Eunice Cheong

One afternoon, I was wandering around the quiet hallways of my school, I stumbled upon an old wooden double door that was painted deep blue. It was in the school garden. Twisted tree roots were carved into its surface, a faint golden light seeped from the small gap between the doors. Strangely, no one else seemed to notice it, as if it had been hidden in plain sight. I was surprised and curious. Then, I slowly pushed the doors open. I expected that it was a usual storage room that stored the tools of gardening but I found myself stepping into a different world—a school, but not my school. I could see that the hallways were dimly lit with lanterns and the students wore old-fashioned uniforms from a time long past, in the 1990s. I could smell the air full of aged paper and ink. The walls were also lined with wooden bookshelves that were filled with ancient scrolls. I started to walk around the school, then I met a girl named Emma, who looked surprised to see me. “You don’t belong here,...

I was just ready to go back to my room, I never expected that this would become a night I would never forget. It was nearly midnight when I first heard the noise—a strange “boop-boop” sound, it was like a squeaky toy being squeezed repeatedly. At first, I thought it was my brother playing with his game again, but when I went to my brother's room, he was wearing a headset and playing his game. I heard it once again, the sound was coming from outside. I was curious, so I decided to grab my flashlight and stepped into my backyard. I saw a chubby, bright green alien. I could not believe it was real, I have watched a lot of movies, but I could not believe it happened in my life. It was standing in the middle of my yard, a chubby, bright green alien—with round googly eyes, a wide goofy smile, and stubby arms stretched out like it was asking for a hug. It looked exactly like something you can find in the toy section at IKEA, except this one was moving and waving at me. For a second, I ...