By: Ronald (Ray) Wu

A mysterious stranger crosses 5th avenue, gazing at the empire state building. He puts on sunglasses and buttons on his trench coat. “With power in our hands, we will be able to find, do, and see whatever they cannot”, he says to himself, checking for any eavesdroppers. He sees a faint blue light glow inside one of the buildings.

“WELCOME, RISING 5TH GRADERS! My name is anonymous, so call me Professor 189. There will be thousands of staff, so you will have to remember every member by their looks”, said Professor 189.

“Will we be exploring the so-called lost island and see if we find anything?”, Michael questioned. He was always excited for adventures, so he entered this summer camp to start feeding his interest. Michael was also inspired by his brother, Robert, who came here six years ago.

Professor 189 sternly looks at Michael. He didn’t want to expose his secrets to the whole class yet. “We are going to the Lost Island, but I will not say anything else until we arrive. UNDERSTAND?!” The professor shouted in a voice so loud, it sounded like a volcanic eruption. “We will be arriving in two days, because of mysterious forces and—um, I mean, because of previous delayed flights. We will—we will—um, see you tomorrow”, continued Professor 189.

The clock ticked to 8 pm sharp. All the campers wondered why the professor stuttered at the end. It was the first day of explorer’s campus summer camp, so it made sense why the professor was nervous. However, he did not uncover his name, nor was it his first year.

Michael’s older brother, Robert, who went to the same camp described Professor 189 to him before he left extremely accurately. A thought caused Michael to think something suspicious was related to Professor 189. Even though Michael had a lot of evidence that Professor 189 should be monitored closely, he decided to take further action later.

When Michael arrived back at his cabin, he accidentally opened FOX News. It was playing a recording from about 13 hours ago—just 2 hours before camp started. It stated that the Empire State Building was under construction, but that an unknown figure, most likely a person, was wandering around. It was recorded by a passing FOX drone. Michael grew suspicious. The “mysterious stranger” was about as tall as Professor 189, had the same beard, and the same sunglasses. The man was also wearing the same trench coat the professor had on his wheeled chair. Michael knew something was going on.

Two days later, about thirty minutes before the field trip, Michael saw Professor 189 talking with multiple security guards. It looked like they were arguing, which made Michael think it had something to do with their trip to the Island.

By the time the whole aircraft landed, Michael started to become cautious, trying to not ruin his chance to validate his conspiracy theory. He wanted to get as much information as possible to confirm Professor 189 had a suspicious connection with the Empire State Building and the island.

“WE HAVE ARRIVED!” boomed Professor 1447. He seemed very excited, but quite calm. Nothing seemed wrong with him.

By the time Professor 189 stepped off the ship, he took a leaf sample—so small that no one noticed; almost. Michael noticed a small green sheet with red veins. A plant with properties you can’t find elsewhere.

Michael spent his whole trip keeping an undercover eye on Professor 189. The trip back to the mainland was very strange, because every ten seconds, there seemed to be abnormal turbulence on the airplane.

When everyone arrived back to the mainland, he noticed Professor 189 running out of the building.

“Can I get some fresh air?” asked Michael, hoping to spy on Professor 189’s escape.

Professor 672 took a deep breath and nodded slightly. Michael slowly approached the exit. As soon as he was out of sight, he ran towards the Empire State Building.

There the professor was, placing the leaf into a glowing pocket of blue light. A deep voice bellowed “YES”. It was deep and low, like some kind of godly breeze. Right in time, Michael threw a stick at the professor, surprising him so much that he knocked the plant out of the way. Professor 189 saw Michael, and Michael started chasing after the professor.

Professor 189 was very fast, so he lost Michael in about 10 seconds. Thankfully, Michael prevented something that could have been a disaster.

“I will get him next time…” Michael’s voice continued, breathing heavily.