In Year 50, something mysterious started happening across the kingdoms of DarkCorner Land. Cade Mayson and Blake Candade were in the fourth grade at the time. Every weekend they would go exploring in the mountains outside of Cashes Dade. Sometimes, despite their parents giving them stern warnings about not staying out in the mountains after dark, they would still be out there well after sunset. It was usually Cade’s fault. He has a terrible sense of time and tends to wander, getting kind of lost. Blake is good at figuring out how to get them back on track. One September night in Year 50, the two kids were coming down from the top of a distant mountain when they saw a bizarre green fire appear within the forest up the slope of a mountain they were about to pass. The kids quickly crept through the forest of towering evergreens called Dayshowers. They were really tall with perfect cone shapes holding bright blue leaves that glowed brightly at night. They would flash rhythmically in the night to some silent music. On this night they were flashing in a bizarre rhythm, never seen before. As the kids drew closer, they could see the fire seemingly burning in the forest, yet the evergreens remained unharmed. Dark spirits appeared, forming a line across the entire slope. The kids crawled further up the slope, hiding down behind a long, flat black stone. Within the fire they saw a triangular blue craft with small flashing gold lights. Cade and Blake watched intently as several tall, slim dark figures appeared suddenly near the craft. Another shorter, dark figure appeared momentarily before they rushed onto the craft. Just then, a violent thunder storm overtook the mountain. Hard driving rains fell with constant flashing lightning. The kids hid down while the storm raged on for several minutes. In an instant the storm stopped and the forest went completely silent. When the kids looked up, the craft was gone. The next day, the two kids read the newspaper, because they were grounded. In the Cashes Dade newspaper, they reported that a student in the sixth grade was missing.
DarkCorner Land has always been mysterious. The land has unusual minerals, plants, and trees and is constantly rocked by storms. Dark spirits haunted the land from the beginning, but then an event happened that would change the world forever. In the year 50, bizarre green lights appeared across the sky. The clouds churned, the air grew static, and all the land vibrated with the sound of a distant hum. Citizens in every kingdom gathered outside on the streets, balconies, and rooftops gazing up at the neon green sky. In an instant, the sky went dark. Then they heard incredibly loud screeching sounds coming from the sky. They grew louder and louder until a sonic boom exploded out across the sky followed by complete silence. Slowly, bright greenish-gold triangular shaped lights appeared in the dark sky.
They hovered just below the green clouds flowing like heavy sheets in the sky. Every country sounded the alarm. Bells rung out through the cities. Horns blared out as the armies took their positions in the outer rings of the cities and in the forts. Everyone waited tensely in the silence for what seemed like hours as the ships just hovered in the sky, their lights flashing to a slow, booming rhythm coming from the sky. Intense meetings were being held between kingdom leaders while the rest of them just stared at alien ships hanging in the air with some eerie music booming above them. Then sour horns blared out from the ships. Every kingdom reports some windows shattering under the intense pressure of the horns. Soldiers held up their weapons, prepared for their first war.
Bright, intense lights shined down, covering entire cities in strong heat. Green mist shot out in powerful waves down on the citizens, knocking them off their feet. The soldiers’ weapons were knocked out of their hands. They tried to stand in the driving waves, but couldn’t. Then they heard it, in every corner of every kingdom, a young student speaking in a solemn, elevated voice that sounded bizarre. The people still couldn’t stand up in the strong waves. The students had a message for the people. They were relaying a message directly from the aliens declaring that they were from a planet called Dairockneye and would be establishing their city called Arapreshday where the Kingdom of Caderias once stood. They told the people that they were now the leaders of every country and every school. When they finished speaking, the waves stopped. The ships were no longer in the skies. No one knew where they landed, but they saw aliens all around them, carrying large shining weapons. The students who spoke for them were the ones who had mysteriously disappeared, taken by the aliens to be their messengers on the day of their invasion. The students were returned to their families, the only bright spot of a dark day.
The aliens took over the schools. Every school would have an alien called the Supreme Leader, basically the principal. Every teacher would have an alien assigned to them to watch their class at all times. The aliens set up really strict rules for behavior and really high standards for grades. Students are now expected to sit completely still and learn in the way the aliens believe is best, by listening to lectures and taking notes. They don’t believe in using pictures or doing activities. Students are expected to learn challenging subjects fast and are given massive amounts of schoolwork. The aliens also established a ranking system for the students.
BlackStar is the lowest ranking, meaning failure. If students are at this ranking for too long, they will be punished and assigned tough jobs working for the aliens for long hours. Cade and Blake are BlackStar.
BlueStar is the next ranking meaning average.
GoldStar means you are succeeding, doing good, but not at the elite level. There are some basic rewards given for this ranking, but they are still challenged to aim higher.
WhiteStar means you are elite. This is the highest ranking and comes with great rewards.
Cade Mayson believes the way the aliens run their schools is unfair and keeps many students from succeeding because they aren’t allowed to learn in the ways that work best for them or be creative. What is your school like? Is your school run like the aliens in some ways? What ways is your school better than the way the aliens run the DarkCorner Land schools? Leave a comment below. Cade is ready to fight to restore their schools back to the way they should be. He believes there must be a reason why the aliens are so focused on running their schools, why they drive the elite students so hard, and he’s right…
