THE DISASTROUS ENDINGS
By Paige Clayton
Imagine a place where happy endings don't exist,a place where disastrous endings rule and a place where everyone lives miserably. Jub had a very important job, a job like no other. Every night, Jub would rapidly run to the centre of the forest where her very important job began. With her she would carry a huge sack full of golden,glittering happy endings. When she got to the enchanted forest,she would climb the treeit was the biggest. The tree painted the ground with shadows. When she got to the top,Jub would open the bag full of happy endings. Gently and carefully,she would tip them out. Some of them twirled like a ballerina;others zoomed off like a rocket.After she had done that,she would climb down.Scrabbling and stuttering,Jub would run back home(a tree)because the sky was darkening. As the day went on,the happy endings drifted back to the golden birch waiting to be collected,whilst Jub ironed,cleaned and did her daily exercise.
One peculiar evening,as Jub set off, she noticed a blanket of grey mist.The brooding mist crept long along the ground, prowling around her,slithering over her. The finger-like branches were poised. Jub shivered. By the time she was half way through the forest, she felt apprehensive. The wind howled an ear-pearcing scream. Silhouette of the trees looked eerie:branchesspreDlike a prehistoric beast. Bushes crouched in the fog like muggers. This is strange. She thought and hurried on apprehensively.
Hello my fellow friend,"someone screeched brutally. Jub gulped and urned to face a strange-looking man. The colourless skin of his scared ace was stretched tight over his face,giving him the haunted look of omeone who has seen many battles. Knotted,blue veins bulged under his flaking skin. His eyes were like two black swimming pools of ink. Behind the thick cracked lips,she could see his stained and crooked teeth muttered out like fangs and curved down over his lower lip." What's in the ack?" Let me past please,"Jub replied. I said WHAT IS IN THE SACK!" He shouted in an ear-piercing scream, as he grabbed hold of her hood. P...please.. L..eave me alone,"Jub quivered. Shut up and give me that sack,"he snarled,spitting venomous slime into her face and snatching the sack with such power that it knocked Jub over.Without looking,the wizard disappeared into the distance,leaving Jub tartled and terror-stricken. Oh no,she thought.
Jub scrambled to her feet. She ran rapidly home,scattering guilty tears into the night sky because she knew she'd let the whole world down. The phrase"happy endings were lost forever"was playing in her mind like a record player. Her heart was bruised;she felt heart-broken. Hopelessness washed over her. She felt a rush of anguish surge into her chest and throat and flood her eyes with tears. Jub felt a wild grief building inside her-taking over her-until she could only break down in an agony of weeping. As Jub ran,sobbing her heart out,she could hear the innocent children being told their bedtime stories. But tonight there were no happy endings. Bambi got shot by the hunters;Puss in boots killed shriek and the gingerbread man got broken into tiny little pieces! As the stories went on, the worse they got. Jub's heart ached. Children screamed an ear-piercing scream at the end of their bedtime stories and they pleaded for their parents to stay with them. Rocking back and forth,Jub eventually drifted off to sleep. She dreamed of a potion, a potion that would kill the witch.
When she woke up the following morning,she felt heartbroken. She noticed a strange-looking object. The object looked like the one Jub had dreamed of:black like swimming pools of ink,smelt of dunge and had worms coming out of it. Beside her bed,the potion stood on top of her bedside table. What am I supposed to do with that? Was it from the wizard?The word wizard made her think of yesterday-the worst day of her life! Then an idea flew into her head!The more she thought about it,the more tempted she became. After several minutes of thinking,she finally decided to put her plan into action...
When Jub arrived at the enchanted forest,the wizard was walking towards her. His silver,greasy hair swayed from side to side. Jub timidly followed the wizard. Hands shaking and feet trembling,Jub carried the potion apprehensively. After a while of tiptoeing,Jub finally arrived at the wizard's house. Feeling more confident,she could finally put her plan into action. Cautiously,she opened the bottle,turning away b cause of the unbearable pong. Jub knew that the wizard like smells like that."What is that smell. Do I smell a lovely drink. I think I do,"croaked the overaged wizard. The wizard slowly walked over to Jub."Gimme that,"the wizard told her. "N...no,"Jub replied pretending to be frightened. "I said GIMME THAT!"he screeched brutally snatching the poisonous potion. Taking a sip of the potion,the wizard glared at her. Every nerve in his body screamed at him as the pain gripped his head like a clenched fist. All thought drained out of him as the pain tored through his head and left him double bent and writhering. His mouth dropped open and his tongue lolled out. With one final gasp,his legs buckled under him and he crashed to the floor. A smirk crept across her face. Jub could finally get the happy endings back.
Running into the house,Jub searched it. The ground was so thick with rats that it seemed to be covered in a carpet of hairs. A buzzing strip light hung from the ceiling. Its casing was peppered with the bodies of dead flies. The windows were dirty and smeared with a layer of crawling damp and mould;only a gloomy light could filter the room. After several minutes of looking through belongings,she finally found the happy endings. Without hesitation,Jub ran to the old oak tree. Scrambling and stuttering up the tree,she knew she could make the world happy tonight. Gently and carefully,Jub tipped the happy endings out. Peering down,she could see the wizard. The wizard who she thought she had killed.