The following are two stories written by Skagway students. Each won an honorable mention in the Anchorage Daily News/University of Alaska Anchorage annual writing contest.

The Loss

By Hudson Guilliams

Grade 5

Sometimes you think of who or what you are, and that results in you thinking of your memories. Well, what if I told you that I don’t have that anymore.

Chapter 1

The Confusion

Today is going to be the best day ever! Just so happens it’s my golden birthday and I’m turning 14!  

Anyways, my name is Tony R. Nelson, and I’m from Chicago, Illinois. My 14th birthday party is today and it starts– Now! Oh! Adams here! He’s been my best friend since we were babies, but what I’m really excited about is that today I’m getting my computer mind! “To—ny!” says mom, “Time to inject the computer mind chip!” Oh! It’s time! Everybody starts counting to three and then– 

Chapter 2

The Room

I wake up in a bed that I’m not familiar with. The walls are gray—, and it looks like they’re made of— concrete? There’s also something floating in front of me. It says error code 37438219. The screen on it changes and then it says, “You can call me an error code robot.” I have a lot of experience with robots, although I don’t remember how. 

I just realized, I don’t remember anything! I don’t even remember who I am! I can only remember one thing– I think I got hacked! I have to find out who It is. I start by getting out of bed, but once I open the door, there’s nothing but halls! I start walking for a while, but I’m starting to get tired. Right as I’m about to give up, I spot a digital map of the very big maze of halls. I absorb it into my computer mind and start following it.

Chapter Three

Escaped

When you escape from a facility with 100,000 guards chasing you, you sometimes have second thoughts. That’s what I had when I was running for my life out of a huge building being guarded by a bunch of trained professionals and German Shepherds. I started by trying to escape by an ally but it was too far away and the guards would get me. Then, my chance of escape came to me in perfect clarity. I had to quickly hijack a van or a car.

My dad has been teaching me how to drive since last year. I just haven’t gotten my license yet. So you could call me a driver for sure. I spotted a car in a parking lot about 60 feet away from me. I had to try to get to it without being caught by the guards. I tried to wait for the right moment and then I burst toward the car as fast as I could.

Chapter 4

The Research Facility
When I got to the car, I had almost forgotten what I was doing. I quickly remembered and opened the door to the car. The car was small, and dirty. It was one of those cars you would see in your mind if you heard the two words, 1970s cars. I clearly didn’t have any time to think about this. I had to move. And quickly. I pulled the stick and got the car running. I drove for about 20 minutes until I was sure I had escaped the guards. I soon spotted a building that said, The federal research building of Chicago. I got interested and got out toward the building. In the lobby, there were two security guards and a German shepard. They asked me how old I was and if I had a license. I said yes, which was obviously a lie. They let me in and when I got in, there were a bunch of computers, people, and halls. I went down one of the halls and a man in a gray suit walked up to me and said, “Son, I don’t know what you’re doing in this research building, but do you need any help?” I said, yes sir I don’t know if you have one, but my computer mind has been hacked. The man in the gray suit said, “Well maybe some good ol’ research will help.” I said, yes sir, that would be helpful. So the man in the gray suit took me to one of the computer rooms and told me to follow him. Once we got to his computer, he logged in. After about an hour, we had significant evidence on the hacker. We had found out that the hackers name was error code 3743, and the hacker came from the building I had escaped from. The man snuck me into a bed in the facility. When I was about to go to bed, an error code robot entered the room and said, “Evidence was found.” 

 Chapter 5

Memory 

I blacked out. When I woke up, I felt different. I realized, I have memories again! The error code robot came up to me and said, “yes, every fourteen year old has this glitch when they first get their computer minds.” I said, “so this was all just a test? “Yes,” the error code robot said, “this is just a test.” “Tony!” Mom said, “time for breakfast!” Coming mom! “So, Tony, enjoying that computer mind of yours?” I say yes, even though I have a big story to tell that will go down for generation after generation.

Mr. Johnson’s Pirate Ship

By Jacob Moncibaiz 

Fourth Grade

It was a quiet afternoon, and Mr. Johnson decided to surprise his students with a working pirate ship. Mr. Johnson went on Amazon to buy a pirate ship with two day shipping. The next day, he heard the doorbell ring Ding Dong. He sprang out of bed and ran to the door just to find out that it was his neighbor asking for a cup of sugar. Mr. Johnson walked to the kitchen and got his neighbor a cup of sugar. After Mr. Johnson’s neighbor got his sugar, he headed home. Mr.  Johnson tiredly walked to the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee before work. He decided to look out the window, and he saw a delivery driver with a big pickup truck with Mr. Johnson’s pirate ship in the back coming up the road. He ran as fast as he could to the door,  but when the delivey man dropped off the package, it was broken. 

Mr. Johnson asked for a refund but the delivery man said he couldn’t get a refund because the delivery business was going short on money for the boxes and tape. He emailed the manager of Amazon, but the manager said all purchases were final. Mr. Johnson was upset and was ready to give up.

The next day he woke up with a fresh idea, so he started his truck and got the ship in the back of it with his neighbor’s help. Mr. Johnson drove his truck to the docks to repair the ship. He tried to use instant seal foam, but since they were in Texas, it was too hot. The sealing foam was melting and dripping down on the pavement. Mr. Johnson moved his truck in the shade with the boat in the back. Just  as Mr Johnson was getting ready to use some more sealing foam, he realized he had run out, and he couldn’t go to the hardware store because it closes at 5:00 and it was 5:06. Mr. Johnson saw his students fishing and decided to ask his students for help even though it would ruin the surprise.

Mr. Johnson asked all of the students to head into the classroom to discuss how to fix the ship. Jeff suggested that they should use cement, but Mr. Johnson had to explain that the cement would weigh the boat down. Sally said that they should turn the hole into a window and use rubber floaties on the bottom of the boat, but that wouldn’t work either because the floaties wouldn’t be strong enough to hold up the boat and we don’t have strong enough glass for the water presser. Just as everyone was giving up, Simon walked through the door and explained that he had heard about their conversation about the pirate ship and he knew how to help.

Simon explained, “My dad was a pirate before he retired, and he has leftover parts from his ship.” You can come to my house and grab some nails and planks and then head back to the boat. Moments later, Mr. Johnson and Simon got in the pickup truck, went to Simon’s house to grab the planks and nails, and went back to the boat. Jeff held the planks while Sally hammered in the nails, and Simon showed Mr. Johnson the blueprints of the boat. Jeff and Sally finished putting in the last plank and nails until it was time to sail across the ocean.

As Mr. Johnson was about to step onto the boat, he gave his students one final wave goodbye and then he sailed away.  The end