"Plunk!" By Hannah B

Splash! Splash! Boom!

It was another gloomy and rainy day in the small village where Linda Everest lived. It also happened to be the big day when she would be drowning in sadness and puddles of her own tears from taking the SAT for the fifth time already. Linda wasn’t prepared at all, mostly because she gave up from trying to rack her useless and numb brain to try to solve those devilish math problems.

“Ugh. It’s no use. Whatever.” Linda gave up for the last time just a couple of hours before the big test. Instead, she took a nice nap but woke up to the sound of her alarmed mother screaming and hitting saucepans to wake her up before she was too late to attend the test. Linda got up in a flash and bolted out the door with one shoe on, bread in her mouth, and backpack dangling off one shoulder. “I’ll be back! I’ll do my best I promise!” The rain had momentarily taken a break, the sun peeped through the grey clouds, and Linda really thought and hoped that this was her lucky day to finally get a decent score on this test.

“Oh my goodness. I better hurry. Go go go!” Linda was nervous and full of anticipation as she ran full speed to the test center. As she was crossing a bridge that was on the way to the test center, Linda suddenly stopped. It had started pouring again and she had to take shelter somewhere because she refused to get soaked when she didn’t have to. As she found shelter under the porch at a nearby café, Linda went into deep thought. She really didn’t want to take this dumb test and lower her self-esteem, already knowing how unintelligent she was. Full of sadness, frustration, and contrasting feelings about her own self and whether she should take this test or not, she suddenly bolted out from under the porch and ran straightforward. After running towards the opposite direction of the test center, she stopped under the pouring rain and desperately cried out, “I don’t want to do it! I want to leave here!” After crying out her wish, Linda stepped forward into a puddle and sank in it. “Plunk!”

She appeared out of a big fountain with the sun shining brightly down on her. Then in a blur, several hands grabbed her and pulled her out. She was startled and could only see the outlines of the men who had pulled her out. Linda looked around and noticed that the men were strangely dressed, had ferocious facial hair, and mean, savage looking eyes. They spoke old English and it was hard for her to understand them but she figured out that they thought of her as some sort of alien for they started poking and tugging at her modern clothes and watch, making some “oooo”s and “aaaahh”s.  The men blindfolded her and took her to their home. After being stripped of her belongings, they took off the blindfold and Linda could see the ancient place. Based on her observations, she soon figured out that she was in a foreign land, maybe world. Everything was different, but strangely, Linda came to like the land she landed in. She came to befriend the men who captured her and learned their way of life on the alien land; she also taught them the modern English language and some basic math and science that hadn’t yet been discovered. Coming to enjoy the free, simple environment and the never-ending flow of enjoyable time, where she could do as she pleased, never having to stress about school or college-entrance exams, Linda didn’t want to leave, although she knew she had to.

 She suddenly missed her mom, friends, and her warm, familiar room. Earnestly wishing for rainfall, for she knew that was her ticket back, she cried and cried, hoping to fall into her own tears and return back to her land and era. When nightfall came about, Linda fell asleep with swollen eyes. In what seemed like a couple minutes, she awoke to the sound of hearing the ringing of metal right against her ears. Waking up in panic, Linda found herself face to face with her own reflection in a grey colored, hazy mirror that looked worn out and stained. Freaked out she yelled, “AAAHHH!!” Then she looked up and locked eyes with a familiar pair of brown eyes that belonged to her mother. Startled, she realized she was back and that she had a test to take care of. Linda gathered her things and again, ran out into the pouring rain.