Note: it's a writing when I'd participate at the competition.
I'm upset because they almost only selected the foreigners students, like the U.S, Hongkong.....
I know it was a international competition, but still, it's a competition held by Korea, which is I couldn't understand at all.=_=
1️⃣_The BB gun
After school, Jan and Jack walked together.
"What are you going to play in the audition, Jack?" Jan asked.
"A cowboy!!!" Jack shouted. "Isn't it cool?"
"Yes, it is cool…" Jan replied coldly.
"A gun-shooting cowboy of the Wild West… and riding a horse!!" Jack made a cowboy gesture.
"W-wait for me, Jan!" he ran after her.
"So… what are you going to play? Are you a cowboy too?" Jack asked sheepishly.
"No, I'm different. I am a sheriff."
"Yo, that's good. Did you memorize your lines already?"
"Not yet," Jan replied sharply.
"Oh! We arrived home!" Jack said. "Bye! See you on Monday!" He waved a hand to his friend.
At home, Jack was lost in thought.
'Is there any way that I can practice being a cowboy…?' he thought.
Suddenly he had an idea. "Right! A BB gun!!!"
"But the only BB gun here is my brother's…" Jack murmured. He noticed that his brother's door was open.
"Hmm… I'll sneak around." He muttered himself quietly.
Then he tiptoed inside. Then he carefully opened the chest and picked up the shiny gun.
"Hahahah!!! You dummy!" he laughed. "You don’t even know that I was sneaking into your room!!" And he ran immediately.
"Hey! Give me that!! Don’t steal from your brother!!" Jack’s younger brother yelled. "You can’t have it!"
"Yes, I can!" Jack replied with a cheeky smile.
"That's my precious BB gun! I bought it with all my allowance! I was saving up my money for almost a year!!" His eyes filled with tears as he spoke.
"Well then, you should keep your gun more safely. A thief might grab your stuff!" Jack said.
"I’ll tell Mom! And I bet she won’t let you go nicely!!" his brother said angrily.
Later, when Mom came home, he immediately ran to her and told her everything that just happened.
"What??" Mom said. "Jack! Come here for a sec!" Mom shouted.
No one replied.
"Jack?!! Come here at once! Jack Thomas!?"
But Jack didn’t reply.
"Mom, I think he went outside," Jack's younger brother said.
"Eww! What a mischievous boy he is!" Mom said, shaking her head silently.
---
2️⃣_The shocking news
At that same time, Jack was hanging out with his friends. He was busy showing his cowboy performance to everyone.
"How was it?" Jack said.
"You look great, Jack!" His friend gave him a thumbs-up.
"I am the cowboy now!!! Hahaha!" Jack laughed loudly.
Suddenly, Jack's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi Jack!" It was his teacher's voice.
"We're very sorry, Jack…" her words trailed off.
"What, what's wrong?" Jack became nervous. He bit his lips. Is some bad news coming for him?
When he heard the next news, his face turned pale.
"We think the play needs to be reversed. So you have to play the thief instead of the cowboy. We're very sorry…"
"What are you talking about?! I am a cowboy!!" Jack was mortified.
"Jack, are you alright?" Jack's friends asked him with worried looks on their faces, because Jack stumbled when he heard that shocking news.
"I'm okay… phew…" Jack sighed.
"That's alright, buddy. Your acting skills are already amazing, and I'm sure you'll do well in the new play too," his friend reassured him.
"Did I do something wrong? Maybe that's why my teacher changed my role…" Jack murmured weakly.
"I don't think so. Just do your best in whatever play you take, and I bet you'll make a good impression on your teachers."
---
3️⃣_The audition day came in.
"Okay! That was a good play, Sue," Ms. Julia said.
"Next! Jack and Jan!!!"
Jack entered wearing a hat and a cloak.
Ms. Julia smiled slightly as she watched Jack's performance.
Just then, Jan came in.
"Stop, thief! You're under arrest!!!" she said.(sheriff role)
"What??!!"
Then the thief (Jack) reached for his gun, but the sheriff noticed it first.
And she shot the thief first.
Bang---
The thief fell to the ground and said,
"I wish I shot you first..."
"Bravo!!! Amazing!" Ms. Julia clapped her hands. She was impressed by Jack and Jan performances.
Later, on the way back home, Jan and Jack walked together.
"You're doing great, Jack! I'm very proud of you!!" Jan praised him.
"Thank you. Well, you were just as great as me. Or maybe even more than me. You know how amazing you are!" Jack said with a smile.
Suddenly, Jan turned into blushed.
"Y-yeah, I know... Thanks."
Strangely, Jack felt himself blushing too. He just laughed awkwardly.
---
4️⃣_A few weeks later (musical day)
"Today is finally the day to taken action!!!" Jan shouted with excitement.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a few weeks!" she said.
"Yeah, and our parents will come too!" Jack chuckled.
A few minutes later, Jack burst into the dressing room and saw Jan dressed in sheriff clothes.
"Do I look great?" Jan made a gesture.
"You look awesome, Jan!"
"Next, I'll help you get ready," Jan said while draping a cloak over Jack's shoulders.
Jan handed two guns to Jack and said,
"Here. Do you want a long gun or a short gun?"
"Definitely a long gun is cooler. Give me that!" Jack said, pulling out the gun.
"I am the cowboy..." he said, blurring the edge of his voice.
"Haha! You're not a cowboy now! You have to play the thief!" Jan burst out laughing.
"Ha? What is that!?!" Suddenly Jack screamed in a terrified voice. Jan was shocked by that.
"Hey! You surprised me!"
Jack lost his balance and tried not to fall. He waved his arms frantically.
"Dude! What's wrong with you?!!" Jan tried not to laugh, but she knew she was already chuckling.
"Ouch!!! My head!!" Jack screamed again.
"Ho, I guess you have a headache." However, Jack shook his head.
"Not that."
More surprisingly, abruptly, Jack's eyes stopped rolling. And…
He fell to the ground. Boom!
"Jack?" Jan shouted. And she saw something she hadn't noticed until now. What was it? It was a gun.
"Hey, I think you dropped the gun!" she gulped.
"Give me that!" And she tried to pull the gun away from Jack.
Suddenly, she felt a cold chill run down her spine.
And whoosh!!!!
---
5️⃣_Wild West – the Strange Kid
Bang!!!!!!!
"Ouch!!!" Jack rapped his butt.
When he opened his eyes, a wild desert was spread out all over the place.
"Drat, where is it?" Jack murmured. His mouth pouted, and he tried to flick some dirt off his pants. Grumbling, Jack finally stood up.
"Hey, wake up!!" Jack shouted, nudging Jan with his foot to wake her.
"Where are we?" Jan seems grimly too.
Just a few seconds ago, she was in the dressing room. But now she's in the midst of desert.
She stared the desert in a awe at the sun- drenched wild send ground spared before her.
"I don't know. By the way, I'm really thirsty… let's find some water first," Jack said, wiping his eyebrows.
"But how can we find water here? This is a desert. There is no water here!" Jan protested.
"Let's just go! If we lucky enough, maybe we can find an oasis."
"How can you be so sure? That idea is insane! We could die!"
"Let's not be hasty. And you're so naive!" she more added.
"Stop arguing. Like I said, I'm really thirsty now, and we also must find a place where we can rest, okaaaay??" Jack was irritated with Jan.
"You go first. I'll just wait here until you come back, because I don't want to die."
Jan kept arguing.
"Alright! You just wait here. But don't go anywhere until I'm back. You know you don't want to die." Jack sighed.
He felt a pang in his heart. Now he had to leave his best friend alone in this wild desert. What if Jan really died? Would she be okay here? Jack shook his head. He tried to snap out of all those silly thoughts.
He said goodbye to his friend and started walking into the desert.
---
The two men were walking down the street. They were planning to visit another podunk.
"Today is so sunny, isn't it?" one man asked the other.
"Yes, it is a very good day to visit the podunk!" the other man replied.
They saddled their horses and then started running through the desert.
When they crossed the desert, it was lunchtime. They agreed to eat lunch there and then continue walking.
Suddenly, one man noticed a strange kid sitting alone in the desert.
"Where did this kid come from?" one man said, pointing at the kid.
"Haha! This guy… there are no kids here in the desert, you know," replied the other.
"No, I saw it! Clearly. I swear."
Unavoidably, the man's friend followed him and walked toward the strange kid.
They stared at the strange kid in awe and then whispered something to each other.
Jan was scared. She swallowed hard but bravely opened her mouth first.
"H-hi. Nice to meet you, sir! My name is Jan!" she said awkwardly.
The two men gave her a strange look. Then they stopped and shivered.
Jan was curious.
"Are you a sheriff?" one man asked Jan in a shaky voice.
"What?" Jan didn't understand what he was saying.
Then he pointed at Jan's chest. Jan looked down.
A shiny star badge was hanging on Jan's chest. That's right! Jan had been assigned the sheriff role in the musical, so she was wearing sheriff clothes.
"Haha… probably?..." Jan scratched her head, thinking about how to get out of this crazy place.
"Thank goodness!! I'm very relieved that you're here!" the man said, staring at Jan's badge.
'What is happening?' Jan thought, feeling some weird feelings.
Leaving the stage and ending up here in the desert was weird enough, but now this? Jan had no idea what was going on.
"Can you be our sheriff?" one man asked Jan.
"Yes, that would be great! We haven't had a sheriff for 10 years. This is our big chance to have a sheriff again!" they said, showing their excitement.
"Am I a sheriff now?" Her jaw dropped. She had never had that kind of job before, and honestly, she was just a student.
"But how can I be a sheriff? I am just a kid!"
"Please be our sheriff! We're begging you!" The men knelt on their knees.
---
Meanwhile, Jack was almost exhausted.
He couldn't even find a small source of water.
Jack squinted to see through the strong sunlight. He felt like his energy was almost drained.
"Ugh!!! Jan was right…" he mumbled quietly. Jack was too tired that he just flopped on the sand.
"Drat… my skin!!!" Jack had a sunburn.
He gnashed his teeth, squinting his eyes to bear the pain.
"By the way, is Jan okay?... I don't know what she's doing…" Jack sighed, completely overwhelmed by guilty ex-pression.
"How can I even go back to Jan?..."
His eyes grew darker as he thought about going back to his world.
"Never mind that now. I need to focus on finding water. And then I will go back to Jan. After we rest, we can find the wormhole." He made up his mind. He tried to be strong.
---
At the same time, unlike Jack, Jan was pretty excited.
Is it possible to be a sheriff here?
Maybe it isn't a bad idea to stay here for a while.
Jan giggled, thinking about being a cool sheriff.
'Poor fella, the problem is he acts too quickly without thinking.' She thought inwardly.
"Now let's go to the sheriff office!"
The two men saddled their horses again.
"You go first, sheriff," one man kindly suggested to Jan. Jan climbed onto the horse that was eating small desert grass.
'Wow,' Jan thought. 'This is going to be great!' Jan had already forgotten what Jack had told her an hour ago.
"Don't go anywhere until I'm back."
Abruptly, one thought came into Jan's mind.
"By the way, guys. Who are you?" Jan asked the man sitting in front of her.
The men got off their horses and stared at Jan with dirty looks.
"Well, who is it? Hahaha," the men’s eyes grew darker as they spoke.
"We're the thief gang!"
Jan gasped. She had fallen for their trick!
"What? You said I could be a sheriff!"
"Uh, you're so naive. Kids are always easy to trick! Hahaha!" the men laughed evilly.
"What a clever girl! Did you really thought we were the good people?" another man said with a smirk.
Jan was furious. She stomped her foot.
She knocked down the man standing next to her and rushed angrily toward the other man.
In a hurry, the man immediately tied a rope around Jan.
"Let me go!" Jan shouted in anger.
"Give me everything you’ve got, young lady!!" the thief demanded.
"I don’t have…," the man cut in. "Then we’ll take you!!" the thief laughed loudly.
Jan stumbled, but the rope was so strong that it was impossible to escape.
"Jack!!!!!! Where are you!! Help!!!!" Jan shouted as loudly as she could.
---
6️⃣ strange voice
Meanwhile, fortunately, Jack found a tent where a small group of people lived in the desert. They greeted him kindly and gave him food and water.
"Ummmm! These people are so nice!" Jack said while eating.
The tent owner kindly offered him more bread.
"Sure! Thanks, dude!" Jack readily ate more.
A few minutes later, Jack rubbed his full belly.
"Why are you alone in the desert, kid?" the woman asked.
Suddenly, Jack felt sad but finally spoke with difficulty.
"Well, there’s a lot to explain about what happened when we landed in this wild desert," Jack cleared his throat.
"We’re people who came from the future," Jack just go straight to the point first.
"What? From the future? How is that possible?" the woman’s eyes widened.
"And what do you mean by 'we'? Do you have other friends here?" she asked curiously.
"Phew…" Jack organized his thoughts and began to explain everything to her.
As time passed, the woman became more amazed. Her jaw dropped.
"Wow, you guys are amazing!!" She clapped her hands as the story ended.
"Well, here we are… I don’t know how to solve this situation."
The tent people began to crowd around, making a fuss.
Finally, the tent owner sat next to Jack.
And said,
"I think we will help you. But just a little."
"Thank you! That’s a huge help!" Jack relievedly thanked them.
Suddenly, a sharp and loud scream echoed through the place.
"What's that?!" one man asked.
The tent people felt alarmed for a moment.
Suddenly, something hit Jack’s mind.
"I know that sound! That’s my friend! We need to rescue her!"
"Are you sure you want to rescue her?" The owner seems hesitated.
"Hey, You just promised me that you will help to rescue my friend, remember?" Jack said feeling little bit disappointed.
"You don’t want to rescue her, right?" Jack snapped.
"N-no, I do! But I’m just scared she might…"
"What are you doing? Let’s go, everyone!!" Jack cut off the conversation. He was impetuous.
They saddled their horses and started to run to rescue Jan.
"By the way, where is she, Jack?" one group member asked.
"Oh, I forgot," Jack hit his head. "But I think I heard the scream from the south. Let’s go to the south!"
They immediately turned their horses into south.
They rode south, searching for 40 minutes but still couldn’t find Jack’s friend.
"What if we just give up?" one man suggested. "Everyone looks so tired. Besides, it’s almost dinner time!"
"What are you talking about? We have to find my friend. I won’t eat until I find her!" Jack's patient running out little bit. He want to go home as fast he could.
"But we’re hungry. And it’s your friend, not ours," the man protested.
"So what? Are you saying you’re not going to help?" Jack snapped again for being bit rude.
"Uh, we will. We’ll rescue her, but can we take a short break?"
"Phew… alright… let’s eat dinner first, but remember, quick!" Jack finally gave in.
After eating, they resumed their journey.
The sky grew dark, so they decided to sleep and wake early to continue searching.
---
7️⃣ trouble with kidnappers
The next morning, Jack woke up first.
"Let’s go, everyone! We have a long way to go!" he shouted as like he's the leader of the group. The group packed their things and prepared to leave.
Jack wanted to rescue Jan as soon as possible but also he realized that is not an easy thing to do.
Jack spotted the one man was ran the desert with his horse.
"I'll go and ask about it!" Jack said.
"Howdy! Have you ever saw a girl here?"
"What girl?" The man asked back to Jack.
" A girl have a red hair and wear a sheriff clothes! Have you ever saw her?"
"No" the man shook his head. And then left coolly.
In the evening, Jack saw the another men was ran the desert.
They are two of them, but exactly, they are three of them including a suspicious kid. They are far away from Jack but enough distance to notice the kid with them.
"Hmm, who's that?" He murmured to himself.
Jack try to remember who the kid is.
But then he saw the suspicious kid wear a sheriff clothes. The kid's body tied by strong tether.
"Why they are tied the sheriff and taking it?" He wondered.
Then he got an idea.
"Oha! I think it can be a Jan!"
Jan was had a headband so she couldn't see Jack. Jan followed the two kidnappers weakly.
And then he chasing after the two man horses.
"Why are that boy chasing us?" One man asked grimly.
Jack try to ducked behind bushes but there's no bushes in the wild desert.
Instead of duck behind the bushes he just bravely said,
"Stop! I need to talk to you!!"
Jack wanted to rescue Jan quickly but knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Then, Jack spotted one man riding in the desert.
"I’ll go ask him!" Jack said to himself.
"Howdy! Have you seen a girl here?"
"What girl?" the man asked, turn his head to Jack.
"A girl with red hair, wearing sheriff clothes! Have you seen her?"
"No," the man silently shook his head and left coolly.
In the evening, Jack saw another man. There were two men, plus a suspicious kid. The kid was far enough away to notice.
"Hmm, who’s that?" he murmured himself.
Jack tried to remember who the kid was. Then he noticed the sheriff clothes and the kid tied with a strong tether.The kid walked behind the men horses. The man holding the rope that was tied to the suspicious child.
"Why is the sheriff tied up and taken?" he wondered inwardly.
Then he had an idea.
"Oh! I think it’s Jan!"
Jan had a headband, so she couldn’t see Jack. She just followed the two kidnappers weakly.
Jack started to chasing after them.
"Why is that boy chasing us?" one man asked grimly to other man.
Jack tried to duck behind bushes, but there were almost none in the desert.
Instead, he bravely shouted,
"Stop! I need to talk to you!!"
The two men shocked and ran faster, and Jack signaled his group to follow.
All the horses and people galloped after the kidnappers.
"Stop, you kidnappers!" Jack shouted with an anger. The soft worm desert breeze blew past the Jack's cheeks as he ran.
He hold his hat so it doesn't blew the wind.
Jack squinted hard to see the kidnappers though the strong sunlight of desert day time.
Jan was bounced around roughly as the kidnappers rode faster.
The horses cried furiously.
Because the horses ran too fast, they get tried soon.
The horses creating the sandstorm as stopped. They let out a puff on their mouths.
The kidnappers tried to make them run,
But they didn't moved.
They finally abandoned the horses and run on their foot in the hot desert.
Jack noticed this and sped up. Now it was easier to catch them.
'It is pice of cake now!' He thought proudly himself.
"Stop there! You have no way to go!" the tent people shouted.
"Don’t pick up speed here! It’s hard to stop suddenly in front of the kidnappers!" Jack warned.
Suddenly, the kidnappers pulled out guns!
"Oh oh.." Jack felt cold chill down his spine as he watched the gun was hanging men's belt.
The tent people also raised their guns and chased them.
The two side spilt up and glared at each other with holding guns on thier hands.
"Why don’t you just give up, jerks?" Jack said while glared at them angrily.
"Pah, give up? That's what I have to say to you!!" The one of the kidnappers said.
Jack saw one of the his companions called him.
"Jack! Come here for a sec!" his companion whispered.
"What's the problem?" Jack asked quietly turn his face to him.
Jack’s companion said a plan. Jack nodded and took action right away.
While the friends pretended to be scared and retreating, Jack knocked down two kidnappers from behind.
The group captured the kidnappers and sent them to the sheriff.
Jack walked back to Jan, who's still blindfolded.
---
8️⃣ Reunion
Jack removed the tether and headband.
"Hey, it’s me!!!" Jack pushed Jan excitedly.
Jan opened her eyes. Because of the wore the headband for an hour, she's couldn't see anything for a moment.
"What?..." Jan was speechless.
"It’s me! I’m right here!!" Jack reminded her again.
"What… what happened?"
"I finally found you!" Jack explained.
"Oh, my… can we go home now?" Jan asked.
Jack’s face darkened.
"I haven’t found the way home yet… now we have to find the…" Jack trailed off.
which is he knew that there's no hope to find the way back home in the desert. And they are from the future. What can it be possible that they can find 'the time machine' here?
But Jan replied confidently,
"Don’t worry buddy! We’re from the future. That means future and past are connected. If someone comes from the future, it’s also possible to come from the past! All clues show there’s a way back!"
"Uhhhh… maybe you’re right," Jack agreed, but he couldn't take off his worries.
The tent people returned from town. They had finished meeting with the sheriff. The sheriff was thankful for catching the thief gang.
"Oh, they’re coming!" Jack said.
"Who’s coming?" Jan asked.
"Those are the people who gave me food and water, and rescued you!" Jack proudly introduced.
"Thank you so much for saving me and my friend!" Jan bowed gratefully.
"It was a pleasure to meet you all," the woman said. The tent people smiled and waved thier hands.
"Now what are we going to do?" Jack flopped onto the ground, yawning.
"We only have to find our way back home! Our journey is almost over! I’m so eager to go back!" Jan was full of excitement. Jack couldn’t understand how she felt.
"Why do you look so excited?.. Don’t you ever get tired?" Jack asked, giving Jan a weird look.
"I'm excited just thinking about going back home," Jan replied in a calmer voice this time.
"The tent woman said that if we take some time to go back home, we can stay with them for a while." Jack’s eyelids grew heavy.
"So you mean you want to rest, huh? Don’t you want to go back to our world as fast as possible?!" Jan scolded him.
"Yeah, yeah… I want to go back, but my energy is almost drained from rescuing you!" Jack muttered silently.
"I want to rest too, but we have to go back. Our parents must been worried…" Jan mumbled.
"Uh, your right." Jack rarely remembered his family now.
Then Jan noticed the gun hanging on Jack’s shoulder.
"Wait a minute, isn’t that the gun I gave you in the dressing room?"
Jack turned around and saw the long gun hanging on his shoulder too.
"Why is it here? Just a few minutes ago, I didn’t even see it!"
Jack touched it curiously.
Jan held Jack’s arm for safety.
"Be careful!!" She warned.
But then… Wooosh!!!!!!!!
-------
9️⃣-Back to school
Crash!!!!
Jack bombed into the hard desk.
"Oww…… where is this place again?.." Jack grumbled quietly.
But when he looked up, he saw the red curtain and other dressing supplies.
"Oh, my!!!!!! Jan!!!!! We’re finally back in our dressing room!!!" Jack shouted so loud that the whole room shook.
The two kids were so happy and hugged each other.
"Wow! That was amazing! I think that gun is from cowboy time travel… ooop mfflmm"
Jan covered Jack’s mouth before he could tell the secret in a 'very' loud voice.
"Be quiet! Someone might hear you!!"
Jan gave him a sour look.
Suddenly the musical teacher’s voice came through the curtain.
"We have 15 minutes before the musical starts! Be sure that you are all dressed up and please come up to the stage, everyone! We have one more patience before the musical!"
Jack and Jan gave each other a surprised look. Did they travel to the past in only a few minutes?
Everything’s normal here. But they were in the wild desert for almost a few days! What happened to them?
"You’re never gonna wear this long gun, are you?" Jan joked.
"I'm not going to wear that, but I think that gun should not be here. That gun must go in the safety box."
Jack said, Jan kind of agreed with it, but she’s not sure that the teacher would believe the silly wild desert story and allow their request.
"Let's think about that later. Now, we have to practice! Haha, you’re gonna become the thief this time, huh? Last time, you rescued me from the thief, and now you are the thief!" Jan giggled, staring at Jack's clothes.
"Oh… I hate thieves…… but I have to take the thief role…" Jack grumbled and kicked the ground.
And Jack and Jan ran to the stage like the other kids.
---------
🔟-The musical end
"Good job, Jack!" Jack's parents walked to him.
"How can you have such great acting skills? It was like you'd been in Texas once!" Jack's younger brother yelled, almost forgetting about his BB gun.
While looking down his younger brother, Suddenly Jack felt a bit sorry to his brother.
'Does he know that I've traveled to the past?..' Jack thought, but soon he snapped out of his thoughts. There's no way his younger brother would know this.
Jack's other younger brothers came to the musical too. They were all amazed by Jack's performance.
"I think you must become a theater actor!"
One of his younger brothers yelled to Jack.
Jack just smiled sheepishly at them.
But then he spotted Jan, who was surrounded by other friends and family.
He quickly ran to her and brought her in front of his family, and introduced her.
"This is Jan. If you don't know her yet, she is one of my best friends!"
"I'm glad that you made a new best friend." Jack's mom Sarah said.
"Especially a pretty girl!" His dad added, jokingly. And they all laughed hard except Jack.
"Eww.... dad, not funny!!" Jack's mouth pouted and he shook his head.
"I'll go outside and get some fresh air!" He shouted and slammed the exit door shut.
Outside, Jack thought about it carefully. Did Jan really help him so far?
Could Jack really say that confidently?
But soon he reached the conclusion.
Without his friend's help, he couldn't even go back home and do the musical.
He can't ignore that fact. That means so much to Jack.
"Well, she is my best friend and will always remain that way."
The two white doves flew in the pellucid sky, as if telling him what true friendship means.
The end-
---
Original Novel written By_ Lauryn