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Script for Stop-Motion by Lincoln

In the works writing project:

Ring! Ring!         

                                                            Sushi Man       

 “Huh? What? Oh yeah, I have a job.” Walks into the bathroom. Gets in the shower. “La da de la da daa.” Gets out of the shower whips on a towel looks in the mirror fixes his hair. Goes into the kitchen. Eats breakfast and goes to work.

 

                                                            

                                                   

The Magical Cat by Fuyu M.

 

Hello! I would like to tell you a story about a girl and a cat. Whenever Lucy was walking back from school, she would try to feed the cats. But they would scratch her and bite her, so she started to hate cats. One day when she was walking back from school, she started to throw rocks at the cats, but then this black cat stunned her. The next thing she knew, she was getting dragged by the cat into a big and bright forest. She was shocked at the sight she was seeing. She thought this would be stupid to ask what was going on, but she did so.
“Um.. little cat? Why are you dragging me in this forest that I have never been in before?”
The cat said, “What you did to my cats is very mean, and do you want to get out of this forest?”
“Yes!”
“You need to do a task that will take you a week to complete.”
“But that is too long!!!”
“Do you want to get out of this forest?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, then let’s get to my house, and I will provide you with something to eat.” When they got there, Lucy was amazed at how big the cat’s house was. It was like a mansion. When they went in, Lucy gasped.
“This is my house,” said the cat.
“Oh my gosh! It’s so big, and it smells good here!”
“Yes. I am not an ordinary cat. I am a cat that can speak, cook, play instruments, and dance.”
“WOW.”
“I will show you around.”
“Ok!” So the cat showed Lucy around. When they got to her room, Lucy asked,
“What is your name?”
“My name is Mia.”
“That’s cute!”
“Let me introduce you to your room.” Lucy’s room was a very big room. When Mia was making Lucy dinner, she sat down on the biggest sofa there was. When dinner was ready, Lucy scrambled to the dinner table and ate as fast as she could.

Mia reminded, “You shouldn’t eat too fast. And what’s your name?”
“Lucy.”
“Nice name!”
“Thanks, Mia!” After they were done eating, they watched a little TV and went to bed. The bed was so comfortable that Lucy fell asleep right away.

Chapter 2
When Lucy woke up, she went straight to breakfast. It was pancakes for breakfast. They were delicious. After she was done, she asked, “What are we gonna do now that we ate?”
“We are going to practice Archery.”
“Cool, but why Archery?”
“That is the task you are going to be doing. You are going to be in a tournament. You have to win in Archery, or you will have to stay in this land forever.”
“Oh, no! Well, I do like it here. But I need to get back to my family. Wait! That reminds me! My parents are probably REALLY worried about me!!”
“ Lucy, this world takes no time at all. When you get back, people are still going to be walking from school.”
“Oh.”
“Yes.”
“ Cool!!!”
“So even if I live here for hmm… Maybe a year? Will it still be the same?”
“Yes”
“Well…” Later that day, Mia was teaching Lucy archery.
“Ugh! I just need to get that bullseye!
“It takes practice to get a bullseye.”
“Ok, I’ll try one more time.
“SCHTUCK!!
BULLSEYE!!!
“I knew you would get one someday.”
“Oh, I’m so happy.”
“Let’s take a break, Lucy.”
“Ok! Mia?”
“Yes?”
“Can I touch you?”
“Yes”
“Oh my gosh.” YOUR SO SOFT!!!”
“I am the softest cat in this world.”
“Wow, Mia! What is this place called?”
“The Green Land.”
“Why– Ohhh. I get it! This world is all green!”
“My, it’s getting late. Let’s go inside and eat.”
“Ok.” After they ate, Lucy asked,
“Why are you wearing that necklace?”

Chapter 3

Mia explained why.
“So if it falls off, you will become a normal cat? And if I put it back on, you will be magical again?”
“Yes. Try it out! But put it back on.”
“Ok.” Lucy took the necklace off. Mia sat there for a second. Then she started to meow like she was very mad. She put it back on immediately, and once again, she sat there and said,
“What did I do?”
“You started to meow like you were very mad!”
“That’s normal.”
“Ok. I got scared for a moment.”
“We should practice Archery.” They walked to the valleys where they normally practice.
“Ok, I need a bullseye this time.”
“SCHTUCK!!”
“YES!!!” Lucy got a bullseye five times in a row.
“Lucy. This is telling me that you are in a high level in Archery. You will win.”
“You mean it?”
“I don’t mean it. I know it. I can see in your future that you will win.

To Be Continued…

Triple C: The Marble MysteryBy Zuri L

Triple C: The Marble Mystery
By Zuri L.
CHAPTER 1

“Beep! Beep!” My alarm went off. It was time to go to Costa Rica! I wanted to jump out of bed in excitement, but I was too tired. A few minutes later, I got dressed and brushed my teeth. Out in the hallway, everyone in my family was rushing to finish packing. Then I noticed I was really hungry. So I went downstairs and asked for breakfast. As it was being made, I turned on the TV to my favorite channel. “Noooooooooooo!” I thought. The shows that were on were for babies, like always in the mornings. Since I had nothing else to watch, I just turned the TV off.
“Breakfast is ready!” my mom said. It was oatmeal, one of my favorites.
“Thanks,” I replied.
As I ate, there was so much noise. The weighing of bags, packing, others’ breakfast! And to think, there were only three people going on the trip (my mom, my dad, and me)!
After about an hour, we drove to the airport.
“When are we going to be there?” I asked.
“In about thirty minutes,” said my dad.
It felt more like thirty days. Then, we finally made it to the airport.
I wanted to get in the airport but then got held up. It was stupid to think that weighing and dropping off the bags that would be coming to Costa Rica would be fast, considering the fact that my mom always packed a lot extra on vacations. So we had to take a lot of stuff out of the suitcase–even a coat!
“Mom, Costa Rica is going to be one of the hottest places for a vacation we have ever taken. Why did you bring a coat?” I asked.
“You never know if we might need it,” she said.
I knew that no one was going to need it, or any of the others that were still coming on the trip. Anyway, we walked in the airport.
Oh, how I oddly loved the airport. The Delta airlines terminal in Atlanta was huge! The noises, the signs, the size–it was amazing!
“I am not looking forward to the long line,” I said.
“Oh, we don’t have to do that,” said my mom.
I followed my parents to a line that we have never been in before. Only two people were in line with us!
“Wow, we get to go in this line! Cool.”
It would make sense if I had asked why we got to go in a special line, but I was overtaken with thrill. After the line, we had to do all the boring things at the airport, like going to the security line to get our bags and clothes checked for things that were not allowed on the plane, plus walking a lot. Still, it was all worth it for my favorite part of the airport. THE SHOPS!!!! I bought M & M’s and Hershey’s bars to eat on the plane. I mean, they are some of the best chocolate morsels on the planet! I loved them so much. I decided to start eating them as we sat, waiting to take off on the best vacation ever!
As I ate and played Super Smash Bros Ultimate, I noticed a mysterious looking girl about my age. She was maybe ten or eleven. In her hands, there were shiny objects that looked like glowing marbles. “Are those really marbles?” I thought to myself. She was wearing clothes that looked like they were made straight from the forest or an interesting Halloween costume.
“Ruby! It’s us!” my cousin Ellie yelled. My three awesome cousins ran to me.
“OMG, I missed you guys!” I said.
My cousins Amber and Nate came. They were going to come with us to Costa Rica.
“Hey, Guys!” said my uncles. We all hung out together.
“Ruby,” said Nate, “I was worried that we would have a different scheduled flight than you.”
“Me too,” I said. “So anyway, are you excited to go to Costa Rica?”
“Duh!” said Ellie.
“Everyone going on the nine o’clock flight to Costa Rica, get in line,” said the man in charge of getting everyone aboard. We got in line.
“Ugg. Don’t you hate the fact that these lines take forever,” said Ellie.
“Who doesn’t?” Amber said.
As we waited, The mysterious girl went straight onto the plane.
“Hey guys, did you see that!” I said.
“Yeah, and the last time I checked, there is no VIP pass for getting on the plane quicker than everybody else,” Nate said. “Should we tell security over there?”
“I don’t think so. What if we were wrong?” I said. Even though I had a gut feeling that we weren’t, it was too risky. It was finally our turn to show our tickets and get on board.
“Please show us your tickets, then you can get right on that plane,” said an employee at the airport. We showed her our tickets so that we could get on the plane.
“Did you notice how it’s always cold when you’re getting near the door to the actual plane?” said Amber.
“I actually kind of like it, but look at all those people. I guess a lot of Americans love Costa Rica,” I said.
“Who wouldn’t want to go anyway?” said Nate.
“Bruh, you’ve never even been there, but to be fair, I want to go too. Like, I really-really -really-really-really-really-really want to go,” Ellie said.
“Welcome Aboard! I hope you have a wonderful flight!” a flight attendant said to us.
“Thank you,” said my mom.
“Hey Ruby, wanna sit next to me,” Eillie said.
“Sure,” I said.
“Can I sit with you all, too?” asked Amber.
“Of course,” replied Eillie.
“Hey, want to watch the same movie at the same time?” I asked.
“Sure,” Amber said.
“Let’s watch the one about the girl and space robot that turns into a car!” exclaimed Eillie. “I think it was called Bumblebee.”
“K, I love that movie!” I said. “Do you want to watch it with us, Nate?” I had to yell a little since he was across from us in a different row, sitting next to my uncles, Fred and Mark.
“Ok, sure!” We all searched for Bumblebee on our little airplane screens.
“Ok, on three, we press the button to start the movie,” said Nate. “One, two, three!” we pressed the buttons.
“Commander, we’re under attack! Get the troops,” said the main character in the movie. I looked to the side, then froze. I saw the girl from before reading a book titled… wait, what? I couldn’t see it from how far away I was. Although, it looked like a spellbook in some odd way. Then, whoosh! I saw a page glow!
“. . .Eillie, did you see that!?” I asked.
“See what?” Eillie responded.
“Uhh, nothing. Let’s keep watching the movie.” I was worried that I had gone insane! It was probably my imagination. About five hours later, we were about to land in Costa Rica.
“I can’t believe we are almost there! I have a feeling that this will be the best vacation ever!” said Amber.
“Hey, don’t jinx it,” I said. By now, I had completely forgotten about the glowing page.
“Hello, all passengers, we are about to land in Costa Rica. Please make sure that your seatbelts are completely fastened,” said the pilot. Bump bump bump bump bump bump. We were landing to begin the vacation I had been the most excited about in my life.

CHAPTER 2

The plane came to a complete stop.
“ I. Am. In. Costa. Rica. With. All. Of. You. This. Will. Be. Awesome! I said in excitement.
“I have never been on a vacation with other kids before. I’m super pumped for my first.”
“I am pumped to have a sixth person be on vacation with us,” said Ellie. The parents took down the bags. We all stood up. Getting up after six hours felt amazing. We all walked down the hall of the plane.
“Thank you for riding on Delta airlines. Here you go, for being such great passengers!” The same flight attendant from before gave each of us some delta wing pins.
“Thanks!” I said.
“How long will that keep happening?” said Nate.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but who cares, we are in Costa Rica!” We walked off the plane. It felt way hotter than before. We walked over to baggage claim.
“Everybody, take your luggage.” my mom said. We grabbed our stuff. Then, my stomach growled, which made sense because I only ate M & Ms and Hershey’s on the six-hour ride.
“Hey, Mom, can we go get some food at that cafe over there?” I asked.
“Sure,” she replied.
“Me too,” said Ellie, Amber, and Nate, all at the same time. We walked over to the cafe.
“Hmm, let’s see…they have hot chocolate and croissants. Do you all want that?”
“Ok,” said Amber, “but how did you read that? It was in Spanish.”
“I learned the language,” said Mom.
“Cool!” said Nate. We sat at the table next to the airport cafe.
“Hey, when is the big taxi going to come?” asked Ellie.
“Probably soon,” said Mom. “Your dad is on the phone calling somebody to take us to the hotel.”
“Tu pedido está listo, niña,” yelled a worker at the airport café.
“Gràcias,” my mom responded. “She says our food is ready.”
“Great,” I said. My stomach grumbled again.
“That one was loud!” said Eillie.
“Stop it!” I said, laughing. Mom came back and handed us all a hot chocolate and croissants. I ate a quarter of my croissant right when it landed in my hand.
“Put the hot chocolate in the cup holders of your backpacks and hold the croissants. Mark just texted from outside that the taxi is here!” said Mom.
“Nice! It’s been long enough!” said Nate in relief. We all walked outside. Then we saw a car that looked like a really-mini minibus. It was black and shiny, almost brand new.
“Hola, I will be driving you to the Crystal Resort. My name is Randy. Do you speak Spanish or English?” asked Randy, the taxi driver.
“English. Thanks for driving us to the resort,” said my dad.
“No prob, it’s my job, anyway,” replied Randy. We stepped in the car, and it even smelled new. “Oh, you might be able to tell that the car is new…” Randy started to say.
“Called it!” I yelled.
“Wow, just wow,” said Nate, confused. “Why?”
“Cause I called it!” I said.
“Umm…ok?” Nate said, still confused. The four of us sat down next to each other in the back. Randy started driving the car to the resort.
“So, what should we do first when we get there?” asked Eillie.
“I don’t know, we will just see what happens,” Amber said.
“Ok!” said Eillie. “Hey, guys, I brought my Nintendo switch. Want to use it? I brought four controllers.”
“Awesome, let’s play,” said Nate. After about an hour of gaming and sightseeing (from the car) a lot of Costa Rica, we made it.
“You have arrived at your destination. Have a good day!” Randy dropped us off.
We walked away from the car.
“I’m excited to see our hotel rooms!” I said.
“Speaking of which, you girls get to stay in a room by yourself together!” said Mom.
“Cool!” I said.
“Yeah, cool!” said Amber. “Don’t worry, Nate, you can come to our room whenever.”
“Nice,” said Nate.
After checking in the hotel, EIllie, Amber, and I went to our room. It was gorgeous! The theme was bright yellow. It had a big screen TV, a huge closet, three beautiful beds, a couch, and a big bathroom!
“This is awesome!” said Eillie.
“For sure!” said Amber.
“I can see you like your room. Since it’s getting dark, you three should go to bed,” mom said.
“Fine,” I said. I didn’t want to. We just got there! Luckily, I had a plan.
“Ok,” said Mom.“Night, girls!” she walked out the door.
“I don’t care what she said. There is no way I’m going to bed yet.” Amber said.
“Same, and I know just what we should do,” I said. “We are going to sneak out and go to the pool.”
“What!? I don’t know. . .” Ellie started to say.
“Come on, it will be fun, Eillie!” said Amber.
“Oh, fine,” Eillie said. “I do love swimming, after all.”
“Then let’s go!” I said. We put on our swimsuits. We walked outside our room.
“We should invite Nate with us,” said Eillie.
“I know. I’m texting him instead of knocking on the door since your dads could hear us. He said he will meet us there after he gets ready,” I said.
We left the room and went down the hall. Then we pressed button number one on the elevator. As we were going down the elevator, it stopped. The mysterious girl from earlier walked inside the elevator.
“Hey, I think I saw you at the airport. My name is Ruby.”
“Hi, my name is, uhh, Margo.” replied the mysterious girl.
“Nice to meet you,” said Eillie.
“What are you all doing here on your own at 10:00?” asked Margo.
“We are sneaking out to the pool. “What about you? You seem the same age as us,” asked Amber.
“Umm, I…I was… uhh… sneaking to the pool too!” said Margo, in a sort of sketchy way.
“I guess this is a party then!” Eillie said happily.
The elevator stopped at the bottom floor, and we stepped out and walked to the pool. It was bright blue and empty. It was the middle of the night, after all. Then, we all walked into the warm relaxing pool, except for Margo. I wondered why she hadn’t, according to the fact that she said she was going to the pool.
“Hey Margo, why didn’t you get in?”
“Well, I… came down here to the pool to… read a book,” said Margo. I had a strange feeling about her.
“Wait, so you snuck out all the way to the pool in the middle of the night to read next to it?” I asked. I didn’t understand why she didn’t just read in her hotel room.
“I. . .uhh–” Margo got interrupted, probably because of her really quiet voice.
“Hey, you guys! Sorry it took so long.” said Nate.“
“No problem!” said Amber.
“CANNONBALL!” yelled Nate. He leaped into the pool and had a landing that caused water to spray everybody in and near the pool. I was completely soaked. We were all completely soaked and got water in our eyes–although being in the pool made that not so bad. It felt kind of refreshing since it was so hot outside.
“Oh, no! My book is all wet!” screamed Margo. It was the worst scream I had ever heard in my entire life.
I looked down at the book that I hadn’t noticed before. I examined it well and noticed that it was the same book that I had seen on the plane. I looked at the title. It was in a language I did not understand or had ever seen before. It almost seemed like it was not a real language at all.
“Bummer about how it got wet and all, but what language is that?” I asked.
“Oh, this? It’s, umm. . .Arctic! Yep.”
“That’s a language?” I asked, confused.
“Yes, yes, it is,” insisted Margo angrily.
“I have never heard of it before, but ok,” I said. I now had an even stranger feeling about that girl. Just being near her gave me a weird chill. So I just went back in the pool and swam with my cousins.

CHAPTER 3

At 7:00 in the morning, we woke up from the sound of yelling, which was coming from the hotel room behind ours.
“Hey, my potato is gone, George! I know that you love potatoes, which means I know that you ate my potato!”
“Bro, I did not eat your potato! I only like them when they are french fries!!!!!”
The potato fight was really annoying. I got angry. “Hey, quiet down over there, please!” I said, loud enough so that they can hear me.
“Oh, what are you going to do about it! You sound like a little kid!” said the man next door.
“If we are just little kids, then I guess that we’re just going to go tattletale on you to the staff!” Ellie said. She was really good at coming up with sick burns in situations like these.
“Uhh, oh, that won’t be necessary. We’re sorry, and we will quiet down.”
“Good.” I said, confidently.”
“Well, whether they are going to start quieting down or not, we are up. We should get dressed,” Amber said.
“Alright,” I said.
I put on a light blue swimsuit and a lace swimsuit cover. I had to be prepared, since today, we were supposed to go to an even bigger pool than last time. It was even going to have water slides and mini cabanas. After we were dressed, we brushed our hair. Buzz! Buzz! I picked up my phone. Then, I read the text that I had gotten on it.
“What does it say?” asked Ellie. “Dad said to come to the hallway when we were ready. It turns out we are having breakfast together at the buffet.”
“Yay! I love buffets!” said Eillie happily.
“That’s good,” I said. We walked outside the door in the hall. The whole family was there.
“Hey, girls. Now that everybody’s ready, let’s go,” said Uncle Mark.
Eillie, Amber, Nate, and I walked and talked about last night a lot. When we made it to the buffet, I was in shock. There were so many different kinds of food to choose from! There was bacon, French toast, pancakes, fruit, turkey, grits, coffee, orange juice, and so much more! We went to the buffet line. I picked up my plate and put some eggs, chocolate chip waffles, and orange juice. It looked delicious. The parents sat at the table in the corner of the room, as the four of us sat somewhere in the middle.
“Yum, this bacon is amazing!” said Nate.
“So is this waffle!” I said. As I took another bite from my scrumptious waffle, I felt the chill that I felt from Margo yesterday, which meant…
“Hey! I can’t believe I found you all here. It seems like we keep running into each other a lot.”
“There is an extra seat at our table. You can sit next to us!” said Nate.
“Thank you,” replied Margo, in a very fake voice.
“I will be right back to you all. I have to empty my plate.” I said.
“ Okay,” Margo said.
As I was getting up, I noticed that she was holding the marbles that I had seen her holding on the plane. Also, they were still glowing! I was a little freaked out and started denying the thought that I was hallucinating. What if it was just electronics? Yeah, it had to be electronics. Anyway, as I walked to the trash can to throw away my food scraps, my foot went in front of my other foot automatically. It seemed like someone invisible moved my leg in front of me. I tried to balance my arms so that I didn’t fall, but that didn’t work. I went crumbling to the ground. As I tried to get up from the horrible fall (that luckily didn’t hurt me), I noticed that the last of my orange juice had spilled all over my swimsuit cover! Everyone in the restaurant stared at me. It was humiliating. On top of that, I was still mostly wet from the orange juice spill. Margo’s eyes felt like they were looking straight into me. Eillie ran to me.
“Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yeah, I am,” I replied. Although, I was just humiliated in front of a new country of people, so I didn’t really know. I went to the bathroom to get napkins. Eillie went there, too, to help me get all the orange juice off.
“That was crazy. I never meant to move my leg like that. It almost felt like, how do I put this, someone made my leg do that,” I said, truthfully.
“Ruby, did you fall on your head just now ‘cause you’re talking crazy talk,” said Eillie. She handed me another napkin.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I said. “That would be impossible.” After a few minutes, we got most of the juice off. We walked back to the table.
“Are you ready to go to the pool now!” said Nate.
“Hold up. We just cleaned up all the orange juice for nothing!” I said, upset, but at the same time, joking.
“Kinda, yeah,” Nate replied.
“Ok, ok,” I said.
“Hurry up!” said Dad.
“We’re coming!” said Amber.
“Margo, we are going to the pool, which means we have to go. Nice having breakfast with you!”
“Wait! I was actually going to the pool, too,” said Margo, nervously.
“Really? That’s great! Let’s walk together,” said Amber, in a high pitched, excited voice.
Everyone seemed to be happy that she was coming with us, but me. She was just really sketchy to me, and everything she said felt like a lie. But hey, I wasn’t going to let that ruin my day at the pool!
“We’re ready. Let’s go,” said Eillie. We walked out of the hotel. It was beautiful outside, despite the small grey cloud right over the whole resort. We walked, and we talked.
“What do you think the pool will be like?” I asked.
“Probably like a water paradise!” said Nate.
“Ooh, what if it has a french fry station and a separate mini ketchup station!” said Amber.
“Now, that would be awesome,” I said. All this french fry talk made me hungry.
“Yep,” said Margo.
I looked up. We were at the pool, which turned out to be way bigger than I had expected. There were even way more slides than I expected. It was technically a water park.
We all immediately took our swimsuit covers off and went in the pool. SPLASH! The water was so refreshing, according to how warm it was outside. I looked around, and the place was packed! Then, I looked up higher, way, way higher, and noticed the biggest water slide I had ever seen. It was red and yellow, twisting and turning all the way to the pool. At that moment, I knew I had to slide down it.
“Look at that big water slide over there! We should slide down it,” I said.
“Wow, that is big. Let’s do it!” said Eillie.
“Umm, I’m afraid of heights, so I will just play with my marbles,” said Margo. She took out marbles that always look like they are glowing.
“Wow, cool marbles, Margo!” said Ellie in astonishment. “Thanks,” said Margo. “You sure you don’t want to go on the slide with us?” Amber asked Margo.
“Yes! Now go already! said Margo annoyed, like she was when I questioned her yesterday.
“Geez, okay!” said Amber, also annoyed, but because of Margo’s behavior.
The four of us went to the slide. We climbed the steps that led to a big patio. There was a lifeguard up there and no line.
“Wanna do the water train?” asked Nate.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s when we all slide in a line. One person goes down, then the next person counts to three and goes down, and so on and so on,” said Nate. “It’s really fun.”
“Sounds like it,” I said.
Nate jumped in the huge slide. One, two, three! I was about to slide down, but then, Toot! The lifeguard blows his whistle. He shook his head.
“Nobody can go down till the other person is all the way down,” said the lifeguard.
“Oh, ok, sorry,” I said. It was true that I was sorry, but I wished there was a way for us to do the water train.
“Hey, kid, your turn,” said the lifeguard.
“Ooh, yay!” I said excitedly.
I took a deep breath, then yeeted myself down the slide. Whoosh! The water flowed, going down the slide with me. Twists, turns, and…Plop. I fell in the pool. It was way quicker than I thought it would be because the slide looked so big. I swam further and found Nate.
“Hey.” said Nate.“Hi,” I said back. I turned around and noticed that Eillie had finished her turn on the slide. She swam over to us.
“Was that awesome or what!” said Eillie.
“Umm, awesome!” I said.
“We should all go back near the slide for Amber to come down. It’s almost lunchtime, and she should probably know,” said Eillie.
“True,” said Nate. We swam back to the slide. I could hear Amber zipping down the slide. I looked far behind me and saw Margo. Her marbles glowed brighter than I have ever seen them glow. Then Amber came down the slide really fast. I went under the water and noticed that the water happened to be really low compared to the ground. I looked closer, and saw that Amber’s foot had hit the ground so hard, it was red. In my mind I panicked, but not as much as Amber did out loud. I could hear the screaming from in the water as if I was outside of it. I was scared, and I think Eillie and Nate were too. I popped my head out of the water.
“Amber, should we call the doctor!?” I asked, my voice sounded an octave higher than usual.
“Oww, first get our parents,” said Amber, with a little panic in her voice.
“Ok, hang in there,” I said. “Nate, come with me. Eillie, try to help Amber out of the pool. Nate and I ran to the cabanas as fast as we could.
“Don’t run near the pool!” said some lifeguards. We just ignored them. We made it to the cabanas and got help.

CHAPTER 4
After dinner, and the creamiest, most delicious chocolate ice cream ever, Nate, Ellie, Amber, and I sat by the pool. We watched as a large raccoon turned over a lady’s icy red drink and began devouring it beside her chair. The racoons here ate tourists’ food all the time. They were like huge, bizarre, mischievous pets of the resort. Amber’s foot was bandaged. She had to go to the nurse at the resort to get it taken care of after the accident earlier that day. I had a deep suspicion that it was no accident at all. Margo had done something to make me fall and to make Amber hurt herself, but how? She seemed determined to ruin our vacation, but why?
I just couldn’t figure out what that book and those marbles had to do with us getting hurt. It was a puzzle in my mind, and I knew I would need help to solve it. I decided to share my theory about Margo with my cousins. I was afraid they wouldn’t believe me, but I was more afraid of doing nothing and having to deal with Margo doing something even worse. A shiver went down my spine, and that weird feeling I had when Margo was around. I couldn’t let this creepy magic girl win! I remembered something about good being more powerful than evil. Just then, a loud howler monkey in a tree nearby made me jump. “Pull yourself together, Ruby,” I mumbled to myself. I took a deep breath and began talking.
“So, I think those marbles and that book have special powers, and not good ones. We have to fight back somehow.” My words tumbled out too fast. My skin was hot, my hands were clammy, and I felt like my heart was in my throat as I waited for my cousins to respond. Luckily, I could smell quesadillas cooking and was thankful for the distraction.
“I believe you,” said Nate. “Something’s up with that girl.”
“Me too!” said Amber. I know that pool felt too shallow when I hurt myself.”
“I just don’t know…” Ellie still looked incredulous, but at least she didn’t call me crazy.
“Let’s make a plan. We will have to get that book and marbles away from Margo and find out what she’s up to. Are y’all with me?”
“Yeet!!”
“Absolutely!”
“For reals!” They were all in.
I was relieved to have my cousins’ support, but I still had no idea how to stop Margo from turning the vacation of my life into a scary mystery.
“If we’re going to be private eyes and crime stoppers, we’re going to need a cool name.” Ellie was warming up to the idea.
“How about the Costa Clue Crew?” I suggested, “We could be a crime force and call ourselves the Triple C for short.”
“Perfect!” my cousins said in unison.
“I feel cool already,” said Nate.
“This is super empowering,” Amber smiled.
“Can I be in charge of our outfits?” Ellie was all in now.
I was overwhelmed but very happy to have such awesome cousins. Even though I wasn’t looking forward to taking Margo on, I believed that we could do anything together. Little did we know that we had just agreed to start the first of many missions for the CCC and that this one would be tougher than anything we could have ever imagined.