Weekly Flash Contest #9: Write a mystery story. Think about the arc of your story, and plan out the actions and motives of the characters. Does the reader know something the characters don’t, or is the reader in the dark until the end? Think about how the mystery might unfold for the different characters and for your readers. Anya Geist, 13Worcester, MA The week commencing May 25th (Daily Creativity prompt #46) was our ninth week of flash contests, with another record number of entries. It was also the second contest based on Stone Soup contributor and reader Anya Geist’s writing prompt, which meant that we got to work with her again to judge the contest. Anya’s prompt inspired a really terrific batch of entries, and all the judges were impressed with the diverse ways in which the entrants approached the idea of writing “a mystery”. Thank you, Anya, for wise judging and for setting a great writing challenge! We are delighted to announce this week’s 5 Winners, whose work is published below, and 5 Honorable Mentions. It was a real pleasure to read so much great work. Congratulations, everyone! Winners (work published on this page) Isabel Bashaw, 10, Enumclaw, WA Nick Buckley, 12, Needham, MA Liam Hancock, 12, Danville, CA Enni Harlan, 13, Los Angeles, CA Michelle Su, 13, Sudbury, MA Honorable Mention “The Stolen Emerald” by Amelia Barth, 10, Elgin, IL “Summer Sleuths” by Amelia Pozzo, 11, Arnold, MO “The Checkered Deerstalker” by Mihika Sakharpe, 11, Frisco, TX “The Missing Jewels” by Sophia Stravitsch, 10, Katy, TX “Rattlesnake” by Michela You, 11, Lexington, MA Isabel Bashaw, 10Enumclaw, WA The Mystery of the Missing Junk Food Isabel Bashaw, 10 RING-A-LING-LING!!!! It was chaotic as the kids rushed into school, the jocks shoving the nerds, and the nerds stumbling out of the way, trying to find all of their belongings. I was hiding behind a tree, hoping no one would see me. I mean, what kid wouldn’t try to ditch what was sure to be another boring day at Rocky Ledge Middle School? Unfortunately, Vice Principal Lakewood knew my tricks. She spied me from the school steps, marched over, grabbed me by my arm, and, not bothering to say a word, dragged me into the building. Minutes later, as my teacher droned on about decimals during math class, I passed a note to my friend Holly I heard our math teacher has not washed in a month. I mean, who would not know, she smells worse than an old pig that just ate a dead rat. Signed, Ralphie. P.S. Pass it on. Holly grinned in her mischievous way, and passed the note to Liam, who tried to stifle a snort as he passed it onto Mike, and then, to my horror, Tattle Tale Rachel snatched it mid-pass between Mike and Emily! She read the note and then leapt to her feet, a pouting look crossing her face as she quickly walked up to Mrs. White. Showing her the note, Rachel said snottily, ¨I caught it just as Emily was going to read it.¨ She looked at me smugly, as if she was going to win a medal for catching a trashy note. I saw Mrs. White´s eyes looking up from the note, and throwing it in the trash can by her desk, already overflowing with my notes, she glowered at me and walked slowly to my desk. ¨That’s it!¨ she exclaimed. ¨I have had enough of your rotten notes! Detention, Mr. Ralphie, for three hours after school. You will make this classroom sparkle! If you object, the whole school will sparkle and shine because you will clean all of it!¨ Before I knew it, she walked back to her desk and started to talk about mathie stuff again. I sat there, my eyes blank, probably looking stupid as I stared at the teacher. ¨Bad move, Ralphie,” I thought. Later in the cafeteria I chewed my bologna sandwich as kids watched me, whispering and giggling. “Sorry about detention,¨ Holly said sympathetically through a mouthful of snickerdoodle cookies (which her mother packs her for dessert every day!). I nodded as a thank you, and then continued eating, my thoughts filled with dread for the coming afternoon. My dread, like my note, was interrupted by Rachel. “Hey Holly! I’ll trade you my tofu sandwich for that snickerdoodle cookie!¨ shouted Rachel. Rachel was never going to get that cookie if she didn’t start packing better food to trade. But everyone knew that that would never happen. Her mother didn’t let her eat any junk food at all. I kinda felt bad for her, except for the fact that she got me into trouble and now I have detention. Okay, I didn’t feel that bad for her. After lunch, as I moved from class to class, my stomach churned with anxiety. Surprisingly, this was the first time I had ever gone to detention. I’m not afraid of what normal people would be afraid of, like having to come home to angry parents, or having to call my Mom on the phone from the principal’s office to explain why I’d miss soccer practice. No, I was worried about. . . Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ve always been terribly afraid of the dark. And since it’s November, it gets dark really fast. Our school is already a bit creepy in the daylight. RING-A-LING-LING!!! It was finally the end of the day, and normally I’d be running out of school as fast as I could. Before the bell stopped ringing, all the kids grabbed their backpacks and rushed out of school. I slowly started towards the janitor’s closet, right in the corner of the cafeteria. After checking in with Mr. Lucas, I grabbed the mop, dusting rags and disinfectant. I got right to work, cleaning the classroom while Mrs. White watched me from her desk silently, occasionally flipping the pages of a magazine. Finally I finished, and in record time! It looked like I’d get out of
mystery
Hello Neighbor: Missing Pieces, Reviewed by Abhi Sukhdial, 11
Hello Neighbor: Missing Pieces by Carly Anne West is a very unique kind of book. It’s because the book is based on a video game called “Hello Neighbor.” I didn’t know much about the video game at the time, but I knew the video game was very successful. So when I saw this book at my school book fair, I thought I should give it a try. I don’t regret my decision either. Missing Pieces is one of the best mystery books I have ever read. It takes all the mysterious elements the video game had, and included them in this book. While it might not be long (it’s only 200 pages), it’s extremely fun to read and very suspenseful. The story is about a young kid named Nicky Roth, who just moved to a new city called Raven Brooks. Not long after he moves, he befriends his neighbor next door, who is a kid named Aaron Peterson. They soon become best friends, and pull pranks and have fun around Raven Brooks. But soon, Nicky learns that the Petersons and Aaron are not a normal family, and they have secrets hiding deep within their houses… There are a lot of reasons I think this book is very unique compared to other mystery novels. The first is that I love the author’s style of writing. It’s told through the perspective of Nicky, and he is very creative in how he talks throughout the book. For example, instead of talking about moving to Raven Brooks like a normal person would talk about moving, he talks about it descriptively and interestingly, but you still feel like you don’t know all the details. I like this style of writing because it felt like the perfect style for this book and because it’s the most unique element that makes this story different from others. Like in one part of the book, they give the meaning of the word “bad” in a different way than what other people think: Nicky: What does make a person bad, then? Aaron: Being bad when bad things happen. This is how most of the book is written, and this makes the book even more suspenseful. The second reason I love this book is because the book doesn’t have any paranormal activity to make it scary. All the stuff in this book can happen in real life, and making a book like that is not as easy as you think. The book also involves messages like tragedy, fate, loss, and sadness. All this stuff can be related to, and that’s why you sometimes feel sad and depressed when you read this book. I also love that Aaron and Nicky don’t have a normal friendship. They have hobbies and habits that are unique (lock-picking, trespassing, etc.). Their friendship doesn’t always go well sometimes and even though they are friends, Aaron keeps secrets to himself, and doesn’t share everything about his personality. This made me scared, and I couldn’t put the book down when I first read it. It left me wondering: What’s really going on? Even though this book is amazing, there are some problems with it. The first and the biggest reason is the lack of variety in the story. The whole story revolves around Nicky developing a friendship with Aaron, while at the same time discovering his dark past. The setting usually takes place in Aaron’s house or around Raven Brooks, and the only things that Nicky and Aaron do are sleepovers, pulling pranks and picking locks. Other than that, there is not much that they do, and this disappoints me, because there are only a few chapters in the book that don’t involve these kinds of things. I also don’t like how the book sometimes tries to be funny. It can be really hilarious at times, but other times when it’s dark and gloomy, the author tries to sneak a joke in, and it really doesn’t fit the mood. Overall, I loved Hello Neighbor: Missing Pieces. It kept me hooked throughout the whole time reading it. However, I want to say one thing before I end the review. If you don’t enjoy dark, creepy and sad stories, then I suggest not to read this book. The book barely contains any cheerful or happy scenes, and this might scare some people. But as for me, I can’t wait to read the follow-books in the series, and I am very happy I didn’t underestimate the power of a book that is based on a video game.
