Wait till Zarni hears
This is an entry in Junior Dispatch’s alien short story contest. The effort earns the writer a free book from the York Emporium and a chance to win a $50 movie gift card and a $50 gift certificate from The York Emporium. The submission deadline was Aug. 1.
By Hannah Snelbaker
Age 10, Dover
Once upon a time on the small planet Mars a little alien named Zarni was born. Right when Zarni was born he already knew the alphabet. As Zarni grew he knew more and more until finally he was 4 years above his grade level.
One day as Zarni was walking home after a long day of school, he met up with 2 other aliens. Zarni’s smile turned upside-down. When he saw them he trembled and started to walk away. The first alien boy grabbed Zarni by his shirt and pulled him back. The boys dragged Zarni to an abandoned house and tied him to a dusty chair. The boys did not let Zarni out of the abandoned house until he had polished and repaired each part of the house. Everyday after school they would drag him back. Zarni tried to take different routes to his house but they found him every time. They threatened to take his alien parents if he told them.
One day Zarni found a portal beside an old house. He crawled through the tight space and closed his eyes, not knowing what would come next. When he finally opened his eyes again Zarni saw hundreds of bright lights. He knew he wasn’t on Mars anymore. He saw a castle at the top of a mountain. It looked amazing with all the gems and gold. He knew someday that, that castle would belong to him.
Three years went by and Zarni was on his way to the castle. He packed his bags and made his plans. The next night at exactly 10:32 p.m. Zarni broke into the castle. He made his way to the king’s chamber and locked the door. He stole the crown and tied the guards up. Zarni ran over to the loud speakers and cried, “I’m the new ruler now.”
After the announcement Zarni went over to the refrigerator and pulled out an alien soda pop. By morning he had chugged 12 sodas, 6 slices of pie, and 2 slices of pizza. Again he walked over to the loud speakers and cried again, “My name is Zarni. I would like to be an evil ruler over this town, and anyone who stops me will be taken to prison.”
Zarni walked onto the balcony for the town to see. They gasped when they saw their new ruler. He selected a number of the town’s aliens to be his guards. Then he said, “Go to your shuttles and I will telephone you the rest of the rules later.”
The aliens hurried to their shuttles fast and stayed there until they were told to come out.
Zarni walked back to where he held the real king and guard’s captive. When he walked in the room the king trembled with fear. Zarni grabbed the king and chained him in a dungeon. Then without thinking, went to grab the guards. Once they were chained and in the dungeon, Zarni sat down. He was tired and needed to rest.
The next day Zarni mixed together potions and other mixtures that he could drink to make him more intimidating. After he had finished, he had more power than before. Everyday was the same. He would get up every morning and yell through the loud speakers to wake up the rest of the town. Then he would send the people off to work and he would fall back asleep.
But one day something changed. Zarni had just sent the people out to work and had fallen asleep. The people were tired of being treated like this and started a riot. They tied up the guards and banged on the castle walls. They stormed through the hallway shattering anything in their way. When they finally reached Zarni’s room, they tied him up and threw him through the portal that he had come through many years before.
When Zarni finally woke up he was in front of the 2 alien boys they dragged him back to the abandoned house, and as he cleaned, he realized everything he had done to the town. He told the alien boys that he wanted to clean the old house every day.
About 7 years went by and Zarni had become a different alien. He was nice to everyone else in the town. Zarni enjoyed cleaning the house so much that he cleaned all the other aliens’ houses.
Thank you for reading “WAIT TILL ZARNI HEARS”
