Thank you all so much for voting last edition!
A majority of the votes were for A and 2, so our character is going to let the flames spread but attempt to retrieve the key from the stove.
After a not-so-long mental debate, I go with my first instinct of running to safety. I mean, what else am I supposed to do if there’s a raging flame that’s growing by the second and taking over the room?
On second thought, I pause. What if I need the key again for something else? Though I can’t possibly imagine what else this key could do for me, I reach a shaking hand into the heart of the flame and tug the key out. Like a switch turned off, the flames fade out quickly. They don’t leave a single trace, not one burnt-black mark, or any lasting heat.
Sadly, I can’t say the same for my hand. I clearly didn’t think enough before I reached into a thriving flame, and the little blisters popping up only make that more obvious. The key, completely unaffected, rests in my palm, cool as ever. It’s almost scary how something could suddenly appear or disappear, and leave no traces. Say, if I were to go missing in here, would people ever know? Would their memories of me be wiped? Perhaps they already forgot me the moment I set foot in this place.
Honestly, I didn’t ask to be in this weird mansion, or to be a part of whatever twisted game this is. I can’t remember doing anything wrong to someone, or mistreating them. Wait… I don’t think I remember anyone at all. Do I have any friends? My parents are blurry memories… I don’t even remember their names! Did- did I have a sister? A brother? A dog, maybe? I can’t recall a single thing!
Okay, my family and friends are one thing. Can I remember more important things? I can still speak, thankfully, and apparently I’m able to think as well. As for whom I am, I don’t even want to wonder about that anymore. I’ll leave it an unanswered question all the way until it’s absolutely necessary.
Alright, enough thinking. I don’t want to exhaust whatever sanity I have left over some existential crisis. Right now, there is one small, mildly rusted key in my hand, and I have nothing else with me. No weapons to defend myself in case of attacks, though I highly doubt anything will attack me. Yet.
Again, I’m sitting on my usual position at the kitchen counter, tossing the key around in my hands. According to all the puzzle games I’ve played in my life, this key probably won’t be useful anywhere else, since I’ve used it once already. So maybe I should throw the key out right now.
Actually, all possibilities considered, I probably shouldn’t even let it out of my sight. I never know what else the key might come in handy for. I pocket the key again, and get off the counter. This time, however, I don’t land on my feet like usual, I trip over and fall flat on my face.
I get back up rather easily, and run my hands over my face to check for blood. My hands come away perfectly clean, and I start walking again. Where am I walking to? What am I looking for? Well, I don’t know exactly either. More clues? A sign of some sort to tell me what to do next, perhaps. Though I’m going searching, I feel slightly lazy, and I’m walking slower than before. I try to walk faster, but it feels almost impossible, like my body isn’t my own. I give up and simply continue at the pace I was walking in before.
I try to look up at the ceiling to see if it held anything, had words painted on, or just anything at all. The walls are clear of even the slightest scratch on the paint, which would have disappointed me had I not seen something else. Right above my head, there were bright white letters spelling out something, and some sort of- stats below the main text. I crane my neck harder and try to read what the words say.
Player GL!TC#? What’s that supposed to mean? I wonder. I tried to figure out what the things below that said. The bold white letters neatly lined up above my head were slightly weird, if I was being honest. After a long time spent staring, I came to the conclusion that this was what they read.
“PLAYER: GL!TC#,
STRENGTHS: UNLIMITED,
WEAKNESSES: NONE,
POWER UPS: ALL EQUIPPED”
was as far as I could see. I think there were some more words, but all I could figure out beyond that was a health bar of some sort, which was down to 70.
Wait. A health bar? What does that mean? Who’s keeping track of my health? And why is it at 70? I feel fairly healthy right now, I’m pretty sure I could even run a marathon. Also, what did those other words even mean? I speak fluent English, and I knew what those words mean individually, but put together they make no sense. Power ups? What are those supposed to be?
I look up again out of curiosity, and what I see makes me blink and aggressively rub my eyes to make sure I’m not seeing thing. My 70% health bar was now up at 85%, and slowly, it was going up too. 86%, 87%, 88%, and it kept going.
I freeze. What… am I?
Author’s note: Sadly, there will be no options for voting for this chapter due to where the story is currently split. However, the voting options will be back up from the following edition onwards.
Chaos was the ideal host. If you’d call smashing china and setting off a nationwide car apocalypse as
being an ideal host, that is. We’d just entered the house, when- Boom! - And somebody was outside
fixing a flat tire. Basically, he was a good host. Served us tea and gave us tees and all. He even agreed to
come with us to annoy the heck out of Evil the Bag Lady Who Wants Doomsday (I have a friend
nicknamed Evil who’d travel all the way to Yukon just to see Chaos and say, ‘Hi! I’m Evil!’ just to watch
him soiling his godly pants- She’d like this.) and her trusty colleague, Scarlet Confidence, who (Surprise)
oversaw the power of confidence.
So why was I so glum? Because weapons. Broken weapons, to be more clear. You see, y’all remember
how I told you that Chaos caused chaos? Well, apparently, that list included weapons too. I was halfway
out before I noticed the sword that Dad had given me was broken at the hilt. Dad’s (Retch and gag.
Rinse and repeat) stick and Fortune’s dagger were out of sync too. Every time he tried to imitate a stab,
his eyeballs went funny and he started to walk with uneven steps. Gods, how we laughed. We went to
Monty’s Assorted Knives and Blades to buy pick-axes and daggers. That was where the fun started. Right
when we were in the shop, some random guy- maybe the shopkeeper, Monty or at least someone
pretending to be him- walked up to Fortune, transformed into a mammoth croc, picked a blade and
attacked, yelling, ‘DIE! FORTUNE SHOULD DIE!’
Then he stopped, confused. Probably the energy he needed for putting four words together had
overheated his brain. Whatever it is, I don’t know. Search me. Anyway, Fortune sent a blade whizzing
toward him, impaling the guy hard in the nose. He didn’t flinch- He just knocked the hard blade away
from his nose. And just like that, his nose grew back. Advancing towards the king of the Gods, he let
loose a roar and swung towards Fortune. He ducked. But Mr. Croc had been anticipating the move.
From a downswing, he changed his direction to swipe at Fortune’s neck. None of us knew what to do.
Then, Chaos came into motion. ‘No, underling!’ He roared. The weapon went flying into Chaos’ hands,
who promptly broke it. That attracted the croc’s attention. ‘No! Caladbog! My dear sword! I loved you!’
He launched himself at Chaos.
Kids, here’s some news you may want to heed: Whenever you meet Chaos, it is a good idea to run away
screaming. Run towards him screaming? Here’s a tip: Leave your friends and make a will.
Of course, either the croc had not read The Chronicles of Joy- War of Generations or he’d chosen not to
heed my suggestion. I don’t know what. ‘Oh yeah?’ Chaos said. He caught the animal in his hands, judoflipped
it and kneed it, turning its ribcage to putty (When I posted that video on Instagram, his
popularity rating went up, like, ninety-five percent. Also, I got many comments saying things like- ‘Are
you single?’ I don’t know why).
Anyway, once that jerk had died, we all picked our weapons at leisure and walked out (If you’re thinking,
There’s a thing called payment, Joy! I don’t know any payment better than indirectly saving the real
shopkeeper’s life). I felt jerky and my limbs were trembling when we walked out. Either way, this day
was going to be a day to remember.
Surat, Gujarat
Who doesn’t know the famous place that hosted the 1907 Congress? Yes, we’re talking about the Surat session of the Indian National Congress (INC). In this session, the Extremists panel wanted Lala Lajpat Rai or Bal Gangadhar to be president, but Lala Lajpat Rai stepped down, and Ghosh took charge and became President of the INC. This marked a series of major developments between the two panels of the INC, which ultimately resulted in India’s Independence.
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
This was the place where Subramanya Bharati met Gandhiji and earned his praise, and where the Tilak Ghat is still found. This was a place off the coast of Marina Beach, where valued leaders like Gandhiji, VO Chidambaram, Rajaji, and Tilak held discussions. Through Gandhiji’s vision came the Non-Cooperation Movement, with Chennai as its brainchild. This city marks a lot of important events and exchange of ideas that took place between great minds.
Lahore, Pakistan
The Lahore session of the INC yielded the Complete Independence Act. This session, which took place in 1929, presided by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru has a special significance due to a resolution for Complete Independence which was passed in this session of the Congress.
New Delhi, Delhi
The first incident relating to the freedom struggle that took place in Delhi was the great Revolt of 1857. Indian Gurkhas in the English army were issued with Enfield Rifles. These were required to be reloaded with cartridges. However, rumour spread among the lines that the seal consisted of cow and pig fat. The cow was considered a sacred animal to Hindus and the pig was filthy to the Muslims. This led both the divisions to revolt against the English, which is popularly known as the Revolt of 1857.
Barrackpore, West Bengal
During the First Anglo-Burmese War, in October 1824, the 26th, 47th and 62nd Regiments of the Bengal Native Infantry were ordered to march 500 mi (800 km) from Barrackpore, a military cantonment in Bengal near Calcutta, to Chittagong in preparation for entering Burmese territory. The regiments had just marched almost 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Mathura to Barrackpore and were reluctant to undertake another long march, this time against the Burmese, an unknown enemy. Rumours of magical Burmese prowess spread amongst the Indian sepoys, affecting their morale particularly after the Burmese victory at Ramu. This led to a revolt against the British in 1824, popularly known as the Barrackpore Mutiny.
There’s a lot more to Mother Nature
Which is the world’s most exciting feature
Than just forests and humans and animals and trees
Why, nature even resides in the breezing blowing right over there!
The smallest water drops on those tiny leaves
And those thin icicles hanging off your eaves
And the beautiful smell of soil just before the coming rain
Makes taking the clothes off the clothesline less a pain.
All around the world, Nature exhibits her power
Gripping even barren land
Empty except for sand
In a couple of years, there’s a thick tree cover!
Australia has its own wonder
In its auroras that look like thunder.
And that orange-violet sunset you just saw today
Even that’s part of nature, pray!
The gigantic Mount Everest in Nepal
Stands glorious, unrivalled, and tall
And in the Grand Canyon, if you fall
You have a long way to go, doll!
And the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea
Is sure a sight to see
No, you don’t have to pay an entrance fee
Just go there and run free!
And the Victoria Falls is the biggest waterfall out there
Go there and inhale the cold air
Play in the water
And make sure you don’t leave without memories and laughter!
- Sriram
Child safe locks intimidate me. Like, I know I’m still a child but I can’t get it open and the fact that can’t open it scares me- Like what if they were some important pills and the reason of my death was because I couldn’t open a lid. Also, mouthwash with child safe locks are hell, like, what am I supposed to do, wake up with bad breath that’s what-
Clothes, they’re so weird and I don’t know if it’s just me but every person has their own type of clothes which matches their personality, maybe I’m just looking too deep into it but it genuinely feels like that though.
Doing art is weird, you take a bunch of coloured water, coloured ink inside a tube and some fun looking pigments encased inside dead trees used to make a smooth surface also of dead crushed plants look aesthetically pleasing. Yeah I should stop now.
Alarms, they wake you up with loud abrupt noises. Now, if you think about it they’re kind of the opposite of white noise, which help you fall asleep. What if you were just deaf- It always blows me away how you would hear nothing or close to nothing, the world would be pretty peaceful just being able to cancel out your mom calling you for dinner-
Zombies or Vampires, which one of these scares you more, the editor and I had a little debate and this is completely random but- VAMPIRE SUPREMACYYY (editor’s note: no. zombies all the way.) Also has anyone properly defined a vampire along with the features as well because every source tells me something vastly different so I’m assuming it’s just opinions since they don’t really exist- I want to hear your thoughts on them.
(leaving this just for you anhiti lmao: totally not me trying to get people to use the comment section more, I’m sorry it was painful to see the coder stress about it lol. Also why does a part of me think the coder is going to edit this and say ghost supremacy- im sorry I make no sense ill go now) Coder’s note: Ghost supremacy- was I supposed to edit this out?
Not to get too political or anything since that would get me into controversies, but what is cheese?
I feel like most of us used to say ‘mines’ instead of ‘mine’ when we were younger. I used to be one of these children who used ‘mines’ in the wrong context and I always remember them saying “’Mines’ isn’t a real word” but all I could think about were the mines where we dig to obtain ore and stuff.
Food combinations, there are many of them, and a few of them that I’ve encountered are a little weird, you be the judge of them. Number one: Garlic bread with chocolate milk. Yes I know it sounds disgusting and it probably is but one of my friends said they enjoyed it- I have weird, fun friends ._.
Number two, it isn’t really a food combo but half melted ice cream, I don’t know what it is with half melted ice cream but it tastes so much better than solid hard cold right from the freezer ice cream. I don’t know if it’s because it’s warmer and my taste-buds can taste more but it’s just divine 10/10 would recommend.
Number three, the last and least. Cereal with orange juice. Need I say more. At least it’s not as bad as pouring the milk before the cereal. I could only imagine what Satan does, pour the orange juice before the cereal? Makes my spine shiver.
In first-aid for kids or the instruction videos about plane safety, it never fails to include ‘get help from an adult’ or ‘inform an adult immediately’ which leads me to question if there’s a secret instruction manual for adults to teach them how to guide us o.0
I woke up for no reason and it’s 2:10 something and my phone is fully charged- I usually put my phone on charge before I go to bed so when I wake up it’s ready to use but is it just me or does anyone else get scared that the phone is going to explode in the middle of the night? I wish companies would create a charger that turns off by itself when the device is at full charge, idk why but I need it in my life.
That’s all for tonight, see you next edition :D
One difficult riddle – Can you solve it?
This is a problem where two mathematicians a and b are talking. This is the conversation between them that is given as information to solve the problem.
A- what are the ages of your three children
B- Their ages are all natural numbers, their product is 36 and sum is my door number, which you know.
A-I just need one more clue to find the ages
B-My youngest son had a fever last week
A- Now I know their ages.
With this information, can you deduce the ages of the three children?
You'll be featured next edition with your answer if you solve it and mail us your answer!
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria that most often affect the lungs. It is known by many names - the Greeks called it ‘phthisis’, the Incas ‘chaky onkay’ and the English - tuberculosis or the white plague. Today tuberculosis or TB is one of the most infectious killers surpassing Malaria and HIV/AIDS.
TB is often spread by droplet infection. The bacteria travel by air and enter the lungs. Here the immune cells called macrophages break down the bacteria. Most of the time this is enough but sometimes, people with additional health issues can’t break it down. Then, the bacteria reproduce in the macrophages and form colonies in the lung tissues. These colonies then employ enzymes that destroy tissues causing chest pain and coughing with blood.
Henceforth these colonies then spread throughout the body causing a variety of hormonal changes. These may even affect the skeletal system causing back pain and difficulty in moving and can cause concussion if they affect the nervous system.
About one-quarter of the world's population has a TB infection, which means people have been infected by TB bacteria but are not (yet) ill with the disease and cannot transmit it.
When a person develops active TB disease, the symptoms may be mild for many months. This is the main reason why people experience delays in seeking care, and results in transmission of the bacteria to others. Tuberculosis is particularly difficult to diagnose in children. Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.
TB is a treatable and curable disease. BCG is the vaccine used for vaccination of tuberculosis. German physicist Robert Koch studied the mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria and Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the x-ray enabling physicians to track the progression in the body.
We were all together near Lake Calm, where Arbeal welcomed us.
He asked, “I assume you three, except Adam, have figured out your granted powers. Would you like to demonstrate them to everyone here?”
“Yes!” sprang up Leo. He showed us all his summoning skills (which weren’t great, by the way. Instead of creating Chamomile, he created a thorny bush) with the regular flash of green. Amber actually had found her power, which was bending objects’ minds, willing them to do anything. But she told us that doing that saps a lot of her energy, and almost fainted after making blades of grass levitate.
Later, after all the other people except Leo, Amber, Arbeal, Reylia, Amethius and I left, we were to pick our weapons. Arbeal told me that it didn’t matter which weapon I picked, I could still channel the elements through it. I saw a bunch of them, but the one which was the coolest and easiest to wield was a silver blue staff with a gem-shaped sapphire at its tip that was big enough to fit perfectly in my hand. It was also sharp at the edges, so if anyone annoyed me, I could just bonk them on the head. That happy thought made me pick the staff.
Amber picked a gun-sword, which was actually a pretty cool weapon. I could imagine a few instances where Amber’s and an enemy’s swords clash, and she’d just smirk and pull the trigger.
Leo picked both a wand and a sword. I laughed, “That’s such a tiny wand, Leo. Where’d you get it, from the branch of a tree?”
“Want me to shove it up your nose?”
“Um, no thanks- “
At that, Leo ran off elsewhere.
Later, I learned how to wield my staff. I managed to summon a few of the WIFE (kudos to Leo for figuring that abbreviation) elements, though I accidentally set Arbeal’s hair on fire. Gosh, that did not go well. He was irritated with me for the rest of the day.
There was no night-time, or even time over here, so we had to sleep every fifteen hours or so, and ate meals every few hours. The spirits were good at cooking, thankfully. Arbeal showed us the library, and told us about the scrolls, which magically get prophecies inscribed onto them.
Slowly, the three of us got better at… well, wielding our weapons, using them, not settings things on fire or electricity, not causing a hat of roots to grow on Amethius’s head, and not fainting after making a rock move an inch. Soon, I was able to blast training dummies both on fire and ice, Leo was able to strangle them by summoning a sort of creeper-poison ivy, and Amber was able to both stab and shoot them at the same time. Three months later, we had to put our skills to the test. Reylia took us to the forest, to fight against actual monsters.
We got deep inside the forest. Reylia said, “Get to the other side of the forest. There are many obstacles ahead. Survive all of them and exit the forest through the other side, and you’ll pass the test. If things get very bad, shoot this flare gun, and I’ll come to help.”
“Wait, you’re not coming with us?” asked Leo.
“If I come with you, how will you three learn to defend yourselves and work as a team?”
“Fair enough.”
Reylia walked off, starting off a terrible day.
…to be continued in edition 10
Varsha: Our amazing comic illustrator! She finds inspiration in the small, vague details hidden in the world, and incorporates them into her everything.
Jyotsna: The first to introduce the bob obsession, she’s the peacekeeper (I see you hunger games fans), is on the tranquil side of our team, and writes stellar articles.
Aadhav: our talented pianist! He loves anything musical, from singing to of course, playing the piano. He loves sports too, and is an avid Agatha Christie fan.
Moukthika: Our Artist! Her art skills are next level - Even buzzfeed agrees that she’s artsy and she cooks really well.
Bhargavi: She’s our editor and personal kpop spammer; expert at burning toast. She’s also everyone’s (self proclaimed) favourite unnie.
Vedika: The one team member who’s up before the sun with a smile, she’s our motivator. She’s a part of our photography gang, and contributes art and articles every other edition too!
Aravind: Fellow youtube animator addict, he's known to be talkative and lighten the mood anywhere he goes! He contributes both articles and stories.
Paddy: known by the name ‘Evil.’, he’s our evil, chaotic teammate. He’s the inventor of a language we’re proud to use. He talks equally as often as Favorite Unnie, and is the author of the regular section, 3 am brain factory produce.
Sriram: A voracious reader with his interest in a variety of genres, his fingers can do magic with both pen and brush. He loves cooking and eats cricket for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Anhiti: The youngest here, she makes the website for the particle. Famous for convincing us to save the reefs – budding artist and author. (Don’t tell her, but she’s basically kpop spammer #2.)
