Bay window or food stand Winding staircase or roller coaster Slanted roof or ski hill Fancy oven or industrial toaster

Empty paper towel role or rival to Excalibur A house trained puppy or prize winning race horse A drain pipe or a fire man pole A picket white fence or an obstacle course

Large pink oak or jungle gym A well planted garden or a mud bath Back porch railing or Olympic balance beam A tire swing or a tornado of wrath

What could be more grand than a nice house That’s never been used for anything less than grand Never a time the fun is doused Only great things happen on our land

“Oh well that’s just wonderful; I didn’t even know those entrances had doors.” I panicked as more entrances were blocked by the steel doors slamming in their place. Let me start a little further back to catch you up. My name is Maggie, I’m 17 and I take ballroom. I know it’s ridiculous right? But in one guess anyone would know who put me up to it. My Mother. It’s classic but it’s not as bad as I originally thought. I live in one of those towns where we do things like cotillion and balls so it happens to be convenient for me. But even though the actual class isn’t so bad, I can’t say the same for the people. Two words. Jake Samuels. It’s so cliche that it hurts. He’s my childhood besty turned frenemy. And of course as per the cliche I don’t even really know what happened. And now the one day I show up to class early ... guess who’s there too. There’s like a one minute slot for us to exchange death stares before the doors start slamming shut. By themselves! And then metal doors slam down on entrances I hadn’t even realized had doors. You’d think such a large ballroom would be difficult to barricade. Nope. We’re totally locked in. What’s going on? Why would someone lock us in here? WHO would lock us in here? This is crazy! But the craziest thing is that Jake doesn’t even look surprised! He looks... calm and ... even a little exasperated. I glare at him and in response he smiles. “So the weathers nice, no?”

I glanced at my partner over the little wall on the roof I’d positioned myself on top of. I waited...5..4..3..2..1...and Go! I jumped the two stories with a swift tuck and roll. As I bounced back up I was already diving a mid swing attack from one Jackal’s minions. I then pulled back and gave him a good right hook in the jaw;hard enough to knock him out. I glanced at Jesse to see how she was fairing fighting off three guys; two armed and one brick wall of muscle. She’d just disarmed one and chucked the brick wall at the second armed guy. I twirled into a side kick in the gut of the guy that just tried ramming into me from the left. Then I twisted back around to ram my knee where it hurts at the guy thinking he could come up behind me and remain unharmed. To finish him off I grabbed the back of his neck and slammed his head into my knee and knocked him out. When I saw that Jesse had the rest taken care of I headed up to the metal staircase at the side of the building to go after Jackal himself.

When I walked into the room that appeared to be some sort of office I was surprised to see Jackal twist around in the spinning chair. He didn’t appear to be ready for a fight.

“Ahh I assume you’ve taken care of my men. I figured you would but it took you approximately three minutes longer than I expected.” I glared at him, “ We’ll did you count the time it takes to take two flights of stairs.” “Yes, I did indeed.” I rolled my eyes. Small talk with bad guys never really was my thing. “All right Jackal lets just cut to the chase already.” “Ahh always so impatient.” I growled at him. I then rushed to the side to gain momentum from the brick wall and flipped into a tackle. Only, I didn’t hit Jackal... I hit the floor ...hard. I got up rubbing my side and saw Jackal - flickering... I slapped my hand to my face feeling my stupidity sting. Jackal was using a hologram.

What’s it going to be what will you choose And the duckling looked up at Mama goose It thought for a moment then for a while It thought about who truly cared for it’s smile

Mama goose was all he’d ever known up till then, as a mum Until he’d met Mama duck who showed him family and then some It wasn’t a hard choice he’d never felt he belonged with his brother geese But with his new found family of ducklings he wasn’t ugly in the least

You come tonight Or nought at all You come this nightfall Or you’re regret, will bite

I’v given over my inner thoughts I’v told you my wishes and dreams I now know you’re not what seems And now all that talk was for nought

I’m giving you this opportunity To apologize,to explain To beg my forgiveness-in plain Or you’d best except This disunity

Now is your last time to make it right or prance Prance Away to do more wrong Which, for you, I don’t think will take long Apologize make it right;Now is your last chance

Finally I walk into the experimentation room with a facade of confidence. I then approach the subject. Dana Marcello: Age: 18. height:5,3. weight: 130. Parents: deceased. Mental conditions: Unspecified. I look at the last one with a spark of hope and a little anticipation. Perfect.

“Hello Dana, my name is Dr. Chesh and I’ll be speaking with you today.”

“Oh, speaking,” she says sarcastically,” Is that what they call it nowadays,” she asks the wall behind her with a serious but snarky face.

I smile. “Ms. Marcello your mad; absolutely bonkers, but I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are.”

I was almost done for good. I’d written my goodbyes and everything. Nah I’m just kidding; I’m not that sentimental. But I Was almost done. I glanced at the two long healed cuts on my arm and ran a little faster anticipating the next one as if it were about to come in the next second. Which it might’ve... I’d been running for three weeks ever since I got a second slice on Steel’s arm.

Let me explain: Steel and I have been at each other’s throats, literally, since we were in preschool. I mean the teachers had to remove the safety scissors from our grasps. And then remove our fingers from each other’s throats. (Like I said;at each others throats.) Anyways as we got a little older we moved up from safety scissors to pocket knifes at summer camp. Why our parents thought it might be a semi-okay idea to send us to the same camp, I have no clue, but regardless we both made it out alive,..barely. That summer was when it began actually. You know how some kids play Rock Paper Scissors for three rounds. Well we just played scissors for three rounds. She caught me off guard when I was collecting wood and got a slice on my arm. As I looked at her in shock she smirked and said, “One for me, but be careful because three strikes and your out.” So now for the questions: Did I tell anyone she cut me? No, because then I’d never win. And there’s also the fact that it’d be hard to prove considering we’re both considered a little wild...if you know what I mean. Why have we always been at each other’s throats? I’m not exactly positive and I don’t recall everything we’ve fought about but I have my theories. One being...You know how some people have kindred spirits and their souls just connect... so we’re the opposite of that, I guess. When did I get my first slice on her? That summer at camp just like her. How did I get my second slice on her? Well I’d heard she got a job in advertising and I set up an ‘interview’ to make a pitch and when I was able to catch her off guard I slid the sharp pin Attached to the brooch I’d worn on my suit for the ‘interview’ across her arm. Now she’s after me for a third and final strike. But the problem is I still don’t know what she meant that day “third strike and your out.” Will the third strike be on my arm with the others or will it be my throat this time?! What did she mean when she said ‘your out?’

I’d been playing with the buttons on the hospital bed in hopes of finding a comfortable setting. Well...no such luck. I’d also been hoping not to wake up my ‘roommate.’ She appeared to be a pretty deep sleeper but I think my noisy talents could rival her deep sleeping any day or night for that matter. Just when I thought I might settle to go to sleep my ‘roommate’ started- Well, I don’t know what, but it sure wasn’t deep sleepin. She started tossing frantically, right and left, right and left. I was just about to get up to get a nurse when I heard her begin to mumble... “No,no it wasn’t me... not this time and not last time...please don’t send me there...it’ll be easier..for him...to get in my head again...no ..no” And then she stopped tossing and began shivering until finally she was at peace again. Or at least she looked at peace on the outside. Who knew what was going on, on the inside.

My mind was whirling with the possible meanings of what she said and I came up pretty much blank. I just hoped she wasn’t actually some psycho that I’d need to worry about in my sleep.

                        * * *

“Hey, good morning,” I greetd my ‘roommate’ when she blinked open her eyes. She startled for a minute, as if I was the one giving her nightmares. Then she looked at me and gave a little smile. “Sorry I wasn’t expecting that. I guess you just startled me a little.” “ Yeah, wouldn’t be the first time you’d be shaking scared in that bed,” I mumbled. “What did you say,” she asked a little nervous. “Nothing...just that you didn’t seem to be sleeping so peacefully last night is all.” “Oh that, that’s normal, everyone gets nightmares right, you know..” she said too quickly. I realized this wasn’t the best breakfast topic and we would be roommates for the time being so I should probably ask her name or something. “ Hey I’m Annabel, what’s your name?” I asked her in attempt to transfer to a little bit of lighter talk. A look of relief crossed her face before she said, “ Hi, it’s nice to meet you formally, I’m Marionette.”

                    * * *

The nurses forgot to restock the waters in our rooms mini fridge so I was left to fend for myself. Of course only I would get hiccups at 3 am and need some cold water to heal up my throat. I was hiccuping down the hall to the kitchen when I saw a shadow round a corner. I followed and then freaked when I saw a person. Because why would a shadow mean there was a person there, of course. Sometimes I thought I scared myself. Well, at least my hiccups went away. Now...what was Marionette doing here?

                    * * *

I didn’t expect to see anyone in the hall at this hour. It was 3am and I thought I’d just seen her sleeping back in our room. And here she was...at 3am...in the hall...staring at - Dang that was creepy! She was staring at a painting of a puppet. I didn’t want to scare her so I started to walk over slowly... And then I slowed down when I realized that she was talking to the painting. “I did what you said,” she sniffled wiping away tears I couldn’t see earlier. “OKAY! So just leave me alone okay!” “please,?”She asked in a meek voice that I wouldn’t have heard if not for the pin drop silence in the hospital dorms at 3am. I was just about to snap her out of this messed up daze when my own eyes began to play tricks on me. I SAW THE PUPPET MOVE! AND THEN TALK! It readjusted it’s position on the wooden stool in the painting and then sort of came a little out of the painting to come close to her ear. I didn’t hear what it whispered but her reaction was enough to tell me that it wasn’t good. She began to tear and sob a little. “But..but.. I did what you said,” she repeated pointlessly and then trailed off whatever else she planned on saying. Her eyes began to swirl black and white like some illusionists spinner and then her movements became jerky. It was almost like she was-

    A PUPPET

Most everyone gets a little overwhelmed sometimes Most everyone thinks there are times that they’ll break Most everyone has tough experiences and challenges they think they just can’t take

A girl like other girls Going through a regular hard time she’ll be okay She knows it’ll pass But still wouldn’t trade her thoughts for a dime Her thoughts that run wild Her thoughts far from the happiness of a child Her thoughts that push her to a place of defense and denial The whirlwind of confusion consumes her But soon her vision will be clear of pain Soon she’ll be back to what was Soon the anxiety will pass And life will almost feel the same As before The trouble The struggle The hurt And torment Her mind will stop playing tricks And her heart will no longer lament

Connection from birth Not an option, no choice in the matter An easy close bond That has, but is not formed by laughter

There’s fun there’s pain There’s trust there’s hurt There’s the times they’ll be patient And the times they’ll be curt

At first they’ll listen intently And put it all on the fridge But soon you’ll reach a limit And you won’t reach them Without a bridge

You’ll be at a point when you are responsible for your decisions You might presume to expect derision There may be a crash, a misunderstanding collision You may leave them with discontent You may leave them with indecision

They won’t understand how you came to your conclusions You might be misunderstood and left to seclusion They may view your thoughts as allusions Feel your truths as intrusions They won’t care much for your thoughts, your solutions They’ll see a teenager, a rebel and they’ll think revolution