Unexpected Things by Zoe Glencross

1st place in 6th grade category

'Unexpected Things' by Zoë Glencross

start something new

a person who harms (hits or calls names) younger or weaker people

very distressing (makes you stressed out)

traumatic

move on

bully

Before you read the first paragraph, try to match the phrases with their definitions.

start something new

a person who harms (hits or calls names) younger or weaker people

very distressing (makes you stressed out)

traumatic

move on

bully

ANSWERS

Now, read the first paragraph and answer the question.

Dear diary, if anybody finds this diary, this is my story. It may not sound real but I can assure you, it was definitely real to me. My name is Emma, I am 13 years old and I only really have one good friend and her name is Anna. I met Anna when I was being bullied by the popular girls from my school, Katie and Mathilda. Anna was the only one that cared and helped me through that and got Miss Brown (my teacher) to keep the bullies away. Moving on from that part, now to the most exciting and traumatic part of my life.

Why is Anna such a dear friend of the diary's author?

elixir

all things and space - cosmos

in a way that is easily understood

universe

potion

obviously

Before you read the second paragraph, try to match the phrases with their definitions.

elixir

all things and space - cosmos

in a way that is easily understood

universe

potion

obviously

Answers

Now, read the secondparagraph and answer the question.

It all started when Miss Brown gave us a science project to complete. I obviously chose to complete the project with Anna considering she was my BFF. We decided to make a fake invisibility potion. Turns out, it wasn’t so fake. Well it wasn’t an invisibility potion for sure. After drinking, I started to feel a really cold breeze behind us. I asked Anna if she also felt it but she said NO. I was so confused until I looked behind me and I saw a sort of weird and pink portal. It looked amazing but I wondered if it was made because of our failed project or it was just an unexpected miracle. In this case I don’t know if it was even a miracle or not but I didn’t find out until I went inside. Anna screamed my name but I had already gone so she followed me. We suddenly entered an entirely different universe.

What happened after the girls drank their invisibility potion?

when you don't want to change your decision

meet

in situations different from those present

determined

come across

otherwise

Before you read the third paragraph, try to match the phrases with their definitions.

when you don't want to change your decision

meet

in situations different from those present

determined

come across

otherwise

Answers

Now, read the thirdparagraph and answer the question.

I just thought the portal was for teleportation but it looked otherwise. We were in a world that was covered in candy and sweets and anything sweet you can think of. Neither of us understood how we ended up in such a world but we wanted to go back home. I realized that Anna wasn’t with me and I was so worried. I started crying because I just wanted to go home and see Anna again. I came across a little gnome. He told me that I had to reunite with the person I brought in order for a door to appear which leads back home. I was so determined to find Anna and I was constantly thinking about what she was thinking at that exact moment.

Describe the universethe girls visited.

chocolate

lollipop

cotton candy

Before you read the fourth paragraph, try to match the phrases with their depictions.

chocolate

lollipop

cotton candy

ANSWERS

Now, read the fourthparagraph and answer the question.

I soon found the first stage which was some sort of cotton candy contest? I wasn’t really sure but either way I had to eat 10 cotton candy sticks. Sounds easy right? It wasn’t at all. I was shocked that there was absolutely no water to be seen. I was so thirsty after one stick, let alone after 9 more. I managed to complete the first task but the gnome said I needed to do 3 tasks so that left me with 2 more to do. My next challenge was to do some sort of lollipop parkour. I was on the verge of staying in that dimension forever because I can’t even jump high, and this stage expected me to jump very far to get to at least one lollipop. The gnome popped up and gave me some tips. He told me to swim in the chocolate instead because the jumps were humanly impossible. I still thought that swimming was humanly impossible because I don’t know how to swim which made that situation just as hard as it was before.

Describe the second task the girl had to finish. Why was it hard for her?

faint; fall on the floorfeeling dizzy

very unpleasant, not nice, awful

be brave enough in a difficult situation

horrible

pass out

man up

Before you read the fifth paragraph, try to match the phrases with their definitions.

faint; fall on the floorfeeling dizzy

very unpleasant, not nice, awful

be brave enough in a difficult situation

horrible

pass out

man up

ANSWERS

Now, read the fifthparagraph and answer the question.

I decided to man up and swim. It was really difficult but I realized that I could grab onto the lollipops to make it easier for me to get across to the other side. I ended up completing the level and I started to feel really sick. It was most likely because I was so tired and thirsty that I felt as if I was going to pass out. I saw a door ahead but it couldn’t be THE door, the one to get me back home, right? I still hadn’t completed all of the challenges. I went through the door which I was pretty sure took me to the next challenge. Which it did. Even though I still felt really sick, I decided to move on and tried my hardest to get out of that horrible place. Strange how I am calling it weird considering it is every little boy and girl’s dreamland except now that I’ve been there, it isn’t as fun as it seemed. Back to what happened.

Why does the narrator describe the horrible place as 'every boy and girl's dreamland'?

30 feet; ~ 9 meters

30ft

bullseye

Before you read the sixth paragraph, look at these two tips to help you understand it.

Now, read the sixthparagraph and answer the question.

The final challenge was to pick up hard candy and throw it at some targets. Yet again, sounds very easy but the targets were about 30ft away from where I was standing. The gnome had told me that I had to get 3 bullseyes to get back home. I continuously threw hard candy one by one (I may have eaten one or two) and I had probably thrown about 30 by then and I still had no bullseyes. It got to the point where my arm really hurt but either way, I kept throwing and throwing and I finally achieved my goal of 3 bullseyes.

What was the girl's final challenge?

Read the end of the story.

I suddenly felt that same breeze from earlier and to my surprise, a door opened. This time there were pink and white particles coming out of the door, unlike the one that took me to the last stage. I ran to the door but then I remembered that I can’t return without Anna. I was sure I’d be stuck here until I heard somebody shouting my name. Just guess who it was. Anna! She came running and told me to open the door as quickly as possible, so I did. I was yet again, in my bedroom, with a huge mess on the floor, with Anna on my bed. Now that is the end of my story so if anybody finds this diary, I hope it reminds you to never mess up your science projects. PS. Anna never told me why to open the door quickly.

"P.S. Anna never told me why to open the door quickly."Why? How do you think?

Choose six phrases from the word cloud and create sentences with them.

!! congratulations to Zoë on writing the outstanding short story !!

THE END