Welcome to the second installment of SaW© (Saving the World Club)! The following is a continuation of a creative writing story started by the staff of The Norse Star. At the end of the story, there will be information for any students interested in submitting the next portion of the story. Have fun!

“Who can tell me how this excerpt from The Great Gatsby relates to our focus of the American Dream?” Mrs. Lochlan, a deliberate and wiry English teacher, asked for what seemed like the 50th time. The lessons today all blended together because I, as the proud President of Saving The World Club, had a mission to prepare for. My crew, Jessica and Crane, had received their first proper debriefing last night. 

“So we’re meeting today, on Halloween?” Jessica leaned over to ask. I quietly tilted to meet her, keeping my eyes on my notes.

“Yes, I thought it would seem fitting,” I replied.

“Not like I was going to any parties or anything…” J.W huffed and hunched back to her seat. Rolling her eyes, she got back to work.

The plan was to meet at 10 p.m. on Halloween, which is in nearly seven hours, dressed up in hyper-realistic costumes to sneak into a secret location where we believed a cartel of Aliens were bartering and selling otherworldly creatures. We would enter through a side entrance, out of view of Crane’s parents, who would be parked, unrelatedly, in the front. The plan was that once were inside, we’d go through our regulations we use for all assignments:

1. Figure out what we’re dealing with and what their deal is. (A month or so ago J.W had devised a graph to help narrow down the specific species.)
2. Get a lay of the land (usually with the help of Crane hacking into the security system.)
3. Improvise. (Step three may seem unprofessional, but when dealing with the supernatural, it’s hard to predict the moves they’ll make. While most pursuits end in a narrow escape, we have been successful so far.)

 “I said I wasn’t wearing tentacles!” Jessica groaned that evening as she looked exasperatedly into the trunk of my car. I assured her these weren’t the costumes for the mission as Crane and Jessica helped me haul the assortment of disguises to my basement bedroom.

I grabbed the biggest one, and the one Jessica was concerned over. A classic c-6 Alien with a set of 3-5 tentacles, blue-greenish in color, and extruding teeth from every angle.

Crane lugged out a swamp-creature covered with very real seaweed, enthusiastically covered in Vaseline, which formed a bulbous shape when donned.

Jessica, at first relieved that she didn’t have an alien costume of grotesque proportions, sulked and carried a vampire costume out from the trunk, clad with dark flowing drapes covering her right shoulder and a tote of teeth, blood, and face paint in her left hand.

Closing the trunk with a SLAM, we made our way down my dusty driveway, a full moon peeking out from a scattering of witch-fingered clouds. Only a few paces from the door, Crane stopped suddenly and spoke up.

“Hey, Prez?” He squeaked with wide eyes and a hushed tone. I followed his gaze to the edge of my yard where a fog had accumulated, ghostly beams of moonlight lighting up the silhouette of something small, yet fast, skittering through the lawn, its shape unexplainable. We all stood in utter stillness as it seemed to be growing closer. I began to contemplate the risk of ruining the costume by setting it down, but before I could make a move, we lost sight of it. Hardly breathing, I started inching towards the door. I nearly made it to my doorknob when, from behind us, it appeared, lunging at full speed, its white body shooting tendrils behind it. As soon as we thought it was upon us, the creature stopped, and stepped into the porchlight, cocking its head. 

“Mrooww” it went, it’s golden cat eyes blinking up at us.

“Oh my gosh! Don’t worry guys– it’s just Goose.” Jessica furrowed her brow, still apprehensive.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not a goose,” she said incredulously, and I laughed, lifting the sheet fastened to my cat

“Haha, it’s my cat named Goose. My parents must have dressed him up as a ghost for Halloween.” We laughed (Crane and Jessica, less enthusiastically at the mishap) before we all headed off to Extraterrestrial Attire, just as the little trick-or-treaters were skipping giddily home. Coming through the door we were greeted by one of the workers, a ghost-story enthusiast and great ally to the ‘Saving The World Club’, Finn.

“Hey! Dahlonega’s best public servants, focusing on the real problems!” He laughed jovially, before hiding his mouth with the back of his hand, leaning over the counter to whisper mischievously, “10% off any purchase for all of you!” We thanked him and went to the back of the store, waiting and watching for anything… unusual.

We didn’t have to wait long, for as soon as we began browsing, we heard the sound of the entrance bell. With a whisper of cold air, Mrs. Lochlan stepped into the crowded store, looking even more up-tight than usual. She made a sweep of the store and we made eye contact. For a split second of horror, we saw her eyes shift to yellow reptilian and back again in surprise. We all blinked at her through costumed faces, our eyes wide in disbelief. Before we could even process that our English teacher (who had an extremely unhealthy obsession with reading The Great Gatsby) might be an alien, she was walking towards us, her mouth set into a grim, determined, line. 


Want to write the next piece of the story? Go to the Norse Star Instagram page or contact Delaney Gauthier and Caeli Harman at their school emails for more information. 

Norse Star Instagram: shsnorsestar 

Emails: [email protected] & [email protected] 

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art by caeli harman