CONTENTS

Chapter 1 ––      Vacations                                                    

Chapter 2 ––      The Millers                                                

Chapter 3 ––      The Game                                                   

Chapter 4 ––      The Adventure Begins                          

Chapter 5 ––      Discovering More about the Game 

Chapter 6 ––      Superpowers and Weaknesses        

Chapter 7 ––      Losing Lives                                           

Chapter 8 ––      Gobo and Zulu                                      

Chapter 9 ––      A Long Journey                                    

Chapter 10 ––    Rescuing the Princess                        

Chapter 11 ––    Fighting the Boss                                  

Chapter 12 ––    The Golden Sword                               

Chapter 13 ––    Back Home                                            

 

 

VACATIONS

“Steve, breakfast is ready,” called out Mom.

“Coming,” he shouted, as he ran downstairs and jumped on the chair.

Dad was busy reading the newspaper and Suzie and Sophie were having breakfast. Both of them were twins, 15 years old, though Suzie was older. They were tall and slim with long oval-shaped faces, brown wavy hair and little blue eyes.

Their brother Steve Young also looked a bit alike, with a thin face, small dark eyes and black untidy hair. He was so skinny that you could almost see his ribs. He wore small round glasses which would keep falling on his nose every few seconds, and he would have to set them properly again and again. He was just about 13, and was pretty clever. Steve was weak and short for his age. He wasn’t good in sports, though he excelled in studies.

“Where are we going to these hols?” he asked, as he stuffed a slice of bread in his mouth.

Mom sat at the dining table with a plate in her hand. She sighed and said, “I thought I would give you a surprise, but since you are asking me, I’ll tell you. We are going to Aunt Emily’s. We’ll leave for the mountains this Sunday.”

“Wow!” Steve said.

“That’s awesome!” the girls exclaimed with delight.

All three of them were thrilled. They loved to go there. There were George and Jack Miller. They would play with them the entire day. Aunt Emily lived in the mountains. The weather there was pleasant. There was also a chance to find snow there. They would play in the snow. They would make snowmen. There was just so much to do, that you would never feel bored.

And they had heard that Jack had just got a new video game for his birthday last month. He hadn’t unpacked it yet and said that he would open it only when Steve, Sophie and Suzie came to visit them. Then, they would play the game together.

That evening, the children began packing their suitcases. They were just so eager for that day.

“I’ll take my headphones and this book with me,” Steve said. “And, I think I should keep a pack of chips and some chocolates for the journey.”

“And I think we should take this teddy bear with us. It’s so cute!” Sophie said and cuddled the bear.

“And my new doll,” said Suzie. “And these glasses are awesome! I will take them too!”

And so the day ended with the kids being able to pack only half of their stuff.

For the next few days, they could think of nothing else, but their Aunt Emily and their cousins.

At last the day arrived. It was a pleasant morning. The sun shone brightly in the sky. The birds were chirping. The cool wind whispered in their ears. Everything looked so good today, and why not? They were going to visit the Miller family and it was so cool!

It was a 6 hour drive to the mountains. It was boring and super-tiring. And on top of that, there was heavy traffic. They played games to kill time. The children thought that they would die if they didn’t get out of the car at once.

But to their joy, they reached the mountains after few more hours. And they were even more exhilarated when they found snow all around the bungalow. There was some even on the roof. It was chilling. It had snowed just a few hours ago and the snow was still soft. The weather forecast had said that there would be more snowfall later that night.

 

 

THE MILLERS

Aunt Emily and her sons were standing right at the door, waiting to welcome them. She hugged Mrs. Young and patted the children on their cheek and kissed them.

“It’s so good to finally see you, dear!” she said and embraced her sister-in-law once again.

Then they saw the two boys standing next to her.

“Hi!” said a boy who looked like Steve. He was also thin and wore glasses. The only major difference between him and Steve was that he was a little dark. The boy had brown curly hair and small round brown-colored eyes. He was Jack. He was also the same age as Steve, but unlike Steve, he was not good at studies and always looked up to Steve. He always wanted to be as smart and clever as Steve. People called him stupid. But he was a hard-working guy, who one day wanted to be a great scientist and inventor and show the world that they were wrong about him. So he would spend most of his time in solving complex sums and studying enormous books with seven or eight hundred pages, though he barely understood anything at all.

The other brother, George Miller was the exact opposite of Jack. He was a strong, sturdy and somewhat chubby lad of 15. He had a bossy voice. He had short blonde hair, a small round nose and yellowish teeth, which he would proudly show to people when he talked to them. He smiled in a rather peculiar way, with all his teeth showing. He looked like a pig and his friends at school would also call him that. He didn’t like to spend his precious time on big books like his brother. Instead he would go out to play with his friends. Ice hockey was a popular sport there in the cold mountains and George was a champion of that sport. His friends called him a hockey champion. He was also the captain of his school’s ice hockey team.

Nobody would believe that George and Jack were siblings. They were so different from each other. They themselves didn’t call each other brother. They just believed that they were friends.

“You’ve grown up so much!” said Mrs. Young as she caressed them on their cheeks.

George gave her his super-funny smile, and Steve burst out laughing. Suzie and Sophie giggled.

They went inside. Their father, Mr. Miller was upstairs, reclining on the sofa, reading a book. He himself was a well-known writer, and books were his best friends. He wore specs and would always be lost in his book.

The family went inside to greet Mr. Miller. But he was so lost in his book, that only after half a minute or so, when his wife purposely coughed, did he notice them. He immediately stood up, apologized to Mr. and Mrs. Young, and shook Mr. Young’s hand.

The day went on pretty well. First the children explored the house. Then they played board games and spent time with each other. George also taught them the basics of ice hockey. Then they also played the video game that Jack had.

The day went on very well. George had said that he would take them trekking and skiing with him tomorrow.

 

 

THE GAME

The next day, they woke up at 6 o’clock in the morning. They had breakfast pretty fast and they quickly got ready. They were just so excited. Steve and his sisters had never skied before in their lives. They had seen people skiing on the television, and they had always wanted to do it.

They left the house at 8. They had a lot of fun that day.

They first went hiking in the mountains, and then they went to the snow park to play. They first bought 5 tickets, 1 for each, and then they entered the park. There were not many people there, but the place looked magnificent. It was completely white. All you could see was snow. Snow here, snow there, there was snow everywhere. Well, the snow was hard and slippery, and each of them, even George had fallen at least once.

They enjoyed the day, doing all sorts of snow activities, especially skiing. But just as they were about to leave, Sophie fell down into the snow.

“Sophie!” George cried.

There was a hole in the ground, in which Sophie had fallen. This hole had been covered completely by snow, and no one was aware of its existence.

All the children jumped into the hole to rescue her.

They saw Sophie there, safe and sound. In front of her, was a screen, about ten feet tall.

It said something, written in some other language.

“T.eh… Ag.em o.f… Us.r.iv.av.l?” Suzie read out. “How do you even pronounce it?”

“What kind of a name is that?” George asked.

“And what does it mean?” asked Sophie.

“I think this is some kind of game,” said Steve.

“Yeah me too,” Jack said. “Let’s play.”

They tapped on a little ‘start’ button on the screen, and some more peculiar words popped up:

C.OOH.ES OUY.R C.AH.ER.C.ET.R

“What language is this?” Jack asked.

“I think we should just find a way and get outta here,” Sophie suggested.

“No,” Steve said. “I think I know what it means. It means ‘Choose your character.’ There are some pictures below it with their names. We need to click on them.”

And saying this, Steve clicked on a strong, sturdy and muscular man which said:

OP.EW.R.OR.C.K

Suzie clicked on a woman whose name was:

IS.L.EV.R.S.OT.EN

Sophie also clicked a similar character called:

S.IW.FT

Jack pressed a brainy looking guy who wore glasses and had a book and a pencil in his hand. He was:

B.AIR.N.S.OT.R.M

“And I’ll take…” George said. “Umm…I’ll have to take this dog. This is the only character left.”

And saying this, he clicked a dog. It said:

IB.G.EET.T.H

“Quite strange names,” Jack said.

“It’s in a different language,” said Steve. “We might understand it later as we play the game.”

And saying this, he clicked on the ‘next’ button. The screen read:

O.B.EJ.C.IT.EV O.F T.EH AG.EM:

IK.L.L T.EH OB.S.S, ER.S.UEC T.EH P.IR.N.EC.S.S, A.N.D EG.T T.EH OG.L.ED.N S.OW.R.D

“My head pains looking at that,” said George.

They then pressed the ‘start button.’ And then, something very strange happened.  Just as they pressed the button, they disappeared.

 

 

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

A second later, they found themselves in a forest.

“What?” Steve asked rubbing his eyes.

“Where are we?” Suzie asked.

“How did we come here?” asked Sophie.

“We are in a forest,” Jack said.

“Huh?” Steve asked. “Jack? You’re looking weird.”

Jack looked at his arms and legs.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “I look like the character in the game.”

“Steve?” the twins shouted together.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “What?”

Then he looked at himself. He was big and strong. He looked at his arms.

“Wow!” he exclaimed. “Look at my biceps! And my abs! I’ve got 6 packs!”

Steve was now a big and muscular boy. He was now tall and a little fat. Only his face was the same. His other body parts changed.

Jack remained the same. Only, he now looked more intelligent, with huge round spectacles, and a book and a pencil in his hand.

The twins, Suzie and Sophie looked pretty much the same. But now they were a bit taller and thinner. They were wearing cool suits and had smart sunglasses.

And as for George, well, he was now a dog. He was black in color, and had rather big teeth.

“I know what,” said Jack. “We are in the game.”

“What?” all of them shouted together.

“Yeah, I know it’s hard to believe, but we are in the game,” Jack said. “Look at the surroundings. Look at us. We have changed into the game characters. I am the brainy guy I chose, Steve is the strong one and…”

“Woof!”

“Yes, and George is a dog!” Jack said and burst into laughter. “Serves you right, buddy!”

George, the dog, groaned.

“But what do we have to do in this game?” Sophie questioned.

“Yeah, we don’t even know the rules,” said her sister.

“I do,” Jack said. “I know that language. It’s called Gosian.”

“How do you know?” Steve asked.

“Well, you chose a strong man, and so you’re strong. I chose an intelligent person, and so I am intelligent!”

“Wow!” Suzie and Sophie exclaimed. Their eyes widened.

“So this language works in a rather strange way. We take the vowels of the word and make it change places with the alphabet, which is in front of it. Then we place a full stop or a dot after it.

Lemme give you an example. My name in this game is B.air.n.s.ot.r.m, which translates to ‘Brainstorm’ in English. First we put a dot after the ‘B;’ then we bring the vowels ‘A’ and ‘I’ in front of ‘R’ and put a full stop; then an ‘N’ with a full stop and an ‘S’ with a full stop. And after that, we bring the ‘O’ in front of ‘T’ and place a dot. Then the letter ‘R’ with a dot, and the letter ‘M’ in the end.”

“Amazing!” Steve said, impressed.

“Woof, woof woof, woof woof,” George barked.

“He says it’s complicated,” Jack said.

“Wow!” said Suzie.

“You can speak to animals?” Sophie asked, amazed.

“Umm… I didn’t know I could,” Jack said.

“Okay, don’t waste time. Tell us our names and the rules and objectives of this game,” Steve said, a bit irritated.

“Yeah, sure. So, the game’s name translates to ‘The Game of Survival’ or ‘G-O-S.’ The name of its language is also derived from it – ‘Gosian.’ And as I told you, I am Brainstorm, Steve is Powerrock, Suzie and Sophie are Silverstone and Swift respectively, and George, the dog, is Bigteeth!” Jack chuckled. “The objectives of this game are simple, kill the Boss, rescue the Princess and get the golden sword.”

“Well it’s not simple,” said Steve. “First of all, who is the Boss?”

“Who is the Princess?” asked Suzie.

“And what is this golden sword?” asked Sophie.

“For that, we need a map,” said Jack, and handed out a map.

“Where did you get that from?” Suzie asked.

“I don’t know,” Jack said. “It was just in my hand.”

They saw the map. There was a market in the map and it said:

AB.AAZ.R

IH.N.T: S.AT.R.T OUY.R OUJ.R.EN.Y EH.ER

“It translates to ‘Bazaar; hint: start your journey here,’” Jack said, looking at the map.

“Okay,” said Steve. “We’ll do what it says.”

And they headed for the bazaar.

 

 

DISCOVERING MORE ABOUT THE GAME

The bazaar was a magnificent scene. It was the exact opposite of the place they were in just a few moments ago. The forest was completely isolated. It only had trees all around. But the market was packed with people. There was such a hullabaloo. There were small shops on both sides of the street. The shopkeepers were calling out their goods and the prices in their local language. The children had a total of $63 with them. It was pretty much. They decided to have some food. After all, it had been hours since they had eaten anything, and they were starving.

So they went to a random food store and Jack said something to the shopkeeper in Gosian.

“He says they won’t accept these,” Jack said. “They have different currencies called Goshers. We can exchange our money there.” He pointed to a machine in the corner.

They inserted 20 Dollars into the machine and got 200 Goshers.

They bought a dozen mangoes for 20 Goshers and headed to another store which said:

OP.IOT.N.S

“Potions,” Steve translated. “I’m getting the hang of it now.”

There was an ‘Immortal potion,’ but it cost 10,000,000,000 Goshers. There were other similar potions, but they were too expensive. All they could buy was 5 bottles of ‘Health potion,’ which would give them a boost and increase their energy level whenever they were tired. Each of them was worth twenty Goshers. So they had to spend one hundred Goshers or ten Dollars to buy all those potions.

They spent the rest of money in other small items, mostly food and drinks.

They then left the bazaar and went to look for shelter.

It had turned dark now, and they decided to go to sleep. They built a small hut out of branches and leaves, and some other items they had bought from the bazaar or had found lying on the ground. Jack was the smart guy, and so he did most of the work.

The next day they wore up early at 6 and decided to explore the forest. There was a place in the map which looked like a clock. So they went there hoping to find something astonishing. And what they found there shocked them. The clock said that they had a total of 24 hours out of which 12 hours were gone. Now only 12 more hours were left. If they didn’t complete the game in those 12 hours, they would be trapped in that game forever.

“What?” Suzie yelled.

“Come on, we need to hurry,” Jack said and they began to run. They reached a little building. They went inside it hoping to find the Boss, the Princess or the sword. But there was something quite strange inside.

 

 

SUPERPOWERS AND WEAKNESSES

On the wall, there were buttons with their names written on it in Gosian. On top of it, something else was printed:

US.EP.R.OP.EW.R.S A.N.D EAW.K.EN.S.ES.S

“Superpowers and weaknesses,” Sophie read out.

Steve pressed the button with his name on it. He turned around and saw a screen with all his powers and weaknesses written on it in Gosian.

Jack began to translate, “It says that your superpowers are fighting and water. Water will increase your power by ten percent. Wow! Your weakness is the Boss.”

“No!” Steve said. “I’m the strongest one here and I need to fight the Boss. How can I defeat him if he is my weakness?”

“Okay, next is Suzie,” Jack continued. “Her power is robbery and weakness is bull dogs. When she sees a bull dog, she’ll faint.”

Jack stopped for a second, and then pressed the next button.

“Sophie,” he called out. “Your superpower is speed. It says you can cover one mile in one second.”

“Wow!” she said and began to run.

She came back after a second and said, “I ran all the way to the bazaar and came back!”

“Oooh! Cool!” Jack said. “Well your weakness is water. Wow! Water is Powerrock’s, I mean Steve’s superpower as well!”

He pressed the next button and announced, “Next on the list is this little dog, George, and he, as you all can see has pretty large teeth. So he can easily tear of someone’s flesh. And his weakness is bones. Whenever he sees a bone, he’ll forget about everything else, and begin to chew it. If anyone tries to touch that bone or tell him not to do that, he might kill that person.”

“Woof woof woooof woof, woof woof!” George barked.

“He says he’ll never do that,” Jack translated. “But according to this screen, you will.”

He pressed the button with his name on it and said, “My superpowers are intelligence, the ability to talk to animals, and it says I’m a master at making things. But my weakness is…” He stopped.

He then raised his left eyebrow and said, “My weakness is my tail. If somebody pulls it I’ll die.”

He turned around and saw that there really was a small tail on his back!

“Oh! I have a tail!” Jack cried. “It’s so small! I never noticed it.”

“Woof, woooof woooof woooof, woof woof!” George barked.

“What is he saying?” Suzie asked.

“He says now there are two animals in the group,” Jack said. “But just because I have a tail, I’m not an animal!”

“Woof, wooof woof!” George barked.

“Yes, you are? What do you mean by ‘yes, you are?’ You are an animal, not me.”

“Woof woooof woof woof!”

“You say, I am an animal just because I have a freaking tail?”

“Woof woof woooof!”

The argument went on for quite some time. In a moment, the quarrel had turned into a fight. They punched and kicked each other. Just then George pulled Jack’s little tail and Jack fell into a deep slumber.

“Oh, Jack!” Suzie said. “Has he died?”

“Oh, that’s nonsense! He can’t just die like that in a game,” Steve said.

Steve picked Jack up and they went away.

 

 

LOSING LIVES

The four helpless boys and the dog continued walking, hoping to find the Boss, Princess or the sword. Well, Jack wasn’t walking. Steve was carrying him, hoping that he wasn’t really dead. They hated this game. They shouldn’t have come here in the first place. They only had 11 and a half hours now to complete the game; otherwise, they would never be able to get out.

They sat down on the grass, feeling sad and helpless. They were completely exhausted, and didn’t want to walk anymore. But they didn’t have any option. They kept on taking the ‘health potion’ that they had bought from the bazaar.

They got up and continued walking. Suddenly, Sophie and Suzie stopped dead.

“What happened?” Steve asked. “Why did you two stop? Keep walking. We don’t have time.”

The sisters pointed to something. It was a dog, a ferocious, angry bull dog. And it had two heads. Suddenly 5 more dogs appeared. And then 10 more. In a minute, there were about a 1000 two-headed bull dogs. On seeing them, Suzie fainted.

“What happened to her?” Sophie asked.

“Oh no! Remember, bull dogs are her weakness.” Steve answered.

The creatures came running towards the children. They were mad with anger.

Steve picked up Suzie in his hand and started to run. He held Jack in one hand, and Suzie in the other.

Sophie could run fast, so she thought she would get rid of the dogs easily, but unfortunately, she, Steve and George, along with the two other children who had fainted, all fell off the cliff.

It was about a 1000 feet high, and all the kids fell down the cliff.

But in a moment, they were back! They were back in the position where they had started running! Suzie and Jack were also standing on their feet!

“How can it be?” Sophie asked. “We just fell down the cliff, and we should have died.

But no sooner had she said that, than they saw another beast coming towards them. He was humungous. His height was approximately fifty feet! With each step he took, the ground shook.

They were standing near the cliff, and there was no way to run. They decided to go between his legs, but the giant picked them up and threw them off the cliff.

Again, in a moment, they found themselves back on the place they were in.

“What’s happening?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know what’s happening, but we need to act fast,” Jack said. “Steve, your power is strength and fighting, right? Why don’t you try and kill that beast?”

“What? Me?” Steve asked. “How can I, a 13 year old kid, defeat this skyscraper? Have you seen him? He’s so tall.”

“I’ll go,” Sophie said. “I have speed. I will climb his body, reach his face and kill him.”

She took a large piece of rock and ran all the way up to the face of the ferocious beast. She stood on his tongue, and just as she was about to throw the rock at him, she became unconscious.

“Oh no, there was water in his tongue, and water was her weakness!” Jack cried.

The monster came running towards them and once again, he threw Steve, Suzie, Jack and George off the cliff.

But again, they were back, safe and sound.

The monster was also confused. He came charging towards them again, but stopped abruptly. He was slowly turning into stone! First his legs turned into stone, then his stomach and hands, and then his face! He fell down on the ground and broke into a million pieces.

They turned around and saw another small creature. He was all round and fat. He wore a weird costume and was bald.

“Who are you?” Steve asked.

“Did you turn him into stone?” inquired Sophie, who was conscious again.

“I am Gobo,” the creature replied. “And yes, I turned him into stone. That’s my superpower.”

“Wow!” Suzie said. “You have the coolest superpower!”

“But, do you know how we died so many times and came back again?” Sophie questioned.

“Oh yes! Those are your lives. Just look under your shoe,” Gobo said.

They all lifted their legs and looked under their shoes.

“We’ve got some heart-shaped designs here,” Steve said.

“These aren’t designs. These are lives. You have 5 of them and once you lose them all, you die,” Gobo said.

“Oh no, I have just 2 left!” Jack said.

“Me too!” said Suzie.

“Sophie and I have 3 of them,” Steve said.

Even George had lifted his paws.

“George also has 3 heart signs,” said Suzie.

George suddenly began to bark.

Jack translated, “He is saying that if he loses all his lives, he will be able to go back home.”

George ran towards the cliff and fell down.

“No!” Gobo cried, but it was too late.

Few minutes later George was alive again. He did this again. Gobo again tried to stop him, but couldn’t.

When Gobo had only one life left, and he tried to do this again, Gobo picked him up and said, “If you lose all your lives, you will die. Permanently. You won’t be able to go back, silly.”

“Oh no, he has only one life left now,” Jack cried.

“Well, even I have only 1 life left,” Gobo said sadly. “And if I lose it, I die.”

“Even you had 5 lives?” Sophie asked.

“Yes, every creature in this game has 5 lives, even that giant. I had defeated him 4 times earlier, and this was his last life. He lost it, and now, he has permanently died.”

 

 

GOBO AND ZULU

“Okay, so Gobo are you a part of this game?” Steve asked.

“Yes, now I am,” Gobo answered. “Earlier, even I was playing this game just like you. But the time was over, and I was stuck in this game. I’ve been here for about 3 years now. Since then nobody has played this game. But now that you are here, I can go back. We need to kill the Boss, save the Princess and get the sword. I know all about them and I can help you get to them. But I won’t be able to fight the Boss. He has all his 5 lives left. No one has ever been able to defeat him. But I just have 1 life left. If I lose it, I die.”

“Can you help us get there?” Jack asked.

“Yes, I can. I just said so. Oh no! Jack!”

And saying so he pulled his tail.

“What? You wanna kill me?” Jack shouted, and pushed him of the cliff.

Even Jack lost another life, as Gobo had pulled his tail.

“Gobo! Why did he do that?” Steve asked.

“He wanted to kill him,” said Sophie.

“Why would he want to kill Jack?” said Suzie.

“Woof woof!” George barked and pointed to Steve’s tail.

There was a small snake on his tail! Jack kicked it off.

Suzie said, “Oh no! Poor Gobo! He wasn’t trying to kill Jack, he wanted to save him!”

“And it was his last life. He has died! Jack killed him!” Sophie said, shocked.

“Hey, look!” Steve shouted. He was pointing to a piece of paper which had ‘Gobo’ written on it.

It was a map, on which everything about the Boss was written.

“Gobo had drawn this map himself and he left it to us,” Steve said. “Even when he was dying, he left the map, so that we could kill the Boss and go back home.”

“Wait, what’s this written on the map?” asked Suzie. “I am the Boss 123? What does that mean?”

They stood there for about a minute or so, trying to figure out what that meant, when Steve remembered that they needed to continue with their journey and reach the Boss.

He said, “Come on! We don’t have much time. We need to reach the Boss as we can!”

“Hey, Sophie!” Suzie said. “You’ve got speed. Can’t you take us to the Boss quicker?”

“I have speed, you don’t,” she answered. “And you four are so heavy! I can’t take you.”

“Right,” Suzie said, and they resumed their journey.

They reached the clock and saw that they only had 8 hours left.

“Come on,” Sophie said. “We need to hurry.”

Steve picked up Jack. They followed the map and ran for some time.

After an hour or so, they saw a man resting under a tree.

“Oh, hello!” he said. “I’m Zulu. Nice to meet you.”

“Another person? I think we should take his help. He looks lost,” Steve said.

The man got up and they continued to walk. When Suzie asked him how he had got there, he told a story similar to the one Gobo had told them.

“May I know your weaknesses, please?” he said.

“Why should we tell you our weaknesses?” Sophie asked.

“Because I can remove other people’s weaknesses. That’s my superpower,” Zulu said.

“Wow! That’s so cool!” Steve said. He told him their weaknesses.

“Okay, thank you!” Zulu said. “I’m tired. I’ll just rest here for a while. You all continue with your journey. I will join you later.”

The children agreed and went away.

 

 

A LONG JOURNEY

They walked and walked and walked. The journey was endless. They weren’t reaching anywhere. They had been walking for 3 hours now, and they were tired. They were thirsty and hungry. Every few minutes, they would have a sip of their potion.

Jack had come back to life some time ago and he was walking. But now he had only 1 life left. He was really sorry when Steve told him about Gobo.

“I didn’t know that he was trying to save me. What have I done? I’ve killed a person. No!” he said.

The clock was ticking. Not much time was left now. And the children thought 1 thing –– What if they all lost their lives or what if the time was over? They would never be able to go back.

This game was now turning into a bad nightmare.

After some more walking and running, they reached the place where the Boss was supposed to live. But the building was surrounded by security guards.

“I have an idea,” Jack said.

He and all the others wore paper crowns and paper jewelry. Jack had made them, and they looked real. They went towards the gate. And as they had expected, the guards blocked them.

“I am the king of Steve-suzie-sophie-jack-george-land,” Steve said. “And I want to give this to your great Boss.”

Suzie and Sophie handed the guard a paper diamond, which Jack had made. But it looked real. The guards fell into the trap, and let them in.

“Now what?” Steve asked.

“We need to divide into groups. You, George and Sophie, go defeat the Boss and his men. Suzie and I will go and rescue the Princess,” Jack said.

Steve nodded and went to kill the Boss along with Sophie and the dog. Jack and Suzie went in search of the Princess.

 

 

RESCUING THE PRINCESS

“First we need to kill the army of this Boss,” Steve said. “Sophie, you are fast. So if you run at top speed, no one will able to see you. Take this stick, and go to my right. George, you can bite their flesh off. So, best of luck to you. Go to my left. I’ll go straight. If anyone sees the Boss, tell the others.”

Meanwhile, Jack and Suzie were on their mission to save the Princess.

“Suzie,” Jack said. “You are good at theft. Go, steal the Princess, as if she were a diamond.”

“I’ll try my best,” Suzie said. “But you need to come with me.”

Jack nodded his head and they set off to the Princess.

“This map says that the Princess is trapped in a prison for over ten years now,” Jack said.

“Ten years? Wow!” said Suzie.

“The prison is on the topmost floor of this building,” Jack continued.”

“Come on, let’s not waste any more time. Let’s just go,” Suzie said.

And they took the lift to go upstairs.

On the lift, there was a giant of a man. He had a long black beard, and freckles on his face. He looked angrily at Jack and held his neck tightly.

“Who are you?” he asked angrily.

“I… I… I am,” he stammered. “I am the king of Jack-george-suzie- sophie-steve-land’s advisor. I am here, because my king wishes to meet you and give you a diamond.”

“It was Steve-suzie-sophie-jack-george-land, idiot!” Sophie whispered.

“Yeah, whatever,” Jack snapped.

The man immediately left him and apologized for his actions.

“I’m very sorry, Sir. Actually, um… I am the Boss and the king of Gosland,” the man replied.

“O… o… o, pleased to meet you, Sir,” Jack said. “The king is just on his way to your palace. He might come any moment.”

They reached the top floor. The Boss also got out of the lift with them.

Jack and the Boss began to talk. Jack signaled Suzie to go and find the Princess. Suzie tip-toed to the other end of the floor. There she found a prison. A young girl was sitting inside and sobbing.

Suzie dug a way to get into that prison. She took the Princess and went out of the prison.

She then saw the Princess. Well, the girl didn’t actually look like a Princess. She was wearing torn clothes. She was weak and it looked as if she hadn’t eaten anything for days. She was also dirty, as if she didn’t bathe for years.

Jack was trying to do his best. He was talking to the Boss, and continuously signaling Suzie to hurry up.

But, unfortunately, the Boss saw Suzie and the Princess. He pushed Jack and ran towards them. He punched Suzie, and she fell all the way down the building. She came back again, because she had 1 more life left. Suddenly, the man fell down on the floor. He turned around. Steve was standing there. He punched the man on his face, and told Suzie to take the Princess to a safe place.

 

 

FIGHTING THE BOSS

Suzie took the Princess downstairs and they hid behind a curtain. They saw George there fighting the men. He would bite their legs and tear off their flesh. Sophie was nowhere to be seen, perhaps because she was running very fast.

Steve on the other hand, was busy fighting the Boss. He needed to be careful, because he had only 3 lives left.

The fight was epic. Nobody could understand who was winning. First Steve kicked the Boss, and then the Boss punched Steve on his face. After few minutes, Steve held the Boss’ hand and twisted it. Then he kicked his back. He lifted him, and threw him out of the towering building.

“Ha!” Steve laughed. “I’ve killed him. There’s no way he could survive that.”

“No,” said Jack, who had been watching their fight with awe. “Remember, each creature in this game has 5 lives. He too has 5. You need to defeat him 4 more times in order to win this game.”

And just as he had said, the man came back again.

His face was red. But he wasn’t angry, he was furious. He ripped off his shirt in anger and charged towards Steve like an angry bull. He head butted Steve on his chest, and the little boy fell all the way down the building. When he came back again, the Boss picked up a table and threw at him. Once again, the poor lad fell down the building and died. He came back again, though, because he still had one life to go.

This fight lasted a while. After some time, Sophie and George came to help Steve. They said that they had finished off all his men. George bit the man hard on his leg. The man died. But 3 lives were still left.

Sophie kicked the man on his face and broke his tooth. Then she twisted his head 180 degrees, and once again, the beast died.

Just then a man approached the Boss. It was Zulu!

“My master!” he cried. “I know their weaknesses. I have got some water for you. Just throw it on this girl.” He pointed to Sophie.

“Zulu?!” they all shouted.

“You betrayed us!” Steve said.

The Boss threw the water on Sophie. But Steve came in front of her and all the water splashed on him.

“Thanks mate!” Steve said. “Water is my superpower, and now I’m ten percent stronger!”

He punched the Boss on his face and his nose began to bleed.

“Wait, I have an idea,” Sophie said, and ran away. She came back after few seconds.

“Where had you gone?” asked Jack.

“I had gone to that building where we had been earlier this day, to know this man’s weakness. Mangoes are his weakness. I went to the market and bought this mango. It was the last one they had.” Sophie threw the mango towards the Boss. The mango hit him on the face, and he disappeared.

He came back after few seconds. It was his last life now. Suddenly, the Boss began to turn into stone. He fell down on the ground. He was about to lose his last life. But before dying, he kicked Steve hard on his stomach and he fell off the building. It was his last life, but now, he was going to lose it too.

He landed on a soft surface. He opened his eyes. He was alive! He saw that he was on a unicorn! And in front of him was… Gobo!

 

 

THE GOLDEN SWORD

“Gobo! You?” Steve asked amazed. “I thought you were dead!”

“But I survived!” he said.

They landed on the ground. The other children and the Princess were there, waiting for Steve. They were surprised to see Gobo.

“Hey, how are you alive?” Suzie asked.

“I am sorry that I pushed you,” Jack said.

“No problem! Because of you, I met Unique, the unicorn. When I fell of the cliff, Unique saved me. Now, she is my best friend.”

“Okay, let’s go!” Sophie said. “We cannot waste so much time!”

They entered the Boss’ building again, because the sword was hidden there.

“It’s on the roof,” said Gobo and they ran upstairs.

They reached a big treasure box.

“It’s in this,” Gobo said. “But we need the password to open this. I had written the password on my map, but I lost it.”

“Don’t worry, here it is,” Sophie said and handed him the map.

“You have it? Wow!” Gobo said.

Just then someone pulled Jack’s tail, and he fell down on the floor. It was the Boss! He had turned into stone, but he hadn’t died.

“You haven’t died yet?” Steve asked.

All the kids, except Jack, punched him together and he broke into hundreds of pieces. Jack was lying on the floor.

“Jack!” Gobo cried. “It was his last life!”

Everybody began to weep. But just then Jack got up!

“Ha! What a fool you all are!” cried Jack. “That was just a fake paper tail! I had tucked my real tail in my pant!”

Gobo frowned and entered the password.

“I am the Boss 123. That’s the password,” he said.

“Oh! That’s why you wrote this on the map,” Sophie said.

The box opened, and lo and behold! The golden sword was inside! The kids picked up the sword and ran out of the building.

“Hurry! We only have 1 minute left! The gate will close!” Gobo said looking at the clock.

There was a huge gate in front of them. The children inserted the sword in it and the gate opened. They quickly got out, waved the Princess goodbye and the gate closed.

“Yes!” they all shouted.

“We made it back,” Gobo said.

“Close escape!” said Jack.

 

 

BACK HOME

Suddenly, their clothes changed. George became a human again.

They got out of that hole. They were back at the snow park. They left the place.

The children waved Gobo goodbye, and he went back home. The children left too.

Gobo returned home and saw his picture on the wall.

“Mom!” he shouted.

A woman came out of the kitchen.

“Gobo! My son!” she cried and embraced her son.

As for the others, they had a good scolding when they came back home.

“Where have you been?” Mrs. Miller asked.

“We were so worried. We called the police as well!” Mrs. Young shouted.

The children tried to explain all that to them. They said they were trapped in the game.

“And we had died so many times!” They said.

But, of course, no one believed them.

The children took their parents to that snow park to show them the hole and the game, but alas! Nothing was there.

The children returned home, while the adults spent some more time at the snow park.

Just then, Mrs. Young fell down inside a hole. Her husband, and Mr. and Mrs. Miller jumped inside to help her.

She was inside safe and sound. But she was looking at a screen which had something written on it.

“Oh, I love video games. Let’s play,” Mr. Miller said.

They selected their characters and pressed the ‘start’ button. They disappeared.

A moment later, they found themselves standing in the middle of a forest.