Truth or Dare 

        Written and Illustrated 

            by Maddox Magaña

I am dedicating this book to one of my best friends, Liam. Thank you for being a great and supportive friend to me.

    “Truth or dare?” smirked Samuel as he bounced the basketball to Maddox. It was a cold and dreary day in December. December 23rd to be exact. Maddox caught the bumpy orange ball. He looked at Liam and at the same time the boys shouted, “Dare! Definitely dare!” “Hmm,” murmured Samuel. “Let's see. I dare you both to hide in the Super Target on Castleberry Road when they close and sleep there overnight.” Maddox and Liam hesitated. “I don't know about that,” said Liam. “I kind of like sleeping in my own soft, warm bed.” Maddox stepped forward towards Liam. “Come on Liam! Let's do it! We did say dare after all.” “Oh, alright.” Liam relented. “I'll meet you there  ten minutes before closing time.” “Perfect,” added Maddox. “That will give us plenty of time to find a sneaky hiding spot.” Samuel was amused and in disbelief that they were considering his dare. “I can't wait to see how this goes,” he mumbled all while thinking they’d never actually do it.       

    That night, ten minutes before closing time, Liam and Maddox ventured into Target. They scoped out their hiding options quickly. They decided to hide carefully behind large packages of family sized paper towels. They removed the rolls from the shelf, climbed onto the shelves and replaced the paper towel packages in front of them to conceal their whereabouts. “No one is going to know we are here,” whispered Liam. The boys tried to keep their nervous laughter quiet. They heard the closing announcement over the loud speaker but they stayed put. Soon after closing, the lights went out and the boys found themselves in pitch black darkness. “I’m kind of scared Liam,” Maddox admitted. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all,” mumbled Liam. The boys agreed to try to find a way out.

    They found their way to the flashlight aisle, grabbed two, turned them on, and headed to the front of the store. “OH NO!” exclaimed Maddox. “Liam, it looks like we are going to be stuck here for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!” Maddox was pointing to the store hours which read, “Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas day so our employees can enjoy the holidays.” Liam gasped! “My mom is going to kill me!” “Well,” Maddox suggested, “We have two options. We can sit around being scared and sad or we can make this the most epic Christmas we’ve ever had!” Liam looked intrigued. “How so?” he asked. “Follow me!” shouted Maddox.

Follow me!

How so?

  CLOSED

   12/24-

   12/25

    The boys ran with their flashlights to the Christmas aisle and unboxed a tree. They decorated it and stepped back to admire their work. The tree lights twinkled. “Not bad,” declared Liam, “Now off to the snack aisle!” The boys excitedly grabbed a cart and began filling it to the top with candy, popcorn, chips, gum, and more junk food. The popcorn smelled just like the movie theatre. “My mom would never let me eat this much junk, not even in my entire lifetime,” exclaimed Maddox. “Me neither,” replied Liam. The boys laughed as they ran to the ice cream aisle. They each took a gallon of ice cream and found some spoons and began eating it right out of the cartons. Their taste buds cheered with delight as their mouths froze. 

    They returned to their Christmas tree spot to regroup and decide what they’d do next. “Let’s set up a Nintendo Switch and play all night long,” suggested Maddox. “YES!” Liam shouted. The boys ripped the Nintendo box open, set it up and began to play. They shouted, they laughed,  they screamed, and jumped up and down. They loved doing what they’d never be allowed to do at home. After six hours, the boys began to yawn. “We should camp by the Christmas tree,” Liam proposed. So, the boys gathered sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets and laid down by the twinkling tree and drifted off to sleep.

  Let's      go!

woohoo!

    When they woke up, it was Christmas Eve. The reality of being stuck in the store for all of Christmas Eve and Christmas day began to hit the boys hard with sadness. There would be no stockings or presents to open, no big family dinners, and no traditions to be had. The boys began to feel disappointed. They tried the phone but it was not working. They banged on the hard, steel doors but no one came. They screamed through the walls but no one heard them. They were distraught and discouraged. “At least we had so much fun last night and we still have each other,” Liam uttered to Maddox.

    "You’re right Liam,” sighed Maddox. “I guess I just thought that being here with my best friend and being able to do whatever I wanted, eat whatever I wanted, sleep whenever I wanted, would be the best Christmas ever! And it was fun. But now I am realizing that being with family on Christmas to celebrate our traditions together is really where I want to be.” “Me too Maddox,” Liam lamented. The boys sat down thinking of everything that had happened. They looked around at the mess they had created and decided to clean up.

You're right Liam.(Sigh)

Let's clean up.