[The Woodcarver's Curse] 1

Instructions

[The Woodcarver's Curse] "Wake up, Alice! We're going to be late for school!" I heard my sister, Eden's voice as she shook me awake. I checked my watch and gasped, "We are running late! Thanks for waking me up, Eden!" We jumped out of bed, did your morning routine quickly, and sprinted to school. We arrived in class just in time the teacher (who was also our mother), Miss Ng, checked if anyone's absent. "Alice, Eden! Why are you two late?" "Sorry, mother. We slept in," Eden and I apologized in unison. "It's okay, just try and be early next time." During recess, Eden and I went to our friend, Audrey. "Hi, Eden! Hi, Alice!" Audrey greeted us cheerfully. "Hi, Audrey!" Suddenly, Audrey's expression changed from calm and happy to angry and serious. "What's wrong?" I asked my friend. Audrey took a deep breath and told us everything: "I was walking to school as usual, when I saw Elaine..." "What's so upsetting about Elaine? She is always so cheerful and nice..." Eden interrupted. Elaine was our friend, like Audrey. "That's not the horrible bit. Now, let me continue... I was walking to school when I saw Elaine... getting bullied by - believe it or not - a first grader called Jake and his six-grade brother, Roger! You know who they are, right?" Eden and I nodded. Roger was a well-known bully in our school. He once dumped worms on a third grader's head! That's how monstrous he is. If you mess with him, you'll surely be his next victim... Jake was Roger's little brother and wasn't really the type of kid who looks or acts like a bully, he was actually really nice. Believe it or not, he once tutored me in science (since I always fail that subject) and helped me ace that subject, to this day, I still follow his way of studying and ace science, I owe him. "Why would Jake bully someone? Roger would definitely bully someone as nice as Elaine (since she hadn't had the guts to report him to a teacher, we usually help her with that), but Jake?! Jake should be defending her even if she is a few grades older than him!" I thought, and I could tell that my sister was thinking the exact same thing. "Maybe you could have mistaken? You must be feeling sleepy in the morning and misseen? Or was it just a dream?" Eden asked. "It's true, I swear!" Audrey cried. "I'll prove it! Let's go to Elaine!" Audrey marched us to Elaine, who was sitting on a bench, reading a book. "Hi, Elaine. May we ask you some questions?" I asked. "Sure, why not?" Elaine answered, closing her book. "Did Roger and Jake bully you this morning? If so, what happened?" "Bully me? No one bullied me today!" Elaine answered, puzzled. "Didn't bully you! I swear I saw you get bullied! Remember? Roger was holding a dagger, and stabbing you! I could've told a teacher but when I entered school, the bell rang so I didn't have time!" Audrey cried. "You must've misseen, like I've thought," Eden took hold of Audrey's hand as the bell rang. "Come on, let's get to class." When we left the playground, I could've seen some scratches with fresh blood on Elaine's arm, but I couldn't be sure...