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Grade
8

Aryan Seth

3/07/15

The Story Teller

5 Years ago, a man had wandered into a small town in Kansas. He had no idea where he was and looked very tired and hungry. The townsfolk were nice enough to help him. In return, the man gave the people a story. The people loved the story and asked him to stay. The man agreed to stay as a mechanic. The people quickly found out that he was very good mechanic. He could literally fix anything. The man became happy and lived in the small town. Now, 5 years later, the man is still working as a mechanic.

 The man is still happy and every day, during lunchtime, he goes home to eat. But, when he went home this time, he saw a little boy at his doorstep. “Hello there, young man.” The boy quickly spun around and gazed upon the man. The man looked about 55. He had neat, combed jet black hair. His outfit contradicted his hair. It was messy. Grease stains all over it. His expression told the boy he wasn’t mad, but still puzzled as to why he was here. “My name is James” the boy quickly blurted out. “Please don’t get mad at me. I was just here to ask you a question, Mr. Jack.” “How do you know my name?” said Jack. James responded “Well, I looked at the sign at your shop and it said ‘Jack’s Mechanical Shack: Help for all you mechanical problems.’ I figured that you were Jack because you were the only person I saw in the building.” Jack then replied “Okay Smarty-Pants, What do you want?” “I want to hear a good story. I heard from the people that the mechanic can tell amazing stories. So, me being a curious child, decided to see if that was true or not.” “You want to hear a story?” says Jack. “Of course! That’s kind of why I came here” says James.  “Well, alright. I haven’t told a story in some time so bear with me.” Jack took a very long look at the child before he began.

“This first one is set in 1943 in World War II. Our main character Jack- uh I mean Johnson, is an Engineer and a solider. Johnson seemed like your average solider, but he was a very good Engineer and had very good spy traits. The General realized that he could be a very crucial member in the war. So, the General spoke to the Commander in Chief about a plan to infiltrate the enemy base to help end the war. The Commander agreed to the plan but asked ‘Why him?’ The General replied, ‘He is an extraordinary engineer. That means he can navigate and even take down the enemies defenses. He also, has some very good spy traits. He is good at blending in with other people. Also, he is stealthy.’ The Commander in turn replied ‘We are going to need a lot more people than just him, maybe 10 more people even.’

So, the General set to work on devising a plan and choosing the recruits. When all of this was set in place, The General called the members to a meeting. ‘Okay, boys, The Commander and I have been discussing a plot against the enemy. We, by we I mean you, are going to infiltrate their base, find out their plans, and get out. Now, here’s the plan……’ A couple hours later, the meeting was finished. ‘You are to be ready by 00:00. This mission is a complete secret. Only we and the other countries leaders know about this so you must not tell ANYONE, Understood?’ ‘Yes Sir!’ Johnson decided to take a nap before he left for the mission.

When 00:00 finally came, the crew was ready to go. They boarded the chopper and took off. Johnson was having nervous feelings about this and tried to stay calm. When they arrived, they quickly exited the chopper just 10 minutes later; they heard an explosion and saw the chopper was destroyed. Johnson wondered why the chopper was blown up so fast. Had someone betrayed them? He quickly got that idea out of his head as enemy fire washed upon him. Bullets were flying everywhere. ‘GO, GO, GO, we four will hold them off as much as we can.’ Already their mission was failing.

Without delay, the rest of the team proceeded towards the Generals office. They came upon the power box that controls the power. Johnson used his skills shutdown the power throughout the whole base. ‘Okay, let’s move’ slowly and quietly they proceeded towards the office. When, they finally reached it, they picked the lock and opened the door. They turned on their flashlights and checked the room. They found a small box. It was the size of a shoebox. Johnson opened the box and grabbed the papers. When he turned them around, he saw nothing but white paper. Then, Johnson realized this whole mission was a trap. ‘We got to get out’ he said. But it was too late. By the time he had finished his sentence a bomb went off and exploded the floor.

Johnson woke up and felt agonizing pain in his legs and head. He called out for people but no one was there. Then, mustering up all the strength he had left, he crawled all the way back to his base. When he got there, he recovered in the hospital and told the General that he wants to quit. The General nodded and he ordered him to be dropped back at his house. Then, he changed his name from Johnson to Jackson. He then sought out a new career and lived happily. The End.” “That’s it?” asked James. “Well, yeah that’s it. What you want more?” asked Jack.       James replied, “Yeah I do!” “Not today son. I’ve got work to do. How about tomorrow at the same time?” said Jack. James said okay and then dashed back to his house.

 

Jack woke up to his usual routine. Wake up, change, eat breakfast and then head to the shop with the newspaper in hand. When lunch time came around, he walked back to his house and sure enough, the boy was there. “You’re back!” said Jack. “Of course I am. I want to hear another story.” said James. “But, can you make this one a bit happier?” “Well, I’ll try but my stories don’t tend to always be happy.” replied Jack.

“Anyway this story is set in 1963. It is about a man named Jacob but we can call him Jake for short. Jake was part of a pit crew on a professional NASCAR team. They were one of the best teams in the country. When they qualified for the Indianapolis 500, the whole team was super excited. But, they need to practice really hard in order to win the race. So, Jake and his crew went to the pits so they could practice their speed to change the wheels, fill up the gas, and put the wheels back on. The fastest time in the country was 11 seconds. Jake informed the team and they were bewildered at that time.

So, they practiced for hours and hours when they finally came at a record speed of 10.9 seconds. But, something ill-fated happened. Their driver, Chuck Anderson, had an injury while practicing. Everyone was shocked to hear about that. So, they had to find a new driver quick. After a time trial, the team chose Jake to be their driver. Jake showed to everyone that he was super happy but deep down he was nervous. As the event drew nearer and nearer, Jake was increasing becoming more nervous.

When the day of the competition arrived, Jake was feeling, not nervous but, exhilarated. He didn’t know why. Anyway, Jake entered through the drivers section while the team unloaded the car and set up the pits. At about 12:00, the warm-up lap had begun. Jake slowly climbed into his car and then the team wished him luck, he started his car, and drove off onto the track. When the time hit 12:30, all the cars lined up at the starting line. ‘3, 2, 1, GO!’ All Jake could hear was the screeching of the tires against the asphalt. He drove around the track. ‘1, 3, 35, 47.' He started to lose count after 50. But nevertheless, he was catching up to first place. Then, he started to head to the pits. As he slowed the car down, the pit crew quickly changed the tires and filled the gas in 12 seconds. The tires screeched as he took off, without looking, towards the track.

 As the race drew to an end, he was at second place and about to catch up to first. Then suddenly, his tire popped. He thought to himself ‘Why now?!?’ He could hear the metal scratching against the track. He was so close to finishing the race when another tire popped. His car skid around in circles and caused a huge crash behind him. The car in first place didn’t realize this until he crossed the finish line. When Jake was removed from his car, he reported he felt like he only had a broken arm. That was at least better news that what the team feared. He went to the hospital for a cast. Then, as he sat in the bed, he realized that it was his fault that the tires popped. He took off to soon. He called his team in for a quick chat and told them everything. The team wasn’t mad. They took this as a challenge to work harder and win next time. Jake smiled and was ready for whatever challenge they had to face. The End”  “That was a much happier story than the last one. I liked it.” Said James. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed It.” responded Jack. “I’m feeling tired” said James. “I think I’ll go take a nap now.” “Bye”. As James walked back to his house, Jack started thinking. “What if he is smart enough?” “Will he be able to figure out the real meaning in these stories I’ve told him?” “He seems like a smart kid to me.

Later that night, while James was sleeping, James was thinking about the stories he had hears. “They seem so cool and so real” he thought. “Wait a minute.” he realized. “Jack is a mechanic, and the stories told of a man who was a great engineer and a great pit crew man.” “I am starting to think that the main character in each story represented the struggles of Jacks life.” “In his first story, the WWII one, he was part of a failed mission. In the second one, the NASCAR story, he had to replace the driver and a tire popped. But, one thing I never understood was how he got here. I guess I’ll have to ask him in the morning.” James then rolled over to go back to sleep.

When Jack woke up in the morning, he followed his usual routine. Wake up, eat breakfast and head to the shop. Before he could exit his house, he saw James standing before him. “Hello, James. Why are you here so early?” James replied “I figured it out, Jack.” “What do you mean ‘You figured it out’?” “I mean, I know the truth behind those stories you told me. They aren’t just made up. They are true. They are about you. The main character in each story is you.”  Jack didn’t say anything at first. Then he spoke “Have a seat.” James sat down. “You finally figured it out. Out of all the people I told stories to, you were the only one to realize the truth. My life isn’t the best life in the world. But it sure is an interesting one.” “I just have one question.” Said James. “Why did you come here?” “Well, that is a long story for another time. When you become 14, come back here at this very time, and very place and I’ll tell you.” James could hardly believe it. He was actually right. “Okay then, it’s a deal.” James got up and shook the hand of Jack. James then departed back to his house where he would wait 2 years to find out why. Why would Jack move to town in Kansas.