# 1
Cold blood
Snow was falling. Everything around me was encased in soft snowflakes. While I was enjoying the scenery, I saw a tall man before me. Clad in a sleek, red suit that it was as stark against the snow as a drop of blood on a white parchment. He looked at me too with murky and blurry, bloodshot eyes and I shuddered. When he realized that I saw him staring at me, he started running too fast in the direction of the bridge straight to the old mansion. "Something is odd about him", I thought.
I instinctively looked at the place where he had been standing a few seconds before and noticed something sticking out through the snow. I picked it up and saw a picture of a girl looking exactly like me. She was standing in front of the old mansion, posing for a snap. Without much thinking, I started running after him. The tall man had already crossed the bridge and was heading to the old mansion. I run as fast as I could to catch up with him but, by the time I entered the building, he had disappeared. I started shouting but there was no response.
The building was too old, built some 150 years ago by the city founders. Dirty and abandoned for many years, with no sign that anyone could live or have lived there. I was trying to find the tall man but he was nowhere. I searched the entire lower floor. Now, the upper floor was only left. As I was going up the creaking sounds of the stairs was coming directly from the old timber. I made it to the top and, while I was heading to the rooms, I heard a sound coming from the attic. I froze… I heard it again and again… I found myself asking: "What ‘s happening?". The sound grew louder and louder... And then… then, I felt a hand touching me. I let out a scream and started turning my head slowly when…
to be continued
John B class
Model Ionideios Secondary School of Piraeus, 2023
#2
What if our whole life is a dream? If we knew it was a dream, we would have
made different decisions...
Aisha and Alex were 15 years old. They were two different people living the
same life, not knowing about each other’s existence. Their lives were
absolutely identical but they were dealing with it in different ways.
Both of them were bullied. Receiving anonymous bullying texts and e-mails
was a routine for them, but they reacted very differently.
“To click or not to click?”
Stolidity. Alex didn’t care about them. He acted like he wasn’t being bullied;
was self-confident and never bothered about them at all. “They are written by
people who don’t know who they’re meant to be.” He knew that bullies lack
self-respect.
“To click or not to click?”
Excruciating pain. Aisha felt awful. She couldn’t sleep because of the
nightmares; she wasn’t self-confident and she refused to talk to anyone about
her experience. “Aren’t I good enough? Why do I have to go through this?”
She couldn’t understand that it wasn’t her fault.
Neither of them had confided their problems to somebody else.
Alex had never clicked on the e-mails and texts. He refused to open them...
until one day, curiosity started whirling inside his head. “What if they’re
important?” “They’re not.” “Some of them may help you become a better
person.” “What? No way.” Two little voices inside his head were arguing.
“To click or not to click?” He was confused. It felt like he was drowning and
had to choose the way he was going to save himself. “If I open them ,they
may afflict me, but if don’t, I will never get to know who and what is hidden
behind them ...”Suddenly, his room started filling with water. He was
drowning. “Let me breathe!”
Aisha always clicked on them. She felt an urge to open them... until one day,
she started thinking that they were harming her. “I think you have to stop
opening them.” “How will I get to know what people think about me then?”
“They’re hurtful.” “I don’t care.” Two little voices inside her head were
arguing, too. “To click or not to click?” She was helpless. It felt like she was
flying and someone was nipping her wings. “If I stop opening them, I’ll
become more confident about myself, but if I don’t, I won’t get to know what
people think about me anymore...”. Suddenly, her wings started falling to
pieces. She was falling. “Let me fly!”
At school, a few people used to stare at Alex persistently every day. He was
convinced that they were the anonymous bullies and that they vehemently
disliked him ... but why? “What’s wrong with me?” he asked himself. One
day, he received a strange message. It went: “Click the link below to get to
know who you’re meant to be. This message is going to change your life
forever.”
“To click or not to click?”
If the message was going to change his life, he would open it because his life
wasn’t really exciting ... But, of course, trusting a random message which
exhorts you to click on a link didn’t seem logical to him. Although he was
convinced he should not click on the link, the thought had taken control of his
mind. He couldn’t sleep; stopped eating and going to school.
“To click or not to click?”
He went crazy.
“To click or not to click?”
Alex became obsessed. He couldn’t think of anything else besides the link.
“To click or not to click?”
He had panic attacks. His life wasn’t the same and he wasn’t acting like
himself anymore. The worst part was that he started reading the bullying
texts and e-mails. This was not Alex.
A few days after Alex received the confusing message, Aisha received it, too.
Ηer reaction was nothing like Alex’s. At first, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to
click on the message, because she was trying not to open all the messages she
received, but ultimately decided to click on it. Aisha was astonished. She
didn’t expect to see something like this. Contrary to Alex, she clicked on it
without thinking about it twice. She hated her life and thought that she was
useless. She had even thought of committing suicide, so if there was one
chance for her to change her life, she would do anything. When she clicked on
the link, a video appeared. A man with a corrupted voice wearing an
anonymous mask said:
“Hello, my dear. I think that your life doesn’t seem to be very interesting
these days... Would you like to change your life once and for all? If yes, call
5626945389. If not, then I’m afraid that you’re in very big trouble.”
The man laughed and the video ended. Aisha started crying. “In very big
trouble? What’s that supposed to mean?” she wondered. She tried to stop
crying and think about it. If she kept getting bullied, she would end her life,
and the worst thing that could happen to her if she called the number would
probably be much milder. She wanted to call the number more than anything.
Aisha kept crying until she started drowning because her room was full of
tears...
“To click, or not to click?”
Alex finally decided to click on the link, too, and the same video appeared. He
didn’t want to call the number and he wasn’t afraid of that mysterious man...
“In very big trouble? Is this man trying to scare me or what?” However,
curiosity started whirling inside his head again. “What if calling the number
is actually going to change my life forever? I want to know what’s going to
happen.” He was about to call the mysterious phone number, but started
drowning, too.
“To click or not to click?”
Something strange happened to both of them and they forgot everything that
had happened before...
They decided to call the number and they got told that they had to meet the
mysterious man, who would change their lives forever. When they went to
the predetermined place, they didn’t see the man anywhere. However, they
saw each other. Aisha waved to Alex and they started chatting. They realized
that their lives were very similar, although their character was different. A
very strong friendship was about to begin. All of sudden, the man with the
anonymous mask appeared. “So, you met ... That’s nice, but now you will
have to make a very hard decision, which may kill you”, he said. “If you click
here, you will...” Suddenly the man disappeared.
Aisha woke up and checked her phone. Fortunately, she hadn’t called the
number. It was just another awful nightmare. Who was that boy, though? She
really wanted to meet him even, though she knew that it was her imagination
that had created him...
Alex woke up, too. He had seen the same nightmare... It was weird. Who was
that girl, though? He really wanted to meet her, even though he knew that it
was his imagination that had created her...
What if our whole life is a dream?
Mariza Lambropoulou, A class
Model Lower Secondary School of Ag. Anargyroi, 2023
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