The worst winter break ever…
Discovery College, Ellen Gasser, Fiction: Group 2
T
his is the worst winter break ever! My name’s Valerie, I’m ten and a twin sister. I know
what you are all thinking, awesome! You guys can talk to each other through telepathy.
But I’ll tell you, it’s nothing like that at all with Vanessa. It could be, but it’s not. Ever
since we’ve been small, Vanessa has always done everything better than me. I have wavy
black hair, and emerald green eyes. Vanessa has straight blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She is
everybody’s darling and everyone just ignores me. So, that’s why she became my worst nightmare.
Since our parents are rich, every time Vanessa wins something like a spelling competition,
she get’s to pick a gift. This time she wanted to go to the Gobi Desert because she wanted to learn
about their traditions. Anyways, now we’ve landed, this is just sad. “Valerie, hurry up! Don’t keep
us waiting!” My “mother” calls out. “Whatever!” I call.
“Valerie!” “I’m coming.” I pack up my stuff and leave.
First we had to take a bus and a rough camel ride until we arrived at the hotel. I realized it
wasn’t much of a hotel. Instead there were small dumpy beige houses or tent things. I hated it.
At least I had one tent to myself. I thought we would get time to settle in, meaning eating and
sleeping, but no. Immediately after we unpacked we had to go to “explore!” We trekked from our
tents to sand dunes. Away from civilization. Yay! Exactly what I wanted. NOT.
My family were somewhere behind me, while I had my phone whipped out in front of me,
looking for network. I turned around, hugging myself because of the cold. Instantaneously, my
eyes widened. My family wasn’t there anymore. The temperature seemed to have dropped a few
degrees; it was terribly cold. I was alone, no one, not even Vanessa was anywhere in sight. I
turned around again, running towards the place I had last been.
By now, I had no idea where I was. Had I come from the left? Or the right? My heartbeat
quickened, so fast it pained my chest. My eyes started to water. No, I would not let that happen.
“Valerie?” I knew that voice. Dad! I got up and hugged him. “Where did you go? Vanessa and your
mother returned to the tent.” He said hugging me back. We turned and stared at the ground in
front of us. There was a shadow. It was big, and fat, its head was very small but wide, there were
small, blunt horns on top of it, yet we both couldn’t recognize what it was. Dad looked down at
me, signaling for me to be quiet.
I heard it creep forward. It’s footsteps making a terrible noise, giving us more evidence that
the creature would be heavy or fat. Suddenly, the footsteps were lighter, as if it lost weight. I
turned around abruptly, only to gasp at what I saw. This creature was Vanessa.
The blood drain from my cheeks, my eyes widened even more. Vanessa swaggered towards
me, “I don’t need you. No one cares about you, no one at all.” She hissed. A lone tear fell down
my cheek. Dad turned around now. I looked up at Vanessa and blinked, she wasn’t there anymore.
There, stood a huge green, king cobra. What had just happened? The cobra slithered hissing
slightly towards dad. I turned a bit, and looked it straight in the eyes. Its form flickered. There
stood Vanessa, wait, the cobra, no, Vanessa. What was this awful creature?
“Valerie, turn and run now!” Dad’s voice seemed extremely scared, the cobra started coming
towards him. We turned and ran as fast as we could.
We ran until we could run no more, straight into my tent. I was breathing heavily. “What was
