The Three Kingdoms

Henry Trang

The Three Kingdoms war began with Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in 184. The weakened Han Empire was being suppressed by the rebels until He Jin organized an army to oppose them. Even when the rebellion was dispelled, the Han Dynasty continued to be plagued by calamities within the court. He Jin wanted to sustain the dynasty when Emperor Ling passed away. His heirs were still too young so He Jin appointed Liu Biao to substitute as ruler. With Yuan Shao's support, he planned to remove the scheming eunuchs from capital but was assassinated before he could remove them.

Yuan Shao and a handful of men murdered the eunuchs afterwards but their actions made Dong Zhuo to enter the capital. His capable military leadership drove them into a civil conflict. Wanting to reestablish the Han's power, he manipulated the succession to have the ruler be one of Emperor Ling's young sons, the future Emperor Xian. The Emperor asked him to rule in his stead, Dong Zhuo obeyed. However, he lacked the political etiquette and tact to sustain the land for long. His rude manners and brutality started several revolts against him lead by Yuan Shao and Sun Jian. The emperor and Dong Zhuo escaped to Chang'an though the warlord wasn't killed until his subordinates, Wang Yun and Lu Bu, rebelled against him.

When the coalition against Dong Zhuo argued about who they wanted to rule for the emperor, their members disbanded. Most of the members wanted their own independence and power, separating the land into several districts lead by regional lords. Among such generals was the fearsome Lu Bu who was considered a threat to the land's future. Emperor Xian spent a year searching for someone who would support him until Cao Cao finally agreed to help him. Acting under the Han, Cao Cao continued his conquest to Tao Qian, who was supported by Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan. He was foiled by Lu Bu attacking the Yan province and forced a retreat. Lu Bu was defeated and fled to Liu Bei for safety.

Meanwhile, in the south, Sun Ce succeeded his father and served for a time under Yuan Shu. His quick and successful conquests earned him a reputation with his lord as Little Conqueror. Yuan Shu, confident in his subordinates, declared himself as emperor. Sun Ce did not agree with this and negotiated with Cao Cao to usurp Yuan Shu. With Liu Bei and Lu Bu, the coalition surrounded Yuan Shu and forced him to flee. After this conflict, Lu Bu betrays his benefactor and forms an army with Yuan Shu's remaining forces. Liu Bei fled to Cao Cao for safety and they both allied together to siege Lu Bu's base, Xia Pi. Due to betrayal amongst his officers, Lu Bu was captured, defeated, and executed.

Dong Cheng, an officer of the Imperial Court, received a secret edict from the Emperor to assassinate Cao Cao. He collaborated with Liu Bei on this effort, but Cao Cao soon found out about the plot and had the conspirators executed. Only Liu Bei survived and fled to Yuan Shao in the north. After settling the nearby provinces and internal affairs with the court, Cao Cao turned his attention north. Yuan Shao, who came from higher nobility than Cao Cao, amassed a large army and camped along the northern bank of the Yellow river. In the same year, Sun Ce was fatally wounded and names the young Sun Quan as his successor.

After the months of planning, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao met in force at Guan Du. Overcoming Yuan's superior numbers, Cao Cao decisively defeated him by setting fire to his supplies, and in doing so crippled the northern army. Liu Bei fled to Liu Biao of Jing province and many of Yuan Shao's forces were destroyed. Cao Cao took advantage of Yuan Shao's death and the resulting division among his sons to advance north of the Yellow River. He captured Ye and occupied the provinces of Ji, Bing, and Qing. By the late 200s, Cao Cao had unified all of Northern China.

Cao Cao marched south with his army hoping to quickly unify all of China. He was able to capture a sizable fleet at Jiangling when Liu Cong surrendered to him. Even against the huge army, Sun Quan continued to resist. His advisor, Lu Su, secured an alliance with Liu Bei and Sun Ce's sworn brother, Zhou Yu, was placed in command of Sun Quan's navy, along with a veteran officer of the Sun family, Cheng Pu. Their combined armies of 50,000 met Cao Cao's fleet and 200,000-strong force at Chi Bi that winter. After an initial skirmish, an attack beginning with a plan to set fire to Cao Cao's fleet was set in motion to lead to the decisive defeat of Cao Cao, forcing him to retreat in disarray back to the north. The allied victory at Chi Bi ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and provided the foundation for the states of Shu and Wu.

After his return to the north, Cao Cao contented himself with absorbing the northwestern regions in 211 and consolidating his power. He progressively increased his titles and power and eventually became the King of Wei, a title bestowed by the Emperor Xian.

Liu Bei, having defeated Jing warlords with the help of Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, entered Yi province and later in 214 displaced Liu Zhang as ruler, leaving his commander Guan Yu in charge of Jing province. Sun Quan, who had in the intervening years being engaged with defenses against Cao Cao in the southeast at Hefei, now turned his attention to Jing province and the Middle Yangzi. Tensions between the allies were increasingly visible. After Liu Bei successfully seized Hanzhong from Cao Cao and as Guan Yu was engaged in the siege of Fan Castle, Sun Quan's commander-in-chief Lu Meng secretly seized Jing province, and his forces captured and executed Guan Yu.

January of 210, Cao Cao died and in October, Emperor Xian gave his throne to Cao Pi. There have been assumptions that the heir forced the emperor to forsake his reign thus ending the Han Dynasty. He named his state Wei and made himself emperor at Luoyang.

Liu Bei named himself Emperor of Han a year later in an attempt to restore the fallen Han dynasty. In the same year, Wei bestowed on Sun Quan the title of King of Wu. Shu Han troops declared war on Wu and met the Wu armies at the Battle of Yiling. At Yiling, Liu Bei was disastrously defeated by Sun Quan's commander Lu Xun and forced to retreat back to Shu. He died soon after and was succeeded by his son, Liu Chan. Shu and Wu resumed friendly relations at the expense of Wei. Sun Quan renounced his recognition of Cao Pi's regime and he declared himself emperor at Wuchang. Wei controlled, Wu ruled in the south east, and Shu controlled the south west.

Shu and Wu focused on suppressing rebellions in the south caused by tribes who weren't a part of the then boarders of China. Wu forced the surrender of the Yue tribe while Shu was attacked by the Nanman tribe. Zhuge Liang led a campaign against them and Meng Huo eventually surrendered after being captured and released seven times. Although he swore to stop all rebellions, they continued to persist south of Shu's borders. However, it was no longer a main concern as Zhuge Liang led a Northern Campaign against Wei. He stationed the main army in Hanzhong and planned to break through to Chang'An and Louyang. In the next seven years, Zhuge Liang executed an estimated five attempts yet failed to meet his goal due to limited food supplies. During his final campaign, he passed away on the Wu Zhang Plains yet news of his death allowed Shu's safe escape since Sima Yi was hesitant to pursue.

During Shu's Northern Campaigns, Wu was constantly attacked by Wei at He Fei. Thanks to the natural defenses and the Yue troops, however, Wu's defenses were solid. Their well defended lands helped the technology and arts in the south to advance.

  Kathleen Nguyen

A delicious aroma filled the air as I walked through the bustling streets of Mission, San Diego. “What is that amazing smell?!” I questioned myself. I looked around. It was dark, about 10:00PM, yet it was so crowded. Well, of course it was crowded; it was the beach. Mission Boardwalk was what it was called. I followed my nose and stumbled upon a froyo shop. “That’s where the smell is coming from!” I thought, excitedly to myself. I rushed inside, pulling an old, crinkled 5 dollar bill from my pocket. I handed the cashier, who seemed a little too happy working at this late hour, my crumpled money. As I waited for my change, I looked out the window and saw an old homeless man. I thought to myself, “Man, another hobo just trying to scam people for booze”. I was wrong. He held a cardboard sign that read “I’m George. Please help. Traveling with dog.”

I received my change and promptly walked out of the froyo shop. I walked toward the benches so I could sit down and enjoy the fabulous night with the delicious froyo. I sat down and gazed at the resplendent stares. I was hypnotized by the panoramic view of the sky and the waves crashing onto the shore.

“Excuse me. Do you happen to carry any spare change?” His voice startled me. It was not old and raspy as I had anticipated. It was rather clear and deep. I turned around and was about to deny him of change when I felt something tickle my leg. I realized it was a dog and thought to myself “It’s George… From outside the froyo shop.” I looked up into his eyes and pulled out all my change and an extra dollar and gave it to him. I told him “I hope that’s enough” and looked down to pet his dog. He said nothing. The silence became awkward between me and him. I looked up, aware of the awkwardness and he looked at me as if I were crazy.

“Enough?” He said quietly. “ You must be crazy. This is more than enough! I can’t thank you enough.” He started to move toward me in a warm embrace, but must have realized his own disgust because he quickly pulled away. “I’m sorry...” He began to say.

“Its alright” I said quickly and shook his hand. He took a seat next to me and we sat there in the silence gazing up at the stars. I petted his dog between mouthfuls of delicious frozen yogurt.

We sat in the silence of the night. All of a sudden, from the corner of my eyes, I saw a couple of boys lurking around us in the bushes. I got a little scared, I must admit. It was night time, where anything can happen. I scooted on the bench a little closer to George thinking to myself “Maybe he can protect me if anything happens…” I started asking him questions to pass the time away and to get to know this man a little better.

He told me that his dog’s name is Wallace and that he hasn’t always been homeless. He used to have a nice life with his family. He lost his job and resorted to drugs. When he finally hit rock bottom, his wife left him and took the kids. He was forced to become homeless. I remember asking him why didn’t he just leave the dog with his life so he wouldn’t have to worry so much. He told me that all his life, he wanted to find the person that he’d fall in love with and would love unconditionally no matter what happens. He wanted to find somebody that would also love him back unconditionally. When his wife kicked him out, he found out that the person he had been waiting for his whole life was not a person. It was his beloved dog, Wallace.

We were in the middle of our conversation when we heard some rustling in the bushes next to us. I asked him “Don’t you get scared of the dangers of being in the street?” and he replied with confidence “No fear. If you’re afraid of everything, you won’t be able to live. And I know that if anything ever happened to me, Wallace wouldn’t just leave my like my wife did. He’d stick with me though everything.” I admired his confidence and how he could say that with ease, as if his life depended on it.

We heard some more rustling in the bushes next to us, but this time, there were whispers. I looked at George and saw the fearlessness in his eyes. Wallace started barking and that’s when I knew something was wrong. I quickly looked around and threw my empty yogurt cup into the bushes as if that would scare anything. Then I saw the boys I saw earlier that were lurking around. There were three of them. All dressed in black. They started talking to each other and then looked at George. He still had that fearless look in his eyes as if he was ready to conquer the world singlehandedly. He stood up and took a bold step forward as if he were protecting me and Wallace. Wallace started to whimper and I looked down and started petting the poor dog.

The boys must have been in a gang or something because they all had matching tattoos. One of them, the biggest one, said “Oh yeah, homeboy?! What are you gonna do now!” And threw a punch at George’s chest. I flinched, not wanting to see his pain when I hear the other two boys saying “Ooh, he got you there, homeboy!” I looked up and saw that George actually caught his punch! I was so surprised he had quick reflexes.

“Yeah, next time, don’t be such a chicken and go for my face!” George teased. That’s when the worst happened. The other two boys ran up to his side and grabbed his arms. I was expecting him to punch them and beat them up as he did to the first guy, but he didn’t. They caught him off guard and within 2 seconds, they had his hands behind his back and he was helpless. I couldn’t ook, yet I continued to look as if I was fixed in a trance. The first boy was filled with rage. He had a hungry look in his eyes. The eyes of a jaguar. If he didn’t kill anyone tonight, he’d go crazy. He walked up slowly to George and looked him in the eyes. For a second, I saw a flash of fear in his eyes. It was gone as fast as it had appeared. “Hi there,” George teased again. The boy replied with a punch straight to his face.

“That’s what you get for being a smarty pants with a home boy!” The other two laughed.

“Oh really? You had to tie me up to get a punch at my face?” George quickly retorted. Oh, had I wish George would have just stopped talking. The other two boys were shocked at his bravery and slightly released their grip on his arms. He realized this and quickly pulled his arms back. The boys quickly realized what they had done and tried to regain their grip on his arms. It was too late. He struck his arms out to the sides and punched them both in the faces. They fell to the ground, unconscious. The first boy that had attacked George looked surprised. He backed up. It looked like he was retreating and I was relieved. George had won… Or so I thought.

The boy had only backed up to gain space between him and George. He quickly sprinted the distance and jumped. He stuck his foot out, like he was doing karate or something. George has obviously anticipated this. He stuck his hand up and grabbed the boy’s foot and flipped him upside down. He laughed and bent over to look the boy in his eyes. “Better luck next time, little boy. Oh and make sure you taking some karate lessons before you attempt a dumb move like that.” Oh, George. He could never keep his mouth shut, could he.

It was only a matter of time before the police arrived and investigated. They questioned George first and then me. I told them everything that happened and the police arrested the three boys that caused all the trouble. They offered George a place in a homeless shelter, but George denied the offer.

“But George, why wouldn’t you take it? You’ll be off the streets and you’ll be safe from harm like that.” I asked him.

“ No, I can’t take the offer. As much as I’d like to, I just can’t. Wallace wouldn’t have a place to stay and I can’t stand to be away from the love of my life.” He simply replied. So that is what unconditional love is. He sacrificed his own well being just to be with his dog. And with those last words, he walked away with his dog in tow.

  Curse life?

Kevin Chau

My name is Kenichi, I am of age 16, and I was told my life would be curse I ever since I was born in this world. I was told that I would be living a curse life unless I find the one person that could change it. Ever since that day I have only wish for a reason to live on. Getting beat up and hate by others in the village is enough to tell me that I am not needed in this town or even maybe this world.

My day starts like all day starts getting taunted at by the little kids in the village telling me to get lost and to never go back. I had considered doing that before, but just thinking about it can just disown me and make me the person of who I am not. So I just ignore what they say and reach the middle school I go to Takayami middle.  The school itself isn’t bad especially in the summer when the grass is green as it can ever be, the sky is bright blue with no clouds in sight, and lastly the view from the top of the school is just great you can see the whole village from there. Soon the school bell rings and I steadily go to my class sitting down at my seat in the far corner away from the door. I have always been sitting there since no one likes to sit close to me and they think my curse will rub off on them and cause them misfortune.

I was born into a family of Youkais or demons in Japanese and they have been raising me up until now. My orphan dad is the king of the Youkais and every year he would do the 100 Youkai march and the march would always happen when the great festival of Japan starts. When it does my orphan father would always lead them and make great fun of it. No normal human can see it, but because I live with them I have been taught and given blood that allows me to see them. The march is filled with all sorts of Youkai, big ones, small ones, and even ones with no bodies. Some of them can do extraordinary things while others choose to use their powers to hurt humans.

The day today is the day when I get to join the march since I am now a Youkai. I have started to grow features in my body that can be said to not be human and still I look human to many of them.

My hair has turned red and has grown long enough that I have to tie it up. My body has become bigger and stronger, it also has gotten lighter, and it seems I have grown to like making trouble for others. Knowing that I am going to be gone for quite some time I choose to visit my mother’s grave at the Nishikawa river right beside the bridge.  As I stood there staring at the cold night sky I hear footsteps coming closer to me and a gleam of light quickly moves from the floor to my head. I dodge what seems to be a quick glimpse of light and stand up facing against the person who might have attacked me. To my surprise it is a slayer sent by the nearby village to kill the Youkais they so feared. In the confusion I was in I tried to fight back with nothing, but my bare hands. Instead I fall with a thump onto the hard cold ground just right next to the river. With his foot on me I couldn’t move an inch unless he was nice enough to let me go or so I though. He raised his sword up high upon his head as if it was reaching over the heavens and swoop his sword came crashing down hitting the ground near my head. I laded there in disbelief that he didn’t kill me and I though again why that person looked so familiar. In shock and horror the person before me is a student from Takayami middle.

He looks at me in disdain and tells me that killing me would be helping the world. He starts laughing and howling in the dark cold night as if he was a ferocious beast. He then swings his sword again this time intending to kill me. In a quick flash and a blur the slayer falls hitting the nearby wall. A small furry ball unbundles and it becomes a fox. The fox stares at me as if he was trying to tell me something. I stand in oblivious state not knowing whether to run and hide or to fight beside him. Seconds later more Youkais show up and the slayer disappears with no trace of him ever appearing.

We all walked back to the house through the thick dark forest cautious of the mysterious person that might show up and destroy us. My only chance left was to walk back to our home at the end of the village. I started to walk down the dark dirt road with my cute little friend the Inari Fox. I stared at him wondering why a high rank fox would come and help me in my need. With all that thinking I never notice that we all had reached the house before long. There were still a few more hours before the march started and I was very anxious about the march since it was quite famous even among the people from the other side of the world. Walking back and forth in the living room I thought of how exciting it would be to walk among the other thousands of Youkai I got to see.

Suddenly one by one they fell to the grown with a blank stare as if they have died. Not knowing what to do I reached to the nearest Youkai and checked hi pulse. He was dead, dead as ever could be, his body was growing cold, and it look like all the others were to. The assassin show itself in a quick flash making sure his prey has taken the bait. A chill goes down my spine with great fear I crawl from one side of the room to the other. Thinking of how scared I was I practically though I would die right there right now. Until I feel a cold slender holder. The holder felt familiar like a sword’s holder that I used for practice every morning. I grab the object resting in my hand and I swing it towards the enemy and I run away as fast as I can through the hallways and through the other Youkais in the way.

Running as fast as I could I realize he wasn’t following me and I was lost in the dark forest. I move here, there, and still I have no idea of where I am going. I bump into trees black as day and I fall over roots big as trunks of an elephant. I then sit down hopelessly on the cold ground laying my back against the closest thing I felt. The object I laded against was warm, soft, and it held me as if we had known each other. It moves, squirms, and whines as if it is trying to tell me to get off of it. I turn around and with the light of the bright moon I see the fox that has been protecting.

The fox leads me to a clock trying to tell me of the time and when we reached the clock I notice I was late for the one and only parade I so wished for. A giant blur appears and the foxes disappear as well, the assassin has appears again, and I just had it with the unexpected things that happen. I stand up face my fear, suck up the cold air that is in the night, and I launch myself towards the assassin. He drops the fox as if it was a limp ragged doll onto the ground. I jumped towards the fox with full force ignoring everything and everyone.

The assassin picks me up by the collar and he asks if my life was more important than that of the fox. I answered that it is way more important because the fox had saved my life more times than I can ever count. He nods in disbelief and tells me that he won’t kill me as long as I forever am with him and I nod with fear and confusion. The assassin takes off his mask and to my amazement it is my orphan father testing my loyalty to my friends.

  Adventure Of Two Kids

Kevin Truong

It was July 4,2000 at Disneyland and they were watching fireworks with their parents and the two kids were amazed by the fireworks so the parents left for the  bathroom and the two kids didn’t know that they left so then the fireworks were over and they went looking for their parents.

So then the two kids got hungry so they were searching their pockets for money and they found a twenty dollar bill so then they went to the food stands and got something to eat and something to drink. Then after that they went searching for there parents around Disneyland and then it was almost closing time and they still didn’t find there parents. Then it was time for them to close and the two kids had to leave so they went back to the parking lot and didn’t find their parent’s car so then they were trying to find there way back to there house which wasn’t really far. So they got hungry again so they went to subway and got one sandwich and got it split in half for both of them to eat. Then after they finished the sandwich they went on their journey on the way they met a homeless guy and they had some extra money and they wanted to give it to him but Mark said that they will need it for their food and drinks so Max said sorry and walked away. Then they met their aunt friend Anna and she asked why are they alone walking on the streets and Mark and Max said that they got lost at Disneyland so then Anna asked if they need a ride and they said no because they were taught not to go on any strangers ride but they took it the wrong way and Anna said that shes their aunt and they said that they don’t recognize her because they haven’t seen her in a long time so they forgot how she looked like. So then….

Mark and Max are brothers they sometimes fight but they still like each other they have a dad and a mom named Richard and Valrie. Richard is a 50 year old man and Valerie is a 40 year old women and they have two kids named Mark and Max .Anna is their aunt and she has no husband and no kids and is very rich with a mansion as her house.

So then they continued there journey back to their house. Then they got lost and they found a computer store and they got extra money so they insert the money and the found out where they were and then they got on to a gps and searched up their way home and they were only a mile and a half away from there house so on their way back to the house their parents found them and they were so exited and happy to meet their parents and they got into the car and they were tricked and they immediately jumped out the car and ran towards their house. They were running so fast and they were running like a car.

So then they hugged and they never went to Disneyland and they had a wonderful and full life together.  

  The Time I went on a cruise to Mexico

Mark Hoang

On the Winter Break on 2008 my family started on cruise by packing our bags. I packed clothes games candy and most of all some books. We went to San Francisco to catch a plane to San Diego, that’s where our ship is. Once we arrived at San Diego we took some supplies and some water and got a taxi. We arrived at our cruise ship and it was a Holland American Ship, and it was called the Osterdam and it was huge!!! Before we could go in we had to get our passenger cards for food access and other stuff like our bedrooms. They took our pictures like IDs and they took our luggage to our rooms fast. Once we got in our rooms there was a T.V. bathroom a sofa bed and a balcony with a view. The cruise director announced a emergency drill at the lifeboats on the left side of the ship. When it started I thought to myself “Oh my god we already know what we have to do so why do we have to do this now? It’s so boring that I could die of boredom”. When the drill was finally over my family and I walked around the whole ship looking at pools the sea some gourmet and best of all, all of the people working on this ship. The next day we went on to the sky deck that has the gourmet the pool some activities and best of all an arcade. Once we got inside the gourmet station there was about thousands of different types of food I have never even tried. I got some French toast with butter, maple syrup, and some powdered sugar and it was the best French toast I have ever eaten. About noon on the ship we went to a stage and it showed a play about welcoming us on the ship. They needed people on board for a game and my brother and older sister were picked. When my brother and sister won we got gift cards, mugs, sweatshirts, and hats of the Holland American cruise boat. Everytime we go to sleep in our beds we see a towel folding model of sea creatures like rays, fish, and even squids, and they also put chocolate coins on them as eyes. About on the third day we finally arrived on Mexico and we took tour buses at every Mexican stop. On the first stop we went to a village that had really good food and souvenirs but then I discovered that nothing in Mexico is cheap. On the second day we went on another tour bus but it was the best one yet because the tour guide took us to his family restaurant and they had tacos, beans, rice, and for desert they had a mix of coconut and banana cream pie with  nuts  and it was the best pie I have ever had. When I ate it my mouth exploded with a bite of that pie. On that night we went to a magic show with a magician named James Cielen and he was the best magician I ever saw. We did classic tricks like disappearing the bowling pal and some others. With his dogs Coco and Shadow he did lots of tricks like switching their furs and with his wife she stuffed herself in a cube and James stuck some swords in the box and after 2 minutes he opened the box and out came his wife unharmed. On the final day of Mexico we went on buggies and drove all the way to the local beach at the Pacific ocean and I got scuba gear. In the water I saw flounders baby bat rays and some sea bass but then I saw some tiger fish (and it wasn’t a tiger shark) and I got scared and I swam off. On that night since it was the last day we went to Mexico the ship had a Mexican BBQ night with tacos, tequilas, games, and a lot of beer. On the next day we went to the pool and did some Marco Polo and I hit my head on the cement. I then went to the arcade with my brother and we played time crises and house of the dead 3.  My brother and I beat house of the dead 3 and to tell you the truth I didn’t really like the game that much. On that night we went to the local restaurant on the bottom of the ship and they had the best seafood they could ever have. They had blue crabs and blue lobsters and they mixed them together with butter and it was like BOOM the best kind of seafood I ever had. It was actually a five star restaurant. On New year’s Day on the ship we grabbed our finest tuxes and go some New year’s toys, hats, and blowers. There was a huge party on the top of the ship and my whole family got drunk on the ship except me. On the last day we grabbed all of our stuff and went to the top deck for breakfast. After a few minutes we got off the boat and grabbed a taxi to the san Diego airport. I grabbed some mc Donald’s for lunch and a coffee from starbucks just to keep me awake. Once we got on the plane it was so loud that I grabbed the music head phones and listened to some music. The music I heard wasa relaxing kind of music so I fell asleep for about 2 hours. I had an hour and a half left so I took the local magazine and started reading. I couldn’t grab my games because they said I couldn’t play them. So when I read the magazine I saw some cool grills sports equipment and some pool stuff. When we got home at San Francisco we waited for my sister’s boyfriend to come pick us up at the airport. When we went to our house I went to my computer and told all my friends on facebook. I immediately took a shower and went to sleep.

  A Modern Fairytale

Vi Truong

Have you ever heard of a movie or fairytale called The Beauty and the Beast? Almost all children and adults living in the United States have probably heard of it at least once in their life. It is among the classical tales told world-wide. It is a wondrous story about love between a selfish prince and charming, young maiden. Once again the story would be brought back to life with a modern twist…

Once upon a time, at a wealthy high school known as Golden Valley High, there dwells an intelligent but self-centered student named Bryant, and a hardworking but poor student named Annie. Golden Valley High is the richest school in Malibu, and the most prestigious in California. Only the wealthy families are able to afford the pricey tuition fee, the only way to attend for a low cost is to have all A’s every trimester. Bryant Jun is the son of a famous company director and one of the richest families in the community. He is one of the school’s best students and he is very athletic. But he is also very ignorant which causes many students to avoid him at school. However, Annie Lee has the complete opposite character as Bryant. She is benevolent, outgoing, but very poor. Her family lives on the far side of Malibu in a small but comfortable house. Although they attended the same high school, they never saw each other. They have only heard of each other through the small rumors spread around the school. Just from the rumors, Annie already seems to dislike Bryant.  

It was the week before Christmas vacation, and Annie was working two jobs to while taking care of her grandpa and little brother. She wanted to work hard and get them an awesome Christmas present. As she was getting home from a long and hard day, she saw her mom lying on the ground in front of their house. She quickly ran to her mom and carried her inside. After a few hours, her mom finally woke up. She fainted due to exhaustion and dehydration. Seeing that her mom is weary, Annie decided to take over her mom’s job until she gets healthy. Even though Annie was worn out from her two jobs, she wants to be a help to her mom and pay the debts due to her father’s death.

The next day her mom gave her the address and she got ready for her first day of work. She walked through the gated community to look for the house and stumbled upon an enormous mansion hidden behind some trees. She checked the address, it was correct, but she was a bit scared to go inside. The trees made the house seem eerie and dark. Annie gulped slowly as she pushed the doorbell. A face appeared on the screen and Annie confirmed who she was. The big gate slowly opened as Annie walked inside.  As she walks, she saw a shadow lurking around the trees; she felt it coming closer and closer. Panicking, she took a deep breath and ran like the wind until she crashed into the front door of the mansion.

The door opened, she dashed inside trying to catch her breath. When she looked up she saw a tall guy with long brown hair and dark, mysterious eyes standing over her. She fell on the floor due to shock and he reached his hands out to help her up. She gently grabbed his hand and he pulled her up. Suddenly an elegant, well-dressed lady walked over and dragged Annie away. As they walk, she told Annie the rules of the house and most importantly to leave the tall guy with brown hair alone because he was the master of the house. She also assigned Annie to clean around the mansion until 9 o’clock every day.

After she received the instructions she got to work right away cleaning the windows and mopping the floors until it was spotless. Exhausted, she sat down to rest in front of a big double door at the end of the hall. Right when she sat down the big doors swung open and pushed her forward, crashing against the polished doors.  The pain was so excruciating she could barely move and eventually passed out on the floor. The mysterious long hair guy opened the door wide and carried her inside. He took care of her until she finally woke up the next morning. Annie slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room; she freaked out and ran to the door.  The mysterious stranger was standing at the door stopping her.

“Hey, calm down…you are still at the mansion.” He calmly sighed.

“I am?” Annie puzzled.

“Well, I hit you with the door yesterday and you fainted, so you just stayed here for the night.” He explained quickly.

“Who are you?” she interrogated.

“Bryant Jun…we go to the same school.” He answered while dragging her out of the room.

“So you are that rich boy everyone mentions about?” Annie grumbled.

Bryant flipped his hair and told Annie to make him breakfast. Later, they both went to school together but they both kept it a secret. Right when Annie got to school her friend Gabon jumped out and asked her out on a date but she refused. It was actually an everyday routine for him even though many girls already like him. It makes her wonder if he was just joking with her. After school, she came back and continued her job until her mom came looking for her but she got sent home. While at the house Annie had lots of fun with the cook and the maids, they were all so friendly to her. Bryant on the other hand was standing on the side observing her being so free and happy. He fell in love with her as days go by but he kept his one-sided love quiet. One night he asked her to stay and have dinner with him. At dinner it was just the two of them at a big table filled with food. His parents were gone often so he had to eat only most of the time. The more Annie got to know about Bryant the more she falls in love with him. They spend most of the week hanging out with each other even at school, which made Gabon really envious. He tried to split them apart but it was all useless.

After many failures, he decides to really end it this time. He tricked Annie and locked her in the supply closet. Then he gathered some of friends to go attack Bryant. While Annie was terrified that she was trapped and what was going to happen to Bryant. She tried to call her mom but the phone had no signal and the call dropped every single try. Luckily, she found a small pin and successfully picked the lock. She ran around the gigantic campus trying to find Bryant then suddenly she heard metal clanking behind the bleachers on the football field.

She immediately ran over, but once she got there most of Gabon’s friends were gone, only Bryant and Gabon were fighting. Gabon pulled out a dagger and charged at Bryant, who was not aware of the dagger. It stabbed his right abdominal, leaving a deep wound, and a big loss of blood. Gabon, terrified of what he has done, he dropped the knife and ran away. Annie hurried over and checks to see Bryant was still breathing, while tears were streaming down her cheeks. She called for an ambulance and got him to the hospital. The entire way there she held his hand and prayed that he would be all right.

Indeed her praying was heard and within seconds Bryant slowly opened his eyes. While he was unconscious he heard Annie’s prayers and felt touched, his selfish heart slowly became warm. For the first time, he finally felt what love was. But Annie felt guilty; she thought everything happened because of her, so she ran away. Throughout winter break, Annie avoided Bryant at all cost due to her guilt. While recovering Bryant decided to change and become a brighter person. He finally cut his long brown hair, got a new wardrobe and cleared the eerie trees in front of the mansion. His selfishness and ignorant personality seem to have fade away, he owe it all to Annie for changing him for the better.

That Monday, every student came back to school from winter break. Annie saw a crowd of people surrounding something at the front of the school, so she ran over curious to see what is going on. As she made her way through the crowd, she saw a guy standing with his back facing her. He had short brown hair with bangs and was wearing a t-shirt and skinny jeans. She first thought it was a new student but as he turned she felt like she knew him. After looking at him for awhile she finally realized it was Bryant; she was shocked and speechless. He smiled and dragged her away to the rose garden at the back of the school. He hugged her tightly as she burst out tears; he wiped her face, picked eleven roses from the garden and handed them to her.

“What are you doing?” Annie asked.

“You my first and one true love forever and forever on…” Bryant grinned.