**= all names have been changed
The Monkey's Paw
Retold by Jessica Heather**
The day I came upon the monkey paw, was my birthday. But, my friends and I do birthdays a little different than other people do. Instead of giving gifts the person would MOST like, we give gifts the person would LEAST like. That way, it's funnier, and we make a lot of crazy memories. And my friend Mandy** takes everything literally, and to the extreme.
When it was time for presents, I got that excited/nervous funny feeling in my stomach. With my friends, you never know what's going to happen next. And that's the best part of my birthday. First, I got my gifts from Justine**, Nicole**, Ellen**, and Katelyn**. Mandy wants to go last. She ALWAYS goes last and we all know why. She always has the wackiest, best present ever. "Mandy, it's your turn." said Justine. Everyone started giggling. Then out came Mandy's response. "Here you go Jess. I took extra time picking it out." So excited, I ripped the paper off. It was a box. "Thanks, Mandy. I've always wanted a box," Laughter came from everywhere in the room. Of course, Mandy rolled her eyes at me. I knew a sarcastic remark was going to come back at me. "It's in the box, smart one!" She exclaimed. With an eye roll myself, I opened the box. But from what I saw, an eye roll wasn't necessary.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" I screamed. Inside the box was a monkey paw. And Mandy knows there is nothing I hate more than dead animals. Everyone laughed as they saw my reaction. But once they saw what it was, they screamed too. "WHAT IS THAT???" screeched Katelyn. "I THINK IT'S ALIVE!!!" yelled Justine. "It's a monkey's paw you idiots!" Of course, Ellen states the obvious. "Well Mandy, you really won this year, as always." Exclaimed Nicole, who wasn't bugged by the paw at all. "I have one question, Mandy. Why did you get her that!?!?!" stated Justine. "I'm not stupid enough to get her just that. It's a MAGICAL monkey paw!" Mandy 1said. We were rolling on the floor laughing by the time she finished that sentence. "Riiiighhht, Mandy. It's magical! HAH!" I said. "It's true! You can get 4 wishes. But be careful with those wishes. You can get anything you want, but with every wish comes with a severe consequence." Mandy told us.
"Ok then, let's try this thing out." said Katelyn. "I wish we wouldn't have to go to school on Monday!" shouted Nicole. We didn't feel any different, so we turned on the T.V. The news was on, so we watched that. "We have just received information that one of the local middle schools has been set on fire. We have Cheryl on the scene." said the news broadcaster. We kept the channel on, wondering what school it was. "Thanks, Stan. I am live from middle school I.S.89** (A/N: I just put a random middle school name so if that's yours, I didn't mean for it to be!), which has been set on fire." Cheryl exclaimed. When we heard that, all of our eyes got wide with surprise. "Witnesses say, out of nowhere the school burst into flames. The fire department came immediately to put out the fire." We all glared at Nicole. "Maybe she said 89 by accident." tried Nicole. We turned out attention back to the T.V. Cheryl was speaking again. "Later, we will be having interviews with the janitors who were here, and I.S.89 principal, Rosa Maria O'Connell**. To all you 89 kids out there, look's like there's no school for you on Monday. I'm Cheryl Burke. Stay tuned."
As we all turned and gave Nicole an icy glare, she sank in her seat. "I'm sorry!" she yelled. "I had a big test, and I didn't want to take it!" "Well now you definitely won't!" said Ellen. "Well, what are we going to do now?!?" stated Katelyn. "We can't just leave it on fire!" As we silently thought, Justine's face lit up. "I got it! Why don't we wish the fire out!" Justine suggested. As we all felt stupid for not thinking of the obvious, Ellen grabbed the monkey paw. "I wish the fire would be put out!" shouted Ellen. We turned on the T.V. to see if it worked. We see Stan again. "Late breaking news. The I.S.89 fire has been put out." A big sign of relief washed over us. "But the fire has been put out by a flood! We have Cheryl on the scene." Stan stated. Once again, worry crossed our minds.
"I am live from the used to be I.S.89 fire, which is now the I.S.89 flood! Witnesses say that the flames just stopped, but then water just came flowing out of the building. What is going on with this school? Stay tuned to find out more." Cheryl told us. "Brilliant idea, Justine." I stated. As we all complained to Justine, she exploded. (Not literally) "We'll at least I thought of something!! And the fire's out, so that's good." said Justine. "Yea…but it's been replaced by a flood! Man, I wish that monkey paw never existed!!" I yelled. "Oh my gosh! Great wish!" Katelyn yelled. As she grabbed the paw, we realized what would happen if she wished that. We all jumped towards Katelyn as she raised the paw. "I WISH WE WERE BEFORE THE MONKEY PAW EXISTED!!" Katelyn wished. "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" the rest of us yelled. But it was too late.
As we stood up, we were still in my house. But everything was different. All of my original furniture was replaced with old stuff. As we walked around, Mandy found something. "Hey guys. Look at this." We walked over to where she was standing. There was a calendar. "May 12, 1969. Thanks Katelyn!" I read. We realized we were in the year the monkey paw as created. "I'm sorry! I thought when you said you wished, it seemed like a good idea." Katelyn exclaimed. "What's going to happen next? It seems with every wish, something goes wrong, and we only have one wish left." Ellen stated. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm done with this. I got to figure out a way to get everything back to normal, without a consequence." I said. We all thought about what we could wish for, but with every wish, came a reasonable consequence. But I finally figured out something. "Guys! I have an idea. Where's the monkey paw?" I asked. As Nicole handed it to me she asked, "What are you going to wish for?" "Something we were too ignorant to wish for a while ago!" I replied. "ORLANDO BLOOM???" Ellen asked. "No!! You've got to get over your obsession with him! Now let Jess wish!" Justine said. I took a deep breath, and help up the monkey paw. "I WISH EVERYTHING WAS BACK TO NORMAL, RIGHT WHEN I GOT THE MONKEY PAW!" I yelled. All of a sudden, we were sitting right where we were when Mandy gave me the monkey paw. "WOAH!" We all gasped. "Now that was creepy!" said Katelyn. "Are you sure you got us at the right moment?" asked Mandy. "Well let's find out." I said. We turned on the T.V. to the news. "As McCain is mourning over his losses, Barack Obama has been inaugurated as the official President of the United States!" said Stan. "Yep, were back!" I said.
As we finished up that night, I thought about what we did. Now only that could happen to me and my friends. As we were walking in to school the next day, we were talking about the previous night. "Well those wishes sucked. We wasted all of them on school." stated Justine. "Yea…and I still have to take my test today!" yelled Nicole. We all laughed as Nicole opened her books are started a cramming study session. My friends…you got to love them.