Short Story Collection

District 13

I seem to be updating a lot, hu?? Ya... I'm just bored and there is nothing for me to do until 5... So I'm just uploading all these stories... This one here might be the most recent one...? Until the next story I'm posting... I wrote that yesterday...

This is a story that I had to write for Science last year... Worst class ever. Creepy teacher, 20 girls, 5 guys... you get it... One day, all the boys were sick, so the teacher started chuckling and said "hehe... I'm the only male in this class." Creepy, hu?? Well, my science class is better this year... but ANY who! New story!! (don't worry about pronouncing anything right with this... I don't know how to say half these things...

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Entry 1: June 25th, 2156

As I lay in my bed thinking about my life, I remembered what the doctors told me. My brother has died. He was off working on a distant planet. And I was to take his place. Every kid grew up learning about District 13, but no one ever thought of visiting that planet. It was like Earth in many ways, but it was very different at the same time.

The flight through space took seven years. But to me, it went by in a flash. When we were three hours away from District 13, the doctors woke us up. They had to run through everything. There was nearly no oxygen in the atmosphere so we had to wear masks. If we didn't, we would pass out in sixty seconds and die in three minutes. Everything could kill in a heartbeat. The only things that wouldn't kill would harm us terribly due to their defensive demeanor.

When I looked out the window of the spacecraft that took us to the base, all I saw was lush jungles that looked blue and purple. The plants had different pigmented cells that have not been identified yet. Also, the trees seemed to have a certain glow or sparkle to them. I stared at them in awe. This planet was so beautiful! I can't wait to get out and look around!

~Sarah

Entry 2: June 27th, 2156

District 13 is more beautiful when you walk around than from the sky. There are so many different creatures that put Earth's creatures to shame. There are things out there like "blucks" which are plant things that are the main producers of this planet. They look like a moss colored rock, but it turns into a shiny pink stone when it's touched. The most popular herbivores are creatures called "lotics." They remind me of a giant, yellow, flying praying mantis. They are regular animals (bugs to be specific) that are mainly autotrophic, but in times of no sun (which is like twice a year for two months) they need to eat plants to survive. It's quite scary to see one fly right in front of me. Only after it flew by me, a giant bird bit it's head off. That thing was called a "mockingjay" which is something like a blue jay, but purple and ten times bigger. That mockingjay was then almost eaten by a giant pipe- like, carnivorous plant thing. The name of that is really long and I don't know how to spell or pronounce it, so I just call it an "eatyourfacish." Wait... my roommate Alexandra just said it was a "micklangygenosis" or something like that. This... thing... is, like I said, a giant pipe- like thing that has a sucker with teeth inside to rip the skin off its prey. Its skin is very poisonous, so nothing can eat it. It coevolves with everything, so if one animal evolved to be able to eat the skin, it will evolve, on the spot- also called spontaneous evolution (as Alex called it)- so the animal won't be able to eat it. This is one indestructible organism. Lastly, the decomposer. This is one scary thing. Do you all remember those Tetubbs- Telephubs- Tebbuphs- wait... Telletubbies! It's been like two hundred years since that show was last on, but reruns are always show. These decomposers, "smifs" they're called, are Smirf blue Telletubbie like things. From someone who had to watch a marathon of that show with a younger cousin, they aren't the first things you want to see. These "smifs" are about four inches tall and their stomachs are metallic and hard. I actually lied. They are the ONLY things that can eat "eatyourfacishes."

So, for the food web, it would start at the energy source, which is Star 1084536927, then go to the blucks and (occasionally) the lotics (depending on the light), then the mockingjays would eat the lotics and they would get consumed by the eatyourfacishes or micklangygenosises. The smifs would decompose all of these organisms.

Running into these things isn't the best thing that could happen to a person. Trust me. This is coming from a person who had a run in with almost all of these creatures.

~Sarah

Entry 3: June 30th, 2156

Today, I realized that the reason we had weights strapped to our ankles when we walked around was because we would fly up to the ceiling and almost kill ourselves. I know they mentioned that the gravity wasn't as strong here as it was on earth, but I didn't know earth was THAT much stronger. I was curious, so I tied a piece of rope around me and had Alex hold it with enough slack that I could fly up but not hit the ceiling. It was like zero gravity to the MAX, but with a result of having a giant red mark on my stomach from where the rope dug into my stomach.

On this trip, over the past few days, Alex has called me the stupidest scientist of all time. I thought it would be funny to step outside without my mask for a bit, but I stayed out too long. Alex saw me right as I passed out and I ended up in the infirmary for three days. Today being the day I got out. Not the smartest thing to do. I felt very confident and I didn't think anything bad would happen to me, but what was the one thing I learned on this trip? My over confidence is my weakness. That is the moral of my life... currently.

But there are still some things I want to try before I leave!

~Sarah

Entry 4: July 4th, 2156

Happy 4th! Alex, Jessie, Logan, James, and I all attempted to shoot off fireworks that James managed to get in this trip. But the fireworks didn't really work. Once they were in the air and exploded, they just disappeared. Who knows how! It's a mystery that may never be solved!

Also, I learned that the plants on District 13 have their own nightly celebration. After Star 1084536927 had set, I was standing outside with Jessie and we noticed that the plants lit up. We decided to take a night adventure. The plants had some sort of bioluminescent chemical in them that made them glow, but it wasn't glow-in-the-dark glow, but like, glow stick glow. It was so pretty! I wish Shaun was here... Nope, I'm not going to cry. Shaun will not ruin this moment for me. This place will always remind me of him, as much as I try not to.

Back to the plants! I couldn't help take a sample of the lights because I haven't noticed any samples in the lab. I went to go carefully take a small sample of the grass when I felt something sharp on my arm. I looked down and saw an eatyourfacish attached to my arm. Jessie saw this, and immediately ripped it off my arm, burning her hand in the process. Them, when my arm started swelling, she ran my to the infirmary. Again, my over confidence has almost killed me. What stupid thing will I do next?

~Sarah

Entry 5: July 15th, 2156

Turns out that I have to go back to Earth. If I don't leave now, I might die. I asked if they had anything to keep me alive here, but they said they haven't gotten the tools yet and they won't be arriving for another year and a half. Oh fun.

But I can't take the same ship I took here. I have to take a high-speed teleporter ship. It's not really a teleporter, but it is supposed to get me to earth in a month rather than seven years.

Saying goodbye is the hardest part. Alex was bawling and told me she would send me emails and updates on what was happening here all the time and she would visit me if she ever came back to Earth. I told her that I will try to see if I can come back, but I can't promise anything.

It was sad leaving, I wasn't even there for a full month, but I let my fatal flaw get to me. It defeated me in the end, but I will remember this trip always.

This is Sarah, signing off for the last time.

~Sarah

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Pronunciation Guide!

bluck- cluck

lotic- lotik

mockingjay- mocking as in mocking bird and jay as in blue jay (Yes, like the bird from the Hunger Games)

eatyourfacish- eat your face ish

micklangygenosis- don't even bother...

smifs- Smirf without the r