Dear readers: it has been a long, long time since I've written much of anything, but even longer since I wrote something to do with Holes. I missed writing. I used to just be able to sit down at the end of every day and write. It was a lot of fun. I can't seem to be able to do that anymore. I'm not sure what changed really, but something did. Anyway, I'm trying to get back into a writing mindset, and I thought I good way to do that would be with a Holes story.

This is a story I've had in mind for a long, long time. It's basically the story of Zigzag and Squid's pasts. How they met, what happened when they first got sent to Camp Green Lake and so on. Anyway here it is:

Chapter One: The Fire

Ricky struck a match and let it fall onto the pile of magazines. The flame dimmed for a moment before it reached the lighter fluid, then the pile went up. The heat was staggering. Ricky took an involuntary step back as his eyes squinted against the glare. The fire settled back on the papers curling and charring them.

The boy walked around it, watching from every angle as the magazines were destroyed, making sure none escaped. He knew they couldn't be trusted. There were too many eyes in them. Too many eyes that stared at him constantly. Spying. Well, they wouldn't be doing that anymore. A smirk stretched Ricky's face.

"Rick?" A voice called from the school's entrance. "Ricky, where are you?"

That was Sophie Greet, the cute girl from his English class.

"I'm here."

He could hear the tap-tap of her shoes as she approached. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! I thought we were going to ditch gym together and-" She stopped, "Oh my gosh" Her voice was panicky now, all coming out in a rush, "oh my gosh Ricky, that's a fire!"

"Yeah,"

He still refused to turn, knowing that if he did some of the magazines would manage to escape.

"We gotta put it out!" Sophie shrieked, "Ricky, you'll burn down the school!"

The fire was small. It was on the dirt path between the main school building and one of the portable trailers that the brainiacs learned in. Ricky had even made sure to clear away grass around it. The only thing that would burn was the magazines.

"No, it's ok, Sophie. It's just some magazines. I had to burn them, because if you just cut them up the eyes can still see."

He heard her gasp over the crackling of the fire.

"It took me by surprise too, the first time I figured it out. But the more you keep thinking about it the more it makes since. Eyes can always see. Even in photographs, even in pictures, cartoons, on the T.V. The only way to get them to stop is if you burn them." He chanced a look at Sophie from the corner of his own eye. Her face was tight and her eyes seemed to be popping out like she'd just swallowed a gum ball whole. People always looked that way the first time. Realizing that they'd looked over so much had that effect on people. "It's all going to be o.k. though now," Ricky soothed, "I'm taking care of them."

Sophie took a step back, "You're crazy!" she exclaimed with a weird grin on her face.

Shaking his head, Ricky disagreed, and putting on his shirk-voice told her,"No, Sophie, I'm the only sane one left in the world."

She was already gone, running into the building. Ricky looked back at the magazines. The wind was picking up, like it usually did in the evenings. Sparks and smoke were scattered by the gales. Ricky watched one spark land on the grass by the nearest portable.

It was drought season, and the crackly grasses went up in seconds. That was interesting.

Someone had pulled the fire alarm in the school. It was ringing.

Ricky watched the flames race to the trailers and start up the walls. That was really cool, like special effects from a movie. Then the doors shot open and the brainiacs ran out coughing and shouting. They all stared at Ricky. He gave them a quick glance before turning to the magazine pile, all that remained were ashes.

A teacher ran up with a fire extinguisher and began dousing the flames. A fire trucks siren's joined in with the school's alarm.

"What the heck was that?" A brainiac screamed right up in his ear. "What were you trying to do? Burn us to death?"

Ricky snorted. "No, if I would have wanted to burn you to death, I would have sat the fire much closer to the trailers, but before that I probably would have drug one of the school's dumpsters in between them so you couldn't get the doors open… I would have sat that on fire too."

The kid looked like he was about to wet his pants.

The firemen came and put out what was left of the fire. A cop car had come with them, and the cops stayed to talk to the principle. Then they talked to Sophie Greet, the brainac kid and his teacher. Then they talked to Ricky.

They weren't happy.