The book

THE BOOKTHE BOOK

THE BOOKTHE BOOK2200009922000099

Executive Editor: Biljana PipovicAbout THE BOOK: Doc. dr Jasmina Djordjevic, Faculty of Lawand Business Studies, Novi SadAuthors: Present and former Secondary School of GeneralEducation “Stevan Jakovljevic” studentsCover photo: Ivana StojiljkovicPicture credits: Pages 19, 40 & 46: Milica Nesic; Page 53: SanjaStamenkovicCIP .............Printing:Printing run of 500 copies

PREFACEPREFACE

I have the pleasure to present you THE BOOKTHE BOOK. Even though it was not written by me, I am really

proud to say it is a part of me as much as it is the partof my students since it represents many years of pleasureand fun that I have had while teaching.

This is THE BOOK dedicated to love, life, friendship...It is meant to show that even though each generation imag-ines itself to be more intelligent than the one that wentbefore it, and wiser than the one that comes after it, somethings never change. No matter when or where you are fif-teen or eighteen, you share the same dreams, hopes, fears...

This book is a big, nostalgic thank you to all whowere my students, to all who make up the puzzle of my mem-ory, the puzzle of my dreams.

I hope it will touch your hearts in the same wayit has touched mine. Because these are the words of wisemen. These are the words of great men. The men who havetouched my soul and left a trail...

Biljana Pipovic2009

11..AAbboouuttTTHHEEBBOOOOKK

Have you ever felt this world Has been pressing on youHave you ever searched for truthAnd in your heart found loveWhich you have, but never knowThat life is too short for youFor the deeds, and needs you have

All they want is to own the truth, Own your will and rule your brainBut no one can rule your heart Don’t you ever be afraidIf you can’t win this fight aloneYour heart will show you the way

Then your life will be all yoursYou’ll be free to fly awayNo one will tell you what to doNever again will you be afraid.

Igor Ilickovic2001/02 22..

PPooeemmss......

LOVELOVE

In thickened fogYou come in blindlyAnd you fly, flyLooking for the sunlight

And when the winds of remorseBreak your wingsThrough the curseYou summon thundersAnd with an ice-cold heartLook for the exitFrom the tunnel of fallacy.

Jovana Tomic2001/02

33..PPooeemmss......

LOVELOVE IS...IS...

Love is a book in one word,The ocean in one tear,The sky in one look, The wind in one sigh,The thunder in one touch.

So,If there is brightness on Earth,It is in your eyes.If there is happinessIt is meeting with you.If there is pain,It is life without you.

Ivana Kitanovic2001/02.


DDRRIIVVIINNGGDDRRIIVVIINNGG

I am driving, I am drivingAround the world, and I knowI am driving, I am driving

To be with you, to reach you...

Wait for me, wait for me‘Cause I love you, yes, I do...

I am walking, I am walkingAnd I am thinking about youI want you and I miss you

I miss you by my side

Come to me, come to meBe my only, only wishBe my only, only mine,

mine foreverBy my side...

Sanja Mitic2003/04


TTRRYYIINNGGTTRRYYIINNGG

I am driving, I am drivingMy new car, across the fieldsI am singing, I am singingNothing is the way it seems

I am trying, I am tryingTo forget all my pain

I am crying, forever cryingEverything goes in vain

Can you sing with me? Can you sing?Together we can put the pain awayCan you sing with me? Can you sing?Together we can go the other way

Aleksandra Velickovic2003/04.

66..PPooeemmss........

GAMBLINGGAMBLING

I am gambling, I am gamblingWith the devil all my lifeI am gambling, I hear wailing‘Cause the devil is my wife

Now I am dying, I am dyingLike a dog in the yardShe is frying my poor bodyAnd nobody is my guard

Can you kill me? Can you kill me?Once to end this bad tripForever dying, I am cryingI want, so much, to fall asleep.

Dusan Cvetkovic2003/04


TTHHEEYY ((wwhhoo ddeessttrrooyy))TTHHEEYY ((wwhhoo ddeessttrrooyy))

They're killing childrenThey're killing GodThey're killing futureThey're killing us

No one can stop themWe're all going to dieThey own the worldEverything else is a lie

It's not a hard deductionThey own the destruction

We can't fight them'Cause they have their fake warWhen everyone's dyingAnd Death is winning battles Time and time again



***

A dog is an animalA dog is a bloodthirstyCreatureDogs are lethal in theirIgnoranceThe weak are their victimsThe weak can't get strongerSo, dogs, try to be moreHuman Hope for the mind andHeart, tooDon't kill human in youDon't act as dogs do!



ALWAYS WITH MEALWAYS WITH MEMy life, my dream That's what you are, And I can never forget you‘Cause you were always thereby my side

For you I'll give my last breathAnd my last glass of wineYou - my destinyYou were always thereby my side

But this life is too shortToo short to get to know youYou - my destinyYou were always thereby my side

When I was sadWhen I criedYou - my destinyYou were always thereby my side

Like the fireplaceIn the frosty winter nightYou - my destinyYou were always thereby my sideSlavica Milekic2004/05


Fear Fear

What would you doIf I were wrongAnd love was just a flame

Would you give up everythingThat you thought I was?

What if our hearts ran blackOur fears began to grow

Would you tell me thatWe were not enoughAnd leave me all alone?

Julija PopovicFebruary, '05


******It must have been the rain

Nothing hurts so bad...I'm going to find it now.

I don't care about the pain.

The Sun is way high upfor me to see its signs

But my eyes can try to seeWhat its dust leaves behind.

It must have been the rainNothing makes me so sad

I left you with a ray of hopeBut you came back...

Trying to make it stop.

It was raining again. A rain drop can say a lot....

Julija PopovicJanuary, '06



bblliinnddeedd bbyy tthhee ssiilleenncceebblliinnddeedd bbyy tthhee ssiilleennccee

where you are - is a place to bepeople hiding behind their faces

no one can ever see ...the darkness of their smiles,

the shadows in their pretty eyesthey are all very happy

with that sorrow that, actually, never dies...

in the silence it's all coming together

in the silenceyou face it all by yourself

in the silenceyou'll remember...forever

those little things you've never said.

where I am - is a place to seepeople hiding behind

their feelingsno one is able to find me....

behind this curtain of love...hateam I free?

can you see me? feel me?how can I find love if I'm too afraid to

see..if I can't recognize its face?

am I dreaming? in the silence

all the fires are coldin the silence

thoughts are louder and louder...in the silence...

...save me!catch me before I fall!please save me...be my founder.

again, I'm blinded by the silence...

Julija PopovicDecember, ‘03.


MemoryMemory

Living this lifeFacing these daysFinding this pathCursing this fateTrying to find

Thoughts in this darknessNever is nowI'm falling apart.Dancing with dangerCrawling for more

I'm finding this angerDeep in my core.Living your fearsTrying to helpNothing is doneI came back too late.

Julija PopovicJanuary, '06


SINCE YOU LEFTSINCE YOU LEFT

I’m sitting alone by the riverThe night is cold and emptySInce you leftI’ve been living in a lieYou are always on my mind

I can’t stop thinking about youI keep forgetting I am aliveSInce you leftI’ve been trying to get on with my lifeBut it’s hard, oh, so hard

When I look into the riverYour face is what I seeEverything reminds me of youI want to be coolBut it’s hard, oh, so hard

Since you leftI’ve been doing what I don’t want to It’s just wasting time‘Cause you are always on my mindAnd I wonna live

I only wonna liveWithout you, without youHow? I’m going to find out...

Darko Nikolic2006/07


I thought love was just a mirage of the mindAn illusion, a fake, impossible to findBut the day I met you I began to seethat love is real, and exists in me.

You are the smile on my faceYou are the sparkle in my eye

You are the happiness in my heartYou are the contentment of my sigh

You are the life in my veinsThe half of my whole

The light in my darknessThe soul of my soul

You are the sun in my skyYou are the spirit of my songYou are the love of my lifeYou are the where I belong

Dragana Spasic2008/09


FaithFaith

Ain't it funny how we never learn to fallWe just hide the feelings behind our pride

We sometimes feel so smallAnd we keep the pain deep inside.

Find your light in a scary nightFind someone you can trust

Set your gloves up for a fightOr else we are just dust.

You must keep the faithLet love get into your heartDon’t let it turn to hateLet someone be its part.



THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEELTHE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL

A lot of things in life go wrongBut I smile when we are togetherNo matter how bad things areYou always make them better.

I’ve tried so hard to hide Who I am insideBut you’ve seen the real meThe girl you want me to be.You make me feel specialYou make me feel new You make me feel lovedWith everything you do.

I love the way you kiss meThe way you hold me tightI love the way you touch meI could be with you all night.

I just want you to know,That even though we sometimes fightI will always love youNo matter what, day or night.


1199..

Can’t buy me ... loveCan’t buy me ... love

The greatest dream of all ordinary people who liveon this planet is peace and harmony in their lives. Theydo not need so much to be happy.

However, there are also people who want to destroythat ideal. Those are the people who want to rule thisworld. Powerful and rich, they are trying to capture thehappiness of others so they can be happy. But they arewrong. They cannot be happy because they only need to feedtheir greed.

True happiness is not in material wealth. It is infeelings; it is in the beauty of the human soul. The truehappiness is love. And there is no money in the world thatcan buy love. Love is untouchable for greed. Love is not athing, it is abstract and therefore priceless.

Only people with a pure heart can feel it. No one canpossess love. Evil cannot harm it, because without love therewould not be human beings. People would become stupidmachines that can talk and work, and nothing more...

People with soul are able to love. Whether they arerich or poor, it does not really matter if they are happy.

So, we must be more emotional, less material beingsbecause only in that way our humanity will survive.


2200..EEssssaayyss......

AAnn eeyyee ffoorr aann eeyyee......AAnn eeyyee ffoorr aann eeyyee......

To be or not to be... are the words of all mankind. In ourlives we always have some decisions to make. What we aregoing to do with our lives depends on us. But at least oncein our life, we are going to ask ourselves exactly whatHamlet asked himself. Do we want to fight for justice, dowe want to look into the future with our eyes full of hope,to fight against the sea of troubles? Or, do we want tostay back, in the dark, without dreams, without feelings,without fight?

Wait a minute! Is that life? Of course not! So whatshould we do? Sometimes it is really hard to stay honest,because the road that leads to justice is very bumpy.Sometimes we have to do some horrible things. Sometimessomebody gets killed or kills, as Hamlet did.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth... Is that real-ly justice? When you have to kill someone, how can you keepon living? Who are we? Who gives us the right to do some-thing like that? Are we gods? No, we are not! And if wekill someone in the name of justice, who are we? Are webetter than the killer?

I can tell you, Hamlet is a lucky man. He died imme-diatelly after he had killed his uncle. If he had stayedalive, he would have been only a ghost, not a man with aheart and soul.

So now we are aware of the problem. What should wedo? How can a murderer be punished? I cannot answer that.Here I’ll stop.Kristina Karuovic2003/04


LIFE...LIFE...

Here, in this world, some days are made to make you cry...Yet, there are days which can bring you only joy andstrong wings so you can fly over the big dark side of lifewhich means only trouble. Sometimes you just cannot standall the problems and heartaches life gives you, but youknow if you keep on moving you will see the bright andsunny side which is then even more beautiful and brighter.You will survive and your tears, your rainy days are goingto be something distant. Each man has his own destiny. And everyone knows thatthere are always good things coming... Behind the dark cur-tain, there is always the sun which makes our life inter-esting and worth living for. We must appreciate all the things life brings us, bad orgood, because they make our days exciting..Kristina Karuovic2003/04


HERE COMES SUMMERHERE COMES SUMMER

I ask myself almost every day what I have done to deservethis beautiful life. When I wake up in the morning and whenI hear the birds singing and see the Sun shining, I feelvery lucky to be alive, to be here. But there are some days... The weather has something to dowith it... When I look out and everything is somehow quiet,dark and gloomy, I feel sad and lonely. I do not want todo anything. I just want to sit there, in my room. I wantto be alone, only with the sound of my favourite song onthe radio. When it is raining, my mood is even worse...Oh, but when the weather is nice, that is the whole newstory. I am happy - no reason at all. I sing all day. I donot fight with my older sister. I go for a walk with myyounger brother. I even help my mother. Hurry up summer!

Jovana Stamenkovic2003/04


THERE IS ALWAYS HOPETHERE IS ALWAYS HOPE

Life can be nice and sweet. But everything that is niceis not long lasting. Everything comes to its end. Some daysof our life are bad and ugly like winter silence wheneverything is dying under the white covering. Still, when you think that rainy days are never going toend, when there is no hope, you are going to see the endof a tunnel like a shiny star which is going to bringhappiness into your life. You just have to follow it. Life is unpredictable... We never know what it brings. Weonly know that something is going to happen either goodor bad. Thus, if you want to succeed, you must be patientand use everything that life gives in the best possible way.There is always hope!

Damir Kocic2003/04


LIFE... SO MUCH FUNLIFE... SO MUCH FUN

Life is not a one-way street. One day we walk along a golden road, and another we couldfind ourselves on a steep, mountain path. It could be a slip-pery road covered with ice, but after some walking andfalling the ice must melt down. We can enter a dark for-est and walk surrounded by creepy trees and shiny eyestwinkling in the dark.

But then again, we could walk through the fieldssurounded by pretty flowers. We can hear birds singing, wecan see the sun again. No matter what path we follow in life we must never stop.And if we get lost some time, and it is possible after allthat walking, we must keep our heads. We must not lose ourheads. Only then can we easily find our way.Walking without falling, without climbing would be so dull.Without any excitement, our lives would be senseless.

Nenad Golubovic2003/04


I hate when it rains...Then I think that the sky cries because of all the acci-dents that are happening all over the world. Rain remindsme of a life path where we must go and meet many disap-pointments, feel a lot of pain and sometimes, but only some-times feel happiness which appears like a ray of sunshine.Only because of that single ray, we must keep on walking,we must fight.Life can be like a stormy sky, but after rain, there is arainbow. I want to believe in that.

Jelena Stankovic2003/04


HELLO SUNSHINE!HELLO SUNSHINE!

It is morning. The sun is shining... So much to see, but solittle to say. It is hard to describe. You can see me smil-ing. Can't you see my heart? It is smiling, too. It is happyand it wants to share its happiness. It wants to beat fortwo.The sky is cloudy. It is so dark. There is no smile on myface. I can feel the problem. A cold wind is blowing throughmy heart. I am so afraid.The rain has started. I feel tears on my face. I want some-body to protect me, to help me. Is there a real friend toshare this sadness?No matter, deep down I know I'll be happy again. Here comesthe sun again.

Tanja Jovanovic2003/04

277.Essays...

Love And Beauty Above AllLove And Beauty Above All

We live in times when many people often losethemselves, their identity... Nowadays only the shadows oflost people are passing by.

We dream about unlimited happiness; a world with-out hatred. But, we know that something like that does notexist. We know that man's life is full of pain and suffer-ing.

The most important thing in life is fight, butnot the fight, the struggle for survival. Here we talk aboutthe fight for power, for material values. Kingdoms arebeing lost, lives are being lost for money. People die andsuffer. The tears of blood flow from the eyes of mothers.Evil people hide tragedies in the bouquets of roses.

Why are there less and less people who are good-hearted, who wear a smile instead of guns? Where have allthose good people disappeared? Who is going to save us fromourselves?

I hope that one day people will understand whatlove and beautyreally mean!

Dragana Stojanovic2003/04


LOVELOVE

And there is love - the word that has been keeping ourlives all these years. The nicest in the world. The most puz-zling and mysterious. And, of course, the most painful one.It is always so near, hiding and waiting to be found.Dancing in the air, following every step of ours, makingus go mad... An inexplicable feeling with no definition, agame without any rules.An emotion which pushes us into stirred waters. And we arenot even aware. I'm really not able to think... Butterflies,butterflies, butterflies... in this world I know only themand you, my darling.You are the one who makes me nervous, and happy; who makesme feel superior, perfect.So noble and beautiful love is.

Emilija Mitov2003/04


The Perfect OneThe Perfect OneHave you ever asked yourself what is wrong with

this world? It is a cruel place and nobody likes to be alone. Everybodyshould have someone to look after him, to take care of him. I would like to find that special one. That is my onlychance to escape from this hell..She should be pretty, smart, intelligent. She should lovekids. She must love me, understand me, sometimes forgive ifI do something bad. She would have to get to know me, thereal me deep inside; to hear my thoughts, to see my dreams,and make them true if it's possible; to give me wings whenI want to fly. She will tell me that I am her special, really wanted. Shewill tell me that I am the one because I need somebody totell me that it is going to last forever. And when I seethe spark in her eye, I'll know that she loves me. She will have to give me some faith, hold me tight whennights are cold. When I have burnt all my bridges, andthere is nowhere left for me to turn to, she will be therefor me, no matter what. She will never walk out on me; she will let me have onemore chance... And I'll never regret choosing this woman tobe my everlasting love.

Nemanja Bosic2004/05


AA MMAANN CCOOUULLDD BBEE AASS EEFFFFEECCTTIIVVEE AASS GGOODDAA MMAANN CCOOUULLDD BBEE AASS EEFFFFEECCTTIIVVEE AASS GGOODD

Everyone in this world has an obligation to try to makethis planet a better place for living and also to protect natureas much as possible.

Human beings, as the most productive and the most devel-oped form of life on Earth, are the only hope for this world.Unfortunately, many people today forget how much this planethas already given us and how much we owe it. It seems as if theonly thing we have learnt up to now is how to destroy its beau-ties and we have not done anything to correct our mistakes.Because of that, today we feel the consequences of our careless-ness, such as: wars, poverty, hunger...

However, I still think that in this world there are quitea few people who are aware of our situation and who are try-ing to protect our planet as much as possible. Those people arealso aware that destruction is not our main quality. We can beas effective as God! We can give a new life in many ways. Wecan take care of our own race, or take care of animals, andplants.

The only thing we need in order to revive our planet iswill power and a lot of love. People who love nature and whoare aware of their role in this world can do much more thanthey even imagine. We can stop wars in the world, raise moneyto erase poverty and hunger; we can help children in need, sup-port different societies and agencies in their fight againstcrime and exploitation. We can also do a lot for animals andplants by protecting species which are about to become extinct,by planting new trees and creating National parks.

All in all, we can do so much for this world to make itlook like God did it himself.

After all, if WE do not help this world of ours, then whowill?!

Sanja Trajkovic 2005/06


BBee yyoouurrsseellff nnoo mmaatttteerr wwhhaatt tthheeyy ssaayy!!BBee yyoouurrsseellff nnoo mmaatttteerr wwhhaatt tthheeyy ssaayy!!

In life, you can have a lot of problems and obstacles whichcan prevent you from becoming a successful person.

When everything seems broken into pieces and absolute-ly impossible, when all people around you have problems,never, but never, think that you are guilty of that.

Be yourself! Don't panic - you need to be reasonable.Don't let people accuse you and recognise their mistakes inyou.

Don't be satisfied with the minimum. Always trust your-self and think you are the best. Although, something can bedifficult, try to do it. Think: 'I am the best! I can do that!'Don't say: 'It is too difficult for me. I cannot do that!'You can! Yes, of course, you can!!! The only thing you needis self-confidence.

If people around you do things which are not good(and in this world there are a lot of bad things, drugsbeing one of the worst examples), don't break down. If youwant to do something wrong, think before you do that; thinkabout the consequences and you will understand whetherthat is good or bad. Don't let other people make you do badthings.

Remain the same - you must be you. Perhaps one day youwill be a famous person, a rich person - don't change yourhabits. Sometimes money and fame change people. Whereveryou are, and whatever people you are with - whether theyare rich or poor, famous or ordinary, normal people - aboveall, they are humans, people just like you!

People you call friends might not always be your


friends. They can hurt you, maybe more than your enemies.Never say 'I will help you!' better say 'I will try to help you.' for there are moments when your friends need helpand you cannot do anything for them. They will be disap-pointed in you, so to avoid that better say 'I will try tohelp you, if I can.'

Sixty seconds seem longer than one minute. Make yourlife full; live every day as the last one. Everyday do thingsyou like.

I have written many sentences... However, the point is- if you stick to these ideas in life, you will become aMan. Wherever you are, whatever you do - stay the same! Beyourself!!! Be yourself no matter what they say!

Bojana Davinic2005/06

33.Essays...

DDRRIIVVEE AAWWAAYY YYOOUU,, LLOOVVEE SSTTEEAALLEERR!!!!!!RRIIVVEE AAWWAAYY YYOOUU,, LLOOVVEE SSTTEEAALLEERR!!!!!!

The necessity to control appears as soon as we fall inlove. It is often said that there is a thin line between loveand hatred, but it would be better to say that love and theneed to control someone are in such a relationship. If youhave ever tried to control someone then you know that youdid that because you felt insecure and weak.Excessive control can take your relationship to a blindalley where your best intentions become a road to hell. Youwill not get love you long for, if you have a tendency tocontrol!

Women are mostly the ones that are possessive. Theyshould know that men would never give up their own free-dom and possibility to control their destiny just to be witha woman.

One of the most painful feelings that we can ever expe-rience is jealousy. Sometimes it becomes obsessive and thatcan inevitably bring us to a total loss of control! How weare going to react depends on how much we trust ourselvesand how much we believe we are wanted and loved. To bejealous means to be insecure! Jealousy does not only hit theobject of our doubts but also prevents us from proper eval-uation.

Fear that we could lose our beloved can be horrifying!People, who are jealous, are mostly fighting against animaginary enemy that can steal their love. Jealousy is sim-ilar to paranoia. When doubt and anger appear between


partners, love and trust can no longer survive! People who control their beloved ones always believe,

secretly, that they don't completely deserve the love theyare given.

So far there is something you should remember: youmust take risks, stop controlling and learn to put up withuncertainty and you will find true love or at least keepyour beloved and which is more important, you might findnew, internal power.

Katarina Jovcic2008/09


THE LAW ON DISCRIMINATIONTHE LAW ON DISCRIMINATION

Even during the earliest period of human existence, thosewho were physically stronger, more capable, more intelli-gent, tended to put themselves above all others, to hold thepower in their hands, which couldn't have been very sig-nificant for that period. Still, they wanted to rule. Thatis how differences between people became so numerous thatsociety became divided into groups we usually call classes.

Although there have always been people promotingequality, still very little has been achieved so far. Theright to equality is one of the basic rights established insome of the first declarations and constitutions. But evencenturies later, when the human race has reached a veryhigh level of development and modern technology has com-pletely changed our lives, some attitudes seem to beunchangeable. People still allienate themselves and avoideach other because of different race, religion, nationalityand which is very sad - because of sex. Women are stilldiscriminated even though they have proved their abilitiesso many times.

Another problem is that the country and its author-ities do not treat people as equals. Reality shows that pub-lic bodies are so corrupted that only wealth can help yousolve the problem. The reality is that we live in a socie-ty of inequality. People whose duty is to protect humanrights see people as rich or poor, white or black,Christians or Muslims, male or female. And no one feels thatit is a violation of law. No one considers it right to pun-ish those who hurt others discriminating them every day.


Just imagine this: we are told we live in a democratic soci-ety. What we are actually showed is that democracy is whenwe have to pay or know powerful people if we want to getrights we are entitled to. I have been taught democracy issomething else. Not paying to be heard or accepted in placesyou normally belong to.

What can we do? I would like you to imagine your-selves being discriminated for one moment. It doesn't mat-ter who by, what for? How would you feel? - Frustrated,angry, humiliated, embarrassed. Believe me, we all could eas-ily get into that kind of situation at least once in ourlives. That is why we have to try to be aware of thediveristy among people and promote tolerance among them,because, diveristy is important and it makes the worldinteresting!Milica Veselinovic 2008/09


People wake up!!!People wake up!!!

One of the world's biggest problems and in my opinion themost important one is to save the Earth from destruction.There is a lot about it in the news and in TV programs,but it seems to me, there aren't many people thinking aboutit and taking it seriously.

As you probably know, nature is being destroyed moreand more every second, every day, and because of that, theend of our planet and human race is getting closer. Haveyou ever thought about it? Will you stop for a moment andthink about this? People wake up!

First of all, I would like to point out that the sad-dest thing about this is that nature is being destroyed byourselves. We are destroying our planet and killing our-selves unconsciously under cover of technological develop-ment. As Chris Rea said: 'This is not a technological breakdown, this is a road to hell!' People wake up!

Do you realize the consequences of modern and easy life?Do you understand that with solving some small 'problems'and making life easier, we are just creating bigger prob-lems. It is like a boomerang effect - cars, differentmachines, factories, radiation, nuclear energy and manyother things are polluting the air, the soil, the water andfood. Have you noticed that the symbol of healthy food -green apple has vanished from packages!? We are destroyingour planet with every breath and we can't live without it.People wake up! Do you think it's late to do something?

I would like to turn to solving this problem, but as Ihave already noticed there is only talking and talking


about this enormous threat to the human race. Energyrecourses are being spent and in the near future there willbe wars for food and water. But still nobody does anything.Can you believe this?

Finally, I’d like to say to all of you and to thewhole world: 'People wake up!' We must wake up or we willdie in our sleep!Thank you for reading this and I hope I have not beenwriting in vain...

Jelena Stamenkovic2008/09

399.Essssayss...

4400..

A BIRTHDAY PRESENTA BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Last year a young couple decided to get married. After thewedding, the woman had to go on a business trip abroad. Atthe same time it was her husband's birthday. She sent hima very big box with a small, but precious present - a preg-nancy test. It was positive!

Ana Davinic2008/09

A LONG RELATIONSHIPA LONG RELATIONSHIP

Jim and Susan had had a long relationship. They had alwaysbeen together. One day they decided to go somewhere on hol-iday, but separately. Jim didn't want to tell Susan wherehe was going. She didn't say, either. So he went to Venice.And there she was! What a connection!

Jelena Kostic2008/09

41.Minnisaagaas...

KILLERKILLER

The killer woke up. He put his boots on. He took a maskfrom the ancient gallery. He took a knife. He was so angry.He wanted blood. But too many dead people were behind him.He was weak and he committed suicide. He set off to meethis destiny.

Nikola Krstic2008/09

HERO ZEROHERO ZERO

One day a brave hero Zero heard someone screaming. He sawhis girlfriend who was in trouble. An enormous, furiouswolf was after her, so Zero took his sward and shield andstarted chasing him. Zero was too fast, too furious and...he fell down, hit his head and died.

Dragana JovanovicMilica KrsticAleksandar Petrovic2008/09

4422..MMiinniissaaggaass......

ON HOLIDAYON HOLIDAY

An elephant and a mouse went on holiday. The mouse wassunbathing. The elephant was swimming. Suddenly, the mousestarted yelling: Come on! Get out of the water.. hurry! Thescared elephant ran out of the water. The mouse said:Nothing. Just checking if you have taken my bathing cos-tume.

Milica CvetanovicJelena Stamenkovic2008/09

A Selfish Pet OwnerA Selfish Pet Owner

Tom bought a sandwich and had enough money to buy somefood for Billy. He decided to buy an ice-cream instead andwent back home. He left the sandwich and went upstairs.When he returned, Billy was eating it.

If Tom hadn't been so selfish, he wouldn't have beenhungry.

Milica Veselinovic2008/09

4433..MMiinniissaaggaass......

EarthquakeEarthquake

It was Saturday night, a perfect night for dancing. Susanwent to the disco and started dancing. Suddenly, she feltthat the ground was shaking. She panicked, but not for verylong. "That's why this place is called Earthquake," shelaughed to herself. The next minute they were all dead.

Danica Stankovic2008/09

Scared groomScared groom

They were the happiest couple in the world. But one morn-ing when she woke up she found a note: 'Darling I love you,but I'm not good enough for you'.She thought what she had done wrong, then she remembered.Last night she had said 'marriage'. Today he ran away.

Jelena Petrovic2008/09

44.Miiniisaggas...

Unlucky sparrowUnlucky sparrow

A little sparrow fell out from the nest and broke its wing.A man wanted to help. He saw the broken wing and felt sick.A child wanted to take it home. His mother refused. A girlsaid 'Poor sparrow'. Her boyfriend kissed her and trampledit with a 47-shoe..


Buying a ticketBuying a ticket

A woman called: 'Hello, I want to go from Chicago toHippopotamus, New York!''Hippopotamus? I've looked up every airport code but Ican't find it.'The customer retorted: 'Don't be silly! Check your map!''You don't mean Buffalo, do you?''That's it! I knew it was a big animal!'


45.Minisaaggaas...

What happened to the supernatural?What happened to the supernatural?

It is ordinary things that make me afraid... trees, knives,rivers in the darkness of the night, the cry of a baby,red-haired children...

I was out in the open field. The land I was walkingthrough lay broiling in the Sun. As I walked farther andfarther, it glittered like glass and it seemed to stretchout endlessly. I didn’t know where I was. At one momentthings started to move so fast that I could see only shad-ows. Everything was shaking and moving around.

Now I was in the woods. The path I was walking alongwas too narrow. I got scratched by the thorns which wereon the bushes along the path. I had the strange feeling tokeep moving although I didn’t know where I was and why Iwas there. I was going along the path and in front of meI saw a fallen tree trunk which was blocking my way. Icouldn’t pass there, but I still had that strange desire tokeep going. Then I heard a voice: ‘Don’t let other thingsmake you give up!’ I can’t describe how the feelings gotmixed up in me and made me confused and frightened. Iturned around and saw a bear looking at me. I was panickstricken, but he just turned around and disappeared. Again,everything started moving and shaking.

Before I even realised what was happening I was stand-ing in the middle of something... something which looked likea desert. Hot winds blew freely over everything, carryingsand to choke up ears and nostrils, bringing me a scen assoft as melting butter. I didn’t know where on Earth I was.In my pocket I found a fork. I started to think that I hadalready gone mad, or that I had arrived in Hell, or...

47.Storieess...

I didn’t know what I was thinking about. No aim... just thesame feeling... to go on. The thoughts in my head were likea shapeless pile. I was trying to push them out, but thatwas only confusing me more and more. I don’t know how longI had been walking before I reached a wall. The wall seemedto be stretching out endlessly. I heard a strange noisebehind it. And it seemed as if something was getting clos-er and closer to me and it seemed that it would hit me,and blow me away...

Then I opened my eyes and saw that I was in my room,in my bed. My body was shaking, my breathing was heavy...sweat was all over me. I wondered: ‘What is real? Ourdreams... our reality?’ The line between is so thin.

So keep your eyes wide open, and look into your heart.

Vladimir Djonic2001/02

4488..SSttoorriieess......

Hard to UnderstandHard to Understand

It was Wednesday, quarter past five, maybe half pastfive. I came out of the building, and since I was in a hurry,I looked for a cab. A yellow cab stopped. I threw my ruck-sack into the car and told the driver where to take me. Itwas so hot in the car that I took off my jacket. After awhile we stopped. I paid the driver, and on my way outgrabbed all the stuff that was on the back seat. The cabdrove off. I was putting on my jacket, then the rucksackwhen I noticed a purse faling out of my jacket.

I was surprised. THe purse wasn’t mine, but I had it.I looked for the cab, but it was already gone. I didn’t knowwhat was in the purse, just as I didn’t know what to dowith it. After a while, I decided to open it. I was hopingto find something, an ID maybe, or anything that might behelpful. When I looked in, I found myself not confused, butreally taken aback. There was money - lots of it - tenthousand pounds, even more. I looked again and there wasan ID. The purse belonged to a Mr Collins.

Now I had doubts. I didn’t know whether this moneywas ‘dirty’, or maybe the money for a new car, or maybethe tax should be paid with it, or even a hospital bill. Ididn’t know... Eventually, I decided. The money would have tobe returned to the owner. As soon as I had finished myshopping, I took another cab and gave the driver theaddress from the ID.

When I returned the money, Mr Collins was very happyand grateful. Just as I suspected, it was tax money. Itturned out that Mr Collins owned a cinema, so he, in orderto show his gratitude, gave me tickets for the premiere of


The Independence Day which was supposed to be in his cin-ema the following week.

When I came home, my mother was furious. Her dinnerwas ruined because I didn’t get all the groceries on time.When I told her what had happened to me, she didn’t believeme, so I showed her the tickets, but then she yelled at mebecause I didn’t ask her to go to the cinema.

Grown-ups are hopelss! No matter what we do, they’llalways be better, smarter, their way is always going to bebetter than ours. But that comes with growing older. It’snot their fault. What can be done? Being old and havingobligations is such a terrible thing. It’s bothering themthat they can’t be young again, so they interfere and makeour life difficult, as if it weren’t difficult enough. Eventhough it’s hard to understand them, we are also growingolder, so we should probably turn a blind eye and forgivethem.

Nemanja Conic2002/03


There’s Always WeatherThere’s Always Weather

Time has stopped today. The weather will always be thesame. No more atmosphere and the Sun is in the West.

Electric birds are flying, singing songs about Maltus.The weather is always the same. Do they know what the rainis? It’s probably something from the old books from theperiod before Ford. Do they know for the sides of theworld? I saw the East and with a new pair of electric eyesyesterday.

I am only sixteen, but I look older than the old man.The Sun is black. What can be done? I can’t change it -I’ve learnt from horses; I grew up with horses.

I shall cry tonight and my tears will pour like rain.I’ll give you back your feelings, and your dirty system willbe distroyed.

Radoslav Zdravkovic2002/03


Punished by a GhostPunished by a Ghost

I’ve had troubles this year... I’ve quarreled with myfriends, I’ve always been tired, I’ve lost my will. I got dis-appointed in love.

These bad things, as a matter of fact, had their goodside. I became more competent... The fear of dying disapeared.I was not afraid to be crushed by a car any more; to beshot by a drunken criminal; to be poisoned by contaminat-ed food. However, there was one thing I couldn’t do any-thing about - I was really scared to be haunted by theghost that was sleeping under my bed.

One morning I got up with a headache. I felt somestrange insecurity. And at the moment of confusion, the evilghost attacked. I couldn’t move my body. It shot six timesthrough my head, then dyed my hair. It washed my brainwith hydrogen and put some weird sounds into it.

I shouted, but no one heard. The ghost put me inchains. It laughed at me. I tried to move again but I fellon the floor. I saw myself falling through a great depth.Suddenly, a brilliant, white light appeared in front of me.I heard the tolling of the iron bell. I saw something Icouldn’t explain. It claimed my soul.

So, I saw myself in an asylum for lunatics. The voicespoke to me: ‘You’ve wasted all your time. Every next yearwill be shorter for you. You were different and you could-n’t choose your own ground. How much time did you spendwithout ever having fun? Now, you’ll live a hard life with


emptiness in your head.’ As it stopped speaking, the roomfilled with darkness.

The last thing I saw was a man with the gun passingby. I tried to find a tree to lie down and sleep under it.But everywhere I looked, I saw the endless desert ofdestroyed ideas. I shouted: ‘What do you want from me?’

I was alone. To the West, the Sun was eclipsing theMoon.

Radoslav Zdravkovic2002/03


***I’m sitting and thinking about you...about a thousand milesbetween us... If only I didn’t love you any more! But as longas I’m thinking about you and wanting not to love you, Ineed you... I miss you.A thousand miles are a temptation for any true love - timeand a thousand miles between us.You haven’t been near me for many years, but I still wantyou and your face, every day.I think that after you I’ll never love again ... I’ve beenin love, yes, but I’ve never loved as I loved you. I’ll liveon remembering you, your eyes, your smile... I’ll live to meetyou once again in my life. I’ll live in the past with youreyes...My angel, the old Greeks had a theory that stars are theonly perfection in this Universe.Today, if anyone says that, I’m sure he hasn’t seen you.Forever waiting for you,Sanja

Sanja Zlatkovic2002/03


***Listen to me now...You realise this is the last connection between us?No more walks... no more talks...There’s nothing left... I don’t know who is to blame, who’sguilty, you or me, both or neither of us. Forgive me forthe things I did, the things that hurt you. Neither distance nor time will help me forget you. Tomorrow I’ll mention your name with a smile as if noth-ing has happened. But tomorrow is far away. The wound in me reminds me of you ‘cause you meant a lifeto me. But, you’ll never know that. Once when the wound has been healed, nobody will ask mehow much it hurt.

Tamara Stevic2002/03


At the TheatreAt the Theatre

Leila and Peter had always wanted to be actors, but theywere living in a small town and had never had an oppor-tunity to try themselves on the stage.

One day a big theatre group came to their town toperform a show. Everyone was very excited. Leila and Peterwanted to experience something more.

They sneaked out through the back door and wanderedthrough the halls. Suddenly they saw a big, dark room. At first, it looked normal, but when they entered they sawtwo human bodies on the floor. They approached them slow-ly.

At that moment a man with a huge knife rushed intothe room and started cutting the bodies into pieces. Therewas blood everywhere... There were arms and legs all around.Leila and Peter almost died of fear.

All at once, the lights turned on and they heard some-one shouting: ‘What are you doing in here? This is arehearsal! Nobody is allowed to see the show beforetonight’s opening!’

Marko Stamenkovic2003/04


One of those daysOne of those days

It was a bad day. It was a really bad day.I woke up very late; my sister had forgotten to wake

me up. When I looked at myself in the mirror and I saw myhair was terrible. I knew I had to wash it, but I realisedthat there was no time. Then I realised I had no cleanclothes to wear. I had to wear my dirty jeans and my HIM-shirt which I was wearing every day last week.

I was running around trying to find a pair of sockswhen the phone rang. It was my parents, and since I had-n’t heard from them for two weeks, I had to talk to themfor half an hour. Eventually, I washed my hair even thoughthere was no time to dry it completely cause I had to study.I did not have time to eat either. In the meantime it start-ed to rain. What a disaster! I had no shoes, only a pair ofsneakers, so I had to wear them. Time was passing and Ialmost missed the bus - I had to run to catch it.

Things got worse when I got to school. The boy I likedwasn’t at school that day, so I was in a bad mood. My biol-ogy teacher wanted to test me, and since I was in a badmood, I got a bad mark. Then I got another one from myLatin teacher. Everything was bad, but the worst was stillto come!

The rain didn’t let up the whole day. I was all wet.However, when I got home nobody was there. There was noth-ing to eat. Perhaps I could mention that I hadn’t eaten atschool ‘cause I had forgotten to take lunch money with me.


The room was freezing. I was very cold so I tried to findsomething to cheer me up.

Music could cheer me up! But I remembered how every-one from my class thought wrongly about me because of themusic I listened to and the clothes I wore. They said I wasjust a shadow, that I didn’t have my personality... The boyI liked said that, too. Suddenly, I was no longer in themood to listen to music.

Tell me, who wouldn’t?

Sanja Stankovic2003/04


I miss you...I miss you...

It was a year ago when my granny died. It was anordinary evening. The whole day I was thinking about her,our conversations, her advice... I was sad and I decided togo to the house where she had lived.

When I came into her room I felt a little bit strange.It was at the same time cold and warm. Suddenly, in theopposite corner of the room I saw her. My old granny wassmiling. I didn’t know what to do. I was panick stricken.It was incredible! I couldn’t believe my eyes... She was dead.I closed my eyes... and screamed. My mother heard me andcame quickly. I was shaking.

When I finally opened my eyes, she was gone. When Icalmed down I wasn’t quite sure what had happened to me.My mother said that was normal because she’d died only twodays before and that I still couldn’t believe that she hadgone for good.

And me? I think I really saw her.I miss her so much...

Danijela Andjelkovic2003/04


UnbelievableUnbelievable

It was Saturday. Someone rang my door bell. I openedthe door. It was my friend David. At first, I didn’t recog-nise him. He was very pale and his hands were shaking...

‘I don’t understand.’ David kept reapeating for near-ly half an hour as if he was having a bad dream. After acup of coffee, and a pack of cigarettes, he started to talk.

‘It was yesterday. I went out alone because all myfriends were busy. I wasn’t in a good mood because, as youknow, I’d lost my job, but I couldn’t stay at home either. Iwould feel worse. I went to Sun, you know the club we hadbeen at on my birthday. Anyway, it was strangely quiet fora Friday night. I sat by the bar and ordered a drink. Aftera couple of minutes, just after it stroke midnight, the dooropened and SHE came in. She had a long, white dress, beau-tiful black hair, and those eyes...

My dream had come true. My angel was in front ofme, asking me if the seat next to me was taken. At first,I was just staring at her... She smiled and asked what myname was. From that moment on we didn’t stop talking. Wewere dancing, laughing, having fun... Time was flying. Westayed there until the club closed. I offered to walk herhome and she accepted. On the way home she was cold, so Igave her my coat. I was so happy that I didn’t feel howfreezing it was. When we were in front of her house, shekissed me good bye. She even invited me to go to her housetoday - it would have been her birthday. I told her toexpect me. I turned around, but then I realized: I didn’tknow her name! I wanted to ask her but she was alreadygone.

6600..SSttoorreeiiss.... .

I couldn’t sleep the whole night. I couldn’t wait tosee her again. She was everything I had ever wanted. Today,I went to her house. An old woman in black opened the doorfor me. I asked her for the young lady. The woman start-ed to cry and said she had been living alone since herdaughter had died a year before. She showed me her photo- it was HER, my angel... I couldn’t believe it! What is more,it’s her birthday today!

I was at her grave. Do you know what I found there?My coat! She was next to me; we were talking, she kissedme... and now? I don’t understand... I don’t understand... Ican’t understand...’

Bojana Stojanovic2003/04


Where are they?Where are they?

Do you believe in their existence? I do!They are somewhere. Maybe, they are looking at you

right now. They know everything about you, even more than you

do. They know your most secret desires, all your fears. Theyknow what happens in your dreams. They know what youthink. They can read your mind. And they don’t talk.

Inaudible, hovering, at night, while you sleep, littlehumanoid creatures with big, creepy eyes, with no pupils,with long, thin arms, little gray aliens, enter your room,and take you to their spaceship. They torture you there.They put implants into your body.

Fear and pain are so strong that you want to believethat all is just a dream. You even lie to yourself, but deepdown, you know the truth. They’ve taken you... You’ve expe-rienced the most terrifying feeling that someone can feel...

People, realize, they are here! Wake up!Oh, you’re not so stupid, right?! You are not an idiot,

are you? Don’t you realize how lucky you are? Of all thegalaxies, of all the continents, of all the countries, of allthose little places, you started your insignificant, miser-able life right here. Why?

Therefore, why wouldn’t another form of life existsomewhere else? Maybe a little bit different... certainly dif-ferent... but life.

They are here! Take care of yourselves! Maybe yu arethe chosen ones... sentenced to an eternal torture. Maybe,


they come for you every night, take you, do experiments onyou... Don’t tell me that you have never had a scratch, whichyou can’t explain?!

They are here for sure, all around us. We only needto open our eyes, fight our fear, and realise that every-thing that happens to us is more than a dream.

Sanja Zivkovic2003/04


SHIPWRECKEDSHIPWRECKED

Three sailors were shipwrecked on a desert island aftertheir ship had sunk in a storm. There was enough food onthe island for them to survive but there was no way toescape.

The three sailors desperately missed their families andfriends. They would have given anything in the world to berescued, but no ship ever passed near enough for them tosend a signal.

One morning, fifteen years after they had been ship-wrecked, they found a bottle on the beach, with a cork init.

"Let's open it," said one of the sailors, "there might bea message in it." They took the cork out and a genie appeared in a big

cloud of smoke. "Thank goodness for that," said the genie to the aston-

ished sailors. "I've been imprisoned in that bottle for twohundred years. How can I ever thank you? I know! You canwish for whatever you want in this world, and it will imme-diately come true."

After he had said that, the genie disappeared in anoth-er cloud of smoke. The three sailors looked at each other.

"I'll go first," said one sailor. "Watch me!" Then heshouted: "I wish I were back in my hometown with my wifeand children!"

No sooner had he spoken that than there was a flashof lightening and he disappeared. The other two sailors


looked at each other in amazement. "Now it's my turn. Watch this!" said the second sailor.

He shouted at the top of his voice, "I wish I were back inthe pub in my little village with my girlfriend!"

There was another flash of lightening and the sec-ond sailor disappeared. The third sailor looked around himsadly. It felt strange to be without his companions afterso many years. He sat down on a rock and thought to him-self. "It's so lonely here on my own. I wish those two werehere with me now..."

There was another flash of lightening...

Emilija Mitov2003/04


A DAY IN MY LIFEA DAY IN MY LIFEIt was a sunny day... a clear blue sky, with no clouds.Everything seemed to be all right. I was in a good mood.I went for a walk along the beach. While I was walking, Isaw something black in the sand.Oh! What a surprise! A wallet...I took it and found an ID. I was shocked. I saw a photo ofmy first love, Jenny.Jenny had kissed me a long time ago. It was the first per-son who had kissed me. I saw her address. What a coincidence! Her flat was onlytwo streets from mine. I was in high spirits. Her surnamewas still the same. I guessed she didn't have a husband.I rang at her door. A handsome, young man opened the door. "Can I help you? What are you looking for, sir?""I'm looking for Jenny.""Jack, it's you?" he asked. "How on Earth does he know my name?" I was wondering."Maybe she is married after all."But all my dilemmas were solved right away."Jack, it's me, Jenny. I've changed a little. I'm John now.Come in, please."Everything went blank...I woke up on the top of an old building, with a half-emptybottle of whiskey. How did I get here? After all, it wasnot so important. I was glad because it was just a dream.I went home quite happy.But in my pocket...there was something in my pocket.The black wallet.Branko Tasic2003/04

6666..SSttoorriieess.... .

GUARDIAN ANGELGUARDIAN ANGELOne day, I was sitting alone at home, when I heard a

knock at my door.I opened it and saw a sweet, little girl wearing old,

torn clothes. She seemed week and looked so pale... She lookedas if she were hungry and cold. She seemed harmless, so Icalled her in.

While I was preparing her something to eat, she toldme that her name was Angela. It was her birthday that day.I was surprised and felt sorry for her. I wanted to giveher something, but I didn't know what. Finally, I rememberedmy beautiful little red dress which I still kept in my clos-et. Angela was so happy that she kissed me. She had to gosoon, and I let her go... After she had left, I felt some-thing strange. I was so happy, and yet so calm. I couldn'texplain that new feeling. I kept thinking about Angela, andI knew I had to find her and find out more about her.

So, I went out. While I was passing by the primaryschool, I saw a group of people. When I came closer I heardthem talking... "Too bad, she was so young... so beautiful... areal angel." I couldn't believe when I realised that theywere talking about Angela, my Angela. She had had an acci-dent the night before, the day before her birthday. Todaywould have been her birthday.

I felt a sharp pain through my heart. I couldn't stopthinking about the child. I went straight to church. I meta priest and talked to him. He smiled and told me that Ishouldn't be scared. Things like that happen sometimes. Alegend says that when a child dies it becomes an angel...Now, I am sure that Angela is an angel... my angelMiljana Stamenkovic 2003/04


The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone

It was some time before I realised that I had been turnedinto a cat. The first thing I noticed was that I was sit-ting on the floor instead of a chair. My clothes were ina heap by the chair as if I had just stepped out of them.On the small table the glass was still half-full of theblack, bitter liquid I had drunk. I tried to stand up ontwo feet and succeeded only in standing on four. Then Ibegun to walk with a curious spring motion. Suddenly thedoor opened and Julia came in. I tried to say 'Julia' andI heard myself let out a discordant 'miaow'.

“Oh, my God! I'm a cat! No, no...this can't be happening.Me, a cat!? HA! Maybe, it's just a dream?! When I wake up,everything will be just the same. I'll be normal again. Whata relief!

But then again, what if it's not a dream? What if I'llbe a cat for the rest of my life? I don't have my arms, Ican't pinch myself, I know! I'll just scratch myself and I'llwake up.

Ouch!!! I need a mirror. But I'm so small.” I went to theglass door and saw my own reflection.... “What am I goingto do now?”

'Where is that girl? Kristina!' I heard Julia's voicecalling my name.

“Oh, if only you knew...I'm so tiny and helpless. Andhungry! Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong?I feel as if I were in a twilight zone. Maybe I really am.That makes sense.” 'Come, kitty!' Julia called me. She tookme in her arms and started fondling me. “What a feeling!But I don't wanna be a cat any more.


Think, Kristina, think! What is the last thing you did?My life is a living hell! Oh, God I'm going crazy. Help!Somebody help me! Julia, don't you recognize me? I want myold life back.

I'm so tired and sleepy... I'll just take a nap, and whenI wake up, I'll decide what to do.” I found my place on thefloor, and soon fell asleep. Suddenly, I heard my mother:'Kristina, wake up! What are you doing on the floor?'

'I am normal! Tell me, I am not a cat! I am not a cat,right?’

'Normal again? A cat? What are you talking about? Comeon... Julia's waiting for you.'

That wasn't a dream, I was thinking for myself. It wasa nightmare. “My left arm... it's itchy. Wow... it's a scratch.I can't believe it.”

'There you are! I've been waiting and waiting. I'veplayed with your cat in the meantime.'

'A cat? What cat? We don't have a cat.''A little, black and white cat. It's so sweet.'God help us!

Kristina Lazarevic2004/05


Too Much TVToo Much TVIt was some time before I realised that I had been turned

into a cat. The first thing I noticed was that I was sitting onthe floor instead of a chair. My clothes were in a heap by thechair as if I had just stepped out of them. On the small tablethe glass was still half-full of the black, bitter liquid I haddrunk. I tried to stand up on two feet and succeeded only instanding on four. Then I began to walk with a curious springmotion. Suddenly the door opened and Julia came in. I tried tosay 'Julia' and I heard myself let out a discordant 'miaow'.

‘Miaow! 'Too much TV,' I was thinking. Miaow! Miaow!Hmm, that was supposed to sound like 'Hello, Julia!' Damn!It's hot in here. This polyester shi...aaah!? Fur?! What the...?No, no, no... Come on! This must be a dream, a bad one. Wakeup! I know this kind of scare-me-to-death-I-can't-go-to-work-without-double-coffee dreams.

I slapped myself once pretty hard. Oh, what now!? A flea! A flea! A little, such a little flea was jumping allaround. It seemed lost. 'Food around the corner...foodaround...' Great! The flea ran into a spider's web...It didn't wait. As it waseating the bug I opened my eyes and saw another spiderright above my head.

A Moon over the Burbon Street was on the radio...Ifelt strange. I got up and turned my TV on. There was noth-ing to be seen, but I kept staring.My hands were shaking while I was pouring coffee for meand my wife Julia. 'Good morning, darling!'she said.'Good morning,' I answered.Jelena Stankovic 2004/05


Not a Bad ThingNot a Bad Thing

It was some time before I realised that I had been turned intoa cat. The first thing I noticed was that I was sitting on thefloor instead of a chair. My clothes were in a heap by the chairas if I had just stepped out of them. On the small table the glasswas still half-full of the black, bitter liquid I had drunk. Itried to stand up on two feet and succeeded only in standing onfour. Then I begun to walk with a curious spring motion.Suddenly the door opened and Julia came in. I tried to say 'Julia'and I heard myself let out a discordant 'miaow'.

I was petrified. 'What's this?' I asked myself. I did-n't know what to do. Julia saw me. I knew what she thoughtof cats. Last time she saw one, she threw it into the toi-let.

The torture started. While I was running away, shewas throwing all the things she found at me. 'Julia, youare really crazy! You're going to kill me.' But everythingwas in vain. The only thing that could be heard, apart frommy poor 'Miaow!' was Julia's: 'Stop and fight, you awfulcreature! Stop you little monster!' Thank God, her motherentered the room.

I took the chance, and escaped. 'What a feeling!' Ithought. 'So, I'm a cat, a pretty terrified one, thought; buta cat.' The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.Cats have nine lives. I decided to try that.

I was looking for the best way to try this belief. Isaw a really big building. 'That's it!' I decided to jumpfrom the highest floor. I got to the roof. There was anoth-er, black cat. She was staring at me. One more look, and I


jumped.The last thing I heard were the words: 'Foolish cat!

She'll definitely die!' I was really the fastest-flying cat ever seen. Then

nothing, only pain and silence.I opened my eyes. The same room...the same me.What's that black cat doing at my window?

Aleksandra Velickovic2004/05


PAHALANIAPAHALANIA

It was some time before I realised that I had been turned

into a cat. The first thing I noticed was that I was sitting onthe floor instead of a chair. My clothes were in a heap by thechair as if I had just stepped out of them. On the small tablethe glass was still half-full of the black, bitter liquid I haddrunk. I tried to stand up on two feet and succeeded only instanding on four. Then I begun to walk with a curious springmotion. Suddenly the door opened and Julia came in. I tried to

say 'Julia' and I heard myself let out a discordant 'miaow'.

I was confused...didn't know what to do.'This is only a dream.Soon, I'll wake up...I just have to wait for a while.'But, nothinghappened. I was waiting and waiting, but nothing changed. Istarted jumping around hoping to be woken up, but nothing.

Now, I was scared. I looked at Julia. She finally noticed me.'Oh, what a wonderful cat! Look at it! Who brought you here? Itmust have been David, my younger brother. Where is he, anyway?How could he leave you all alone? Don't worry. I'll look afteryou.'

Now, I was really scared. I knew how she looked after cats.Our last cat had run away from our house right because ofher. She feeds cats to death, washes them twice a day, gives thema hair cut every week... 'What do you want, little cat? It lookslike you have something to say.'

'No, I don't,' I thought. 'Everything is perfect. I am a cat,you're alone at home...Oh, what am I going to do? I can't live acat's life. It's impossible! Think, David, think!' But, simply Icouldn't .

'Come now,' Julia said. 'You're going to sleep and I'm goingto watch my favourite series Charmed, and then we're going to


find David. OK?' 'Yes, yes, we'll definitely find him,' I thought.I had nothing else to do, so I watched the series. 'Not bad look-ing witches...Who would say these girls were witches?' Witches?!Magic?! I saw the magic book that gives power to the witchesand suddenly I remembered. The book in our attic!!! That is asource of magic power. And then I worked it out. I was readingthat book...then I found myself being a cat. That book can bringmy life back to normal. But how shall I reach the attic?

The moment Julia opened the door, I ran out. Julia didn'tfollow me to the attic. There was the book. It looked as if itwas thousand years old. Who brought it here? It must have beenthat woman who had lived here before us. Nobody knew where shehad gone. She disappeared like a ghost. Maybe this book had some-thing to do with it...

I opened the book. It was really creepy with many scarypictures. Under one of them, this was written: 'This is Pahalania,the book which can give you magic powers. Be careful! If youuse it with bad intentions, you'll become the animal you havetouched last!'That's it! One of my last wishes was that my maths teacher losthis job. So what now?

I turned the last page. There was written: 'To reverse themagic, press the letter N. The book will disappear, but you'llremember everything and you'll have to live with it.'

At that moment I heard my sister coming. She was lookingfor me. She stepped into the attic.... I looked at her, for the lasttime through the eyes of a cat... and pressed N.

She was just about to leave when I cried 'Juliaaaaa'.... Sheturned around and I heard: 'I'm not deaf!!!'

Marko Pavlovic2004/05


MAGICMAGIC

It was some time before I realised that I had been turned

into a cat. The first thing I noticed was that I was sitting onthe floor instead of a chair. My clothes were in a heap by thechair as if I had just stepped out of them. On the small tablethe glass was still half-full of the black, bitter liquid I haddrunk. I tried to stand up on two feet and succeeded only instanding on four. Then I begun to walk with a curious springmotion. Suddenly the door opened and Julia came in. I tried to

say 'Julia' and I heard myself let out a discordant 'miaow'.

Julia was surprised when she saw me, or to be precisewhen she saw a black cat ‘cause we didn't keep pets. Shekneeled down and picked me up. Luckily I was a very sweetcat so she didn't throw me out. She put me on the bed andstarted looking for me - the human me.

I very soon got used to being a cat. I even liked beinga cat. I liked all my new abilities - I was very fast, Ihad good reflexes, balance, and I could jump very high. Ihad strong claws and sharp teeth. I enjoyed trying out mynew body. In the meantime, Julia finished her unsuccessfulsearch and went to the kitchen.

However, very soon I realised that no matter how funit was to be a cat, I had to find a way to turn back intomy human shape. Then it came to me.

This morning an old salesman sold me an invisibili-ty potion. You must understand that I bought it only toget rid of him. And I drank it because I was curious. Andcuriosity killed the cat. He must have mixed the potions.I had to find him. He couldn't have gone very far away. I


sneaked out, and started running down the street. I wasright!

I saw my neighbour Bill throwing things at the'voodoo magician'. The poor old man ran away. I was afterhim. Imagine how frightened he was -a big, black cat run-ning after him. He was so scared that he dropped one ofhis bags. I looked inside. I couldn't find what I was look-ing for; I didn't know what I was looking for. I noticed abottle bigger than the others, but I couldn't open it. Ismashed it and licked the liquid from the asphalt. I faint-ed.

When I came round, I was in my bed. 'What a relief,'I thought, 'it was just a dream. Very realistic, though.'Julia came into the room. 'What were you doing naked inthe street? Bill called me when he picked you from the road;it wasn't strange for him as he is a filthy barbarian, butit was so humiliating...blab...blab...blab....' She couldn't bestopped.

I stopped listening. I had to think what to tellher. Certainly I couldn't tell her the truth. She would-n't believe it.

Nenad Golubovic2004/05

7766..SSttoorriieess.... .

I AMI AM THETHE ONEONEI lived in the jungle. Every day I looked for food and

often I had to fight for my territory. I led an ordinarymonkey life, until one day... I only fell asleep. When I wokeup, I found myself closed in a small room.

Those stupid human beings. I knew it! They wanted some-thing from me. But what?!

At first I had no idea what they wanted from me. Everyday they were giving me food, water and things other mon-keys could only dream of.

But when after couple of days I stepped into my cas-tle, called cage, I understood. These stupid human beingsfinally realised that I was the only smart creature on thisplanet. They definitely wanted me to be their king. I wasvery excited.

Lots of people came to see me.'But why all the time?Why are they pointing their fingers at me? Why are theyso happy when I do something, even if it is so stupid?' Thesequestions bothered me for a few months.

Finally I found a solution. I knew I was the king.That was so true. 'Who can be more important? That can benothing but a god! No, this can't be! I am not god. Or, per-haps, I am?! Yes, I am the king and God!'

Now, everything was clear. Those people were comingas my servants and loyal liegemen. When I did something, nomatter how stupid it was, I eased their pain, made theirtroubles go away. They were smiling. They were happy to seeme. They pointed at me thus showing me respect.

Now when I realised that I was the one, those stupidhuman beings could sleep peacefully.

Damnjan Jevtic 2004/05


FREAKFREAK

The year 4004 AD. A mixture of vapour and the orange-pink colour of the Sun in the yellow sky above the townthat people used to call LA.

'Lisa,' called Sean again. 'He told me that they stillhad that job in the circus. I don't want to force you, butcan we at least think about that? We both know that ourfinancial situation is not so bright, right?!' he told to hiswife. 'I’ve heard some rumours that Hawaii is planning toattack America once again. You know that they almostdestroyed us in World War V.'

'Sean, are you aware of the fact that you are talk-ing about our son?' Lisa asked. A tear dropped from herthird eye.

Sean's two antennas started moving around. 'Oh, notagain! Those pterodactyls are so boring, always looking forfood. Go away, go, go...' Then he continued: 'I know, but heis so different. He knows that, too. Since other kids havestarted treating him as a freak, he didn't go out of hisroom. He must do something...'

'But it's not his fault!' lisa complained. 'To work ina circus as a freak, to be the subject of jokes and laugh-ter - it's so humiliating; for him, and for us, too.' She wasnervous. She looked at Sean's green face and started cry-ing. 'Oh, Sean, hold me tight! Oh, why did God punish us likethat? Why us? Why is our son not like other normal kids?'

'Be strong, Lisa. We must support him as much as wecan. After all, he is our son; no matter he is a frea...dif-ferent!' They went to bed. Sean couldn't sleep. He went tohis son's room.


'Jimmy, are you awake?' he asked. Jimmy was soundasleep.

'I love you, son, no matter what. I know I don't showit so often, but I hope you can feel it.' He touched thechild's head with his fourth arm and quietly left the room.

He didn't have the strength to look at his son; tosee his two blue eyes, to see his two legs, two arms, blackhair without antennas, pink skin...

He couldn't stand the fact that his only child lookedas those primitive monsters who had lived two thousandyears ago...

Branko Tasic2004/05


UNFORGETTABLEUNFORGETTABLE

This happened a few years ago on 1 May, when I wentcamping with my friends.

Going on this camping trip is a tradition. We spend onenight and one day in the woods in the hills, sitting aroundthe campfire telling scary stories, laughing, listening tomusic... Each time we go there, something interesting hap-pens. However, this one I'll never forget.

We entered the woods around midnight. It was very dark,but we didn't mind as we had flashlights with us. Aftertwenty minutes of walking, we ran out of light. One of theflashlights fell into a puddle and the other one had a lowbattery. So, there we were, in the middle of the woods, intotal darkness. Nevertheless, we still kept going. It wasfreezing! I could see a full Moon shining through thebranches of the trees. The Moon was our only source oflight.

However, bad luck kept following us. Suddenly, the cloudsappeared and covered the Moon. The rain started. We couldsee even less now. There was water and mud everywhere. Ourfeet were wet and our clothes were covered with dirt. Theground became slippery and while we were going up some ofus were falling down. We walked through the bushes and Icould feel branches scratching my face. I could hearstrange sounds coming from everywhere. Those were proba-bly the sounds of birds, but in my head, I saw the creepi-est animals ever.

When we finally found a good place for our tents, werealised that three of our friends were missing. We didn't


know what to do. We started panicking. There were hundredsof things that could have happened to them. Then we remem-bered - mobile phones. Thank God for them! We called them.They were fine. While we were climbing, they were the lastin the line and at one moment, they stopped to have somerest, but somehow they lost us. Fortunately, they weren't sofar away, so they soon joined us.

We were so tired, and at the same time so happy. Therewas no rain and the strange sounds weren't bothering usany more. Yes, we had some small scratches, our feet werestill wet, there was mud everywhere, but, all in all, it wasan unforgettable experience. And while the Sun was rising,we were sitting around the campfire, wrapped in our blan-kets, drinking warm coffee and laughing.

Coffee never tasted better!

Ana Markovic2004/05


UNFORTUNATELYUNFORTUNATELYI went out for a walk.Unfortunately, it began to rain.Fortunately, I had an umbrella.Unfortunately, it was broken.Fortunately, I met a friend in a car.Unfortunately, the car ran out of patrol. Fortunately, the patrol station was near. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough money to pay.Fortunately, the man who worked there wasa good man and let us pay some other day.So we continued our journey.

Unfortunately, soon we had a flat tire.Fortunately, we had a spare one. Unfortunately, we had no tools to change it.Fortunately, a fisherman came along.Unfortunately, he invited us to go with him.Fortunately, both of us were good at fishing.Unfortunately, it was getting dark.Fortunately, very soon, I caught something interesting.It was a gold fish!

Unfortunately, it wanted to make only one of my wishescome true.Fortunately, I knew what to ask for. I wanted to becomea prince!In a moment everything went dark.

I heard someone calling my name:'Get up, Frantz Ferdinand! Let's go to Sarajevo!'

Marko Stamenkovic2004/05

882.SSttories.. .

Green LadyGreen Lady

When Craig Meyers bought his restaurant, he got it for avery good price because it had been empty for three years.Nobody wanted to buy the place because people said that ithad a ghost.

The ghost was a lady in a long green dress whohad been a singer in the restaurant years before. Peoplesaid that one night, on her way home from the restaurant,the singer had driven her car off the road, over somecliffs and into the sea below. Nobody had ever seen thesinger alive again. People said they had seen her ghost, butCraig didn’t believe in ghosts so he wasn’t worried.

Three months after Craig had bought the restau-rant, he opened it again. He called it The Green Lady.

The restaurant had been opened for six monthswhen a strange thing happened. It was Saturday night.Everybody had left and Craig was tidying the restaurant.Suddenly he heard a woman singing in the dining room. Shewas singing a traditional song called Green sleeves. Craigwent into the dining room. The voice was louder there, butthe room was empty. Craig checked the restaurant taperecorder and the radio in the kitchen, but they were bothswitched off. He couldn’t stop the strange singing, but hedidn’t feel very worried.

Craig locked the restaurant, got into his car andstarted to drive home. He was tired. He fell asleep andcrashed his car into a tree.

He woke up at the hospital. The police officers were


in the room with him. ‘We need to ask you some questions,’ they said.

‘Who was the woman in the car with you? We haven’tbeen able to find her since the accident.’

Craig answered: ‘I didn’t have anyone with me.’‘Yes, you did. We were driving behind you and we

both saw her. She was wearing a green dress.’

Milica Andjelkovic2005/06


Bed-ttime storyBed-ttime story

David woke up in the morning and knew his life would never bethe same again.

A few days ago while David was working in his small milkbar, a woman dressed in grey entered the bar saying nothing.She picked up a glass of milk and without paying for it walkedout of the bar. David was surprised by the woman’s behaviour. Heran out of the bar after her, but she had disappeared.

The same small woman dressed in the same grey dress enteredthe bar again, just a few days later. She grabbed a glass ofmilk and again left quickly without paying. David tried to fol-low her, but she was nowhere to be seen. After a couple of days,she appeared once again. She was dressed the same. She paid noattention to David, snatched a glass of milk and vanishedthrough the door.

However, David was prepared this time so he quickly fol-lowed the woman out of the bar. She hurried down one of thetown’s main streets and David had to run to keep up with her.She turned off the road into the woods. This was where Davidlost her, but he kept going.

And then he heard a baby crying and it seemed like it wascoming from the ground. In front of him was a gravestone mark-ing the death of a mother and her baby who had been buriedtogether.

Unsure what to do, David went back and brought some shov-els and a few people to help him. The crying became louder asthey were digging. When they reached and opened the coffin, theyfound a dead woman with a crying baby in her arms. And thethree empty glasses.

The poor child had been buried by mistake and the spiritof her dead mother kept her alive until she was found.

Marko Momcilovic 2006/07


Dear stranger,

My name is Angelo Colungo. I'm fifty-eight years old,and I don't have any possessions. I was born in a littletown, Sun Mountain. At that time, my family was very poor,so, Alice, a rich woman who lived in the village Mark's Lake,brought me up.

At that time, Alice was a widow. She used to be mar-ried to a rich shopkeeper, and they didn't have any chil-dren. She has never married again. Horses were her passion,so I took to them. We had six horses and one of them wasonly mine. His name was Mike and I took care of him. Ialways had a good time when I rode Mike across the neigh-bouring meadows.

One day, suddenly, Alice died while she was sleeping.She left me a great amount of wealth, so I became one ofthe richest people in Mark's Lake. Nevertheless, I was verysad because of Alice's death, and living became meaningless.

Three days after Alice's death, I took my horse and Irode around my farm. I wanted to forget everything. I wasvery disturbed.

I don't know why, but I turned off the road and Idecided to go to the forest. I had never been there before.

Suddenly I heard some voices, so I hid myself and myhorse. Three men were in front of me, but they saw neitherme nor Mike. Even now I can exactly remember all theirwords:

Now, he is very rich, but, you know, he is also verystupid, - said the first man.

I think you should forget plan A- the second man inter-rupted him.


I'm sure, if we do that, we'll get caught. But, I...-start-ed the third man, but the second man interrupted him.

Silence! You're a bait, only; but you aren't in our group.I was scared because I felt I was the topic of their con-versation and I wanted to run away, out of that forest.But, how? They could see me.

We didn't take advantage when he walked in his pyja-mas, that night...- started the first man. He wanted to saysomething else, but, there was some noise, so they left.

I decided to leave Mark's Lake as soon as possible. Mylife was in danger because, if my premonition was right,they were planning to kill me. I wanted to sell all my pos-session... and a few days later, a customer appeared. I soldeverything. The price was very low, but I didn't have anychoice. Then I was twenty-nine years old. I decided to goto Sun Mountain. I planned to find my real parents.

There I rented a house. Sun Mountain was a very lit-tle town and people knew each other. I made inquiries aboutmy parents, but I couldn’t find out anything. I knew nei-ther what their names were, nor if they were still alive.

Nobody could predict that something would happen inSun Mountain that would start an avalanche of events...Namely, Jane Mervilson, sixty years old, disappeared duringthe night between Thursday and Friday when she came backfrom a visit to her daughter’s. Next day, in the early morn-ing, her body was found in the forest. She had hanged her-self. There was a Halloween mask on her face. Everybodythought it was suicide.

As I was coming back from her funeral, in front ofthe graveyard, I saw an old woman in a long ragged blackskirt. She was a beggar. I took pity on her and I gave her


some money. There was a man, too. He was selling masks. Hewanted to sell me one, but I wasn’t interested.

That night I had a terrible dream. I dreamt of the maskseller. He tried to drown me in the lake. It was a terri-ble experience for me, because everything looked so real.Next day I didn't go out. I thought...

But... then... the body of Erica, a beggar, was found inthe centre of Sun Mountain. It was chopped and, there wasa mask. Everybody was frightened because of that terribleevent. The police were everywhere. However, they found noth-ing. There was no evidence, except the mask. There weren'tany witnesses, either.

I felt the killer was the mask seller... I thought itwas obvious. The police found and caught him, but a fewdays later, he was free to go, because the police didn't haveany evidence against him.

During the next few months nobody went out by night.There was strange silence.

I had the same dream again. I had a bad premonitiononce again because, if the killer was the mask seller, hecould kill each of us. But, he disappeared... I decided tofind him, but I couldn't without the help of the police.Unfortunately, the police didn't want to listen to me andthey thought it was stupid.

Out of the blue, a rich stranger came to Sun Mountain.His name was George. He had good manners. He bought ahouse which was near mine and we became friends. He did-n't want to talk about his past.

I told him about those terrible murders. He agreed tohelp me find the mask seller. He paid some people and theyfound him. His name was Erwin. We wanted to follow him,


and if we had found something strange, we would have givenhim up to the police. A year later, we had found nothing.Erwin lived with George and he was supported by George.He thought that we wanted to help him and he was satis-fied.

One night, I was awake till two o'clock a.m., because Iwas writing some letters. When I had finished them, I wentout into the yard. I heard some steps. I hid myself, but Icould see my neighbour and friend - George. He was goingsomewhere and in his hand I saw a Halloween mask. I start-ed to panic. I asked myself where he had gone. Everythingwas strange. Why did he have that mask? I decided to fol-low him, but when we were near the forest I came back. Iwas scared to death.

That night I didn't sleep. After breakfast, I visitedGeorge. I didn't ask him about the night, but he told me hehad slept like a baby. He planned to go to a nearby townafter lunch. I went back to my house. I was very tired, soI went to sleep. Somebody knocked at the door and I wokeup. I opened the door and I saw Erwin. He was in a panic.He told me that George had had an accident.Together, we visited the place of his accident. The car wasdestroyed. George was in hospital. His condition was criti-cal, but he could still talk. A lawyer was there and he waswriting George's will. George left all his money and hispossession to Erwin. I was surprised. Later the investiga-tion revealed that the brakes of George's car were broken.It was the cause of the accident. George died in hospital.

Living in Sun Mountain became really terrifying.First, Jane hanged herself, then Erica was killed and, inthe end, George had an accident. What would come next?

889.SStories...

Nobody knew whether Jane had really hanged herself, orwhether it was murder. All deaths were somehow connected.There was always a mask. Who was the killer? Why?

I started my own investigation. It lasted twenty threeyears.

Yesterday, I found the last part of the puzzle, whichhas completely changed my life. This is what I have foundout up to now...

George had lived in Sun Mountain before I got toknow him and he had left Sun Mountain ten years beforemy arrival. He had been poor, but he had been good at gam-bling and became rich. He had had a few plastic operations,so when I got to know him, his appearance was completelydifferent.

Erica was his wife. When he heard about her death,he came back because he wanted revenge. George had alwaysloved Erica, but they got divorced and he left the town,because he'd thought that Erica loved another man. Erwinwas their son! What is more, Erwin was my half brother. Itwas a shock for me. I was surprised when I discovered thatErica was my mother and George was my father, but Erwinwasn't Erica's son. Also, I found out that the deaths ofGeorge and Jane weren't accidents. They were killed.Somebody hanged Jane and somebody broke the brakes ofGeorge's car.

So, this morning, I went to the doctor's. I’ve foundout that I have a severe health problem. I suffer fromparasomnia, so I'm a parasomnic. I walk when I sleep andeverything I do while walking, I forget till morning. Thismorning I was hypnotized and, then, I saw death ... of four people.


Dear stranger, now, when you're reading this letter,I'm far away in a little town somewhere in Texas. I'm thevictim... a victim of this damn life... On Saturday, I redec-orated my house and... in the cellar of the house I founda lot of masks.

This morning, while I was hypnotized, I saw andunderstood everything. I broke the brakes of George's car.I hanged Jane and I chopped her body.I understood why the people, I saw in the forest, talkedabout me wearing my pyjamas. That night I killed Alice.I wasn't conscious. I forgot all about it until morning. Ididn't want to do it.

I don't know what to do. Suicide is really too milda punishment for me. I don't want to fall sleep...Stranger, please, call the police. I did it - I'm the killer.

Nobody’sAngelo Colungo

Biljana Ristic2007/08


The death of a taxi-ddriverThe death of a taxi-ddriver

He was just a man, working as a taxi-driver. His salary was ter-rible, but he didn't want to change his job because he was usedto it. He had been driving the same car for forty years. He wasan honest man who would never hurt anyone. He had never hatedanybody nor had he ever argued with anybody.

One night, while he was sitting in the car, smoking hiscigarette, a young beautiful woman knocked on his window. Shewanted to go to an unknown street which wasn't familiar to him.Still, he accepted. She gave him directions and he drove her away.She thanked him and went into a big, old house.

The day after that, he realised that the young woman hadforgotten her purse. He could hardly remember the way, but hesomehow managed to find the house. He knocked on the door andthis time another young woman opened. He showed her the picturefrom the purse and asked her if the owner lived there. "I live here with my husband and my three children. I don't knowwho that is."

The man was confused. He decided to forget all of this andgo home. "Wait!" said the young woman. "Let me check some photos."

She brought a lot of photos. She recognized the woman inthe photo. "That's my aunt. We had seen each other a couple of times beforeshe died.""Died?!""Yes. She died ten years ago."He didn't say a word.

Later that night, the police found his body not far from thehouse. They said it was a heart attack.

There was a red rose near his body.

Svetozar Milovanovic 2008/09


WINTER NIGHTWINTER NIGHTIt was Christmas Eve. It was snowing that night. I was atmy friend's house. As I was tired, I went home at about 2o'clock in the morning.

Half way home, I saw something. Something was movingin the field to the left of the road. At first I thought itwas a four-legged animal, but it wasn't. It was running ontwo legs. It came near me and I could hear it breathing.

I stopped. The creature jumped onto the road right infront of me. It was a man! But what kind of man... His eyeswere red, with no white around the pupils. Wild, very long,brown hair fell down his white skin. He was as white asthe snow around us. His mouth was red, just like his eyes,and he had blood on his arms.

A thousand questions appeared in my head... What is hedoing here? Is he hurt? Has someone attacked him? Robbedhim? He must be freezing! He's so white! Look at him - he'sa mess.

I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. I just stared athim, frozen. Then, he jumped back into the field and disap-peared into the darkness and snow. I stayed there for afew moments, and then hurried home, thinking of him allthe time.

Marko Djokic2008/09


Black AngelBlack Angel

When George Wane put up a life-sized bronze statue of agrieving angel on a pedestal on the grave of his dead wife,he had no idea what he had started.

The statue was a really scary figure, frozen in themoment of grief, terrible pain. At night the figure wasalmost unbelievably creepy. There was something about it, asif its arms could really reach out and grab you if youweren't careful.

It didn't take long for rumours to start spreading.People said the statue - nicknamed Black Angel - washaunted by the spirit of the mysterious lady who was lyingbeneath its feet. They also said that the statue's eyes wouldglow red at midnight and any living person who stared atits face, would turn blind almost instantly. If you sat onits lap at night, the statue would come to life and crushyou to death in its dark embrace. If you said the BlackAngel's name aloud in front of the mirror at midnight, theevil angel would appear and pull you down to hell. Therewere some other rumours that the spirits of the dead gotout of their graves during dark nights to gather aroundthe statue.

People began visiting the cemetery just to see thestatue, but usually they didn't see anything strange. Onedark night, two young men decided to check out whetherthese stories were true. Clouds covered the Moon that nightand the whole area around the dark statue was filled witha sense of anger and hatred. One of them stepped forwardand read the name below the statue.

Suddenly the statue moved and looked at him with tears


in its eyes, then it grabbed him. The boy just managed toutter a scream of horror and his body disappeared in theembrace of the dark angel.

Next day, people found the body of the young manlying at the foot of the statue. There was a red rose inhis hand. No one really knew what had happened that night,and what the rose meant. The other boy, who survived, knewthe truth. But since that night, he hadn't spoken a singleword. Before he died, his last words were: You just need tolisten...

The statue still stands at the cemetery, but it does-n't seem alive. Nobody knows the truth about its historyand what happened in the past.Milica Nesic2008/09


AA mmyysstteerriioouuss ddiissaappppeeaarraannccee ooff aann EEnngglliisshh tteeaacchheerr

One day when she became fed up with everything, she decid-ed to go away and leave everything. She did that. She went to live in nature because she wanted to be sur-rounded by greenery. She loved this colour. For a long time nobody knew anything about her. She livedin nature, all alone. She ate only natural products. She washappy. After a year in the forest, she met a gipsy circus. Shedecided to join them. So, they travelled together and Orinda,one of the Circus people, taught her one of the acts. Herpartner in the circus show was Rand. One day she came back to Vlasotince. It was a fair day.Everybody was in a shock! Especially her students. Theywatched the show. Unfortunately, a terrible tragedy hap-pened. One of the knives went the wrong way and she wasstabbed straight into her heart. Her last words were: 'Generally speaking, I'm dying... but...I'm happy.'

Aleksandra Brankovic2008/09


A short story of a long life IA short story of a long life I

Victor Parrot was born one cold, stormy night in anold house located in a poor part of New York City. Victor’smother died after she had given birth to him. His fatherhad left her when she told him she was pregnant. So hisgrandmother took care of him. She was the only person inhis life.

Victor's life, until he turned 25, was very hard. Hisgrandmother worked hard just to provide for his studies,because he was very smart. And somehow he finished univer-sity. But when Victor turned 25, his grandmother died. Hereally loved her and he was deeply affected by her death.The first few days he was depressed. He didn't leave thehouse, didn't speak to anyone...

But after some time he decided to do something with hislife. He decided to be a man to remember, to help as manypoor people as he could. He didn't know what to do or whereto go but he just wanted to escape from that part of thecity which reminded him of his grandmother, the person heloved most. So he went to an other part of New York.Fortunately he found the job immediately. He started work-ing and from his first salary he started helping poor peo-ple just like he had promised.

Soon everybody knew Victor Parrot - the man who wasgiving money to those who needed it more than he did, eventhough he didn't have enough for himself. They knew him asa man who was ready to do anything to save the life of acomplete stranger. Everyone knew about him and everyoneloved him.After sometime he met his boss's daughter. She was a beau-


tiful, young woman. They became really good friends andafter a few years of friendship, when Victor was 30, theystarted dating. They loved each other so much that they gotengaged after only two months of dating. Their wedding wasthe most beautiful wedding ever. Victor invited a lot ofpoor kids and in front of the church he and his wife gavethem a lot of presents. The funny thing was that the bridedidn't throw the bouquet, but the groom did. He threw itto the children saying: "I'm going to buy a house to theone who catches it". When he saw children jumping for thebouquet he changed his mind and promised them a house bigenough for all of them. And he fulfilled his promise bybuying them an enormous house and he hired people to takecare of them. His marriage was happy and they were themost popular couple in New York. They were well knownbecause of their way of living. They worked hard to helpothers and even though they gave a lot of money to char-ities they also had it for themselves.

Unfortunately his wife died in a car accident. At thattime Victor was 70. When he heard about the accident hehad a heart attack. He survived but this event left a bigtrail in his life. For a long time he didn't speak to any-one, he didn't even leave the house. None of those people,who he had helped, heard of him for 5 long years. They wereworried and sad. Especially children because Victor hadbrought smiles into their lives. Still he never stopped send-ing them money and presents.

After 5 long years, one Saturday afternoon, Victor'sservants were confused. In front of the house there was abig crowd. There were journalists and cameramen recordinga man speaking. It was Victor Parrot. After 5 long years


living in his room and torturing himself, thinking abouthis wife, he decided to return back to normal life. No oneknew why... And so Victor's life started all over again.

He decided to help as many people as he could. Hestarted travelling and visiting poor people and children.He gave them presents, money; he provided for them. He wasrecognized as the man who was bringing happiness to thosewho had lost it because of their hard lives. After 20 years,at the age of ninety-five he died from another heart attackwith a smile on his face saying: "Continue my work". He leftall his fortune to poor people.Over 500 mourners came to his funeral. They brought him alot of wreaths. One of them read: "You brought a smile backto my life. Thank you.”

Jelena Petrovic 2008/09


A short story of a long life IIA short story of a long life II

Victor Parrot was born one cold, stormy night in asmall town in Scotland. He had a happy childhood with alovely family beside him, but very poor. He grew up explor-ing the countryside around the town. He was endlessly curi-ous about the natural world. He was obsessed with thebehavior of living creatures. He was one of the best stu-dents in school and he got a scholarship for one of theprestigeous colleges in England where he studied biologyand medicine. But at that time his life was very difficult,especially since he had great financial problems.

When he finished college he went to Argentina to con-tinue his researches. But something unexpected happened.. Hefell in love with a beautiful, young woman and they gotmarried the same year. Soon, after they had bought a smallhouse in the countryside, they got a son. Victor thoughthis life was perfect. He had a well paid job, he had a lov-ing wife and a child and for the next 20 years his lifewas getting better and better. He wrote a couple of booksabout rare species of animals and plants and some books onmedicine, and he started earning a lot of money for hisexperiments.

But suddenly the fairytale started going wrong. Hiswife and son died from malaria. He was desperate and hope-less, but he continued his projects and he even won someinternational science awards. He didn't have any close fam-ily but he had many friends. People liked him and his com-pany. They appreciated him but above all they admired him.He liked helping people, not just materially, but also withgood, useful advice.

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SSttoorriieess......

He was famous not only as a scientist, but also asan honest, generous man who wanted to help everyone. Hegave a lot of money to different charities and he foundedthe foundation for talented children. The rest of his lifehe spent helping poor, helpless people and doing charitywork. He died in his home, aged 95, with a smile on his face. Over500 mourners came to his funeral. His last words, his lastmessage to the world was: 'We make a living by what we get,but we make a life by what we give. The tragedy of lifeis not that it ends soon, but that we wait too long tobegin it. In the end, it's not the years in your life thatcount. It's the life in your years'.

Milica Nesic2008/09

101.

Stories...

The son of GodThe son of God

A legend has it that once upon a time, something terrify-ing happened. Even the thought of it was terrifying.

It all started centuries ago, in a small village. Therewas a man who thought of himself as the son of God andgave himself the right to and torture people until theydie! According to the legend he was buried alive deep inthe ground and the people who lived there swore they'dnever mention his name again. And so it was until one manfound himself at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was night. He was passing by the cemetery whenhe spotted something weird. According to him, the groundstarted to shake and he saw some kind of light. He gotscared, but his curiosity told him to go and check thatplace.

He was approaching the mysterious spot carefully, stepby step and then, finally got to the grave which was open.He was confused... The tomb was empty!

All he found there was a book! A very weird one!

Marko Stojiljkovic

He was terrified, everything was so strange. He wantedto leave, but his curiosity didn't let him. So he carefullytook the book and went back to the car.

The book was black; its pages torn and red letters weresaying 'The history of the son of God'! He turned the firstpage and there was one sentence 'Whoever finds this bookand reads it..' Unfortunately he read it aloud...

He didn't even finish reading the sentence when every-

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thing changed. The ground started shaking. He saw a lightcoming from the cemetery, the rain started... And suddenly,right in front of his car, there it was... something strange,incredible, like the worst nightmare. It was big. Fog wasall around it. He couldn't see its face. Scared to death, hedropped the book and quickly drove off.

He didn't read the second part of the sentence... and heshould have.

The second part of the sentence was much worse. "....aloudhe will break the legend and I am going to destroy him..."But unfortunately the man didn't know anything about hisdestiny and his future troubles. He arrived home and that'swhen his nightmare began. He had a wife and 2 children.When he went to his bedroom he was terrified. His wife wassleeping and above her head in blood it was written: 'I'mgoing to start with her'. He quickly woke her up and start-ed shouting 'Look, look-'pointing at the wall - 'He is goingto kill you'. She was scared, she looked at the wall andthere was nothing. She told him that he was just too tiredand he was seeing things.

And they both went to bed. But he couldn't sleep... hisdreams were strange. He dreamt his wife's funeral. When hewoke up next morning, his wife had already been up. He wentdownstairs and saw a terrifying scene. His wife was lyingon the floor, covered in blood. And then above her some-thing appeared... it looked like the fog the night before.He was scared to death and he lost consciousness. When herecovered, he heard his wife calling him. Frightened, hejumped and run away from her. She was confused and askedhim what was wrong but he didn't answer and continuedlooking at her, as if crazy.

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He got over this event and went to work. But he could-n't work properly. One hour later he received a phone call.A strange voice told him that his 18- year-old daughterhad had a car accident and that she had died. He quick-ly went to the place of the accident and saw his daugh-ter's car crashed and beside it was her armlet which hehad given her for her birthday. He called his wife and toldher all in tears about the accident. But his wife's reac-tion was: 'what are you talking about, are you mad? She'sbeen here with me all day, what is wrong with you?' Buthe couldn't believe her words. So he decided to see the faceof the dead girl. He approached carefully and saw her face.It was his daughter.

And then again the strange fog appeared. Now he start-ed screaming, calling for help. He was saying: 'This is goingto kill my family!' But people around him didn't see any-thing. They told him they knew that that was very hardfor him and that it was better for him to go home. And sohe listened to them and went home.

Everybody was at home! His daughter, too! When he sawher, he started shaking and screaming. His wife called anambulance and they took him to hospital.

There he stayed for a month and he completely recov-ered. But he didn't have a clue what would happen next. Hearrived home and his family prepared a surprise for him.Everything seemed normal.

Next day he went to work as usual. For the first fewdays he thought his nightmare was over... but...

One day he woke up and it was raining... He went towork... but while he was driving, it became foggy. He could-n't see anything so he stopped his car even though he was

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scared. As he stepped on the ground, the door of his carclosed and again he saw that terrible fog. Now it had theshape of a man holding a book in his hands, a black onewith red letters. He couldn't see the name of the book buthe was almost sure that this was the book which he hadfound the night his life completely changed.

He wanted to escape but he couldn't move. This figuremade of fog told him: 'You broke the legend and now I amhere... to continue my torturing and you are my first vic-tim after so many years.' He closed his eyes refusing tobelieve what was happening to him. When he opened his eyes,incredible as it may sound, he was in his bed, beside hiswife. He woke her up and told her what had happened. Ofcourse, she didn't believe. She said that it had just beena dream. And they started arguing. His wife became veryangry and to stop the fight, she drove off.

That night she had a car accident. He buried her andwhen he went back from the funeral with his children hesaw the writing in the kitchen 'Now your children'. Hestarted screaming so loudly that most of his neighboursquickly came. They asked him what was wrong. While stillshaking, he told them: 'He killed my wife and now my kidsare in danger.'

At that moment his wife arrived home. She sat besidehim and she didn't even start talking, when he, scared todeath, jumped and ran into the other room. There he saw thefog, and around the mysterious fog the dead bodies of hiswife and children. He was crying and asking "Why, why..."She quickly called the doctors and they took him to hos-pital.

For the next two months he couldn't stand the pres-

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ence of his wife and kids. All day long, he was talking tohimself, or he was trying to kill someone who was in hisroom, but there wasn't anything. Until one day when thedoctors heard him calling for help. When the first two doc-tors entered the room the door locked. The room was fullof fog... After two hours the door opened. The fog disap-peared and the man was lying on the ground beside the doc-tors. When the people from security, who had been tryingto open the door for two hours, saw the room, they werescared to death.

On the walls, with blood it was written: '...brokenlegend...! Fog is my mask, torture is my name... I am the sonof God, and this is only the beginning of my revenge!'

Nobody really knew what had happened that ter-rible night, in that room...

Jelena Petrovic2008/09

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Teacher the Great Teacher the Great With gratitude to my Teacher Biljana Pipovic

Describing my Great Teacher in 150 words, I'll try topour an ocean in a glass and there reveal its beauties andcharms of sailing with a captain like she is.

Highly motivated, enthusiastic, well-experienced, inno-vative, open-minded and never moody, she is the very per-son who brings sunshine in our classroom and stuffy school,and make us enjoy and feel relaxed while studying. Being agreat pedagogue and psychologist, she always understandsand deals perfectly with our (mis)behaviour, problems,needs... Her lectures include the most different types ofenjoyable activities - pair and group work, listening tomusic, watching films, making advertisements, quizzes, tests...Besides, we, with her, who is the team leader, publish a mag-azine in English called JUMP!. Even more, we organized aconcert, collected books for the school library, performeda play (of course, in English), which we edited, in our andnearby schools.

All in all, I just want everybody to know that there'sat least one teacher inspiring students, creating people,improving the world, far away from great awards, publici-ty and renown, but who merits her name to be written withthe capital TT(eacher). She loves her students, they love herand that is the end of the story!

'Oh, captain, my captain,' THANK YOU!Aleksandra Cekic

Pearson Longman Great Teachers Competition 2009winner

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About THETHE BOOKBOOK

Teaching English may take two directions, one beingthe ordinary language course resulting in more or lessaccomplished users of English as a foreign language, andthe other being The Book, the results of which are stun-ning. What we are looking at is a collection of poems,essays and short stories, written in English by students ofthe Secondary school of General Education "StevanJakovljevic" in Vlasotince under the guidance of theirenthusiastic, resourceful and inspiring English teacher,Biljana Pipovic.

Topics such as love, friendship, family relation-ships as well as the philosophical search for truth and theawe imposed by the supernatural, in one word, everythingthat a young soul is wondering about at the age of lateteenagerism, has been covered by The Book. Should we lookfor our long forgotten youth and all the problems we weretroubled with, The Book is the place to look for them. Thisis where we can evoke memories of times when the greatestworry in the world was to choose the right pair of jeans,when the rain was poetic, when tears were shed over littlethings and when the world simply seemed right regardlessof all the troubles it caused.

The Book will definitely take you back to all that!What is more, it will take you back in English!

Doc. dr Jasmina DjordjevicFaculty of Law and Business Studies, Novi Sad

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EEXXPPLLAANNAATTOORRYY NNOOTTEESSPage 1. Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligentthan the one that went before it, and wiser than the one thatcomes after it. - George Orwell Page 221. An eye for an eye... - inspired by Hamlet, WilliamShakespearePages 2222, 223, 224, 2255, 226, 227. - essays inspired by the poemThere’s always weather, Langston HughesPage 322. Be yourself no matter what they say! - inspiredby the poem IF, Rudyard KiplingPage 37. The law on discrimination - the winner of a classdebatePages 41, 422, 43, 44, 455 Mini Sagas - A mini-saga is a shortstory, invented by Brian Aldiss. There are two rules youhave to follow when writing a mini-saga: the story mustNEVER be more or less than 50 words - exactly 50 withadding the ‘a’ and all the prepositions- and the title canbe no longer than 15 words.Pages 68, 70, 71, 73, 755. It was some time before I realizedthat I had been turned into a cat. The first thing I noticed wasthat I was sitting on the floor instead of the chair. My clotheswere in a heap by the chair as if I had just stepped out ofthem. On the small table the glass was still half-full of theblack, bitter liquid I had drunk. I tried to stand up on two feetand succeeded only in standing on four. Then I began to walkwith a curious springy motion. Suddenly, the door opened andRobert came in. I tried to say ‘Robert’ and heard myself let outa discordant ‘miaow’! - the beginning of a story One of MyMost Intimate Dreams by Cristina Nuta Page 107. Teacher the Great - the text is published in itsoriginal version without any corrections to preserveauthenticity.

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The book

Education

Transcript of The book