The Current - The Rivers School

I wipe my sweaty palm on my shirt and firmly grasp my weapon. I squint my eyes and let out a
sigh of relief as I see Benj and Gray emerge from the other side of the room.
“You guys find anything”
“No”
We proceed once again as the Four Musketeers deeper and deeper into the seemingly
endless room, and we stop at a giant furnace. This must be the king furnace.
We pause and eye the beast up and down. We have our weapons ready and we are
eager to fight. All of a sudden a huge “WHOOSH” and then “VROOOOM” sound comes from the
furnace, and me and Conor and Gray and Benj scream at the top of our lungs while hopelessly
flailing our swords like madmen. We turn and make a break for the door, our only escape. I can’t
help but feel that there is something chasing me so I try and run faster. We scramble through the
doorway, each of us pushing to get through first, not wanting to be consumed by the monster
that is surely behind us. We fight for our lives, and eventually break through the doorway and
collapse on the carpeted floor. I get up, turn around and slam the door to the oil room with all
my might and it closes with a smash.
“I think it’s gone,” I say as I press my ear to the door.
“We scared it away!” Benj remarks.
I turn to my cronies with a smile, ready to celebrate, but we are interrupted by the
distant sound of footsteps coming our way. The monster Conor’s parents Oh no! It is Conor’s
parents! We were supposed to be asleep hours ago!
“Everyone go to sleep. Now! Now!” Conor whispers as loud as he can.
We take the pillows from our stomachs and toss them to the ground while we
clumsily clamber to find blankets. I see Gray plummet to the ground and become engulfed by
a red blanket. Conor turns off the lights and I see his shadow collapse. I watch as Benj becomes
one with the ground. As the footsteps come closer, I enclose myself with a blanket, and hit the
decks in my sleeping position. The door opens, and a dark figure walks down the stairs. Out of
nowhere, Gray starts snoring, and I join in. The figure stands there for what seems like an hour,
and then retreats back up the stairs. We all toss the blankets from ourselves and give each other
quiet high-fives and congratulations. I chuckle to myself because this is not the first time I have
gotten away with “fake sleeping”.
“Well done, men, well done,” someone says as Gray searches for something behind a
couch.
Gray turns around holding four cans of Coke which we had pilfered and stored in
the basement earlier today, and with a cheers and smiles all around, we sip our well deserved
reward. I let out a belch as the cool bubbles trickle down my throat, and I smile to my friends.
Another sleepover, another adventure for the storybooks.
Anna teng // Greener things
2nd place
29
Andy Gelb // The four Musketeers
Honorable Mention
Stephanie Lie
Autumn Harvest
Anna Teng // Greener Things // Second Place