THE MASK

Once upon a time in the small town of Normal, Illinois, lived a girl named Ndim. She was American, but her father was from an African country called Cameroon. That is why her name did not sound America. Her mother was American. When Ndim was three years old, her parents told her stories about witchcraft and sorcerers in African countries. She was scared about these stories because she did not like witchcraft or sorcerers.

One day when she was thirteen, she had an assignment in fine-arts to draw a mask. The teacher would sell the best picture, and she could get half of the money. Since Ndim like to be independent and earn her own pocket money, she wanted to work on her assignment hard and earn fifteen dollars for her picture. She knew that it was not much, but she wanted to earn the money to be proud of her own work. And the money to be proud of her own work. And the money was not all the person who had the best picture will receive. The winner would also have two packages of cany. Ndim had a sweettooth.

When she came home from school, she started working on her picture. She researched on the Internet to find which type of mask she wanted to draw. She worked very hard and finally finished it. She left the picture in her desk and went back to the living room. She had dinner with her parents, and the food was really nasty. At nine o'clock, it was time for Ndim to sleep. She left the lviing room to get ready for bed. She put on her pajamas, said her prayers, turned off the light, and then was ready to sleep.

But she couldn't go to sleep right away because she wanted to look again at the mask that she drew. SHe turned on the light, and suddenly she heard the mask speaking!

She was really scared and shouted for her parents, but they did not hear anything because they had the television volume turned up.

The mask said, " Do not be scared, do not be scared, my daughter."

Nidm calmed down.

" I am a mask hidden in a museum. My heart is in the picture that you drew, but I am actually hidden in the museum. You looked for me on the Internet, and you successfully drew me the exact same way I appeared online. I want to be free. Someone brought me in Cameroon and sold me to the museum. The only way to be saved was for someone to draw me. Now I am happy, and I need you to buy me from the museum. I also predict the future. Pretty soon, you will have a trip to the museum with your class, and you will see me in a frame. Please do not hesitate to buy me. Ok, sweet dreams, my daughter," said the mask.

"Sweet dreams to you too," said Ndim to the mask. Then she went to bed.

At ten o'clock, her parents were tired and turned off the light to go to bed. Ndim slept well.

At six thirty in the morning, she woke up, took a shower, and had breakfast. At eight, the bus came and took her to school, along with many other pupils. She had seven classes that day. She had fine arts at the end of the day, and her teacher told the class that they had a trip to the museum the next week. She also told them that they could bring some money and get what they wanted at the museum because things would be for sale. Ndim was excited because she remembered that this was what the mask had told her. She was going to ask her parents for some money to buy the mask.

After fine arts, she left go home on the bus. When she reaches home, she spoke to the mask about her trip to the museum. She also told her mother about the money. Her mother gave her thirty dollars for the trip. On Monday, her fine-arts teacher told everybody about the trip and let them know that it was on Wednesday. Ndim was excited, especially about buying the mask in the museum.

After her last class, she went home and started doing her homework. After her assignments, she had dinner with her family.

After dinner, Ndim went to her room to study for her quizzes in English and biology classes. The mask was sleeping, and she did not want to disturb him. She decided to go downstairs and watch television.

After the second day of class, Ndim was very happy. She could not wait for the third day to come. Her mother put the chips and cookies that she bought for the trip in Ndim's backpack.

On Wednesday, she went to school, and all the pupils waited for the teachers to come with the bus and take to the museum. The trip was two hours. It was all the way to Chicago. When they arrived, they entered the museum and started looking around.

Ndim saw different types of masks but did not know where the mask that she had drawn was. Then she saw a counter where a sign read: African Masks for Sale. She had a copy of the picture of the mask that she found on the Internet. She asked the seller at the counter if they sold the mask. The seller told her that it was for sale, and she was really happy. She jumped only once so nobody would think that she was acting crazy. He told her that it was eleven dollars. She bought the mask and put it in her backpack. She was also happy because she had a nice day at the museum with her friend Lacey. She and her friend looked at everything in the museum and liked it all. Ndim and her class watched a movie on the dinosaurs. She sat next to her friend Lacey, who was Caucasian with blond hair.

After the movie, their teacher wanted to take the class out for lunch. After lunch, everybody said thank you to the teacher who also enjoyed the food and got on the bus to go back to Normal, Illinois.

Ndim went to her house and took a shower. She was happy that she solved the real problem of her mask. She successfully found the mask at the museum. Now she was sure that the heart of the mask in the picture would go back to the mask that she bought. After her shower, she dressed in her pajamas.

She showed her mask the picture, and he explained her how she could help him put his heart into the mask that she bougth. She put the mask that she bought the mask and put it in her backpack. She was also happy because she had a nice day at the museum with her friend Lacey. She and her friend looked at everything in the museum and liked it all. Ndim and her class watched a movie on the dinosaurs. She sat next to her friend Lacey, who was Caucasian with blond hair.

After the movie, their teacheer wanted to take the class out for lunch. After lunch, everybody said thank you to the teacher who also enjoyed the food and got on the bus to go back to Normal, Illinois.

Ndim went to her house and took a shower. She was happy that she solved the real problem of her mask. She successfully found the mask at the museum. Now she was sure that the heart of the mask in the picture would go back to the mask that she bought. After her shower, she dressed in pajamas.

She showed her mask the picture, and he explained to her how she could help him put his heart into the mask that she bought. She put the mask that she bought on the picture and waited for few minutes for the heart to return the mask. The mask on the picture did not talk anymore, and she understood that the heart was already in the mask. But she was surprised that the mask did not speak anymore. She could not hear anything from him.

But she decided to keep the mask forever anyway. She was happy that she solved the mask problem but sad that he was gone for good.

After that, she was feeling lonely in her room. She missed all the moments that she'd had with the mask when it was on her picture. She was happy to have the mask for real on the wall of her room so it would remind her of the mask that was on her picture before. She continued to have good times with her parents and her friends at school.