WriteOn! 2024
9th Grade Winning Essays 2015
NATIONAL
1st Place - Livia Toti, Delvine
Topic: You have a time machine that will only work once. What will you do with it?
It was almost midnight, when I heard a loud knock at my front door. I slipped on my socks and walked out of the bedroom. “Who could possibly be in this hour?” I thought. I hesitantly opened the door, just a little bit so I could peer outside. No one was there. After that I opened and as I was going to take a step outside, I something hit my foot, I looked down, surprised to find a black package with a shiny red ribbon on it. I lifted it up and went inside to the living room. I carefully placed it on the coffee table and unwrapped the ribbon. A note fell on the floor. I picked it up and read the calligraphic letters: “Guard this with your life.” Curiosity took over and I opened the box to find a weird wooden machine wrapped with some red velvet piece of cloth. I raised it from the box and placed it on my legs. It was heavy, almost 2 kg or so. On the machine were 12 big precious stones and dwarfs. There were also an eagle and a huge Chinese dragon. “Who could let that to me, what it is?”
A week or so passed and I took a better that the only thing that had inside was an airport ticket to London. Ok, now I was even more confused than before. Even though I went there.
At the airport a man in mid-thirties was waiting for me, his name was Paul De Villers. He was quite handsome for his age with his raven black hair and amber eyes. He took me and drove me to what he so called “The Temple.” The only thing was that this thing was not actually a temple it was rather a building with beautifully and expensively decorated rooms. For conferences or meetings. This building or mansion was huge you could easily get lost. I don’t understand how he could remember all the way to the underground library.
It passed almost an hour after he explained me everything and I was still shocked. This thing or machine was a time traveler machine that only 12 people could travel with it. Tha was what the stones resembled. I was chosen to guard it because this little tiny thing could destroy everything if it fell on the wrong hands.
After I heard everything, I locked it inside a truck and then I thrown it in Thames. I hoped that one day I wouldn’t see it again but I was wrong. One year after that some truck was still outside my house. Since that moment, I vowed my life that I would protect not matter what and even take it with me when I died.
2nd Place - Oriola Biba, Lezhe
Prompt: A beautifully wrapped package is at your door with the message, "Guard this with your life." What's in it and how do you protect it?
One day, I opened my window to see the sunshine while I got off to bed, and a very strange noise was heard and it looked like a car crash but very weirdly! It was the knock on my door. I got scared and terrified because I could have never thinked of what was going to happen with my life. I went slowly, opened the door with my heart beating so badly and when I opened my eyes too, I saw a really tiny package, wrapped on a beautiful silk cloak. My heart said not to open it, but my curiosity healed my fright to death. When I opened it very slowly a bunch of ideas came into my mind, but none of them was close enough to what it really was. It was a pink, small, magical, sparkling, tiny, brand new, unbelievable to be from earth pen. First of all I thought it would have been a joke from the naughty children, but I still took it, and put it in my bag. I never imagined for what was it for or for what the note said to save it with my life. Luckily, I got the little box, and while wanting to trash it, I quickly read another note in a small square, “Use it wisely, it is limited.”
I thought it was a pen that was a product that would never be produced again so I didn’t pay a lot of attention. But it all started one day at school. I had to write a creative essay, about how would the world be happy, perfect, and peaceful. I looked in my bag and I could find no pen or pencil but I remembered myself that I had that weird beautiful pen in one of my back pockets. I didn’t have time, so I used it, without thinking of any of the notes that was written on the box. I wrote my long creative essay, and the next day, happened the most wow thing in internal history, I bet you are thinking that the pen was my lucky one and that I got good grade for that, but NO. It was our lucky pen, our changer, our happiness. You may call me crazy, but it was the world’s lucky pen. It was a marked day, event or even more important than the birthday of each of us. Whatever thing I had written in those pages came true.
When I turned the TV on, all I could see was good news as people hugging, helping each-other, or as NO CRISES, no accidents, no deaths, no problems. I thought I was in a dream, but all I could see was, my divorced parents were living happy together, we had a lot of food, when I went to look for the bus which I usually feel and smell the disgusting gas coming. I couldn’t because every machine was with water use to not effect the pollution. The river was so clean. The sky was a blue as I had never seen it before. I stopped to a shop to buy some lunch to get at school, I checked my pockets and there was no money. I felt embarrassed when I asked if I could pay for it on weekend, she didn’t even know what the word pay or money meant. Everything was with sharing, and giving for free. I felt so awkward.
Where have I been living before. When I went to school I saw no students with glasses because there was no way they would have eye problems. The neighbor next door was not sick anymore, deaf people were normal now. Everything was a full dream, but what have happened. When I opened my books, the essay paper fell on the floor and I read it, everything, every change I had written came true. That pen was magic. I wish I had a doll, or I wish I could speak all the languages in the world and the next day I would wake up with the doll or whatever I asked for. But I never paid attention to the words that were written on the box. I never did. One day I saw some animals suffering and trying be understood by the people but they never did and I decided to write on a paper that wish, but all I could write was: I wish all the… and it didn’t write anymore. I tried and tried but never wrote anymore.
I tried the next day and the next week, but still it was over. I didn’t pay attention to the instructions, the pen’s ink was over. No other wishes. I hated myself for wasting my wishes with stupid stuff like dolls, languages, etc. And I feel so selfish now. When I see everything, everything so happy, no problem, but the animals suffer when no help offers from the people. I am happy for that little weird box on my door that scary morning that changed everyone’s life. Changed the world… Even though I feel sorry for the animals I feel so proud for my essay that without purpose changed everything by turning the bad stuff around.
3rd Place - Joana Maluta, Lezhe
Prompt: You have a time machine that will only work once. What will you do with it?
I wake up in the morning then I go to the balcony of my room to enjoy the wonderful view from my room and then I suddenly see a big, very big golden machine. It’s oval with small round windows. “What’s that?” I ask myself. “Is it an alien disc?” I have never seen something like that, it is beautiful but it is weird in the same time. Who has brought this in my garden? But there is no more time for questions. I go downstairs and even though I’m afraid of it, I take the courage to go inside of it. The door opens automatically and a robot voice says: Welcome to the Time Machine, Ms. Maluta. Are you ready for the journey? “A journey? Me? Wow! I didn’t expect this, Mr. Robot, but I’m coming with you.” In fact, I didn’t expect me to accept that offer that easily, but sometimes we need to stop everything else, forgot the world and the people for a while, and take an adventure, experience something new. Well, I have always wanted to travel through time, so this is my only opportunity and I have to live it. It’s time to have some fun. Everything inside the machine is so mechanical. There are computers everywhere and things like that, that I’ve never seen or heard about them. So it’s hard for me to describe all the technology that is used for this machine.
I’m sitting in a gold sofa, it is so comfortable and soft, and there is a big table in the middle full of chocolates, sweets, drinks, and big televisions all around me. Wow, somebody made my day! And he or she has thought of the perfect way to make me happy. Who is this person? Why did he do this to me? What is going to happen next? Where am I going? All these questions are driving me crazy! You need to relax Joana, everything is going to be alright. Somebody had a plan for you. Enjoy it.
Mr. Robot says: Where do you to go Ms. Maluta?
-I have no idea.
-You have two opportunities: the past, or the future.
-What if I choose both of them?
-You can’t. Only one of them.
I don’t know which one to choose. Mr. Robot keeps saying that I need to decide quickly. There are only 24 hours left. The past or the future? So this is my logic: I have heard, read, and watched on TV a lot about the past, the wars, famous people, inventions… And the future? Nothing about it. The only reason I want to be immortal is to live in the future, but this is impossible. Somebody knew about this and here I am, ready to live in the future. Only for one day. It is going to be the perfect day.
The machine set off and after about 5 seconds. I can’t see my house anymore. I can see lots of stars, planets, the sun is far away, I’m leaving our galaxy, but I don’t know where I am going. Then I see some small buildings, close to each other. Everything was green. But where were the people? There were no people, or at least I can’t see any of them. We landed and for the first time in my life, for the first time in history, somebody is living in the future. These is weird. There are no people, no animals only machines, robots. This is out of my imagination. This place is so empty. I can’t hear the voice of the children. I can’t feel their happiness and harmony. Only some computers, some robots that have the power and control the whole world. But a world without people is nothing! Robots are over humans! There are trying to live the life like us but there is no way to be like us humans. They have no feelings, no brain. How can they live though? If I were them, I would find a way to kill myself and not live in a world without happiness, without pain. I’m really disappointed. This is not the future I’ve been wishing for. I have been thinking of a world where people live in peace, in harmony with each other, love each other and people that are more sensible and more respectful to each other and nature. But not robots. I know these are going to be the longest and most terrible 24 hours in history! I am happy because my dream came true. But sometimes, we need to live for now and just forget what is impossible. You perhaps will get disappointed, just like me. And now I’m hoping this is just a dream, but it’s not. Whatever! Maybe I will make some new friends, robots of course.