Winter Edition Antholog

1 THE LITERAL SCORPION A STUDENT ANTHOLOGY MS. ROSENBLUM’S 7TH AND 8TH GRADE iClasses 2 Copyright © 2017 by Ms. Rosenblum’s 7th and 8th Grade Classes All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Cover design by Aislinn Saputo Interior Formatting by Aislinn Saputo Printed in the United States of America KMS Publishing 1050 E. Carver Road Tempe, AZ 85284 3 A Note Welcome to our school’s literary anthology, The Literal Scorpion! Our 7th and 8th Grade PREP students have worked diligently to bring you our Winter Edition, filled with exciting, informational, thought-provoking, and suspenseful pieces of writing for your enjoyment. What has it taken to bring this fine work to you? Countless hours of writing, rewriting, conferencing, learning techniques and skills, critiquing, and finally… letting their finished pieces go. The students within this anthology have experienced what real authors do when writing for small press. They were introduced to, and used, the jargon authors use when discussing their work. They engaged in conversations professional writers engage in. They navigated through the entire process from conceptual creation to publication, like every published author does. I couldn’t be prouder of their motivation, drive, and perseverance. I hope you enjoy this Winter Edition created by the talented minds of our Kyrene Middle School students. Our Summer Edition will be available in May. Until then, enjoy! Ms. Rosenblum 7th/8th Grade ELA PREP 4 Table of Contents Cade B. Zachary M. Cameron K. Adam T. Emma R. Drew T. Hannah W. Ellen L. Kennedy F. James N. Kinan R. Ke’Jzon L. London B. Kelleigh J. Makayla J. Kyra S. Max V. Lauryn K. Nico H. Maddy P. Paige G. Mathias L. Sayer J. Meredith L. Shannon McQ. Ramneek S. Sofia W. Ryan Y. Sophia A. Samantha V. Stavros S. Sydney S. Travis C. Tyler L. Vianaye T. 5 Role Models of America Sofia W. Chapter One “Ww...who are you?” Sean King stammered. The ominous figure approaching him did not respond. He only moved closer. “What do you want? What have I done?” A deep, gravelly voice said, “Too much.” Frightened, Sean stepped back, as if space would banish his fear. “What do you mean?” He shook like a sapling in a summer storm, cornered against a wall. Those were his last words. *** Abigail was driving home from a friend’s house when she passed her neighbor, Sean’s house and saw his front door wide open. She climbed out of her car, tripping over her feet in the process. She wondered who had or who was at his house. After managing to walk up to the doorbell, she rang it. Sean King left his residence open to visitors, but never so late at night. Sean’s mansion was vast and extravagant, far nicer than what Abigail was used to. As she walked inside, she noticed the lights lining the hallway leading to the living room were turned off. The walls of the house were painted a cheerful yellow, yet the short walk seemed to take an eternity. Once she entered the room, she ran her hands along the smooth walls until she found a light switch. She flicked it on to find a gruesome scene laid before her. Sean’s body was laying on the ground, his blood staining the thick, expensive Persian carpet. A serrated knife lay next to him in a pool of crimson. His throat was slit. His dark skin shone with blood. Abigail screamed. *** “What do you mean, he’s dead?” the detective asked. “He was found with his throat slit. A neighbor had wanted to see him, and she found him lying on the ground. She called 911,” the rookie policeman said, and exited the office, leaving Detective Alexander North alone. “Who would do that?” he whispered to himself. “Sean was kind to everyone.” As Alex drove home in his cherry red convertible, he pondered the idea. The killer must have had ulterior motives. He fumbled with the keys to his apartment. Sean was someone with importance. An authority figure. He was running for president. He managed to insert the key into the lock. That could be very important. Alex decided to go to bed. “It’ll make sense in the morning,” he muttered. “It’ll all make sense.” 6 With that thought in his mind, he entered the land of dreams. *** The shadowed man’s silhouette stood in the doorway. “It’s done,” he said, in a deep and rough voice, as if he was disguising his true sound. He went to sit down next to the other man, Seth, on the sofa, but Seth blocked his way. “Good. I was wondering when you would kill him. Now there’s no one in our way.” Seth looked up. “Are you sure you didn’t leave any clues?” “Do you underestimate me? Of course I didn’t.” “You couldn’t do this without me, and you know it. We are both part of this. Just act normal in public. You shouldn’t know about the death yet.” “But Seth, wouldn’t they have told me? My life’ll definitely change for the better now without Sean.” *** Alex woke up to bright light shining through his drapes. “Ugh. It’s too early.” He combed through his cropped brown hair with his fingers and blinked his watery eyes. Last night’s experiences came back to him in a rush. “Oh!” he yawned as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He made his bed and dressed for the day, dreading the time when he’d have to go to work. As he opened the full-length curtains, he was welcomed by a cheerful picture. The birds were chirping, and it was a bright, cloudless day in the city below. Skyscrapers towered above everything, showing their prowess. New Tokyo was always beautiful, but it felt wrong that everything was so happy. Someone had been murdered! The world should not be celebrating. Even though the celebration seemed ill-timed, Alex took it as a message. Everything will be okay, it whispered. As he strolled into the elevator, he felt confident. He could handle this case, no problem. He walked out of the apartment building. Anyone dumb enough to murder a presidential candidate would be easy to find. They must have left some clues. However, when he neared Sean’s house, nerves set in. Alex never liked to see still, cold bodies, although he had seen them dozens of times. It was necessary to find the culprit, though. The mansion loomed above Alex, seeming uninviting and foreboding. It had such a different atmosphere from when he had been there before, but as a friend, not a detective. Like many people had done before, he took a deep breath and opened the door. Alex walked down the dimly lit hallway. The walls tightened around him, making him dizzy. He stumbled at the entryway to the living room, but straightened. He swayed at the sight lying before him. He saw the corpse covered in dried blood. He saw the deadly knife laying on the ground. He saw his friend’s eyes, forever staring. Alex crouched, putting his head between his knees. A wave of nausea hit his stomach. He had the urge to rest on the floor. He knew that if he did that, he would not get up. With resolve, he stood up and started his investigation. 7 *** “I took everything from the house I thought mattered,” Alex said, leaning back on a seat across from his co-worker, in the police station. “There was nothing physically wrong with the security cameras ean had set up. Did you find anything on them?” He put his feet up on the cold, metal chair next to him. The chief, Ryan, looked apologetic. “No. The footage went out for approximately ten minutes. At first glance, it seemed like a glitch in the system, nothing more, but it can’t be.” “Whoever did this must have a good hacker. Who would have access to the resources needed to do something like this?” Alex tapped his pen on his chin. They must have money and are well-known. They didn’t want Sean to be president.” “That’s a lot of assuming. I’ll see what I can dig out about who could have killed him.” Chief Ryan hesitated. “I can ask some teammates on the force to find some suspects, then we can interview them.” “Alright. Meanwhile, we need to break the news to the public. I’ll handle the press.” Ryan looked up. “Are you sure? That’s huge news. Do you want all the attention? No one saw him die. We can keep it a secret for a bit longer.” “I don’t want people to be mad. You know how they can react when there is a huge secret affecting them. Sean hasn’t been seen for a while, so some people might be suspicious anyway. If you can handle it, then you should.” Alex sighed. “My hands are full with this case, and I don’t want them to overflow.” *** Alex had already spent hours reviewing evidence results from the labs. He stood and stretched. Most of the items and decorations had no meaning, but the knife had the most. There weren’t any fingerprints on it. The blade was from a well-known and high-end knife company.

Load more