Attention students 

5th – 8th Grade 

Can you finish this story? 

  At the moment, there are 3 incredible chapters…can you write Chapter 4? 

Olivia Gaffney was in a terrible accident and just underwent brain surgery to save her life and while in a coma she has strange experiences. What happens next is up to you!! 

 If your writing is selected, you will get to enjoy your own pack of skittles, pizza with the newspaper crew, and your work will be published in the paper 

 Chapter 4 is due February 3 

 Requirements: 

1. You must keep the character’s names the same. 
2. You must use school appropriate language 
3. The main character may not die 
4. There needs to be diaglogue  
5. It must be typed and turned into: [email protected] 

The Accident 

Chapter 1 

“Hello?” Came a small voice in the darkness. “Is anybody there?” She asked again but was met with silence. Olivia had no idea how long she had been in the dark. Her brain was cloudy, and she couldn’t even remember how she got there. Her thoughts were racing, and her heartbeat was like a drum in her ears. 

Think, girl, think, she told herself. She knew she wouldn’t get anywhere if she couldn’t calm her mind. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Deep breath in, slow breath out. What was the last thing she remembered? The bus stop. She had been at the bus stop waiting for the Ryan St. bus to take her home from school. 

She had to take the bus. Her mom worked late hours cleaning office buildings and wouldn’t be home until after homework, dinner, and bath. 

Who was she with? Emma and Liam. She had been sitting with Emma and Liam who were bickering over which flavor of skittles was better sour or tropical and then nothing. Her head hurt. It was this pounding headache that reverberated like the bass in an old car that shook the doors as an extra sound effect. 

That was it. An old car with bass that shook the doors coming straight for them with no time to move. Suddenly, a lone, soft lightbulb appeared several feet in front of her and what appeared to be a mirror. Olivia cautiously walked up to the dim yellow glow and peered into the mirror. Yes, she could see herself. Except it wasn’t just her reflection. The Olivia in the mirror smiled at her. 

“Hello Olivia.” Said the girl in the mirror. 

“Um, hello.” Olivia said back. 

“I bet you are wondering where you are…or do you think you have an idea?” she asked. 

Olivia stammered, “I think – I know, I mean I’m not sure. I mean, I thought I was, but no, not really.” 

The girl in the reflection looked at Olivia with soothing and gentle eyes. “Shhhhhh. There, there. No need to get yourself upset, that will only make things worse.” 

“What? How?” 

“Do you remember the accident?” She asked pensively. 

Olivia closed her eyes so she could see the accident in her mind more clearly. “Yes, I see it. I was standing at the bus stop in front of Liam and Emma who were sitting on the bench with their backpacks between their feet arguing which flavor of Skittles was better. I don’t really like either flavor, so I guess I kinda zoned out listening to music in the air pods I was sharing with Emma.” What was that song, she wondered? Olivia’s mind wandered. 

It was hard to focus. When she focused, a burning sensation like a pin prick began in the center of her vision and quickly spread across her entire being. 

“Good,” The girl in the reflection brought her mind back. “There was an accident and a car full of high school boys ran a red light, jumped the curb and ran right into the bus stop where you were standing. You, Emma, and Liam were struck and all three of you have been brought to the hospital.” 

“What? The panic began to rise in her again and her head began to pound and a beeping sound so loud in her ears-like an alarm. It was an alarm. Even from her unconscious state she could hear the alarm of the heart rate monitor as it signaled for help. 

Chapter 2 

Charlotte and William Gaffney stood trembling in silence in the lobby of Good Shepherd Memorial. Holding one another up, unable to speak, unable to sit, they stood there in a daze, under water, as the world moved on around them. Their entire world lay shattered in the room just beyond them, and the pain they felt was inconsolable. 

“Mrs. Gaffney?” Dr. Johnson placed a gentle hand on the trembling woman’s shoulder. “My name is Dr. Johnson, and I am the head of Neurosurgery here at GSM and I performed your daughter’s surgery. Can we step into my office to go over a few things?” 

Not really convinced they heard most of what she had said, Dr. Johnson led the Gaffney’s to her office and offered them a seat, tissue, and water. Once she could see their eyes had fixed on hers, she repeated who she was and began the process of explaining their daughter’s condition to them. 

She turned her computer monitor to face them. “Your daughter has suffered an intercranial hemorrhage. I had to go in and cut open her cranium to allow room for her swollen brain and to stop the bleeding. The surgery was successful, and we expect the swelling to go down in a few days. 

Mrs. Gaffney let out a huge sob and collapsed into her husband’s arms. Dr. Johnson had seen this before and allowed the mother a moment to compose herself before continuing. “While we won’t know anything for certain until Olivia wakes up, there are good indications that she will survive this. We just don’t know for certain with the brain. Sometimes it is quick, and other times it is a very long process.” 

Mr. Gaffney turned his attention from his wife to respond. “Thank you, Dr., can we see her now?” 

“Of course,” Dr. Johnson replied. “Follow me.” And with that, the three of them left her office and headed to the elevator destined for the ICU and the unknown.  

Chapter 3 

Gradually, her heart rate slowed, Olivia was never one to panic before this. She was always the voice of reason for her friends-the one everyone turned to when they needed advice. She was so out of her element. “So…you’re telling me that I’m in the hospital…?” she asked trying to keep her composure. 

The mirror-Olivia responded with a coy smile on her face, like she had secrets she wasn’t telling. “Yes.” 

“…and so are Emma and Liam?” 

“Yep.” Mirror Olivia replied again. 

Olivia’s panic began to rise again. Her friends! They can’t be hurt! “I have to see them! I have to make sure they’re okay!” she said as she failed miserably to get out of bed. 

“Maybe you should calm down-“ 

“No! I’m the one that told them to meet up with me at the bus stop!” Olivia interrupted. 

“Oh, don’t blame yourself, you didn’t mean it…” She tried to explain herself, but Olivia cut her off. 

“But if I didn’t tell them, they wouldn’t have been there with me!” Olivia was on the verge of shouting! 

“You weren’t the one driving-“ 

“Yeah, but-!” 

“Sup, homies.” A familiar voice said. 

Olivia and her reflection whipped their heads around to see who was talking. 

“Liam! What are you doing here!? What happened to you!” Olivia and other-Olivia exclaimed in unison. Then turned to look at each other in confusion. 

Liam was always the jokester in the group. He could have been a stand-up comic if his first dream of being a famous You-Tuber didn’t pan out. 

“Ok, so now you’re here, but where is Emma?” Olivia questioned, flabbergasted. 

“Okay, okay, fine. It’s me, Emma.” she explained, revealing her true self to be the reflection in the mirror Olivia thought was her own. 

“I was worried about you when you first woke up. It seemed like there was already so much going on that I didn’t want to scare you.” Emma explained to Olivia why she didn’t appear as herself in the reflection at first. 

“Scare me from what?” Olivia asked. 

“Livy,” Emma began. “I didn’t make it. I was killed in the accident.” 

Olivia was overwhelmed with grief and exclaimed. “Why…what…how?” She could barely get the words out. 

“I was just trying to calm you down…because…um-“ 

“Look, at least we’re all here together now!” Liam said. 

“Yeah, that’s all that matters.” Olivia said, realizing how cheesy it sounded but decided that it was true. 

Olivia was still worried though, she was concerned for her family, and still had many questions. Where were they? Are they in the same place? Could she get to them? This was all still really strange, and she still had a lingering feeling she was missing something. As well as questioning if this is just a dream. 

Just then, Olivia’s parents were standing in the doorway, eyes bloodshot from crying.