Then a stern but comforting

voice entered her head, jus as her mother's voice had helped her

when she was in need. Her father's voice.

"Get up Harriet!" he joked as if he was just waking her up

again. "It's time to go to work." Harriet heeded his words,

calmed herself, and got up.

"You have a lot to do. You are not far from her castle."

"How are you talking to me?" Harriet asked

dumbfounded. At first she thought her mothers voice was a

memory replaying in her head, but now her father was here,

talking about current events and coaching her on what to do.

"Are you still alive?"

"I can't explain right now. You have to move, now."

"Why? Can't you explain what is going on?"

"No Harriet. All I can tell you is that when you go to face

the Witch, it will not be what you expected. Goodbye, and good

luck. We still love you."

"Wait, don't go!" Harriet pleaded. But his voice was

gone. So with nothing else to discover, she packed up camp and

set off on the final leg of her journey.

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When the dim, cloud-covered outline of the sun peeked

over the horizon in the morning, Harriet had found the castle. It

was a menacing sight, so black that it seemed to suck the color

out of its surroundings. Harriet could feel the pull on her life force

increase ever so slightly as it worked harder to keep her safe

from the increasing amounts of poison in the air. It had four tall

towers, two of which were facing towards her. Although it was

large and magnificent, the brick and marble used to build it was

falling apart, turning it into an old, decrepit monument of evil. If it

was possible for something to look even deader in this

wasteland, the Witch's castle managed that.

It took half of the day to reach the entrance from the first

time she had first seen the castle, so large it was. But once

Harriet reached the enormous black gates, she then realized that

she had no plan going in. She had powers, she could control

them, but she was inexperienced, a "newbie," and she had no

idea what to expect on the other side of those doors. But she

had to go through. Her parents needed her, and she would not

fail them.

Harriet pushed through the doors, expecting heavy

resistance, but she was only met by an empty cavern, something

that possibly could have been the greeting chambers back in the

Witch's prime. There were multiple passageways leading away

from it, so Harriet did the only sensible thing she could do: she

started searching. She summoned a light up in front of her and

she began to look

Ever corner Harriet turned and every door she opened,

she expected someone to be behind it, but the interior appeared

to be as lifeless as the outside. There was no one. The castle

was empty.

Harriet stomped back to the greeting chambers in

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frustration. She sat on the floor by the door, leaning against the

wall. As she observed the room, she started to have this strange

feeling of claustrophobia, as if the room was cramping her, even

though it was the largest room in the building. Harriet's eyes

were drawn to the fireplace on the opposite wall, one an intricate

piece of engineering. She summoned a small ball of fire to light

the wood remaining in the fireplace, and she pushed it towards

the wood. Then the ball of fire just, disappeared. Harriet tried the

trick again, and with the same result.

"The wall's an illusion!" Harriet marveled. She wondered

how she hadn't caught this before. Her fireballs were passing

through the fake wall and into the space behind. This was the last

place she could look in the castle, and Harriet knew that

whatever was behind it would answer her questions. She

gathered up her strength and willed a small bit of energy between

her hands. The small blue light was extremely powerful, and

could easily reveal was behind the magical hologram. Without

fear, Harriet thrust the energy at the exact center of the wall, and

her world blew apart.

Harriet was blinded by a white light that filled the entire

room, accompanied by a deafening boom, throwing Harriet

against the doors and leaving a ringing sound in her ears. Harriet

pushed herself up, scratched, bruised, and battered. She raised

her hand up to shield her eyes from the light, and once her eyes

adjusted, Harriet witnessed the most terrifying she had ever

seeing.

Suspended in two beams of green light were two people,

eyes closed, and the poison was clearly emanating from them.

Harriet tentatively moved closer to observe the two, and upon

closer inspection, she realized that it was man and woman. But

once her mind cleared and the fuzziness left her eyes, Harriet

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finally made the connections and recognized the two. They were

mother and father, her mother and father, and they were alive.

But they were not safe, they were far from that. Their life forces

were trickling away continuously, and they looked extremely old,

as if they had aged forty years instead of the four they had been

gone.

"Well, now that we have the whole family here, let's get

the party started!" Harriet whirled around, looking for the owner

of the woman's voice that had had just spoken out.

"No need to panic, I don't want to hurt." The voice was

moving in the shadows at the edge of the room, and very quickly

too. Those kinds of movements couldn't be natural.

"What are you doing with my parents!" Harriet asked,

worried. Whatever was happening to them, it didn't look healthy.

"No matter, I'm almost done with them. And then it'll be

your turn." Just then, the owner of the voice stepped out into the

middle of the room, as if out of nowhere. She was a small

woman, with pale skin and looked anything but menacing.

"You?" Harriet asked, confused. "You're the Witch? The

Witch sighed, as if she was disappointed with Harriet.

"What, do I not look the part?" the Witch queried.

"Maybe this will suit the role better." Then the Witch spun in a

circle, surrounded herself in smoke, and what exited the cloud

was much more menacing. The Witch had shape shifted into an

eight-foot tall monster of a woman, witch distinct angular

features, and more beautiful than anything the world had ever

seen. But she was terrifying. You could literally see the aura of

power circling around her, and she did not look like she was the

mercy-giving type. To add on that, she wore a helm with two

golden horns mounted on top, each as long as Harriet, and she

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wielded a lengthy staff with a red gem in the top in her right hand.

It was hard to look at her for more than a few seconds.

"What are you?" Harriet whimpered.

"I am the bane of humanity," the Witch replied scarily.

"Your kind has failed this world, and you must be erased so this

world can grow again."

"Why not let the world grow and let the survivors live?"

Harriet pleaded. "Stop using my parents to kill all of my people!

We can do whatever you want! Just lift your poison-"

"This is a dangerous game you play, young one!" the

Witch yelled. "This is the game of life, and there are no second

chances!"

"Then I'll have to stop you," Harriet proclaimed rather

unconvincingly. The Witch promptly replied by swinging her staff

at Harriet, throwing her across the room.

"I tried to warn you!" the Witch reminded Harriet,

snarling. "You could have died peacefully with the others in your

village, without pain and with friends around you! But now your

power will add onto your parents' power, and you will help me kill

your friends even faster while you watch helplessly!"

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen," Harriet muttered, as

she crawled to her feet, preparing for the battle of her life.

Harriet fought valiantly, she really did. Against a weaker

enemy she would've looked fearful and would take care of them

easily. But the Witch was in a league of her own. She had years

of experience, she had spent years gathering up her powers,

and she had the trickery of evil on her side. Every fireball Harriet

launched at the Witch diminished to the size of a match head by

the time it reached her, any brick crumbled into dust on contact,

and when Harriet got desperate, the sandwiches she threw at her

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also had no effect. The Witch continued to fling her around the

room, slowly diminishing Harriet's life force. But by luck or

mistake on the Witch's part, no one knows, Harriet went flying

through the green beams holding up Mr. and Mrs. Jones, and all

three flew to the opposite wall, landing in a heap.

"LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!" the Witch

complained. "Do you know how long it takes to set that up?

FOUR YEARS! I'll just have to kill all of you and finish the job

myself."

Harriet saw the Witch make the unmistakable body

motions a Witch makes when they are summoning their internal

energy. Harriet knew that with her power, the Witch would kill all

of them with one blast. So she gathered up her remaining force

and shot it back at the witch.

Harriet's blue beam and the Witch's red beam met in the

middle, and the meeting point was quickly moving towards

Harriet. The Witch was slowly increasing the power of her beam

and once it reached Harriet's hands it would overwhelm Harriet

and her parents. In that moment, with the red beam getting

closer and her back pressed up against the wall, Harriet

speculated just quitting and letting it all go. Ending her struggle

against this world which had never let up against her and

presented tragedy after tragedy. It would be so easy.

Harriet felt a warmth envelop her right hand. It was not

the energy as she had first thought, but it was her father's hand.

He was melding his energy with hers, pausing the beam inches

away from Harriet's hand. She looked to her left and her mother

was doing the same, pushing against the Witch's power. Harriet

pulled them both close to her and pushed back.

Slowly but steadily, the family's beam grew in strength

and pushed the Witch back.

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"What is this!" the Witch screamed, for she'd never

tasted defeat before. "STOP!"

The family ignored the Witch's terrible, evil screams and

continued to push back. The beam reached the Witch and

surrounded her, swirling around her, faster and faster. The Witch

screamed all the way through until she disintegrated and was no

more. The chamber was filled with silence. Harriet pushed

herself to her feet then pulled her parents up, leaning them on her

shoulders. All together they shuffled to the exit, and what they

saw there was delightful. A lone patch of grass, with a single

flower resting in the middle was slowly spreading.

Harriet smiled at her parents. They all laughed together

with tears running down their faces. They were so happy to

finally be back together, and to see the world free of its curses.

Together, with the other survivors, they could rebuild this world

that the Witch had destroyed. They had their new beginning,

Harriet had the old world she always dreamed of, and they would

not let it go to waste. It might not of been perfect, but now they

had each other, and that was all they needed. Their world was

perfect. And their world was saved.

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