6th graders respond to the writing prompt: You stumbled upon an abandoned arena filled with monsters. What happened next?

I cranked 90s on those opps! I went kung fu mode on them monsters. (I was taught to aim below the waist, but I didn’t follow that.) I took a lot of the monsters down, but I realized that kung fu was about honoring your opponent. As a monster was about to do a fatal swoop at my head, I bowed at it in honor. Then I dropkicked it in the butt and it fell over. 

I learned that move not from kung fu, but school. As it fell on its face, I went to its pants and pulled them over its head. My sensei would be proud. I still had a lot of opps to handle though. 

The exit was high, which I could’ve escaped through, but a perfect life is with no enemies, which I seek. I was also taught that violence isn’t necessary. I practiced my defense moves by catching their punches and dodging their swings. They surrendered, knowing that I was too much to handle. They said that they accepted their fates. 

I told them that violence will gain me no aura, but a life with no enemies is the most sigma of all. My counselor would’ve also given me more aura points so I could get a badge. I got 500 points from this. The badge says, “The Ultimate Sigma!” 

I told this to my sensei and he leveled me up to a toilet belt. It’s a toilet seat that means I’m skibidi. Then I bowed to him, then tied his shoes, which is a tradition that we do with every sensei. I had to honor him by trusting that he was right. 

• Oliver E.

One day I was just walking down the street when I somehow stumbled right in a giant abandoned arena filled to the brim with monsters (because that makes sense). I had to choose between fighting deadly monsters or working an office job at their company. It was a hard choice, but I chose to work at Monsters Ink. There, I worked long and hard hours to make ink, pumping it out of squids and working alongside this little green guy with one eye and horns. 

• Carter M.

First I go in, and the door locks behind me. I look around for any way of exiting, but it is too dark. Suddenly, at the end of the hallway, a door opens. It looks like some ogre. It yells harshly at me, “You are fighting at 5!” 

With the light from the door, I find many weapons, all of them medieval and rusted. I leave the room I am in. As I walk into the arena, I am blinded by the sudden light. I am in an arena and a lot of ogre-like creatures line the stands. I see another figure across the arena. The figure appears to be human. He looks much stronger and bigger than I am. 

I suddenly hear an ogre yell, “Silence! Today we have a fight between Bob and the Queen’s Champion!” I am stranded in fear. 

As the fight begins, the man lunges at me. He has an axe and a shield, and all I have is a sword. I block his first attack with my sword. I lunge back at him. With his shield, he blocks it. Suddenly the sword is out of my hand. It goes across the arena and now I have no weapon. I resort to running to my sword.

The champion throws his axe and it strikes me in the arm. I scream in pain. The monsters cheer. Even without my arm, I still won’t give up. I grab my sword and charge. The monster is facing away from me. He is looking at the crowd when I stab him in the back. He falls over and I stand on his back. 

I pull out the sword from his back, raise it, and the monsters cheer. A troll shouts, “Bob has taken down the Queen’s Champion! Bob is now a champion. Now you have a choice: you can stay and fight more or you can leave. If you leave, we will not fix your arm with our magic.” 

It is an easy decision. I decided to leave. I have to get my arm amputated. So people don’t think I am crazy, I say I hurt my arm on a table saw. I go my entire life not telling anyone about my fight. 

• Eamon S.

The arena is filled with monsters, but the monsters are pink, fluffy unicorns that are doing the happy dance. 

They spread happiness to all and make everyone a bit too happy, you think. But I don’t care. I’m going to stuff my mouth with rainbows, sleep some more, and listen to K-Pop. 

Today’s sponsor is Uni-Corn: a death free utopia of corn.

• Julian D.