What made you pick up this book? It is a question I myself have been pondering for quite a while. What is it that draws people in to read words, hundreds of pages worth? When said in such a way it makes reading sound quite boring, a waste of time. What do people gain? I asked my friend Margaret this as we sat drinking hot chocolates in Jupiter’s Casino on the Gold Coast. Hope, she told me. It brings out your emotions. Having never felt hope in my life, I questioned her on the ability on words to make you feel things. Think about it, she told me. Think about every time someone’s told you they love you, or they hate you, or that you make them laugh. It gives you hope, hope that they do, hope that someone else might too some day. I rolled my eyes and stirred my spoon in my drink, watching the ripples it made as it banged against the glass. That has nothing to do with the words on the page. I am not related to them, so them telling me these things would be irrelevant to my state of being.

‘Ok what about when you read about someone who is just like you,’ she said, standing in front of me and waving her arms around as we walked through the car park,’ Just a typical lost woman in their early twenties trying to find their way in life, and then they do, and the fall in love and then they become famous or some shit like that. It’s hope Gabby, its hope. You think, wow maybe I can do that too.

‘‘No, I think wow; this is the biggest amount of crap I’ve ever heard’‘

Gabby open your mind, you’re too up tight. If you keep on thinking like you do your going to be 98 and still be in the same place you are today except your only friend will be a coat rack. You have to believe in things.’ ’

I do believe in things’‘

Gabby, that’s bullshit. You stopped believing in Santa when you were seven. You refuse to even watch one Harry Potter movie and I bet you don’t even believe in true love’‘

I believe that if I can see it and touch it it’s real’‘

This is why you’ve never even been in a proper relationship, look at yourself’

Nice Mag, thanks for that boost in self confidence. I looked down at my denim jeans, black near high boots and blue long sleeve shirt. What’s wrong with me? I look good.

You look tired, you look uptight. You need to live Maggie, the way we used to. You need to start a new life, open a new book.’Oh god back to books again. This conversation is going around in circles.

 ’And what will I find in this book, oh Margaret the wise and all knowing?’

She grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. ‘It will give you hope.’

 Margaret takes me out to a bar on Friday night after university. This is part of the initiation into the world of hope. I look around at all the people, laughing and drinking and playing pool, some in their work gear, some dressed up, some casual, all from different parts of town, and wonder what they’ve got that I haven’t. I don’t feel different to them. But then, how can you ever be sure of how someone really is without being them? There I am, being dark and…what’s the word? Analytical. Mags always says I’m over analytical about everything. I can’t understand how she can take the world so lightly.  She seems like she just doesn’t care that a certain part of a movie doesn’t make sense or that the guy chatting her up was contradicting himself.

‘Margaret, what did you mean when you said id never been in a proper relationship the other day? What has that got to do with my belief in things?’‘

Belief in love,’ she said while scanning the room for perve worthy guys. ‘Maybe I believe in love so much that I don’t need to be with a hundred guys. I just need to be with the one. That when I see him, I’ll know.’‘Yes, but not all dating has to be serious. You can have fun Gab, you’re young. And anyway, what if you know and he doesn’t? Or he knows and you don’t? You’ll be questioning your love for the rest of your life. Belief Gab.’

I can tell there’s no pleasing her. I go off to the bathroom and come back to find Mag in a deep and meaningful conversation with some random guy. I edge of towards the other side of the bar and sit and watch. She’s so comfortable and natural. He could be a raper or something, she doesn’t know.The rest of the night is uneventful. My supposed initiation to hope ended with Margaret leaving in the arms of the random stranger, and me catching a cab home alone. Fun.

Hope: the finding of freedom in the completeness of the rightful purposefulness of human nature, used as an antidote for rage when right is unreachable. “In order that the scope of power and responsibility may grow, hope is necessary. Hope maintains the intent of the character when ability is not sufficient to obtain a complete relationship with reality. Hope bridges the gap when responsibility falls short. When ability has grown to the necessary point, hope disappears and mastery takes command. …

I look for him,

In the fog of the early morn.

I know he won’t be there,

But still I wait, and hope

For a glisten of his boat

At the edge of the horizon,

For the sound of his voice

To come rolling off the waves.

He’ll smile when he sees me,

He’ll sit me on his knee,

He may even have a gift

That I will cherish every day.

There’ll be many stories to be told,

And I’ll just sit and listen

Just happy that he’s there,

But I know that will not happen.

One day he will come to me,

And when that day comes

I’ll be here waiting

In the fog of the early morn.

A crew of shipwrecked sailors, in danger of being drowned, begs for mercy to the sirens floating in the mist…. 

Circe looked out at Odysseus boat and felt a wave of sadness flow threw her. His crew was out there making the last small repairs on it, and then he would be off. She wished he didn’t have to go. She had loved him ever since he had resisted her powers to try and turn him into a pig. God knows how this would lead to loving him, but it had, and now he would be leaving her forever.

Odysseus strode into the room, looking strong and determined. He was renowned for his guile, and that he had taken more than ten years to return from the Trojan War. His wife was yet to know of his survival. He was to set sail in the direction he thought lay his hometown, but he had traveled so far and been knocked off course so many times he was not entirely certain. But now he just wanted to set sail, having been stranded of Circe’s island for more than a year, to feel the wind in his hair and the spray of the sea on his face, to feel free once again.

‘Odysseus, before you go, I must warn you of something.’

Odysseus turned to face her, as he knew her knowledge of the seas and that what she was about tell him may lead to his survival.‘On your path, you will past a small group of islands known as Sirenum scopuli. You will know them when you see them. On these islands live three sisters; Aglaopheme, Peisinoe and Thelxiepeia. Now they where friends with Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Queen of the Underworld. When Persephone was abducted by Hades, they were there but yet did nothing to help her. In a rage, Dementer, her mother, turned the sisters into sirens’.

Odysseus nodded, not wishing to interrupt her.

‘Sirens, half bird, half women creatures, charm voyaging sailors with their sweet songs and overcome all men with their enchantment. The men, unable to resist them, sail towards them. And never get seen again. Only the skulls and bones of former sailors bear witness to the true ferocity of these creatures.’

‘What do I do?’Circe turned out of the room and returned with a mound wrapped up with tissues. Odysseus looked at her curiously.

‘Beeswax,’ she replied to his look.’I want you to put this in your and your crew’s ears. That way you won’t hear them and will get passed unharmed.’Odysseus nodded. But curiosity was getting the better of him.

‘I wish to hear their song,’ he said, but even as the worlds came out of his mouth he knew that it sounded impossible.

‘Mmm I thought you would. So I have a plan. If you feel you absolutely have to hear them, get your crew to tie you up on the mast of your ship. That way you can hear their song but won’t be able to swim out or move the ship.’

‘What would I do without you?’ Odysseus asked smiling, and gave her a hug.

 ‘Give Penelope a hug for me,’ she said as he walked out the room, tears in her eyes. 

‘Ready to sail sir?’ asked Misenus, one of his crew.

‘Yep, but first boys stick this beeswax in your ears to protect you from the sirens. You must not hear their song.’

‘What about you?’

‘Circe has told me I have to hear their cries, so therefore you will tie me up on the mast. No matter what I say, no matter what I do, you must not untie me until we are safely past Sirenum scopuli.’ Odysseus had lied to them, but there was nothing dangerous about it; just they would surely protest if he had told them he had simply wanted to hear them.

They had traveled for about half a day when Odysseus saw a group of island with a huge mystical cloud which appeared to be forming in the shape of beautiful faces. He immediately got his crew to tie him up, which was a bit hard since they all had beeswax in their ears.And then he heard it. It was faint as first, but it was the most beautiful music he had ever heard. One was playing the harp, he could tell that for sure. It was so beautiful he knew that the one who was playing it had to be one of the most beautiful creatures on the earth. Then he heard singing, he had never heard singing like that before, it was calling him to come closer… 

Come closer Odysseus, draw nearer, draw nearer, and come hear our voices. Those and come to listen to us leave so much wiser, and none are disappointed with our song. Come, as we have knowledge of everything that will happen on this wondrous earth, and we will  happily tell you. Draw near Odysseus, come to us… 

 Odysseus started thrashing around like mad in his tightly bound ropes. He longed to get out; he had to go see them, to hear what they had to say. He wanted nothing more in the whole world. He yelled and screamed for his crew to let him out, telling them that they didn’t understand that they had to release him. But as their ears were full of beeswax they couldn’t hear him and even though they could see, they did nothing to help him.He could see them now. They were beautiful, with the upper half a women and the bottom half bird, they looked like angles in that mysterious cloud. His life depended on getting out, but as hard as he tried he just couldn’t.

The boat was quickly going past the island; they were nearly completely passed it, with Odysseus screaming his head off, when the sirens started changing.  They were hideous, repulsive, the ugliest creatures Odysseus had ever seen in his life. Their once beautiful white feathers on their wings had all gone a dirty brown to a black, and their beautiful faces were now plastered with evil and hatred. They were screaming, at the top of their lungs for the boat to come back, how it dare go past them, how dare they not stop. How could they be resisted? It was surely impossible! They threw themselves in the water, trying to go after Odysseus and his crew, but their wings started to weigh them down and in a few moments they were gone, never to be seen again, into the depths of the sea, with Odysseus crew watching dumbfounded.  

As the clock strikes five at Flinders,

And the bank tellers close their doors,

A stream of people come flowing

From their working and their chores.

Their faces straight and stubborn,

With bags under their eyes

Another monotonous weekday

Has passed by in their lives.

The sounds of trams and trains and carts

The pitter-patter of tired feet

Just wanting the day to be over

So they can stop and eat and sleep.

There’s only one destination

One place they want to go

They just want to get home

But then again they know

The sooner they do get there

The sooner they’ll go to bed

And so starts another day on Collins St

Filled with major dread.

Change creeps up behind you,

you can’t smell it, hear it,

taste it, see it or touch it.

It can enclose you with fear,

or embrace you in its arms.

It can hit you, kiss you,

or pretend you don’t exist.

It shows no remorse for things you’ve lost

only for what you’ve gained.

 Some more of the untitled story!

Chapter 2

Vanessa glanced at the long road ahead. Her brown hair was in a pigtail that was getting in the way of her eyes. The sun was just rising and was very dim causing it extremely hard to see. They were on a freeway and there were quite a few cars on the road considering the time.‘

Who are we flying with?’ asked McGig, who had bought a pack of doughnuts while Hoges stopped to grab a paper and was now casually getting rid of them. He was leaning forward so he wouldn’t miss the answer.

‘We’re flying with British Airways in Business class,’ answered Vanessa.

‘Isn’t that a bit dangerous?’ asked Hoges in concern.

‘Not if we don’t say our job.’

‘Oh.’

After an uncomfortable silence, they arrived at the airport with thirty-five minutes to spare. But by the time they got through the line up to put their luggage in, got their tickets and got through security, they had no time. They rushed to the gate. 

‘Good morning, please give me your tickets,’ said the airhostess, while filing her nails.They gave her the tickets and ran through the passage. But once they got closer to the plane they slowed down to a casual walk. 

‘What’s the point of running when they’re waiting?’ asked McGig chuckling. But when the people at the front of the plane heard him he found out.

.‘We are forced to wait for insignificant people like you to waddle onto the plane laughing at us!’ yelled an elderly lady.

‘B…but…’

‘No buts young man’

‘Ohhhhhhh’

Vanessa and Hoges looked at each other, laughed, and took their seats. McGig followed quickly. It seemed as soon as McGig sat down they started going through procedures and everything. This made Hoges and Vanessa laugh at him even more as well as a couple of other people. McGig blushed.The plane finally started to slowly proceed upwards although it didn’t fly anywhere quick because of a sudden engine failure. As soon as the failure was announced McGig wouldn’t go off the subject that it didn’t matter that they were late and it was meant to happen to prove to everyone that he was right. However as soon as the hostess came around with tea, coffee, magazines, soft drinks, headphones and of course, doughnuts, he stopped.

 After a delay of about an hour, also due to rain, they were up in the sky. The area was very foggy because of the rain, which was still falling a tad but not heavy enough to keep a plane out of the sky.Surrounding the plane was a dense shield of clouds causing massive turbulence. McGig, being airsick and hating planes threw up several times and was now on his sixth pack of gum. Hoges was listening to music, reading a magazine and eating mints. McGig just stared at him in awe.

‘You lucky bugger,’ he said to Hoges. Hoges just snickered and took a sip of tea.

‘For those who wish, the TV screens in front of you have been turned on and have dozens of movies and games for your enjoyment,’ said a hostess over the loudspeaker. Hoges immediately turned on a movie and lay peacefully.

‘Double lucky bugger,’ said McGig. He stared at the soundless movie. ‘I wonder what’s happening,’ he said to himself. McGig knew that if he watched it the motions would make him sick again. He looked over to where Vanessa was sitting and what she was doing. She seemed absorbed in a book; Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. McGig leant over ever so slightly more and fell out of his chair and once again his hat left his head. Unfortunately for him, a lady was also sitting in Vanessa’s row of seats and whacked him rather hard. He got up slowly, throbbing in pain and holding his back. He went up to Vanessa whose interests had left her book and she stared at McGig quaintly.

‘Good book?’ McGig asked in pain.

‘Fine.’

Then one of the hostess’ came and forced him back to his seat.

‘How much longer?’ whined McGig to Hoges who had finished his watching and was now reading a magazine that a hostess gave him.

‘Ask Vanessa,’ said Hoges, ignoring what he said and turning the page. McGig was beginning to get on his nerves-he is incapable of sitting in one spot to long.

‘But I’m afraid of that lady next to her. She’s scary,’ McGig said seriously. But when he saw the look on Hoges face he laughed, to prove to Hoges he wasn’t scared when he actually was.

Hoges stared at him sternly. ‘I seriously don’t get you.’

McGig found out the time from a nearby person and decided to go to the toilet. Hoges had ignored all McGig warning of things that could happen on a plane, which he would soon regret.McGig squeezed down the aisle with much difficulty, his sides hitting the chairs. He soon arrived at the end, exhausted by being hit so much, closed the door of the toilet, gasping for breath.Meanwhile, Hoges and Vanessa were eating dinner along with a handful of other passengers.

Then, a normal looking man who was wearing a black suit went to the back of the plane and put a balaclava on his head. He stuck his fingers in his pocket and felt something.

‘Stupid security,’ he said to himself and pulled out a gun. Everyone, unaware, was eating and chatting and listening to music minding their own business when…‘

Stop don’t move,’ yelled the man with the balaclava. ‘This is a hold-up!’

‘Der,’ said some smart-ass kid.He was waving his gun around like a chicken trying to fly. Obviously someone was telling him to do the hold-up. He was definitely a first timer.A couple of people screamed and fainted. A couple just fainted. Vanessa leaned back to Hoges.

‘Hoges, I stupidly left my gun in my briefcase which is in the luggage department,’ she whispered, ‘I could use Karate but it’s risky. Do you have a gun?’

‘Yes, they let me bring it when I showed them the badge. I’ll just scare him though.’ Hoges indicated at his handgun, ‘I insist.’

‘Well, okay’.

 Hoges stood up with his gun and pointed it at the man. But he crouched again quickly. ’I wonder if this guy has anything to do with our mission’ said Hoges a tad nervously.

‘But he looks so inexperienced. There’s no way he could be.’

‘It might be just an act. Then he’ll just blow the plane first chance he has.’

‘How do you know? He might just be some guy with a balaclava on.’

‘I’m sure. Okay, I’m going back up.’

‘Be careful.’

Hoges stood back up and took out his gun. The balaclava bandit was terrorizing people and scaring the hell out of them.

‘Stop in the name of the law,’ demanded Hoges, pointing his gun at the bandit. ‘I’m going to count to three’

‘So am I,’ exclaimed the bandit. Hoges thought for a while then slowly counted.

‘One…’

‘Two three!’ said the bandit quickly, pulling the trigger. It hit Hoges left arm. People screamed but Hoges hardly flinched though his pain was obvious to Vanessa.

‘Stop in the name of the law,’ yelled McGig, his pants down to his ankles revealing Garfield boxer shorts. He shot. Not seriously like someone trying to kill, but on his hand to make him drop the gun and shocked. And sure enough, he dropped the gun and was shocked.In the very, very, back of the room, Vanessa, Hoges and McGig interviewed the bandit. He now had handcuffs, and he had a bandaged hand and Hoges had a bandage around his arm. Hoges asked most of the questions, Vanessa writing them down and McGig saying things here and there while eating doughnuts.

‘Who are you working for?’ asked Hoges thinking how much that sounded like those big cop movies.

‘I’ll never tell,’ the bandit said, squirming for freedom. Hoges smuggled smirks while thinking about the bandit’s answer and how much more it sounded like a cop movie.

‘Yes you will. Tell or die,’ said Hoges, knowing he wasn’t going to kill the man but grabbing out his gun and pointing it toward the hijacker.

‘Okay, okay. It’s…’Suddenly he drooped. Hoges looked at his back and saw a stab wound. McGig gasped, dropping his doughnuts then gasping again. Vanessa kept writing and looking up casually. But when she noticed she also gasped. They all exchanged looks. They knew none of them did it. They didn’t even hear anything. But someone…

‘They’re after us,’ said Vanessa, jumping up and looking around in alarm. ‘Come, to the cockpit.’

Ok i started writing this story ages ago but i can’t think of a name and havent got that far into it. But tell me what you think of it so far…i might continue on it i havent decided yet.

p.s-if you have an idea for a name it would be greatly appreciated!!!

Chapter 1 ‘How’s your little assignment going Hoges?’ giggled McGig, a huge beefy man whom if you put him in a pigpen you wouldn’t know who was who. Hoges however, was quite the opposite. He was 6 feet 10 and as skinny as a stick. While McGig was giggling at what he thought was funny, he had a pile of doughnuts, which he was casually popping inside his mouth.

‘Ha, ha. For your information McGig, I am very close to solving this case. I only need one more piece of evidence. If only I knew…’ As Hoges was talking, he was half talking to himself like he was about to go in a daze.  McGig began to giggle again.‘By the way McGig, how’s yours going?’

‘Huh?’ said McGig falling of his chair and hitting the floor. He picked up his hat, which had also fallen) and spoke quickly;‘Well, err, um I just remembered a previous engagement.’

‘Thought as much’McGig grabbed a handful of papers and rushed out the door, dropping his hat on the way. Hoges sat there waiting. McGig rushed back in.

‘I forgot my hat,’ he said, sticking it on his head.

‘Good luck on your case,’ smirked Hoges, ‘your going to need it’

‘Yeah, yeah, Ha, ha’McGig closed the door. Hoges sighed and looked at his papers. He just couldn’t understand it. No bullet, no wound, no sickness, no nothing. It was as if Mrs. Croford just dropped on the spot. Only old granny Croford was there and…‘That’s it!’

‘What’s it?’ whispered a voice outside.Hoges got up and opened the door. Down fell McGig.‘How’d you know it was me?’ he asked, wide-eyed.Hoges looked at him and rolled his eyes.

‘One, it’s obvious. Two, I am an investigator as you are and three, I never forget a voice. It’s my job! Now what were you doing?’

‘Well, I heard from Gangreen that the boss is coming to see how we’re going with our cases. And if sees your work and then mine…’

‘You’ll be in serious trouble. So what are you doing? Get cracking! Go interview a suspect. Why come to me?’

‘I need your help.’

‘Oh, now come crawling back to me. Okay, have you got any notes?’

‘No’

‘Then go to…Mrs. David and ask her the following questions,’ said Hoges, looking at the tiny bits of information and his pile. ‘One, where were you at the scene, two, did you hear anything, stuff like that. I’m sure you can handle that.’

‘Okay, I’m going. He’ll probably not find me if I’m on the job. Oh yeah, he’s at Freddy’s office.’

‘Thanks’

‘No, thank-you. Bye.’Finally, McGig had gone to one of his suspects of the disappearance of Kristine David. Hoges sighed once again and pondered again on his notes. He heard a sound from outside and immediately gathered it to be McGig. He opened the door and the boss was there.

‘Good morning sir. How unexpected it is to see you sir. Here is my work sir,’ said Hoges sick of chanting the ridiculous chant. It sounded like they were in the army, not investigators.

‘Well, well done. You are in front. As I expected. I have another case for you Hoges. You are going to work with McGig. Do you know where he is?’

‘Yes sir. He is interviewing a suspect. But I must say, I am near to solving this case and I don’t want to leave it. I’m busting to finish it. All I need to find out is why the only person at the scene of the…’

“Stop your babbling, Hoges. You are to do this if you want to or not. It is your job. You are going to fly to the U.S to find out who killed one hundred and fifty people in Thirty-forth Street in New York. This is big, and the U.S wanted our top investigators. And you are the best. You will have accommodation and everything. McGig, you and the H.O.P’s (head of police’s) top police man. You are to report at my office at dawn. Pass the message to McGig. Good-day.’The boss stormed out of the room with his secretary, Bob, following him, muttering things that he had wrote down. Hoges picked up the phone and rang McGig. Hoges listened as he heard McGig’s ring tone that was the theme song of ‘Faulty Towers’.McGig answered in a disturbed voice, ‘Hello, Investigator McGig speaking. May you please ring back I’m in the middle of an important assignment.’‘McGig,’ said Hoges in an adoring voice as if McGig was a small child.‘Oh sorry Hoges. But as you know I’m…you know…interviewing and…’

‘Yes, but the boss said you could have a little holiday from that job…’ 

‘Hold a sec,’ said McGig as he put down the phone. Hoges grinned as he listened from the other side of the line. This is what he heard:‘Sorry miss, um, I have another case and it’s er, more important. Not that your case isn’t important but…yeah, so I’ll interview you another time.’

‘I sincerely hope you do,’ said a female voice, ‘I’ll be waiting.’‘Good afternoon miss’Hoges grinned. Then McGig picked up the phone once again.

 ‘Tell me Hoges, why did I just do that?’

‘As I was saying,’ said Hoges, ‘you have an assignment, with me. You are going to be my partner and we have to go to the U.S to work on some big crime’McGig was speechless. Finally, after about fifteen seconds of awkward silence, McGig spoke again.

‘What’s the catch?’ He asked slyly.

‘A policeman is tagging along’

‘I knew there was a catch.’‘It’s not that bad. A policeman is just a second companion.’

 ‘No, you don’t know police. I’ve seen them. Mean, trying to get you off the job, and they are the worst showoffs!’

‘Lay off ‘em. I forget when we start. Come over here so we don’t run late tomorrow. Oh, wait we start at…’ Hoges read the piece of paper. He was tired. ‘We need to be at the Boss’ place at dawn. You can sleep in the spare bedroom in my office.’

‘Okay’When McGig arrived at the office, Hoges was asleep. ‘Poor bugger,’ he said to himself. He went into the spare room and fell asleep in a number of seconds.The next morning Hoges woke McGig at three a.m ‘I thought you needed a shower or something before we went to the boss’ 

 ‘Thanks,’ McGig replied sarcastically.

‘I’ve already had mine. We’re having bacon and eggs for breakfast okay?’

‘Yeah, right.’After McGig had scrubbed up, and he was finishing his breakfast, Hoges decided to go.

‘Alrighty, time to go!’

‘Give me some time!’

‘We’re going to be late’

‘Does it really matter?”

‘Yes it does. We want to make a better impression by getting there first!’They did leave, but McGig wasn’t going his fastest, just to peeve Hoges off. Hoges drove his car up the Boss’ driveway, and walked inside the office. McGig was dawdling behind. It was his first major project. He was thinking of the danger he was about to walk into and the danger of his new wife Sarah.When McGig reached the room the boss was talking to Hoges about the new case. McGig heard a sound of an engine and jumped as though it was going to hit his rear end. He looked behind and said shaking, ‘the police are here.‘Excellent!’ said, clapping his hands. ‘Trust me boys, H.O.P’s men are the greatest!’

‘Great,’ McGig said sarcastically to Hoges, now standing next to him. Hoges smuggled a laugh. The boss stared at him sharply.‘Ah good morning General,’ said the boss to H.O.P

‘Yes, if you say so,’ HOP replied pompously. Hoges stared at each other and knew he was a strict bastard. 

‘At least we’re not going with him,’ said Hoges in a very small whisper.‘Since you awoke me at such an abnormal time, I will be brief. Here’s my officer. Good-day’‘Someone woke up at the wrong side of the bed this morning,’ said McGig giggling. The boss was mad. He had to blame someone else.

‘McGig,’ how dare you suggest us to meet at such a ridiculous hour and don’t you answer me back!’ The boss was obviously transfixed, and didn’t see the H.O.P’s number one, watching and listening in disgust.‘And furthermore, I think I’ll take you off this project!’McGig stood there, stunned, stunned. He couldn’t understand the man’s massive ego. McGig could have given him a good whacking but he resisted.‘A-hem’‘Well hello! Nice to be working with you. We were just saying how friends we are!’The police-lady stared at him in disbelief.He then realized she was there the whole time and turned to look at Hoges and McGig. They were laughing their heads off. The boss turned red in the face. He was ruined. (At least he thought he was)

‘I am General McGee. If I am to be working with you, I have a number of rules.’ She gave McGig and Hoges a sheet of paper. The writing was handwriting and a couple of things were in bold print. It was a small piece of paper, about a third of an A4 paper. This is what it looked like:  

Vanessa McGee’s guide to a happy work environment!! J

1.    Work comes first.2.    No one takes all the credit3.    No showing off or stupidness on purpose at any stage.4.    Work as hard as you can Please abide by these rules and we will

It was a rainy night when Jessica Hodgers got the phone call calling her to work. It wasn’t unusual, as she was often called into work when new people were brought in for her to study. Not that you could call them all people. See Jessica studied those that were physically or mentally unknown to the normal speaking human world, as the government kept the job completely quiet. How were they unknown? Well, try to recall the story Hansel and Gretel. A simple made-up fairytale with no real purpose except to teach children not to talk to strangers, all that’s what most people think. But this story is actually true, to a point. Hansel and Gretel Saunders were two fourteen year old teens that had been growing increasingly distressed when their stepmother and father had been fighting at home, causing them to run away, soon to come along a small wooden cottage. There parents never tried to get rid of them and were actually rather well off, plus there was no candy cottage or any of that nonsense. Anyway, outside this cottage was a middle-aged woman of around 45 trying to control some overgrowing vines of the walls of the cottage. She asked the teens for help and they obliged. Afterwards, she invited them in for a drink when she locked them into a rumpus room and kept them there. The woman was believed to be extremely emotionally depressed after the death of her own children and wanted to keep them instead. Luckily Gretel had her phone on her and dialled 000. This woman was arrested and given to Jessica’s clinic. The government covered up the real story with the fairytale.Anyway, on this particular night, she was called in to see a young man who had been roaming around the forest, seeming to be suffering from amnesia. She studied him from the other side of the bars of his cell. The hair on his head was long and ruffled, and he had large bushy eyebrows that connected together on the bridge of his nose. His lips and eyes looked very dry as though he had been denied water. His skin was rough and scratched, and he looked as though he hadn’t shaved for weeks. The man’s ears were also long and narrow, and looked as though they were laid back on his head. She wondered if he was homeless, and hoped this not to be a simple open and shut case that had called her from her comfortable position. ‘Hello, my name is Jessica. What’s yours?’The man looked up at her, looking extremely nervous.‘William’‘Do you have a last name William?’William hesitated. ‘Sanseberry. I haven’t done anything wrong.’‘Yes, and I believe you. But I need to know what you were doing.’‘I was walking in the forest.’‘At two in the morning?’‘I like night, the darkness…it comforts me.’‘I see…we are going to have to keep you here overnight William, is that ok? We’ll have a guard come in and sit with you if you like.’He nodded, and Jessica wondered why he was co-operating so well. Maybe he was homeless, and was happy to have a roof over his head. ‘No guard though, I like to be alone.’ 

                                                *************** The next day Jessica went to visit William again, this time with her boss Charles Breton. They talked once more with William, who again seemed extremely nervous and had developed a twitch. His eyes looked even redder than before. They went into his cell and gave him a full body examination, before walking back out of the cell to talk. ‘I don’t think he’s completely human-I know he looks like it but there’s something about him.’ Jessica said as soon as they had reached a safe distance.‘I agree we should keep him here for another week at least.’‘But he won’t stay willingly.’‘Does any of them? Tell him and then put him on a tranquiliser.’‘Yes sir.’ Jessica went back into the cell and sat on a chair in the corner of the room.‘You’re going to have to stay here for a while.’‘What?’ he sounded aggressive all of a sudden and it surprised her. ‘I can’t stay, not here not tonight.’‘Why not?’‘Well…I have something on…something I have to do…I don’t remember what it was though. I just can’t stay. I have committed no crime! I mean, where am I anyway? I wasn’t even given the right to an attorney!’ He was screaming, and when he finished he was breathing very hard.‘Look, I’m going to give you this, it is going to calm you down a bit,’ she said pulling at the tranquiliser calmly, ‘you’ll be ok.’He sat there, suddenly calmed and let her give the needle to him.‘Do you have a home William?’ Jessica asked quietly‘Yes, I do.’ He looked down. ‘Now please leave, I want to be left to myself.’ 

                                                ************** That night, when the sun had gone down and Jessica was locking up for the night, she heard a low pitched howl, like a wolves, coming from the corridor. She jogged down to the end to see where it was coming from, and to her horror, she found a wolf in one of the cells. She stopped irresolutely, unable to move, and watched it. It was circling around the edges of the cell, as it hadn’t noticed her just yet. She looked around the cell to see if there was a hole, anything to explain how a wolf could get into the cell. Nothing. Then she looked up at the cell number. 293-William Sanseberry’s cell. Jessica gasped-this was William Sanseberry! But how could that be? He seemed like such a nice person when in reality he was…she looked out the window. A full moon….a werewolf. She took a couple of steps back just as William noticed her, letting out a low threatening growl. He thrashed himself against the bars, showing his huge sharp teeth. Jessica screamed for security, as she watched him in shock. How many other werewolves were there near her home? No one in the village is safe anymore. What were they going to do? The clinic was going to have to open, to tell everyone about their doings so the people can be warned for their safety. Charles Breton appeared and saw Jessica and went to see what she was staring out before gasping and stepping back to. William continued to bash against the bars, all Jessica and Charles called do was hope that the bars were strong enough.                                                  ************** ‘What are we going to do?’ she screamed at Charles, pacing around his office. Charles was sitting in his desk chair, holding a quivering hand to his head. ‘This clinic is going to have to speak out.’‘Why?’ Charles snapped sharply, catching Jessica by surprise. ‘We don’t have to do anything. What people don’t know want hurt them.’  ‘What? It will hurt them! People need to be warned and if you don’t want to do it, I will!’‘Oh no you won’t. Who are you anyway? Why would people believe you, you witch!’‘Witch? What the hell are you talking about?’‘I have now decided you are unfit to roam free in this society. I am going to have you locked up under the pretence of practicing witch magic and for being insane!’‘What?? You can’t do this, you can’t!’ Jessica ran for the door where she was met by four beefy looking security guards.‘Lock her up,’ Charles ordered, pointing towards the cells, ‘and give her a couple of sedatives.’‘This is insane,’ Jessica yelled, ‘don’t do this!’                                                             ************ Charles Breton was in panic mode. Even though he was keeping the werewolf fiasco hushed up, he now had to think of new and clever ways that would hide the story if an attack did occur. Then, all of a sudden, the reigning Prime Minister for twenty years Andrew Hughes, was voted out and Peter Trimball came into the chair. That was such a shock to everyone, as you see, all those with high government jobs knew that the election had been rigged all those years, so the clinic and other organisations weren’t found out about. This put Charles Breton in an impossible situation. See Peter Trimball did not know about the clinic as of yet, but it was only a matter of time until he did. So Charles could either tell Peter Trimball about it and try and bribe him, or not tell him and wait for him to find out. And either way if the Prime Minister turned down the bribe Charles and Andrew Hughes would go to jail, maybe even be hanged! So Charles did the only thing he could think of, close the clinic down. Those who were considered a major danger to society were…hanged. This included William Sanseberry. But they couldn’t hang them all. So the rest were sent out far into the countryside; new name, new location, no money. They put police on each side of the village the person was relocated to so that an escape attempt would be futile. Plus if they tried to tell people their story people thought they were insane, as Jessica Hodgers found out. So she spent the rest of her life trying to forget that rainy winter’s night when the phone rang.   

If you told me this time last year that I would be at a new school, with new friends, and only one friend from my old school, I would have said you were nuts. Absolutely insane. And I think it still hasn’t hit me. It’s like I’m running backwards and I can’t help looking at the past as though it’s still happening, even though my new life is going on around me. The worst part is I can see there’s nothing there for me, and no matter how much I dream I was back in year 8 with all my friends (who now coincidently are the biggest bunch of backstabbers I know) I know in my heart it would just happen again. I’m sitting at the dining table trying to swallow down some toast my mum insisted I should eat. I don’t feel like eating. It feels like I’m trying to stuff cardboard down my throat but I do it anyway because I know mums watching. My stomach is full of dread. I never used to have a stomach full of dread before I went to school. I used to be energetic and ready to get to school and gossip with my friends about what we did last night or who we talked to on the bus this morning or fight with my maths teacher about the answers to the questions or get inspired by my wacky English teacher. Or go and sit with the boys and watch them trying to impress us with there wrestling moves. But I have to stop myself thinking those thoughts. That time is behind me. So I get into the car and sigh and pledge to myself to forget the past.  My pledge didn’t work. We had to drop my brother off at my old school where he is school captain this year. How I desperately wanted to go out with him but I knew as soon as I did I would want to come back in. So I waved him goodbye and before I knew it I was at my new school. It’s weird that no matter how many people are at a school they can always pick a new kid a mile away. I think it’s just that look you have, and it doesn’t matter how hard you try to not have it, to fit in with everyone else’s styles and smiling faces, you still have it. It’s like a new book. There may be a second hand book that looks exactly like it, has the same display on the front and everything, but it still has and old sort of feel.  Anyway, after going to office and being mistaken for a year 7 about a million times I went to the gym where I was told the year nines where supposed to go. And I nearly had a heart attack. The year nines alone almost equalled the whole of my old school. I was starting to feel dizzy. There were just too many people. Everywhere you looked, there were people. They looked different too. The girls all seemed to have that perfect hair that you see in magazines and on shows like the OC and the boys just seemed taller and older then the ones at my old school. I feel out of place. I don’t want to be here. I want to go back home and give my mum a hug and cry my feelings out till I don’t have to feel anymore. But most of all…I want to go back. I sat myself down onto the floor next to a group of the most normal looking girls there. By normal I mean did not have superwomen hairdo’s or makeup as think as a soap opera star. I felt like the whole world was looking at me and I was starting to feel very uncomfortable with the attention. What were they thinking? What were they saying? I didn’t know. Mum says I am negative and always think the worst. ‘Everything is going to be fine. Trust me. Be positive,’ she’d tell me reading my thoughts as always.  ‘I am being positive,’ I’d always reply in frustration. It upset me because I didn’t want to upset my mum by not making a million friends and loving the school on the first day.  The teachers started calling out classes and where they had to go. When my name was called I got up and found that the normal girls were getting up too. They smiled at me and I smiled back. I guess they were trying to suss me out, but then again, I was doing the same.  ‘You’re new aren’t you?’ asked one of the normal girls. Stupid question, don’t you think? But there was no way I was going to say so. God knows how they’d react. ‘Yeah’  ‘Want to sit with us?’ Oh my god, oh my god. This was what I wanted. This was my chance, and I wasn’t going to let it slip through my fingers.  ‘Sure,’ I said, and followed the out of the gym. ———————————————————————————————————

Two weeks have passed since my first awkward day. And I’m not going to lie to you, I did cry when I got home. But it wasn’t depressed or sad tears. They were confused emotion tears, with awkwardness and weirdness and relief and insure and sure all rolled into one. I must admit I still have a that feeling in my stomach before each school day, but it’s not nearly as bad  I think it’s just because I’m still learning so much and I have no idea what each day will bring. I’m still hanging around the ‘normal girls,’ otherwise known as Rebecca, Danielle and Lucy and they seem nice enough. I don’t know if we’ll ever be as close as my old friends were, but then again, they might be even better. I’m just trying to make it one day at a time and I think that if I keep on doing that, I might actually get used to this place. But I guess only time will tell. I’m not going to give up without a fight.

 These are just a few random diary entries i decided to write.

NOTE: they are not about me in anyway and are not true!

Dear Diary, 02/08/06                       

Wow this is my first diary entry. I’ve tried to keep a diary before but I just haven’t been able too but I’ve decided to turn over a new page (literally) and just write one. So I just grabbed a book and…yeah. My English teacher told me it’s a good way to get feeling and worries on paper and out there, and once they’re out there, they may be easier to solve. Plus it gets it all out of your system you know? How would you know you’re a diary but anyway. Hey maybe I could be like Anne Frank or something and have my diary sold and be famous!!! But I don’t think my life is an interesting or historical as hers. It’s just me, writing about me, for no reason whatsoever. You know, I think I’m avoiding writing anything significant down here, and I won’t have a famous diary by just talking nonsense.Well today at school was…interesting to say the least. God Kelsey is getting on my nerves lately. She just seems so insecure and it drives me insane. It’s like she HAS to be with someone whenever we are doing absolutely anything and if say Danny and I want to do a project or an activity in PE or anything she gets peeved like we are leaving her out. But it’s always Danny and I who get left out. I don’t even know if I want to be friends with her anymore. I know it sounds cocky but she  just treats us like dirt all the time and like she’ll get mad at us for no reason and I KNOW she has a hard time at home but there’s no reason to take it out on us! And I’d love to help her but I’m sick of putting up with it and frankly, I think Dan is too. 

Dear Diary, 03/08/06                       

Oh god I can’t believe today. We went to our teacher to ask him what to do and he said just go our own way and if she asks us why we’re ignoring her or something just tell her that she has been being mean and that’s it and see how she goes. Well we did it and she asked and we told her the recent things she had done that annoyed us, She mad excuses for them and then told us a whole bunch of stuff the popular people supposedly said to her about us. So we were like friends again. The thing was that Dan and I didn’t want to be.After lunch Dan and I were on interchange for volleyball and Kelsey was sitting with the kids she was bagging. Sometimes when Dan and I were playing they were saying things like ‘don’t pretend you’re playing volleyball we know you’re listening’ like super loud so we could here. Then, later when we were sitting out, one of the girl Tina came up to Dan and was saying all this stuff she had supposedly said. Dan denied it but she didn’t believe her. I tried to stand up for her but she kept on saying that it was none of my business. The worst bit was, right at the end, Kelsey came up to us both and said happily, ‘I didn’t feel like playing volleyball so what are you guys doing this weekend.’ And I just looked at her and walked away. I couldn’t believe it. The other girls started going ‘she didn’t do anything’ and ‘go and have a cry.’ I just kept on walking. Dan chased after me. And I burst into tears. I couldn’t believe it. I just wonder what is going to happen tomorrow.