Disclaimer: Read it in the first chapters!
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When Zero awoke the next day, he ran straight to the breakfast table. He inhaled his breakfast and ran toward the shovel shed. He grabbed his shovel, rushed out to place where he was assigned to dig and set to work. Stanley was already there.
"Well, my man, you're here early." Zero said.
"When there's not much to eat, you tend to eat it pretty quick." Stanley replied.
Zero threw out a shovel full of dirt and turned back to Stanley. His hole was already about half a foot deep.
"Y'know, I think you're getting better at this." Zero said, throwing out his third shovel full.
"Yeah." Stanley said.
Zero stopped and looked up toward the sky. The stars were still out. One flew across the sky. It seemed to land toward the edge of the camp.
"Hey! It's a shooting star!" Stanley said.
"So? What about it?" Zero asked.
"Did anyone ever tell you about shooting stars?" Stanley asked.
"No." Zero replied. "What about them?"
"They say that if you make a wish on a shooting star, your wish will come true." Stanley said.
"Are you allowed to make more than one wish?" Zero asked.
"I don't think so." Stanley said.
Suddenly, as if on cue, another star flew across the sky.
"Well," Stanley began. "Now's your chance. Make your two wishes."
Zero closed his eyes.
I wish that I could tell Stanley how I feel. he thought. And I wish he felt the same way about me.
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Zero finished his hole half an hour earlier than he usually did. He rushed toward the tent and pulled out his journal and a mechanical pencil. He had stayed up late the night before reading the book. Now, he knew that he could do it. He sighed, sat down, and began to write. (A/N: Keep in mind while reading his entry that Zero is just a beginner, so he'll make a lot of mistakes. I did that on purpose!)
Dear Journal,
This is my first entrie, so I gess I shud intrdooce my self. My name is Hector Zeroni. I got you for my 13th burthdaye. And now, I can right down all of my feelings in side off you. I haff to addmit that I luv the boy who gave this too me. His name is Stanley Yelnats. I like howe his front name is his last name backwords. I thinke that it is funnie. But I haff luvd him for kwite a wile now. I wished on my first starr this morning. I wuz with Stanley. I wished that I culd tell him how I feel and that he wuld feel the same waye about me. I just wish that I didn't haff to hide my feelins from the rest of the wurld. And I hope that one day, we can
Zero stopped in mid-sentence. He was aware of someone reading over his shoulder. He turned around. X-ray was standing behind him, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Ha. Well, what do we have here?" he asked. "Somebody likes Stanley eh?"
X-ray grabbed the journal out of Zero's hands. Zero grabbed for it.
"Hey! Give it back!" he yelled.
"Oh. I was mistaken! You love Stanley!" X-ray said with a laugh. He turned to Zero with an angry sneer on his face. "Back off. He's mine!"
Zero's eyes widened.
"He doesn't belong to anyone! He's his own person!" Zero yelled.
"Aww. Isn't that sweet." X-ray said. He grabbed Zero. "C'mon."
X-ray dragged Zero out of the tent. He was dragging Zero toward a hole. It suddenly occurred to Zero that X-ray still had his shovel in his hand.
"X-ray! Please! Can't we talk about this?" Zero asked.
"No. He's mine and mine only! You gotta learn your place around here. And I'm gonna be the one to teach it to you." X-ray said.
They were already at the hole. X-ray swung the shovel and hit Zero's legs. Zero thought about screaming. He had lost all feelings in his legs. X-ray continued to hit the young boy.
"Don't even bother screaming. Everyone else is already too far away." X-ray said.
He swung the shovel again, this time aiming at Zero's head. It struck, and Zero lost all consciousness.