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[storiesformygrandson]

THE MYSTERY OF THE NECKLACE By A. Arican Kurtay My mother and father had already left for work and I was all by myself at home. My winter break had just started so I had nothing much to do in the morning. My winter camp would start in a couple of days and I was supposed to meet my friends of the camp group in the afternoon. We call ourselves “The Cougars”. All of us are classmates and live quiet near one another so we are together almost all the time. My name is Deren and I am the leader of the group. Jack is the tough guy being the tallest and strongest among us. Amy is the brain of the group because she knows everything which is worth knowing. Ellie, who lives with her smartphone in her hand is the messenger. She even sends messages in her sleep. Finally there is Max, the errand boy. It actually is a nice group and many of our friends want to join us but we want to keep things as they are. We live in Seattle so we decided to go to a winter camp for a week during the winter break. Ellie’s parents knew of such a place near Mt. Rainier where we could go. All arrangements were made for us to go there on Saturday morning with the camp bus. It was a small camp, ten girls and ten boys in a lodge house with two camp advisors to look after us. The camp was located in the woods with a stream passing by. Snow was expected while we were there so it would be fun. The part I did not like was that no computers or I-Pads were allowed in the camp and we could take our smartphones with us only when we left the camp site for walks in the neighborhood. Especially Ellie was very unhappy with this arrangement, she could not imagine a day without her smartphone. When I told this to my parents they said that there is something called a book which I could take with me to the camp and try to read at my free times. I therefore decided to go to the library and get a couple of books to take to the camp. The public library is very near our house so I walked over there and started to look for some books I could enjoy. I am a soccer fan so after I got the books I went to the magazine rack to browse through some soccer magazines. I stayed at the library for more than an hour and started feeling hungry so I decided to return home. When I got back home my mother had already returned and was on a conference call with some of her colleagues, so I had to prepare my own snacks. I decided to make an omelette and a bagel toast with cheddar cheese, one of my favorites. I sat at the table and started browsing the books I had taken from the library. One of the books I had chosen was about the life of the native Indian tribes which lived in our region. There were nice illustrations about the way the Indian tribes made their camps and how they hunted for food. One of the tribes living in the Seattle region was called the Tacomas. Even our airport is named after this tribe. They lived in the mountains where the climate is harsh, especially during winter time. They used to hunt deer and catch fish from the streams for food. They lived in tents made from animal hide to protect themselves from rain and cold weather. Since we were going to camp in the mountains I found the book very interesting. I was sure that especially Amy would like this book very much but probably she already knew everything about the Indian tribes living in this region. The day before we left for the camp my mother took me downtown to make some last minute shopping. We were passing in front of a store selling trinkets and other stuff for the tourists. I noticed a necklace made of blue, black and red beads with a cougar figure made of silver attached to it. I was fascinated by it and told my mother to buy it for me. She also liked it very much and told me that she would buy it if I would let her wear it sometimes. Finally it was Saturday, the day for the winter camp. I woke up very early, put on my clothes and of course my new necklace. My father looked at me and asked if I was the new Indian chief. When we met at the location where the bus was supposed to pick us up everyone in my group liked my necklace very much. Amy said that the cougar was a very important symbol for the Indians and if you had a pendant with the figure of the cougar it meant that you had encountered this fierce animal and was able to survive. It showed how brave you were. I told you, Amy knows everything. The bus ride took more than three hours but finally we reached the camp site. We were met by our instructors whose names were Amber and Ted. The boys and girls were separated and taken to their sections of the cottage. There were no beds inside, Ted told us that we would be given sleeping bags and had to sleep on the floor. I didn’t like this idea very much but the rest of the guys seemed to enjoy it. We were given fifteen minutes to put our stuff into our lockers and meet outside for lunch. I really felt very hungry and as soon as I finished unpacking I ran outside. Of course only the boys were outside, there was no trace of the girls. Ted said that the girls were always late but due to the camp rules we had to wait for them to go inside the mess hall, which was actually a small wooden building. The food was quite good and most of the boys had second helpings. The cold weather had made all of us very hungry. After lunch we were taken to the meeting room. Here Amber and Ted lectured us on the camp rules. The camp was located in the middle of the forest so we had to be very careful because one could get lost very easily. We were allowed to take our phones when we left the camp in case we had to make emergency calls. In general we were going to make one hike every morning and come back for lunch, then rest for two hours. Afterwards we would meet for other indoor activities. That seemed quite reasonable. There would be four groups of five kids with a camp instructor in charge, which meant that the Cougars could be together as a group. Each group would be given a certain task to complete. Our task for this morning was to locate some caves near the camp site. We were supposed to take pictures of the caves and look for any signs of older times. Ellie asked if there would be any wild animals around but Amber told us that we may see some deer or even a fox but nothing much bigger. Amy had different ideas of course, she said that if we get into the caves we may encounter hibernating bears who would be very angry to be woken up. I did not like the idea of being chased by a bear in the middle of a forest but Amber told us that they knew the surrounding area very well and no such thing would happen. One of the other groups was supposed to go to the river and try catching fish. I would prefer that task but anyway our turn would come in a couple of days. We sat in front of the fire place for a couple of hours and finally it was time for dinner and bed. All of us were tired because of the cold weather and bus ride and a hard day lay in front of us. We took our sleeping bags and tried to find a nice place to lay down. There were mattresses on the floor so it might not be as bad as it seemed to sleep in a bag. That night I had a strange dream. I was in my school in Virginia and we were having a lesson about the native Americans . I was talking with the kid next to me and suddenly the teacher calls my name and tells me to go to the room of Mr Glover since I am not listening to what she is saying. I really didn’t like the idea of going to Mr Glover’s room but had no choice. When I got to his room he was already expecting me. He said, “Deren, since you are not listening to what your teacher is telling about the native Americans, it means that you already know everything. I am expecting you to give a lecture about the life of these tribes to your class next week. I will also attend your lecture “. I just woke up, it seemed to be too hot. It was not a very bad dream but anyway I felt stressed. I was able to sleep after a while and was woken up by Max who told me that it was time for breakfast. It was very cold outside so we had to run to the mess hall. Everyone was shouting and laughing and eating, I liked it. After breakfast we prepared our backpacks, put in some sandwiches and a bottle of water. We were also given a simple sketch of the area showing certain landmarks and the location of the caves. Our group instructor was Sally. She told us that she lived in the neighborhood so she knew the territory very well but in any case we should try to be close to one another. It had snowed in the night so it was white everywhere. We started our excursion by climbing the slope, it was a long pathway between the trees. Suddenly Jack shouted that he had seen footprints belonging to an animal. Sally took a look and said that a fox had gone this way just in front of us. We were excited and were chattering loudly but Sally told us to be quiet or we would wake up the whole forest. The slope was rather steep so we had to rest for five minutes after each half hour of climbing. Sally told us that the return trip would also be very difficult since it would be very slippery and it was easier to fall down. It started snowing again. At the beginning it was not so bad but gradually the snowflakes began to get bigger and after a while we could hardly see one another. Sally told us that there was a cave nearby and we should try to reach it before things got worse. It was only a few minutes walk so we were able to make it without anyone getting lost. The entrance of the cave was rather small but when we got inside it was quite roomy. Jack went towards the back of the cave and started making sounds like a bear. Amy was terrified of course and started to chase Jack inside the cave. All of us were laughing and having a great time. Only Sally seemed a bit worried of course since she was responsible for our safety and had to take us back to the camp. Finally we sat down and tried to rest for a while and restore our energy since we had a difficult return trip ahead. Amy was still angry at Jack for frightening her and she still believed that there might be a bear inside the cave. So I took my flashlight and led Amy towards the back of the cave. She was a bit frightened at the beginning but that passed away in a short time. The cave was curved like the letter S, we could hear our friends but could not see them. Then Amy saw an opening at the side of the cave, it looked like another entrance. We walked towards the opening and got out of the cave. There was no snow and the sun was shining. It was very warm so we took off our parkas. We looked at one another, something was not right. We wanted to get back to the cave but the entrance had vanished. I was frightened and Amy’s face had turned white. She was just about to cry but I told her that we would be able to get back. Even I didn’t believe myself but we had to stay calm, eventually our friends would notice that we were missing and come to rescue us. I took my phone from my backpack but we could not receive any signals. I suggested that if we moved towards higher ground we may be able to use our phones. Amy seemed to be doing better now, she was also aware of the fact that something was terribly wrong. Although we could still see Mt. Rainier, and it was where it should be, the weather had changed, instead of winter we were now having summer. The forest was the same but our cave had disappeared. In case we needed to come back we decided to put some markers at the place where the cave entrance was supposed to be. We found some branches and tried to make walking sticks out of them, these would also be useful as a weapon in case we met some wild animals. Of course if we saw a bear, trying to run away might be a much cleverer solution. As we moved forward I noticed a trail of smoke rising between the treetops. I showed it to Amy and she got very excited. She said, “If there is smoke, it means that there might be some people over there making a camp. They might help us”. So we started moving towards the smoke. I said that we should be careful and try to see what is going on before we came into the open. The smoke seemed to be further than I expected but finally we came near it. We were surprised by what we saw. There were several tents, or rather Indian style tepees arranged in a circle and a camp fire was burning in the middle. There was no one around. Amy said that there were no Indian tribes living like this in this region, it might be some sort of a tourist attraction. We slowly moved towards the tepee nearest us. I looked inside, it was empty. Just as we were moving towards the second tepee we heard noises. Amy pulled me back into the forest and we hid amongst the foliage to see who was coming. The noises got nearer then a big Indian warrior came out of the forest followed by a strangely dressed white man and many other Indians. “I think what we see is real, this is no tourist attraction and these guys are real Indians. We should try to get back before they see us “, I said. Just as we were getting up on our feet we saw several Indian warriors behind us. They had come behind us and we had not heard a single sound. Then they started speaking very excitedly in a language we did not understand . Amy and I looked at one another, our end had come. Then suddenly all the shouting and excitement stopped and the warriors began to move away from us. They were looking at me, or rather at my chest. “They are looking at your necklace”, Amy said. Yes, of course my cougar necklace. I tried to remember what Amy had told me about the necklace. They were now thinking that I was very brave and had killed a cougar with my bare hands. The chief of the tribe came running towards us but as soon as he saw the necklace he stopped in front of me and knelt down. I did not know what to do but suddenly I had an idea. I took out my phone from my pocket, put it into camera mode and took several pictures of the Indians. They did not understand what was going on until I showed the picture of the chief to him. He was terrified, he could not understand how he got into the small black box. Just then the white man arrived. He spoke with the Indian chief in their language. The chief was very excited as he spoke and was pointing at the phone in my hand. The white man turned towards me and began speaking in English. At last I would be able to understand what was going on. He said, “You have captured the soul of the Chief. Now he is your prisoner, he wants you to release him”. Amy and I looked at one another, at last we were able to understand what was going on. When the chief saw his photo in my phone he thought that I had taken his soul from him and he was my slave. It meant that for the meantime our lives were not in danger. The clothes of the white man were also a bit strange, he was dressed like the people living a couple of hundred years ago. He was carrying a rifle and had a huge gun attached to his belt. Amy had also noticed this and she asked the man, “ It may sound strange but what year is it?” “ We are in the year 1822, I think it is July now. I have been out of town for some months trading with the Indian tribes in this area. But who are you, why are you dressed like this and what is that in your hands?” I was terrified and was trying to figure out what was going on. Had we made some sort of time traveling when we came out of the cave, or had we come to a parallel universe. I was sure Amy was also having the same thoughts. I had read about the parallel universe thing in one of my science fiction books, a universe which exists with our universe but has a different dimension. I had not given much thought to this parallel universe thing at that time but was it really true. “ You can not understand what this is” I said. “ If I want I can capture all of your souls and keep them in this box “. The white man also became a bit worried but he translated my words to the chief. The Indians began talking among themselves. They were having a very excited conversation, looking at us as if we were some strange creatures coming from another world. One of the young women came near Amy and touched her hair, then ran away, laughing and shouting with joy. Another young man touched the cougar on my necklace and started dancing around the fire, raising his tomahawk to the air and chanting an Indian war song. “ You are very lucky “, the white man said. “ This tribe is the most peaceful tribe in the area. They do not fight with the other tribes. They hunt and fish for food and since they are not a threat to anyone the other tribes leave them alone. They are also the only tribe which has good relationships with the white people. If you had fallen into the hands of one of the other tribes, they would have killed you by now.” After a while the Indians stopped talking and the chief made signs of eating. I realized how hungry I was, so we started walking towards the camp. The women were preparing some sort of fish on the fire. They put the fish on a big leaf and gave it to us. It tasted real nice. Of course Amy only took a small piece and was just toying with it. I told her to eat since we did not know when we would be able to eat again. I told the white man about the cave we came from, and how the entrance had suddenly disappeared and we couldn’t get back. He said that he had heard the old men of the tribes talking about such a cave and that sometimes animals would come out or disappear in that area. It was in the forbidden zone and only the old wise men of the tribes could get near it. After lunch most of the Indians went inside their tents and were left together with the white man and the chief. The white man told the chief about the cave and how we had arrived here. They had a long discussion while Amy and I were also talking about our next plans. Finally the white man turned to us and said that he had told our story to the chief and he agreed to help. There was the tribe’s witch doctor who knew about the cave and when it would open again. He could take us there when the time comes. So at last we had a chance of getting back to our lives. “ But the chief has one request from you. Since you are a very brave boy wearing the cougar necklace he wants you to help him. He is in love with the daughter of the neighboring tribe’s chief. He wants you to capture her soul and bring it back to him and release both of their souls together so she will also fall in love and marry him.” The white man continued. I had no choice but to accept the offer. It was our only way out of this parallel universe. Amy was not happy about this new development but there was nothing else we could do. The plan was very simple. Since they would kill you if they caught you, the first step was not to be seen. I did not know how I could do that. I put black paint on my face and hands and my black ski mask on my head. I took my flashlight from my backpack with my pocketknife. I was ready. We started to wait for the darkness to come. An Indian brave would escort me to the camp of the neighboring tribe. We would make the first leg of our mission with a canoe. When we got near the camp we would come ashore and hide the canoe among the trees. Then we would approach the camp. The Indian brave would show me the tepee of the chief and wait for me while I get into the tent and take a picture of the girl. A very simple and straightforward plan. The only problem was that all of this had to be done under the cover of darkness and without making any noise. The time for us to start our mission had come. We started walking towards the river for the canoe ride. The Indian brave was walking in front of me without making any noise. I could hardly see him but I did not use my flashlight so that my eyesight would adjust to the darkness. When we reached the canoe he gave me a paddle and we pushed the canoe into the river. I had some experience with sailing because I helped my father when he sailed, but this was something completely different. There was a strong current against us and we had to spend a great deal of our energy trying to advance. Anyway the return trip would be easy if we ever could fulfill our mission and come back. After a while I was completely exhausted but we were able to reach our destination. We pulled the canoe ashore and sat under the trees for some time. We then started walking in the forest. Fortunately there was a moderate wind and the noise made by the leaves was making our advance easier. After some time, the brave raised his arm and we stopped. I could see the silhouette of the tepees between the trees. We moved a bit more and the Indian pointed out to the biggest tepee in the camp. I could see some tribe members sitting around the fire. One of them had the most fanciest clothing so he was probably the chief. This was good news since it meant that the daughter would be alone inside the tent. There might be guards around the camp so I had to be very careful. I started crawling towards the tent. Fortunately it was not far from the trees. I got near the entrance, no noise was coming from inside the tent. I crawled through the entrance and was inside the tent. When I raised my head, I came eye to eye with the daughter. She was just watching me and did not seem to be afraid. I think our chief had sent her a message about my arrival. She was a very pretty girl by the way. I took out my phone and took a couple of pictures and even showed her the photos. She was astonished with what she saw. I then showed her the picture of our chief. She seemed to like him so it would probably be a good match. As I was about to leave a huge shadow appeared in front of the tent. I took out my flashlight and just as the chief was getting inside I shined it to his eyes. He was temporarily blinded by the light so I was able to run past him and back to the trees. My Indian friend was waiting for me and we started running towards the canoe. The whole tribe was awake now and were trying to figure out where we were. When they understood that we were heading towards the river we had already reached our canoe. The return trip was very fast and we finally reached our camp. Everyone was waiting for us. The chief was delighted to see the photos of the girl he wanted to get married to. There was a great excitement in the camp. The braves took their tomahawks and started shouting and dancing around the fire. I was their hero once more. I erased the photos of the chief and his future bride from my phone and he was very happy that his soul would be free again. The white man told me that I had been given the name ‘White Cougar’ by the tribe. It was a very short name according to Indian traditions but I liked it anyway. We were given a tepee to sleep in. We would wait for the witch doctor to come and take us to the entrance of the cave. We had to be there at night and wait for the clouds to cover the moon. The we would here the howl of a wolf and the cave entrance would become visible. We would have a very short time to get inside the cave. I was very exhausted so I fell asleep immediately. I did not know how long I slept but Amy was shaking me to wake me up. The time for our return had finally come. The witch doctor was in front of our tent. He had a white long beard and was wearing the headband of their tribe with a lot of feathers attached to it. He motioned us to follow him and once more we were on the road. The white man had told us that since we would be going through the holy grounds we had to very quiet so that the evil spirits in that area would not wake up. We were moving in a very slow pace but that was alright by me since I did not like the idea of spending more time in front of the cave where the evil spirits may attack us. Finally we came to the place where the entrance was supposed to be. I saw the markings we had left. A black cloud was coming near the moon, it would cover the moon shortly. Amy and I were ready to run through the entrance. It became dark, then we heard the howling of the wolves. Suddenly the entrance appeared in front of us and we ran through it inside the cave. We had made it at last. Then we heard the voices of our friends, they were chatting among themselves. When they noticed us they were a bit surprised by our appearance. “ What happened to your face, why is it black?” asked Jack. We had spent almost two days in the parallel universe but the time here had not changed. It was as if we had walked towards the rear of the cave and came back. Amy and I looked at one another and said nothing. THE END

[storiesformygrandson]

DEREN GOES TO SUMMER CAMP By Arican Kurtay My name is Deren. I am a nine year old boy with the knowledge of a forty year old man. How do I know it? Because my parents tell me that I know everything much better than they do. This morning I woke up rather early. I am a bit excited because I will go to a summer camp for the first time. When my parents asked me if I would go to a summer camp a couple of months ago it had seemed like a good idea, but I am not so sure now. Anyway it’s a bit late to change my decision. My parents showed me a video of the camp and it looked like a nice place. It is about a three hour drive from home, inside the woods with a nice lake nearby. I know only one boy who will go to the camp with me. His name is Daniel but we call him Dan. We play together in the Vienna soccer team. My parents told me that there would be ten boys and ten girls in our group. By the way we are the Grasshopper group and are given green plastic badges with the picture of a grasshopper on it. There are other groups like lions and tigers so I hope no one will make fun of us because of our name. Each group has a different bus ready for them at the meeting area. I packed myself some shorts and underwear but we will be given our shirts and other stuff to wear when we reach the camp. I expect it to be green T-shirts with the picture of a grasshopper on it. How funny. Anyway we are a bit early. I have the feeling that my parents want to get rid of me as soon as possible. Well no, that’s a joke of course, they seem to be much more excited than I am. The summer camp will last for two weeks but our parents are allowed to visit us only once, at the end of the first week. We are not allowed to bring any computers, phones or I-pads with us. There will be a small library at the camp where we may borrow some books if we want. We are supposed to learn more about the beauties of nature, try to be a responsible member of a team doing all sorts of chores such as making our beds, cleaning general areas, helping with the preparation of food. Of course this is not a work camp so we will have a lot of time for different sorts of games like soccer, swimming, basketball and volleyball. There will even be a small soccer tournament between the different groups at the end of the second week. I get into the bus. There are a couple of girls at the back seat. They look at me then start giggling among themselves. I try to act as if I had not noticed them. I sit down and wave my parents a final goodbye. I do not have my phone or I-pad with me so I don’t know what to do. Anyway I have to get used to it. Then someone sits beside me. It’s one of the girls at the back seat. “Hi Deren “ she says, “don’t you remember me, I’m Amy, your classmate Charlotte’s friend. We met at her birthday party last year”. I look at her again, she can’t be the skinny girl I remember from the party, she has changed a lot on the good side. “Yes I remember you of course but you have changed a lot” I say. “That’s my cousin Sue sitting at the back, she is also a good soccer player, almost as good as you”. “How do you know I play soccer?” “I have watched you play several times “ she says. That makes me feel happy,  at least some people are noticing me, I think. Then I see Dan, he is late as usual. Amy moves back to her place with Sue and Dan sits beside me. We are ready for takeoff. A young man jumps into the bus, “Hello grasshoppers, I’m Tom, your coach for the camp” he shouts. We don’t know what to do, should we chirp or should we jump, but anyway all of us shout “ Hello Tom”. Then a nice looking girl gets into the bus also. She is Helen, our other coach. So we are ready for takeoff. We wave one last time to our parents and start a new adventure in our lives. After we are on our way, Helen stands up in the middle of the bus and asks us to introduce ourselves to our new friends. “Since you will be a team for the next two weeks, you should tell about yourself to the Grasshopper group” she says. When it is my turn I get up and say, “My name is Deren, I’m almost nine years old. I am a fan of Star Wars, like my father. I play soccer in my free times. They say that I am quite good but of course you have to train hard. I can also swim. I have travelled a lot and have seen many countries and places. This is all I will tell about myself for the time being.” My group shouts “ Hi Deren “ all together and it makes me happy to be a member of this group. There are twenty boys and girls so it is not possible to memorize the names of everyone. Tom and Helen teach us some songs which we sing all together and make fun with one another because we are such bad singers. After two hours, our bus stops at a roadside park area and we are given sandwiches and water. I speak with Amy and Sue, and they tell me that there are two more girls from their school in our group. After we eat our sandwiches, we get on the bus for the final stage of our trip. It is past noon when we reach the camp site. There are several wooden barracks separated from one another. We find the one with the Grasshopper logo on it. One side is for the boys and the other side is for the girls. The beds are ready for us with our names written on the wall. There are T shirts and shorts on the bed just as I imagined. Green shirts with the grasshopper logo. We are supposed to wear them and gather outside in the meeting area. There is the grasshopper sign and we stand in front of it. Then Tom and Helen come and they do not like the way we are standing. “All right, now let’s make a row of two boys and two girls side by side, no speaking or laughing is allowed at the meeting area. You can only speak if we ask you something or raise your arm and ask for permission. Now we shall go to lunch. Each of you will be given a tray with your name on it and you shall make sure that your tray is cleaned after each meal. You will eat whatever is given to you. If you don’t eat it then you will be hungry because there’s no other food in the camp. Let’s go now”. I feel like a soldier. Anyway we get inside and the cooks put different types of food in our trays. The food seems rather good by the way and I am very hungry. Maybe the camp will not be so bad. For the rest of the day we are left free to do whatever we want. I go to the library to find out what kind of stuff they have. I find a simplified edition of Tom Sawyer. My father likes the man who wrote it so I think I should give it a try. Then I also find several Star Wars books, it means that I will have a lot to read in my free time. Then I hear three short blasts from the siren, which means that we should gather in the meeting area for dinner. Finally it’s bedtime. My bed is between Patel and Mike. They seem like nice guys. We are allowed to read for half an hour then sleep time. Tom gets in and puts off the light. I immediately fall asleep. I jump up to the noise of the siren. Tom gets inside and tells us to wake up, wash ourselves, wear our camp outfit, make up our beds and gather at the meeting area. It is still dark outside, some of the boys put their heads under the pillow and try to sleep but Tom is there to wake them up. I make up my bed but Tom doesn’t like it, actually he likes none of the beds so all of us try to do it once more. It seems that we will be late for breakfast, which means that we will have nothing to eat until lunchtime. This makes Mike very anxious because he seems to have a good appetite. Finally we get to the meeting area, the grasshopper girls have just come but they also look like they could sleep for a couple of hours more. Alex, a short guy, he put on his T-shirt front side back so Tom sends him to run around the meeting area for three times before going in for breakfast. As far as I can see, the other groups are no better than us. That is a relief for us because at the end of the camp the best group will be given a reward. After breakfast we are given a one hour free time to tidy up and become our normal selves. Then we will go into the woods to learn more about nature. Tom and Helen will show us the different kinds of trees and plants, giving useful information about them. If we are lucky we may even see some rabbits or turtles. What happens if we see a lion coming out of the trees towards us I think. It will be great fun. The trees are rather dense and Tom tells us that one can get lost very easily. You can walk in circles he says, passing through the same place over and over and not even notice it. Anyway, it is a good walk. The fresh air makes us hungry, especially Mike. Finally we get back for lunch and we are given some more free time so that we can sleep or read books or whatever. In the afternoon we go to the lake to swim or paddle canoes. The weather is warm, the water is cool so we have a nice time. Then it is time for dinner and after that we sit around the open fire place, singing songs, telling stories and listening to what Tom and Helen tell us about life in the old times when there were no phones or computers. Most of the girls are unhappy because they cannot text with their friends, but they have to be patient about it. Amy wants to tell Charlotte that she met me at the camp, but that will have to wait of course. So this is how we spend our days at the camp. Once you get used to it everything seems fine. In the meantime we are preparing ourselves for the soccer tournament. We need seven players but only six of the boys know something about soccer. Patel and Ying don’t even know the difference between a soccer ball and a basketball. Mike will be our goalkeeper, not because he is good but because he is the biggest among us. The only way he can save a shot is that if it hits him. Tim is missing his parents and crying in the nights so they will probably send him home. We take Sue in our team as well. I am sure she is much better than most of the boys. Tom will be our coach and our first rival will be the Fox group. They don’t seem to be a good team but the same can be said for us. Before our game, the Lion group beat the Zebra group with a fantastic score of 11-0. It means we have to be careful if we get to play with the Lions. Our game starts, Sue kicks the ball forward, I catch it and score our first goal. It happens so quickly that even our team doesn’t understand that we scored a goal. As a team we play much better, I score five goals and we win the game with a score of 7-2. That’s a good start for us. Next day we beat the Tigers, 4-2, and the Lions win their game 3-1. I am able score 3 goals. As a result, the final match will be between the Lions and the Grasshoppers. In the meantime Amy and her friends make a Grasshopper cheerleader group. They shout “ Hop Hop Grasshopper Hop”,  and wave their green flags. They also shout “Go Deren Go” whenever I get the ball. It’s fantastic. Our final match will be tomorrow afternoon so Tom tells us to get to bed early and be full of energy for the game. That’s no problem with me because I’m always full of energy. Next morning Tom let’s us sleep a little bit more, then we have our breakfast. Pancakes and eggs, my favorite. Then it is time for our tour in the woods. Tom thinks it will freshen us. I go at the back of the group because several members of our group got lost and we had to spend a lot of time trying to find them. Especially a girl named Eleanor got lost and she was so afraid that whenever she heard noises, instead of shouting for help she would hide under the bushes thinking the noise was made by a bear. We passed in front of her several times and at the end I noticed her feet behind the trees and we were able to find her. Suddenly someone attacks me from behind and they put a piece of cloth on my face. I faint. Next thing I know, I am in a dark room, my feet and hands are tied. I have a headache, my mouth is dry. I need to drink water. The room I am in has no windows, there is a broken chair at one side. It looks like a storage room. I have been kidnapped, but why and who did it. I try to free my hands. The rope seems tight but as I struggle I am able to loosen it up a bit. My wrists hurt but I have to save myself. I try to rest for a few minutes then try again. I am very thirsty. Then suddenly my hands are free. I start to untie my feet but it also takes some time because there is no feeling in my hands. As my blood circulation returns to normal I am able to use my hands much better. Finally I am free. I get up and start moving towards the door but I hear noises in front of the door. I quickly hide behind the door, ready to attack whoever is coming. The door opens slightly and I hear Amy’s voice calling my name. I get to the door and open it. Amy and Sue are startled but they are very happy to see me. Then Amy starts to tell me how they were able to find me. “When the group returned from the woods we had some free time so some of the children went to the barracks to wash themselves and rest, some went to the library and a few of them went to the lake to swim. When we gathered at the meeting area for lunch we could not see you there. I asked my friends if they had seen you and the answer was negative. Then Tom showed up. He seemed a bit angry and when we asked him about you he told us that your father had called him and told that he had to pick you up from the camp due to an emergency. Of course we have this final game against the Lions this afternoon and without you we have no chance of winning. Tom said that even if we loose, we have to do our best in the game. Then he told us that we were free until match time. Sue, me and a couple of other girls decided to go to the lakeside for a while. Then I realized that I had forgotten something in my room and went back to fetch it. There was too much sunshine so I decided to walk through the woods. As I was passing at the backside of the barracks of the Lions, I heard their coach speaking on the phone with someone. He was saying that he had kidnapped the star player of the Grasshopper team and was keeping him in the old storage barrack at the back of the camp site. After the game was over he would rescue him himself. When I heard this I went back to get Sue and here we are.” I was happy to be saved but now it was time for the final match. I went to our barracks and dressed for the game and ran to the field. Tom was both surprised and happy to see me. Our team was loosing 2-0 in the first half. Then I got into the game, everyone was cheering for me. I could hear Amy and the Grasshopper girls shouting “Hop Hop Grasshopper Hop”, “Go Deren Go”. It was lovely. I was running faster than the wind, the Lions could not stop me, they were trying to foul me but I was just jumping over them. In a short time I scored two goals and we needed one more to win. Just as the game was ending I got a nice pass from Dan and was able to score the final goal. We won 3-2 and became champions. In the meantime Amy had told Tom about my kidnapping and he called the police. As we were celebrating our victory, the police officers came to take the coach of the Lions team to jail. After all, it was a very nice summer camp and all of us were able to have a nice time without iPhones, iPads or computers. I was very tired after two weeks at the camp so now I can rest for a while at home until the beginning of school. cloth on my face. I faint. Next thing I know, I am in a dark room, my feet and hands are tied. I have a headache, my mouth is dry. I need to drink water. The room I am in has no windows, there is a broken chair at one side. It looks like a storage room. I have been kidnapped, but why and who did it. I try to free my hands. The rope seems tight but as I struggle I am able to loosen it up a bit. My wrists hurt but I have to save myself. I try to rest for a few minutes then try again. I am very thirsty. Then suddenly my hands are free. I start to untie my feet but it also takes some time because there is no feeling in my hands. As my blood circulation returns to normal I am able to use my hands much better. Finally I am free. I get up and start moving towards the door but I hear noises in front of the door. I quickly hide behind the door, ready to attack whoever is coming. The door opens slightly and I hear Amy’s voice calling my name. I get to the door and open it. Amy and Sue are startled but they are very happy to see me. Then Amy starts to tell me how they were able to find me. “When the group returned from the woods we had some free time so some of the children went to the barracks to wash themselves and rest, some went to the library and a few of them went to the lake to swim. When we gathered at the meeting area for lunch we could not see you there. I asked my friends if they had seen you and the answer was negative. Then Tom showed up. He seemed a bit angry and when we asked him about you he told us that your father had called him and told that he had to pick you up from the camp due to an emergency. Of course we have this final game against the Lions this afternoon and without you we have no chance of winning. Tom said that even if we loose, we have to do our best in the game. Then he told us that we were free until match time. Sue, me and a couple of other girls decided to go to the lakeside for a while. Then I realized that I had forgotten something in my room and went back to fetch it. There was too much sunshine so I decided to walk through the woods. As I was passing at the backside of the barracks of the Lions, I heard their coach speaking on the phone with someone. He was saying that he had kidnapped the star player of the Grasshopper team and was keeping him in the old storage barrack at the back of the camp site. After the game was over he would rescue him himself. When I heard this I went back to get Sue and here we are.” I was happy to be saved but now it was time for the final match. I went to our barracks and dressed for the game and ran to the field. Tom was both surprised and happy to see me. Our team was loosing 2-0 in the first half. Then I got into the game, everyone was cheering for me. I could hear Amy and the Grasshopper girls shouting “Hop Hop Grasshopper Hop”, “Go Deren Go”. It was lovely. I was running faster than the wind, the Lions could not stop me, they were trying to foul me but I was just jumping over them. In a short time I scored two goals and we needed one more to win. Just as the game was ending I got a nice pass from Dan and was able to score the final goal. We won 3-2 and became champions. In the meantime Amy had told Tom about my kidnapping and he called the police. As we were celebrating our victory, the police officers came to take the coach of the Lions team to jail. After all, it was a very nice summer camp and all of us were able to have a nice time without iPhones, iPads or computers. I was very tired after two weeks at the camp so now I can rest for a while at home until the beginning of school.

[storiesformygrandson]

THE CATOMANS By Ali Arican Kurtay It was a nice spring evening. Deren and his grandpa were sitting in the kitchen as usual. There was no one else at home. His father was on a business trip to Paris, his mother and grandma were at the  Tysons Corner mall, looking at the stores and shopping. His mother and grandma always had some shopping to do, especially shoes and handbags. They always needed one more of each. Deren was working on his science project which was about the solar system and the galaxies. This was one of his favorite subjects because since he was a small boy, his grandma, who was also a great star watcher herself, would take Deren outside when it was dark and show him the planets like Venus or Mars. Now he had a small telescope of his own and was watching the sky from their terrace. “Dede” said Deren, that was what he called his grandpa,  “I see the red planet, Mars, it's amazing. I wish I had a much better telescope because what I see now is a red dot in the sky. Do you think men will be able to live over there?” “I don’t think it’s a good place to live”, his grandpa answered. “But I know at least one place people like us can live”. “How do you know, my teacher told us that up to now the scientists could not come up with a planet that may be suitable for mankind. They could only come up with places where there might be life.” His grandpa got up and came to the terrace and stood near Deren. He raised his arm and pointed out a bright star. “Do you see that star, it is called Algieba and is part of the Leo constellation, Leo the lion. If you keep it on your left side and continue into space, you will reach a planet called Catoman. That is where I once lived for a while.” Deren looked up at his grandpa. He was sure that Dede was teasing with him as he always did. But his grandpa did not smile, he just stared into the dark sky for a while then went back to his place in the kitchen and sat down. Deren understood that something was wrong so he also came inside and sat on the chair opposite grandpa. “What's wrong Dede” he asked. “We were just looking at the stars and suddenly you come back inside without a word.” His grandpa raised his head and looked at his grandson. “You are right, I am very sorry but something that happened many years ago came to my mind. I have not told this to anyone, not even your grandma because it is so unbelievable. I am getting old so I think it is time for me to tell my secret to the youngest member of my family. It is so unbelievable that I leave it to you to decide whether you should tell it to someone else”. Deren was very curious now because he had never seen his grandpa so serious before. He pulled his chair closer to grandpa and waited for him to start his story. His grandpa started telling his story. “When I was much younger, I was a student at the engineering department of the university. I lived alone in a small house my family had rented. They lived in another city due to my fathers job. I could only go and visit them during the holidays. The university was not like high school, you had to work harder, no one told you what to do. If you didn't study enough you would fail in the exams and that would mean one year of your life gone. I had a lot of friends with whom I studied together and if we had the opportunity, have fun. In the meantime I also had some hobbies of mine. I had a motorcycle, a small one, not like the ones you see in the streets nowadays. At weekends very early in the morning, I would ride to a small forest which was about an hours drive from home. I had a small tent and a sleeping bag for the night. There were no dangerous animals in the forest so it was not very dangerous to camp over there. Sometimes I would have a couple of friends with me. I would try to take pictures of the different birds and animals living in the forest. I was improving my skills every day and sometimes I thought that I should be a nature photographer instead of an engineer and spend my life all over the world taking pictures of all sorts of animals. That weekend I had come alone. My friends had to study for their exams and I had to clear my head because during the week I had had two very difficult exams. They went quite good so I allowed myself a peaceful weekend in the forest. It was still early morning when I came to my usual camp site. I felt rather hungry so I decided to eat a couple of sandwiches before going deep into the forest. I took my lunch box from my motorcycle and put it on the ground but then I noticed something strange beside the box. There were some footprints but I had not seen anything like these before. The prints were very faint, as if someone very light had walked around. I could count at least six or seven different sets of prints. I wondered what kind of an animal it might be. They were rather big for the types of birds I had seen in this forest. I was a bit afraid, being alone and seeing these strange set of footprints, but you know, ‘curiosity kills the cat’. I started to walk towards the inner parts of the forest. There was a small opening about fifty meters away where we sometimes camped when we were more than five or six friends. As I approached the opening something shiny caught my eye. I took a few more steps forward then……… When I opened my eyes I was lying on a strange kind of bed. I wanted to get up but something was holding me down. I tried to raise my arm but even that was not possible. I was a sort of prisoner somewhere I did even know how I came to. I tried to figure out where I was but all I could see was darkness. I was not in the forest, that was for sure. Suddenly my bed started to move, or rather float in the air. I was being carried somewhere. Then a light appeared in the darkness. It started to get bigger and bigger until I found myself in the middle of a huge room. I was surrounded by some strange creatures. They had short legs, long arms, almost reaching their knees, faces like a cat with two large ears and a very thin body. They were not tall, maybe as tall as a ten year old boy. I do not know how to describe my feelings at that moment but I am sure you can make a good guess. One of those creatures approached and looked at my eyes. Suddenly I started to hear a voice in my head. The creature was not making any sound but it was speaking with me. “Don't be afraid, we are friends, not enemies. We have no intention of harming you. You must be very surprised and shocked but everything will be alright.” I did not know how to respond, but the creature looked at me and spoke again. “I am called Brell and this is my wife Brella. I am the leader of the Brelling tribe. We brought you to our planet, Catomana because we need your help.” Now I was totally stunned. This could not be a joke or a dream or whatever. Who in the world would ever bring me to a strange planet that I had never heard of and ask for my help. “I totally understand how you feel but listen to me and I am sure you will be willing to help us. First let me give you some information about our planet. We are part of the Cato constellation, which is not visible from the earth. Our planet Catomana is a rather small one and has three moons of its own. We have a blue moon, a yellow moon and a black moon. One of those moons is visible at all times, changing the color of our atmosphere. We start with a light blue color in the morning turning into green then yellow and black as the night settles in. Our days are almost like yours in the earth but we use different time measurements. Our planet consists of the green lands and the sand lands. Six different tribes live in the green lands and I am the leader of all these tribes. The sand lands are not suitable to live for our kind, but there are snake like creatures  living under the sand. They live under the sand during daylight but when it becomes dark they come to the surface to feed themselves. They eat whatever they find. These creatures are very important for us because once in every hundred years their queen lays eggs. Among these eggs two of them are very special. One is blue and the other is green. They are energy eggs which provide the energy we need to live or go into space with our ships. Last time we tried to get these eggs we lost many members of our tribe because we cannot survive in the sand land and the snakelike creatures attacked us. We are a very highly intelligent tribe. We have our spaceships roaming the space, bringing food and minerals from different planets. During our travels in space, we found out that your planet had almost similar conditions as ours. The humans could live in our planet without the help of any additional equipment. It was the same for us. When creatures from sand lands started attacking us, the leaders of the tribes had a meeting in order to decide what to do. We are not able to survive in the sand lands so we needed outside help. I proposed to bring someone from planet earth to help us. Everyone agreed, so here you are.” I did not know what to say. “How can I be of any help” I asked. Brell looked around at his tribe members and made a strange movement with one of his ears. “It is time for the queen snake to lay it's eggs so you will have to go and get them for us, otherwise we shall have no power to run our spaceships or live in the planet.” The prospect of going to the sand land and steal the eggs of the queen snake was something I could not even imagine doing, but on the other hand if I did not do it I would never be able to return home because without the energy eggs all the tribes would perish, including me of course. I had no choice but to do what was asked from me. They were a very peaceful tribe so their most powerful weapon was a para-gun. This gun would paralyze it's victim for a short period. It was all they could give me. Their youngest member took me in a space car, which was rather small for my size, and we reached the boundary of the sand land in no time. He gave me a navigation equipment which I fastened to my wrist. It was supposed to show the entrance to the underground tunnel where the queen snake laid it's eggs. All I had to do was hide somewhere near the entrance of the tunnel and wait for the queen snake to come out when it got dark. Then I would crawl into the tunnel, get the energy eggs, crawl back outside, then run as fast as I could to the green lands. Since I was bigger and the gravity of Catomana was much smaller than the earth I would be able to run very fast. Very easy and simple to do. Brell also gave me some stuff with a terrible smell. He told me that the snake creatures loved this stuff and if I put it somewhere near the entrance of the tunnel the queen snake would come to its smell and I would have enough time to complete my task. The navigation equipment on my wrist would also detect most of the snake creatures underground so I would not go near them since they are very sensitive to movements on the surface. If they detect any movement on the surface, they would follow it underground and attack it since they consider it as something to feed on. Because of the snake creatures underground it took me a lot longer time to reach the entrance of the tunnel. It was almost dark and I hardly had enough time to hide. The first thing I did was to throw the smelly stuff as far as I could and as I was just about to lay down I felt some movement near the entrance of the tunnel. Then I saw the head of the snake creature, the queen. It was black in color with wide yellow stripes which would be very difficult to see when it was completely dark. It was much longer and bigger than I expected. The good thing about this was that I would be able to move more easily in the tunnel and the bad thing was that it could swallow me in one gulp. As soon as the end of the snake left the tunnel, I started to crawl inside. I crawled for a few minutes then I saw the energy eggs. They were almost as big as a basketball. I put them in a bag and started to crawl back. I had almost reached the mouth of the tunnel when I saw the head of the queen snake. It had one huge eye in the middle of its head, staring at me. I raised the para-gun and was about to shoot but then I stopped. What if the gun would affect me also since I was very near and in the tunnel, but suddenly I realized that the queen was very surprised to see me also. I started to crawl to the entrance as the queen moved backwards. Then I was out of the tunnel and on my feet again. I started running, I was almost flying, with every step I was covering ten times more distance than I would on the earth. Finally at daybreak I reached the green land where they were waiting for me. I had done it, the Catomans would go on for another hundred years with the energy balls I had brought them. When we got back all tribe members were making strange movements with their ears, whatever that meant. Probably an act of joy. Then I realized that I had not eaten anything since I had been brought here and I could not see anything to eat. Brell wanted me to stay but I told him that I had completed my mission and that they should take me back. Dede looked at Deren and said, “Deren you have finally learned my secret. I went over there a few more times and they even know about you. So one day if the Catomans come for you don't be afraid, they are very friendly, you will love them. But don't go for the energy eggs, it is really dangerous.”

[storiesformygrandson]

PRINCESS SHEA  by Arican KURTAY It was a warm spring afternoon. Deren was home alone watching his favorite episode of Space Traders for the three hundredth and sixty seventh time on his I-pad with the same enthusiasm as he had watched it for the first time. His school was closed for spring break and he did not expect his parents to come before dark so he had the whole house for himself. He could eat his snacks without anyone telling him to eat proper food instead of these. It was Saturday tomorrow and he had a very important match to play. His coach had told him and all his teammates that they should take the day off before the game, running for three miles in the morning and resting in the afternoon and that was what he was doing. Then he heard someone knocking on the door. He wasn't expecting anyone so he thought that it was the cargo guy bringing another package for his dad. The knocking continued so he finally decided to open the door. He opened the door and who does he see, Princess Shea, his favorite character from Space Traders, standing just in front of him. He got so excited that his whole system got into the breakdown mode. His vision blurred, his pulse jumped from seventy to one hundred and seventy, his jaw almost fell down and his brain started giving strange signals. It took him a couple of minutes to get back to his factory settings. A girl, a life size model of his favorite princess  Shea was standing in front of him. She was almost the same age as him, had black hair and was looking at him with her dark eyes. She had not spoken nor moved since the door was opened. “Hi Deren “ she said with a slight smile. Deren finally gathered himself and, “Sorry, I was not expecting anyone and you look so much like princess Shea that I was shocked so I may have acted a bit strangely” he said. “I wish I was princess Shea, whoever she is but my name is Sue. I am a friend of Amy, your classmate. She spoke very highly of you”. “Amy, of course, she is a very nice girl and good friend of mine. I can do anything for her. Why don't you come inside, I can offer you something cold to drink, it's rather hot outside”. Deren said as he was being himself again. Sue sat down on the sofa. She was wearing a white T shirt with the picture of a black witch riding on her broom. She sure is a witch Deren thought, but a nice one. “I hope you can one day tell me who this princess of yours is because I really wish I was her” Sue said smiling. Deren was surprised, how could anyone not know anything about Space Traders, but she was a girl and they watched their own stuff. Deren went to the kitchen, looked at himself in the mirror, shaped his hair and came back with two bottles of soft drink. “What can I do for you”, he asked. “Well it is a bit of a long story and you may find it silly but  promise me to listen to it to the end and not laugh at me when its finished. I am very embarrassed to come to you but Amy told me that you were a very clever kid and if anyone could help me, it would be you”. Deren was very flattered by these words, “Of course I can do anything for you and Amy, just tell me your story”, he replied. “Do you know anything about witches “, she asked Deren. “Just what I have read in story books or seen in some movies “. “Well that is not exactly like what you know. The witches are also like normal people and live among them. A normal person cannot identify a witch but the witches immediately recognize someone of their kind. I used to live in Chicago but when my dad had to change his job, we moved over here. I had to go to a new school, have new friends and there I met Janet. I immediately understood that she was a witch, Oh by the way did I forget to tell you that I am also a witch.” Deren was so surprised that he did not know what to say. He remembered what he thought of her when he first saw her, but that was just a silly idea at that time and he never thought it would be true. “I belong to the ‘purple violet’ family but Janet is a member of the ‘black dragon’ family and they are the most evil group of witches. They even kidnap babies to raise them as witches,”  Sue continued. “I am just a second grade witch and have a lot to learn, so after school I have to study witchcraft. It is really a very difficult subject, so I keep a diary where I write the things I learn during my studies. My diary has a hidden section where I keep the key for my invisible safe box. My magic wand is in this safe as well as other stuff required for my magic. I always keep my diary in my bag and my bag is always where I can see it. Janet saw me put the diary in my bag and sent someone to steal it. I did not notice that it was missing until yesterday evening. Then I told my supervisor, Aunt Felicity what had happened and asked her what I should do about it. She told me that my diary was in the room of the mother witch of the black dragon family, and that the mother witch would try to learn the secrets of our family by reading this diary. “We have to take it back, but only someone who is not a witch could enter that room, otherwise they will be noticed”, Aunt Felicity said. I am new in this city and don't know many people so I asked Amy for help and without hesitation she told me that only Deren could do this. So Deren, this is where you come in. Are you going to help me?” Deren had listened very carefully to what Sue had said but could not figure out how he could be of any help “What can I do” he asked, “I don’t even know where the castle of the black dragons is or what I can do if I ever find it”. “Don't worry, Aunt Felicity will come to you at midnight and will give you some magic powers then take you to the castle. I will also be there and we will wait for you near the main entrance of the castle. The castle is guarded by black dragons of different kinds. I hope you can get inside without being seen. Once you are inside it is rather easy because the witches have a meeting at midnight where the mother witch will give them a lecture about witchcraft. All of them will be in the cellars of the castle. There will be only one dragon in the room of the mother witch which you will have to slay”. “And one more thing” Sue said, “ Once you bring back the diary to us, all your magic powers will be gone and you will not remember anything about the castle with the dragons”. After that Sue got up, said goodbye and left. Deren was alone again. Everything had happened so quickly that he did not have enough time to think about it. All he could do now was to wait for Aunt Felicity to come at midnight. His mom and dad came in the evening. They were tired from work and wanted to have an early dinner. Deren helped them prepare the table and while they were eating, they talked about their day. “Didn't you get bored at home all day watching your I-pad”, his mother asked him. “No, not exactly,” Deren replied. His mother had to write a report and his father had some more work to do so Deren got up to his room and started to wait for Aunt Felicity. He was almost falling asleep when someone touched his shoulder. He looked up and saw Aunt Felicity standing beside his bed. She was much younger than he expected and was wearing a purple dress. “Time has come,” she said. “Now we are leaving”. She held Deren’s hand and they passed right through the wall and started flying towards the clouds. Then suddenly they came to a forest and Sue was waiting for them over there. “From here on you are by yourself” they said, and Deren started walking towards the castle. He had already made a plan. Since he had magic powers, he was going to sound the Space Traders alarm and ask for help. He did not have to wait long, Captain Forlan and Princess Shea arrived immediately. They knew that Deren was a great fan of their’s and they told him that they would do everything in their power to help. Deren told them about his plan. They made some slight changes but found the plan perfect. All Deren needed now was some equipment and that was no problem. They gave Deren a magneto shield and Spectrum laser gun which was powerful enough to kill a dragon. Their plan was simple but it needed a lot of skill and courage. Captain Forlan and Princess Shea would attack the main gate of the castle with their magneto-mobile and try to lure the flying dragons towards the forest. In the meantime Deren, with his magic skills would enter the castle from the roof. Everything started as planned. The flying dragons guarding the castle went after the magneto-mobile and tried to destroy it with flames from their mouths. Captain Forlan and princess Shea were fighting back with their Spectrum laser cannons. It was a very fierce fight. When Deren saw that all of the dragons were going after his friends, he flew to the roof and entered the castle through the attic window. He was trying not to make any noise as he approached the room of the mother witch. He slightly opened the door and saw the guardian dragon looking out of the window, trying to figure out what was going on outside. He saw the diary laying on the table, just as Sue had described it. He took a step towards the table but suddenly the dragon turned towards him. He could see its huge red eyes and sharp teeth even in the dark. The dragon threw a flame ball towards him, but Deren was able to stop it with his magneto shield. However, the force of the flame ball made him fall down just as another flame ball passed right over his head. He quickly drew his spectrum laser gun and shot at the dragon. The dragon fell down with a great noise. Deren picked up the diary from the table and was out of the room in a flash. He ran to the attic as he heard the dragon running after him. He flew back to the forest and sent a message to Captain Forlan and princess Shea that the mission was over and they could get back to their duties in space. Sue and Aunt Felicity were waiting for him. When Deren gave Sue her diary, she became so happy that she started  crying with joy. Aunt Felicity hugged Deren and told him that they were very proud of what he had done and would never forget it. “Now is the time for you to go back to bed and forget about the castle”, Aunt Felicity said. Next morning Deren woke up very early but he felt very strong and relaxed. He had never felt like this for a long time. Anyway, today was match day and he had to prepare himself. There was a great crowd at the stadium. People were cheering for both teams. The players were trying their best to win the game. Last minutes were being played and both sides had not been able to score a goal. The defense player kicked the ball forward and it landed just between Deren and the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper was much closer to the ball but Deren was fast, very fast indeed. He reached the ball before the goalkeeper and kicked it to the goal. The goalkeeper touched it at the last second and changed the direction of the ball. It was going out. Suddenly the ball stopped in mid air, changed direction and went directly to the goal. His team had won the match at the last minute of the game. Every one was cheering like crazy, all of his team mates were around Deren, hugging him. Deren was very happy indeed, he had been able to score a victory goal for his team. Then he raised his head and saw Sue, standing behind the goal. She winked at him then smiled, holding the magic wand in her hand.

[storiesformygrandson]

THE PANTHER By Arican KURTAY It was the last minute of the championship match. The Virginia team had won a penalty kick.The crowd was cheering as their star player Deren was getting ready to make the shot.The goalkeeper was standing beside the goal post and watching every move of Deren. His nick name was ‘The Panther’ not because he had green eyes and black hair but because he could move like a panther and save almost impossible balls. In this tournament only, he had saved three penalty kicks up to now. Deren got behind the ball and ‘The Panther’ took his place between the goal posts. Deren raised his head and looked at the goal before he started running towards the ball. Suddenly ‘The Panther’ started to get bigger and bigger and covered the goal, becoming a real panther. He opened his jaws and Deren could see the sharp white teeth of the panther in front of his eyes. He tried to run away but his legs would not move, the crowd was also screaming with fear. Then suddenly he woke up. It was still dark outside. This was the second time that he was seeing this dream. He decided to go downstairs and have something to eat. Maybe he would make himself a nice omelette. He was already feeling very hungry. When he got to the kitchen his grandfather was already there, drinking his morning tea and reading some stuff from his I-pad. “Good morning Deren, why are you up so early this morning “ he asked. “I had a nightmare and couldn’t get back to sleep “ he replied. Then he started preparing omelettes, one for grandpa and one for himself. “It smells delicious” his grandpa said while pouring himself another cup of tea. “What was your nightmare about” he asked. “My favorite one is, being chased by a group of tribesmen with long spears in their hands, in the jungles of the Amazon river. I get frightened every time I see this dream and wake up soaked in sweat”. So Deren told his grandpa about the goalkeeper becoming a panther and jumping on him. “That's very interesting” his grandpa said as he was finishing his omelette. “Let me tell you what happened to me last winter in Istanbul. It was a very cold day and a cold wind was blowing from the sea. We had some leftover chicken from last evening and I decided to take it to the cats of the seaside park. There was no one else in the street as I walked the short distance to the park. While  passing in front of a building, I heard someone say, “Hey you guy with the chicken”. I was startled because there was no one else around except a black cat sitting on the wall. I looked at the cat and she said, “Yeah, I'm the one who spoke to you. Is there anyone else around carrying a bag full of chicken”. “How did you know I was carrying chicken” I asked. “Can't you see I am a cat and we can smell things”, she replied. “Well sorry, I don't see a talking cat every day so I was a bit surprised. By the way what are you doing outside in this weather, shouldn't you take shelter somewhere”. “I have just come to your world so I don't feel cold yet”. “What do you mean by another world”. “I am actually a panther in my world but when I switch worlds to come here I become a cat so that no one will notice me”. I was so surprised that I could not find anything to say at first but there was this cat talking with me and saying very interesting things. “What is your name if you have one” I asked. “When I first came here I was a kitten and a woman took me to her house. She wanted me to be her pet and started calling me ‘Cotton’. What a stupid name, me being black and cotton white, she thought it was funny. Anyway it was nice at the beginning, she was giving me all sorts of nice food and all I had to do was sleep and play with anything that moved in the house. After a while I was bored and started to miss my life in the jungle. So one day I ran away and returned to my own world. I sometimes miss the days I spent here so from time to time I visit this world also”. I was still not clear about this other world thing so I decided to ask what she meant by it. How can a panther living in the jungle come over here as a cat and speak our language. “What is this other world and how can you switch from one world to the other” I asked her. “It is very difficult for me to explain but if you want I can take you there”, she replied. “Why not, let's give it a try” I said. She looked at me with her green eyes trying to understand if I really meant it. “If you go there you can't go as a human being, you will also have to be a panther like me” she said. Now that made me think, because I was quite old and how could an old panther survive in the jungle. Anyway I decided to go on with it. “How do we get there” I asked. “We have to pass through the jungle world gate” she said, “but I have to warn you because when you get there you will have to spend at least one day before you can return to your own world, although one day in that world is just like a minute in this one, so when you get back no one will ever notice that you had gone away”. “OK, let's go Cotton” She gave me a bad look and started walking towards the seaside. I put the chicken on the wall so other cats could eat it and started following her. She got between the trees in the park and started sniffing the air until she found whatever she was looking for and stopped. “Now stand here and close your eyes, you will go first then I will follow. When you get there hide yourself and wait for me to come. Do not make any noise or other stupid things because you are going to the jungle and there is danger everywhere”. I went to the place where she wanted me to stand and closed my eyes. Suddenly I felt like I was being carried up into the sky and then being dropped down. My feet hit something hard and I fell down. I opened my eyes and everything was green around me. At first I could not understand where I was but as my vision cleared I could see the high trees and bushes around me. It was very hot and I had to hide behind the tree so I had to get up and run, but what do I see, I have huge black paws in place of my hands and I could not even stand up because I am a panther now and I have to run on my four legs. With one jump I reach the trees. Wow,  that is amazing, I could never have done it even when I was young. Then there is a sort of an explosion and Cotton comes out from the dust cloud. She is a wonderful animal, her black skin shining as she passes through the sunny part and comes to me. “Now remember this place” she says,  “because you have to be here exactly at this time tomorrow, otherwise you will not be able to get back to your world. In the meantime I will try to protect you, but in any case if you see something big, run away, it's your enemy and if you see something small, try to catch it, it's your meal”. “So what do we do now” I ask. “It is daytime now, so we have to find a place to hide, sleep and clean ourselves. We shall go hunting when it gets dark” she said. Then without another word she started running between the trees. I was having a difficult time following her and in the meantime thinking about the foolish decision I had made by coming over here. If it was possible I would want to get back to my little world immediately. Finally we reached a tree and with great ease she jumped to branch. I tried to follow but could not even touch the branch with my front legs. I felt too old for such things. I tried to climb instead and found out that it was easier than I thought. I lay down on the branch and started wondering when I would fall down if I ever could sleep. I curled my tail upwards like Cotton had done and suddenly felt very comfortable. I would not fall after all. I was smelling all kinds of things, hearing even the slightest noises and still being able to sleep. It was wonderful being a panther. After a while I heard Cotton call me. She was already under the tree. It was dark, the birds had stopped singing and all I could hear  was the noise of the leaves as the wind blew slightly. I jumped down, I think I was getting used to the idea of being a panther. I was also a bit hungry. If I were at home I might eat some pasta, but it was not possible here and as a panther I did not feel like eating anything other than meat. Cotton told me that it was not the best season for hunting so we may not be able to find any food but we had to try anyway. It was not a big problem for me because I planned to return home the next day and I could manage without food for a while. But I was thirsty and the only place with water was the river. So we started to go towards the river. There were no cups to drink water from so I had to put my tongue into the water and started licking. Suddenly I saw a big fish looking at me from the water. With one strike of my paw I was able to catch the fish. It tasted delicious, my first prey as a panther. I was very pleased with myself. Even Cotton appreciated my hunting skills. Having fed ourselves it was time to rest, sleep and cleanup again. It felt very nice being a panther I thought. We slept some more and it was almost time for me to return home to my world. Suddenly Cotton jumped up to the higher branches of the tree. I think she was not happy with something going on around us. I could also hear some voices but couldn't make up what they were. She came back down and she seemed rather troubled. “The natives are coming this way, they will hunt us if they see us, so we have to run away. I can escape but you are not as good as me and older so they can kill you. You better run to the jungle world gate and return to your own world. I had fantastic time with you and will visit you again in the near future”. I was very moved by what she said and almost felt like crying. But now I could also hear the noises made by the natives, so I started running towards my exit gate to my world. When I looked back I could see the natives with their long spears running towards me. They had spotted me and were very excited because a panther was a great catch for them. I came to the place where the jungle world gate was supposed to be and closed my eyes. I could almost feel the hands of the natives trying to catch me. Then suddenly I was gone. When I opened my eyes again I was at the park by the seaside. I was lucky because there was no one around, otherwise they would be surprised to see a man suddenly appear in front of them. When I returned home your grandma looked at me and said “Where have you been, you are smelling awful, did you sleep in the street? Come on, go clean up we have fish for dinner”. Do you think she would really believe me if I told her what happened. I still have this nightmare about the natives chasing me, so I am sure it is not a nightmare but the real thing. Deren looked at his grandpa, he was not sure if what he had told was true, but then he remembered his own nightmare, maybe he was also in the jungle himself, being chased by a real panther. “OK grandpa, let's go out and play some football” he said.