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Listen carefully as the tale unfolds,
Mr. Heng is our dear sir,
Chin Kar How is our head prefect,
Chong Han Wei is a good sportman,
Baven and Maha stick like glue,
Ang Huey Fern is quiet and simple,
As for me, the author of this piece,
So, as you have seen,
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"KABOOM!" The plane's engine exploded and burnt at once. The passengers began to panic. Suddenly, we heard the captain's voice, "Our engine has exploded. We are in the middle of South America. Our only hope is to pray. Prayers have never known to hurt," the voice trailed off. Then things became worse. The agonising screams of women and the sob of children were heard. We were told to wear our life jackets. Last of all, as the captain said, was to pray.
Our plane zoom downwards aimlessly. We held our breath to reveal our next fate. Thanks to the well-trained captain we managed to survive he found an open area and crash-landed on it. We were almost thrown off but, with the help of the firm safety belts, we only got a few bruises. We ran quickly out of the plane, expecting it to explode into pieces, but it did not.
A man was unable to hold his temper."This is outrageous! Here we are stranded in the middle of a forest, thanks to the captain's stupidity!" he bellowed. A few other passengers booed the captain. Trying to be patient, the captain said, "I'm awfully sorry, sir. But the engine damage is not my fault, and even if it is, we will not get home by losing our tempers." he continued. "So we must leave you and try to survive. Come on, we will leave this dumb captain and hope a lion will pounce on him," the man shot back and began to stride off with some passengers following him.
Most of the passengers left, leaving the captain behind. Only a few others and I stayed behind with the captain who buried his face in his hands. "You better go," he said. I said gently, "Sir, we understand and don't blame it on you." The others agreed and the captain's face brightened. "Thanks. From now on, we will work as a team." he said. We cheered.
We managed to live by picking wild berries for food and drink from the nearby stream. However, nothing was ever easy-going. So was my adventure, when my friend, Freddy Wilkins who was taking a solo vacation like me, died in a tragedy when a cobra bit him. We could only watch helplessly as he battled with death.
One day, our captain decided that we couldn't go on living like that. He went in the damaged plane, hoping he could find something that could save us. Full with hope, I decided to go with him too. We rummaged through the things in the plane.
Much later, we found a broken radio wireless in the cockpit. Unfortunately, some of the important parts were lost. Nearly crying from disappointment, I continued my search, suddenly I saw a walkman on the floor. I tested it finding it was useless too. As I was about to smash it in anger, the captain gave a yell. Quickly, he told me that maybe some components of the walkman could be used for the wireless. We gathered around the captain, watching impatiently. After what seemed like a year, the captain succeeded in repairing the wireless. We watched hopefully as he turned the knobs. A SOS signal squealed as we rejoiced together. A few days later, a helicopter appeared and threw down a rope ladder. We climbed on it gratefully. I could only sigh in relief as the helicopter flew away from the spot.
copyright ©1999 by Thomas Ting Shee Peng
In the Year 3201, peace was scarce, especially after Doppler show up. I let out a sigh. Doppler is a famous scientist who wished to take over the world. He created an army made of robots called Maverick. The American government had decided to overcome this problem too.. by creating a new army called Reploid.
I am a Reploid. My name is Zero. Strangely, the Reploid army does not attack in barracks. Instead, they were given one mission and special weapons. " Zero! Emergency!" An anxious voice invaded my thought. " The water at a dam in Las Vegas has turned into toxic!" I sat up, shocked. I turned and saw X running. X is my best partner. We had gone through many missions and heart-stopping actions. " Is it true?" I asked. " Yes … and we are assigned to it!" X let out a whoop of joy. Sometimes I think X is too restless. "Get your Skycruiser! Now!" X cried. I quickly ran to where my Skycruiser is, which happened to be an air-bike.
We zoomed through the air. In a distance we saw a dam. Instead of pure, fresh water, the liquid, which flowed around, is toxic! " Ewww … gross!" I commented. X just shrugged. We landed on a dry place and parked our Skycruiser.
Suddenly, a gigantic robot sprang out. " Yikes! It's BX2! Watch out!" X cried. The robot shot a beam of laser. It past just right beside my head. Sweat trickled down my body. " W .. Whew. That was close," I said. X let out a bolt of energy from his cannon. The robot exploded into bits. " Let's go kick some honeybucks! Whooaa!" X let out a war cry and charged. I charged too, waving my Lightsaber, a laser sword, in the air.
We blasted and chopped dozens of robots and jumped over gaping holes. Suddenly we came to a door. The door opened and out came a robot. " I'm Toxic Seahorse. Prepare for your doom!" it announced. Toxic Seahorse blasted a green bomb, which bounced here and there. We dodged the green bomb. However, the bomb exploded in the air and broke into four pieces. " Yeow!" I cried when one piece fell on my leg. " It's acid. Beware!" I warned X. X blasted an energy called Hyper C which striked the robot right on target. The robot retreated, which made us more determined. " Yeahh!" We attacked together. " Oh nooooo!!" the robot moaned as it exploded. " Yes!" We slapped each other a high five.
Suddenly, a voice spoke. " Danger. Danger. This dam is about to explode in one minute. 59, 58, 57…" We looked at each other, shocked. The dam rumbled and shaked as the voice keep counting. "30, 29, 28…" Suddenly, the floor opened and we fell into a hole.
We landed on the ground, which got a winding passage. We can still hear the voice counting. " X, run! We can use this passage! " I cried. " Yes, but there may be a dead end!" he protested. " We have no choice! Run!" I shrieked. " 3, 2, 1!" the voice counted. We heard a roar and the ground, shook. We ran like we're chased by a million dogs. I felt the temperature rising and was shocked when I looked back, for a fire bolt was right behind us travelling at a great speed. We're doomed, I thought. There's no way we could outrun that fire bolt. Suddenly, like a ray of sunlight, something struck my head. " Kinetic Flight! X, use Kinetic Flight!!" I screamed.
For a while X looks dazed. Then, he came to his consciousness. " You're right, Zero!" Both of us pressed a button in a panel of our right hand. A few moments later, a device at our feet appeared. Kinetic Flight is a device which are able to make us fly. X and I flew through the air. Not longer, we saw the end of the passage. " Oh nooo! Oh noo!" X cried. " Why?" I asked X. " the passage … it has a dead end!" X cried.
We backed on the solid wall and faced the fire blast, which was drawing closer. I can feel the burst of heat and a whoosh of cool, night air. Did I say cool, night air? Yes, I did! I looked up and saw a gaping hole. " X, up there!" I motioned X. he saw the hole too and nodded, a look of relief on his face. Both of us flew up about a second later, the fire blast 'flew' up the hole too! " Wow … It's … it's over, Zero." X said. " Who said it's over?" a rasping voice demanded.
Both of us turned around and saw Mysterious Maverick and Byte, which were Doppler's 'assistants', which we've destroyed in an explosion. " You.. you're destroyed! How come you came to life?" I stammered. " Doppler saved us before you blow us up, " Byte told us. " We were brought back … for revenge!! " He continued as he attacked, using Shipungga, a curved laser bolt, stolen from the Reploid army. I dodged the laser and attacked. A ferocious battle broke between us. I glanced behind and saw X battling with Mysterious Maverick too, dodging his machine- gun.
I managed to struck Byte right in the middle. Byte uttered a groan as he quivered and exploded. I turned to help X, who was striking Mysterious Maverick with Super Hyper C, his strongest weapon causing Mysterious Maverick to explode.
Both of us made our way to Doppler's hideout. An automatic door opened. Suddenly came a man-like robot. " I'm Sigma. I'm Doppler's secret weapon and I was ordered to kill you, which I am going to accomplish today!" it said. Not wasting any time, X and I charged. Sigma swiped it's iron claws aimlessly. I attacked with my Lightsaber but it just clanged against Sigma's iron claws. I was suddenly paralyzed with fear as I remember Sigma could attack me with the other claw on the other hand. Sigma must have realized it too, for he slashed his claws on my body, leaving four bleeding marks even with my armor on! I knew my doom was near when he fixed his canon's target right at me.
Sigma fired and at the same time X leaped. "Noooo!!" he cried covering himself on me and the bullet strike right on target. Blood spurted out of X's mouth. He moaned and groaned. " X! X! Not you!" I cried, touched by X's action. " Z.. Zero. You're our only hope. Destroy Doppler.. destroy Sigma … uhh.. ," X stammered and closed his eyes. I stand up, tears flowing down my face. " Oh well, one down, another to go," Sigma said, grinning cruelly.
"Aaaargghh!" I let out a cry and charged at Sigma. However, I was no match for Sigma and soon end up with countless bleeding slashes on my body. " Take your time, Zero. Maybe I should stretch your life for one more minute, don't you agree?" he let out a cruel laugh and bring down the deadly claws on me.
Suddenly, a bolt of energy came from behind Sigma. "X … you're still alive!!" I ran to X. " This is my last shot … Zero. Destroy him. Quick, for this may be the last time I help you.." " X!" I couldn't say anything for I was so touched with his speech. " Quick.. Zero. Strike now." I saw Sigma getting up. With a cry of anger, I ran and struck my sword at him. Sigma fell to the ground again. I let out a triumph cry as I stabbed my sword right into Sigma's chest, which made it exploded.
Not long later, X was safely in the ambulance. Police and soldiers were looking around, checking for any sign of robots. I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked away from this cursed place.
Far away in space, Dr. Doppler was screaming in his lab for the defeat. " Impossible! How can I lose so many times?" Then, he smiled. " We'll meet again, X and Zero! And this time, I'll win!"
Typed by Ong Juin Hau
copyright ©1999 by Thomas Ting Shee Peng
The Day When Everything Went Wrong
I woke up, finding that my whole body ached for I have slept in an awkward position the night before. To make things worse, I was late for school and had to gobble down my breakfast and drink my milk straight from the carton. Then I ironed my clothes, only to find that the iron was not working. I had to go to school, wearing that crumpled shirt and praying that no one will notice as I was soon forced to change my prayers as I heard the school's bell ringing a good distance away. I tried to sneak in, but two 'school police' caught me and my name was taken down in their notebooks.
Reluctant to argue, I obediently went to my classroom, only to find that my table had been 'tablenapped'. All my friends began to giggle and soon the whole class was filled with laughter after taking a glance at me. However, my teacher who looked as black as thunder did not join. He sent me on a mission to find a table. Unfortunately, neither the next class nor the next had a spare table. Finally, I had to sneak a table out of the storeroom and dragged it three floors up! My arms and legs were tired when I accomplished my mission.
Thankfully, the next three lessons went smoothly. Before I knew it, it was recess time. I bulldozed my way through the sea of pupils and ordered a plate of fried beehoon mee and a cup of Milo. However, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my pocket money to school. Helplessly, I explained this to the canteen hawker who looked at me as if I were from another planet, probably because she had never seen someone so stupid. I quickly looked for for my friends to borrow some money.
My next lesson was Science so we raced down to the science lab. I turned as white as a ghost as I realised I had forgotten to bring some seeds for an experiment. Anger was not enough to describe my friends but murder was the word, after they found out that five marks were deducted from our group's work. Their lecturing lasted till the end of the day.
I staggered home and after taking a bath had only carrots and brinjals for lunch as our rice cooker was faulty. I gagged as my mother forced me to eat the vegetables. After that, I decided to play computer games but I was so tired that I drifted to dreamland. Soon I was awakened by my mother's ear-deafening lecture for leaving the computer on and before I could respond to her nagging I had to rush to my BM tuition and there I was ticked for not doing my homework. After hours of boring lectures, I fled quickly from my tuition class gratefully.
Soon, it was dark and I landed on my bed with a sigh of relief, thinking about the worst day in my life.
6 Cempa 99 / SK Batu Lanchang / last revised 07 October, 1999
