text: [Themes: sci-fi, drama, science fiction]
  
  [Author's Note: There's a UFO at the school! This story was written as a an attempt to try out a different way to write storygames. I tried to write the entire story from start to finish, then insert choices only after writing the story (see more here). The story is intentionally short: this is supposed to be a short story of the type you might read in a magazine: no matter which path you take, it should end up with a story about 800-1,200 words long. For those interested, there are eight different endings.]
  
  > A UFO at School
  It is just a normal day at school. Gavin Raers is sitting in Math class, bored out of his mind. The teacher had explained some math process and Gavin understood it right away. The rest of the class was trying hard to work out some practice problems, but Gavin got it, completed the problems quickly, and was already bored. He tried doodling on the margins of the paper, but he wasn't a very good artist. He liked math, but this class just moved slow. He looked around and watched the other students struggle. He sighed and looked outside.
  
  Outside he could see the different sports fields set up for all the high school athletics teams. The amount of money spent making nice fields, stadiums, and all the other things that the sports teams used always amazed him. Far to the left he could see the baseball field with the dirt infield. Off to the right was the soccer field with the old metal stands. In the middle was the large football field, the same size as the soccer field, but still taking up more space. There was a large scoreboard, a huge brick section of bleachers, and that large silver saucer landing in the middle of the field.
  
  Wait, what? Gavin blinked his eyes and looked again. Yes, there was some giant silver saucer-shaped thing landing in the middle of the football field! He looked around at the others in the classroom, but everyone else was looking at their papers. He called out to the teacher, "Uh, hey, Mr. Stamus?"
  
  The teacher looked up from this desk and said, "Not yet, Gavin. Wait until everyone has enough time to attempt the problems on their own and then we will discuss the correct answers and how to reach each one."
  
  Gavin stammered, "But Mr. Stamus, it's not about..."
  
  "Please, Gavin, not now. Let everyone work on the problems first."
  
  Gavin looked back out the window at the saucer. Three small extensions lowered as the ship landed on the field and settled down. A side of the ship opened up, another extension appeared, and the side of the ship opened up. That extension reached down to the ground like a stairway. Gavin could see some green figures moving around in the hole in the side of the ship.
  
  > Gavin stays quiet and keeps watching the ship.
  Gavin ignores the teacher and looks out the window. The strange green shapes get larger as they head out the hole in the side of the ship. They are tall, skinny green creatures of some kind. Their bodies were skinny at the top and fatter at the bottom, almost like a teardrop. They had short, stubby legs and waddled when they walked. There were no arms of any kind; they looked a little like penguins Gavin had watched on a nature channel once – just walked along, moving as if they should have arms, but without arms, wings, or anything else.
  
  First one, then two, then many more waddled out of the ship. As they reached the ground, they spread out, heading in different directions. Some headed towards the east wing of the school, some headed for the west, and one group headed almost straight towards Gavin and his math class! There was no door to the outside in the math class, but Gavin knew there was a door into the hallway right outside his classroom. They were waddling slowly towards him, but without a face, he couldn't really tell if they were watching him or just heading towards the building.
  
  > Gavin jumps up and yells at Mr. Stamus.
  Gavin jumps to his feet, points out the window and yells, "Mr. Stamus, aliens!"
  
  Mr. Stamus doesn't even look out the window and says, "Gavin, please. I know you already get it. But I am not going to put up with that sort of outburst in my class. You now have detention. Now sit down and be quiet."
  
  > Gavin continues yelling at Mr. Stamus and pointing out the window.
  "Mr. Stamus, look out the window right now!"
  
  Mr. Stamus sighed and said, "Fine, if that will shut you up..." His jaw dropped as he looked out the window and spotted the aliens headed towards the school. Then he shook his head and said, "What sort of prank is this? We do not have time for this, this is a classroom for serious learning."
  
  He walked over to the window and opened it. He called out the window to the creatures, "Hey, you kids stop that! Now go on and get to your classes before I send you all to detention!"
  
  The creatures continued to approach, apparently ignoring Mr. Stamus. They headed for the door and Mr. Stamus kept yelling at them, "That's it, you are all going to get detention today, this very afternoon! Now line up here so I can write down your names and hand out detention slips!"
  
  The creatures walked in the door and Mr. Stamus headed for the classroom door. He opened the door and stood in the hallway. He opened his mouth to speak to the creatures, but suddenly there was a loud electric sound and Mr. Stamus was not there. He suddenly and completely disappeared! The students still in the classroom gasped and then one of the creatures appeared in the doorway to the classroom. It raised an appendage and suddenly all the students, including Gavin, were disintegrated.