I always used to ask myself if the school was haunted. I discovered the answer one Wednesday afternoon.
Everyone had rushed out the classroom but I had stayed behind to help Mrs Johnson pack away some old projects.
"It's high time we get rid of these so I'll have more space," said Mrs Johnson. We packed the old posters neatly into boxes.
"Now take these boxes to the store room," she instructed.
I wasn't sure where the store room was, being new to the school.
"Do you know where the staff room is?"
"Yes."
"It's the door on the right."
"Okay, got it."
On my way to the store room, I saw my friends Bryan and Stacey.
"Where are you off to?" asked Stacey with the grin she always wore on her face.
"Oh I just have to take these old projects to the store room," I answered.
"We'll come with you. We don't mind."
It was the three of us now heading to the store room. It was dark and dusty which made Stacey sneeze. I placed the boxes on an empty shelf.
"Wow! Where does this door lead to?" asked Bryan, looking at a closed door. It had carvings on it which I could not make out. "Maybe there's gold or lots of money," he added mischievously.
"Oh please," said Stacey rolling her eyes. "That will never happen in a million years. Grow up Bryan."
Bryan turned the door knob. "Hey, you might never know. Kayla, pass the keys. I think one of them might open this door."
"Don't!" disagreed Stacey. "If I don't get out of this place, I will sneeze to death."
I held the keys tightly but Bryan grabbed the keys out of my hands.
"Hey, give them back Bryan."
"Just one look won't hurt."
Bryan chose a key but the door opened before he even put the key into it. A strong breeze filled the room and pushed us about. It gave me the chills.
Stacey whispered urgently: "There's nothing inside. Now let's get a move on."
"We haven't even seen what's inside yet," exclaimed Bryan.
"Fine. Are you coming Kayla?"
"I don't have a good feeling about this. I'll wait here."
"Okay. If you say so."
I stayed and waited for them to come back. I was a bit afraid that one of the teachers would find us and we'd get in trouble. Eight minutes had gone by but there was still no sign of them. I called down to them but there was no reply. Where could they be? There was a staircase leading down to somewhere else. After another few minutes I could not wait any longer. Mrs Johnson would get very curious. I went down the stairs to look for them.
When I reached the bottom, it was lighter and I could see more clearly. It was completely empty and as I looked at the other side of the room, I saw a cloud. It started to form into a human figure and I know at once that it was a ghost. I tried to run but I couldn't. It felt as if my feet were glued to the ground. The ghost came closer to me and grabbed me by the ankles. It dragged me across the room. I closed my eyes and hoped it was all a dream.
Surprisingly, when I opened my eyes, I saw Mrs Johnson and a few other teachers around me. I was lying on the store room floor.
"Are you okay?" Mrs Johnson asked worriedly.
I babbled the whole story to her and the other teachers.
"Did you say Stacey and Bryan?" Mr Larry, my science teacher asked.
"Yes. They are my friends. Why?" I ask, confused.
"They were students at our school. They went missing five years ago. A teacher sent them to this very room and they were never seen again."
And there he was, tied up against the wall. The stench of blood was strong. There was blood pouring from his chest. They were all horrified. What had happened? The room was dark and stuffy. He was sweating and trembling. When Kat turned on the light, everything was clear.
Three days earlier ...
Kay DiNeru was sitting watching television. It was her night off, and she deserved it. She had just found Annie in the 'Missing Annie' case. As she was watching, a very disturbing news flash came on. It said that David Beckham, the number one football player in the world, had gone missing. After watching television for a bit longer Kat went to bed.
The next morning she was woken up by a phone call at 05h00. It was a private number so she hesitated before answering. It was from the CIA. They told her that they needed her for a top secret mission and needed her to meet in their office at 06h00. Kat had barely entered the office before the officer told her to sit down and listen carefully.
Officer Declan O'Connor told her that Victoria Beckham had hired them to find her husband. He had been missing for two days now and Victoria was worried. Kay immediately started getting her notebook out and said that they needed to talk to Beckham's coach.
The team had asked Beckham's coach a lot of questions but had got nothing from him. Just as they were about to leave, Beckham's coach finally revealed that the last time he saw him, Beckham was leaving practice, going to the pub to meet some friends.
They got the address of the pub and went looking for it.
They got to the pub but the "Closed" sign was up.
O'Connor and his team decided to force the door open. As the two men kicked it open, a vile smell spilled out. One by one the team walked into the London pub.
And there he was, tied up against the wall. The stench of blood was strong. Blood was pouring from his dirty chest. They were all horrified. What had happened to him? The room was dark, hot and stuffy. He looked as if all his energy and life was draining out of him. He couldn't make a sound as duck tape was on his mouth. When Kat turned on the light, everything was clear.
Standing right next to a tired, filthy David Beckham was Christiano Ronaldo with a knife in his hand.
Kay pulled out her CIA badge and told him to drop the knife. Christiano dropped the knife but pulled out a gun. Every officer pulled out their gunand pointed it at him.
He pointed the gun at him own head and shot once, twice. Everyone was silent with shock, only for a second, and then ran towards David and untied him.
Victoria was so grateful that she paid each of the investigating team £200,000 for saving David's life.
My name is Waseem Watson and I'm reporting for The Cape Argus. I have travelled millions of miles to reach my destination - Hell - to find out the story of the Evil Cement.
It is said that the Evil Cement is made in Hell by the devil himself and his fiendish little workers. It is brought up to earth to cause torment to whoever buys it.
Now you will probably ask who will buy this Evil Cement? Well, the answer is the people of South Africa.
South Africans buy the Evil Cement at the well-known DIY shop, Builders Warehouse. The Evil Cement is disguised as a very well-known brand - House Maker - which is sold at a reduced price to attract the attention of buyers.
It was first discovered in January 2011, when a Builders Warehouse worker found a little demon unpacking the cement into the storeroom. The worker, Thabo Ngulu caught the demon and took him to the police where he confessed. He told the police everything about the Evil Cement.
The Evil Cement has tormented the people who lived in the houses it built. There has been reports of people committing suicide in gorey and brutal ways.
The cement is made by the hellfire of the devil and he said he would keep on with his plan to bring down the world.
This beautiful bedroom belongs to a very special girl named Ella, and Ella kept a secret ...
At night the pretty lady with pink hair and blue eyes would awaken. Elee was her name, and she was Ella's fairy godmother. They had many adventures at night while the others slept.
Elee had magical powers which transported them to a magical utopia with castles and knights and a king and queen: every little girl's dream.
One night, Elee and Ella discovered that the staple food of the dreamland, cupcakes, had run out!
As princess of the realm, Ella could not sit back and watch as her people starved. Together, they came up with an idea. They would bake some cupcakes. They would bake enough to keep the land going for ten years. That would give the cupcake trees enough time to recover from overpicking.
The king gathered his bravest knights to search all corners of the kingdom for cupcake ingredients. They would have to fight monsters, trolls and dragons on their sacred quest.
The journey was long and hard, but the knights survived and returned triumphant.
Ella and Elee waited anxiously in the kitchen, breathing a sigh of relief when the ingredients finally arrived. They took a splash of this, a dash of that and in the end, made the perfect cupcakes.
That day the entire kingdom had a huge feast and celebration. 'The Feast of Ella' is what they called it.
All this tires a little girl, and the next morning, Ella woke up with a smile on her face and cupcake crumbs in her bed!
To set a gym on fire one would think you needed to smuggle a flame-thrower in, or blow up the main power source. No! You don't need to be a rocket scientist! You just need two testosterone-loaded teenagers, a bottle of eucalyptus oil and a sauna.
On 22 May, I arrived at the Virgin Active gym for two hours of swimming training. Afterwards, we headed off to the sauna to relax like hippos in the sun.
We normally leave the sauna after 10 minutes, but Graham and I stayed for a little while longer.
Graham put some eucalyptus oil on the fire. He put a few drops in and nothing happened. So he put the whole bottle in and ...
An enormous, raging flame hit the wooden roof! I watched in dumbstruck awe, frozen like a statue, while Graham raced down the passage shouting for the janitor and a fire extinguisher.
Since then, Graham and I have come to know that only a few drops of eucalyptus oil is needed in a sauna.
Losing someone is always hard, but not knowing how to deal with it is much harder. Days before Christmas my grandpa found out he needed heart surgery.
It was a risky operation but without it he wouldn't have long to live. We begged him to go for the surgery, because we thought it would be a successful operation, but it wasn't ...
I felt so depressed and had no reason to feel happy. Everytime I felt good I would think about how unhappy he was and I thought it was right to feel the same.
All of my family came and I felt so close to them. Having family and loved ones around helps to deal with it.
Christmas day ... we left for the hospital at 16h00. We arrived there and even though he was in a coma, I spoke to him about how he influenced my life and how I miss him already.
After he passed away, I couldn't accept it, but after he was gone I though how precious life is and how quickly it can be gone. I learned to always appreciate life.
Even though I miss him, he will always be a big part of my life.
My mom has an eye disease called R.P. This basically means that she has tunnel vision.
One day I went with my mom to Blaauwberg Hospital for an appointment with her optometrist.
I sat at the cafe in the hospital waiting for her. After about half and hour, I saw my mom coming down the staircase. My mom walked underneath the staircase to get to me. What she didn't know was that there was a fountain there.
My mom walked right into the fountain in her long brown skirt. When she realized where she was, she suddenly stopped. My mom stepped out of the fountain and walked over to where I was sitting, leaving a nice, muddy trail behind her.
I looked around and saw everyone staring at us in shock. I was embarrassed, ashamed and angry. How could my mom do this to me?
After sulking at home for a while, and not saying a word to my mom, I suddenly realized something. It wasn't my mom's fault that she didn't see the fountain. She didn't do it deliberately. I started feeling so guilty about my anger.
I accepted that my mom is partially sighted and that no matter what she does, I will always love her.
"We need to get rid of this goat. It's trashing the garden!" said Gertrude, the owner of a playful, loving white goat.
"Okay fine," replied her husband. "I'll take him to the fields tomorrow."
And so he did.
The little goat's eyes showed that he knew what was going to happen. He was in the back of the double cab, rattling down a long road that seemed endless.
The little goat was forced out into a strange world. Away went his previous owner in the car, back on the road.
By this time the goat was hungry. He stumbled around to find some food; some grass to munch on. The little goat was stressed. He had never in his life been in an environment like the one he was in now. Finally, the little goat found a patch of grass to feed on. This was his first moment of relief that day.
Hours passed but there were no signs of any living creature besides himself.
He heard a sound. In the distance he could see a car, slowly coming towards him. A feeling of relief swept through him. Eventually it got so close that he could see the faces of three people: a husband, wife and a young girl, around the age of 7.
The car stopped and the family emerged.
"Can we keep him? I want to name him George! Please, oh please Daddy?" said the little girl excitedly.
"We will see about that when we get home," replied her dad. Then he put George, the little white goat, into their family van and headed off back to their home.
After a few fun-filled weeks, the daughter went to her dad and once again asked him: "Can we keep him?"
The dad looked at the furry little goat, who at this time had eyes that showed hope for a new family.
The dad quickly thought about it and replied: "No, no we may not."
Hundreds of women rush into my shop requesting for me to make their dream cake. I love watching their excited faces describe what they want and I love watching their eyes light up as I show them real samples of their imaginative ideas.
My shop is always filled with happy young ladies. This is why I was so taken aback when he walked in. He was tall with exquisite ocean blue eyes. He had dark olive skin and light chocolate hair, and he was walking towards me.
I had to hold myself back from gawking at him as I handed him a sample book. To my surprise, he stopped me and asked if we could meet for coffee to come up with a beautiful design for a cake.
We were going to meet the next day at 12h00. I couldn't think properly. I had to find the perfect outfit. I had to decide how to do my hair.
And then it hit me.
He was getting married. His fiance was probably gorgeous and I'm just a wedding cake maker.
He was there when I arrived at the coffee shop. He was wearing a loose fitted white shirt and dark jeans. As I sat down he surprised me by taking both of my hands and telling me that I was his high school crush!
I couldn't believe it! He was Simon, the short nerd with oily skin who nobody liked. This handsome man sitting with me definitely did not look like Simon!
He explained that he had made up an excuse so that I would go out for coffee with him. We chatted and had a great time.
A couple of months later he proposed.
Now I'm one of the excited young ladies running into wedding cake shops.
