Five Fingers

Chapter 1: The Beginning
My name is Taylor Parker and I
have an incredible story to tell. Before I
can tell you though I’ll have to take you
back about ten years ago so
you’ll understand my story.
I was five years old and my dad,
Nate, and I were waiting out in the
lobby of St. Peter’s Hospital for my
brother to be born. I was so jealous of him because
he was getting all the attention and he wasn’t
even born yet! We had been
waiting almost seven hours when the
nurse called us back. She told my dad
and me together that he was healthy,
weighing in at six pounds, five ounces.
Then she pulled my dad aside and
muttered a few words to him. I couldn’t
quite make out what she was saying, but
I was smart enough then to know when
they tell the adult something without
the child, it’s probably not good news.
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My father began to weep a little bit and I
said, “Daddy, what’s wrong?”
He replied, “Let’s go in and see your
new brother.” So off we went.
The room was scary to me. There
were so many huge machines and
beeping sounds and there was my mom
lying on a big bed in the middle of the
room. She was hooked up to so many
wires and she didn’t look the same. She
was tired and weak but not too weak to
hold the baby. As I walked over
curiously to the side of the bed she said
to me,
“Taylor, this is your new baby brother,
Mark.”
I remember thinking, “How could you
love something like him. He’s bald and
his eyes won’t open all the way!”
My mother gave the baby to the
nurse and my dad put me in my mom’s
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arms and left to go talk to the doctor. As
I turned to look at my mom she took off
her locket, which she always wore and
handed it to me. She said,
“Taylor I cant be here with you any
more so I want you to take care of this
locket for me. You haven’t done
anything wrong I’m just going up to live
with God in Heaven now. Please be a big
girl and look after daddy and Mark for
me. Above all, remember that that I will
always love you.” Being quite an
intelligent five year-old, I knew my
mom was dying. It felt like one thousand knives striking my heart.
Being a brave big girl I put
on a smile for mom for the last time. She put the locket
around my neck. Then I gave her a huge
hug and said,
“I love you too mommy!”
My father told me to wait with the
nurse as he went to say his goodbyes.
When he came out about an hour later
he said that she had passed. It was a sad
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day for all of us. The next day we took
Mark home with us. From that moment
that we got into the car I decided that
mom’s death was all Mark’s fault and I
wanted nothing to do with him. I
thought he was to blame because she
died soon after he was born. My dad
tried to explain that it was NOT Mark’s
fault but I was not convinced.
One week later, on November
thirteenth, I turned six! My father asked
me where I wanted to go for dinner and
as usual I replied, “King Italy’s!” King
Italy’s was my sanctuary because it had
all my favorite foods. Ranging from the
best pepperoni pizza in the world to the
sweetest ice cream ever! We got into the
car and left just my Dad, Mark and me
(and of coarse my presents!!) we
ordered and while waiting for the food
my dad handed me my first gift, it was
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from grandma. Sadly it was just a dress
and I hated to wear dresses. The next
gift was a new-signed soccer ball from
the Colorado Rapids! Last my dad
handed me an envelope but he wouldn’t
say whom it was from. I opened it and
had my dad read it to me. It said:
“Dearest Taylor,
You are a brave girl and I’m sorry I
can’t be with you physically on this
important day. I’m always with you in
spirit though, so cal l on me at any time,
day or night, with any issues that come
up. Also know that you are special and
possess many powers within you. If you
look hard enough you’ll find them… ”
Dad paused and looked over the note
and said, “You’re not ready for this. I
will tell you the rest when you are
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older.” I obviously knew he was hiding
something, but what?
After we were done eating we
headed home with Mark crying the
whole way there. It was quite annoying
if you’d ask me. I couldn’t sleep at all
that night, wondering what the rest of
that note said. I decided that once dad
went to bed I’d look for that note and
solve this mystery.
So, it was going on 2:00am and my dad
finally went to sleep. I remembered him
putting the note in his shirt pocket at
the restaurant; so that was what I
looked for. After about thirty minutes I
found the shirt in the washing machine
and it was so wet but I could still make
out the words. Although I couldn’t read,
I thought I’d bring it to school with me
and ask one of the sixth graders,
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Frankie, to read it at recess. That was
exactly what I did.
I was so anxious to see Frankie
that day so the mystery would finally be
solved. Frankie was outside reading
alone at recess and I asked, “Hey
Frankie, do you think you could read
this note to me?”
He smiled and said, “Anything for my
favorite kindergartener.”
It Read:
“Dearest Taylor,
You are a brave girl and I’m sorry I
can’t be with you physically on this
important day. I’m always with you in
spirit though, so cal l on me at any time,
day or night, with any issues that come
up. Also know that you are special and
possess many powers within you. If you
look hard enough you’ll find them and
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when the time is right you’ll be able to
use them. That locket you wear has a
hidden secret too and being the smart
girl that you are, I know that someday
you’ll find the key to open it. I love you
with all m y heart!!
-Mommy”
When my dad was tucking me in that
night I told him, out of guilt, that I had
someone read the note. He said he was
sorry for hiding it from me. We kissed
and said goodnight. I was up early on
that Saturday morning preparing for my
soccer game. My dad was the coach so
we had to be there early to set up. I was
eating my usual breakfast cheerios
covered in sugar, (quite healthy if you’d
ask me), at the kitchen island when I
noticed a robin’s egg hatching in a nest
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outside the window. I thought it was so
cool and I just had to show my daddy,
so I pointed to the window with my
index finger and shouted, “Daddy,
look!!” but the moment my finger was
directed at the window it shattered into
a million pieces! My daddy and I looked
at what was left of the window in awe.
That was when we knew that something
peculiar was going on. My father
examined the shattered pieces and then
my finger saying,
“Oh, this looks familiar,” and chuckled,
“You got your mother, Janet’s, powers.”
Stunned, I just said, “What are you
talking about daddy?”
“I’ll explain later,” he answered, “go get
ready for soccer we’re going to be late.”
So I left to put on my soccer uniform,
and we were off.
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Our soccer team was called the
Ravens. I loved soccer because my two
best friends; Julie and Sean were on the
team with me.
Julie was all girl. She enjoyed playing
dress up at the time and talking about
boys, which she still does now. Sean on
the other hand was kind of a nerd, but
so much fun to hang around with.
Together we were hysterical we could
always make each other last.
On the way home after winning
the soccer game my dad began to tell me
how I was the one who shattered the
window and how I did it. He told me
that over time I’d be able to use all my
extraordinary powers just like mom. He
also said to only tell people you know
you can trust. So the only people that
knew about it then were dad, Julie, Sean
and Grandma Jackie. Now Mark knows
18

too, obviously because he’s one of the
family.
By the time I was ten I finally had
all of my powers, one in each finger. My
thumb was a healing power, my index
finger was the break and repair power,
my middle and my index finger were
the levitation power, the ring finger was
the fast-forwarding power and the
pinky was the defensive shield power.
I’m not saying I’d mastered them; even
now I get myself into trouble with them.
Dad says, to this day; only use the
powers for emergency situations. I just
keep thinking to myself, “What he don’t
know won’t hurt him.” This is where
our story brings us today, of me, Taylor
Parker, and my five fingers.
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Chapter 2:
Ms. Gallagher
Over these past several years some
pretty unusual things happened to me.
For example, getting my powers, getting
grounded for using my powers in
unnecessary situations, and finding a
book, (recently) in my dad’s closet
about using my powers. The book I am
talking about is entitled, “Using Fingers
1-5 On Your Right Hand.” A rather long
and basic title if you ask me. Anyway
the book basically told me how I am to
use my powers for emergency only (just
like dad said.) “Boy! I hate it when he is
right!” I screamed in my head.
The next day, after finding the
book, I told my dad. He told me I could
keep it, but that I had to be responsible
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for it and keep it somewhere safe. Of
coarse, safe to me was shoving it under
my bed with all my other fascinating
things. Every night that summer I read
one chapter before going to bed. By the
time summer ended and school began
my head was throbbing with all the
information I’d conceived.
Finally high school was here and
Sean, Julie and I were ready to kick off a
great, teenage school year. Before this
awesome year could start though I had
to drop Mark off at elementary school.
Mark was what most parents would call,
“the perfect ten year-old.” He was an
adult’s dream. Quiet, respectful, but
terrified of animals though. Mark
looked a lot like my dad; brown eyes and
thick brown hair. I really didn’t like
him. Never the less my duty was to drop
him off at his fourth grade classroom.
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After that, I met up with Julie and Sean,
and we were off to Jefferson High
School to start a new life in a new
world.
My school schedule was different
from Julie and Sean’s. In fact, the only
classes we had together were Language
Arts, Biology, and lunch. The bell rang
as we got to our lockers. So we were in a
rush to get to our first class with Ms.
Gallagher. Surprisingly we got there just
in time for the teacher to say, “Hello
class. Will you please take your seats?”
She was beautiful, which made it hard
for the boys to concentrate on anything
she was saying. Julie and I kept having
to kick Sean to get his attention. The
teacher continued saying, “Welcome to
Language Arts, My name is Ms.
Gallagher and I will be your teacher this
semester. Now will you all open the
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books on your desk to page 101 and
we’ll begin our grammar lesson for the
day.”
After we were done filling our
brains with grammar Ms. Gallagher told
us a little about herself. She actually
sounded a lot like dad. She was single,
liked to experiment new things, she
liked sports, and she enjoyed meeting
new people. The key word that stuck
out in my head was, “single.” On the
way home from school that day I was
thinking of how to get my dad and Ms.
Gallagher together. I thought maybe
write a letter from my dad to her. Then
I’d probably embarrass my dad and get
grounded when they found out he
didn’t write it. So I decided to ask Mark
once he got back from the dentist.
Mark had a brilliant idea with one
minor down side. The idea was to create
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a sort of chaos in Ms. Gallagher’s
classroom. In order to make a big
enough chaos though I would need
some help from my five mischievous
fingers.
The next day I went into the classroom and once the bell
rang, I completely messed up and
disrupted the classroom. I used my
break power to break the globe in two
and to shred all the papers in the room.
After that I used my levitation
power to spread the ripped up paper all
over the room. Then, being highly
suspicious, Ms. Gallagher asked,
“Who is responsible for this?”
That’s when I raised my hand and said
calmly and casually, “I did it ma’am.”
She called my dad to come in so they
would at least communicate with each
other and that’s a start.
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My plan was a success!
She called dad and told him to
come to room 214 at 3:30pm and then
she told me the same. I realized then
that I would be grounded for using my
powers in an unnecessary situation,
this was a usual for me by this point.
After class I told Julie and Sean how
excited I was that my dad was coming to
speak with Ms. Gallagher t hey both
looked at me confused and walked away
saying, “See you at lunch Taylor.”
It seemed to take forever for 3: 30
to get here. School ended at 3:15 so
there was a whole fifteen minutes of
doing nothing waiting for the time to
pass. Finally my dad arrived exactly
thirty seconds after 3:30. Ms. Gallagher
greeted my dad and we chatted about
my behavior for a bit. Then Ms.
Gallagher sent me out to the hall and
26

her and my dad continued the
conversation. I listened in at the door.
At first, they were talking about how my
behavior rapidly changed over night
then they started talking about
themselves. That’s when things got
interesting.
She told him that she loved cross
country, and anything adventurous.
That’s when they realized that they had
a lot in common. Eventually, after about
twenty minutes or so, my dad asked her
on a date.
So Saturday night, it was all set! My
dad would pick Ms. Gallagher up, and
they’d go to King Italy’s for pizza. Of
course my dad had to punish me so he
hired a babysitter for Saturday. Now I
was fifteen years old and not in need of
someone to watch me. Normally it was
just Mark and me who stayed home
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alone when dad was out. This time he
hired Grandma Jackie to come over.
Now I loved Grandma Jackie dearly, but
she was kind of a grandma who didn’t
spoil her grandchildren at all. She
expected us to be “perfect angels” all the
time. Grandma absolutely adored Mark
because, like I said, he’s a parents’
dream. Me, on the other hand, it seemed
like she didn’t adore, because I always
seemed to be in trouble most of the
time. While she was here though she
would expect me to knit with her and
listen to stories about meeting my
grandfather after World War II. This was
exactly what happened when she came
over that night.
Bedtime for me that Saturday was
strictly at 8:30 pm so I was wide awake
and ready to hear the sermon at church
the next day. Grandma Jackie wouldn’t
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even let me use my powers in an
emergency situation. She believed in
doing things the old fashioned way, by
dialing 9-1-1 if something should arise.
In the end, it was an awful night, except
for the fact that dad and Ms. G. were
dating.
Chapter 3: Church
I was so excited about dad and Ms.
Gallagher dating that I couldn’t sleep a
wink. So naturally when it was time to
go to church on Sunday I was
exhausted. It was 9:30 am and Grandma
Jackie told me to wear my purple dress
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with flowers on it and she would do my
hair. (I hate it when Grandma Jackie
helps me get ready for church.) Anyway
on the way to church I noticed my dad
was taking a detour. “Dad, where are we
going?” I said.
“To pick up Amy. She’s coming
with us to church.” He answered.
“Who’s Amy?” I thought to my self,
soon realizing that he meant Ms.
Gallagher. Amy Gallagher, what an
awesome name.
We turned into a lot filled with
fancy apartments. There she was,
wearing a blue blouse with black slacks
and flip-flops. Dad got out to open the
door for her and we were off. Ms.
Gallagher said to Mark and me to feel
free to call her Amy outside of school.
Mark hadn’t said a word since we had
picked up Amy, not even to Billy and
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Matt, his best friends. I knew something
was wrong so being the good big sister
that I was I pulled him aside as Dad,
Amy, and grandma walked into the
sanctuary. “Mark what’s up?” I asked,
“I just don’t like Amy that’s all. I
don’t want a new mother and I know
she will be our new mom because dad
looks and talks to her like some of the
other couples in our church. I am
scared Taylor! What if she’s not nice to
us? What if she’s just putting on an act
for dad so he
will
marry her?” Mark
answered as he began to cry.
I felt bad for the little guy. If I were
in his shoes I would probably also be
scared. You see, Mark has never had a
mother in his life; it’s always been just
us three. It is kind of like going to a new
school and you are afraid that no one is
31

going to appreciate you. All I could do
was hug him and say,
“Have you ever seen dad look so
happy? I haven’t seen him so happy
since mom had you! You know what?
Dad would never do anything that
wasn’t best for us. Just look at how great
we’ve turned out so far. So don’t be
scared and if you ever need something
my bedroom door is always open for
you, okay? Now let’s go into church.”
After I washed Mark’s face, we headed
in to listen to the sermon.
It was very boring and I was tired
this made it hard to tolerate. On the
way to lunch I passed out in the parking
lot from exhaustion. Dad had to carry
me to the car and into the house once
we got home. I woke up and my head
was on Amy’s lap on the living room
couch. There was a cold cloth on my
32

head; that was a good thing because my
head was throbbing. I looked up at Amy
and she said,
“Good morning sunshine!” and
pushed my hair back. “You fell down
and bruised your forehead pretty
badly.” She continued, “Your dad went
to pick up some Advil and your
Grandma Jackie and Mark have been
helping me take care of you. Can you sit
up?”
I tried sitting up but fell right back
down on to Amy because I felt so light-
headed. Mark and grandma came in
with a thermometer and a glass of ice
water. After I took the Advil I was much
better and ready for school on Monday.
I wasn’t ready for school on
Monday though! It was 11:00pm on
Sunday, I hadn’t done my homework,
and my head began hurting again. Now
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doing homework while having a
headache is a real emergency situation
so I decided it would be all right to use
my healing power. First I made sure no
one was coming, then I placed my
thumb on my forehead and
“Bam!”
my
headache was gone. I ended up going to
sleep around 1:30 am. Little did I know I
was in for a big night!
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Chapter 4: Mom?
“Taylor, Taylor!” yelled a woman’s
voice. “Oh, there you are Taylor. I’m
afraid things are not going to be well at
all for you in the near future. She’s
back! She’s after you and the powers
around your neck.” At that moment I
knew she was talking about my locket.
“Taylor,” she continued, “You need to
train yourself with strength, wisdom,
and above all love to face the forces of
Meg-Han-Hung. You’re a bright girl and
should be fine but beware and be
prepared for an upcoming event which
could affect your life! Taylor! Taylor! I’m
so sorry I can’t be with you there but
rely on family, friends, and yourself. I
love you. Goodbye.” I then heard
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plotting voices saying my name in their
conversation. All of a sudden I was
falling and screaming a deathly yelp. I
then was looking at a tombstone. A
tombstone that said, “Taylor Kendall
Parker, the Defeated.”
I woke up the next morning, the
bed wet with sweat and I was shaking
terribly. The next thing I knew I was
yelling at the top of my lungs for dad.
After about the third scream he was
there. He’d been getting ready for work.
He was wearing an unbuttoned shirt
with a loose tie and boxer shorts. I told
him every thing while trying to catch
my breath. I told him of the familiar yet
unknown woman’s voice. He seemed to
know exactly what I was talking about,
this scared me even more.
“Taylor,” he said, “I know who
Meg-Han-Hung is, because your mother
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fought her like you will soon have to.
She’s evil, and wants to take over the
entire world and then end it. Now that
Janet, your mom, is gone you’re the
only thing standing in her way, you and
that locket.” He looked scared too.
I asked, “Dad, you know who that
voice I heard belonged to, don’t you?”
“It was your mom’s. She is here in
spirit like she told you at the hospital.
She wants to help you.” He replied.
“Wait a minute,” I said, “she could
have given this locket to anyone, why
me? He simply said, “Because she knew
that you were capable of handling the
responsibility. Taylor, it is very
important that you understand this, the
fate of the whole world rests squarely
on your shoulders.”
“I know dad. I won’t let anyone
down. I’ll beat Meg-Han-Hung f or mom.”
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And that was that. The next day
after school my dad and I began
training. He told me there was another
power that was not in the book. It was
called the death spell. To perform it all I
had to do was think of the spell, think
of someone special to me, and flick all
five fingers at the target. I was not to
practice it at all because if I did it
correctly, the person it was directed at
was history. To improve my strength
my dad had me run two miles every day
and join a weight-lifting class at the
gym. I would need to be quick while
facing Meg-Han-Hung so working out
definitely helped my speed and
awareness. To improve my wisdom, dad
taught me as much as he could about
Meg-Han-Hung. The more knowledge of
her, the better. To improve my love,
which I needed to perform the death
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spell I spent an hour, each day doing
things I loved the most and being with
people I loved the most.
After about a month I was very
tired from all the practice, but I knew it
would pay off in the long run. My dad
said I could tell Sean and Julie about the
training and about Meg-
Han-Hung but no one else. Naturally
Mark and Grandma Jackie knew too. I
was scared to even think about Meg-
Han-Hung but knew everything would
be all right if I just followed my
instincts. Though I knew it was going to
be a life or death situation. One bad
move and it could be fatal not only to
me but to the entire universe!
Dad tried to comfort me in all
ways possible but nothing seemed to
calm me down. That is until he said,
“What would mom do if she were you?
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And what would she want you to feel
right now?” That actually helped a lot
because mom was my role model.
Chapter 5: The Business Trip
When I got home for school that
Monday I saw a suitcase sitting out in
the living room. It was dads! He said he
had been called away on business and
that we were going to be staying with
Amy because Grandma Jackie was sick.
Dad said she would be here in a half
hour to pick us up. I was excited yet
scared. Excited that we would get to stay
with dad’s girlfriend for a week (she
was a lot more fun than grandma.) I was
scared to know that Meg-Han-Hung
could attack any day and dad was on the
other side of the country! He assured
me that Amy was aware of my powers,
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of Meg-Han-Hung, and of what could
possibly happen. I was still worried
though.
I just kept saying to myself, “Be
brave for mom! Be brave for mom!”
Which calmed me down a bit but I was
still very tense. I eventually got
distracted at Amy’s house. Just thinking
of how great a mother she would be if
dad decided to pop the question. Mark
was beginning to warm up to her too.
Like the other night I caught him asking
Amy for a bedtime story. If Amy were
going to be our mom though, Mark
would have to get use to Shay, her dog;
because like I said he was terrified of
animals.
While at Amy’s, Mark and I had to
share a cramped bed because Amy did
not usually have guests overnight, so her
apartment was very small. I liked getting
41

to spend time with another girl in the
house though. On Friday we had a forty-
five minute lunch break in school so
Amy took me to King Italy’s for pizza. We
had real girl time. She told me of how
her and dad’s relationship was starting
to get more serious. She asked me what I
thought about it and if it was okay with
me. I said I was fine with it but that she
would have to talk it over with Mark. She
told me that she already did talk to Mark
about it and surprisingly enough he said
it was all right with him. We eventually
got off talking about marriage. I asked,
“Do you think you and dad will get
married?” She replied confidently,
“We hope to be married someday.
You know Taylor; I love your dad, Mark,
and you with all my heart and I would
love to be your mother. I just hope that
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someday you could find a spot in your
heart for me.”
I answered, “I already have.” We
hugged then headed back to school.
In seventh period I told Julie about
my conversation with Amy but Sean
wasn’t here today. “I guess I will have to
tell him how Amy feels at soccer
practice tomorrow.” We said goodbye
when the bell rang to end school and I
met up with Amy and we were off to
pick up Mark.
“Taylor? Mark?” Amy said, “You’re
dad called and he’s coming home early.
He’ll be here at 6:00pm tonight. So, I
want you to get packed up once we get
home.”
Once we got home, I began to feel
faint again. I remember I asked Amy for
some water and then everything went
dark. Before I knew it I was dreaming
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again. I was dreaming of Mom’s voice
again only this time I could see her.
“Taylor,” she began, “the time has
come to finally put an end to Meg-Han-
Hung. She is on her way to your town
looking for you. She wants a fight and
knowing you she’ll get one. Are you
prepared and ready Taylor?”
“No mom,” I said, “but I will fight
and win!”
“Taylor, I must go now but use
your resources. I mean family and your
five fingers.”
“Mom, two things. One, dad isn’t
here. And two are you okay with Amy
being our new mother. I want you to
know she would not be replacing you.” I
answered.
“Taylor all I want is for our family
to be happy. If Amy is what makes you
guys happy than add her to the family.
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It is time for you to wake up now. Once
you are awake go to the soccer field and
remember I’m with you and will always
love you. Goodbye!”
“
Bam!”
I immediately woke up
and told Amy of what I had to do. She
said, “Taylor good luck! I will call your
dad and tell him to hurry to the field.
Do you want me to come with you?”
“No,” I replied, “this is my battle I
must go alone. Bye!” Having said that, I
hugged Amy and Mark and said to pass
it on to dad. I was off, possibly for the
last time.
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Chapter 6: The Meg-Han-Hung
Encounter
I got to the field after a long bike
ride through the rain. It was
completely vacant. All of a sudden
the wind began to pick up. I could
feel trouble coming my way.
There were goose bumps up my
arms. Then from the sky a grand
piano fell right over me. I quickly
used my defensive shield power
to block it. I was panting hard
and I started to hear
chuckling
“Good reaction, wimp.”
.
A voice from behind me said. I
turned around and saw a thin
figure come out of the mist. Once
we were face to face I noticed the
eyes had no color. In fact, it
46

looked like he had no pupils at
all; because they were so small. It
was Meg-Han-Hung, the evil
woman who’d been haunting my
dreams. She was dressed in a
dress as white as her eyes and
had no shoes on her webbed feet.
She was smiling a mischievous
smile at me. “Well if it isn’t the
heroic Taylor following in your
stupid mother’s footsteps.” She
said while I was trying to control
my anger.
47

“You’re the one who’s stupid,” I
began, “thinking you have the strength
to fight me!” This made her incredibly
mad.
“All right, Miss Taylor
Kendall Parker lets get this duel
started.”
Meg-Han-Hung literally flew to t he
other side of the field. She began
darting faint spells at me. I was blocking
so many of her spells that I hardly had
time to throw any powers back at her.
Not only that but I hardly had any time
to think. Finally I was able to throw a
break power at her not knowing exactly
what it would do. It ended up breaking
her leg. Now she had to hobble which
made her a pretty easy target.
She hobbled behind a boulder and
started launching more faint spells.
(Was that all that woman could do?) I
48

ended up getting behind a boulder
opposite her and threw a break spell at
her boulder. It broke and from that
point on it was like, as they say, “taking
candy from a baby.”
I then broke her arm and other
leg. Then I realized I was turning into
the bad guy. So being a good person, I
told her to leave but that if she ever
came back here again that I would end
her life. At this point she said, “Oh
thank you my dear. You know I will
return though and when I do I’ll kill you
and your precious world.”
I was so angry I darted the killing
power at her but as it got to her she
vanished and the sp ell rebounded on a
mirror that took her place. It hit me
right in the face. It knocked me out
cold, but it was a good thing it
49

didn’t work correctly or else I would
have died that second.
50

Chapter 7: One Big, Happy Family
“Taylor, you did the right thing
and I’m so proud of you. It is time
for you to wake up to your new
family member. Oh, there is one
more thing. Your locket, it should
be able to open now so you will
have that message with you
always. Don’t forget to tell me
what it says. I love you and
goodbye!” Said mom in my
dream.
“Taylor! Taylor! Wake up
honey!”
“I’m awake.” I answered. I
was lying on Amy’s lap again with
a wet cloth over my head. “How’d
I get back here?” I asked. At that
moment dad walked in with
Mark.
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“I carried you, duh.” Said dad.
“Oh and Taylor we have a
surprise.” Dad showed me Amy’s
left ring finger. It was an
engagement ring!
“Finally!” I sighed. We all
joined in a big family hug and
pretty soon we were a happy
family of four with one more
family member on the way.
Once we found out Amy was
pregnant we began picking out
baby names. If it was a girl it
would be Janet Ann Parker
named in memory of mom, and if it were a
boy it would be Josh Nate Parker,
named after dad and one of Amy’s
old friends.
“
Gasp!”
I said “My locket!
Mom said it would open.” I felt
something in my pocket. It was a
52

key! The key to my locket. I
excitedly opened it with care.
There was a note inside reading:
“Dear Taylor,
Don’t be afraid to
challenge yourself!”
-Anonymous
“What does that mean?” I asked
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Answered dad.
And we all lived happily
ever after, Dad, Mark, my new
mom, Amy, me, and my five
fingers.
Oh yeah Dad and Amy
(Mom) had a little girl born seven
pounds, three ounces on October
53

10
. As planned they named her
they
Janet Ann Parker.
The End