The Wasteland Trials

== Chapter 1-All Parts ==
Hazel bent over her notebook, studiously taking notes on the lecture. Her Science teacher, a very cool woman named Ms. Stevenson, was giving her class on molecular structure. A strand of her long dark brown hair fell in front of her face. She tucked it back behind her ear and wrote, The five types of molecular shapes: linear, trigonal planar, tetrahedral, trigonal bipyramidal, octahedral.
The bell rang right as she finished that sentence.
“We’ll finish this discussion tomorrow. Class dismissed,” Ms. Stevenson said.
Hazel put her pencil and notebook in her bag and stood up. She picked up her bag and walked out the door.
“Bye, Hazel!” Ms. Stevenson said, standing at the door.
Hazel waved shyly, then went across the hall to her locker. She put in her locker comb - 21, 3, 17 - added the books in her locker to the ones in her backpack, and closed the door.
“Hey, Hazel!” Mirah, Hazel’s only friend, called from across the hall.
Mirah had been one of the first people to welcome Hazel and was her first friend when she moved to Ogden in 7th grade. Now, she was basically her only friend. Hazel knew lots of the people in her grade, but most of them didn't know her. And if they did, they knew her as "the smart kid." There were a few people that Hazel said hi to in the hallways, but not many.
Mirah had long blonde hair that was always perfectly straight. Her blue eyes always sparkled when she got excited, which was often.
“Hey!” she replied, smiling.
“How was Science?”
“Amazing!! We learned about molecular structure. Did you know there are five different molecular shapes? I thought they were all linear, but it turns out that they can also be tetrahedral, octahedral…” Hazel trailed off. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
Mirah giggled. “Yep.”
Hazel laughed. “I’m such a nerd.”
“A little.”
They laughed then started to head out of the school.
“Really though… I’m too nerdy.” Hazel said, sighing.
“No, you’re not! Everyone has things they get excited about.”
“Not school.”
“Okay, so your thing is a little different, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Plus, there are other people that really like school. It's not like you are the only one”
“Yeah, but no one likes them. They stand out and no one invites them to anything. Why do you think you’re my only friend?” Hazel sighed and turned into another hallway. She was silent for a little, then said, “Everyone thinks I’m weird.”
“You’re not weird,” Mirah argued. “You’re way smart, super nice, and an awesome friend.” She smiled.
Hazel smiled back, “Thanks Mirah.”
They reached the big double doors at the front of the school.
“See you later!” Mirah said and walked out of the doors towards her bus.
“Bye!” Hazel went the other direction to the road that led to her house. She looked around at the trees, flowers, and well-manicured lawns as she passed them. It was crazy how different it was from the old warzones Hazel had seen pictures of. Everyone learns about warzones in history class, so we wouldn't make the same mistakes as our ancestors. They had been reduced to nothing but waste, they are now almost inhabitable. Barely any water is found there, and only a few plants can still grow there. Nothing else could survive the Wastelands, except the monsters created in the war, and those were only rumors. No one knew if they really existed.
Hazel shuddered. Why did people go to war if that was all that happened? Almost nothing was gained from it, and it came at a very high price. Thousands of lives were lost and for what? A little extra land? And only a third of the land that they won was actually habitable. It was always the same. A huge price paid for a minuscule reward.
“I don’t get it,” Hazel muttered under her breath. She sighed and turned onto her road. She passed house after house, waving at the neighbors that were outside until she got to hers. It was rather small compared to the rest of the houses on the street. It was a two-story house with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The twins’ room and Hazel’s room were both upstairs, along with a bathroom and a small playroom. The kitchen, the family room, her parents’ room, and two bathrooms - one of which was in her parents’ room - were on the main floor. They had a small flower garden in the front, but most of the flowers were wilting. Hazel’s mom always joked that she was a flower killer.
Hazel walked into her house. She could hear the twins playing upstairs. She smiled and walked into the kitchen to get a snack. Her mom, Krystal, was there, sitting at the table holding a letter.
“Hey mom,” Hazel said, dropping her backpack on the floor. “What’s up?”
Krystal got up from the table and hugged her.
“Um… mom? Is something wrong?” Hazel asked, confused. Her mom never greeted her this way unless something was wrong. It was always, “Hey Hazel, how was school?” or “Hey Hazel! Grab a snack then get started on your homework.” The last time her mom had welcomed her home like this was when her grandma had died.
Her mom just squeezed her tighter in response.
“Seriously mom… what’s wrong?”
“Oh honey…” She sounded like she was holding back tears.
“What?” Hazel asked, getting kind of annoyed. Why couldn't her mom just spit it out?
“The Program…” A few tears leaked out of her eyes.
“Oh.” Hazel picked up the letter and read it.
Dear Hazel Banks,
You have been randomly selected to participate in the Program. This very prestigious assignment you have been chosen for holds great honor. In four days you will be taken to the MLEB and train for one week, after that week of preparation, you will start the Program. We advise that over the course of the next four days, that you plan how you will survive. It is also recommended to tie up loose ends you may have with anyone. For if you are not prepared enough for this journey, you will die.
Best of luck,
President Jane Arthur
Hazel’s mind instantly ran through everything she knew about the Program. It was a military training program created by the president herself. You have the possibility of being randomly selected between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. Twelve kids - six girls and six boys - are randomly chosen to participate in it. The first phase of training is to survive a week in the Wastelands.
Hazel swallowed and held back tears of her own. She had to stay strong for her family. Be brave.
“I… mom… it’ll be ok. I… I’ll survive. Don’t worry.” Hazel walked back over to her mom and gave her another hug. “I’ll come back after a few years and be stronger than ever before.”
Hazel heard footsteps pounding overhead as the twins ran down into the kitchen. She pulled away from her mom and smiled at the twins. “Hey June, hey Julia.”
“Hi Hazel!!” they said in unison, then looked at Krystal. The twins were adorable eight-year-olds with light brown naturally curly hair, big brown eyes, and freckles splattered across their faces. Though they were identical in looks, their personalities were antithetical.
June was the crazier of the pair. She always had tons of energy and sas. She was hard to control sometimes, but it was hard to stay mad at her. She made everyone laugh constantly and brought sunshine to the home.
Julia was more mature and considerate. She still liked to have fun, but she had a softer energy. She thought about other people's feelings a lot and liked making people happy. A lot of the time she would dismiss what she wanted to make someone else smile. Being selfless was second nature for her.
“What’s wrong with mom?” Julia asked.
“Yeah, why’s she crying?” June prodded.
“It’s nothing,” Krystal said, her voice quivering a little.
The twins studie her, unconvinced.
“Is that true?” June asked Hazel.
“We got a letter from the government. I have to go away for a little bit.” Hazel tried to sound appeasing, she didn't want the littles to worry.
“Go away? What does that mean?” Julia asked, eyes brimming with tears.
“Why?” June was more confused than sad, but there was still sadness laced in her eyes.
“I was chosen to be a part of a special training program,” she said. She wasn’t exactly lying, but not telling the full truth. Sugar-coating was what she was doing, keeping them safe. She didn’t want to expose the little eight-year-old twins to the terrible things she was going to have to go through.
“Oh. So… it’s good?” Julia looked at Hazel hopefully.
Hazel hesitated, then nodded.
“But then, why is mommy crying?” June asked, looking at her mom.
“She just doesn’t want me to go away. I mean, who would?” Hazel said in an attempt to lighten up the mood.
Krystal nodded, then gave the twins a hug. “It’ll all be ok. Hazel will come back in a couple of years. I’ll just miss her.”
“I’ll miss you too!” Julia pulled away from Krystal and ran over to Hazel to give her a hug.
“Me too!” June followed Julia and threw her arms around both of them.
Hazel smiled. “You two are the best.”
“I know!” June beamed.
Hazel laughed, then pulled away from both of them. “I should do my homework.”
“Awww, ok,” Julia said.
June hugged her one last time then ran back up the stairs. “C’mon Julia!! Let’s play Barbies!”
“But I don’t want to play Barbies!” Julia protested, following June up the stairs.
Hazel shook her head. It must be nice to be so oblivious. She sighed and gave her mom another hug then picked up her backpack and went upstairs to her room. She turned on the light and set her backpack down on the floor next to her desk and sat down in the black swivel chair behind the desk. She pulled out her math homework and tried to make sense of the numbers, but it was impossible. Her thoughts kept drifting to the Program.
According to the articles she'd read, only a little over half of the kids sent into the Wastelands came out. Would she be one of the kids that died? Or would she survive? She wasn't the most fit or the fastest, but she could run for a few miles, and she could be smart about what she was doing. Critical thinking must count for something. What If she did survive, would she be able to get over the trauma of watching other kids die right in front of her? And what would happen after the Program? Would she ever get to see her family again?
Hazel’s vision blurred as tears filled her eyes, just like the questions that assaulted her mind. She tried to blink them away, but a few escaped, falling on her math homework. She quickly brushed the wetness off her cheeks and stared at the spots where her tears had fallen. The ink smudged, leaving blobs of blue and red on the lined piece of paper.
Leaving her mom, dad, June, and Julia seemed like torture, almost worse than going into the Wastelands. She couldn’t even spend a full night away from them. She had only been to one sleepover ever, and she ended up having to go home because she couldn’t fall asleep without her mom tucking her in. True, that had been when she was ten, but even being away for the entire day made her feel homesick. How would she survive years away from them, not knowing if she would see them again or if she would die before she had the chance?
Hazel’s eyes filled with more tears now and she wiped them away. Thinking about everything she was going to have to go through wasn’t going to help her. She had to distract herself. She glanced down at her math homework and sighed. She picked up her pencil and started working on the problems again. She managed to complete a few but got stuck on the fifth one. She threw her pencil down in frustration and stood up.
“What’s the point? What’s the stupid point if I’m not even going to be here in a week? Why should I even try? I’m not doing it. I’m not going to do my homework,” she yelled, then collapsed on her bed and started sobbing. She sat there crying for maybe five or ten minutes, she didn’t care to check the time, then her dad, David, walked in.
“Hey, Hazelnut,” he said. Her dad had called her Hazelnut from a very young age, it was her favorite nickname she had ever been given.
Hazel looked up and wiped her tears. She took deep, shuddering breaths until she was calm enough to respond. “Hi, dad.”
David sat down on her bed and rubbed her back comfortingly. “I heard about the Program.”
Hazel now had tears streaming down her face.
David hugged her, still rubbing her back.
Hazel leaned into the warm embrace. “It’s not fair,” she whined after a while.
“I know, Nut, I know.”
Hazel fought back more tears. “I don’t wanna go, daddy.” She sounded like a little kid, but she didn’t care.
David sighed a shaky breath and Hazel could tell he was trying not to cry. “I wish I could do something to stop it,” he said.
Hazel buried her face in his neck and let herself cry. How could the president be so cruel? Taking innocent kids away from their families, possibly forever, and sending them to their deaths?
Hazel’s sadness was replaced suddenly with a ferocious anger. A hatred and a complete loathing for the government. How could President Arthur do this? How could she just sit back and watch as kids died? It was just plain evil.
Hazel’s tears dried up a little and she pulled away from her dad. “I’m going to make her pay,” she muttered.
“Huh?”
“I’m going to make her pay,” Hazel repeated, louder this time.
“Make who pay?”
“The president. She can’t just take kids away from their families and send them to their deaths. Half of the kids she sends into the Wastelands die! Then she keeps the kids that survive at some military school for years. I don’t think they can even send letters home to let their families know they’re alive! And once they’re done with training? She sends them into battle! She can’t just get away with that!” Hazel ranted.
David sighed. "I know. But what can we do?" Although the question was obviously rhetorical it got Hazle thinking anyways.
"I don't know, but we have to do something. Form a rebel group or something like that. Get other people that agree that President Arthur is awful. We can’t be the only ones who see how inhumane this is!" Hazel’s rebellious, angry feelings started to fade away and were replaced once more with sadness and helplessness. “I don’t know how we would do it though. Nevermind. It was a stupid idea.” She flopped onto her back.
“No, it’s not. It’s a good idea. The right thought. This is stuff that has happened before in history, people see a problem, and decide to do something about it.”
“But it’s unrealistic.”
“A little. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen, if there are enough people who agree that the Program should be abolished then maybe the government would let it go,” David said.
Hazel sighed. “Whatever. I’m going to keep doing my math.” She got up and picked up the pencil she had thrown. She went back to her desk and tried for another few minutes to finish the fifth problem, but ended up just skipping it.
Thirty minutes later, she had finished her math and had started on the essay she had to write for English.
“Dinner’s ready!” Krystal called up the stairs.
Hazel sighed in relief and went downstairs. She took a deep breath. She could smell tomatoes. They must be having spaghetti. The twins ran down a few seconds after she did.
“What’s for dinner?” Julia asked.
“Spaghetti, dummy. We saw mom making noodles, remember?” June replied.
“Mom! June called me a dummy!” Julia yelled.
“Did not!” June yelled back
“Did too!”
“I didn’t!” June exclaimed.
“Did too!” Julia argued.
“Don’t call your sister a dummy, June!” Krystal called from the kitchen.
“But I didn’t!” June whined.
Krystal appeared in the doorway. “Just don’t call her a dummy.”
“Fine,” she grumbled.
Hazel smiled a little. It was funny how fast they could go from being best friends to worst enemies.
“Julia, come set the table,” Krystal said.
Hazel was surprised. That was usually her job. Why would her mom have Julia do it instead? Oh. Right. The Program. Her mom was probably giving her special treatment since she would be gone in a few days. And her sister would have to have that job once she left, so she must be helping her start.
“Mom…” Hazel said.
“Yeah?”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Do what?” Krystal said.
Hazel sighed. “Give me special treatment because I’ll be gone in a few days.”
“I’m not doing that!” Krystal said quickly, getting defensive.
“Yeah, you are.”
Krystal sighed. “I am. I’m not going to stop though. I want you to enjoy your last days with us.” She teared up a little. “I can’t believe you’re going.”
Hazel hugged her mom. “Thanks, mom,” she said, then walked into the kitchen. She sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the medium-sized black table.
“Hey, that’s where I’m sitting!” June said.
Hazel sighed. “Is anyone sitting here?” Hazel gestured to the chair next to the one she was sitting in.
“I am!” Julia said from the other side of the small kitchen where she was getting silverware.
“Ok.” Hazel switched to the seat opposite the one she had been sitting in.
Julia brought the silverware over to the table and gave everyone a fork. Then she sat down next to June.
Krystal brought over plates of spaghetti.
Hazel took her plate and stared at it while everyone else ate. She didn’t have much of an appetite.
“So, Hazel, how was school?” Krystal asked.
Hazel looked up. She shrugged. She wasn’t in the mood to talk. She wasn’t in the mood to do anything. Not cry, not plan vengeance against the president, not make her family happy during the few normal days they had left. She didn't care, she was numb.
“Did anything exciting happen?” she asked, hoping for some details
Hazel sighed. “Mom, I’m really not in the mood,” she said, then went back to staring at her food.
“Hazel, you need to eat,” David said.
“Why?”
“Mrs. Summer taught us that animals need food to survive,” Julia said with a small smile. Julia loved sharing stuff she learned at school, priding herself when she told her family anything.
Hazel glared at her food. “What’s the point in surviving now if I’m going to die soon anyways?”
“What?! Why are you going to die?!” June gasped, eyes wide with fear.
“Hazel’s not going to die. She’s just being dramatic,” Krystal reassured the twins with a tight smile.
“I’m not being dramatic!” Hazel stood up, she had snapped. “Do I need to spell it out for you? I’m going into the Wastelands. I am not going to have tea with the queen of england. I’m not strong enough or fast enough to survive out there! I’m going to die. You just need to face it.” She turned and stomped out of the room.
“Hazel Estelle Banks! Come back here!” Krystal shouted after her.
Hazel ignored her mother and ran up the stairs into her room. She grabbed the nearest thing - which happened to be a rather embarrassing stuffed bunny she’d had since first grade that she couldn’t seem to get rid of - and threw it against the wall. The bunny hit the wall with a soft thump then slid to the ground. Then, she sat on her bed and attacked her pillow, crying. She stopped when she felt someone sit on her bed. She turned around and saw her mom sitting on the corner of the bed. She hadn’t heard her come in.
Hazel wiped her tears furiously off her face and demanded, “What do you want?”
“Hazel… you’re not going to die. You are strong and you are tough enough for the Wastelands.” Her mom said, like she was trying to convince herself too.
“No, I’m not. I’m not fast, I’m not strong, I’m not tough at all. I am a stick, I have never even been good in gym class. Look at me! I’m crying about a stupid training program. I’m not tough! I can’t survive out there and you know it. You just don’t want to admit it. You just want to hold on to the false hope that someday I’ll come back. And even if I do survive the Wastelands, I’m going to be sent into a war! I’m not coming back as the same person, if I make it out at all. It’s not possible. They will shape me into who they want me to be, I will see people die, maybe even kill people. I won't be your little girl anymore.”
Krystal was crying now. “You’re right. I am holding on to hope. Because hope is all we have left. And you know what? Even if you’re not strong or fast or tough, you’re smart. You probably know more about the Wastelands than all of the other kids in the Program. You know all about survival skills and how to find water and which plants are poisonous. You can survive.”
“No, I can’t! Everything’s different in the Wastelands. The rules change. They say to prepare, like there's anything we really can do. Everything I know about survival is for being lost in the woods. The Wastelands are nothing like that! I can’t do this. I’m sorry. I know you want me to be brave and strong, but I really can’t. This is something people don't recover from, not something they hope for. Not when it’s as despairing as this.”
“Hazel, please! Just try. Try for me. For your dad. For June and Julia! They need you. I need you!”
Fresh tears leaked out of Hazel’s eyes. She knew her family needed her. They would be hopelessly broken if she died. But how was she supposed to survive? The odds were against her and no matter how much research she did, she couldn’t possibly find out enough about the Wastelands. No matter how hard she trained, she didn’t think she could ever be strong enough. But… kids had survived… if they could do it… well, why not her? Surely not all of the kids that survived before were super strong. There had to be some mental part of surviving, not all guts and guns. Maybe people had survived by being smart, thinking their way around problems instead of fighting through them. She had to try. For her family.
“Ok,” Hazel said, wiping away her tears.
Krystal pulled Hazel into a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Hazel hugged her mom back in response.
“You should come eat,” Krystal said, pulling away.
Hazel sighed. “Mom, I’m really not hungry.”
“Please?”
“Fine.”
Krystal smiled and went downstairs. Hazel sighed and followed her.
The twins jumped out of their chairs and threw their arms around Hazel.
“Are you really going to die?” Julia asked anxiously.
“Honestly, yeah, I might. But I’m going to do everything I can to stay alive.” Hazel said, feeling a new determination course through her. She wasn’t going to die. She couldn’t do that to Julia and June.
June smiled up at Hazel. “Good. We were really scared!”
Hazel smiled back, then sat back down at the table. She glanced at her mom, then ate a bite of spaghetti. It was still kind of warm, surprisingly. She sighed. She still wasn’t hungry, but she had to eat or her mom wouldn't stop bothering her until she did. She took another bite, then looked back up. Everyone had all finished already and was just watching her eat.
“Are you just going to watch me eat?”
“Yep!” June said.
Hazel laughed a little. “That’s creepy.”
“It is?”
“June, stop bothering Hazel and let her eat,” Krystal said.
June pouted. “Fine.” She went upstairs. “C’mon Julia!”
“Okay, but only if we don’t play Barbies!” Julia followed June.
Hazel looked at her mom and dad. “Are you just going to watch me eat?”
David sighed and went out of the room. When Krystal didn’t follow him, he called, “Come on Krystal. Give her some space.”
Krystal hesitated, then followed David out of the kitchen.
Hazel sighed in relief, happy to be alone. She ate a little more of her spaghetti, then put the mostly still full plate on the kitchen counter.
“I’m going to go to bed!” she yelled, then went up to her room. She collapsed on the bed and pulled out her phone to text Mirah about everything that had happened. She typed up the message, but hesitated before sending it. If she told Mirah now, she would spend more time worrying. Maybe it would be better to tell her the day before she had to go. That way she wouldn’t have to have three extra days of worrying. It didn’t make much of a difference, but she would feel better about it. Hazel put her phone away and just lay on her bed, not even bothering to change into pajamas. Eventually, she fell asleep.
== Chapter 2-Part 1 ==
Hazel woke up screaming. She’d been having a nightmare about the Wastelands. She had been chased by a shapeless monster. It caught up to her after she tripped and was about to devour her. That’s when she woke up. It had seemed so real. She glanced around her room quickly to remind herself where she was. Still safe, in her bed at home, wearing her day time clothes. There was nothing coming to kill her, at least, not yet.
She laid back against her pillows, trying to slow her racing heart. Just think about Julia and June and mom and dad. Don’t think about monsters or wastelands or programs. Just think about the positive stuff. The good stuff, she told herself, taking deep breaths. Once she had calmed down a little, she grabbed her phone from her bedside table to check the time. It was three in the morning. Way too early to be awake, she groaned inwardly. She sighed and tried to fall back asleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she pictured herself helpless, on the ground, underneath a huge, terrifying monster.
Hazel heard her door open and she shot up. She relaxed when she saw it was just Julia. “Hi, Julia,” she said, “You scared me.”
“Oh, sorry! You screamed and I was worried about you and I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she said from the doorway.
“Oh, well, thank you.”
“Are you okay?”
“I…” Hazel wanted to lie and say she was fine, but she couldn’t. “Not really.” She felt hot tears spring into her eyes and desperately tried to blink them back, not wanting her little sister to see her crying, but they refused to go away, building up on the edge and finally spilling over.
Hazel watched as Julia walked over to Hazel’s bed and sat down next to her. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Hazel pulled Julia onto her lap and hugged her tight. “I just… I just had a nightmare.”
“About what?”
“Well… so you know how earlier mom and I were talking about how I have to go away soon?”
Julia nodded. “Yeah. I remember that, you said it was a special program. But then you seemed upset at your room, and later again, during dinner.”
“Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I have to go to this scary place called the Wastelands. There’s a lot of creepy things there and I really really don’t want to go, but I have to. The president is making me.”
“But isn’t the president supposed to be a good guy?”
“Yes, she's supposed to be, but President Arthur isn’t. She just wants power.”
“Oh. So was your nightmare about the scary place?” Julia asked.
“Yeah. I was being chased by a monster and then I tripped. It was going to eat me, but I woke up before it could.” Hazel squeezed Julia tighter with the memory of her dream.
“Oh. That’s scary! Could… could that actually happen?” Julia looked up at Hazel with fearful eyes.
Hazel hesitated. She didn’t want to scare Julia, but she needed to talk about it. She couldn’t talk to her mom or dad, they would keep trying to make it better with false promises and hopes. But maybe Julia could actually help. Even though she’s so young, she had always been more mature and seemed to have an older soul. And she'd already told her about the Wastelands, so she might as well be honest about her situation.
“Yeah. It could, theoretically,” Hazel said, more tears filling her eyes.
“It could?” Julia started to cry too.
Hazel nodded. She was on a roll now, she couldn't stop her frantic brain or racing heart. She couldn't stop talking about it. “I don’t want to die, but it’s almost impossible for me not to. I’m not fast so I can’t outrun anything that might be in there. I’m not strong, so I can’t fight off anything that might attack me. I can’t last very long without food and water. We’re almost definitely going to run out of that.
“I’m smart, but book smart. I know how to do math and can figure out scientific stuff. But that will be useless there, I don't know how to survive where there’s almost no edible plants and barely any water. And that’s not even counting the monsters that are rumored to be there. I can’t do it. I don’t know how I could. There’ll be other kids there that can help me, but I don’t want to be entirely dependent on other people. That’s just going to get them killed too! Oh, Julia, I don’t know what to do!”
Julia squeezed Hazel. “Don’t worry. You are strong. Remember when you lifted me AND June the other day? That was REALLY strong! And you’re really nice. I bet all of the other kids will want to help you because you’re so nice!! And I bet you could figure out everything about the Wastelands, the monsters there, how to find food and water, and how to tell which plants are poisonous! If anyone can do that, it’s you. Also, what if people just misunderstand the monsters? What if they just want food or a cuddle? Sometimes when I’m hungry I get angry too. What if they don't want to be the bad guys?”
Hazel smiled and stroked Julia's hair away from her face, “Thanks Julia. That helped.” She laid down, feeling calm enough to go back to sleep.
Julia sat next to Hazel’s head and smoothed her messy hair, brushing it away from her face. Hazel closed her eyes and breathed deeply, the repetitive, gentle strokes soothing her. Eventually, she fell back asleep, Julia still sitting next to her.
Category:Stories