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Copyright Published by ‘The Idioms’, Amaroo School, 135 Katherine Avenue, Amaroo ACT 2914. Ashleigh McLeod, Aruna Kurban, Alina Alina, Jack Pass, Kira Henson, Madi Aiken, Mei-Linh Doan Herlihy, Teeghan Iannelli Copyright © 2018, Amaroo School. All rights reserved. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher

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Contents:

Chapter 1 5

Chapter 2 8

Chapter 3 11

Chapter 4 15

Chapter 5 19

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Chapter 1

The warm morning sun poured into the little dog pound as Sister Laura began setting up. She had always loved the job; it always managed to make her day as she took her time to say hello to all the rescue dogs, giving them all her love and affection before the day began. She went around the room, looking over all of the dogs, some awake and some still sleeping peacefully with their little heads down on the dog beds. It was her job to look after the church dog pound and therefore, she worked hard to make sure the dog’s crates were comfortable and accommodated all their needs. She put a plush dog bed in the corner of a pen, and added a bowl of water and a newly topped up food bowl with a couple of toys. If she could, she would give them an acres-long paddock for them to run and play in, but the Queensland heat wasn’t very forgiving and they didn’t have the land for such a project. Sister Laura went through her daily routine, cleaning, straightening up the shelter, tending to the dogs and making sure everything was ready for the families to begin arriving. Everything was as per usual except for one thing: today she had a special guest. A soft knock could be heard from small knuckles on the other side of the glass door. Sister Laura turned around to greet her little nephew who was grinning widely, his eyes glancing over the room to all the dogs he couldn’t wait to meet. He was bouncing on his heels, just bursting to get to know them. She pulled the door open and the boy ran under her arm, making a beeline for his favourite dog there. “Hello Elijah!” She chuckled warmly, holding her arms out on either side. “Have you got a hug for the best aunt in the whole wide world?” “Fine, fine-” The seven year old huffed, hugging the nun with one arm before throwing himself onto the ground in front of a little scruffy dog with a brown patch over his eye. “Can I give him a treat?” “Yes, of course!” Sister Laura laughed again, grabbing a bag of dog treats from behind the counter and placing a few into the child’s hand. “There you go.” She glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eye. The closer it came to 9:00 am, the more excited she grew. Besides saying hello and looking after all the dogs, her favourite thing had always been seeing the dogs go to good homes. And since this dog pound was connected to the church, there were many people that came here to find new additions to their families.

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It wasn’t long before the first family came in, and then the next, and the next. Before long she had a list of people who were interested in adopting or just came in to keep the dogs company for a little while. This was normal, and quite frankly, she wasn’t bothered at all. The dogs loved people and loved the attention, so seeing all the little children coming in to give them pats made their day. Sister Laura had been at the church for years, but the dog pound was only a recent addition. It gave her more to do than her usual duties, and although she did miss going around to the schools to meet all the children, some sacrifices had to be made. She loved what she did, she was always told she had a warm soul and a maternal attitude which attracted children and animals alike. This made her perfect for the job. The day went the same as any other, up until midday when an unpredicted sunshower grew into heavy rain and then into a full thunder storm. It hadn’t been on the news or mentioned anywhere else, but the storm quickly escalated until the rain was so heavy on the stone roof, that it was difficult to hear anything over the clatter. The dogs began to cower into the furthest ends of their crates, so Sister Laura went around to the dog pens, sticking her hand through the bars and giving each a reassuring pat before moving onto the next. She really wished she could do more but during a time like this, the best thing to do was to stay calm and try to comfort them, showing them everything was okay. The rest of the people in the pound followed suit, going around from pen to pen, paying attention to the dogs who were the most stressed. There were a couple of storm dog jackets in the storage closet but there definitely wasn’t enough for all of them. “Give these to the dogs who look like they need them the most!” Sister Laura called before passing around the jackets to all in the room willing to help. The people began opening the doors to the crates, carefully pulling the coats over the frightened dog’s heads before closing the door and moving onto the next. It wasn’t long before the room was filled with dogs covered in little coats although the attempt seemed to be irrelevant as the dogs continued to bark even more than ever. And since everyone had turned their attention to the dogs, no one noticed the two shapes at the door.

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Chapter 2

The large glass doors flung open with a thud, and the windows rattled with the sudden force. Rain rushed in from the outside storm but no one noticed as a tall, dark woman stood just inside the doorway. She was covered with a cloak and a witch’s hat was gently poised on her head with a large plant by her side. The witch stood silently observing the room as it continued to move, unaware of her existence. A sudden gust of wind shook the walls, and Elijah grabbed onto his aunt’s arm as she peered outside to see the trees shaking and dirt on the ground quickly turning to mud. The rain was hitting hard against the roof and the dog’s barking grew more panicked as the building started to move more and more. Sister Laura held onto Elijah’s hand as people began to notice the weather souring further. “Auntie…?” Elijah whispered. They were so close that there was no need to be any louder. “Hey, it’s just a bit of wind.” A sudden bang caused a scream from one of the customers as the remains of a large tree branch pressed up against the door. The glass began to crack under the weight. “Let’s just stay calm.” “Are we stuck?” Someone from back of the room asked. “No, no. The branch is just… blocking our path,” Sister Laura replied. “Auntie, I’m sca-” “Breaking News; We’re … a level four cyclone building. Please stay in ... your homes and don’t leave until ... is announced safe.” The radio gargled in the background until it cut out. The room was silent except for the dogs barking and the clattering of the rain on the roof. Everyone stood still in shock. Sister Laura squeezed Elijah’s hand, and released it before she walked towards the door. No one moved. She gave the door a gentle push in an attempt to open it, but there was still no movement. She stepped back. She pushed the door a little harder but still. No movement. It appeared there was something on the other side. “I mean, they did say to stay inside,” Sister Laura mused. There was silence again. A silence of voice but not of noise. The dog’s barks still rang out and the rain still clattered against the window. But no one voiced their thoughts. The fear was

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present in the stillness of the bodies and the hands that sat on mouths. The fear rattled through the room just as the wind rattled the building. A clang of thunder broke the absence of noise. “A… level four cyclone?” someone uttered. The whole room held their breath. It was obvious what was going to happen. “We’re going to die.” A single tear slid down Elijah’s cheek. His sniffing was the only sound coming from the room as the fear bubbled over. Suddenly, everyone began to talk. The fear had been pushed aside and instead replaced with panic. It was as if the rubber band of everyone’s sanity had just snapped and now they were falling into sheer panic. The shelves were moving and the dog’s howled as the wind began to get even stronger. The rain continued to pour down. The door was being pushed at and people were trying their best to move the branch from inside. “Don’t struggle with the door!” Sister Laura yelled. Everyone turned to stare at her. “Can’t you see the glass is cracking more? It will make the walls collapse as well if you keep ramming at it!” Meanwhile the witch was standing quietly in the corner with her carnivorous plant by her side. Her eyes were shut as she appeared to be in deep concentration. Her cloak was patterned like a galaxy and as she moved it seemed to almost conceal her presence. Her plant stood by her side in an open stance, as if it were guarding her. Suddenly she opened her eyes. A small boy with dark blonde hair was staring intently at her. In the panic of the situation nobody had noticed that Elijah was crying quietly in the corner. His eyes were wide in panic as he backed slowly into the wall. His mouth bobbed open and closed, and he struggled desperately to get some words out. Any words out. The witch lunged towards him in the hopes of silencing him, but instead he screamed and ran out of reach. “WITCH!” he yelled, and grabbed his aunt to draw her attention. Everyone was silent once again and turned their eyes to the witch who was frozen mid-lunge. “Hello there, I’m Evanora,” she introduced, standing up straight. She seemed nervous as she rubbed her hand behind her neck. She gestured to the plant next to her. “And this is Carl.”

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Chapter 3

Evanora avoided everyone’s gazes as she crept toward the door that lead to the place where the dogs were kept, knowing that avoiding their attention was now a lost cause. “Where are you going?” someone asked. Their voice was indistinguishable as male or female over the sounds of the storm and the dogs barking fearfully. Evanora briefly met the eyes of a suspicious woman. She shrugged. “To the dogs,” she replied easily. Upon seeing the nun and visitors’ judgemental looks, she paused. “Listen, there’s no time!” she announced. “Just keep preparing for the cyclone. Don’t worry about us!” Her plant nodded in agreement. Evanora and her… sidekick, of sorts, started toward to the door, praying that no one would bar them from their goal. “Hey, stop!” the woman protested, rushing to stand in front of the door to the shelter, arms spread wide. “I won’t let you and that- that thing-” she started, glaring at the walking flower in particular, who cowered, “-hurt the dogs!” Several pairs of eyes snapped back to the mysterious woman again, giving her another once-over. With those perfectly round glasses, pointy hat, and galaxy-themed coat, it was really no surprise that Elijah called Evanora a witch. Especially when she had a walking carnivorous plant with a name by her side. The plant snarled and snapped, scaring those who remained in the room. Its jaw-like petals moved in a strange fashion, with roots clambering around each other in a twisting mess. Sister Laura and the visitors stepped back out of pure instinct. Elijah stumbled backwards with his fearful aunt. “Um… You didn’t…You didn’t make the cyclone, or anything… right?” he asked hesitantly, clinging to Sister Laura tighter. Despite the ruckus, both in the pound and surrounding it, the building felt dead silent. “Well, the announcement was awfully sudden…” a young man pointed out thoughtfully. “Look at her clothes! And besides, how come she only showed up after the storm started?” a woman agreed.

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“How did she even get in?” a third person asked. It was a reasonable question; the doors were unusable, and as far as they knew, Carl and Evanora only showed up after they were barred in by the branch. “Please calm down, everyone!” Sister Laura pleaded, gaining everyone’s attention. As much as she loathed to admit it, she had her doubts about Evanora’s intentions, but with the storm rising in intensity and the cyclone ever approaching, there really was no time to raise suspicions over someone they weren’t even sure was responsible for anything. At the moment, it was much more important to prepare. “Cyclone Olga has passed about 50 kilometres away from Bloomfield and is now heading inland.” The radio captured everyone’s attention, temporarily ceasing their arguments as the room collectively held their breath. “It is expected to reach the shore of Port Douglas in an hour’s time. Please, prepare…” The visitors’ already grim expressions became even darker. Elijah appeared to be on the verge of tears for a second time that day. “See?” Sister Laura said. We need to get the dogs and ourselves somewhere safe and prepare as much as we can first.” The woman from before turned from where she was attempting to patch up the broken window. “But what if she really did cause the cyclone? What do we do!?” “We can figure that out later,” The nun tried to soothe her, but the woman was on the verge of hysterics. “We’re trapped in here! We have to decide now what we’re going to do. What if she tries to kill us or something!?” She screamed. “…It… it’s a possibility,” Sister Laura admitted, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, “but she hasn’t hurt us yet.” “She tried to kidnap me!” Elijah objected. Try as he might, he could no longer prevent the tears in his eyes from escaping down his cheeks. His aunt turned her head to look at the so-called ‘witch’ again, but she and that strange plant were gone. The four visitors, who had followed her line of sight, realised the same thing. “Someone go after her!” a man ordered. “On it!” His wife abandoned her task once again, flinging open the door leading to the dogs and yelling for the witch.

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“Wait!” The nun called. “It isn’t safe to-” She cut herself off with a sigh. The woman wouldn’t be able to hear her. Instead, she looked back at the others in the pound lobby. “Let’s assign ourselves roles and tasks so we’re ready by the time the cyclone hits.” “What are we going to do about the witch?” Someone asked from the corner. “Like I’ve been saying, we can decide later,” Sister Laura answered, frustration seeping into the tone of her voice. The stress and fear of the situation was beginning to get to her. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take, there was no choice but to keep trying to prepare for the incoming Cyclone Olga. The ground shook fiercely and the foundations of the building creaked under the pressure from the storm, as the group discussed who would be doing what.

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Chapter 4

The thrashing of the wind could be heard as it bashed on the windows. The loud yelps of the dogs rang out through the empty halls but the sound was buffered by the intense pattering of the rain on the stone roof. Somehow, despite all this noise, footsteps could be heard as someone approached the room they stood in. The door swung open as the women returned, Evanora by her side. She left the women’s side walking over to the group. “I know you don’t trust me but if you want any chance of survival you’re going to have to try,” Evanora said softly, there was something reassuring about the way she spoke. “W-why should we trust you?” One of the women asked. “How do we know you’re not going to harm us?” “Would you rather be another life to perish in the cyclone or risk trusting a stranger? Worst case scenario you’d die either way so… It’s up to you...” Evanora replied in the same soft tone. “Elijah don’t!” The sudden call of Sister Laura interrupted the panicked murmurs of everyone around them, silence pouring through the room in a thick, silver fog. She ran over to grab her nephew who seemed to be getting dangerously friendly with the giant, prickly creature that had accompanied Evanora this entire time. As the nun rushed over to him a crack stretched further and further across the window behind the group until it smashed as a branch came tumbling through. “Quick! We have to move.” Evanora shouted, the struggle of being heard over the combined sound of heavy winds and dogs howling proving painfully strenuous on her tired voice. The eight of them worked together to push open the double doors and walked out of the space, the noise of the dogs became too overwhelming to bare for much longer. Evanora walked over to the first cage, bending down in front of the first dog, a beautiful patch covered dalmatian with fur as soft as a blanket. “Hello beautiful, it’s all going to be okay.” She spoke in a calm, steady voice. Carl waddled over on his roots, slowly assessing the situation before opening his mouth and exhaling. Small glistening particles were dispersed through the air, mesmerising the dog in front

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of him. The small dalmatian absorbed the particles and instantly fell into a calm trance which was quite a contrast from its panicked yelps and whining which had filled the room only moments before. “Woah!” A fascinated Elijah gasped, peeking out from his hiding spot behind his aunt’s leg. “Did that plant just calm down the dog?” One of the men asked from the back, gazing at the situation in awe. Evanora just looked up and smiled, nodding slowly. “He usually uses it to calm his prey before he feeds but right now he’s on a full rodent diet so-” She reached into the little pouch settled on her hip and pulled out a takeaway container full of frozen rats. Without a second thought she threw it over her shoulder, and the plant swallowed it whole. The two went from crate to crate calming each dog, the mini crowd watching over them in awe. By the end Elijah had made a new friend, standing by Carl as he went to each dog emitting the glistening dust out of his mouth, letting the dogs soak it up, making their demeanor immediately soften. “Thank you!” Elijah spoke sweetly, as he looked up at Carl. He embraced his prickly friend in a hug before backing away due the spikes. “Ow!” he exclaimed, jumping back, rubbing the inside of his arms. The group followed Evanora as she led them through the snaking corridors of the pound. To the left side of the pound there was a slim corridor that led to the church. It was never really used as no one thought it was necessary but right now it was being put to use, the first use it had in awhile. “How did you even know this was here?” Sister Laura asked suspiciously. Evanora just turned her head and winked before pushing open the stiff door. “Come,” She said, ushering them through the door. The group started to file in one by one. Elijah wove between the legs of the others, running ahead of the group. A sudden gust of strong wind caused the church to shake. The side walls began to collapse in front of them, Elijah in its path.

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Evanora reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of purple colored dust, similar to the texture of sand. She tossed it into the air and it solidified almost instantly over Elijah creating a shield around him. “Elijah!” Sister Laura shouted.

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Chapter 5

After the church collapsed they decided to move back into the dog pound to try to avoid more accidents with the church falling apart. People were holding Elijah trying comfort him to make sure he was okay after the church fell apart. Realising no one's eyes were on her, Evanora walked towards the door calmly and silently. She kept walking, ignoring everyone, hoping that no one would actually try to stop her. She got to the doors, using magic to blow the tree as far away from the door as possible. People then started moving towards her, but she opened and ran out the door before they could catch her. Inside the pound, wind was whipping around the room, creating chaos. A man ran to the door trying to close it, but as he grabbed the door, a sudden gust of wind blew him out of the pound, dropping him on the ground. He seemed alright and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but then he got lifted up by the wind and thrown away. His wife emitted a scream, followed by sobbing and cries of despair. Sister Laura ran over to her and tried to comfort the wife but to no avail. On the outside of the shelter, Evanora was facing off with the cyclone. She started casting a spell trying to calm the cyclone down. It lost some of its power and started to disperse. It was a minor success but it wouldn't last forever. Evanora started chanting “Quiesce obsecro, quiesce obsecro, quiesce, obsecro…” The cyclone calmed down further, but Evanora was getting visibly tired and her knees started to buckle. It looked like she was going to sacrifice her life for the lives of the people inside the pound. Evanora’s vision went black and sound started to fade. All Evanora could see was pitch black. ... “Hello?” Evanora whispered carefully into the blackness. She got no answer. “HELLO?” She yelled. This time she got an answer from right beside her. “Welcome to purgatory,” “I will be your guardian angel for the duration of your stay, do you have any questions?” asked a Disembodied voice

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Evanora paused to think of a question but she realised she couldn't remember anything about what happened. “Why can't I remember anything?” Evanora asked in a panicked state. The disembodied guardian angel paused for a moment before saying, “You don't need to remember anything, this is your life now.” Evanora spoke up angrily, “Show me what happened in the last minute before I met you.” The voice sighed then Evanora watched a flashback of what happened previously. “Let me go back now!” She said demandingly. “I can't let yo-” “LET ME GO BACK NOW.” Evanora screamed furiously. Her body quivered with anger. “No,” the voice said calmly. The next thing she saw was Carl’s head two inches in front of her face. She looked around and saw that he had brought her back from the brink of death, by sharing some of his mana and life energy with her. Evanora also saw that the cyclone was still raging on even if it had been weakened. She stood up slowly and tried to remember the spell for taking out cyclones. She suddenly remembered a spell taught to her by her mother. “NOLITE ERGO!” Everything went silent. Evanora opened her eyes and saw nothing. There was no more cyclone. She looked inside the pound to see relieved and confused faces looking at her. She also saw a weeping girl in the corner. Suddenly there was scream from above her. She looked up and saw a man falling from the sky. She quickly yelled, “Gravitas sugit!” The man was floating in mid air now. He didn’t realise what happened at first but once he opened up his eyes he started dragging himself to the floor by pulling himself down by using corners on building close by. When he touched the ground, the spell wore off and he collapsed to the floor, letting the adrenaline fade. People came running out of the pound to check on the man and to thank Evanora and Carl for their service to the town and its residents. Evanora then looked towards the broken church and offhandedly said, “Hoc figere supellectilem.” The broken off parts of the church started making their way back to the place

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and the town started rebuilding itself in front of everyone. Once the pieces were in place, the whole town started clapping for the witch. People looked around for the witch to congratulate her but she was gone. She had taken Carl and had left the town. Sister Laura smiled and whispered, “Good bye.”

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