Julie was sitting on top of her red Victorian bed occupied with fluffy pillows and the addition of thermal blankets for the cold December. Her headphone buds were in her ears, and she was listening to Britney Spears on repeat, having the TV tuned to MTV.

Just then, she heard a knock on her door.

“Come in,” Julie said, turning down the volume on her TV.

Her mom was standing in the doorway. Julie took out her earbuds and said “What?”

“Well, I have some big news honey! So, your father and I have decided that maybe you could do something extravagant for your birthday! Like go to the Bahamas!” Her mom said, smiling wide and jumping up and down.

Julie smiled. “That sounds great!”

“Okay, so I already payed for the tickets and we could send five of your friends and you. You’ll leave on the 21st which is three weeks from now. When you get to the island, there will be a limo there already to take you to the hotel. You just have to look for your name. And then-”

“Woah, I don’t even know if I want to go. Maybe my friends won’t be able to and then we’re stuck with six tickets,” Julie said, lying down on her bed.

“Well, I think they’ll be able to come. I’m paying for everything so it’s a free trip to them. I don’t mind at all,”

“I didn’t ask if you minded. I was saying they might not be able to go,” Julie said, irritated.

“Julie, they’ll be able to go. Trust me. This is going to be so fun for you guys!” Julie’s mom said, leaving the room.

Julie put her earbuds back on and closed her eyes, absorbing the music to her brain. When she opened her eyes, she saw a special on MTV that caught her eye. She turned her music off and turned the volume up on the TV. It was a special on a mysterious island in the Atlantic Ocean. Showing a picture of two people, it talked about how this couple named Andy and Marissa went to the island on their honeymoon and they never came back. Nobody knows what happened to them except that now people are scared of going there for fear of something happening to them.

Julie was astonished about what happened. She flopped back down on her bed and turned up her music again.

The next day at lunch, Julie asked her friends Tyson, Abigail, Brittany, Mindy, and Josh about it.

“You mean your mom is paying for all of it?” Abigail said, sipping her lemonade.

“Well, yeah. She said it’s all taken care of,” Julie said.

“I think that’s too much. We’re going to be by ourselves on a island a million miles away. What if something bad happens and we can’t leave? Or what if we get kidnapped and our parents don’t know where we are? What will we do then?” Mindy said, frightened.

Tyson laughed from the table. “If you’re that scared, then don’t come. We’ll have fun getting kidnapped and having our parents not know where we are,”

Julie looked at Tyson. “So you’re coming?”

Tyson shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll come. I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“I’m in too,” Brittany said, uncapping her water bottle and taking a sip.

“I’ll do it. It sounds like fun,” Josh said, who hasn’t said a single word until now.

“Okay, Mindy. That leaves you. Are you coming or not?” Julie asked, looking at Mindy.

Mindy looked nervously at Tyson, Julie, and Josh. She twirled her brunette hair with her finger and finally said “Okay, fine. I’ll go,”

Everyone cheered and Julie was thinking that this is going to be the best party ever.

Days passed and Julie was just waiting to leave to go to the Bahamas. She crossed out the days on her calendar, getting closer to the 21st which was in a week. She couldn’t wait.

When Julie woke up on Saturday, she was surrounded by her brother Josh, and her mom and dad holding a birthday cake with the number 18 on it. She realized that today was the day!

“Happy Birthday!” They screamed at her.

Julie groaned and said, ”It's 7:00 guys. Couldn't you wake me up at like 11:00?”

“Oh, honey. It’s your birthday! We’re not waiting until 11:00!” Her mom chirped.

“Well, normal people wake up at 11:00. On a Saturday,” Julie bellowed, furying her brows.

“Oh, don’t be such a moper, sweetie. Eat your cake,” Her mom smiled wide, showing her teeth and widening her eyes.

Julie rolled her eyes and got out of bed, moving toward the kitchen. She sat down with her plate and cut a piece of cake for herself.

“Ew, I hate this cake!” Her brother, Josh said.

“Oh. honey. Its Julie's birthday and she can choose her own cake,” Her mom said, grabbing a piece of cake.

“But I wanted chocolate!” Josh whined.

“No, Josh,” Her mother said, taking a bite of her cake.

Josh screamed, running up to his room and slamming the door behind him.

“So Julie, are you all packed and ready to go?” ? Her mom asked, oblivious of Josh’s behavior.

“Yeah,” Julie said. I’ve been packed since last week.

“Excellent! Well, the limo is going to pick you guys up here at 1:00 p.m. So, you could ask all of your friends to come here and hang out until it comes,” Her mom said.

“Yeah, I’ll call them right now,” Julie said, picking up her cellphone.

An hour later, Julie’s friends showed up and they spent the next hours chatting about what the trip will be like, while Tyson sat on the couch and devoured the snacks.

The limo finally arrived and Julie hauled her suitcase to the trunk. The driver was wearing a black hat that looked like something a boat captain would wear. He was in black attire, head to toe. His white tie stood out from his black jacket and he had some stubble on his chin.

“Hello, everyone. Is this the party for the Bahamas?” He asked, smiling at Julie.

“Yes,” Julie replied.

“Well, I’ll put your suitcases in the trunk and you can get seated in the limousine,” The man took Julie’s suitcases first and started to put it in the trunk. She started to get into the limo. When she got in, it was beautiful. Leather black seats, shelves with champagne in it, and a stereo that played so loud, Julie thought she was in a concert.

Julie and her friends finally got to the airport . When they got there, their flight was at Gate 4A, so they waited in the blue chairs for a while until the girl announced their flight was leaving soon. Julie got up from her seat and went through the door. She turned back and saw nobody. She could have sworn her friends were right behind her. She went out the door and looked around. She suddenly saw figures racing toward her with their suitcases.

“Where were you guys? I thought you were right behind me,” Julie said, walking again.

Tyson, out of breath, said “Well, I was with you. But then this girl wanted to go to the Starbucks on the other side of the airport,”

“Well, I didn’t know it was that far and I need my caffeine,” Abigail said, sipping her frappucino.

“Okay, let’s just go. I got my daily dose of exercise,” Brittany said, dragging her suitcase.

They finally made it to the plane and Julie sat in her seat, Mindy in the middle, Tyson to the left. She looked out her window and hoped that this trip was going to be amazing.

When they finally arrived, they got out of the plane and was greeted by a limousine and a man holding a sign saying ‘Julie Mangano’.

“I guess this is us,” Julie said, pulling her suitcase. They got in the limo and it was gorgeous too. It was white interior and had white leather seats, similar to the one that they went in earlier.

They got to a gorgeous hotel, right on the ocean with walls as bright as the sun and a lobby that smelled like roses.

Julie and her friends went to their separate rooms and Tyson and Abigail were by hers, so they walked together.

When Julie got to her room, she flopped on her bed and breathed in the serenity of the room, the bed nicely done, white sheets and pillows smoothed out. The view of the ocean was breathtaking and Julie could see surfers out on the high tide. She looked at the clock: 3:30 p.m. She had about two hours to get ready for her party. She took out her black satin dress she brought with her and started to get ready.

By the time Julie was done, it was 5:15 p.m. She quickly finished and headed out of her room. At the same time, she heard Abigail’s room door open.

“Julie! You look gorgeous!” Abigail said, smiling.

“Thanks! You look great too,” Julie said. Abigail was wearing a white laced skirt with beads on the end and a pink sequined shirt with balloons on it saying ‘Ready to Party!’ So Abigail.

When they got down to the lobby, they went to the party room and saw all of her friends yelling ‘Happy Birthday!’ At least it was better than her family saying it.

“Happy Birthday, Julie!” Mindy said, running over to give her a hug.

The party room had a table with white sheets and a birthday cake saying ‘Happy Birthday, Julie’. The tables all had a center piece in the middle having balloons on it. It had a door that lead to the ocean, so they went through there to find another table in the ocean sand. This is great Julie thought, The ocean all to ourselves with my closest friends.

Suddenly, Tyson said “Where’s Abigail?”

Everybody turned.

“What do you mean?” Brittany said.

“I’m saying that she’s not here,” Tyson answered.

“I think I saw her go inside,” Josh replied.

They all went inside to look. She wasn’t in the room. Nor in the lobby. They searched everywhere. Julie checked the girls bathroom.

There on the cold hard floor was a girl. Her mouth was filled with blood, dripping down her shirt, the words ‘Ready to Party!’ soaked with red. A pool of blood was by her head which was turned in an awkward angle, her legs crossed and she wasn’t moving.

Julie stood there shocked. A moment later, everybody came in.

“Julie what is-?” Josh started and turned toward what Julie was looking at.

Mindy gasped. They all just stood there, with no words to say about this dead girl.

The girl was Abigail.

There once was an old man who carried around a cookie tray around with him everywhere he went. There were seven cookies on that tray and it was connected by a rope that hung from his shoulder and swayed while he walked. 

The villagers in the town were confused by this old man who carried the cookie tray. They did not know why he did it and they never got the courage to go up and ask him. 

His appearance was like an old mans should be: gray hair, hunched back, bags under his eyes.

But something in his appearance was very peculiar to the other villagers, something that never happened to the villagers. The old man has two sets of eyes, each a different color.