A/N:

Hello! I'm back! Hi!

I made it... I made to the final round.

Honestly I don't care if I get first place anymore, I'm just so happy I made it...

Moving on to more important matters, here's the writing prompt.

Writing Prompt(s): You're born in a world where the only thing that can kill you is written on your wrist, whether that be murder, illness, or something else. You had the name of an animal on yours... and it just went extinct.

This story will take place in Canada! :D

・・・・★・・・・★ ・・・・

Brooks Bain held out his hands to the fire to warm up. The winters in Canada were always especially cold - they lived near the North Pole, after all. But he was used to the cold by now. But he still needed to warm up.

It was the last day of the winter break, and tomorrow he was to go to school again. He recently heard that an animal had gone extinct, so he decided to watch the news to see what specific animal had been shunned from the face of the Earth.

The TV switched on:

"...Since last week all reports of the rhinocerotidae, or better known as rhinoceros, have all ceased. Professionals have looked into it and discovered that our efforts to stop rhino hunting has, unfortunately, been in vain. The rhinoceros has been wiped off the face of the Earth, with nothing to show for it but the horns that hunters have collected - but at what cost?"

Brooks was surprised, shocked, speechless. It wasn't that he was surprised about the extinction, he was surprised because of what was written on his wrist.

There was one little small detail that separates this world from ours:

Written on your wrist is the thing that will cause your demise.

And guess what was on Brooks' wrist? A rhinoceros.

And they had just gone extinct.

Brooks just sat there, gaping at the TV screen, unable to move, say or do anything. He couldn't even form coherent thoughts. It was like his brain was temporarily switched off.

His mom got into the room from the kitchen with a fresh batch of cookies - his mom was a baker.

"Brooks, we ran out of chocolate chips, so I made peanut butter cookies instead. Is that - are you okay?" She said, setting the tray of cookies on the table beside the couch and sat down next to Brooks.

"I... I..." Brooks said, his eyes still on the screen. His mother followed his gaze to the screen.

"...Brooks, I..." She started, tears forming in her eyes.

She hugged him tightly, which seemed to bring Brooks out of his trance. "Oh, you're going to live such a long and happy life, Brooks! I'm so happy for you!"

Brooks' two little sisters, Brianna and Cadence, came into the room. They were both his half-sisters, but Brianna had Cadence's dad and Brooks' mom.

Brianna was still only six years old, and so the message on her wrist was very faint and changed every time she made a big decision. Cadence had her message, since she was a few years older than Brooks, but wouldn't show it to anyone - she always wore a finger less glove over the wrist with the message.

"What's going on?" Cadence said.

"Why is mommy crying and smiling at the same time?" Brianna asked.

Brooks' mom wiped her tears of joy. "Brooks will never be able to die!"

"What...?" Cadence said in shock, with a harsh undertone. Cadence was a very brutal and harsh person.

"Doesn't everyone live forever?" Brianna said. "Isn't that why my message always changes? Because I'm gonna live forever?"

"Well, you see..." Brooks' mom started, but she didn't know how to explain in a way that wouldn't make her sad. Cadence kneeled down in front of Brianna and explained.

"Your message always changes because you're still pretty young, and deciding how you die is too hard at this age. But when you turn twelve it will be decided for you." Cadence explained. Then she smiled. "But you've still got so many years ahead of you, so why be worried now?"

Brianna giggled as Cadence picked her up and made her sit on her shoulders.

"Now, what were you saying about Brooks never being able to die?" Cadence asked.

"Well, the rhinoceros just went extinct! And his wrist said he was going to die from a rhinoceros!" Brooks' mom said happily.

"And his message never changed at all, Mrs. Bain?" Cadence asked. Brooks' mom scoffed.

"Why don't you call me 'mom'? Or mother? Or even step-mom?" She asked.

"You are not my mother. And you never will be." Cadence said coldly. She glared at Brooks' mom before to looking at Brooks himself.

"And he's not my brother either. Both of you are just strangers invading our home. And while Brianna is only my half-sister..." Cadence glared. "I still care about her more than I'll ever care about you two. So don't expect me to be happy for Brooks for becoming immortal. I heard that immortals will stay lonely forever as their friends and family die and rot around them."

Cadence walked away, Brianna still on her shoulders. Brooks' mom was hurt.

"Cadence! Sweetie!" She called after her, getting up from the couch.

"I'm not your sweetie." Cadence growled. Brooks' mom stopped in her tracks. Cadence left the room, with Brianna left in confusion.

Brook's mom sighed and turned to him.

"I'm sorry about that. Cadence is just... being difficult, and doesn't understand the concept of step parents and siblings. I'll go try and talk to her, you go and sort through your timetable to see which classes you'll have-"

"No, it's okay, I'll go talk to her." Brooks said, turning off the TV. "She'll probably not want to listen with you. At least she can tolerate me being in the same room, so I might have better chances."

His mom sighed. "You're right. I'll go clean the bathroom sink - you guys are really messy with your toothpaste." And she left the room.

Brooks sighed, and tried to sort through his thoughts before he talked to Cadence. He was now... immortal. The thing supposed to kill him somewhere in the future, a rhino, had just gone extinct. So... now... was he just supposed to live forever? Or would the message on his wrist change to old age or something?

He took a deep breath, got up, and headed over to Cadence's room. He passed by Brianna's room, and saw she was playing with her dolls by herself. Then he arrived at Cadence's room. The door was closed.

He knocked on the door. "Hello? Cadence?"

Cadence hesitated before she answered. "Yeah?"

"Can I... can I come in?" Brooks asked, hoping that she'd let him in.

There was an awkward and tense silence, before Cadence finally answered. "...Okay."

Brooks slowly opened the door and walked inside. Cadence was sitting on her bed staring at something in her hands. Brooks closed the door behind him.

He sat down beside her and tried to think of what to say, when Cadence started speaking.

"I know what you came here to do. Talk to me, say that you're part of my family now and I have to accept it, bla bla bla." Cadence sighed. "But that isn't the problem. I just... can't let go of my original mom."

She showed Brooks what was in her hands. "This is the charm my mom gave me just a day before she died. I... I still miss her. I just don't think I can accept anyone as my new mother right now."

Brooks put his hand on her shoulder. "It's been 3 years now, Cadence. Granted, we've only been step siblings for a few months, but I think now's the time to accept the fact that your birth mother is gone, and start moving on. Do you think she'd want you to stay in misery for years after her death?"

"...No..."

"Then start taking the first step to moving on. You can take it slow, or fast, whatever pace you like. But promise you'll at least make a good effort. Besides, that little charm your mom gave you can remind you of her. Um, in a nostalgic way." Brooks said. Cadence nodded. "I promise. Also, real smooth."

Brooks smiled, and laughed a bit at the last part. Cadence gave him a playful noogie, and Brooks chuckled a bit.

"You're smart, considering you're only 11 years old." Cadence said. Brooks just gave her a nervous laugh. Then she looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry about earlier, when I said that you'd be lonely and watch everyone you cared about die-" Cadence said.

"No, it's the truth." Brooks cut in. "I'm... I guess I'm..." He couldn't bear to say it. Cadence hugged him.

"Don't worry. If we don't find a way to fix it, then we'll just have to have as many fun times together as possible." Cadence said. Brooks hugged back. But then he noticed his wrist.

"It... says nothing." He said, showing it to Cadence after the embrace. She peered at it closely.

"Wait... no, there is  something... but it's even fainter than Brianna's message. It's really hard to see." She said. "I'm going to borrow some books about this from the library. I was planning to return some library books anyway."

She got up and grabbed some books from the bookshelf.

"Um, I guess I'll go sort through my timetable?" Brooks said, getting up as well.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. You do that." Cadence said. Brooks got up from Cadence's bed and walked out of her room.

Whilst he sorted through his timetable, he began to wonder about his wrist. He didn't think anyone could ever lose the message on their wrist. Would a new message replace the old one? Or would it stay blank and therefore render him immortal?

Or maybe... maybe his cause of death had already been changed, but the message had not been written on his wrist, and he wouldn't know how he would die.

All he knew is that he'd have to borrow one of Cadence's pairs of fingerless gloves to hide the blank spot. People in school would be asking questions of how his message disappeared, and he didn't want to let anyone know his message had been a rhino. Pretty much everyone hid their cause of death from each other - except family and close friends.

He had friends, but they weren't close enough to share their wrists to each other.

Yet Cadence still hides her message from us, Brooks thought bitterly. Then he felt a little guilty. I shouldn't be so annoyed that she's hiding it. She's doing it for a reason.

Brooks sighed and finished up his sorting. Then he headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.

His stepdad was there.

"Oh, hey Brooks! So, I was thinking, afterschool tomorrow we could have some father-son bonding time! Whether we're going out to a restaurant together, or playing at the arcade - you can decide one place, I can decide another, and we'll go to both. Deal?" He said. Brooks nodded.

Then a sudden thought came to him - wouldn't he be busy trying to figure stuff out with his wrist message with Cadence afterschool tomorrow?

And what if he had homework on top of it all? His math teacher was cruel - she gave Brooks' class homework everyday!

Now it seemed that he'd have to make another timetable for after school.

So, he headed to his bedroom and got to work. He was excellent at scheduling and keeping track of time, and he had a hobby of scrap-booking, so creating the timetable was both easy and fun!

Once he was done, he hung it next to his school timetable - on the wall beside his bed.

"Brooks! Cadence! Can one of you two help me find my hairbrush?" Brooks' mom called. Brooks, knowing that Cadence was out of the house, sighed and headed downstairs.

"Coming, Mom!" He called.

*Time Skip*

Brooks headed into school in his coat, beanie and mittens. Underneath his mittens he'd worn one of Cadence's smaller fingerless gloves. When inside the school building everyone would be instructed to take off their mittens, so he'd need to have that fingerless glove on when he took off the mittens. Helooked around the front steps of the school and saw his friend Max nearby, waiting for him.

"Hey Max!" Brooks called, heading towards him.

Brooks' friend, Max, turned around and waved. "Oh, hey Brooks! How's it hangin'?"

"Oh, um - I'm doing fine." Brooks lied. He felt guilty, but Max still wasn't a very close friend for him to reveal the wrist message secrets. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine." Max said. The school bell rang. "Aw crud, I didn't get to grab my Maths Textbook from the locker..."

"That's rough. Maybe you can grab it quick before heading to class?" Brooks said.

"Sure. I'll see you in third period!" Max said, running quickly inside. Brooks smiled a bit, and went up the front steps so he wouldn't be late for class.

He took off his mittens and stuffed them in his pocket.

He noticed that some people stared oddly at his wrist - they were probably confused as to why Brooks suddenly wanted to hide his wrist message. He tried to ignore them.

As he was heading to the English classroom he remembered that he had science in first period, so he turned around-

"Hey Brooks! Like my new denim jacket? I think the jean blue color perfectly compliments my eye color!"

-and bumped into the last person he wanted to see. Christine.

Christine was a talkative, fashionable, uncaring drama queen. She regularly liked to hang out with Brooks in the halls because Brooks was the most organized. Oh yeah, and also because he didn't sweat as much as the others.

Christine loved fashion more than anything else in the world. Well, except maybe money or fame. But she definitely didn't care much about Brooks enough to listen to his own troubles. She never really let him talk, so Brooks tried to avoid her when he could. But the worst about this time was that he was running late for class. And Christine can talk for half-an-hour before you can find the opportunity to cut in and tell her to stop. If you're trying to be friendly.

But Brooks had had enough of this. It had been going on for three months and he'd just lived with it, but enough was enough. With a bunch of mystery and questions surrounding his wrist message, his family problems with acceptance and change, and having to balance school and homework on top of it all, he just couldn't deal with Christine right now.

"Christine, I'm running late for class. How about you tell me all this at lunch?" Brooks interrupted her. Christine frowned.

"But I can never find you at any of the tables in the cafeteria during lunch!" Christine said.

"Exactly. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to."

He tried to walk around her, but Christine blocked the way. He tried again, but Christine was still quick enough to stop him.

"But I haven't even told you about the experience while buying my Gucci handbag! The cashier had the audacity to say I didn't look like I could afford anything in the store-"

"Christine!" Brooks yelled. "Don't you have someone else to go bother? If so, bother them instead! You have an entire school to pick from! Why me?!"

He didn't wait for her to answer and just pushed past her, speed-walking to his next class.

"Brooks! Wait, what did I do wrong?!" She called. Brooks was so annoyed he didn't even bother to respond.

He went inside the Science classroom before Christine could pester him any further. He sat down at his desk-

Christine had the audacity to come inside the classroom?!

That's right! She was going inside a classroom that she didn't belong in!

The teacher was too busy sorting through her computer files and getting the PowerPoint ready to see that a student she wasn't supposed to teach had come inside the room.

Several students started whispering, wondering why Christine was there. Brooks saw her beady little bluebell eyes searching the students' faces for him. So he put his arms on the table and laid his head against the desk, pretending to be asleep. Christine wouldn't suspect him.

The teacher finally got up from her seat once the projector was showing the PowerPoint on the whiteboard.

"Alright everyone, be quiet - what are you doing in my classroom?" The teacher said, noticing Christine in the room. Her arms were crossed as she glared at the student.

"Oh! Ms. Martin! I was just looking for my bag! I left it here. But now that I know it isn't here, I'll be going now! Bye!" Christine said with a fake smile, rushing out of the classroom.

Ms. Martin sighed and turned to the class. "Silence, everyone! The lesson is starting now. Get out your notebooks and write the date for today..."

*Time Skip*

During lunch Brooks usually just took my food and snuck into the janitor's closet to eat it there, so as to avoid Christine and her blabbering mouth. But sometimes he wondered why she was so desperate to talk to him.

Then it hit him - it might be some cry of help or something. Like, maybe she had an awful home situation and wanted to have a friend to distract herself from it, or help her.

Even if that wasn't the case, however, Brooks felt really guilty for shouting at her like that and then leading her to embarrassment in his science class.

So to make up for it, Brooks was going to sit down with her and apologize. Hopefully she'd actually let him talk for once.

So when his food was deposited on his tray, instead of sitting at a table for a few minutes and then sneaking away out of the cafeteria, he sat at that same table and didn't mentally prepare himself to sneak out.

Christine sat next to him. "So... um... I guess I did something wrong a few hours ago?"

There was an awkward silence.

"I'm not exactly the best at making friends, so... what did I do wrong?" She asked.

Brooks sighed. "Well, you never really let me talk. If you're going to be friends with someone, you should let them talk too. There should be an equal balance of you talking and them talking."

"Right... I can see your point. But what if someone has something super important to share?" Christine said.

"That depends on your definition of 'super important'. If you mean 'super important' as in 'oh my gosh I got this new outfit from this clothing shop' then that's not 'super important' at all. What's 'super important' is losing something like your timetable, or your diary, or maybe something bad is going on at home, or you're being bullied at school - that's  'super important'." Brooks explained.

Christine had paled a bit when Brooks said the word 'bullied'. Maybe that was why she was nagging him all the time?

"Oh... now I understand. I've been really clingy and self-centered, haven't I?" She said.

"Yeah..." Brooks said. "But I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I feel really guilty about it..."

"No, you were in the right! I was being too annoying." Christine said.

"Well... let's make a deal. We can stay friends if you don't nag me, and I don't shout at you unless... I don't know, in case I have to shout for you to hear me or something." Brooks said, and they both laughed a bit.

"Okay, sure." Christine said.

Then Max came over. "So Brooks, I noticed you have a glove over your wrist now. You weren't exactly keen on hiding it before, so why start now, hm?" He asked.

"It's a fingerless  glove. And I borrowed it from my older step-sister Cadence because... um..." Brooks was having trouble thinking of an excuse. He wasn't exactly the best at being creative.

"Oh, we were just talking about that. He borrowed it because there's a big ugly rash there and he didn't want anyone to look at it and either be worried for him or just gag at him. Turns out he's super allergic to - uh - bees!" Christine said. Brooks was impressed and thankful that she came up with that on the spot. Sure, she made a little mistake at the end, but it was pretty believable.

"Hm... okay. Well, I'm gonna go sit at the table over there if you need me." Max said, pointing towards a table with a bunch of popular guys and girls. "Bye."

He then jogged over, and started talking to them in a funny way. They laughed and he easily settled in. Brooks was a bit jealous of Max's charisma and sense of humor, but he tried to ignore it. Max was his friend after all.

"Isn't it kinda weird your friend just decided to leave you alone to join other, more popular people?" Christine said. "I mean, I'm right here, and I don't really know much about relationships of any kind, well, except familial relationships - gah, I'm rambling! Point is, I know I'm not the best socially, but this kinda feels like a no-brainer. Max seems like a fake friend."

Brooks opened his mouth to protest against her, but he thought about it for a few moments, and then sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, he didn't even ask how I was doing or not when he came up to me. It's like he just came to see what was under my fingerless glove-"

"Oh my gosh! Brooks is allergic to bees?! How hilarious is that?!" A loud voice called from the table Max was at. Brooks and Christine turned to see Max and the others laughing.

"...Aaaand that just confirms it."Brooks said, eating his fries in somber silence.

But Christine had an idea.

Usually friends try to cheer up their friends by doing something funny, offering some good advice, or doing something funny to make them laugh, right? And the fries is giving me an idea... Christine thought. She grabbed two short, pointy, crunchy fries from Brooks' tray and put one on two sides of her mouth. She left them sticking out a bit so that even when she closed her mouth it would be visible.

She tapped on Brooks' shoulder. He turned and say Christine's crossed eyes. "Look at me! I'm a vampire!" She said, her crossed eyes gone and focusing on Brooks. She opened her mouth fiercely.

Brooks chuckled a bit. "Really? You look more like a delusional walrus. Those 'fangs' are bit too long to just be fangs." They both laughed. Brooks had to admit that spending time with Christine was actually a lot more fun than hanging out with Max.

*Time Skip*

Brooks collected his things from his locker and stuffed them in his bag, zipping it up and getting ready to get home. He was at the front steps when he heard Christine calling him. He turned around to see her running towards him.

"So, um... Brooks. The entire school doesn't think you actually have a rash under there... so..." Christine's eyes suddenly sparkled with realization. "Speaking of which, what even is under the glove?"

"Fingerless  glove." Brooks said. "And it's kinda, um... something I'm confused about as well. That's all I'm saying."

"You're confused about why you're hiding your message when you weren't before?" Christine asked.

"No, I'm confused about the thing that's under  the fingerless glove. It's not - it's..." Brooks sighed. "I trusted you to be a better friend, and so far you have, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... I can't explain it, I'll just show you." Brooks said. So, making sure no one else was looking, he removed the fingerless glove. Christine gasped.

Brooks didn't know why he was showing Christine all this. He'd just had his three-year friendship with Max broken, and when his friendship was Christine was only starting  to flourish, he was showing her his most cherished secret?

"You have... nothing...?" Christine said.

"Yeah. It used to be rhinos, but, if you paid attention to the news..."

"Right... they went extinct..."

"My big sister Cadence is borrowing books from the library to try and figure this all out. But in the meantime..." Brooks said, putting the glove back on. "Want to come over to my house and do homework together?"

Christine was still shocked, but she responded quickly enough to surprise Brooks. "Sure!"

"Okay then!" Brooks said with a smile. "I didn't expect you to answer so quickly..." They were both walking on their way to Brooks' house across the pavement.

"Well, I guess it's because you're the first person that actually wants  to be my friend-" Christine covered her mouth. Brooks looked at her.

"Wait... you don't have any other friends?" Brooks asked, both of them still walking.

"No... I was always bullied for being smart. So then I tried to drop my grades, remove my braces and switch out my glasses for contacts, and dyed my hair blonde, pretended I was super into fashion..." Christine said with a sigh. "You know, like all those high school movies and books."

"Christine, those were from the 2000s. No one's like that any more. Sure, there are still snobby brats and bullies out there, but they aren't always blonde or rich or super obsessed with fashion or football. Just be who you  are." Brooks said.

"Um... well, the funny thing is, after pretending to like fashion for a while, you actually start to like it. So..." Christine gestured to her eyes and her denim jacket. "Does my denim jacket compliment my eye color or what?"

They both laughed.

*Time Skip*

"So, Brooks, do you know how I answer question seventeen? I'm stuck on it." Christine said. "And here I used to be smart..."

"You're still smart! It's just that with inverse questions you get a bit confused. Just reverse what the boxes say. If it says multiply by three, reverse it. Divide it by three instead!" Brooks explained.

"Ohhhh okay. Thanks!" Christine said. Once she answered the question, she threw her hands in the air with a triumphant smile. "I completed all my homework!"

"Congrats! But I still have a few questions to finish. Looks like you still have your smarts after all." Brooks said with a cheeky grin.

"Hey! Weren't you the one who said that I was  smart but just confused?" Christine snapped back with an equally cheeky grin. When Brooks was about respond, however, Cadence came inside with a happy but slightly tired-looking face.

"Good news, Brooks! I got a bunch of books on the topic! Bad news - we have to travel an entire kilometer to get to a place that has more information on this stuff." Cadence said, apparently not realizing that Christine was in the room too.

"Okay then... cool. Me and Christine were just finishing up homework. We'll pack a bunch of stuff like water and a bag of chips and then we'll come with you to that place." Brooks said. Cadence finally noticed Christine after he said that. She waved.

Cadence waved back.

"Alright then. I'm gonna take a nap while you're doing all that. Wake me up half-an-hour from now so that we have fifteen minutes to get ready and get on the bus." Cadence said.

She walked away and closed the door behind her. Brooks and Christine looked at each other.

"I'll pack everything for both of us while you're doing your homework." Christine said, getting up.

"Wait, you're coming too?" Brooks asked.

"Yeah I am! This stuff is super interesting to me! And plus, I'm your friend! I wanna be there to support you!" Christine said. "I mean, my friendship handbook does say that friends support each other very step of the way, so..."

Brooks smiled.

"Okay then." He said, finishing up his homework.

Christine headed out of the room. As soon as he finished his homework, his step-dad came in.

"So, Brooks, remember that father-son bonding time I was talking about? Well I just got notified that I have to go have an afternoon shift at the hospital, and-"

"-You don't have time for the father-son bonding time." Brooks said.

"Yeah... I'm really sorry about that. How about tomorrow afterschool?" He said. "This time I'll definitely be free."

"Okay, sure!" Brooks said with a smile. As his step-dad headed out of the room, he smiled giddily.

This was actually perfect! Now he had time to discover more about his supposed immortality with Cadence and Christine. And he'd still be able to have some time to bond with his step-dad afterschool tomorrow!

Things were going really well! Hopefully this wouldn't mean something bad was going to happen when they got to the place they were heading to.

*Time Skip*

The three of them got off the bus as Cadence was explaining her information on the place they were heading to.

"It's called The Death Archives. Since all our messages are our causes of death, these archives hold every single piece of knowledge we know about these things. But the archives are mere ruins now, and no one has ever bothered to look for them because they fear death. The title of this place makes them think its dangerous, and wards off a lot of people." Cadence explained.

"You know, people really shouldn't be afraid of death. They should just be afraid of dying in a painful way." Christine said. "Because when you die, you get to finally rest after doing all the things in your life, good or bad. And even if you don't think doing more good things than bad will do anything, it's still good to be seen as a nice person instead of a bad person. Wouldn't you agree?"

Both Brooks and Cadence nodded.

"Anyway, back to The Death Archives." Brooks said.

"Okay, my point is, this place is run down, and probably really rusty, dusty, and moldy. I imagine it being built from cobblestone, with overgrown vines and moss covering it, and maybe some rusted letters at the top of the doorway saying the title-" Cadence said.

"Cadence, we're here. You're just describing the structure in front of you." Brooks said.

"Oh. I was wondering why my imagination was so realistic..." Cadence said. The three of them headed inside, searching for answers.

They looked through dusty bookshelves, with scrolls and books covering the walls, and even parts of the floor in stacks.

There was an entire room of books and scrolls. The entire room...

It was very discouraging to the three of them.

"Wha- How are we supposed to find answers in here?! There's so many!" Brooks asked, losing hope.

"Excuse me? I did it in the library, a place with more books than this. And this place is easier, because now we have three people searching and scrolls are smaller and easier to search for things you want." Cadence said. "Now start searching so we don't waste any time!"

Still her harsh old self, as always.

Christine shrugged and ran around, grabbing as many scrolls and piling them up in one area of the floor. Brooks searched through one of the bookshelves and Cadence searched another.

They spent three entire hours searching, and finally, Christine found a scroll that had the answers they needed.

"Guys! I finally  found it!" Christine said. "It was the 147th scroll I searched through... oh gosh I'm really tired..."

Brooks and Cadence hurried over but felt to the floor in exhaustion.

"Cadence, how tired were you?! This took us so long that we can't even walk with falling over in exhaustion!" Brooks said, panting.

"Now you know why I wanted to sleep for half-an-hour before we left..." Cadence said.

They crawled towards Christine and sat cross-legged on the floor while Christine spread out the scroll on the floor in front of them.

"It says here that if someone loses their cause of death, that some spirit with otherworldly force must have done something to help them out... because if that person dies from that specific thing, then the person won't be able to achieve something that keeps humans from going extinct..." Christine read.

Christine and Cadence both turned to look at a shocked Brooks, with equally shocked faces.

"SO IF I DIE DO PEOPLE START HAVE NUCLEAR WARS WITH EACH OTHER OR SOMETHING?!" Brooks yelled, completely in utter shock. The other two just gaped, unable to speak. "DO I SOLVE WORLD HUNGER OR GLOBAL WARMING OR SOMETHING?! THIS RAISES MORE QUESTIONS THAN IT ANSWERS!"

"Um... Brooks, maybe don't shout so loud?" Christine said.

"Okay I'm not shouting, I'm yelling!" Brooks said. Christine did a face-palm. Cadence was still gaping.

"Brooks, if you become the ruler of Canada or something, remember me!" Cadence said. They all snorted.

"Okay but seriously, what is so important that I do in my life that stops human extinction?!" Brooks asked, utterly confused.

"Well, you see, Brooks..." An echo-y voice said from somewhere behind them. They stood up and turned around to see...

"W-What?" Brooks said, paling. "Dad...?"

The wispy and half-transparent ghost father gave Brooks a shrug and an awkward smile.

"Long time no see, huh?"

・・・・★・・・・★ ・・・・

I'm very proud of this! Even if I don't win I feel like I did a good job! :))))

This was very stressful for me since I'm no good with deadlines ;^^

But thank you for letting me have a few days extra! I greatly appreciate it. <3 <3

I would continue, but there's only a few hours left until judging starts and I don't want to post this late ;^^

Anyway! Stay safe and well, and have a great day/night! :D

-Xelia