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Hi, I'm Jake. I live a normal life, go to a normal school, and I'm a normal kid. But the strangest things have happened to me in the past few weeks. I'm going to tell you all about it, but for you to understand, I'm going to have to start all the way back at the beginning, three weeks ago.
It was Saturday afternoon, and it was my eleventh birthday. I had invited my best friends, and we were having a great time. The best part of all, of course, was the presents. So, you can expect what an eleven year-old boy was going to get, right? I got a basketball, a pair of roller blades and a book from my parents. But this book was unlike any others I had ever seen. It had a plain brown cover, no title or author, and there were some blank pages at the end.
That night, I began reading the book. It seemed to be the story of a young boy, just like me, who had lots of adventures while on a quest to find out where he came from. The story was very interesting, and the more I read, the more it made me think of myself.
I brought the book to school on Monday and told all of my friends about it. They all looked at each other with queer little smiles and whispered something I couldn't hear - even my best friend, Matt. He was also eleven and had just moved to our town a year ago. I shrugged my shoulders and walked off.
During recess, I went to the library to be able to continue reading my book. I thought that it would be of great use to me since we had a book report due in a few weeks.
When I got home, I lay down on my bed and continued to read the book. While reading, I make a wish to know the author of the book because, whoever it was was an amazing person! I also wished, at the same time, to find out where the author was from, so maybe some day I could get his or her autograph. Once I made the wishes, I felt like everything was standing still for a few seconds. When time "unfroze," I continued reading my book. A few hours later, my mom came and told me to turn off the lights and go to sleep.
The next morning, when my radio alarm went on, I thought that it was the SRS (Spanish Radio Station). But once I began to really listen to what the man was saying, I didn't understand a word of it all! What he was saying sounded like gibberish to me. I tried to change the station, but they all sounded the same. In the end, I gave up, got ready for school, and ran downstairs. I grabbed my cream cheese bagel, my lunch, and my backpack and ran off to my mom's car before she could leave without me.
The first class that morning was science class. Our teacher, Miss Robbin, was about to give a pop quiz. She said that it would count for 10% of our average grade in her class this semester. We were all biting our nails or our pens and pencils as hard as we could, and we were all really nervous.
When I got my paper, it wasn't written in regular letters. Instead, there were little symbols that I couldn't understand. �~rA Y&�$tXA f� I asked Matt if his paper was written with little pictures, too. He showed me his test paper, and it was written the same way as mine, but it didn't seem to bother Matt. I asked Miss Robbin if I could get another sheet. She took my first one to see what was wrong with it. With a strange look, she gave me a new test sheet. I thought that I could finally get on with completing my quiz, but no, it was still written in little symbols. The bell rang and Miss Robbin came around, picking up the papers. I hadn't written much, just my name and the date. And right on the spot, she gave me a failing grade!
At recess, I went outside looking for Matt, so that I could talk to him about what was going on. He was sitting on the bench outside, so I went and joined him. He started talking to me, but now he was speaking that same language I had heard on the radio. I asked him to speak English, but he just answered me with the same language and gave me that weird smile.
I was starting to go crazy! I ran home and almost crashed into the front door. I tore it open, ran in and tripped over the book, which I had dropped in the doorway that morning while in such a hurry to leave.
I phoned my mom to ask her to call the principal to explain that I just couldn't go back to school today. She wouldn't let me off the hook until I gave her a good explanation. I had to start from when I made that wish to find out more about the author of the book I got for my birthday. She seemed to understand, and said that she'd call the principal right away. Then she said, "Oh dear, I must call your father first!" Then she said something else, but it sounded like the strange language I was beginning to hear everywhere else. I could almost understand what my mom was saying, and I did hope that she understood me! Then she hung up.
I went back to the doorway to pick up my book, went to my room and started reading it again. I was desperate to find out what happened next. I thought it might help me with my problems, but the farther I got in the book, the more it was written in the little symbols I had seen on my test. What I saw was $tX AYf�~r&�~fo. I stopped reading and just went outside and stared at the sky for the rest of the afternoon, imagining pictures in the clouds.
When it was time for school to let out, I headed straight to Matt's house to talk to him and ask him a few questions. On the way there I thought up some good questions to ask him, like where did he used to live before he moved here last year, what was that strange language he was speaking, and why was everybody acting so strange?
I reached Matt's house just as he did. He was opening the door when I ran up to him and asked, "Hi, can I come in?" He said sure and asked why I wasn't at school that afternoon. So I got right to explaining everything since yesterday in science class when we took that pop quiz. Then I asked my questions, waiting desperately for some answers, but all I got were some shrugs and those weird smiles again. So, we sat staring at each other for a while. Matt just kept smiling with a pondering look on his face. It freaked me out, so I decided to leave and think all of this over. Matt called after me, "I'm sorry, Take. I can't tell you. Go talk to your parents. I hope that they can clear it up for you. I.. .umm, can't." I realized that even though I could understand what Matt was saying, he was still speaking in that strange language. I was beginning to understand it!
I said goodbye and went out the front door. I saw him through the window of his kitchen. I felt a shiver climb up my back. I had goose bumps all over! I knew it was Matt who had scared me with his constant smiling.
I took his advice and walked home. People on Clear Way Drive, my street, passed me in groups, looking at me and giggling as if there were some joke. Everyone's smiling was getting to be a pain! I didn't even know what was so funny. I hoped to get things straight once and for all.
At home I waited for my parents. I sat in front of the TV and watched my favorite show. It was in the strange language, but now I was used to hearing everyone speak like that.
When my parents got home, they were also speaking that language and the longer they talked, the more I understood them. I asked, "What is it with everyone? You've all been speaking this strange language for the past week and I can barely understand it!" I stopped..they were smiling, just as Matt had been doing while I was at his house. They looked as if they were about to announce something important to me. And so they did.
"Jake, we have something to tell you. And listen closely; it's very important that you know this. We understand why you were complaining about not comprehending anything. You see, this language... Well, you've been speaking it since you could talk. You just never noticed it before. It seemed to you as if everyone spoke English around you, but not all of them did. And it is only now that you have started changing to develop the proper hearing for Phash, the name of our language.
"Your true planet is named Phashopia. We come from there, Matt comes from there, and many people in our community come from there. It is a rule here on Earth that on your eleventh birthday you must be told the secret of the planet and its language. It is when you turn eleven that you are able to hear and comprehend the language. We had forgotten about this tradition and neglected to tell you on your birthday. It was only when you were on the phone, saying that you didn't understand anything that anyone was saying that we remembered. We're sorry for the inconvenience that we both caused you in the past week. Now that you know, everything will begin to seem normal to you again - language, habits, writing - everything in its own time."
I didn't know what to say after that but, "What's for dinner?" My parents felt relieved that I wasn't taking it too seriously.
Now that I know the secret of my real home planet, Phashopia, everything has gone back to normal, just like my parents said it would. I'm glad because I now I can finally finish the untitled book. My parents also told me about the book: Every eleven-year-old gets one, customized to fit his or her life. They are sent from Phashopia to the parents, and they give them to their kids. so, in a way, I'm the author!
Who knows? Maybe soon, when you turn eleven, something will be revealed to you that you never knew...
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