collie


= = =__Shimmer Lake Camp's Secret Forbidden Garden__ = =__By: Annie Kang__ = =__On Behalf of Collie Paws Border__ =

 =BLURB : Unfortunately this Blurb Won't Be Giving Anything Away (Hopefully)! =

An empty bottle, a plan, a Whoopie Cushion, a snotty teacher and 3 best friends are the key to an all new adventure filled with new friends, a boot camp, criminals, a mysterious entry to a brand new world and, for a bonus, several adventurous furry friends. Oh, and of course, every good story should have a war! So read on to reveal the world of Collie Paws Border and release the crazy troubles she's up to now!

= =

**Chapter 1: Detention**
 I swung my legs onto the bench of my school, Melbarrel Middle School, and sighed loudly. Both of my best friends, Labby and Spanny, were at their library duty. Left alone, only a bottle of chocolate milk for company. //SLURRRRRP!!!// Went the bottle as I took one more drink. Oh, great. Now my only company was gone, as well.

I aimed at a rubbish bin nearby, and threw the bottle. It flew towards the bin...and...and...and it bounced off the edge. "Rats!" I muttered. I was just about to reach down and try again when I heard a cold, hard voice scream, "WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, COLLIE PAWS BORDER?" I groaned, pasting a big, bright, fake smile on my face, I turned around and stammered, "Well, um, hello there Mrs Posh, um, f, f, funny seeing you here!"

Yeap, there she was. Mrs Posh. Evil green eyes, perfect blonde hair, a thin line for her mouth...and just about the richest and meanest person I've ever met. Today she was wearing a million dollar silk dress and braids made of gold plaited into her hair. And now she's standing there...and she doesn't look happy. Which wasn't surprising.

"DON'T ACT ALL INNOCENT!" Mrs Posh snapped. "SINCE I AM YOUR TEACHER, I AM TRULY DISAPPOINTED THAT YOU ARE THROWING RUBBISH ON THE GROUND!" "But Mrs Posh I am NOT dropping rubbish!" I protested. "Uh, uh, uh!" Mrs Posh scowled. “No talking back to teachers!" "Huh, what are you going to do about that?" I snorted. "Detention!" and with that, Mrs Posh swept away.

"What was THAT?" Labby gasped, running into view. Good timing...not. "Oh it can't be...don't tell me...detention?" Spanny groaned, popping into the picture, too. "AGAIN? NO!" Labby piped up in horror. I looked up sadly, and moaned, "Detention? YES!" "COLLIE! I knew it! Whenever me or Labby turn our backs, BINGO! You get into detention!" Spanny scolded, shaking her fiery red hair in disgust. "Even though we ARE your besties, and we KNOW it's not your fault, we can't be standing up and taking your falls all the time!" Labby agreed, blowing her OWN blonde hair out of her eyes.

I buried my head in my hands in guilt, which turned into sadness and then into anger. It's not fair that Mrs Posh put me in detention when it's not my fault. I'm not THAT bad. It's not fair SHE gets to embarrass ME in front of everyone and I can't...wait...can I? Sure I can! As an evil plan formed in my evil brain, I stood up, and with an evil smile on my evil face, I grinned evilly.

"Guys...I think I know how to get revenge on Mrs Posh!!!"

**Chapter 2: Revenge is Sweet...Maybe Not**
  = = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> On Friday, I brought Dad's tool box with me to school along with my Wonder Whoopie Cushion, my sing star microphone and some of Mum's nice and comfy REAL cushions, and I stuffed them all into my school bag. Thank goodness Dad became an electrician! On a last minute thought, I pulled out Great Uncle Shot's gun, took out the bullets and secretly stashed it in my school bag, too. Just in case I'll need to use it to scare off some guys.

Later in the afternoon, we were just about to go to the Friday singing assembly. "CHOP CHOP CLASS!" yelled Mrs Posh in that harsh voice of hers. "Um, Mrs Posh, um, well, erm..." "WHAT COLLIE? I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" "Um, Mrs Posh," I tried again, "May I, urgh, go to the toilet?" Mrs Posh snarled. "WELL HURRY UP WITH IT!" and then led the rest of my class to assembly.

When I was sure she was gone, I zoomed to my bag to take out the equipment...and saw Tattley Tellie there as well. Tattley Tellie is the biggest tattle teller in the whole wide world. Tattley was the girl I least wanted to see, because if she saw me and my plan...she would tell on me.

"Why what a pleasant surprise!" Tattley said flatly. "What are you doing here?" "Toilet, DU~H!" I answered even flatter. "You?" "Toilet as well, DU~H!" Tattlely shot back, and disappeared behind the restroom's door.

"Phew!" I muttered, and quickly zipped open my bag. //ZIP!// I gasped. Had Tattley heard me? Luckily there was silence. So I took out the tool box, the sing star microphone, my Wonder Whoopie Cushion, the real cushions and at the same time stuffing Great Uncle Shot's gun-with-no-bullets in my pocket. Then I went to work.

Now, everyone knew in the middle of every Friday assembly, Mrs Posh would go to our classroom and take a seat..."Since I need my beauty sleep." says Mrs Posh.

Because my dad is an electrician, it only took me 20 minutes to put the Whoopie Cushion on Mrs Posh's seat, attached the microphone to it, plus, for an extra bonus, connected the school's speaker to the microphone. Then gleefully I threw mum's real cushions on top of my wonderful creation.

I took a few steps back to admire my work. Perfect. I just hope no one saw me d--- "Collie? What are you doing?" I turned sharply and saw---who else?---Tattley. "Don't you lie!" snorted Tattley, pleased with herself. "I saw you putting that Whoopie Cushion on Mrs Posh's seat! I am **//SO//** telling on you!" Well, there's no point making excuses now. The only way to escape is to--- "//PLEEEEEEEEEASE// don't tell Mrs Posh! //PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!// I am begging on my knees!!!" "Give me your lunch money, then I won't tell." Tattley said smugly. "B, b, but...all right! Deal!" I muttered angrily, and foolishly gave her my lunch money. "Thank you, Collie the dirt brain." smirked Tattley, and together we shuffled to the assembly.

"Why have you taken such a long time?" whispered Spanny, as I sat between her and Labby. "Are you putting your risky plan into action? I tell you, you are taking a dangerous risk!" Labby added worriedly. "Yeah! I hope it works!" I grinned, showing them my crossed fingers. Sure, I look excited enough. But deep down, I have a very, very bad feeling.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Chapter 3: Laugh All You Want! Because YOU are Dead Meat!**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Soon the assembly was in full swing. Then I spotted Mrs Posh sneak out the hall. So far, so good. Suddenly, half way through a song, we heard a super-duper loud Whoopie Cushion fart through the speaker.

"**//PLUUUUURRRRRRGH!//**" For a second, there was silence.Then, everyone started howling with laughter until tears came rolling down their cheeks. Even the TEACHERS had to bit their lips to stop themselves from smiling! Yeap, EVERYBODY.....Well, everybody except the principle, Mr McShout. Suddenly, Mrs Posh came stomping into the room. Just one glance at her bright, fiery red face forced everyone to stop giggling. " <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">**WHO DID THIS? WHO DID THIS? WHO IN** **THE WORLD DID THIS** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">?" Mrs Posh screamed. The hall fell silent. But then, a moment later, Tattley slowly raised her hands.

"Mrs Posh!" she began. Oh no...no no no no no no no no no no no!!! "Collie did it!" NO!!!!!! NO!!! NEVER!!!!! NO! I just wanted to crawl behind Spanny and die. I guess Tattley wasn't called Tattley Tellie for nothing! Oh, I wish I'd realized earlier. I wish I'd listened to Labby's warnings. But it was too late.

Mrs Posh gave me a poisonous glare. Then she started screeching so loudly that I felt like I was turning deaf. "**// COLLIE PAWS BORDER!!! YOU DISGRACEFUL CHILD! YOU ARE IN DETENTION FOR A YEAR, NO, MAKE THAT TWO! YOU ARE A, A, A, A,// A...A...**A...A...A...a...a..." The reason she stopped yelling is that a gun-with-no-bullets was aimed right at her...with a girl with straight brown hair, chocolate eyes and a cheeky grin holding it...ME. "By the time THAT happens, Mrs Posh," I whispered coldly, "You'll be up floating through the clouds!"

It was extremely hard not to laugh. I mean, look at her pale, terrified, trembling face when there were no bullets in Uncle Shot's gun! I looked around the hall, expecting to see sniggering faces. But all I saw were faces of terror. Spanny and Labby looked scared. They saw me looking and mouthed, "Put it down! You are going too far! You might get arrested!" I gasped. They were right. What if I DO get arrested? But then again, I could just say, "There's no bullets in here! I'm joking!" But would they believe me?

Better stick to the story. I turned back and looked into the shocked eyes of Mrs Posh. Suddenly I wanted to laugh. Don't be a coward. Enjoy humiliating her! She deserves it! Hee hee hee hee hee!

But I was concentrating so hard not to laugh out loud that I didn't see Mr McShout reach for his expensive, sleek black cellphone. And I didn't see him flip it open. And I didn't see him call the police.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Chapter 4: Playing Hide and Seek Can be Dangerously Deadly**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Suddenly, Mr Run, the gym teacher, broke the silence. "GET HER!!!" he yelled. "WHOO HOO!" encouraged the teachers as Mr Run lunged himself towards me. “Oh, no...OMIGOD!" I muttered under my breath. I pointed the gun at Mr Run, but did that stop him? Unfortunately, no. I fired, but of course, nothing came out. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! I bet you don't even know how to work that thing!" snarled Mr Run as he kept on charging towards me. Only one thing to do now.

"RUN COLLIE, RUN!" shouted Spanny. "BEFORE HE GETS YOU!" yelped Labby. So I did. I dropped the gun and ran. "Hey!" cried Mr Run in surprise before he bolted after me.

I dashed out the hall (I could've set a world record) and hurried across the field. I didn't look back, but I could hear Mr Run puffing close behind. Now, I am a fantastic runner, and I am always top in gym class. But Mr Run is the TEACHER, so I knew that I can't out run him.

Panting already, I passed the classrooms and dived into a bush. I held my breath. I heard no other movements. I listened closer. Nope. Only crickets chirping. I slowly let out my breath. I lost him. I lost him. I lost h--- "Boo!" whispered a voice beside me. I turned slowly...and saw Mr Run crouched there. "**AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**!" I screamed, and then zoomed off before he could pounce on me.

I tore across the playground and breathlessly turned around. BIG mistake. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING, YOUNG LADY?" Mr Run boomed a footstep behind me. I shrieked, and raced around the school buildings then turned a corner...and bumped right into a police man. Just my luck. Mrs Posh was with him.

"Oh, Heavens, Oh, Lord, Oh Jesus! That's Collie! That's her! I'm sure of it, Chief Arrestpeople!" Mrs Posh yelped. I groaned. I didn't know either to cry or to scream. So I did both. "//**WHAAGHHOOWHAAGHHAGHAGHWHAAAAA!**//" I cried/screamed. Chief Arrestpeople nearly fainted from the noise.

"Now, calm down Miss Border." he said, "I now must ring your family." "//**WHAAGHHOOWHAAGHHOOHAGHWHA!**//" I protested. Translation: "NO! Please don't include my family in this! PLEASE!" somehow Chief Arrestpeople managed to understand me. "Too bad, young lady." he replied. "I have to." "//**WHAA**//...I mean, but..." "No buts. I am calling your parents FULL STOP!" "//**WHAAAAGHHHOOHAGHHOOWAAGHWOOHA!!!**//" "Sorry, Miss Border." Chief shrugged. "But the reason I am calling your parents is that I have a feeling...that you would be sent to boot camp."

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Chapter 5: Shimmer Lake Camp is the Bomb...Yeah, Right**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> If you have never been to Shimmer Lake Camp before, take my advice: DON'T EVEN DREAM TO GO. At least it's a girls only camp with no snotty boys! "Oh, my darling Collie!" my Mum, Violet Petals Border, wept. "What a poor, poor girl!" my Dad, Sudukie, stood nearby, hands on hips, looking furious. Mike, my stupid 14 year old brother, didn't even bother to do anything. He was too fascinated by the motorbike race showing on the teeny tiny screen of the helicopter. Labby and Spanny each sat on one of the red leather seats. Their family sat, too, and also cried and cried and wept and wept. Labby, Spanny and I were all too stunned to squeeze some tears.

See, the reason Labby and Spanny are here was because in the end the judges decided that THEY were guilty, too, since they KNEW I was up to no good but still didn't tell a soul (they should get points for being loyal best friends instead). So they were coming to Shimmer Island with me to attend the Boot Camp.

"WOW!" Mike suddenly shrieked. "I can't BELIEVE number 12, Jackson Miller, just spun off course!" "I can't believe I'm on a jet black helicopter! Anyway, zip it, Mike!" snapped Dad. "And stop wasting your eyes on some stupid motorbike race. Why not use your brain on some useful suduko questions?" "Sudukie!" Mum gasped, "Don't speak to Mike that way! Anyway, stop watching that T.V, Mike honey. Come and say farewell to your sister Collie! Maybe even give her some pretty, refreshing flowers! Oh Collie we really are going to miss you so much!"

"Mum, we're only going there for 6 months!" I groaned. "6 months? Only 6 MONTHS? 6 months are way too long!" Labby's mother, Mrs Retriever, barked. "I don't know why my sweetie Spanny has to go. She is **//so//** innocent! It's all Collie's fault, no offence Mrs Border!" Spanny's mum, Mrs Cocker sniffed. "Mum! Just stop being so rude." Spanny snorted. "It's not Collie's fault! It's Mrs Posh's fault!" agreed Labby.

"KIDS!" boomed a deep voice. "We've landed on Shimmer Island!" I looked out of the helicopter's window and whistled. This place is a beauty! Swaying palm trees, golden sand glistening, sapphire blue sea, waves lapping over each other. This could be a total vacation for me! I can't believe this is where bad kids go...or can I?

I looked around. Only one enormous house dotted the island. And that house doesn't look pretty. It was giant, big enough to fit an army, but it looked spooky. Very old. Covered in blobs and blobs of mould. I could just imagine rats sqawking and nibbling in that house. The roof was rotting away, and tattered pieces wood sprinkles the ground. The front door was half broken, so when the wind blew it made a creepy squeaky noise. It looked like a haunted house out of a freaky movie, but instead this time it's real.

"Out." Two police men shoved us out the door. Mum gave me a kiss, and tearfully whispered, "Goodbye honey. I will miss you." then my emotional mother started crying. "Farewell!" Everyone waved, and with Mums crying, Dads comforting and brothers sniggering, the helicopter took off again.

"Are we LIVING there?" Spanny pointed at the "haunted" house in disbelief. "You HAVE to be JOKING!" "Where else?" Grumbled one of the police men gruffly. Soon we approached the house and stumbled in. An sun-burnt man greeted us. "Hey there, kiddos! My name is Andy Suntan and I am the directer of this camp. Anyway, welcome to Shimmer Lake Camp! The reason ya are here is because ya did bad things since ya do not find confidence in yarselves. This is the place where ya find and seek confidence in yarselves. Now here are the rules. Respect yarselves and all the other kids. Respect is a big word and so it has alot of meanings. For example..." Blah blah blah blah blah blah. How many stupid rules ARE there? After what it seems like hours, Andy FINALLY finished. "...And so remember the rules and ya won't get in trouble. Okay, see ya around! And remember, WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!" But inside, I knew that none of us felt welcome. No. None of us at all.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Chapter 6: Trying to Survive**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "Get in!" the police men grunted as they shoved us into a little cabin. "Ewwww!" cried Labby in disgust as we entered the room. Ewwww indeed. The paint on the wall was peeling off and junks littered the room. Banana peels were scattered lazily here and there, empty chippie packets were thrown around the cabin, icky green blobs of mould stuck to the ceiling and two other girls were yawning on their beds. Hmm... could they be trusted?

"There. Now get unpacked." muttered the police men and thrusted our bags at us before they left. "Whatcha waiting for?" a girl with spiky reddish brown hair with black streaks in it, muscular shoulders and long tanned legs hissed. "Get unpacked, NOW!" "So what if we don't?" Spanny fired back bravely. "We're your cabin buddies, so if you let us down, we gotta take the fall with you, get it now, dirt brain cabin BUDDY?" Black Streaks said, and when she said the word "buddy" she said it like it was a swear word.

So she's NOT to be trusted. How about that other girl? "H, h, hi there! M, my name is Bingie Beagle, w, what's your n, names?" the other girl whispered shyly. Bingie is very, very, very pretty. Even more sweeter than Labby and Spanny put together. She has curly strawberry blonde hair, big, magical dark blue eyes and a killer figure. She seems nice. MAYBE she could be trusted.

So we introduced ourselves and then Spanny quietly mumbled, "What's HER name?" "The girl with black streaks in her hair? She's Strikey McSnobby. I've never liked her." answered Bingie, a disgusted look on her face. "How long have you been here, anyway?" I questioned Bingie. Bingie looked at me sadly. "Three months." she groaned, "I HATE it here." "Do you have any friends here?" Labby asked curiously. "Oh sure!" Bingie suddenly beamed, "Gigi Shepherd and Wawa Chihuahua. They're awesome!"

"DINNER TIME!" yelled the cook whose name was Mrs Badia Cookna Disgustifie (Bingie told us that). "ALREADY?" I cried, "But it's only 4:00 p.m!" "We eat early because every night we would go bush walking." explained Bingie. "NIGHT?" Labby screamed. She is afraid of the dark. I was startled too. NIGHT? //BUSH WALK?// It just doesn't fit. "I SAID DINNER TIME! ARE YOU KIDS DEAF?" repeated Mrs Disgustifie. "Coming Mrs Disgustifie!" we all chorused, and settled down in the cafeteria.

The cafeteria looked like it has experienced many food fights. I don't want to get into too much detail, so if you want to imagine the worst, go ahead. If you hate gross stuff and can't be bothered to imagine anything, skip this bit. So again, ewwww....

Soon the thing that was supposed to be our dinner was served. It looked green. And lumpy. And cold. And disgusting. When I looked VERY closely, I realized it was cold pea soup. Yuck. Really yuck. Totally yuck. Super yuck. "NOW EAT!" annouced Mrs Disgustifie, pleased that she made a, umm, urgh, ahem, meal.

No one was eating. Everyone was gossiping. "Hey you three new guys, what crimes brought you here?" a girl with black lipstick, black nails, black clothes, black hair, black makeup and black shoes snarled at us. She MUST be a goth. "I pretended to kill my teacher." I muttered guiltly. "OMG that is like SO lame!" Black All Over snorted. "I DID kill my teacher." My blood went cold. Creepy. "Blackiana Black! Stop picking on the new girls!" Bingie cried defensively. "Oh, okay. Then I'll TEASE them instead!" Blackiana smirked, "So, BLONDIE WONDIE, what's up? Ooooh! Can I warm my hands, FIRE HEAD? Can I eat that blob of brownie on your head, BROWNIE GIRL?"

Oh, man. Spanny and Labby looked hurt. They never liked being teased about their hair colour. Neither do I. My fists were clenched and I gritted my teeth. We've been here for only 5 minutes, met about 4 people, and only ONE of them was kind? Something tells me that it's gonna take a lot of effort to survive here in Shimmer Lake Camp.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Chapter 7: The Midnight Bush Walk Plus Friends (Hurrah!)**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "GET YOUR COATS! GET YOUR JACKETS! TIME FOR THE BUSH WALK!" our cabin leader, Mr Noah Impatient, yelled. I yawned. It's 8:00 p.m already, and wrapped in coats and jackets, my cabin buddies and Mr Impatient started heading off to join the others for the Midnight Bush Walk. Stars were shining, winds whistled around us and darkness swallowed us whole. Well, what a beautiful night. But I STILL don't feel comfortable to walk in the bush. I'd rather be snuggled up in bed, thank you very much.

"OFF WE GO! ONE TWO THREE FOUR, ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" shouted Mr Impatient as he marched us to join the other bad kids. As we got closer to the huddled group, I saw two girls scanning the crowd, looking for someone. One girl had straight, long black hair tied up in a neat ponytail. She was tall and a little chubby with melted chocolate eyes and a big, warm smile. The other girl was slightly shorter and thinner than the first one. She had short, very blonde hair---nearly white, cute freckles, emerald green eyes and dimples when she grinned.

Suddenly the two girls saw us heading their way. They saw Bingie among us. Then, without warning, the two started yelling and yelping and screaming and shouting. "BINGIE!!!" "OVER HERE!!!" "COME ON! JOIN US!!!" Bingie's eyes lit up when she saw them, and she started running and waving madly towards them. "WAWA! GIGI!" she cried happily. "Kids." muttered Mr Impatient in disgust as Bingie started hugging the two girls frantically.

"Hey, Collie! Spanny! Labby! Come meet my friends, Gigi and Wawa!" called Bingie excitedly. We all waddled bashfully towards them, wondering if we should join the Hug-A-Thon. When they FINALLY stopped the hugging, Bingie told us that the girl with straight black hair was called Gigi, and the one with freckles and dimples was called Wawa. "Um... urgh... hi?" Labby mumbled, more like a question than a statement. "Hello!" smiled Wawa sweetly, before someone yelled in a big, booming voice, "LINE UP, LINE UP, BUSH WALK TIME!"

"I hate the dark." whimpered Labby. "A, I dunno, WOLF might jump out at us!" whined Spanny. "But wolves are, um, CUTE, don't you think?" I said uncertainly. Suddenly, that same, big, booming voice cried, "Hey useless teenagers! My name is Brad Stonecoldheart, which you probably knew, and I am the deputy principal, or should I say, the co-leader, of this camp! So you better watch out, yeah, you better take care. You get in my way then you'll better beware!" Brad smirked. "My motto. Now let's start walking! And ZIP THOSE LIPS, as in SHUT UP!" "Hm!" Spanny sniffed, clearly not impressed. "His motto 'you better watch out, yeah, you better take care. You get in my way then you better beware' sounds like something copied right off a song!" "It IS copied right off a song! Remember? That Sunnybrae production song?" Labby confessed. "That? Oh, yeah but that doesn't exist in this story. Sunnybrae is REALITY, not FANTASY like this!" I complained.

Anyway, back to imagination and fantasy. We then tiptoed into the bush. Before long, the smell of fresh pine cones and grass wafted into our noses. It was so gentle and silent that the only noises were the crunching of leaves on the ground as we walked all over them and the trees rustling against the cool, autumn breeze. I saw several neat pebbles that were shaped like flowers. Cool! So I happily slipped them in my pocket, knowing that they were collection material. But then before I could move, it happened.

"HEY YOU!" Brad the Sad suddenly yelled in my direction. "Who? M, m, me?" I stammered innocently. "YES, YOU!" Brad the Bad shouted, "WHAT'S IN YOUR POCKET?" I slowing pulled the stones out of my pocket. "P, p, p, pebbles." I whispered nervously, "I've got pebbles." "IS THAT SO?" screamed Brad the Mad. "WELL THEN PUT IT DOWN! TAKE NOTHING BUT PICTURES, LEAVE NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS!" "Okay! FINE! See? I am putting them down! See? Now I dropped them. HAPPY?" I muttered, annoyed.

Good grief. Brad the Sad/Bad/Mad covers all the three S's. Sly, Strict and Stupid. Not surprising. What a jerk! What a idiot! What a truly stupid guy! Boot Camp is SERIOUSLY dumb. Really, I mean it.

"LIGHTS OUT!" Mr Impatient yelled loudly soon after our exhausting bush walk. "Wait, I'm not ready!" I cried, "I need to wash my face!" "Me either!" Spanny yelped, "I need a cup of water! I'm thirsty to death!" "Gimme one more minute!" Labby gasped. "I need to brush my hair!" "Too late now!" snarled Mr Impatient, ready to turn off the lights. We all hurried to our bunks (Strikey was already snoozing---what a lazy pig)! "Good night!" mumbled Bingie sleepily. "You sure I won't fall off the top bunk?" I asked for the zillionth time. "YES NOW SHUT UP AND SLEEP!" shouted Mr Impatient impatiently and switched off the light. After that there was darkness and silence.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Chapter 8: A Secret Unknown And Unlocked**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "GET UP, GET MOVING! WAKE UP PIGS!" The impatient voice of Mr Impatient woke me up. Yawning, I stretched and sat up sleepily. I looked at my watch. "ONLY 4:00 a.m?" I shrieked, loud enough to wake up Spanny and Labby. That's when I realized that Bingie and Strikey were already up and dressed, beds without a wrinkle and weren't even yawning. I guess they do this every day...yawn... "GET UP!" screamed Mr Impatient angrily, "OR ELSE WE'LL BE IN HUGE TROUBLE!" So we obeyed.

"Today we are gonna go on a 6 hours hike!" Brad cheerfully announced when we were all gathered around our "meeting place"...outside the cabins, to be exact. Many kids groaned when Brad said that. "Yes, 6 hours! And 40 kilometres!" Brad sounded so happy that anyone could've mistaken that he won the lottery. "And after that, it'll be your FREE TIME!" I cheered. So did a lot of other girls. "But first, the hike." grinned Brad, "After all, no pain, no gain!"

"Huff! Puff! Huff puff huff puff huff puff! I, huff, think, puff, I am going to, huff, DIE!" I wheezed to Spanny, Labby, Bingie, Wawa and Gigi. "Wheeze, wheeze, huff, puff, don't worry, puff, remember, huffy puffy, FREE TIME!" Wawa told me with a grunt of effort. "I don't think, puff, this worth it!" Labby muttered. I totally agreed. My sides were aching, my lungs were exploding and my legs were turning into wibbly-wobbly jelly. Mr Run would not be proud of me for this. Of course, Labby and Spanny were worse. They were close to tears and closer to giving up.

"FINALLY!" I cried out happily as soon as I set foot on the top of the mountain we were climbing. "Well done Collie." smirked Brad evilly, "Now... let's start walking down hills!" Oh fabulous. Not.

"Okay kids, good job!" Brad smiled after the Walk Down The Very Sloped Mountain. "Now, you have deserved 1 hour FREE TIME!" Screams and cheers erupted and gently faded away again... since everybody ran off. "Um, bye Collie, Spanny and Labby!" Gigi cried quickly, "Wawa, Bingie and me has to do...um, //something//!" And with that, all three of them fled away. "I want to go rest my feet!" groaned Spanny, as she took a big, big, big slurp of water from her blue drink bottle. "Come on guys!" I argued, "This could be the only chance we could get to go PLAY!" "I guess." shrugged Labby. "Cool! Then let's go exploring! How about a trip to Shimmer Lake Camp's garden? We haven't been there before!" I grinned excitedly, "Didn't Andy Suntan say it's left, right, left again then straight ahead?"

"I'm bored." Labby moaned as we moved around the "garden". The garden wasn't big, but it wasn't tiny, either. Long grass grew on the sludgy, muddy ground and giant oak trees were rooted to the sludgy, muddy ground. Mini flowers bloomed on the sludgy, muddy...oh forget it. You know what I mean. "I am totally bored as well!" Spanny complained as she leaned against the brick wall on the other side of the garden/jungle/forest and skimmed her hand across a loose brick. That's when it started.

As soon as Spanny's hands touched the loose brick, the wall began to budge slowly. Silently a huge block of brick fell, making a hole big enough to squeeze my whole body through. "...Wow..." Labby whispered. WOW! How cooler can it get when you just found a SECRET DOORWAY? "Awesome!" Spanny grinned, "Ready to go through this? I mean, this could lead to a Fairyland or something!" "Whatever Spanny!" Labby laughed, "Get real. Get a life. Get a grip!" There goes Labby, being her sensible, I-am-older-than-you-guys act. But still, she didn't need a second invitation. Eagerly she crawled through, since she's the eldest but shortest.

"What do you see?" I yelled, for that Spanny and I could no longer see the shadow of Labby, which meant she had made it to the other side. Labby didn't answer. "LABBY RETRIEVER!" Spanny shouted, "CAN YOU HEAR US?" "Labby stop playing around! What is on the other side?" I joined in the bellowing. There was a brief pause. Then came a small whisper. "Oh...my...goodness." "Labby? Are you there?" "Oh...my...goodness." "Um...what's up, Labby?" "Oh...my...goodness." I gave Spanny a knowing look, then we both scrambled through the hole. The sight that greeted us was shocking. "Oh my goodness!" Spanny and I chorused, like we rehearsed it.

There was Labby... Bingie, Wawa, Gigi were there too. And not only that, but right before my eyes... was the 'doggiest' field in the world.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Chapter 9: The Truth of the Dog Covered Field**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Dogs of or sorts and sizes filled the field. Young puppies, old dogs, small puppies, giant dogs, fat puppies, skinny dogs...you know. There was a Labrador Retriever, a Beagle, a Cocker Spaniel, a German Shepherd, a Chihuahua, e.t.c. Hey, did I say there was also a Border Collies? Yeah...Border Collie. The dog that I am probably NAMED after! OMG! I dived for the black and white Border Collie the second my eyes finished scanning the doggy field. I'm in //looooove// BIG TIME!

//"//Gruff! Ruff! Ruuuuff! Gruuuff!" the Collie happily licked my face all over like I'm a tasty chocolate bar the minute I ruffled her fur (positive she's a girl). "WHO IS IT?" yelled Bingie sharply in surprise. Strangely enough, her voice was slightly higher than normal, but I soon forgot about that. "Oh!" Wawa cried, "It's Collie, Spanny and Labby! W, w, when? W, why?" "We were bored so we came to the garden right after the climb." I told them truthfully, "Then Spanny touched a loose brick and well, here we are. So, wow this is so cool! When did you find out? Why a secret door? Omigosh, they are SO cute---" "You must PROMISE, PROMISE, PROMISE not to breathe a word to ANYONE! You MUST keep this a secret!" Gigi hissed furiously, cutting me off. "Urgh...why?" I asked stupidly. "Well, it's the, um, 124th rule." admitted Wawa, "You're forbidden to have dogs OR puppies or ANYTHING furry here."

"WHAT?" Spanny, Labby and I all gasped in disbelief. "Yeah. Don't you know?" Bingie frowned, rolling her eyes. "We couldn't be bothered listening." shrugged Spanny, tickling the Cocker Spaniel under his chin (A boy, from the look of it).

"How did they get here in the first place?" Labby questioned, giggling as the Labrador Retriever circled around and around her playfully. "Well, this house has got history. It's at least 90 years old." answered Gigi. Why am I not surprised...?

"My dad told me this before I got dropped off at this boot camp. The last owner of this house was a detective called Rodger Secret, and he loved dogs and puppies. So he adopted puppies, saved puppies from drowning and even took care of the abandoned puppies on streets." Gigi began.

"He was very happy. Until Andy Suntan decided to use this house as a boot camp." she sighed, "Even the government agreed. They told Rodger that he'll have to move. Rodger was heartbroken. He didn't have enough money to take the dogs with him overseas. Poor Rodger. So he decided to leave the dogs here with plenty of food and water---vegetables and wells. When he heard that puppies are not allowed here...he built this secret brick wall with a secret entrance, so no one could put down the dogs. He told everyone he killed the puppies and promised that he will be back one day before he went to California."

"Wow." I glared at Gigi impressively, "Then did he come back?" "Nope. After 4 years, he still didn't come back. Yet." Bingie answered. "He must be too much of a chicken!" I raised my eyebrow. That's not very nice! "Hey...wait a second!" Spanny suddenly piped up, "Gigi, how did your dad know?" "I don't really know." Gigi screwed up her face, "Dad SAID Rodger was his friend. I've never met him before. Dad SAID Rodger used to go to the same, um, university as him. I've never heard of a guy called Rodger until dad told me. But then..." "Then what?" Labby encouraged. "Then dad gave me a PHOTO of Rodger." Gigi continued, "If you don't believe me, then look for yourself."

Gigi slowly pulled out a coloured photo from her pocket, the way you would pull out a precious diamond ring. The guy in the photo has sandy, shaggy, messy blonde hair. He has giant dark blue eyes and a shiny white smile. The guy looks like he is in his early thirties. Beside his tanned legs was a smart German Shepherd. "Hey, Gigi...no offence, but that guy could be any random dude." Labby pointed out. "I thought so at first too. But...look at that big golden badge pinned on his chest!" Gigi jerked her chin towards the photo. We looked. And looked. And looked. And looked until I thought that my eyes would pop out (sick, I know. But that's how I felt). On the big golden badge, carved the name: **Officer Rodger Secret**.

Finally, Wawa spoke up. "Um...why are you three staring like you've never stared before?" We kept on looking, only the chirps of crickets answering her. Then Wawa said the magic sentence that unfroze us all. "Quit staring! You're all wasting time. Why stare when you could be playing with the puppies?"

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 10: Playing Games and Introducing Names
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "Hey, over here!" I yelled, clapping my hands wildly and whistling frantically. Spanny, Labby and I have been told that the dogs are well trained. We agreed that we should play a game with the pups since they're so intelligent.

The Border Collie barked excitedly, her tail wagging so furiously that it might fall off. If she could talk I bet she'll be yelping, "All right! A game of something-weird! Whatever that is, I like the attention!"

This is how the game works: We people surround a dog. We'll clap and shout and scream and yell and whistle madly to see which one of us the dog will go to. The Chihuahua went to Wawa. The German Shepherd went to Gigi. The Beagle...went nowhere. He just sat down and stayed down. I couldn't tell if Bingie was disappointed or not. The same thing happened with the Jack Russell, the Poodle and all those other dogs. But then the chocolate Labrador Retriever went to Labby. And the Cocker Spaniel went to Spanny. Now finally it's the Border Collie's turn.

"Come here, Border Collie!" "Border Collie Wollie, here." "Good doggy woggy, good doggy! !" Everyone knew that I fancied the Border Collie, but we all must play by the rules. My palms went all sweaty. Does the Border Collie like me? Or am I just a weird stranger? "Woof! Gruff!" the Border Collie woofed, and after a short pause, charged right at me. "Easy buddy! WHOA!" I cried as the Border Collie bumped into me, begging for an ear rub which she probably deserved.

"Hey..." Labby mumbled thoughtfully, "I've got an idea. If we haven't done it yet." We just looked at her. That's a good way to get someone talking. "How about we NAME those dogs?" Labby finished, eyes gleaming. "Um...we WOULD..." started Gigi, "If we COULD...but we CAN'T so we WON'T." "What?" Spanny frowned, clearly confused. "We would if we could but we can't so we won't." repeated Gigi, "Meaning we'd LOVE to name them...but if we name them they'll be like our pets. And they're not ours. And anyway, Rodger Secret probably named them already, so I guess they won't come if we call their names." "Oh." Labby sighed, shoulders slumped. But then her eyes flashed and I could almost see an idea pinging into her brain and a light bulb flashing above her head. "What if we keep on calling names and the names they respond to would be their names?" She was really excited...she was kinda blabbing. "Well...I guess that could work." agreed Gigi, "What do you guys think?"

"Um...Goldie!" Labby called to the Labrador. One puppy responded to Gigi when she called Lightning---the German Shepherd. And the Beagle barked when Bingie called Actavia (yeah...Actavia. We went THAT far). When it was Wawa's turn, she called Tina the Tiny and the Chihuahua came running. Now it's Labby's turn.I felt like laughing. Goldie...the Labrador isn't even near golden with her chocolate fur! And so yeah, the Goldie didn't even turn around. "Hm...um...urgh...oh! Yeah! Daisey!" Labby cried as she spotted a bunch of daisies. The Labrador's ears pricked up. Then the Labrador came yelping, barking and grinning. "WHOO HOO! YES! Oh yeah! I've got your name!" cheered Labby, dancing and celebrating, "Your turn Spanny!" "Oh. Okay. Ahem. Um, Jane?" Spanny stuttered. "Ur...Spanny...that's a dog, not a girl." Bingie told her. "Are you BLIND or something?" Indeed, the Corker Spaniel hardly moved. Spanny thought for a while, her head resting on her hand, looking just like The Thinker. Suddenly, she jumped up, and yelled, "DIXIE! DIXIE! Like a pixie!" Sure enough. The dog woofed, then 'gruffed', then started licking Spanny all over. "Goooo Collie!" she laughed, "Name that dog!"

My throat felt dry. I was nervous. But excited, big time. "Um...Spo, spo, spotty?" no. "Sunny?" nah. "Jessa?" nope. "Furball?" never. "Fluffy?" whatever. "Help?" I croaked. Suddenly the Border Collie sighed and started scratching at the wall casually. Where she was scratching was right under the words: ShiMMeR LakE CaMp. Whoever wrote that can't put their capitals in the right place. Especially the word Shimmer. Wait a sec... "Shimmer...SHIMMER!" I cried loudly to the Border Collie. She yelped happily, and darted towards me. "SHIMMER IT IS!" I smiled, pleased. "Here, Shimmer! You like that name don't you?" "Come here, Tina Tiny!" "Zoom zoom Lightning!" "Action, Actavia!" "DAISEY! Sit, girl!" "Good boy Dixie."

We played and played with the dogs. And played. And played. And... "KIDS!!!" roared a familiar voice that belongs to Brad (unfortunately), "TIME FOR THE, YES, YOUR PERSONAL 25KM RUN!" "Does he HAVE to sound so pleased with himself?" groaned Bingie, making a face that said 'I guess we gotta go. Bummer.' After a jumble of byes and kisses and waves and pats to the puppies, we pushed the wall lightly and squashed through the secret (what a LOT of secrets in this chapter) exit. "Tomorrow, sweetie." promised Spanny as the way to the sludgy, muddy garden started to close. So we all wiggled out and rushed to our 'meeting place' (outside the cabins).

"Tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after after that." I grinned to myself. I suppose I'll be seeing the dogs for a long time.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 11: What We Heard is Not Our Fault
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> So just like that, 4 months (filled with more 40 kilometres hikes, very very very very very very heavy weight lifting, a nasty but harmless snake bite, 28 kilometres swims and yucky icky 'food' like cold lumpy bumpy ROTTEN custard made with ROTTEN bananas. Ewww...) went past in a blur of dogs fur. Everything seemed fine now that Bingie and her gang entered my life...with those adorable little puppies following them. That is, until this afternoon...

"BREAK TIME!" Brad finally called out to us, breaking the gloom and groans after the very cold, very tiring, very hard 28 kilometres swim. Phew! At last, time to meet up with the dogs! "Let's GO, guys!" Labby yelled impatiently, "Remember? We have to do that...'thing?'" "Oh, yeah!" I played along, although I DID roll my eyes a bit at how pathetic that sounded. "Hey, can we come with you guys to do that...'thing?'" the Nosey twins, Hayley and Heather, chipped in. Oh, now what? Luckily, Spanny came to our rescue. "Sorry, Hayley, sorry, Heather." Spanny lied, "What we are doing is, um, grabbing some sweets." Good one, Spanny! We all know that the Nosey twins hate ANYTHING with sugar in it. And yeap, now they're pulling a face and turning away. Hurrah!

"You guys..." Bingie muttered, "I need to go talk to Mrs Disgustifie in the cafeteria! Go without me!" And with a quick, half-hearted wave, she took off. "OKAY! BYE!" Wawa shouted, and then grinned, "Shall we?"

"Shimmer, sit. Shimmer, STAY!" I ordered my dog, slowing stepping away from her. Shimmer quivered, but stayed. On my 15th step, she barked and looked hopefully at me with her enchanting big brown eyes. "Okay, okay." I sighed, "Shimmer...COME!" Shimmer came. Fast. And smashed into me with joy. "Gruff!" she panted happily. "Good girl, aren't you a good girl!" I gushed, all mushy mushy. Shimmer yelped, and ran over to Lightning, Tina, Actavia, Daisey and Dixie and started slurping up water from the short well beside them. That water made me realize that I was busting for the toilet. REALLY busting.

"Um...somebody?" I groaned in this dumb squeaky voice, "Take me to the toilet? I mean, I STILL don't know where the, um, toilet is." "Well then, I'LL be that 'somebody!'" replied Gigi cheerfully, and then added with a whisper, "Trust me. The toilets are...PUKE! You're lucky that someone agrees to take you." "Que!" I splattered out, meaning, "Thank you!" but not managing to say that since my bladder is now //SCREAMING//!!!

"Hey, here is the cafeteria! I wonder if Bingie's still in here!" While Gigi was buzzing around having a chit-chat with herself, I was trying REALLY hard not to burst out saying, "CAN WE GO TO THE TOILET ALREADY?" "Oh, here we are!" Gigi finally declared, shoving open a door.

Oh...oh...okay...PUKE! VOMIT! BLURGH! HURL! BARF! (Vomiting noises). The bathroom...needs a MAJOR makeover. Imagine the sickest toilet you've ever been to. Now times that by one billion. No, make that TWO billions. Yeah, sick, hmm?

And luckily, my bladder knows a gross toilet when it sees one. Especially this one. It stopped screaming right away. "Gigi...I don't want to go any more." I whispered. "I'm not surprised." nodded Gigi, and suddenly tore towards the cafeteria. "Bingie's not here!" "That's funny." I called back, "Shall we look for her?" "I don't see why not." agreed Gigi and started to strode down the hall, eyes darting from left to right. "Wait for me!" I hissed, slammed the yucky bathroom door shut, and tip-toed behind her.

That's when we heard those voices coming from Brad's office. Voices we instantly recognized. "So yeah, Dad." said Bingie, "Can you BELIEVE that they DARED to break that rule?" "Well done, my smart girl Natalie." Brad smiled, "I //thought// that those girls had something hiding!" "Yeah!" smirked Bingie, "And I can't believe that they actually LIKE dogs! Ewww!" "Uh huh." Brad smirked back, "Maybe sometimes you should bring me to that...doggy field with that...SECRET entrance. Then I will //KILL// those no-good dogs, and add their heads to my collection! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Oh, and Natalie Stonecoldheart dear? Keep on acting!" "Of course, father." Bingie cried, "I didn't win that Young Actor prize for nothing!"

I looked at Gigi fearfully, and realized that we both some how ended up sticking against the wall like detectives do. "I think we've heard enough. More than enough." whispered Gigi without really moving her lips. Then she slowly peeled herself away from the wall and quickly scurried towards the exit, with a pale-faced me following RIGHT behind her.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 12: The Very Awful, Very Terrible, Very Risky Idea of...?
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "Do you think that means that Bingie is really this Natalie girl?" cried Wawa when me and Gigi told the others the news we'd heard. "And that BRAD is her DAD?" "I guess." I mumbled, still in shock. "They are so...CRUEL. I mean...k, k, killing puppies and g, g, getting their h, h, heads for c, c, collection...that's just...a c, c, crime!" Labby sniffled. She got the worst shock out of all of us, since she love love love love LOVES dogs even more than ME. And I'm a pretty big fan. Labby even SOBBED when we got to the killing part. "I thought Bingie---or is it Natalie?---is my friend Or should I say, WAS." Spanny choked out. "I thought so too. But..." I started, but snapped my mouth shut the second I saw Bingie/Natalie coming through the secret entrance.

"Hi guys!" called Bingie/Natalie. "Um, um, um, hi." Gigi said rather quickly. It was hard to imagine that this cheerful, pretty girl in front of us was included in a... 'crime', as Labby would put it. Suddenly I felt angry. Bingie/Natalie betrayed us. Betrayed. I hate that word. I want to put Bingie/Natalie in a pickle. And I know how to do that.

"Hey, you know Brad? Isn't he SO stupid?" I yelled loudly. Bingie/Natalie looked at me with narrowed eyes. "I think he is okay. Don't be so sad! I thought you were nice!" Bingie/Natalie sniffed. "And hey, when we looked in the cafeteria you weren't there. Where did you go?" I continued slyly. Bingie/Natalie went all...stiff. Her face was whiter than a sheet. And she didn't utter a word. She looked at me strangely. I think she was startled. Spanny leaned over and whispered, "Good shot, Collie." Then Bingie/Natalie muttered something about not understanding what we were on about and then disappeared.

"SHE IS GUILTY!" announced Wawa as soon as Bingie/Natalie went. "Yeah, she is guilty. Hurrah. Wow. Whoo hoo." said Gigi in a half-hearted way. "You see, Gigi was the first one that met Bingie. Ahem, I mean Natalie." explained Wawa, "She thought that B---um, Natalie, was the best-est friend a girl could get. Wow, was she wrong." "There's no such word as best-est." Labby the-human-dictionary pointed out. "Yeah, whatever." Wawa shrugged, "You know what I mean." "Wawa..." began Gigi in a stern voice, "Not only that, but also...now we know what's going on...um, what now?"

"Oh! I KNOW!" jumped up Spanny, "I know what we can do!" When Gigi said that what-now, we all started shooting off ideas. And so far we only got one idea. A sloppy, dumb one that Labby suggested: "Let's go to the SPCA!" Which was really stupid, since there was no SPCA on this shimmery little island. If there were, then non of this would've happened in the first place. Or the second place. We all leaned in eagerly, wondering if Spanny's idea would be the one that will solve our planet-sized problem. "Let's burn up Brad's office! And let's capture Bingie! And make them our slaves!" Spanny shouted gleefully. "I wish." muttered Wawa, her hopeful expression fading away.

"Oh, Lightning. What can we do?" sighed Gigi, 45 minutes later. She was sitting on a sparkly, smooth, silver rock and was scratching Lightning on the head. "Gruff?" woofed Lightning playfully, looking happily up at Gigi. The dogs must have sensed how frustrated we were, and so they were panting, barking and playing at our feet. "Hey, guys...um, I HATE to say this, but our break time is almost over." admitted Labby, "I think we should start heading to the exit now, hmm?" All of a sudden, an idea flicked into my head when Labby said the word 'exit'. It was a bad idea. A VERY bad idea. So bad it almost made me cry. But no on else is saying anything right now, are they?

"Um, attention everyone." I stammered uncertainly, "I've got an idea. A super-duper bad idea. You with me so far?" I looked around, expecting to see puzzled faces. But instead I saw nervous expressions. "Okay. So, THIS is a TERRIBLY bad idea. It's really bad. But it might work."

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 13: The V. Bad Start of the Day
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> //Author's note: Hi, this is Annie Kang speaking. Before we get back to the story, here's something you should know. 13 isn't a very lucky number. It isn't a lucky number AT ALL. And this is chapter 13. In one of my other books, I simply crossed chapter 13 out, but unfortunately that didn't keep the bad luck away. So I guess you'll just have to take a deep breath, and keep on reading with your fingers crossed.//

I had a sleepless night. I counted sheep. That didn't work. I counted dogs. That just made me feel worse. I tossed and turned and twisted and twirled (how can you TWIRL in a bed?). The snores of Strikey McSnobby didn't help much, either. When the sun FINALLY popped out, I had dark circles under my eyes and my friends looked restless as well.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. When Brad yelled, "Break time!" It felt like he was dropping his jaw sooo slowly that it sounded like this, "B-r-e-a-k t-i-m-e!" When Wawa, Gigi, Spanny and Labby yanked my arms hard and cried, "LET'S GO!" The pain of their grip travelled sooo slowly through my body. And I hardly understood what they were saying.

It got even worse when we pushed into the doggy field. The dogs all look...MAD, somehow. They were growling and grouching and SNARLING at us, including my Shimmer! Bingie/Natalie was already there. And she was looking...EVIL. "Oh, it's you guys." smiled Bingie/Natalie evilly, "Um, I gotta go. I'm, um, going to get something to eat." and with a sneer, she added, "Um, good luck, have //fun//!" before she exited.

"Sh, sh, Shimmer!" I pleaded nervously, "It's m, m, me! Collie Paws Border! P, p, please stop growling! PLEASE! Pretty please! With cherry on top!" unfortunately, dogs don't always understand English.

"GRUUUUUUUGH!!!!" Shimmer snarled, leaping on top of me and knocking me flat onto the ground. I saw that all the other psycho puppies were either leaping and knocking or BITING and SCRATCHING. Ouch. And you know what? Shimmer, my gorgeous Border Collie, was now doing exact that (the biting and scratching thingy, I mean). I noticed that Spanny was the only one standing now, and her Dixie was //THIS// close to attacking.

Suddenly, Gigi screamed out from under Lightning, "SPANNY! GO, RUN, RUN LIKE THE WIND AND GET ME SOME PEPPER! GO! GO! HURRY!" I've never saw Spanny run so fast before in my life. Then, Gigi started mumbling a chant: //"Mad as a hatter, dry as a bone, red as a beet, and the heart beats alone."// "Um, Gigi..." I coughed, "Ahem, well...why are you chanting that? Are you, um, muttering some secret magic spells?" Gigi rolled her eyes, but stopped chanting anyway.

"Here's the p, p, pepper!" huffed Spanny, beginning to hand the small bottle of pepper to Gigi. "NO, DON'T GIVE IT TO //ME//!" complained Gigi, annoyed. "GIVE IT TO COLLIE! I MEAN LOOK AT HER! SHE'S BLEEDING!" "I //am//?" I frowned in surprise, looking at my arms which was difficult to do since Shimmer was squishing me to bits. Oh. Warm, red blood drippled down one side of my right arm. A LOT of blood. "WHAT DO I DO WITH THAT PEPPER?" I called out to Gigi in panic. "SPRINKLE IT ON THAT DOG!" yelled Gigi.

So I did. The second Spanny slapped some pepper into my hands, I thrusted it at Shimmer. Sure, I didn't want to hurt her, but on the other hand...she DID make me bleed! "Groew!" whined the poor puppy when the pepper landed splat in her face. But she backed off me, thankfully. Then, um, she started vomiting.

After a lot of whimpering and sprinkling and vomiting, Gigi scooped up some seedlings from a puddle of dog vomit and explained why she was chanting weird stuff and why she was depending on pepper. "See, my dad told me that there's this poison called...what's it's name again? Anyway this poison makes living creatures mad as a hatter, dry as a bone, red as a beet, and the heart beats alone, which really means the heart beats, like, SUPER fast. And if you splat pepper on the poisoned creatures, it'll make them vomit. So then when the seed-like poison gets vomited out of their body system, they'll be all right. These are the poison that got vomited out of the poor dogs." Gigi said, nodding towards the seedlings resting on the palm of her hands. "Neat!" exclaimed Labby. "Yes, it //is// pretty neat." I agreed, but then a question nagged at my mind. "Hey...Gigi...how does your dad know about these poison thingies?" Gigi looked at me in this weird way. Then she sneaked a peek at Wawa. Wawa gave a small nod. "Well..." Gigi mumbled, her voice dropping right down to a whisper. "Promise to keep this a secret." We nodded. "Okay. Um...ahem. You know, um, Rodger Secret? Well, truth is...Secret is not his last name. His last name is Shepherd. Rodger Secret Shepherd. In other words...he is my DAD."

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 14: The V. Bad End of the Day
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "WHAT?" I blurted out after I finished going oh-my-gosh. "That's true." piped up Wawa, "If you don't believe me, then LOOK!" she nudged Gigi, who sighed and fished out the photo of Rodger/her dad she had shown us a few month earlier. Only this time she just dropped it on the ground. "Last time when I was holding this..." Gigi pointed to the photo, shuffling her feet. "I rubbed my fingers against the 'Shepherd', and since this photo was printed with, what I call, 'special secret ink', the word 'Shepherd ' disappeared." "AWESOME!!!" Spanny shouted suddenly, but then she peeked at her watch. "Oh, bother! 10 more minutes to go until break time finish! Come on guys, get playing wise!"

"Hwooooo...shwoooo! Hwooooooooooooo...shwooooooo!" That was what Strikey McSnobby's snores sounded like (I //think//) as I twisted some more and turned some more and tossed some more and twirled some more...oh, I forgot. YOU CAN'T TWIRL IN A BED! Anyway as I (tried to) sleep in my bumpy bed, I looked up at the ceiling and wondered if my idea for saving those dogs was a bit //too// horrible and sad. Spanny was the exact opposite of me. She conked out the second her head hit her pillow, probably so tired and stressed out about what was going to happen at midnight tonight. I could hear Labby groaning about something like, "Oh, please. No. PLEASE. NO! Please don't hurt those puppies! Hurt ME instead if you have to. No. No. NO! Please, DON'T!" She was sleep-talking. Having a nightmare. Every 2 minutes or so, I would shoot a glance at my glow-in-the-dark watch. Oh, I hope the clock would never strike midnight...

"//Bleep bleep, bleep bleep! Bleep bleep, bleep bleep!//" My watch finally broke into it's tuneless bleeping, and I was less, much less, than thrilled. "Shut up!" I whispered unhappily, switching it to mute mode. I took a deep breath, and then quietly crept out of bed. "Hey guys! Time to go!" I hissed, shaking Spanny first then Labby. I knew that we couldn't go outside after lights out (that's the 117th rule) but do we have a choice? "Huh? Oh, that." yawned Spanny, putting on a pair of slightly ripped jeans. "Come on! Quickly!" I muttered, trying hard not to wake up Bingie or Strikey.

When we were all fully dressed, we hurried to the sludgy, muddy garden. Wawa and Gigi were already there, holding a big black bag with, from the look of it, stuff inside. "You've got it?" Labby asked below a whisper. "All in here!" answered Gigi, jabbing her finger at the bag. "Do you...do you think we should say goodbye to the dogs first?" I suggested uselessly, since the others were already pushing the loose brick. Soon, we entered and the sight that greeted us was utterly //shocking//. There was Bingie/Natalie. Stroking Actavia. And arguing with an exact reflection of her.

"But Natalie, you can't just leave it. YOU CAN'T!" Bingie/Natalie was yelling to her reflection. "Shut up, Bingie! You goodie-goodie-two-shoe." snarled her reflection. "Just because YOU are 6 minutes older than me does NOT mean that YOU could be in charge of my life!" I saw that the only difference between these two were that one of them has curly hair and the other has straight hair. Suddenly, it made sense. The one with curly hair is Bingie, and the one with straight hair is her twin sister, Natalie! "BINGIE?" I blurted out. "Huh? Collie? //Wawa? Gigi? **Spanny**? **LABBY**?//" Bingie spun around in surprise. "So it WASN'T you who wants to murder the puppies with Brad! It was your evil twin sister!" Wawa concluded. "YES!" cried Bingie, but before she could go on Natalie cut her off. "Oh, just shut up you idiots! I'm showing dad this stupid doggy field tomorrow, and NOTHING can stop ME! So bye!" So yeah, just like that, she left.

"So Natalie wants to get outta here, cause she think this is a //dump//, and just because dad runs this doesn't mean that //she// should stay here. So dad, my dumb dad, says that if she helps him finish his 'collection', she could go home early." explained Bingie, "They already killed heaps of innocent dogs. Like that adorable, friendly, lost Bichon Frise. He didn't do anything, but still..." By now, Bingie was crying. She tried to continue, but her tears were too much for her as her mind whirred with horrible memories. "It's okay." whispered Gigi, giving Bingie a small hug. "You know what, Gigi? No, it is NOT okay. I can't do ANYTHING to stop them. AND I can't ring the police or the SPCA because my crazy, King of Losers dad took away everybody's cell phone. Except for that spoilt brat Natalie's. And we can't ask the others to help since none of them like animals. We've GOT to do something to save these poor puppies! I aways thought my last name was Beagle, not that pathetic Stonecoldheart! I thought Stonecoldheart was just a nickname! Oh, guys, what can we do?" sobbed Bingie. "Well...Bingie..." I sighed, "I'm not happy that you've asked. Not happy at all."

"Good...bye...sweeties." mumbled Spanny, tears rolling down her cheek as she patted Dixie for probably the last time. The dogs seemed to have sensed our sorrow, and were all whining softly, looking at us with their biggest and saddest eyes. This was like a funeral. Well, it kind of was. The funeral for the loss of all our happiness, energy and those wonderful memories we'd shared with the puppies. "See you, Lightning." said Gigi carelessly. Something fishy is going on with Gigi. While the rest of us were crying and weeping, she acted like nothing sad was about to happen. We stepped towards the exit, ready to throw my terrible plan into action. The dogs lunged forwards, wanting to follow us. But I gently ordered them to go. I bent down so I could make eye contact with Shimmer. "Shimmer..." I whispered, "I'll miss you. I know you're going to hate me forever for what I am about to do, but I don't blame you. I hate myself too. Shimmer...remember me, okay? And...I'm sorry."

"Okay, we're done." Labby announced loudly, but that didn't hide the hint of disappointment in her voice. She was right. We were finished. "I guess this is it, g, g, guys." stammered Spanny, tears streaking her face. She choked on the last word of her sentence, so I could tell that she was heartbroken. I have no tears left to cry. All I wanted to do was to bang my head on a wall and start screaming. Ouch. Anyway, yes, my sad plan was...to block the entrance to the doggy field forever. See, since there's the loose brick, we took it out and replaced it with a piece of old wood. We made sure to stash the wood in tight, so when we shoved it, it wouldn't reveal the doggy field. "Bye, pups." Bingie sighed, taking her sky-blue hat off her head and kneeling on the ground with respect. Okay, I know that sounds silly but it seemed like a good idea at the time. "Guys...we love you." everyone said at the same time, copying Bingie's move. I guess Spanny was right. This //is// probably the end.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 15: The Unexpected
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> You could NEVER imagine how boring it was without the dogs. Sometimes Bad Brad would call out, "Free time!" And Wawa would hiss, "Let's go play with the puppies!" And we would have to remind her that the doggy field is not exactly 'open' now.

Another 1 month passed, so amazingly only 1 more month to go until me, Spanny, Labby, Wawa and Gigi could go home (I asked Gigi and Wawa and found out that they are coming home on the same date as us. I also asked Bingie. She said she would LOVE to go home with us, but that depends on when Bad Brad finishes his 'collection'). Now, I thought that there'll be no more surprises since we couldn't play with the puppies any more, but boy, was I wrong.

One dark, cloudy night, I was in bed, thinking about the dogs and realizing how much I missed them. Then I also realized that I couldn't sleep. I crept out of bed and prodded Bingie's bed. Bingie wasn't there. I kicked Spanny's bed. No one there, either. I felt my throat drying up with panic. I desperately shook Labby's bed. Nothing. I flashed a look at Strikey's bed. //She// was there. The first weird thought that shouted in my head was, "THEY'RE KIDNAPPED!" but then they will take me and Strikey as well. I need to look for them!

It was easier than I thought. As soon as I stepped out of our cabin door fully dressed (although it was only 2:00am), I spotted the kitchen door was open. I crawled in and saw Wawa, Bingie, Spanny and Labby, munching away. In fact the whole gang was there except for Gigi! "BOO!" I whispered as loud as I dared. "Eeek!" they jumped 5 feet off the ground. Well, maybe not EXACTLY 5 feet but who cares. When they saw it was just me, Wawa smiled sheepishly. "Oh, hi, Collie. Couldn't sleep, huh? Same as us. I met up with the gang in the kitchen, and found out that the yummiest food were left in here for the staff. Like chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, chocolate smoothies...and they taste yummy yum yum, nothing like the stuff Mrs Disgustifie cooks!" "Forgive her." Bingie rolled her eyes. "All she ever likes is chocolate, chocolate, and some more of that chocolate."

"Hey guys!" Spanny piped up. "Don't you think it's kind of weird Mrs Disgustifie cooks good for the staff and cooks gross for us? What if---this is a bit crazy, but---what if someone else cooks for the staff? Not Mrs Disgustifie?" "Wow, Spanny...maybe you're right!" I cried as I paced around the kitchen thoughtfully, just looking around. "What if---" but I couldn't finish. I was too busy looking at a jar with a skull and cross bone on it. "My gosh." I gasped as I read the back of the jar out loud, "Listen to this: P-O-I-S-O-N. MAKES YOU MAD AND DRY AND RED AND MAKES YOUR HEART BEAT FAST. DO NOT EAT." I looked at my friends with wide eyes. "Didn't Gigi described the poison someone fed to the dogs like this: //'Mad as a hatter, dry as a bone, red as a beet, and the heart beats alone.'//? Which is exactly how this jar describes the poison!"

"Amazing." whistled Spanny in disbelief. "So you think whoever is cooking for the staff poisoned the puppies?" "Yes." I nodded. "And so---" "//Shhhh//! Here comes Gigi!" interrupted Labby, pointing out the door. Gigi was dressed in a plain baby-blue t-shirt, black jeans and hiking boots. She was heading outside. "Let's follow her!" suggested Wawa, already sneaking behind Gigi a few metres away. "Um...I suppose." I shurgged, shadowing Wawa. "Come on guys. It's gonna be fun!"

Strangely enough, Gigi was heading towards the sludgy, muddy garden. Spanny kept on giggling, so I had to slap her on the back to make her stop. "What is she doing?" hissed Bingie. "Who knows? I mean, she can't be visiting the dogs, because we blocked the entrance...so what?" frowned Labby. We soon found out. Gigi strode into the garden, and when we followed...we got a GIANT surprise.

"Dad!" beamed Gigi as she walked towards---OMG---Rodger Secret Shepherd. "You came after all! Just like you promised!" "Yeah, darling." grinned---I //still// can't believe it---Rodger Secret Shepherd, giving Gigi a giant bear hug. "Except I don't know why I can't get this secret entrance to open! I guess I'll have to cut through the wall with my special cutting device---" "//**RODGER** **SECRET SHEPHERD? GIGI, YOU BROUGHT __HIM__ HERE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?**//" I yelled, totally forgetting my manners. "//**AND HE COULD CUT THROUGH THE WALL? SO WE CAN SEE THE PUPPIES AGAIN?**//"

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 16: The Good News? Doggy Alert! The Bad News?
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "Oh, you guys!" whined Gigi. "This was supposed to be a surprise! And what have you guys done? YOU STALKED ME!!!" "But Gigi!" shrieked Bingie, her eyes as big as the moon (if not, bigger). "We sure are surprised! Mr Shepherd! You came back!" "Well, yes." Rodger replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "Gigi begged me to. She says the dogs missed me heaps. Didn't you, Gigi?" "DAD! I also said that //I// miss you too!" protested Gigi. "Mr Shepherd? Is it you who bulit this awesome secret place? Did you collect all the puppies? If so, why didn't you come back earlier?" I blabbered, jumping up and down in this pathetic way. "Yes. Yes. And well, I thought the guards might recognise me. But when my Gigi told me that the guards falls asleep every night, I decided to come. She contacted me with this gadget you hide in your mouth and then it allows you to talk with anyone who has the other identical device in //their// mouth! It's SO neat, and HQ also made it tiny and comfortable, so---" "Excuse //me//!" coughed Gigi, shooting her dad a dirty look. "My dad gets carried away talking about these stuff he gets undercover." "Well, I thought that was very interesting." chimed in Spanny. "I would like to know more too." Wawa agreed. "But...maybe another time." "Can we get on with the cutting-the-wall-apart bit already?" complained Labby impatiently.

"So, you girls blocked the entrance to save the dogs?" Rodger mumbled as he kept on cutting through the brick wall with this dangerous looking sizzling red blade. "Yes, sir." Labby nodded, admiring his work...which was a pretty large almost-finished hole. "Why, what a brave thing to do, I must say." Rodger admitted as he finished cutting. "Wonderful! All done! Now ready?" Of course, we couldn't wait. I thought that Shimmer would be mad at me, though. "YES, WE ARE READY!" I screamed, forgetting about trying to stay cool. Rodger went in first. The puppies must have smelt us because the next thing we knew, they were right beside us, barking and yelping with joy! They made a HUGE fuss of Rodger suddenly returning. They were jumping on him and pulling his shirt and scratching him in a friendly doggy way. One dog even leaped into Rodger's lap and started licking his face with gleaming eyes that said, "So //there// you are! Where have you been?" Shimmer wasn't mad at me. She was //so// glad to see me again! She nudged me with her nose, urging me to join her in a game of Throw-a-Stick. I grinned and ruffled her thick dirty fur. Of course, we were pretty loud. Okay, VERY loud. TOO loud. But we were totally happy. And so we were NOT expecting THIS to happen next...

There was a small creaking sound. Shimmer's ears pricked up, and her face screwed into a scowl. "Aha!!! Everyone's here!" sneered a farmiliar face coming into the doggy field through the hole Rodger chopped. "Oh, and what a LOVELY surprise! Mr Shepherd! You're back! That's like, SO brave!" "Yeah, Shepherd!" smirked another face we recognised. "I mean, my GRANNY earns even more money than you!" which is a lie because Rodger is actually quite famous and highly paid, while Grannies retire from their jobs and use their money on making cookies (mmm, chocolate chip cookies! My favourite!). "Well, Brad," began Rodger to our unexpected guests. "Um, well, no one said I can't come back!" "Yes, but YOU said YOU killed these useless dogs! I WAS satisfied UNTIL my darling Natalie," Brad patted Natalie's head. "Told me that YOU BROKE OUR PROMISE!" "You PROMISED to kill the puppies Mr Shepherd?" Wawa gasped. "How could you?" "I...I...I had no choice." Rodger stammered guiltily. "There's ALWAYS a choice, dad." Gigi crossed her arms, her eyes flaming with anger. "Why didn't you tell me that you PROMISED him? He left you to make your own descision so why did you say YES? When you make a promise you are expected to KEEP IT!"

"Well, well, well." smiled Natalie in a nasty way. "I guess my daddy's gonna punish you, aren't you, dad?" "PLEASE, dad, NO!" screamed Bingie. She raced towards Brad and tackled him, but an attractive woman walked into the field and untangled Bingie from Brad. "MUM, NO! MUM! **//MUM//**!!! PLEASE! PLEASE, NO!" pleaded Bingie as the woman led her away from Brad. "Thanks, Veronica." Brad started to swipe dirt off his clothes. "Meet my wife, Veronica Evil. Of course, before I married her her last name was Evil, but now it's Stonecoldheart. But it must be STUNNING to have such a sweet last name!" Veronica smiled a lip-sticky smile at us. She ran her bright-red-nail-polished hands through her straight strawberry blonde hair. Her nails looked so wet that I half-expected it to wipe off in her hair. Veronica batted her carefully mascaraed eyelashes and looked at us with her light blue eyes. She also has spidery long legs. Today she was wearing dangling earrings, loads of heavy makeup, a sparkling peach-coloured dress and 4 inches high heels which made her look like a model. All this describing is making me sick... "Oh hello." said Veronica in this really posh voice. "Nice to meet you guys." then she gave Brad a peck on the cheek and paused. "Are these the freaks you were telling me about, sweetie?" "I guess beauty is only skin deep." whispered Labby quietly so Veronica couldn't hear. I couldn't argue with that. I still can't.

"I was the one who made the poison and told Natalie to poison those mutts, in case you're wondering." Veronica added. "They are not 'mutts', thank you very much! They are very special puppies that Mr Shepherd collected! Aren't they CUTE?" I yelled through gritted teeth and led Shimmer towards her, who started barking like crazy. Not in a friendly way, either. They say dogs know who is good and who is bad. Looks like Shimmer is that kind of smart dog. "EEEK!!!" shrieked Veronica, instantly running behind Brad to hide. "GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME! HELP! HELP!" "Relax, sweet heart. It's only a **//DOG//**!!!" Brad yelped in alarm as Shimmer leaped into the air and started biting his leg.

"GO, SHIMMER! GO, SHIMMER! BITE THAT LEG OFF!" cheered Spanny. I sighed and shrugged. "Over reacting Spanny." I muttered. "I HEARD THAT!" shrieked Spanny and pretended to whack me over the head. Everyone started chuckling and giggling (except Veronica, Brad and Natalie). Everything seemed so perfect at that moment. The way Veronica was screaming, the way Brad was hopping around with one leg in the air, the way Shimmer was barking, the way Natalie was clinging onto Veronica and the way we were laughing. But then...

Brad pulled out a gun from his pocket. The laughter drained from my lips in horror. Brad aimed at Shimmer. Veronica and Natalie started smiling. "Nooooooo!" I cried in s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n. Brad fired. Shimmer let out a yelp of pain and fell onto the ground. Possibly dead.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 17: (Good) Dogs V.S (Bad) People
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"SHIMMER!" I shouted, tears trickling down my cheeks. I bolted towards the limp body of Shimmer, but was blocked by Natalie. "Your love for that dumb dog is SO sweet!" she smirked. "LET ME SEE SHIMMER!" I bellowed, and started punching Natalie in the stomach. My karate lessons sure paid off. "Hey, no need to get sad!" Natalie yelled, clutching her stomach in pain. By now, Brad and Veronica were making their way to Shimmer. Brad was chuckling and kicking---yes, KICKING---Shimmer slam in her side. "Has anyone told you to LOOK BEFORE //YOU LEAP//?" Brad grinned nastily, kicking poor Shimmer again. "DO SOMETHING!" I turned to my friends. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE! HELP SHIMMER! HELP ME!"

Rodger nodded and whistled to Lightning, who posed himself by his owner's side. "Yo, Actavia! Get over here!" Bingie ordered her puppy. "D, d, d, Daisey!" called Labby, still in shock. "Tina Tiny, Small but Mighty!" yelled Wawa. "DIXIE PIXIE, COME HELP SHIMMER!" Spanny joined in. Gigi gathered all the other dogs and lined them up, side by side. "Okay, pups," she said. "Time to show everyone that YOU GUYS AREN'T USELESS!!!" "WOOF! RUFF! GRUFF!" agreed the dogs, and the battle begun.

The puppies rushed head-on towards Brad, Veronica and Natalie. Armed with only their courage and determination, they started biting, barking, woofing and scratching. Lightning, being the best trained since German Shepherds are born to be police dogs, trotted up to Natalie and then bit into her arm. Hard. "OW!!!" Natalie started crying. "Stop it, you dumb dog! Stop it! OW!!! You IDIOT!" "You know, if Lightning shakes his head, your flesh could get ripped!" I pointed out. Natalie immediately stopped screaming and instead peeked at Lightning nervously. "Anyway, like I care." I continued. "Lightning, good boy." I ruffled his head. "Bring this creep to Rodger." Lightning obeyed.

Veronica was screaming and rushing about. Her neat straight hair was now flying and messed up. She climbed onto the side of a well and in her panic she fell into it. "COLD!" Veronica blabbered, flinging her arms wildly. Opps, I suppose she can't swim.

Suddenly there was a piercing scream. I turned and gasped. Shimmer had recovered and had attacked Brad from behind, catching him by surprise! "SHIMMER!" I cried. Then I realized that there was blood streaking her front paws. "Shimmer, you're hurt! Oh, you are so brave!" I cooed. But Brad had other opinions. "STUPID DOG!" Brad roared, lying on the ground. Both of his legs were bleeding like mad so I guess he couldn't walk. Then his bullets went flying. It was crazy. He wasn't aiming. He was just shooting without looking. "GO DOWN!" I screeched, hitting the ground hard. Luckily, the others did too. Except for the people on Brad's team...

Just as Veronica pulled herself up from the well (a dripping mess), Brad's crazy bullets whizzed towards the very well Veronica was in. "OH MY LORD!" she shrieked painfully as the bullet sent her tumbling into the well again, this time with blood all over her not-so-perfect nail-polished hands. "OH YOU STUPID FOOLISH BRAD! DADDY IS RIGHT! YOU ARE NOT A GOOD HUSBAND! I WANT A DIVORCE RIGHT ON THE SPOT!!!" Brad sneered. "Cruel woman.Stupid, too." "DON'T CALL MUMMY CRUEL OR STUPID!" Natalie shouted from beside Rodger, who is gripping her super tightly. "Well, Natalie, looks like you are on your mother's side." Brad frowned, still lying uncomfortably on the ground. "AND THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR THAT!" Brad shot Natalie right in the arm. "AGH!" Natalie splattered out. "AND YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO BE MY FATHER!" Now //that's// teamwork! Not.

Suddenly Natalie struggled out of Rodger's hands and threw herself at Shimmer! Natalie started choking Shimmer and hitting her. "HEY, STOP YOU FREAK!" I blabbered out, and zoomed towards them. But then I saw Brad with his gun and Veronica creeping out of the well, and knew at once that I had to stop them first. Stop those two then save heaps of people and dogs or just save Shimmer? I thought to myself. My heart was telling me to save Shimmer who brought sparkles of happiness and joy into my grey, boring life. But deep down my brain knew that I ought to freeze those bad guys in their tracks before I go to my Border Collie, or else no one will survive. "Shimmer...I'm so sorry." I bit my lips and glanced at her. Shimmer whined and whimpered at the pain, but her sad chestnut brown eyes were passing on a message: Go ahead. Good luck.

I nodded and then, without looking back, dashed towards Brad. I gave him one of my 'famous' karate blow on the arm. "HEE YAA!" I pounced, my hand landing on his wrist with a "POOF!". "OW! OUCH! OW OW OW OW OW! THAT WAS MY 'FUNNY BONE'!!!" Brad roared, flapping his arms around and pretending to be a helicopter...I think. I snatched his gun away from his hands and rushed to the well where Veronica was climbing up from. I whacked her face with the gun and down she went. "OW! OUCH! OW OW OW OW OW! THAT WAS MY FACE!" Veronica screamed, jumping up and down like a frog. Okay, now for Natalie. I hurried towards Natalie and Shimmer, hoping that it wasn't too late. Opps. I think I forgot that I was not alone. My friends had been busy. They had Natalie with Rodger again, Shimmer was lying on the ground with Spanny, Labby, Gigi, Wawa and Bingie who were all feeding Shimmer vegetable from the patch and stroking her.

"Everything under control Collie?" Labby asked. "Yeah, I suppose. How's Shimmer?" I replied. "GREAT!" Wawa chimed in. "She's breathing much calmer and seems to be digesting pretty well." "Oh, fantastic!" I smiled with relief. I patted Shimmer. "So no hard feelings, Shimmer?" Shimmer woofed cheerfully and nuzzled my hand with her nose, which is thankfully still wet.

"GUYS!" Rodger called out. "I think we're done here!" He looked at Veronica, who is in the well, Brad, who is lying on the ground and Natalie who is still moaning beside him. "Game over, Stoncoldheart!"

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Chapter 18: The Trouble-Maker is Back!
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> "Hip, hip, hurrah!" cheered Mum. "Three cheers for having Collie back...still in one piece!" grinned Dad. "This is SO dumb!" of course, that HAD to be my cuckoo brother, Mike. "MIKE!" I growled, shaking my head. "I'm sorry if you feel left out. But it isn't OUR fault that I'm more special than YOU!"

You see, I just got back from Shimmer Lake Camp. We used Rodger's weird device to ring the police, if you are wondering. When the police took the 'evil' Stonecoldhearts away, Veronica shouted, "YOU CAN'T TAKE ME AWAY! I'M A MOVIE STAR! I WAS IN THE MOVIE 'DEATH AND BLOOD'!" the police officer, Officer Gotcha, chuckled and thought for a while. "So YOU were the woman who got killed right at the beginning!" he teased her. Veronica scowled but stopped complaining, all the same. Brad just sneered and growled, but the police men were not dumb enough to let him go. Natalie went all gooey and gushy and mumbled, "Please, please, please let me go. I, sniff, was, um, forced to kill the dogs by my, um, family. Please, I, um, LOVE dogs. In America we had a, um, um, um, Bi...Bi...'bickon frie'!" "Nice try, kiddo." Officer Gotcha smiled. "That's a Bichon Frise, not a bickon frie!" I know this is kind of mean, but Rodger, Wawa, Spanny, Labby, Bingie, Gigi and I were laughing our heads off. "Ha, ha! Hee, hee!" we giggled gleefully. "//NOW// who's laughing?"

Anyway, back to our family talk. We were chatting in this super fancy restaurant. "Now, Collie," my Mum looked at me lovingly. "Why don't you tell us all about what happened to you at boot camp?" I shrugged. I knew Mum will KILL me if I tell her that at boot camp I was facing a criminal with my friends. But then again, what other excuses are there? My trouble-maker brain started whirring again and suddenly it came up with a realistic white lie. "Well, Mum." I smiled as sweetly as I could. "We made heaps of new friends and we played loads of fun games and the teachers were great and it wasn't THAT tiring and we had delicious food." lie, lie, lie. What I actually meant was, "We made only 3 friends and we played loads of boring games and the teachers were deadly and it was SUPER tiring and we had disgusting food." luckily, Mum was weird enough to fall for that.

"Sounds fabulous, honey." Mum gave me a hug. "Did you miss me?" "Of course!" I assured her, hugging her back. "Not." I muttered under my breath. "Pardon?" Mum raised her eyebrows. "Nothing." I said quickly and innocently. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">"I’m just glad that you’re back!" Dad patted my head. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Mike yawn. "MIKE!" I snapped. "STOP yawning!" "What?" Mike laughed. "Oh, THAT. Well, ‘Claws’, why should I listen to you? You’re my LITTLE sister, I’M the big dude!" Although Mike is 18 months older than me, he acts like he is 18 YEARS older. Oh, and he just called me 'Claws'! Just because my middle name is Paws! I’ll show him that a LITTLE sister can be VERY cheeky. "Well," I started, grinning. "I suppose you don’t HAVE to listen to me. Agree, 'Knickers'?" beat THAT! Mike’s middle name is Nick, so I personally call him 'Knickers'. Flash name, hmm?

"MIKE!" Dad shrieked. "COLLIE!" Mum yelped. "ICE CREAM!" Mike squealed, licking his lips as a waiter pushing a trailer filled with ice creams strolled past. I just silently zipped my mouth and whipped up my best goody-goody-two-shoe face. "Mummy..." I blinked at Mum adorably. "Can we please go home now? Shimmer will get lonely." "Oh, all right, sweet pea." Mum can NEVER say no to my 'sweet' face. Unfortunately (actually fortunately) Mike’s face was too overgrown with wrinkles and other ugly stuff so he wasn’t a pro like SOME people (hint, hint a.k.a. me) at convincing Mum to do 'stuff'. "SHIMMER!" "WOOF! WOOF!" as soon as Dad unlocked the front door, Shimmer and I ran into each other’s arms/paws like long lost friends...even though we'd only gone for 30 minutes.

Gigi's dad, Rodger, was kind enough to allow Labby, Spanny and I to KEEP our dogs! "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Shepherd!" we gushed. "My pleasure." he grinned. The last month at boot camp was pretty interesting. Andy Suntan (REMEMBER? That weird guy at the beginning with the red skin?) allowed Rodger to stay in this extra cabin he had that was NOT filled to the ceiling with junk. Rodger accepted Andy’s invitation gratefully. So thankfully, he was able to stay for another 1 month. It was a tearful goodbye. "I…I…I'll see you around, then." Wawa stammered. "I, sniff, suppose." I nodded trying desperately not to break down and cry...although I feel like screaming. "It‘s been an adventure, hmm?" Gigi fidgeted uncomfortably. The only person who couldn’t hide their sadness was Spanny. Tears were filling her eyes and she couldn’t stop hugging our three new friends. "Bye." Spanny said for the 100 millionths time. "I know I’m being super emotional...but..." her voice trailed off and she started sobbing. "It’s been an unusual friendship full of ups and downs." Labby announced. "But now we realize that we trust each and every one of you. Now we realize we really appreciate the excitement you guys brought into our lives. So wherever you are, you’ll be always here." she finished with her hands rested on top of the place where her heart ought to be. "Oh, Labby," Bingie sniffled. "That was, sniff, beautiful!" "Actually, I copied that off my favourite book of sayings." Labby admitted. I giggled. "Anyway, copied or not, you’re right. You’ll always and forever will be in my heart." everybody cheered. A few hours later, a green helicopter landed and Gigi, Wawa, Spanny, Labby, Bingie (poor Bingie. She’s going to the adoption center since all her other family members are either dead or in jail) and I climbed aboard. My family greeted me mushily. Except for Mike. He just sat, yawned, and sat some more. So there’s another proof that brothers are heartless and will rather sit than greet their talented sisters.

So that’s the end of my adventure. Well, almost. Nearly. Close. Not quite...

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<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> After our trip to boot camp, we became really popular at school. The second we stepped into our middle school a kid yelped, "IT’S THEM!" and then he led a whole pack of children towards us. I half-expected them to ask for our autographs. Instead we were greeted by questions.

"Was it tiring?" "Did you see a bear?" "You mean, did you see my lunch box?" "How did you get there?" "Are you a goody-goody now?" "Blah, blah, blah?" okay, my bored brain made that one up. We just grinned and nodded, being really mysterious. Suddenly Tattley Tellie strolled down the hall. I winked at her. "Guess you owe me my lunch money blabbermouth!" then we walked away, our noses high in the air with pride.

Mrs Posh, however, seemed less than pleased to see us. "Tut, tut," she pursed her lips, looking at us like we’re bugs she’s about to squash. "Not Collie and her gang again!" Mrs Posh was horrified to hear that Veronica is more gorgeous than her. Correction: Veronica WAS more gorgeous than Mrs Posh. Veronica may be the queen of style, but I bet she can’t keep her looks perfect behind the bars. "So…Collie…I guess you and your little friends have learnt their lesson, hmmm?" Mrs Posh smiled nastily at us. "Of course, Miss! I mean, Mrs! I mean, Sir! I mean, Madam!" we chirped in unison, trying hard not to giggle. But actually, I think we all meant the exact opposite…after all, my name is not Collie Paws Border for nothing

"How’s school, honey?" Mum asked, bustling around the kitchen making our dinner. "Superb, Mum!" I exclaimed, secretly feeding Shimmer a kibble bite. "Where’s Dad?" "Helping our new neighbours to unpack." Mum answered. "Mrs Lollypop-Jollyhop finally sold her house, then?" "Yes, darling. You missed out on quite a lot, actually. You know, Mr Grumpy got a new pure bred Persian kitten. He named it Grump, short for Grumpy. Poor cat. She’s very friendly. Not at all grumpy. It’s a shame Mr Grumpy called his cat such an unhappy name..." while Mum rattled on, I was playing with Shimmer.

"Would you stop fussing over that dog?" Mike complained. I scowled at him and pinched his shoulder hard. "YEOW! What was THAT for?" Mike winced in pain. "For YOU!" I replied cheekily, then completely ignored him as if he's invisible. I wonder who our new neighbours are…maybe it’s Rachel. Or even Viki. Except Viki is in Africa, but maybe she came back? After all, California is an incredible place…

"VIOLET! COLLIE! MIKE! COME MEET OUR NEW NEIGHBOURS!" Dad called, sounding very chirpy. Excitement flooded me and I raced outside. "Whoa, Collie!" Dad laughed. "You sure seem excited! Anyway, meet Mrs Lily Blooms Shepherd, Mr Rodger Secret Shepherd and, oh sorry, what’s your name again?" I gasped and stared at the girl in front of me. She had black hair in a neat ponytail. She was tall and a little chubby. She had melted chocolate eyes. And a big, warm smile. "OMG!!!" I bounced up and down. "GIGI??? MR SHEPHERD???" "COLLIE??? SHIMMER???" Gigi yelled in disbelief, pointing at Shimmer who followed me outside. "WHERE’S LIGHTNING?" I yelled back. "WOOF!" barked Lightning who is beside Rodger. "I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S YOU!" I cried. "WANT A HUG?" without a second invitation, we fell into each other’s arms, giggling.

"So, HURRAH! Dad suggested us going with him to California, since his new mission might take a while. Mum decided it’s a good idea to move to California to LIVE. So…here I am!" Gigi smiled, flopping onto our black leather sofa. "You know," I started, my eyes shining. "Spanny and Labby live right across the street!" "NO WAY!" Gigi shrieked. "Wawa live right DOWN the street! AND her family agreed to adopt Bingie! OMIGOSH the whole gang are living on this street!” "THAT is AMAZING!" I laughed. "Hey, just look at Shimmer and Lightning!" the two dogs were chasing each other on the carpet, panting and having nothing but funRodger strode into the room. "So, kids, having fun?" "Having fun?" I repeated. "Having fun? OF COURSE! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU GUYS CAME! THANKS SO MUCH FOR DRAGGING YOUR FAMILY WITH YOU TO CALIFORNIA!" just as I finished I groaned and clamped my hands over my mouth. "Sorry." I mumbled feebly. "That’s rude, isn’t it?" "Don’t worry!" Rodger chuckled. "I know how excited you are. Well, cheerio!" "Bye Mr. Shepherd!" I waved bye-bye. "Bye Daddy!" Gigi called. When Rodger walked out of the room, Gigi’s eyes twinkled. "Wanna ring up Spanny and Labby? I’ll call Wawa and Bingie first if you like. In other words...fancy going puppy crazy?" "You bet!" =<span style="color: #00ff0b; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 26pt;"> The End = =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> = <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> That is, until Shimmer went missing along with the entire neighbourhood dogs and Mrs Posh got bankrupt and the Stonecoldhearts escaped from jail and a Rough Collie visited our street and I met Shannon Sea…but that’s another story.

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<span style="color: #0098ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> =<span style="color: #0098ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> //**Special Thanks to...A lot of People**// = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Thanks to my awesome friends Jenny, Cecilia, Sonia, Jasmika, Abbey, Ella and Alice for supporting me and giving me random advices. Also thanks to my G.A.T.E writing teacher Mrs Thumath for making this all happen! Actually, thanks to the whole of my G.A.T.E writing group, yes, INCLUDING the boys (OMG I thought I'll never say that!) who are: William, Wanya, Callum and Luke. Of course Jenny, Cecilia, Sonia, Jasmika, Abbey, Ella and Alice are included, but there's no need to thank them twice (oops, I just did!). A HUGE thank you to my other cool friends Hansi, Leah, Clara and Ye Rim. Without you guys I will never think of the names for my characters! Extra thanks to Leah, who told me the story of a kid in her school who pulled the Whoopie Cushion prank. I took that story and that's what naughty Collie (a.k.a. me) did (sorry for nicking that idea, but thanks, anyway). A thank to my SUPER annoying brother Hao for winning the part of playing Mike in my story. And last but not least, thanks to my Mum Jane and my Dad Yigang for just being there when I needs you two...and when I don't...but who cares.

Oh, and I nearly forgot. Thank you sooo much Karen McCombie (although you probably don't know I exist) for inspiring me with your awesome books. Read Karen McCombie's books such as her newest series the //Sadie Rocks!// books, the //Ally's World// series, the //Stella E.t.c.// series, the //Indie Kidd// series, the books that are NOT series //Marshmallow Magic and the Wild Rose Rouge, An Urgent Message of Wowness //, and //The Seventeen Secrets of the Karma Club//. Of course there BOUND to be more but oh well.

<span style="color: #6100ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> =<span style="color: #6100ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> **//A Bit (and a Half) About the Author//** = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> //Shimmer Lake Camp's// //Secret// //Forbidden Garden// is Annie Kang's best and longest novel she has ever written. She wrote (but didn't publish) several books including //Middle School-Surviving School, Middle School-Jade's in a Jumble// and //Jessica Blue's Really, Extremely, Very Random Life-Friendship Never Fades...Or Does it?//

She lives in a little country called New Zealand with her v. annoying brother, her mum, her dad and her invisible friends Jessie and Ashley. Annie has always longed for a dog (a...Border Collie, of course!) but her parents has other plans.

Annie loves writing, reading, gardening and anything to do with art. She is 10 and consider herself as a weird, funny, fun-to-be-around-when-you-get-to-know-me girl. Of course, Helen convinced her that she has a 'rashy-face' and an 'ugly, flat nose' (thank you, Helen. Annie really 'appreciated' your 'compliments').

Annie is also what teachers and parents call 'a good kid'. Who goes to G.A.T.E (**G**ifted **A**nd **T**alented **E**ducation) F.P.S (**F**uture **P**roblem **S**olving)? Annie. Who goes to G.A.T.E writing? Annie. Who goes to G.A.T.E maths? Annie. Who finishes all her work on time and hardly ever gets in trouble? ANNIE! But sometimes teachers, nor parents, don't dig deep enough to find what lurks inside...

P.S. Okay, I admit it! It feels strange to write something about myself!

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