A "Ruined" Friendship by Teodora Leon

Have you read “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman? I have and I really enjoyed it. You must read the book first so you can read my story, too! Let’s start:
It was winter. There were only two weeks until Christmas. Coraline was really excited. Christmas was her favourite holiday. She liked decorating the Christmas tree, getting wonderful presents from Santa Claus, going to church and having a grand Christmas dinner with her family and friends.
One day, Coraline’s class decorated a big Christmas tree at school. Coraline was looking at the beautiful ornaments and at the big, shiny star on the top of the tree. Coraline’s teacher said: “Children, please, take your seats! I have an important announcement! Our school is organizing a special event: The Christmas Fair. We’re going to have a big Christmas party in the gym. Kids who are interested in this Christmas Fair can bring something made by them. The kid who has the most special thing made wins a grand, new Christmas prize!”. “What’s the prize?” asked a kid. “A big box of candies, a snowman toy and, my favourite, a Christmas tree trophy!” the teacher said. The children were amazed, especially Coraline. What a nice prize, perfect for any child... Coraline was day-dreaming about her and the Christmas tree trophy in her hand...
After school, Coraline went back home. She lived in a big, house called “The Pink Palace Apartments”. Her neighbours were the two actresses, April and Miriam, and the jumping mouse circus man, The Amazing Bobinsky (Mr.B). When she entered the house, she smelled something good. She went into the kitchen. She found her mom. “Hi, my darling, how it was at school?” Mrs. Jones asked. “Really great, mom! We decorated the Christmas tree! Oh, and our teacher said that soon it’s going to be a Christmas party and a Christmas Fair, too!” Coraline shouted happily. “A Chirstmas Fair? What’s that?” Coraline’s mother asked. “Oh, you know, it’s just like a normal fair, where you bring stuff made by you. But now it’s a Christmas Fair because, of course, Christmas is approaching.” Coraline said and sat at the table. “Okay, enough with the chat, it’s time for lunch. I made you pizza.” Coraline’s mother said and winked. “Cheese pizza?” Coraline said with big eyes. “Of course! With some ketchup on it, too!” Mrs. Jones said. “Thanks mom, you’re the best!” Coraline said. She felt so happy!...
After lunch, Coraline went in her room. She wanted to prepare something really special for the Christmas Fair... The problem was that she didn’t know what... Then, she remembered: two years ago, Coraline got for her birthday a “How to built your own robot” kit. She could build a Christmas robot! Yes, that would be a wonderful thing for the Christmas Fair... Coraline went straight to work.
She got out the kit from the shelf. It was a little bit dusty... Coraline opened it. Inside there were the instructions and the robot pieces. Coraline thought for a moment: if she was going to follow every step from the instructions, that meant cheating. It had to be something made by her, without any help... Coraline decided to follow the first important steps and then, work alone.
Coraline stayed all afternoon in her room. Her mother came to say: “Coraline, Wybie visited us. He wanted to see you. Can he come?”. “Okay.” Coraline said, concentrating on her robot. Wybie came in. “Hi, Jonesy!” he said. “Hi... Why-Were-You-Born (from Wyborne)!” Coraline said. She liked those nicknames... “What are you doing there?” Wybie asked. “A Christmas robot for the Christmas Fair. What about you? Are you preparing something for the Christmas Fair?” Coraline asked, putting a nose in the centre of the robot’s face. “Nah, I’m not the kinda boy to built something. I always make mistakes...” Wybie said. “Whatever...” Coraline said. Then, there was a pause. “Um... I think I have to go. Grandma wanted me to help her cleaning the house. I just wanted to have a quick visit, that’s all.” Wybie said. “That’s very kind of you. Okay, see you at school. Bye!” Coraline said. “Bye, bye! Good luck on building the robot!” Wybie said and left. Coraline finished the robot’s face. It actually looked pretty good... Coraline looked for two or three times over the instructions! She realized that she was a good robot builder, indeed!...
Days went by and Coraline was still working on her robot. She felt so tired in the evening. It was hard to go to school, to do her homework and to build a robot... All this time, the other mother watched Coraline in her crystal ball. She wanted to take her revenge... again (read “The Other Mother’s Revenge”, also written by me!). She didn’t what to do... It would be enough to see Coraline sad... The other mother thought for some minutes and then, she saw Coraline’s robot. It was almost done. It just needed legs. Then, the other mother remembered Wybie’s words: “I always make mistakes...”. A new idea came in the other mother’s mind. “I’m sure that Wybie is going to visit Coraline sooner or later. I could send my hand to destroy Coraline’s robot. She will think that Wybie did it... Then, Coraline and Wybie’s friendship will be totally ruined!!! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!” the other mother shouted.
It took five days to build the robot (one for the head, two for the body, three for the arms and hands, four and five for the both legs). The Christmas robot was looking so pretty. It had a Christmas hat on its head, a shiny, red nose (like Rudolph... he-he!), a little green jacket and two little, white boots. It was a Christmas robot-girl! :) The robot was painted red (I forgot to mention that it was a little robot, not a big one!) and... it could talk! Yes, Coraline needed a little help from her dad. They put something green and little (I don’t know how it’s called, maybe a chip... ask Coraline’s dad... LOL!) and the robot started to talk. It could say: “Hi, there, pal!”, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!”, “Let’s decorate the Christmas tree!” and “Wanna have a Christmas party?”. The robot could sing “We wish you a Merry Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” (Coraline’s favourite Christmas songs), too! Coraline loved her robot! She took a picture to it to be a memory.
Coraline invited Wybie to her house to show him her pretty robot. Wybie was amazed. “This robot is made by you?” Wybie asked. “Yes... well, dad helped me to put a chip in the robot’s mouth to talk. He can sing, too! Isn’t it nice?” Coraline said, looking at the robot. “It’s really great! I’m sure that you’re going to win the first prize at the Christmas Fair!” Wybie said, smiling. “Why, of course. Nobody is going to have such a wonderful thing like my robot!” Coraline said, day-dreaming. Suddenly, Coraline’s phone rang. “Oh, it’s a friend of mine! I’ll be right back. Be careful with the robot!” Coraline said and left to answer the phone.
In the meantime, the other mother sent her hand in Coraline’s room. Wybie saw the hand. “What the...” he started to say, but it was too late to say anything. The other mother’s hand destroyed the robot and left very quickly. Wybie was scared. He couldn’t catch or stop that bad hand. What was he going to do now? Coraline would kill him!...
Before Wybie could do something, Coraline entered the room. She was totally shocked when she saw her beautiful robot destroyed! “Wy... Wybie! Wha... What happened here? What did you do to my robot???” Coraline asked. She was very angry. “Coraline, le... let m-m-me explain...” Wybie started to talk. “No, I don’t want to hear anything. But... why did you do it? Why did you destroy the robot??? If you really want to know, I’ve always wanted to win a prize from a fair!!! I could win this Christmas Fair!!! Why, why, why??? Why did I invite you to come to see my robot? How did you break it? How? HOW???” Coraline asked. She had a very red face... “Coraline, I didn’t do it... It was this hand... It looked like... the other mother’s hand...” Wybie said. “Don’t be silly! The other mother is dead... I think. And even if she was alive, how could she know about the Christmas Fair and my robot?” Coraline said. “Coraline, please, believe me!” Wybie said. “No! Go away! You ruined everything!!! I don’t want to talk with you... NEVER EVER AND FOREVER!!!” Coraline screamed. Wybie left the room disappointed. He didn’t say anything. Coraline’s mother came. “What’s going on, my dear?” she asked. Coraline opened her mouth, but she couldn’t even say a word... “Nothing, mom... I... I will talk later about this. Just leave me alone!” she said in a whisper. “Okay.” Mrs. Jones said, closing the door of Coraline’s room.
Coraline looked at the robot. That beautiful thing was now just a piece of junk... Coraline started to cry. All her work was ruined! There were only two days until the Christmas Fair! She could not repair the robot. She didn’t have enough time!... That stupid boy! She ruined absolutely everything. Coraline could only say now: “Goodbye, Christmas Fair prize!”. Coraline threw herself in her bed and started to cry again... Soon after that, she was asleep... with the photo of the robot in her hand...
Coraline woke up the next morning. She slept for more than twelve hours! Coraline’s mother came in the room. “How are you feeling, my darling?” she asked. Coraline didn’t answer. “I’m so sorry about your robot, dear...” Mrs. Jones said. Coraline looked at her mother, then at the photo. A big tear rolled down on her cheek. “Don’t cry! I’m sure that you will have better luck next time... I don’t think Wybie did this. He’s just a kid... Who knows what happened...” Coraline’s mother said. She kissed Coraline on her head and left the room. Coraline sat silent in her bed. If it wasn’t Wybie, then who broke the robot? Was it the other mother? Was she alive? Did she want to take her revenge or what? What will happen now? The friendship between Coraline and Wybie was totally ruined? So many questions were in Coraline’s mind...
In the meantime, the other mother was celebrating her revenge. “My brilliant idea is a success!” she said, smiling. She didn’t notice when two ghosts went out from a room... Until... “Barney, Thomas? Where are you going?” the other mother asked. The two ghosts stopped. One of them said: “For a walk. We will be back soon!”. “Where are you going for a walk?” the other mother asked again. The second ghost said: “Um... nowhere. We’re just walking. Don’t you worry. We will be back before you can say “fish and chips.”. The two ghosts disappeared. The other mother remained silent for a moment and, then said: “Fish and chips?”. But nobody came...
Where do you think the two ghosts went? To Coraline! They heard about the other mother’s idea. They found Coraline staying in her room. When the girl saw them, she let out a short scream. She looked at Barney and Thomas with two big eyes. “Who... who are you?” Coraline asked, a bit scared and a bit curious. “I’m Barney!” said Barney. “I’m Thomas!” said Thomas. “We’re Barney and Thomas!” they said together. Coraline didn’t say a word. “We’re coming from... the other mother!” Barney said. “But we don’t want to harm you!” Thomas said. “We want to make you happy...” Barney said. “... and to forget about the broken robot!” Thomas continued. “There is no use!” Coraline said. “Oh, really? Well, if you want to know, we had a same problem like you and your friend when we were alive...” Barney said. Coraline looked at the two ghosts surprised. “Yes, we were best friends. We had the same fight, all because of the other mother. Barney thought that I broke his new invention (I can’t remember what was it). But then, he realized that the other mother did it. But he left his invention behind and turned back to me. He wanted to win his friendship again, not just a prize...” Thomas said and hugged Barney. Coraline looked at the two friends-ghosts. They were right! A friendship was much more important than a fair prize... Coraline thanked the two ghosts. Barney and Thomas left. The other mother never knew what did the two ghosts do... But she was absolutely angry when she saw Coraline happy.
When the Christmas Fair day came, Coraline felt (a bit!) sad. She looked at the prize and at the shiny Christmas tree trophy... But something unusual happened. The announcer said: “The prize is for... Coraline Jones! Her wonderful Christmas robot has won the first prize! Well done!”. Yes, Coraline didn’t see the robot on the other side of the gym. It was exactly like the other robot! Wybie came to her. “You’re welcome!” he said. “You... you made it???” Coraline asked surprised. “Yes... I wanted you to win the first prize! And I found out that I’m not always making mistakes. I’m really good at building robots!” Wybie said. “Are you happy?” he asked. “I’m very, very, VERY happy! I’ve also won your friendship back!!!” Coraline said and hugged Wybie... What a wonderful day for Coraline! She had a new, pretty robot, she had won the Christmas Fair prize and, the best of all, she had won Wybie’s friendship back! Wonderful, right?
The End (a friendly end)
P.S. Coraline wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)