Short Story: Snow Black

 Once upon a time, there was a girl. Her name was Snow Black. She was neither beautiful nor attractive. Her mother died when she was a very young child. As a result of that, her father decided to marry another woman and she became the step mother of the child Snow Black.

The step mother of Snow Black was a vicious and wicked woman. Despite the fact that the child was not born to be beautiful, or attractive, she was jealous of the father's occasional attention to the young lady of 16 years old. Yet, Snow Black was never hateful towards her step mother. No matter how cruelly her step mother treated her, Snow Black was always ready to repay her step mother back with love.

One day, while Snow Black was out on a trip to the forest to save little rabbits from being preyed by cruel hunters, her stepmother bribed the bodyguard of Snow Black to kill the young lady in the forest.

The bodyguard needed the money the queen gave to him to take care of his elderly parents, who were suffering from serious illness. However, he could not bring himself to kill a lady, who even though, she was not good looking, had a beautiful heart.

Therefore, he told Snow Black the truth and pleaded with her to flee far away from her cruel step mother. When he returned home to the queen, he lied to her that the girl was dead.

Snow Black walked through the forest and came into contact with a house. She went into the house and was astonished by the 7 beds that were so small, that she had to join them together as a bed before she could rest in them.

Feeling tired, she chose to sleep in the bed, but was awakened in the evening by loud voices. She awoke, to find that she was all tied up. 7 dwarfs were staring hard into her face. Their faces were full of scars. They appeared to be dwarfs, who were well-acquainted with the hardness of life. There were no mercies in their eyes.

"What are you doing with our beds?" The dwarfs demanded. Their tones were cold.

"Please... please forgive me... I am only resting here because I thought no one stayed in this place... and I was so tired." Snow Black's tone was full of fear.

"Ho ho... so you thought, huh, that, you could take this house for yourself just because no one stayed here? Well, for your crime, you would be our slaves for life."

The verdicts of the dwarfs were hard. They were not moved even when the young lady broke down and told them her own sad story of how her own step mother was out to plot her life. This was a hard world. People were hard to them. They received from no mercy from this hard world, and they chose to give none in return to a victim who was more victimized by the hard world than themselves.

But Snow Black was a girl of a most beautiful heart. Instead of begrudging and hating her captors for being so hard towards her, she chose to repay their evil with kindness. She gave her best to all the works which her captor had given her to do, and she was tender and kind to them. Even though she had many opportunities to escape from her captors, she chose to stay behind and take good care of them.

Soon, she won a place in the hearts of the 7 dwarfs and was looked upon, secretly, by them as a mother figure. Just when her life was getting better with the dwarfs, her evil step mother found out about the fact that she was not dead. It was through a slip of the mouth of that bodyguard of hers. Apparently, he drank too much wine and in his drunken state, he unintentionally revealed to the step mother about the fact that Snow Black was still alive.

You would think that the evil, vicious woman would forget all about killing her step daughter, because the young lady could not possibly be a threat to her anymore, now that she was separated from her father. But that was not to be the case. The jealousy of the evil queen was so great, that she would not allow the girl to live, simply because there were moments in the queen's time with the king, where the king was so obsessed with the loss of his precious child, that he totally ignored the queen.

So, she disguised herself as an old woman after some of her servants that she sent out to trace the whereabouts of Snow Black returned to her with the report of seeing her living together with 7 dwarfs somewhere in the forest.

Snow Black was at home alone by herself when the evil queen came. She was deceived into thinking that the evil queen was a poor beggar who had no place to go to, and being kind-hearted, she let the evil queen came into her house. The moment the evil queen came into the house, she took out a knife and stabbed Snow Black 6 times in what she thought was the heart of the young lady. The young lady had no chance before her wicked stepmother. She fell to the ground, gasping in pain as the blood began to flow out of her.

Laughing wickedly, the evil queen left the house, leaving the lady to die a slow death alone by herself. By the time the 7 dwarfs returned to the house, the young lady was dead. There was no breath in her body. Her body felt like ice to the dwarfs. The dwarfs were hard men. Hard men shed blood, but never shed tears. Yet, when they saw Snow Black lying there, still and unmoving, with a body that was cold like ice, they broke down and cried.

"Snow Black, Snow Black, return to us!"

Their tears were in vain. The world was hard and uncaring. It was cold, and no one would be there to listen to the cries of 7 scar-faced men, who had never in their lives received any mercy from anyone except the tender-hearted lady they were not merciful to. In sorrow, they built a flower bed for the lady that was like a mother to them. A lady, who was not beautiful in any way, physically, and yet was the most beautiful of women to the hearts of these 7 hard men whose lives were touched by her.

Their sobbing drew the attention of a prince who was not of the same world as themselves. He came from a galaxy far beyond the hard world that the 7 dwarfs were accustomed to, in a world where there was only love, mercy, kindness and goodness. He was the prince and would be King of that beautiful place, the Paradise.

He listened to the story of the 7 crying dwarfs, and was moved by the beauty of the young lady. He was attracted and drawn to her, not because of her physical appearance but because of her beautiful heart, that was loving, kind, merciful and tender. He looked at the pale, white face of the girl who was dead for quite a few hours, and the wound in her heart that was pierced there cruelly by the one she trusted in and loved. Tears of compassion fell from his eyes as he thought of the agony the young lady had to go through just before she died; the pain that must be so excruciating to the lady, left there by a someone she was trying to be kind to.

"Do not die, most beautiful of women," said the prince as he whispered into the ear of the breathless girl. "You must live because I want you to be my queen." The prince was born with a special kind of blood, a blood that could heal the most deadly of wounds. In his love for the young lady, he stabbed the dagger into his very own heart and as he was dying, allowed his blood to flow into the wounded heart of the tender-hearted lady. Every drop of his blood into the broken heart of Snow Black brought back to her a beat from her broken heart. Every dying breath of the prince as he sacrificially gave his own life for her brought back to her dead and still body her breath.

The prince gave up his life so that a young lady who was wounded in her heart by someone she loved and trusted could rise up from her grave. With every blood shed to redeem the life of a broken-hearted girl, the broken heart of the girl began to beat, again. With every breath that he gave out for the young lady in his sacrifice, the nose of the dead girl started to breathe again. As Snow Black's eyes began to open, she saw the smile of the dying prince before her.

"You are a good-hearted girl. You deserve to live. Do not die. I want you to be my Queen." He collapsed into the arms of the revived girl, who had heard all that he had spoken even while she was dead, and who had felt his blood gushing into her body healing her wounds. Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the prince that chose to die so that she might live, again.

"Why... why did you die for someone like me?" Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the prince that chose to die so that she might live, again. No one had sacrificed for her before. It was always she who was sacrificing for other people. No one had ever loved her so deeply. Yet, this prince, this prince from a faraway country, from paradise, came and fell in love with her. He said she was the most beautiful of women and he wanted to take her home with him as his queen.

He traded his life and shed his blood so that her wounded heart, pierced into pieces by the betrayal of the one she loved could beat, again. His blood healed the hole in her heart and brought life back into a young lady that would, otherwise, be dead. Tears flowed from Snow Black's eyes as she stared into the dead body of the prince. The hole in his heart was so much bigger, so much wider than what was previously there in that heart of hers. It was there because of His love.

"Don't die, my handsome prince. How can I be your Queen, if you are dead?" The tears of the princess woke the prince up from His slumber, and instantly, the handsome prince was transformed into a being that was full of sunshine brightness. A crown was on His head and His entire being was shinning with a golden-ness that so bright, that it blinded the eyes of the young lady for quite a long period of time.

"Are you really willing to come with me, most beautiful of women, to my Kingdom, to be my Queen?" The voice of the prince was different. Previously, the voice was loving and tender, and like a servant. Now, it was commanding, full of authority, and like that of a King. Snow Black smiled and shyly held the hand of the majestic being before her.

"Yes," she replied, with her head slightly bowed down, her cheeks flushed. They kissed.

And there were claps arising from the hands of the 7 dwarfs, and millions of invisible beings that suddenly became visible who had just arrived from paradise to escort their King and His newly found bride back to their Kingdom.

Short Story: The Story of the Wayward Dragon

 Nisa was tied to the altar, a sacrifice for the Dragon, that terrorised the world of Gideon. She was a follower of the Most High Gibeon, who was believed by the many Gibeonites to be the creator of the world of Gideon. Yet, the believers of Gideon had lost their faith in their Most High, after not having seen any miracles for more than a thousand year. They followed Gibeon out of a routine, reading from His Holy Book, acts of wonder He did in the world of Gideon, which they now considered as myths. The worship rituals of Gibeon were seen as a kind of tradition, which the Gibeonites blindly followed.

At the other end, there were the followers of the Dragon. They were increasing in numbers day after day. Unlike the Gibeonites, they believed in the power of the Dragon. They had travelled to the cave of Darkness, where he dwelt, and seen his power at work. They had seen his magic spells manifesting in their world, and they knew that if they followed the Dragon, they could be leaders in the world of Gibeon, and they loved their power. They had to sacrifice sons and daughters to gain favor from the Dragon, and they had no qualm about doing so.

Nisa was the daughter of a Dragonite, a follower of the Dragon, that was held in high esteem among the Dragonites. Nisa's mother had purposely kept apart her daughter from the sacrifice, not out of maternal love, but out of a desire for greater power. It was believed that a sacrifice to the Dragon would gain the parent of the sacrifice the most power if the child reached the age of 7, and Matina, Nisa's mother had persuaded the other Dragonites to sacrifice their sons and daughters while she waited for her own daughter to reach the age of 7. All the years when she had been the mother of Nisa, she had lied to the child that she loved her when in reality, she was merely waiting for the right opportunity to sacrifice her. Tears dripped down Nisa's eyes as she awaited what she knew would be her death. It was not the death that frightened her, but it was her mother's cruelty that saddened her young heart. Nisa always knew that her mother was an evil Dragonite, but she thought that her mother genuinely love her and she never expected that all the love her mother showed her was merely a pretence. Unknown to her mother, Nisa believed in the stories of the Most High, and even as young as the age of 5, she chose to follow and call on the name of the Most High in times of her troubles. But this time, she was too sad to call on the name of the Most High. Her mother Matina's acts hurt her heart so deeply that she lost all her will to live.

"Most beloved Dragon, I bring to you my child, Nisa." Matina chanted.
"Grrrr..."
"Most beloved Dragon, she is of age, of the perfect age." Matina declared loudly.
"Grrr..."
Matina took out her knife and went to Nisa, intending to slice out her heart.
"Most High, save my mama." Nisa whispered. That was her last words.
There was a puff of smoke, and the Dragon appeared. He took the heart with his furry hands and consumed the heart.
"Grrr..." He grunted in satisfaction. "Matina, I am most well pleased with you. Not only had you sacrificed your only daughter, but you had sacrificed her when she is at the perfect age. Grrr...furthermore, she is of the follower of the Most High Gibeon, that foolish coward who created this world and banished me to the cave of darkness, denying me of my freedom, simply because I dared to suggest to Him that He let me rule the world in His place. I was being most polite, wanting to relieve Him of His burdens. He did always mention to me that He was tired of the unbeliefs of His creation, and out of my goodwill, I offered to take His place as the new ruler of the world. For my kindness, He banished me to the cave of darkness, where I now had to dwell in. I could not leave that sickening dark place, except on occasions when you, my worthy followers summoned me."
"Most beloved Dragon, Gibeon had not appeared in this world for a thousand year. Most likely, He had met with some kind of mishap. You will be the new ruler over us, and I am glad to be of service to you." Matina said, without feeling a sense of remorse over the death of her daughter.
"Yes, the time for me to be free from the cave had come. That fool Gibeon had told me that if his follower ever died as a sacrifice to me, the spell of the cave would be broken and I would be free to move in the world. Grrr..." Dragon laughed.
"Oh, that means we can be with you now, our master, and share in your joys of being the new ruler of this world?"
"Yes, Matina, and for your reward, I will let you have the honour to be my first meal, who I could eat of my own free accord, without the need of stupid mortals like you. Grrr. Grrr. Grrr."
Dragon uttered a series of words and Matina was transformed into a cooked chicken, which Dragon devoured with a great hint of satisfaction.

"When the Dragon is freed, and the world is in darkness, cry out to me and I will send you my anointed servant, and He will defeat the Dragon and free you from his malice forever." Gimeon read out from the Holy Book, with zeal and excitement. The reddish brown hair which marked Him out as unique among the youngster in the Academy of Gibeon flew as the wind blew. He was a most beautiful youngster, not beautiful because of his physical appearance, but beautiful because he always respond to the mockeries of his peer around him with kindness. At such, he won his initial enemies over to his cause, and they became his friend. The other youngsters who formerly mocked and made fun of Gimeon were now his best friends, always eagered to be with him and listened to his sharing from the Holy Book. Unlike the other mortals in the world of Gideon, Gimeon believed with all his heart in the existence of Gibeon, and he actively seek to learn more about the ways of Gibeon and he actively shared the way of Gibeon with his peers and the people around him.
"But Gimeon, the Dragon has been freed, and he is now the world's new king, and yet the anointed servant of Gibeon has not come to us." Yafu, one of his youngster friend mumbled as he listened to Gimeon.
"I am sure the Most High had foreseen that Dragon will be freed, and that even now, His anointed servant walked among us." Gimeon smiled.
"But Dragon said that he is the maker of the world, and we all could see his powers, clearly. The Most High, on the other hand, is most silent when we suffered under the cruel rule of Dragon. Why don't we give up on believing in the Most High and followed Dragon? Most people in the world are doing that, now. Only our town, the town of Faith, still chooses to believe in the Most High, and Dragon merely allowed us to exist, because he regarded us, the followers of Gibeon as his trophies." Tafa, another Gimeon's youngster friend mumbled.
"Do you actually believed that Dragon is our maker, when hs is merciless and cruel? Yet, in our hearts, we retain our conscience, and we know through our conscience that when we kill people with no regard like the way Dragon did, it is very wrong. I believer our maker must be kind hearted, because we are born with the desire to be kind hearted. Therefore Gibeon, whose moral law is holy and pure, must indeed be our true maker. "Gimeon answered with a laugh.
"Why haven't His anointed servant come, then, in response to our cries?" Yafu asked.
"Perhaps He had come and is in your midst. You just do not recognise him," Gimeon replied.
"Well, let's not think about Gibeon or Dragon. Let's go to the pool and have a swim." Tafa muttered.
"Sure, let's have a swim." Gimeon replied, with a laugh.

"Servant, I had read in the Holy Book that the anointed servant will arrive when I am freed. It had been ten years since I had reigned in this world of Gideon, and all I had seen of Gibeon's servants are fools and cowards. To challenge Him who had the audacity to lock me in the cave of darkness for so many, so many years, I had preserved the town of Faith, hoping to see the day when I can match power with His anointed servant. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... bur none of his servants had dared to challenge me to a duel. My challenge, dedicated to all adults above the age of 17, posted in the town hall of the town of Faith remained unheeded for years. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr..." Dragon laughed.
"That is because... most beloved master... Gibeon is afraid of you." Nata declared, as he massaged the back of Dragon.
"What a disappointment. These ten years had been a boredom to me. None of the mortals is my challenge or my match. By my incantations and spells, I can turn them into every things I desire, and they are not able to resist me. Grrr... Grrr... they all cowered in fear before me... even the so called followers of Gibeon all cowered in fear before me. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... I am so bored."
"Most beloved Master, none can ever be your match. Not Gibeon and definitely not his annoited servant. You will reigned in this world for a thousand year." Nata declared.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... a thousand year is a long time. I had already begun to get bored of being the ruler of this world. I really hope for a challenge, for something that will take away my boredom." Dragon yawned.
At this point, a woman ran towards Dragon in excitement.
"Most beloved Master, the challenge... the challenge... someone had finally dared to challenge you."
"Grrr... Grrr... finally. And who is this fool?" Dragon laughed.
"He is called Gimeon, and he is 18 years old, and he lives in the town of faith." the woman replied.
"This should be fun and interesting," Dragon laughed. "Tell this fool to meet me in the cave of darkness, and sent a notice to the entire world that all the leaders I had appointed to watch over my world for me are to gather in the cave of darkness. I want them to watch how I made a fool of this stupid Gimeon."

The cave of darkness were filled with people who surrounded the two men that were facing each other. One of the man was a youngster with reddish brown hair. The other man was a handsome man in his middle age, with furry hands. The crowd that surrounded them was cheering the man with furry hands and mocking the youngster.
"So you are the one that dared to challenge me?" Dragon sneered.
"I come to you in the name of the Most High Gibeon," Gimeon replied, calmly.
"Gibeon is a fool, and so are you. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... " Dragon laughed.
"I trust in Gibeon, that He will never fail me." Gimeon answered.
"Very well, name your challenge. I will defeat you no matter what challenge you may raise. Magic, wisdom, power, you can name any form of challenge you want. And if you defeat me, I will give you all my powers and teach you all my incantations and spells and let you rule over the world." Dragon declared.
"I do not need your spells or incantations, all you have to do is this: Vomit out all the hearts you had eaten and all the people you had consumed if you lose the battle," Gimeon declared.
"Very well, then. Name your challenge." Dragon replied.
"Your magic is your pride and strength. Using your magic, do what you will with me, except the taking of my life. If I call you master, you will win the battle. If I still hold onto Gibeon in spite of what you had done, then you lose." Gimeon replied.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... very well, then, you fool. Be prepared to regret challenging the source of my strength. If I cannot defeat you after five tries, I will admit defeat." Dragon declared.
"I will take you on," replied Gimeon.
"Fire appears and burns Gimeon, but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Fire began to consume the body of Gimeon. Gimeon screamed in pain.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"I love Gibeon and Gibeon alone," Gimeon replied.
"Fire vanishes. Frost-bites appear. Frost-bites, surround Gimeon but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Frost-bites began to appear all over the body of Gimeon. Gimeon screamed in pain.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Gibeon is my only master. I delight to follow Him." Gimeon replied.
"Frost-bites disappear. Itches of all kinds, terrorise Gimeon with your power but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Gimeon began to scratch his body, unable to bear with the itch that surrounded him.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Trust in Gibeon and His powers will come to this world, again." Gimeon replied.
"Itches disappear. You are tough. I will show you no mercy. Fire, frost bites and itches of all kinds. Terrorise Gimeon with your power but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Gimeon felt like he was in the greatest of agony. But he looked on the faces of the mockers who were there to cheer Dragon on and he thought of all the oppressions they suffered under the power of Dragon, and he endured his ordeal.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Dragon, oh Dragon, my most beloved creation. You are always so eager to rule over everyone as their master, but tell me honestly, in all these ten years, when I had let you ruled over the mortals, had you truly experienced joy? Worship your maker, and turn from your evil ways, and then you will know the joy you lost the instant you desired power over being my humble servant." Gimeon replied.
"You... you are Gibeon. You are that stupid creator of mine who trapped me in the cave of darkness! You had come down in the form of man. How is that possible?" Dragon exclaimed.
"I am the creator. All things are possible for me. You still have one more chance to use your magic, or are you ready to admit defeat?" Gimeon replied.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... my change of vengeance is at hand. All these years... you banished me into the cave of darkness... simply because of my desire to rule over these foolish mortals you had created. You denied me of my freedom, you forgot about all the years when I had been your most faithful servant, and refused to show your love to me. All because of my desire to rule in place of you. I could never hurt you when you are still the Most High Creator. But now that you are a mere mortal, I can hurt you. I can actually hurt you. And I will see for myself now if you really love these mortals or if you are in fact the universe greatest hypocrite. I will show you no mercy this time." Dragon shouted in anger.
"I know what you have in mind. Indeed, it is the hardest of all tests, but I will accept your challenge." Gimeon replied.
"Mortals that surround me, be filled with hatred for this Gimeon that you see. Do to Him anything and everything you will, including the removal of his very life." Dragon exclaimed.
The crowd was filled with a wild hatred for Gimeon and they began to hit him, spit on him and beat him.
"If you acknowledge me as your master, I will stop your ordeal and spare your life." Dragon hissed.
Tears fell from the eyes of Gimeon. It was not the blows of his creation that pained him, but it was the madness that filled their hearts that made him endured an agony which no physical blow could ever bring. Like wild beasts, they had forgotten the images He had created them to be. They had traded away His glories, His righteousness for hatred, evil, greed, power, like what his servant Dragon had done. It was this evilness that was in the people that ultimately pained him.
"Dragon, Dragon, you can never take my life. I willingly surrender my power, and I willingly give out my life." Gimeon uttered and he fell to the ground and died.
Dragon stared at the dead form before him. Gibeon, the creator God, he could use his magic to defend himself before his creation. For it was Gibeon who has given to Dragon his magic. Yet, Gibeon, when he was in the form of the mortal man Gimeon, did not make use of His magic to defend His own life but chose to give out his life in love for his creation.
"I have no doubt, my master, that you are true love. I admit my defeat. Do to me as you will." Dragon replied. "If you can come back to life."
"If? Oh Dragon, oh Dragon, you had been with me all these thousands of years before I created the mortals, and you can still doubt my power. Is there anything too difficult for me?" Gimeon laughed as he rose from the ground.
"You cheater. You never truly died." Dragon laughed.
"And you Dragon, you do not truly wish that I died. Keep your promise to me and vomit out all the hearts and people that you had eaten." Gimeon laughed.
Dragon vomited out all the hearts and people he had eaten.
"Return to life!" Gimeon commanded the hearts and pieces of mortals that had been vomited out by Dragon.
Nisa opened her eyes and saw that she was alive. Not only that, she saw her mother Matina, and she was in tears.
"My daughter Nisa, forgive me. I had been a cruel mother." Matina cried. Nisa looked at Gimeon and she laughed.
"Thank you, Most High, for saving my mother."
Gibeon laughed. "My precious child, it is not me, but your faith in me, that saves your mother."
"Master," Dragon muttered. "What shall we do with these evil beings who trample on your most holy body." He pointed at the crowd that had beaten Gimeon to death, that was now staring at Gimeon in bewilderment.
Gimeon laughed, "Oh Dragon, none of these evil being had trampled on my body like the way you did. Yet, in spite of what you did, I had not lost my love for you. Go and teach them my ways, that they may learn to trust me even in times when I am not there to show them my powers and wonders."
"I humbly obey, my master," Dragon replied. "Thank you for being so patient with me and with all of your creations."
"'To quote my other form in another world, in that world known as earth, where I am known by another name and another body, I had not come to save the righteous but to save the sinners. And you, my beloved Dragon, is the chief of the sinners, and all your trials and tests are there to turn you away from your evilness, so that you can follow again my path of righteousness."
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... what is your name in that other world, my master?" Dragon asked.
"That is a mystery, my precious servant, reserved for those who can truly discern."

Short Story: An Undesirable Letter

 

Dear sir/madam,

Do not throw away this letter!

It is of the greatest importance that you do not stop reading this letter until you had finished it from the start to the end. I promise you infinite rewards to realize your wildest dreams on earth if you do as I tell you.

When this letter reaches you, it may be that the letter is quite old; it may be that the letter is sealed neatly in an envelope. It does not matter how long this letter takes to travel to you, it does not matter how you come to chance upon it. Continue to read it until the end. I promise to reward you for your endeavors.

Your utmost attention to this letter can save a life, my life! Now, read it with care, like you are reading the most important piece of document you will ever find in your life.

The realm where I am imprisoned is strange. It is a plane of no sizes and shapes; it is a place of all sizes and shapes. There is no wall here, no sky to limit the height, no earth to limit the depth. It is like a void with neither height nor depth, and neither length nor width. Yet, it has everything: Sky, earth, height, depth, length, width, everything.

Hey! Do not put off this letter! I am not insane! I can assure you, I am perfectly okay. You don't believe me? I am a human being. I have one head, two eyes, two ears, one body and four limbs. That is what a human being looks like, right? See… I am sane.

Now, you believe me. Yet, in this place where I am, I can have 2 heads, three hundred eyes and five hundred ears if I want to. I can be a knight in shinning armor with the arms of a dragon and… oh wait, don't throw off this letter, I will stop here.

Before you think I am mad, I will move on to describe what I look like in a manner which you can accept. Let's just think for now that I am a human being like you with one body and four limbs. I will move on to describe further how I look like so you can visualize me in your mind's eyes. This is the image which my family and friends will remember me to be like from their mental conceptions during the moment when I am not in this prison and back with them in your world.

I am a 24-year old girl; my hair can be messy, or trendy, depending on your taste in fashion. I wear a pair of spectacles that I consider to give me an educated look, but my friends tend to comment that it makes me look nerdy. My body is shaped in a manner which I am happy with, but my parents think I am too round to be able to find the dream guy of my life. Oh well… whatever. I prefer to be dressed in comfortable wear, a casual oversized T-shirt, ¾ pants and the same pair of sport shoes I had worn for a consecutive 3 years. It tends to give me an easy going look, though if you are a nasty person, you may see me as a sloppy person.

Can you now visualize what I look like? Good. That is how I look like whenever I am back to your world again, momentarily away from the prison which I am currently trapped in.

I am a NUS student in Singapore, a girl with a dream, someone very average, well, just like you. I am taking a course on social work in my university, with the dream to help the less privileged people in my country one day. I am a good hearted girl, like my many good hearted classmates in my social work modules.

Oh yes, I am a Christian, too. I love Jesus and I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I dream of traveling to third world countries to do mission works for the underprivileged. I enjoy attending Sunday services in my church, and worshipping God with my voice and body. Oh yes, you can say I am a devoted Christian. I read up a lot on the bible, pray and fast regularly, and am often concerned about spreading my faith to others and doing good works to make the lives of my fellow countrymen better. Now, you have me, an easy-going, kind-hearted Christian and aspiring social worker.

How do I, then, end up in this place? It is a long, long story, which you must be patient to read through if you hope to help me come out of the awful prison that I am currently in. Oh, even now, I see a dragon with a robotic head and five hundred arms hunting down my mother. Arggh! My mother can take care of herself for now. I will rescue her as soon as I finish my narration of my tale to you.

Here is an account of how I came to this place. It began with a feeling of helplessness. One day, I was out there, sitting on a sofa, having a chit-chat with my family members while we were watching some kind of charity show. A fun and relaxing moment turned into a life-scattering conversation for me. Basically, here is a very concise account of how the conversation flowed.

My little brother wanted to dial the number to help donate some money to the charity organization. My daddy frowned and told him to remember the NKF saga and declared with conviction that there was no such thing as the poor in Singapore. I was upset by what my daddy said and told my daddy and my other family members about the different types of poor people I saw during my social work internship. My mummy came in to help my trapped daddy and told me that these poor people were just plain lazy. I wanted to argue further with the fact that the poor people that I saw were not lazy people, but unfortunate people. My daddy used his 'daddy card' when he and mummy could not out-argue their rebellious NUS daughter and told me to shut up and not 'spoil' our family's relaxation moments.

None of my family members watching the charity show was interested about the family of a drug addict father who had their electricity and water supply cut off because they were to poor to pay their bills. They did not want to listen to the real life story of a wife who is always waiting in fear during every stormy day in Singapore that her husband will literally drown in the sea because her husband is a fisherman.

You get it, a literal fisherman who sits in a literal fishing boat, not that much different from the small fishing boat my Jesus sits in 2000 years ago. Heck, I never even know fisherman still exists in Singapore, not the kind that sits in small sampan, anyway.

I feel like a tiny dot, an invisible, small tiny dot when I am with that wife who worries for her husband. I feel weak and helpless when I am with an eight-member household with just $200 a month to live on. I do not know how to teach a primary 2 boy who is an expert on porn to refrain from reading sexual materials because his father is still unsure today about who he co-produces his son with—the 5th or 7th girlfriend.

I am one body and four limbs, and yet, the people that scream for help are like the sand on the seashore, like stars in the night sky, and though I believe in Jesus and God, I am neither Jesus nor God.

It was at the height of my helplessness that I came across this accursed man, who tricked me into my prison. He is the man I will never forget, the one who was responsible for putting me into this prison where a dragon with a robotic head and five hundred arms can co-exist together with my poor mother.

Thanks to him, I am now in charge of training an army of dwarfs and elves in their upcoming battle with the evil demon king, and at the same time, running around trying to prevent a lunatic scientist from inventing gigantic intelligent robots that plot to take over the world. I had traveled to the top of a mountain that can turn red and blue simultaneously. I had crawl through a valley of skulls and bones. I dodged the flying arrows of witches and narrowly escaped being turned into the bride of the prince of evil.

The name of this accursed person is the Fiction Writer. How can I ever forget his name? He is the one whose letter I chanced upon one day during my short and average life as a student. It was his letter that ultimately brought me to my current plight.

This man, there is one talent I do not deny he has. He can write awesome letter–letter that excited me and made me wanted to read all that he had to tell me about himself. He began his letter with a promise, a promise to give me infinite wealth and endless riches if I will be patient enough to read through it from the start to the end. He claimed to be able to solve my problem if I will only give my ears to listen to what he has to say to me.

He proceeded to talk to me about his travel in the realm of fiction, the world where he is living in. He talked about the dragons and robots that he was able to see, and the human right advocates he was privileged to fight an unjust cause with. He seductively lured me to read more into his letter by colouring my imagination with the magical wonders of this place, which became my prison now. The place, he described, in his letters, is such a magical land of power, it can hold both walls and no walls at the same time.

He cast a spell on me with his fascinating arrangement of sentences, drove my mind into excitement with his choice of words and use of symbols and metaphors and allegories. He brought me back to the past, and carried me into the future; he even took me on a journey into the story of the prodigal son, my favourite story in the bible, the one that talked about the reconciliation of a hopeless son into the laps of his loving father.

Oh, this accursed person, known as Fiction Writer, he really studied my weakness. He stirred up such interest in me to be obsessed with his letter! In my helpless moment, he offered me power, power beyond my wildest dream, power to be that Christian and social worker I wanted to be, power to open the eyes of my friends and family, and to invite my fellow Singaporeans to travel in a journey with me to study the lives of the underprivileged people I see which everyone else ignore.

His letter enticed me and I read his letter from the start to the end like the way you are reading my letter now. I cannot help falling in love with his letter. I was at the mountain of my helplessness and his letter offered me a chance to escape from my painful reality. Now, I am trapped forever in this world of fiction, alone, and in a great deal of misery.

But, one day, the accursed man came to me, and he offered me a chance to make my life here more endurable.

Here is an exact quotation of what he said, word for word: "Go and lure another person into this world like the way in which I lure you here."

Hahaha, yes, you have finally realized it. I am doing the same thing to you as he had cruelly done to me. You should never have read this letter in the first place. Have you not read my title? I hinted that this letter will change your life in an undesirable way. You cannot say I did not warn you.

Here is the horror: You cannot save my life!

I lied to you at the beginning of my letter.

No one who enters into the realm of fiction can ever come out of this place. You will forever be trapped with a dual personality, the one you show to your friends and family, and the one you receive from this prison. You will be both a dragon and a robot, you will be hunted down from high places by witches and monsters, you will sit with great historical figures and have tea with them, you will explore injustices and human right issues, you will open up the part of the world no one will ever bother to notice—the unfair education system in Singapore, the plight of the ITE students, the flaws of the society of Singapore.

You think I am insane earlier in the letter when I tell you about the nature of my prison. You laugh at me when at one moment I tell you I have one head and four limbs, and the next moment, I tell you it is possible for me to have three hundred eyes and five hundred ears. I see you are not laughing now.

Thank you for coming to join me in the realm of fiction. Enjoy your moments. Hahaha.

P/S: Oh yes, one more thing. I am offering you a chance to make your life more bearable. Go and take up a pen right now and lure someone here like the way I lured you. Be creative, wink.

Yours Sincerely,

Another Fiction Writer

Short Story: The Christmas of AD5000

 It was the AD 5000. My name is Cylopet Hornet, from the X1574 Secret Agent Division.

I was sent by MR.X, known more popularly as The Boss, to stop an attempt by the mad scientist Mr. H to assassinate Jesus Christ, the figure whom religious people simply love to worship during every Sunday and special occasions like Christmas day and Easter. 

 Mr. H believed that Jesus is the source of the influx of religious wars in the world today. Mr. H, in his desire to help the world reach the stage of perfect peace had made attempts to assassinate a fair share of people from the past.

The killing of Adolf Hitler was Mr. H's attempt to destroy the Nazis. He sent a group of special robot agents into Hitler's home before he was born to kill his mother. His attempt succeeded in destroying Hitler, it prevented the mass extermination of Jews by the hands of Hitler, and this was something that Mr. H was proud about. 

What this evil terrorist did not think of was the fact that millions of people became mindless zombies in our world. They were related in blood some ways or another to Hitler. Millions more became confused over certain sectors of their memories. This was the case for the Jews. They were unsure if the holocaust did or did not happen.

The scientists of The Time Machine Control Headquarter were working on ways to fix the problem that the assassination of the mother of Hitler had caused. Thanks to Mr. H, our world today has more problems than less. Scientists were still trying to figure out how to undo the works which Mr. H had done, figured a way to resurrect Hitler's mother and patched up the history that Mr. H had changed.

Now, this mad man wanted to assassinate the baby Jesus, to be exact, to assassinate the mother of Jesus before Jesus could come into the world. Imagine what the world would become. My wife, yes, my religious wife would be deeply affected. What would she become if her precious beloved Jesus suddenly disappeared from the history of mankind?

It was simply incomprehensible!

She, Marataa, was so crazy about Jesus. She talked non-stop about Jesus, attended songwriting classes to learn how to compose songs about Him. Although she was not a pastor, she knew everything in the bible from Genesis to Revelation. She was not an evangelist but she preached to me non-stop to believe in her Jesus as my Savior. She tried to bring our sons to Sunday school and tried to bring them up in the Christian faith.

Personally, I had no concern for what happened to this Jesus. But I would not want my wife and the millions of people who believe in Him to become confused when a large part of their lives and reason for living suddenly disappeared. The robot agents that Mr. H had sent to assassinate Jesus must be stopped at all costs.

The time machine that I was in jerked to a stop. I had arrived at my destination. I checked my watch.

Oh gosp, I was five seconds late, the robot agents had probably arrived before me. For all I knew, Mary might possibly have already been assassinated. In the world that I lived in, a second was decisive over the fate of the future.

I hastily put on the invisible Alpha Red goggles, which would allow me to detect the robot agents that Mr. H had sent to a manger in the town of Bethlehem in Judea to destroy my wife's savior.

The robot agents who Mr. H had sent to kill Jesus were invisible to the naked eyes. They could only be detected with the use of my Alpha Red goggles. I, too, was invisible to the eyes of the people living in the past. This was due to a time traveling suit that I was wearing.

I took out my robot ray rifle. The time machine door opened. I put on my machine-manufactured wings that gave me the abilities to fly in the sky. I flew out of my time machine and prepared to shoot at the robot agents I expected to arrive anytime soon. To my shock, I saw bright beautiful beings hovering over the manger where Jesus would be born.

The dismantled bodies of the robot agents were scattered all around the manger. These beautiful beings were armed with gigantic swords. They were dressed in beautiful white robes, and had beautiful wings on them.

I found myself to be awestruck by these beings of great beauty that my Alpha Red goggles detected. Oh, their voices! I had never heard such beautiful voices. They were singing in unison, their voices were different in tones, and yet they united together to form a beautiful chorus of heavenly song. I would pay millions to listen to their enchanting voices.

Could their voices be a lure to drive me to a state of relaxation so that they could kill me more easily?

The thought broke me out of their melody traps. They must be the new inventions of Mr. H, sent to kill the mother of my wife's savior. I aimed my robot ray rifle at them, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. My robot rifle, which was 100% workable, malfunctioned for the first time. This was impossible!

At the same moment, one of the beautiful beings with wings flew towards me.

That is it! This is my end. I have failed in my mission and I will die at the hands of Mr. H's latest invention. I would never get to see Marataa again.

"Do not be afraid, Mr. Cylopet." The beautiful being spoke with a deep voice that was as loud as the sound of waterfall and yet as soft as the tiptoe of guilty teenagers trying to sneak into their beds after they came home late. How this was possible, I could not know, you had to be here with me, and listen to the voice yourself before you could possibly know what I was talking about.

"You know my name!"

"Do not be afraid, Mr. Cylopet," the beautiful being spoke again. "I am a servant of the High and Almighty One who reigns forever. The robot agents which Mr. H of your world had sent to assassinate Mary, the blessed lady of the Mighty God, had been dismantled by us."

My mouth opened wide. These... these beautiful beings… they were … they were the angels. Angels were real.

"You are most honored, Mr. Cylopet. You are the only man fortunate to witness the birth of the Savior of the world from your world. Join us in the chorus to celebrate His glorious birth."

I sang like never before. My voice resonated with the angelic choir I was fortunate to sing together with, and it resonated in turn with the shepherds who arrived shortly to sing together with us. I had never enjoyed singing so much before in my life.

"What happened to you, Cylopet?" Marataa asked.

"Nothing happened," I lied. I knew Christians were not supposed to lie, but I hoped God would forgive me for this one. The secret of the time machine was something my occupation would not allow me to tell to my wife.

"But you had never wanted to attend my church before, why change this time?"

"This Christmas, I wanted it to be different. I wanted to accept Him, Jesus, as my savior."

Marataa could not understand what was happening to me, and why there was this sudden change in my attitude towards church and Jesus, but she broke down into a sob, right there and then, at the church's service. Everyone in the church was looking at us, but she did not care. She went right on, praising Jesus, again and again for my salvation, and I praised Him together with her.

Short Story: The female vampire

I am a vampire. I loved to watch unsuspecting males come to me. I thought they deserved their deaths as I drained their blood. The looks of fear on their faces thrilled me. Yet, somewhere within me, I felt dirty. Unclean. 

 Then, one day, I heard of Him. Jesus Christ. It was said that this man could perform any kind of miracles.

Hope began to reign in me. Perhaps, just perhaps, I could be a human, again. No more curses, no more days of sucking human blood, no more uncleanness. No more impurity. No more evil.

So, I visited Him at night.

"Make me a human, so that I can choose not to sin." I pleaded.

He replied, "It does not matter whether you are a human or a vampire. The choice to sin or not lies not in that."

"If you do not make me a human, I will suck your blood." I threatened.

"My blood will be given at the proper time. Tonight is not the day." He replied, with a firm conviction. I did not know what came over me, but I did not suck His blood that night.

I was very bitter over the fact that He did not respond to my plea. Then, I heard of His death, from a group of Christians I met. How it was voluntary, how He died and shed His blood so that mankind can be reconciled to their maker.

"Dear Jesus, I am a vampire, and not a human. Will you save me too?" I prayed. I had no hope that He would save me, after all, He had rejected my plea before.

Still, a change came over me. I no longer craved human blood. Instead, I fed on animal's blood. He is truly still a man of miracles!

Short Story: The heart of a slave daughter

“Aren’t you glad I brought the torch light?” Amy gloated, as they traveled inside the cave tunnel.

“Ya, always the clever one, huh,” Brian sneered.

“Clever? Not really that clever. Just better than you two idiots,” Amy smiled.

Heck, just because she is the rich man’s daughter, that does not give her the right to insult us, thought Brian to himself in anger, but he said nothing.

“Er… we are reaching… an opening, I think,” Mary stuttered, pointing to some flickers of light at a distance.

“I can see that for myself, cripple!” Amy replied, sharply. “I wonder why we even bring you along in the first place.” Mary bowed her head down in response to the curt reply of the daughter of her mother’s master. Her limping right foot was always the game of the girls in town.

“Mind your words, Amy,” Brian defended Mary. It was the slave’s daughter who found the map to the treasure and shared it with them. There was also a rumor going on that the daughter of the slave at Amy’s house had come down with some terminal sickness.

“Keep quiet, Brian. Don’t forget, your dad still had not repaid some of the money he had borrowed from my dad!” Brian was quiet for the rest of their journey towards the flicker of light.



It took them minutes after they had entered before their eyes finally adjusted themselves to the blinding whiteness. Sparkling whitish-golden valuables of all shapes and sizes filled up an empty pit about 4 knee lengths away. A man, with chocolate colored hair, stood dutifully beside the pool of valuables.

“You had come for the treasure?” His rich and deep voice echoed through the cave.

“Not all of us, just this guy and me,” Amy replied, pointing to Brian. “That cripple… she is just our servant. Isn’t that so, Brian?”

“Yes,” Brian replied, after some hesitation.

“It doesn’t matter. The treasure will belong to whoever can answer my question.” The man said, emotionlessly.

“Then, let me be the first to answer your question,” Amy requested.

“Very well, then. Here is my question: Where is the treasure of treasures?”

“The pool of valuables beside you,” answered Amy. She collapsed to the ground, instantly.

“What… what happened?” Brian asked in fear.

“A rule of this game,” the man explained, dutifully. “You will forfeit your life if you give a wrong answer to my question.”

“I… I am out... out of here,” Brian stuttered. His legs refused to obey his instruction to escape.
“Another rule. You cannot leave unless you answer my question.”

“I… I don’t want to die,” Brian stammered.

“Where is the treasure of treasures?” The man asked, coldly.

“Please!” Brian pleaded, and crumpled instantly to the ground right after he uttered the word.

“Your turn, young lady.” The man turned to the crippled Mary.

“I don’t want the treasure. You can take my life, too, if you really must, but please… please… let these two friends of mine live!” Mary pleaded in tears.

“I can see you are sick, my child, from your face. The treasure can cure you if you hold it near to you. You are dying, child, unless, you have the treasure. Why not take a gamble at the answer and see if you may win the cure to your life?”

“No, dear sir,” she replied after a moment of hesitation. “I don’t want the cure. I want my friends.”

“Are you sure you are willing to trade your life for theirs?” The voice of the man was gentle and soothing, almost familiar.

“Yes,” the slave daughter cried.

“Even though they had been so wicked towards you?”

“Yes,” Mary confirmed.

“Mary, I am proud of you.” The voice was unmistakably familiar.

“Jesus,” Mary exclaimed and the man before her transformed into the familiar figure of her savior. The overjoyed girl limped speedily into the laps of her smiling Master.

“Do you know where you can find the treasure of treasures?” Jesus whispered.

“Where?” The limping girl asked in curiosity.

Jesus smiled, “I am bringing you to a mansion I had prepared for you, my pretty child. I will tell you the answer when we get there.”

When Amy and Brian regained their consciousness, Mary was nowhere to be found. The pool of valuables was gone. Where the valuables used to be, there shone a golden heart. And, oh, it was so beautiful. The treasure of treasures.

Short Story: Numbers

“Do not…do not kill me.” She trembled in fear, holding tightly to a book.

The assassin’s face was blank, expressionless. His eyes were lifeless, void of a soul within. He was made for one mission, created for one purpose, trained for one function. The tip of his gun continued to point at the young lady that was before him.
Kill. 757, your mission in life is to kill. The words that were repeated into his blank mind echoed again and again.

“I… have a secret that can change your life…” Bang.



Emperor Number Infinite was standing at the stage, facing a crowd of more than a million expressionless people, all dressed in similar identical gray factory made clothes.

“For the first time in the history of planet 345, we had created one billion factory babies within 365 days with a fatality rate of zero.”

The people gazed at the emperor with lifeless eyes, listening.

“Of these one billion babies, the most genetically healthy ones will be groomed to be leaders and breeders. The remainders will be assigned to be trained respectively to specific roles which we had paved out for them.”

The people continued to gaze at the emperor.

“And on the 25th year of my reign, we will go to wars with earth. We will pay the earthlings back for abandoning us here.”

The people clapped. There was no smile, no joy, their faces were all blank.



In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
That was the first sentence found in the book which the dead girl had been holding.

“Your name, given name, is number 757. You are the 757th successful babies that survive through your first 5 years in planet number 345.”
He was given a name for the first time in his 1,825th day alive.

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.

That was how those pathetic earthlings who dared to travel to planet 345 believed themselves to be made?

“You were all made in a factory, with a machine. A sperm was collected from the male specimen, and an egg was collected from a female specimen, and the rest of your making took place inside a special machine known as the baby fertilizer.”

He remembered looking vaguely into some pictures that were taken from planet earth; the planet was so beautiful, with things which they call trees, cows, horses and butterflies, all coming forth naturally, not made in a factory.

It was so different from planet 345, where everything was artificially made, from the planet itself, to every single of the machinery tree, and chemically produced food.

Planet 345, a round metallic ball invented by the top scientists living in planet earth, was created by the earthlings to get rid of overpopulation problem on earth.

The people on earth in those photos were so different from the people in planet number 345. They have smiles, they have tears, and they all look so different from one another, as if they are made by a creative and unique being, not a product from a factory.

Through Him, all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3.

All things? Even factory made babies? Even him? A foreign feeling suddenly gripped hold of number 757, it sent strange water raining down his eyes.

"I am just a number. I am not like the earthling. I am made in a factory. I am not made by Him, whoever He is, wherever He may be."

He envied the girl. She was made by Him, not in a factory. Not like him.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

“Does that also apply to me, Jesus? Will you also save me, if I believe in you? Please save me.”

Something strange entered into the heart of Number 757 for the first time in his life, something he could not explain. "Your body may be produced in a factory, but it is I who put your soul inside," a voice whispered gently within him.

Number 757 smiled. "I am a living being." He threw off the gun and held tightly onto the book.