Winners of A.C.T.S Essay Writing Competition (ADVENTURE)

1st Prize: Tan Qi Xian Keith, 14 Hwa Chong Institution

The Haunted Forest

The forest was a graveyard of shadows, disturbed by no one. It was always night at that place where strange events and happenings occur once in a while, once every few days. No one who went in ever came out. These strange disappearances were linked, I knew it. The victims were in one way related to each other, from the information I gathered from the newspapers. With each occurrence shown in the newspapers, my hunger to know more increased. I was not going to let this go until I found out the truth. Ever.

I was 13, curious and unknowing. I lived in the outskirts of town, and just as unluckily, right next to the forest. Hardly anyone passed by the house I lived in, probably because of the fact that there was a haunted forest right next to my home. However, hardly anybody showed an interest in these events. Only my best friend, Sandy, who had always been a good sport, shared my views. However, time and again our ideas were completely disregarded by the adults. “There is nothing there, these are only your suspicions.” Or “You’re still too young, what if something happens to you?”  These setbacks did not faze us though.

One day after school, I told Sandy, “We should go there sometime, just to show the adults that there is actually something going on there. You know?”

“That’ll be awesome! But what will our parents say?”

He caught that glint in my eye. For a moment, his expression was as though he wanted to chicken out, to go home, to going back to being his mother’s boy. “What’s the matter? Scared?” He cocked his chin in defiance. “ha! Scared? I am never scared.” “Then it’s settled! Let’s meet back at the entrance of the forest in an hour’s time!” He waved goodbye as I watched him turn the other direction. “An hour’s time,” I made a mental note to myself as I sprinted all the way back home.

I got changed, packed my bag and had my dinner as I would usually do before I went out to meet Sandy. “Mum! I’m going out to do a project! I’ll be back soon!” “Don’t be back too late and be careful!” Those words were repeated so often that I could even memorise it like the back of my hand. However, it was only that day where I learnt to actually take my mother’s words to heart.

I sprinted all the way to the meeting point, even though it was only a few minutes away from my home. Sandy was already waiting there, looking comfortable leaning against an oak tree, which is as close you can get to being comfortable while standing next to a cursed forest all alone at night. The moment he saw me, he jumped and walked quickly to me. Only a little too quickly, which gave away his fear of being in this place. “What did you bring?” I asked, gesturing towards his backpack. “Food, water and a torchlight. What else?” He responded while we cautiously entered the forest. The forest was surprisingly bright, although it looked like it was going to turn dark pretty soon. “Let’s hurry and get back as early as possible.” “relax, what’s the hurry?”

We ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, but found nothing new. The forest was no longer a forest; it was kingdom of shadows. The dim light caused the shadows of the trees, giving an eerie feeling to the forest, with the shadow of the tree and a little imagination, the shadow became humans, or whatever they are, bodies in grotesque positions, bent in impossible angles, with crooked arms, reaching for us. We hastened our speed and went yet deeper into the forest. Big mistake.

The mansion was old and dilapidated, with chimneys on the roof. It was the evil castle to every fairy tale, except that this was no fairy tale, and we were no heroes. We were not the princes in shining armor who came with brave and courageous hearts. We looked at each other, nodding assent that we should not stay there for a rest, although inferring that there was nobody judging that the chimney was no longer giving out any smoke. We walked around the house, and finally our fatigue and curiosity took over and we went into the house. The huge doors that should have been once majestic were rotting and chipped off at certain parts. However, they opened without the tiniest audible squeak, as if someone had been oiling the hinges. Sandy immediately whipped out his torch. After half an hour of exploration and weird discoveries, we came across a door. “Well, this is it.” I said. We took a deep breath and stepped inside. The air was musty with the smell of blood. The walls were white, unlike other parts of the house, and very new. Rows and rows of metal cages lined the room, empty except the last one. We could sense the faintest movement, and walked towards it. There was a man there! “Help me,” drifted out of the cage, and broke the silence. Then I heard the most horrific shriek coming from behind me and the light from the torch sandy was holding flickered, falling to the floor. Before I could rush to save him, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head and blacked out.

2nd Prize: Kong Jun Yong Bryan, 15 School of Science & Technology

Doors

Doors. What I would hate most now. Even now, there are doors everywhere around me. I could vaguely remember the face of the person who placed me in this curse. What should I do to survive and find my way home? The person who placed me here should be a sorcerer. He said he wanted to test out my intuition and wits. What did I do wrong to get myself into this mess? Standing in front of four doors, I needed to decide on which road I should take. One of the doors had a peculiar aura around it. Gingerly I stepped up to the edge of the door. What would await me inside this door? Holding the knob, I twist it and said a silent prayer to keep me safe and open it.

As I pushed open the door, I could still hear the sorcerer’s message resonating in my ears. “There is an end to this journey but you have to find it. Use your instincts and wits to find your way there. Remember, choose your decision wisely. Good luck.” I quivered in fear of what he said. What if I did not make it? I immediately changed my focus to the new world I am going into. First, I saw plain grass fields that spread out for miles. “Not a bad place I am going into,” I muttered to myself. Every door leads to another world. My main objective is to find another door in the next world until I reached the end. I stepped out of the door and breathed in the fresh air. This was cooling and nice. The warm breeze of the wind patted my hair. I scanned my surroundings. Grass everywhere. Suddenly, something dropped out of the sky and landed in front of me.

I took it and realized it was a message to help me along with my journey. It read “You have reached the land of the past. Find the next door in this world to continue your journey.” Land of past? A loud roar broke my thoughts and I turned my attention towards it. I squinted into the distance where the roar was heard. Then it caught me. Dinosaurs. I was in the land of dinosaurs. Plop! Another message had came. In it, it read “You have chosen the simplest of the doors. The next door you would find is hidden in a forest. However, to navigate through it, you have to find the right dinosaur to lead you there. A herd of deinonychus is coming. Choose the right one or you will fail. Good luck!” I was stunned. How was I supposed to choose? If I chose the wrong one…..A stampede of feet could be heard. Indeed a herd of deinonychus was running straight to me. I looked at the herd. Gosh, there could be fifty of them there and I was supposed to choose!

Intuition. One of the keywords mentioned by the sorcerer. I had to choose quickly. As they ran towards me, I closed my eyes and felt calm. There! My eyes led me to a deinonychus that was the fastest among them all. As it ran past me, I grabbed his neck and brought myself over onto his back. Suddenly, he turned direction and went to the left, unlike the rest of the dinosaurs. Could I have made the wrong decision? Nevertheless, I focused on my target which is to find the door. The dinosaur reached a dense forest. It stopped and beckoned me to get off his back which I did so. It started digging the ground with its hind legs and I saw another message. It read “You have chosen wisely.” I threw my arms in the air in joy. “However, it is not the end. Once you have finished reading this message, I strongly encourage you to run. This deinonychus would lead you to your next destination but you must keep up the pace with it. Good luck!” A thunderous roar was heard after that. The ground shook. Only one thing came to my mind. Run!

I could barely reach the same speed with the deinonychus. I spotted the deinonychus running with its strong speed so that it could escape from the danger that loomed. I did not want to die. In order to return back to my world, I must do everything I can to avoid my death. The ground shook again which caused me to trip over a branch. “Oh no, its a T-rex!” I gasped. That was when I spotted the nostrils of the T-rex looming above the trees. I stood up but stood rooted to the ground. The T-rex was looking for me. It stopped and tried to pinpoint my position. That was when the unexpected happened. The deinonychus. It saved me. It attracted the T-rex attention but before that it beckoned me to ride on his back again. Then off we go, racing through the trees before finally screeching to a halt in front of the door. I hurriedly opened the door and the deinonychus came in too. The T-rex was launching its final attack. It ran straight towards the door with its jaws ready to bite anything that goes inside it. I was just a fraction away from becoming dinosaur food when I smashed the door closed. I looked at the deinonychus and uttered a grateful thanks. It seemed to understand me and came towards me, rubbing me in the cheeks. Then I realized it had a liking towards me. That was surprising! A dinosaur as a pet! I rubbed its head and understood what it wanted to do. It wanted to follow me on my adventure. I scanned the room we were in. Four more doors. One to choose from again. At least now I have someone to accompany me and the important thing is that we are safe. For now.

3rd prize: Nur Jasthina Bte Jamaludin, 14 Raffles Girls

The Adventure of the Arrogant

The young soon-to-be hero stood towering over the beast he had just slain. The monster, an Undead Wolf that had been terrorizing the villagers, turned into dust as its thousand-year-old body collapses from its last fight.

“Aha!” he said, triumphantly. “There is no need to fear, villagers – for I, Perseus, am here!”

A timid-looking, scrawny old elf reached out a hand and asked, “W-who are you?”

The adventurer laughed as he brandished his sword and pointed it at the small elf, “Who, me? I am Perseus Striker – Greek adventurer and soon-to-be the most well-known Knight of the Realm!”

“You’re from the Realm? You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?” asked another villager – a human who seems just as old as the elf.

“Yes, well, I was sent out here on a mission,” Perseus bragged. “The knights have seen my potential and are sending me off on a journey. I venture the forests up ahead and slay beasts – saving villages like yours – in my journey to save the beautiful Princess Fiora from the scoundrel that kidnapped her.”

He grinned arrogantly as little boys and girls of multiple species look up at him in awe. Sheathing his sword, he crossed his arms over his chest and announced with his nose in the sky, “In fact, I must be going now – the faster I get moving, the faster I save the Princess!”

And so, Perseus pulled his hood over his head and marches on into the dark, looming forest that stands tauntingly a short walk from the village.

As he walked, his standard-issue metal leather boots sunk softly into the muddy ground. Perseus Striker pushed back the hood that was sewn onto his tunic to reveal his spiky black hair. It was humid in the forest and he was already tired from hiking, despite not having even gotten half-way to the Princess’s tower. Perseus heard a river rushing nearby and went towards it. After inspecting the crystal-clear river in a clearing, Perseus took several gulps of water. While he was washing his face, he did not notice the huge monster that lurked behind him.

A tall, hairy spider thumped as it moved around the clearing, bringing attention to itself. Perseus stood up and turned to face his opponent. The spider was about twenty times his size and that fact on its own had been intimidating. The spider raised two of its long legs, all of them being larger than Perseus and had the ability to crush him with ease.

However, being the arrogant warrior that he was, Perseus hardly felt affected by his enemy – he did not even find the need to think of his tactics. Instead, he pulled out his sword in an effort to frighten a beast that was so much larger than him.

“Foul beast! You will never be able to defeat me – Perseus Striker – Greek adventur-AH!”

Perseus’s monologue had been cut short by a fast kick by the spider that sent the adventurer crashing into the ground sideways. For a moment, the young adventurer was dumbstruck. He rubbed his face and wondered how in the Realm had he managed to get hurt by that filthy creature.

“H-how dare you?” Perseus yelled as he dashed towards the spider, sword raised above his head. He ran as fast as he could, yelling as he went, but his attack was quickly and easily countered as the spider kicked the knife out of his hands and used another leg to jab at Perseus. Fortunately for him, he had been trained just enough to duck and roll to the side so that the spider’s leg hit the ground.

Perspiration dripped down the ‘hero’s face and he swiftly and clumsily tried to wipe it with the sleeve of his tunic. Perseus noticed his sword that had been embedded in the ground a few meters from him and dashed for it. As he ran for it, he only barely missed a few of the spider’s attacks and attempts to kick him to the side. It was a surprise he even got to his sword. When he pulled it out of the ground, he repeated his mistake – he ran forward with no tactic whatsoever.

With ease, the spider kicked the sword out of his grasp again, but this time, it got carried by the currents of the river. Perseus did not last long, especially not with is weapon and was soon webbed down by the spider. The evil beast had knocked out, webbed up and restrained the adventurer before carrying the cocooned human across the river with its front legs. Unfortunately for the spider, it had lost its footing and had dropped its lunch into the river. The cocooned adventurer was then carried away by the strong currents that rushed violently.

When the adventurer regained consciousness about an hour later, he found himself lying drenched and right next to Lake Aquila located right next to the Realm’s town square. He had not expected to have awoken there but what was even more shocking, however, was the large crowd of people who had gathered around him. He was cold, shivering and half of him was still covered in the strong web of the spider.

It had not been seconds after he opened his eyes when the entire group of more than forty people broke out into laughter. Children and adults alike laughed at the sight – one of the most arrogant adventurers who spoke larger of himself than grass was green – sitting webbed up, drenched and shivering after being found floating in the middle of Lake Aquila.

The more witty children had called the arrogant, soon-to-be knight “Sir Cus” and they all began to merrily mock him. His face turned beet red as he looked to the ground. Usually, he would feel the need to defend his pride but he knew that he deserved the name-calling. He had spoken largely of himself but it was all just the noise of an empty barrel.