Fish's Human-hunt (youngsters:fantasy, 3257 words)
Author: fiss	Added: Mar 03 2004	Views/Reads: 4591/2536	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
After trapping themselves in the house, Simon disappeared, Jessica went nuts and the three children are left leaderless. They must find a way to save and rescue Simon, that is, if he's still alive. But first of all, they must stay alive...

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

that brain-dead expression on her face and everything.  Frank looks 
about the same but not as bad. 

¡°They¡¯re certainly no fish, though.  No fish knows that they gonna be
fried and eaten!¡± I managed to squeeze out. 

¡°That¡¯s not funny.¡± Simon panted.  Everyone panted.  How well can
five 5th graders and one 3rd grader react to ¡®fish-fantasy¡¯ or run?  
Not very good and impossible to not be scared.  Therefore, when 
children get nervous or scared they do better then normal, but they get 
tired faster than normal too.  We can¡¯t run very fast, and we cannot 
react fast enough.  At least that¡¯s the way I see it. 

¡°At least they don¡¯t float in midair or fly around on wings or
something.¡± I muttered. After my compliment is just silence, plain 
silence.  Then, Flap, flap, flap!  FLAP! 

¡°Is that slapping the water or flapping the water?¡± Frank commented. 

¡°THAT¡¯S NOT FUNNY EITHER!!¡± Simon yelled.  We glanced at each other. 
I know what Simon is thinking, he knows what I¡¯m thinking, and so does 
Chris. 

No time to think. 

I put my hands on Jessica¡¯s shoulders and shook her like milkshake
until I got her back.  Chris took care of Frank and Simon- I don¡¯t 
know how to say this- Simon lifted Haifen up with both hands, one under 
her knees and one under her armpits. 

¡°Where are we going?¡± Jessica asked me flatly, starting to run.  She
sounded so weak. 

¡°I have no idea!  But time for a romantic flight!¡± I yelled without
even thinking. 

¡°LINDA!  IT¡¯S NOT FUMMY!!!¡± Simon screamed from ahead while running. 
The air pressure made his voice sound like elongated gum. 

We ran up the stairs without even thinking.  First floor, wooden stairs;
just like my house.  In a blink¡¯s time we reached second floor. 

¡°That way!¡± I spotted the banisters sideways.  Those banisters must be
leading to the stairs.  We sprinted towards the stairs leading us to 
third floor.  Thank god the banisters of the stairs are connected, or 
else we would have wasted our time just looking for the stairs.  What a 
house, it¡¯s like a labyrinth. 

¡°By the way, I¡¯M NOT FUMMY AND I¡¯M NOT TRYING TO BE FUMMY!!¡± I
yelled behind Simon, hoping that he¡¯ll be able to hear me. 

I couldn¡¯t help noticing Simon and Haifen even though I¡¯m currently
lacking air and growing dizzier at the moment.  Haifen curled up 
totally in Simon¡¯s arms and had her arms locked around Simon¡¯s neck. 

¡°I¡¯m telling the truth anyways...¡± I muttered to myself.  But I had
to admit that Simon must be pretty strong, carrying a person in his 
arms while running and screaming back at me at the same time.  Besides, 
I don¡¯t know them well.  I met Haifen only a few days ago. 

She sat shyly at her desk in homebase that morning, her new desk. 
Everything must be new to her, and hard, too.  The desk, the school, 
the city Shanghai, the country China, the trees, the weather, 
everything, all new to her.  She came into my eyesight first when I 
entered the classroom that day.  She looked like a beautiful doll, a 
doll with hazel hair and deep black eyes, except those eyes shimmer 
with life rather then the emptiness of doll¡¯s eyes.  She stared at her 
hand, all huddled up in her chair.  Too shy to speak, too afraid to 
speak; just like me when I first came a year and half ago.  She felt 
small, afraid that someone might spit out something ugly at her, 
something cruel and inhumane.  How do I know?  I felt the same once.  
All just same with me; I¡¯m afraid to speak something that didn¡¯t pass 
my brains first.  Afraid to hurt someone, to express myself and get 
laughed at.  But this time, I spoke welcome to her.  She said nothing 
back, but she did look more confident afterwards. 

That same afternoon, I bumped into Simon in the ESOL classroom. 

They came to the school on the same day, except that Simon takes ESOL
(English Study Orient Language) and Haifen has IEC (International 
English Class) (which was why she didn¡¯t say anything back at me 
because she didn¡¯t understand me AND she don¡¯t know how to reply).  
Haifen learns basics of English while we work on improving English. 
Beginner to English, hard-learning student she is. 

I never saw them together until today.  Is that called ¡®with one
look¡¯?  They look kind of alike, but Simon¡¯s English level is way 
higher than Haifen.  They don¡¯t seem to be from the same family.  I 
don¡¯t know what their first language is, but Simon never said a word 
to Haifen as far as I know. 

...Third floor. 

We freaked out; the banister ended! 

¡°Yo!  Over here!¡± Chris bellowed as he kicked open a door.  A fancy
staircase decorated with wood carvings on the walls emerged into our 
site.  At the top of the stairs stood a door, and the right-side wall 
is made of wood and glass attached to that door; just like the styles 
you see in cafes and bars that separates the sofas apart.  Part of that 
wall had carvings of eyes and weird shapes on it.  They look freaky. 

¡°Nice eyes!  That rhymes!¡± I exclaimed. 

We didn¡¯t realize we got ourselves trapped until we reached the top of
the stairs and pushed past that door. 

¡°So, why did we come up HERE? The sake of a romantic flight?¡± I
requested ¡°How are we gonna get outa this house?  On the romantic 
flight?¡± 

¡°Linda, you better stop that romantic flight stuff.¡± Simon warned,
cracking his knuckles. 

¡°Oooooo, I¡¯m scared, I¡¯m just telling the truth anyways.  Look at how
Haifen got up here.  Why didn¡¯t we just run out the door just than?  
Why did we go on the stairs?¡±  I spat the words out like that without 
even thinking. 

Simon carefully placed Haifen on a Japanese-style sitting mat.  The
room, probably the living room, had a little wooden platform beside the 
window with mats on it and a little tea table on the platform.  On the 
edge of the platform stood walls that go up to my waist and two 
trapdoors, like the ones you often see attached to the bathrooms in 
restaurants.  The window, which stretched from the platform to the 
ceiling, gave enough sunlight to the living room that everything seemed 
to be only a few moments away from catching fire.  On the opposite side 
of the platform stood a table as wide as a dinner table but the height 
for kindergarten kids. 

¡°You...¡± 

¡°Ahhhhhhh, you even put her on a mat first.  I thought u were a cool
boy who can stay calm.¡± I teased him angrily. 

¡°Linda,¡± Simon calmed himself ¡°Listen, me and Haifen...¡± 

¡°Children!¡± a voice interrupted him ¡°What are you doing up here?  Did
you get permission to be up here?¡± It was Mr. Hanson, a fourth grade 
teacher. 

¡°Emm, yes, I mean, not really...¡± 

¡°Well?¡± Mr. Hanson raised his eyebrow ¡°Who¡¯s your teacher?¡± 

¡°Ms. Lemon.¡± ¡°Mr. Hanlin.¡± 

¡°I will have to note your teachers.¡± He said in a scorn voice. To tell
the truth, none of us were really listening to him.  He and his class 
sat down on a long tale and begin to work on something; probably 
fieldtrip handouts.  We barely noticed that either. It¡¯s the feeling 
again. 

¡°It¡¯s coming.  They¡¯re coming.¡± We said together, turning pale. 

¡°What are you children still doing here?¡± Mr. Hanson asked. 

We needed to find a place to hide, desperately.  The platform!  No more
time, getting closer!  We have to hide!  We hit the platform. 

¡°What are you guys doing?¡± I screamed at Hanson¡¯s class ¡°HIDE! 
LEAVE THIS PLACE IMMEDIATELY!¡± I don¡¯t know what happened but somehow 
common sense got totally driven out of my mind and I just cannot figure 
out why they¡¯re not reacting.  Then I realized that I must look like 
an idiot.  How can they react when they have no clue what we¡¯re 
fussing about? 

Lights.  I can feel the sound waves too.  Beams of lights shining
through the glass bits of the wall, telling us they¡¯re coming.  Coming 
for us. 

¡°Get in!¡± Simon yelled at me. 

Don¡¯t those little kids feel ANYTHING?  Fear?  Horror? 

Haifen stood up as if reaching for the forth graders. 

¡°Haifen NO!¡± Simon went bizarre. 

Then everything started to happen in a flash, just like a movie.  So
unreal, so untouchable, so vague it seems. 

Simon and I reached for Haifen at the same time.  Somehow I tripped over
a pillow and landed flat on my face, knocking the air out of myself.  
Simon grabbed Haifen¡¯s shoulders and pulled her back, so she¡¯ll be 
fine.  But right now I find myself in this real-open-situation, totally 
exposed. 

¡°Shut the trapdoor!¡± Simon screamed. 

¡°No time!¡± I panicked. 

Simon cursed something in some other language.  The ¡®light¡¯ is right
outside the door now and the door¡¯s opening.  Then a figure flashed 
into my vision; it was Simon. 

¡°Stay calm, man.  Nothing to be scared of.¡± That was all he said.  He
calmly placed his hands on the left trapdoor and closed it.  I know 
there was no more time left to close the other trapdoor and he knows 
that too. 

¡°Simon, you...¡± I couldn¡¯t finish.  The light suddenly grew so strong
that I had to roll aside behind the wall. 

¡°Useless humans.¡± There came a voice with a strange tone. ¡°Cute
little kids, right?  Show me what you can do.¡±  I knew that, whatever 
stood at the door, it had decided to play on us now.  Then it started 
to say something again, but another voice stopped it. 

¡°You old ragged fool, just shut up will ya?  You¡¯re buzzing my ears
out.¡± It was Simon. 

¡°You...!  As for you, you will suffer the consequences!¡± 

¡°Simon!  What...¡± I got stopped again by the light, I just cannot
continue.  I see the light right through my eyelids.  ¡°Shit...¡± I 
cursed silently to myself. 

¡°Show me what you can do, children.  Run, hide, flee, but I can tell
you it¡¯s not going to work.  I posses high powers that people today no 
longer have control over.¡± 

¡°JUST SHUT UP!¡± Simon screamed once more.  Then everything became
silent. 

When I opened my eyes I saw a neat room, so neat I thought I dropped in
a dream, but then I looked around and saw everyone else. 

Everyone but Simon. 

¡°I need some sleep.....¡± I groaned.  Chris stood up (crawled up) and
wiped his clothes like trying to get dust off his clothes; except there 
can be no dust in this clean room.  The strong light just than probably 
vacuumed every AMU of dust in here. Haifen lay unconscious where Simon 
pushed her down, and Jessica¡¯s eyes wandered around the room 
helplessly.  Frank blinked like crazy, and I searched for traces left 
of Simon. 

¡°Oh man, this is not fummy....¡± I muttered.  I picked up a piece of
iron shaped in a half-circle from the floor. 

¡°Yo,¡± Chris called to me ¡°So what we gonna do now?¡± 

¡°How do I know?¡± I said in Chinese (everyone here speaks Chinese
except Haifen). 

¡°Well, I just thought of asking.¡± 

¡°Was that a dream?¡± Jessica suddenly said. 

¡°I really do hope so,¡± I answered her ¡°But, no.¡± I held up the piece
of iron I found on the floor ¡°Look.¡± 

¡°Look what?¡± Franked joined. ¡°That¡¯s only a piece of iron.¡± 

¡°It¡¯s not ONLY A PIECE OF IRON, look!¡± 

Frank simply sat down and started being a baby. 

¡°Stop whining!  You are irritating me!¡± Jessica got mad ¡°I¡¯m going
home.¡± 

¡°Yea, like, how?¡± I asked. 

¡°Just the way we came here.¡± Jessica said and walked away. 

¡°What do you mean ¡®just the way we came here?¡± I asked.  I think
she¡¯s going out of her mind. 

¡°What do YOU mean?¡± Jessica looked puzzled. ¡°Remember?  We came up
here and we got scolded by Mr. Hanson.  After that Mr. Hanson went to 
another floor because we lied to him that our teachers told us to come 
up here.  We better get out of here before Mr. Hanson comes back.¡± 
Chris and I just stared while Frank nodded like he experienced the same 
thing. 

¡°What do you mean.....¡± I really got confused. 

¡°Remember?  We lied to Mr. Hanson and so he took his class away.  Now
we have to run so that Mr. Hanson doesn¡¯t find us here after he finds 
out that we lied!  Remember?  After he went out Haifen said that those 
mats sure looks comfy so we tried them and all of us fell asleep.  How 
can you forget that?  You dummy!¡± Jessica explained everything like 
she saw it herself.  Maybe she did, and we were just dreaming. ¡°By the 
way, Simon said that he¡¯ll go first because he remembered that he has 
some kind of fighting lessons or something today.  He said that he¡¯ll 
inform Mr. Hanlin himself and told me to tell you guys.¡± 

¡°Yes, that¡¯s right...¡± I started to believe her. 

¡°Shoot!  I have math tutor today!  What time is it?  Oh, one
thirty-seven... I have to go, come on!  Wake Haifen lets go.¡± 

¡°Wait.¡± I said. ¡°She looks so peaceful just let her sleep.  I will
wait for her to wake up and go later.  You can go home first.  We¡¯ll 
see you on Monday.¡± I swallowed ¡°Hopefully.¡± I added. 

¡°Ok, let¡¯s go Frank.¡± She and Frank ran off. 

¡°Chris, aren¡¯t you going?¡± I asked. 

¡°No, yo, you think I can walk through that door after I had a horrible
nightmare?¡± he asked. 

¡°Nightmare?¡± 

¡°When we were sleeping, I dreamt that...¡± 

¡°STOP!¡± I jumped up ¡°what if that was not a nightmare?¡± 

¡°What you mean?¡± 

¡°I mean, if it¡¯s...¡± 

We stared at each other. 

¡°Real.¡± We said together. 

¡°Oh Haifen....¡± 

¡°So, what was up with the metal thing?¡± Chris interrupted me. 

¡°Look at this.¡± I held the half-circle up ¡°I think Simon wore it
around his neck.¡± 

Chris took it away from my hand and turned it to the other side ¡°Look
at THIS.¡± He remarked. 

¡°Wha... oh my gosh...¡± I gasped.  There was blood.  Blood stain where
the metal was pressed onto the ground.  Whether there was blood on the 
other side we cannot tell because if there was, the blood would have 
already been vacuumed by that light. 

¡°Eh....¡± we both jumped. 

¡°Haifen!¡± 

She started to groan.  I knelt beside her and helped her sit up. 

¡°Simon?  Simon!¡± She stood up so hard that I fell back. 

¡°Simon¡¯s...¡± I didn¡¯t continue, I didn¡¯t have to.  She saw that
look on my face and she collapsed.  I showed her the piece of iron.  
She took one look, saw the blood and begins to cry. 

¡°I¡¯m sorry...¡± that was all I could say, while Chris stood aside and
watched. 

¡°We¡¯re on our own now...  I don¡¯t know what to do...¡± 

¡°We¡¯ve got lots of ¡®don¡¯t knows¡¯ and problems, ok?¡± Chris reminded
me, using Chinese. ¡°Let¡¯s list them.  First we¡¯ve got to get outa 
this place.  Second, Haifen.¡± 

¡°Haifen?  What¡¯s the problem?¡± 

¡°Language problem, dude.  Then we have to figure out what happened to
Jessica, and Simon, and Mr. Hanson¡¯s class.¡± 

¡°Oh quit!  I only want some sleep...¡± 

Haifen just sat there and kind of started at us. 

¡°We¡¯ll be alright.¡± I held her hand and said ¡°OK?¡± 

She looks at me confused, but at least I tried. 

¡°Al-right¡± I repeated. 

¡°Al-right?¡± She mimicked me. 

¡°Alright.  OK.¡± I managed to squeeze at her a smile. 

I studied the pine trees outside on the balcony.  We discovered the
balcony after Chris got mad and punched the window. 

¡°Now what, this is bizarre.  So I¡¯m suppose to think of a way to
escape?  Yeah, like, how?¡± 

Pine trees, unclimbable.  Man, this is hard.  This balcony¡¯s huge, just
like the basement..... 

The basement! 

The basement had two stairways leading to it, but the whole house
formula is not that huge.  This house was not designed to have a 
basement at first! 

¡°Chris!  I just figured out something!¡± 

I kind of explained my theory to Chris. 

¡°So, what are you trying to say?¡± 

¡°So there can be another way out just on the other end of the
balcony.¡± 

¡°Then why not go check?¡± 

¡°Cause if something happens to me you wouldn¡¯t know.  It¡¯s better if
we all go together.  Bring Haifen along and everything there is to 
bring.¡± 

If something happens we would all be in danger, but 

Bingo. 

There, the neighbor house¡¯ top floor balcony, is attached to the
balcony we¡¯re currently standing on.


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