The 6th HUPE in Storyland competition Ranking

This morning my mother woke me up for school. It was weird because my mother almost never wakes me up for school. I got out of bed and got dressed. My whole wardrobe was full of clothes for little kids, and somehow they fit me. I went to school with my mom; that never happens. When my mom saw the kindergarten, she pulled me over and opened the door. I thought I was dreaming, so I asked her, "Why are you taking me here?" She said that it's Monday. I was still confused, but I decided to go inside and act normal. I thought I was crazy. All of my friends were there, but they were all six years younger. So I said hi to them and rushed over to the bathroom. Everything was the same: little beds and a bunch of toys to play with. When I got to the bathroom, I was FIVE! I panicked. Everything was smaller, and I started feeling so happy and alive. I rushed over to my friends and went to play with them at the playground. We were running, jumping, screaming, and laughing. I was so happy that I had friends like this! But out of nowhere my mom called, "Amadea! We have to go home, it's lunchtime!" I was so sad that I started crying, but my mother pulled me close and we went home. After we ate, I went to play with my Barbies. It was so fun; somehow I forgot all about the life I had when I was eleven. My mother was worried about me because I had been acting weird when we got to the kindergarten. I went out to meet my friends at the playground. We got a snack and went in a little house on the playground. Something flashed in my mind. It was a memory from when I was eleven. That minute I remembered my eleventh birthday. Another flash! It was the first day of fifth grade. I didn't dare tell my friends about these strange moments. Then one of my friends asked me, "What's wrong? You've been acting strange all day." I tried to change the subject, but it didn't really work. So I just needed to say it. "I'm actually in the past — we all are. Today I needed to be eleven, but when I got in the kindergarten I changed to five!" They thought I was completely crazy, but I wasn't. Someone was walking toward us. It was me, but fifteen years older. Everything came back. In just a few seconds my whole life when I was eleven returned. She told us what would happen when we got older — exactly what happened to us. My friends didn't believe it. My older self said, "We need to go! I'm going to show you us when we are sixty years old." She showed us a small path that led to a big wall that opened. It was a portal! We went in and saw ourselves in fifty-five years. We were old and we weren't capable of doing anything. I was so scared. I rushed out and went home. My older self stopped me and then she told me, "I was you once. Now I'm twenty years old. Please don't ruin your childhood. If you stay a kid until you're at least fourteen, you will change my childhood too. I regret it, but if you change it I won't regret it anymore — and neither will you when you're older. Now I need to go back to my time." "Okay, I will try, just for you." "No, not for me — do it for yourself." "Okay, now I have to go home." "Home? You're not going home. You are going with me to another portal. You have to go back when you're eleven." "Oh, I forgot that." My twenty-year-old self went with me into that portal and told me, "Go to sleep. Your parents already went to bed. And never say anything to anyone. Now I have to go. Bye!" "Bye!" That day changed everything. We can't grow up too fast; we need to be kids. And you know why? Because you're a child only once in your life, and you can't repeat it.

This morning my mother woke me up for school. It was weird because my mother almost never wakes me up for school. I got out of bed and got dressed. My whole wardrobe was full of clothes for little kids, and somehow they fit me. I went to school with my mom; that never happens. When my mom saw the kindergarten, she pulled me over and opened the door. I thought I was dreaming, so I asked her, "Why are you taking me here?" She said that it's Monday. I was still confused, but I decided to go inside and act normal. I thought I was crazy. All of my friends were there, but they were all six years younger. So I said hi to them and rushed over to the bathroom. Everything was the same: little beds and a bunch of toys to play with. When I got to the bathroom, I was FIVE! I panicked. Everything was smaller, and I started feeling so happy and alive. I rushed over to my friends and went to play with them at the playground. We were running, jumping, screaming, and laughing. I was so happy that I had friends like this! But out of nowhere my mom called, "Amadea! We have to go home, it's lunchtime!" I was so sad that I started crying, but my mother pulled me close and we went home. After we ate, I went to play with my Barbies. It was so fun; somehow I forgot all about the life I had when I was eleven. My mother was worried about me because I had been acting weird when we got to the kindergarten. I went out to meet my friends at the playground. We got a snack and went in a little house on the playground. Something flashed in my mind. It was a memory from when I was eleven. That minute I remembered my eleventh birthday. Another flash! It was the first day of fifth grade. I didn't dare tell my friends about these strange moments. Then one of my friends asked me, "What's wrong? You've been acting strange all day." I tried to change the subject, but it didn't really work. So I just needed to say it. "I'm actually in the past — we all are. Today I needed to be eleven, but when I got in the kindergarten I changed to five!" They thought I was completely crazy, but I wasn't. Someone was walking toward us. It was me, but fifteen years older. Everything came back. In just a few seconds my whole life when I was eleven returned. She told us what would happen when we got older — exactly what happened to us. My friends didn't believe it. My older self said, "We need to go! I'm going to show you us when we are sixty years old." She showed us a small path that led to a big wall that opened. It was a portal! We went in and saw ourselves in fifty-five years. We were old and we weren't capable of doing anything. I was so scared. I rushed out and went home. My older self stopped me and then she told me, "I was you once. Now I'm twenty years old. Please don't ruin your childhood. If you stay a kid until you're at least fourteen, you will change my childhood too. I regret it, but if you change it I won't regret it anymore — and neither will you when you're older. Now I need to go back to my time." "Okay, I will try, just for you." "No, not for me — do it for yourself." "Okay, now I have to go home." "Home? You're not going home. You are going with me to another portal. You have to go back when you're eleven." "Oh, I forgot that." My twenty-year-old self went with me into that portal and told me, "Go to sleep. Your parents already went to bed. And never say anything to anyone. Now I have to go. Bye!" "Bye!" That day changed everything. We can't grow up too fast; we need to be kids. And you know why? Because you're a child only once in your life, and you can't repeat it.