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CHEMISTRY
WRITER’S BLOCK
Theresa Tedeschi, Marisa Gardiner, Tammy Chow,
James Calvert, Georgia Woodall, Amberley Evans,
Madlin Herold, Cian Butler, Isha Sai & Sophia Sunthang
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©2014 Writer’s Block All Rights Reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or
mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case
of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses
permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed
“Writer’s Block,” at the address below.
Writer’s Block MSHS
18 Potts St
Melville WA 6156
Ordering Information:
Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations,
associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address above.
Orders by Australian trade bookstores and wholesalers. Please contact Writers Distribution:
Tel: (08) 9415 3376; Fax: (08) 9415-3377
Copy of Parameters of completion:
Melville Senior High School Writer’s Block
The computer has selected the following parameters which you must use to write your story
for the children at Princess Margaret Hospital. You can invent as many other characters as
you like but these characters must be the main ones.
Primary Character 1 Shop Keeper
Primary Character 2 Vet
Non-Human Character
A Jewel Beetle
Setting
Chemistry Lab
Issue
Compulsive Eating
Random words which must appear at ;east once somewhere in the story:
Hectic
Fascinating
Cantankerous
Furry
Curious
You should think-tank your story for 1 hour:
Map Characters - 15 minutes
Draw a rough map of the setting - 10 minutes
Make up the plot around the issue and how it is resolved - 15 minutes
Break up the story into chapters and allocate the chapter to each person – 20
minutes
Then write, illustrate, edit, compile and bind your book. Achieve your word count, and email
your book to wabiad@writeabookinaday.com before 8.00pm.
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Authors: Theresa Tedeschi (C1), Marisa Gardiner (C2), Tammy Chow (C3), James Calvert
(C4), Georgia Woodall (C5), Amberley Evans (C6), Madlin Herold (C7), Cian Butler (C8),
Isha Sai (C9), Sophia Sunthang (Epilogue)
Acknowledgements:
Katherine Susannah Prichard Foundation INC:
Book week August 16-22 2014
Address:
11 Old York Road, Greenmount WA 6056
Phone:
(08) 9294 1872
Web:
www.writeabookinaday/welcome/
Email:
wabiad@writeabookinaday.com
Written Acknowledgement: Thank you to the Katherine Susannah Prichard Foundation for
creating the Write a Book in a Day competition, and for the opportunity to create a book.
Princess Margaret Hospital INC:
Address:
Roberts Rd, Subiaco WA 6008
Phone: Enquiries
(08) 9340 8222
Child Care Centre
(08) 9340 8586
PMH Volunteers
(08) 9340 8716
State Child Development Centre
(08) 9426 9480
PMH Foundation (Fundraising)
(08) 9489 1100
Web:
www.pmhfoundation.com
Email:
stiches@pmhfoundation.com
Written Acknowledgement: Thank you to Princess Margaret Hospital for taking care of the ill
youth of Western Australia and sponsoring this competition.
Melville Senior High School:
Address:
18 Potts St, Melville WA 6156
Phone:
(08) 9330 0300
Web:
www.melville.wa.edu.au
Email:
Melville.shs@education.wa.edu.au
Written Acknowledgement: Thank you to Melville Senior High School for hosting the Write
a Book in a Day competition
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For the children at Princess Margaret Hospital, whom we hold dearly in our hearts
forevermore. May you live a joyous life, and be led to good health and harmony.
4
CHAPTER 1
A bell chimed and in walked a young woman, check book in hand. The buzzing of the
cheap white lighting hummed quietly as her steps came muffled upon the carpet. An empty
chemist on a Sunday night proved a somewhat gloomy place to the woman, but the
familiarity gave her a sense of cosiness. That and the company she was expecting.
“Oh hey!” a mass of sandy brown bangs greeted the woman. A warm smile was her
response.
“Hey. Just here to pay the rent as per usual,” Gabriella smiled once more. Levi mirrored her
expression as the check book was passed.
“Cool. Get up to anything interesting?” The taller of the two asked, swishing his fringe (long
overdue of a haircut) out of his eyes. However, when the two made direct eye contact, Levi’s
ears seemed to flush pink. Gabriella didn’t seem to notice, much to Levi’s relief.
“Not really. Studying and movies and whatnot. A stark contrast to many of my club fanatic
friends you’ll find.” A breezy laugh and another warm smile was shared, followed by more
ear flushes on Levi’s part.
“What about you, hey?”
Gabriella asked in return, her warm
green eyes meeting Levi’s shifty
hazel pair.
“Nah not much. Don’t erm . . . don’t
really have friends.” Levi trailed off,
his already gaze-avoiding eyes
becoming even further distant.
Gabriella’s smile faded, but it wasn’t
long before all at once, she set to
easing the tension, as she always did
in such awkward situations.
“You have me, don’t you?” Her
bright, pearly white teeth shone with
a huge reassuring grin that made not
only Levi’s ears flush, but his whole
face. The olive skinned woman was
oblivious, yet again.
Levi, trying his best to stay cool and
not let his nervousness get the best of
him, looked up through his sleek
bangs. With an airy laugh that
warmed up Gabriella’s spirits, Levi’s
complexion cooled back to its
previous pale tone, and his
composure was regained.
“Yeah, I have you, ‘Ella.”
5
Gabriella couldn’t help but smile again. After all, she was a smiley person. The mention of
the nickname Levi gave her enough reason to crack another grin. She loved ‘Ella’.
Suddenly, Gabriella erupted into small giggles. Levi looked at her in confusion and slight
worry. Had he said something wrong?
“Oh my gosh, do you remember when we first met?” Gabriella said through laughs.
Levi turned scarlet, but even through his embarrassment, he couldn’t help but laugh with
Gabriella.
Their first meeting was interesting, to say the least: Levi’s clumsiness showed through
and he accidentally bumped into Gabriella as she had walked into the chemist, resulting in
baby powder flying everywhere. It just so happened that Gabriella walked into the chemist to
enquire about the second floor apartment for lease right when Levi was restocking the Baby
Powder shelves. Apologies and giggles went back and forth between the two of them
sparingly, and much to Levi’s surprise, Gabriella wasn’t put off from moving in the above
flat. From this, their friendship bloomed.
Gabriella’s laughs quieted down when something else caught her attention. Both her and
Levi stopped reminiscing about their first encounter with each other when Gabriella enquired
about a hooded person looming in the far shelves of the pharmacy’s walls.
“He comes here often doesn’t he?”
“Yeah he seems to, always buying the same products.” Levi confirmed, nodding towards the
shady person.
“Oh?” Gabriella asked, intrigued and curious.
“Yeah. He only ever buys huge boxes of hydrogen peroxide and paying with straight up wads
of cash.” Levi answered, eyeing up the shady character. The customer seemed to notice their
gazes, quickly leaving without buying a thing.
Gabriella and Levi shrugged it off, before saying their goodnights and going their separate
ways.
6
CHAPTER 2
Another day in Levi’s uneventful life arose… He lived a simple life. Walking a mere
kilometre from his innocent house to the chemist which he owned. Unfortunately, due to
money problems, Levi had to run the chemist all on his own. That was okay, because it
allowed him to meet some very interesting characters. Including Gabriella…
Gabriella had only one class that day and as soon as Levi realised this, he rushed home to put
on some better-looking clothes. Maybe he would ask her out today. Or maybe he would
chicken out and turn into a blushing mess like he usually would. Poor Levi didn’t know how
to talk to girls. ‘They should make that a class at school’ he remembered, thinking while he
was in year eleven. He never knew how to talk to pretty girls and this one in particular was
very, very pretty. As a result, it was even harder to talk to Gabriella and that was not a good
thing at all.
~*~
Gabriella always followed a rigorous morning routine. First, she would get up at exactly
5:00am to prepare for the day ahead. After a three minute shower, she would blow dry and
brush her wavy brown hair, keeping her makeup plain and simple. She would dress in jeans
and a V-neck shirt. In compliance with her strictly vegan diet, she would start the day with
toast and avocado. Unfortunately, she didn’t own a car so she would take the bus to the
University of Notre Dame, making sure to stop for a skinny soy coffee on the way. Gabriella
had it all planned out picture perfect and down to the dot.
Flipping another page over, she sighed as she listened to yet another lecture. University
was different to how she thought it would be, as she had hoped for cute furry animals, not
three hour lectures and reports. “Why do we need to know this?” Gabriella asked her
classmate, Rose. “Animal product testing is important Gabriella”, Rose knowingly explained.
“I know that,” Gabriella moaned. “But he could at least try making it more interesting.”
“Listen up class, this is important,” Mr Long announced. “You have a new assignment.”
“You will be writing about what we could do to prevent testing products on animals.”
“Ugh, lectures and reports, lectures and reports. That’s all we ever do!” Gabriella
complained.
“You should’ve expected ‘just lectures and reports’ when you entered this course!” Rose
whispered harshly.
“He could at least try to make it interesting though” added Gabriella
Not long after, class came to an end.
“See you tomorrow Rose”.
“See ya”.
7
8
CHAPTER 3
Gabriella got off the bus and started walking towards her apartment. The wind blew her
hair across her face. When she reached the front, she saw a man exiting the chemist with a
bag in a rush. From the look of the bag’s exterior, the goods in there must have been either
really heavy or there was a big amount of content. On second glance, the figure looked rather
surreptitious, however she dismissed the thought and continued walking towards her
apartment.
As Gabriella walked up, she saw Levi and
stopped in front of the shop. Levi, who always
had his head down and hands in pockets, raised
his head as he heard someone’s footsteps
stopping in front of him.
“Hi Levi,” Gabriella greeted him, waving
slightly, too.
“Emm… Hi Ella!” he waved back and greeted
Gabriella with the nickname he always used and
she seemed fine with it. “So, what are you doing
in university these days?” he asked with a voice
just loud enough for her to hear.
Even though Levi had already said it as loud as he could, it took Gabriella a few seconds
to finally understand what he was saying in his incredibly soft voice. “Oh, we’re just
researching animal products to see if they benefit the animals or not. It’s kind of a boring
subject because I was expecting to be looking at cute furry animals all the time.”
“You know, I happen to have a bit of an understanding on animal products. I kind of find
it fascinating, actually. I think you’ll like it!” Levi, sounding more confident, spoke louder
and continued, “You can ask me anything if you find your assignment difficult, and hopefully
you know… I can help.” It took Levi a lot of guts to say that sentence and not turn into a
tomato at the process.
“Really?! Levi, you have no idea how much I appreciate your help!” Gabriella jumped in
joy and gave Levi a quick hug. Her face filled with joy and she tried her best to not squeal
from over-excitement as she gave Levi a quick hug.
Levi thought Gabriella’s smile made her even prettier and he wasn’t sure if it was a good
thing for him to think that, especially after Gabriella gave him a hug. “N-no problem! I
mean, I’d love to help you!”
The hug sent Levi’s heart flying and was beating so fast and loud, he could hear every
beat it made. He could feel the heat in his cheeks intensify, making him flush even more.
“Um, if you’re free Friday evening, I could help you with your assignment over dinner
maybe?” Levi said at a barely audible volume.
“That would be great!” Gabriella smiled.
“See you then,” Levi whispered, barely able to speak properly.
9
CHAPTER 4
After having spent the majority of his afternoon in hectic preparation, Levi was at last
ready for his dinner ‘date’ with Gabriella. His mid-1960s house – a small, wooden bungalow,
just minutes from the ocean – was clean and prepared; looking better than when it was
bought. As he stood admiring his work, Levi caught a hint of the chicken he had been slowcooking in the oven for the past hour. It smelled delicious. Gabriella was sure to like it…
Casually dressed, only a kilometre down the road sat Gabriella studying for her
assignment. She didn’t plan to get changed, as the dinner with Levi, for her, was merely a
‘night with a friend’. She hoped Levi remembered her vegan lifestyle but was confident he’d
get it right.
Beep beep! Beep beep! Gabriella lifted her head from a focused trance and abruptly
ceased the blaring noise projecting from her wristwatch. That meant it was time for her
dinner with Levi. She gently closed her textbook, stood out of her chair and made way for the
door with only her purse, phone and – of course – herself. As she wandered down the quiet
road, she admired the sunset-lit architecture surrounding her. Fremantle was a place full of
historic buildings, and inside one of them, was Levi. As she approached his house, Gabriella
could smell something wonderful, but as she came nearer she began to recognise the smell.
‘Oh please no,’ she thought. ‘Please please please.’ She walked up to his front door, the
sun now illuminating the entire house with a magnificent peach-coloured tinge. Within three
seconds of knocking on the door, Levi was before her, a nervous grin on his face. ‘He
must’ve been waiting at the door the whole time,’ she thought. gHer stomach lurched.
Whilst Levi was greeting her, Gabriella had seen the chicken resting on her plate in the
dining room. Levi noticed something was wrong and immediately turned to see the problem.
“Dammit!” exclaimed Levi, realising his mistake.
Gabriella put her hand on his shoulder with a slight smile and said “It’s okay, I’m not hungry
anyway…”
They sat there in awkward silence. Gabriella watched Levi eat half a chicken. Half a
chicken! ‘How could he eat so much yet stay so thin?’ thought Gabriella. She sat there with
cold salad and cold toast… without butter.
After much silence, Levi finally spoke. “How’s the assignment going?”
“Good thanks. I’ve made some progress, but I’m still curious as to that shady guy I saw
that day in the chemist.”
“Ah, yeah about that! I have some documents for you!”
10
CHAPTER 5
Levi disappeared into another room, leaving Gabriella with her cold salad. He later
returned with an enormous file, overflowing with sheets of paper as he returned to his seat.
Gabriella grabbed the thick folder from Levi’s hands and immediately opened the front page
with curiosity within the folder.
“It’s a folder containing all of the purchases of my customers!” explained Levi, after noticing
Gabriella’s confused expression.
Gabriella sighed in relief and continued to turn through the pages, reading the records kept
securely by Levi. Before closing the folder to continue her ‘date,’ she noticed a strange
purchase for the company Pet Purrfect.
Levi followed Gabriella’s gaze to the folder and answered the question she was asking
herself.
“That purchase is made once every month, and they buy the exact same products in very
large quantities. I find it just as strange as you do! I mean, what does an animal company
want to do with hydrogen peroxide?”
The conversation was soon put aside, and the ‘date’ came to an end. Levi walked
Gabriella to the door and stood rocking on the heels of his feet. They stood for a few
moments while saying their goodbyes and finally exchanged an awkward friendly hug, before
Gabriella began to walk to the bus stop with the folder tightly grasped in her arms.
~*~
Gabriella opened the clear, glass doors and immediately the hairs rose on the back of her
neck as she entered the well air conditioned room. The woman at the front desk was focused
on something on her computer, and didn’t notice Gabriella walking in. She cleared her throat,
in attempt to get the attention of the woman at the desk. The lady rose her head from her
computer, but didn’t acknowledge Gabriella’s presence.
“I’m here for the tour around the Pet Purrfect Company,” claimed Gabriella. “Can you tell
me where I need to go?”
The lady lifted her hand and pointed behind her, directing Gabriella’s gaze to the hallway.
She thanked the lady behind the desk, even though she wasn’t expecting a response back.
Gabriella dragged her feet along the smooth, cold floor until she reached an open space
leading into an empty room. Gabriella didn’t know anyone that was there for the tour.
11
But then she saw him
12
CHAPTER 6
Gabriella saw the shady guy from Levi’s chemist leave the chemical testing lab and
watched as he looked cautiously around before disappearing behind a door marked ‘No
Unauthorised Entry.’ The tour guide suddenly disturbed Gabriella from her thoughts, “And as
you can see there is no animal testing of any kind conducted in this lab. All 100% safe for
humans and animals, that’s Pet Purrfect guarantee,” the guide said enthusiastically, as he
showed the group data and graphs as he lead them away from the chemical testing lab.
“Excuse me sir, where is the bathroom?” Gabriella asked.
“Take a right back there and third door on the left. We will be in the next room when you are
done.”
Gabriella left the group and quickly exited the store to avoid suspicion. Once outside
Gabriella thoroughly scouted the area looking for a hidden door to follow shady guy. At the
back of the building, hidden behind some overgrown bushes and vines, was a door with a ‘No
Unauthorised Entry’ sign, the same sign on the door that the shady guy passed through.
“What are you hiding Mr Shady?” Gabriella mumbled under her breath.
Behind the door was a long, straight passage. The poorly-lit corridor seemed to stretch
for an eternity, with padlocked doors on both sides. Light was flooding on from one side at
the end of the corridor, so Gabriella slowly moved towards the light. She tried to look in the
other doors as she walked past, but the bars over the windows made that a challenge. When
Gabriella reached the open door, she could hear hushed voices so she listened in.
“I can’t believe you screwed up tha-”
“I didn’t screw it up, that was all you.”
“Well who cares whose fault it was? The real issue is that the big boss is going to kill us.”
“Stop being so dramatic, it is a small issue that we can handle. What’s the code again?”
“0-9-1-4. I swear without me you would have died on the first day of the job.”
“Aww. That’s so sweet, I love you too. Let’s go Dumbo.”
The two men disappeared behind the mechanical door and Gabriella didn’t move from
her hiding spot until she heard the tell-tale of the door hissing shut. Gabriella pulled the grey
hood of her jumper onto her head, in case of security cameras. Gabriella walked to the
keypad and entered the code she heard the two imbeciles say minutes before. The mechanical
door opened and revealed a second, hidden lab. Gabriella walked inside and felt the air leave
her lungs and her stomach fall to the floor.
~*~
“Levi!” Gabriella yelled through the door, as she strongly knocked, “Levi, I know you’re
in here!”
The door opened and Levi poked his head out, his brown hair flipping lazily into his eyes.
“You rang?” he said with a smirk. Gabriella pushed the door open and stomped into Levi’s
apartment.
“You okay?” Levi asked concern evident in his hazel eyes.
13
“No,” Gabriella responded, “I’m not. I went to Pet Purrfect and while I was there I saw Mr
Shady-”
“Slim Shady.”
“-And he walked into this secret door. So I followed him and I found Pet Purrfect’s secret
lab! There were chemicals everywhere and these massive dogs were being held in cages.
Levi, it was so cruel. You have to help me,” Gabriella begged, clearly distressed.78
Levi gave Gabriella a hesitant nod. Gabriella gave Levi a quick hug and peck on the cheek,
before walking out the door.
“Now? Ella, it’s lunch time,” Levi whined, before following Gabriella.
14
CHAPTER 7
Pet Purrfect loomed before them. When Gabriella had spoken to Levi about what she had
seen, they had decided to re-enter the building and investigate what was really going on
inside the walls. As they approached the steps to the front entrance, a shiver ran up Ella’s
spine as she thought of what would happen if they got caught. Glass doors slid open as they
reached the top of the stairs. Ella approached the front desk and checked in for the tour. She
and Levi then made their way over to the assembly area where the guide greeted them. At
two o’clock, the tour guide set off with the group in tow.
“Once we’re in the main laboratory, there is a back door. It leads out into a small alley
way. We’re looking for the last door on the left,” Ella whispered. As they reached the main
lab, Levi spotted the door they needed to go through. While the tour guide was distracted,
Levi swung the door open and crept down the alley way closely followed by Ella. As they
walked, a door appeared to their left. A sign that read ‘No Unauthorised Personnel’ was hung
above a small porthole style window. Levi tried the door, but it failed to open.
“There’s a keypad lock,” said Ella, “I saw Mr Shady put in the code this morning. It was,
um, oh my goodness, what was it?” The two of them stood there for almost a minute before
Ella exclaimed, “I’ve got it! The code is 0-9-1-4!” Levi punched in the code and pressed
enter. The door clicked open to reveal another laboratory. Unlike all the others, this one was
different; papers littered the floor and the test subjects looked terrible.
As Ella approached one of the dogs, she saw that its paws were raw and bloody and its
nails half gnawed off. What was left of the nails was covered in a shiny emerald film. Ella
stretched out her hand to pat the ill dog, but it snapped at her. She cooed in a reassuring
manner, and again stretched out her hand, but the dog still proceeded to gnash its teeth as her
hand came near. She walked over to another and stretched out her hand. As the dog before it
had, it began to snap and bite. All of the dogs had a similar condition around their nails and
all of them had a cantankerous manner.
As she approached a lab bench, Ella spotted the source of the green film on the dogs’
nails. Alongside it were countless stacks of paper with chemical formulae and lists of
chemicals and quantities. At that moment Levi spoke, “What happened to them?”
“I-I think it’s an experiment gone wrong. The green film on the dogs’ nails? It’s nail polish.”
“This is wrong. What are we-” From outside the lab, the sound of the buttons on the keypad
began to beep. Ella and Levi’s eyes locked. Before anyone entered the room, they dashed
behind one of the benches in the corner of the room.
Just peeking out from around the corner of the bench, Ella saw a lab technician and
another man dressed all in black enter the room. They were having a heated discussion.
“When will it be ready?”
“I don’t know. The other techs are working around the clock to correct the formula-“
“I don’t care! And you know who else doesn’t care? The boss!”
“I understand, but-”
“You obviously don’t because the polish isn’t done yet. Just remember that you have a
deadline to meet, or else.” At this, the man in black stormed out of the room, leaving the
technician standing alone. He turned towards the door, but didn’t leave. Instead, he
15
approached a set of filing cabinets that Ella hadn’t noticed when they entered the lab. He
reached into his coat and drew out a key, unlocked the cabinet and picked out a yellow file.
He knocked the cabinet closed with his foot, and walked back out into the corridor,
closing the door which released a hiss. Ella jumped up and approached the cabinets. Although
the technician had knocked them closed, he hadn’t relocked it.
“Sort through these for anything about the experiment and the building,” Ella ordered.
“Only if you use the magic word,” he teased.
“Please?”
“And a kiss?” Levi asked with a joking look. Ella glared back. “Too far?”
Ella then walked back over to the lab benches. She began to rifle through the stacks of
formulae and picked out several samples. She also pocketed a bottle of the pet nail polish.
“Found one!” Levi shouted across the room. Ella shushed him.
”You’ll get us found out!” she exclaimed. Ella turned on her heel and went to leave, but
something caught her eye. Further along the bench was a photo of an emerald green insect.
Titled ‘The Jewel Beetle’, it was a profile about an endangered bug. Notes were scribbled
along the bottom of the paper.
Ella read aloud, “Colour is perfect for the pet polish. Quantity to be used between 0.2 and 0.3
grams.” Ella picked up the profile and put it with the others papers. She met Levi at the door.
As they walked out into the main passage, Levi turned to Ella.
“What now?” he asked.
“We go home and we plan.”
16
CHAPTER 8
Levi and Gabriella pulled up to the curb outside the Pet Purrfect factory in a taxicab. The
driver asked for the fare and Levi payed. As they stepped out of the cab, it pulled away and
the large complex stood before them. At that moment, the full weight of the tasked dawned
on Levi. He turned to Gabriella and hastily said “You know Ella, we could just call the police
they’ll get the animals out, we don’t even have to step foot in there.” Gabriella stoped and put
her hands on his shoulders, shaking him gently.
“Don’t you understand Levi? There are animals in there, animals being abused. It’s my job as
a vet to look out for the welfare of such animals, and just calling the police won’t do it. We
need proof; cold, stone hard proof, and the only way to get that is to go inside. So get it
together, and let’s go in there and save those animals.”
Levi just stood there, bewildered by this new side of her, and after a minute of thinking,
responded. “Ok, let's do this.”
~*~
Levi walked up to the door, and Gabriella put her arm out in front of him, and said “I
know a better way.” She led him around the compound, to the garbage dump, and pointed out
a door just behind the bins. After consulting the floor plan they had found during their last
visit, Gabriella decided that the best plan of action was to make their way to the chemical
labs, where they would try to locate the nail polish and the animals, leash one of them,
muzzle it, and make their way out. After that they would call the police and hand the floor
plans, nail polish and the dog they took to the police. From there the police would handle it.
They made their way through the door, and immediately found themselves in a
precarious situation. They were in the generator room, which was teeming with people. They
hid behind a large gas turbine engine, and attempted to try and find a route through the room
that wouldn’t get them caught. Then, Gabriella took notice of the metal ladder leading to the
observation level, which was literally deserted. This was the best way.
Ella tapped Levi on the arm, and pointed at the ladder. He nodded, and they moved
swiftly to it, and proceeded to climb. They reached the top, and began making their way
around the observation level with caution. They made it to the other side and made their way
back down the ladder opposite of where they came from. As they made their way down the
ladder, Levi’s phone began to ring. Ella looks up to him and whispers “Danmit Levi. Turn
that infernal phone off before we get caught!” Levi frantically got his phone out of his pocket
and turned it off, but it was too late. The room heard it.
A large man came towards them, and yelled out from across the room “Hey! What are
you doing?!” This man was tall and dark skinned, with a bald cut. He wore a sleeveless shirt
to show off his large muscular arms and he was taller than Levi, by at least 5 inches. Levi felt
intimidated by him, as any ordinary person would be. However, if there was one thing that he
knew, it was that Ella was no ordinary person.
17
Ella walked towards the man, and to Levi’s astonishment, took on a completely different
demeanour. “Good day sir. Well, you see, I am but a mere assailant, trying to break in for the
sake of profit. Last week, I was playing blackjack with your boss, and he claimed that his
compounds were un-breacheable. I told him there is no place I couldn’t break into, and so, I
bet him a sum of $500,000 that my friend and I couldn’t be stopped from breaking into any of
his compounds at any time, and, well, if we were able to make it through with the help of say,
a muscular insider turning his head the other way, then we would obviously split it 3 ways if
you get my mean.”
The Man stood there for a moment, contemplating this offer, and responded “How do I know
you’re telling the truth?”
Ella paused, and then pulled out a piece of paper, saying “Here’s my number. Call me at 7
O’clock tonight and I’ll tell you where to meet me so I can give you the money.”
The man stood silently, and then yelled out to the men in the room “Move along men,
nothing to see here.” He waved them off, and Levi and Ella left the room. As they left, Levi
asked Ella “That wasn’t really your number, was it?”
Ella responded “Not unless I own the phone at the McDonalds down the road.”
They made their way through the large corridor, and instantly saw another problem. The
Chemical lab was filled with people. Gabriella, obviously foreseeing this problem, pulled out
a lighter, and put it up to the smoke detector above their heads. All was silent for a second,
and then the scene instantly became hectic. As the fire alarms began to ring and the fire
showers came on, men and women came pouring out of all the doors in the area, making their
way to the fire exit. Within minutes the place was deserted, and they made their way to the
lab.
They stood outside the door, and Ella, once again being prepared pulled out a piece of
paper with the code for the keypad on it. She inputs the code into the keypad, 0914. The door
opened, and the scene inside was horrible. Hundreds of dog breeds, all with the nail polish on
their paws, were locked up in cages, with them most either bad tempered or eating. They
were all severely overweight, suggesting they were compulsive eaters and all of these factors
combined brought a tear to Ella’s eye. She wiped it off, and told Levi to find the smallest dog
he could, incapacitate it using the anaesthesia in the cupboard, while she would find the nail
polish. They went off, and within five minutes, gathered back at the door with all the
evidence they needed. Levi had even gone through the list of staff on the computer in the
room, and printed off the list of people involved. Adamant that they had all the evidence they
needed, they made their way out of the compound.
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CHAPTER 9
Levi and Ella hastily walked out of the Pet Purrfect warehouse and quickly, but silently,
found a large tree to hide under until the police arrived.
“Levi, what do you think will happen?” Ella whispered nervously to the tall shadow next
to her.
“I’m not too sure, Ella… I’ve never really seen this happen before. What I’ve been
thinking is that the police will come down and ask for all the information we have, then go in
and inspect the place and see if everything we have said matches up. If it does, they will
arrest the people on the list that we will give them with everyone involved in this project.
Well, if that doesn’t happen, they will at least bring them in for questioning. You don’t have
to worry Ella; you won’t have to worry after this. I’ll make sure to keep you safe and take
care of everything from now on,” Levi whispered calmingly back down to her.
Ella looked at him for a while and took in all his features. His soft-looking brown hair
and defined jawline. Ella finally realised how handsome he actually was.
“Ella, are you okay?” Levi asked tentatively.
“Yeah, sorry I was just thinking about someone back home that I used to know,” she replied
quickly.
The screech of tires close by alerted the pair about the arrival of the police. The white
Holden cars with ‘POLICE’ written in large blue letter on the sides and on the hood glided
smoothly to a stop a couple of metres from Gabriella.
The pair jumped out from behind the tree and approached the cars as the officers started
to get out of the vehicles. There was a soft breeze in the air bringing the smell of the trees,
wet dogs and chemicals towards them. There were a total of eight policemen that arrived.
“Are you the pair that called about the illegal animal testing?” the tallest of the
policemen enquired.
“Y-yes. Pet Purrfect has been torturing these poor dogs for almost nine months now.
Here’s the floor plan and the code for the keypad for the chemistry lab is 0-9-1-4. Here are
the lists of people involved and…” Gabriella went on to explain everything that happened
and everything that she has found out with Levi accompanying her with some of the details.
“Okay, we’ll try our hardest from here Miss. Thank you for alerting us of this problem
and we will go in and investigate. We will be back out soon and inform you about what will
happen,” one of the shorter policemen thanked. The policemen quickly went through the
main entrance and disappeared behind the glass doors.
~*~
It felt like they were waiting for hours on end for the policemen to come back out when
in reality it was only about half an hour before the policemen came back out. They had a
couple of men behind them, handcuffed and struggling.
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“Thank you for assisting us in this case. We have investigated as much as we can inside
this factory and have decided that we need to take these men into questioning about what
exactly they have been doing with the animals. We need both of you to come back to the
station with us to give us a statement about what has happened and what you have found out
about this project. We will escort you back to your houses after you finish your statements,”
the tallest of the policemen recited, like he had said this many times before. It was just
another day on the job for him.
Levi and Gabriella agreed and followed the policemen without uttering a single word.
They were in the police cars heading home after they had given their statements to the police.
In a bout of confidence, Levi encased Ella’s small hand in his larger one, as he could see how
nervous she was about everything and tried to calm her down slightly.
The pair of them walked silently, hand-in-hand, up through the chemist and to
Gabriella’s apartment. Levi followed Ella in and she offered him a seat silently and went into
the kitchen to make some coffee for both of them to drink.
She heard Levi turn the television on, just in time for the 6 o’clock news. Gabriella
silently glided back out to the couch and set Levi’s cup of coffee in front of him and turned to
watch the news. Levi thanked her and went back to staring at the screen intently.
BREAKING NEWS:
PET PURRFECT ILLEGALLY TESTING ON ANIMALS IN CRUEL CONDITIONS
AND USING ENDANGERED JEWEL BEETLES AS AN INGREDIENT IN THE NEW
PRODUCTS BEING TESTED!
This shocked Ella greatly. She hadn’t expected it to be on the news this fast. Everything
that had happened in the past couple of days was just a blur. Everything went by so fast.
Gabriella was still finding it difficult to wrap her mind around everything that had happened.
But something that was lingering in her mind was how she felt about Levi.
Their relationship had definitely become stronger over the last couple of days. She had
started to feel emotions that were definitely not meant for a friend. She had been touched by
how Levi tried his hardest to comfort her every time he saw that she was either sad or
stressed. She knew it was definitely not love, but she knew that she liked him a lot– more
than just a friend.
“I better get going. I’ll come back over tomorrow morning. Bye Ella,” Levi muttered
looking down at her. She walked him over to the door and without giving it a second thought;
Ella quickly leant up on her tip toes and gave Levi a quick peck on the lips.
“See you tomorrow, Levi,” She muttered softly.
Levi looked dazed and muttered a quick goodbye and slowly walked out of her
apartment. The exhaustion finally hit Ella hard and she quickly went to the bathroom,
brushed her teeth, changed into some night clothes and lay down in bed. She lay staring up at
the ceiling going through everything that had happened in the last couple of days until she
finally drifted off to sleep.
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EPILOGUE- 2 YEARS LATER
The cold, white sand buried her feet deep in the ground as she stood, watching the clear,
turquoise blue waves lapse onto the shore. Ella could just see the sun peeking above the
horizon as it signalled the beginning of a new day. She took in every detail of the picturesque
view surrounding her; it was just so… serene.
Taking in a sharp breath, her thoughts wandered back to two years ago, when a timid
Levi stumbled into her life. His sheepish grin remained imprinted in her mind as profuse
apologies tumbled out of his mouth. Clear images of the time they stopped illegal animal
testing and the following events of that day brought a gentle smile onto her face. Gabriella
had now finished her university course and was working happily with the animal shelters her
vet clinic supported.
A slender figure traipsed along the shoreline, looking at their feet. Ella had to smile; only
he would trip in sand. Miraculously finding his way to her, Levi stretched his arms out,
beckoning Gabriella over for a hug.
“Ella.”
He sat on the sand and tugged at her arm, silently asking her to sit beside him. It never
ceased to amaze him how graceful her actions were, even if he was dragging her along. Levi
couldn’t help but smile, remembering that fateful day two years ago.
The pair chatted quietly about the most trivial matters. The sound of the crashing waves eased
a comfortable silence between them. Out of the corner of her eye, Ella could see the ghost of
a smile grazing his lips, his mind lost in thoughts. A single thought swirled through her mind.
Beauty is from within,
not defined by appearance
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Dogs + Beetles = Trouble
When vet-in-training Gabriella is given a research assignment at university, she begins to
look into animal testing. When she realises that illegal activity is happening close to home,
she knows she has to do something. With the help of her friend Levi, Gabriella will try to
embrace her destiny and maybe find love along the way.
An inspirational read. Good job
-Rhian Bilclough
The greatest book I’ve read in a long time.
-Phillip White, Principal Melville Senior High School
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