In the STRANGER THAN FICTION issue, we asked you to write a story similar to the War of the Worlds idea. Below is one student's rendition. Enjoy.

MARS ATTACKS!
By Matthew Villegas

Marcus Fenix was a thirteen year old boy living in Dallas, Texas.  He lived at home with his three year old brother and mother. He had just taken the bus home from school and turned on the television. His mother had work that day so the baby sitter, Megan was there to watch him and his brother. Megan and Marcus's brother, David were sitting on the couch singing their ABC's.

"Start your homework before you watch T.V.," said Megan. 

"Alright," replied Marcus. 

He went to turn off the T.V., but before he turned it off, a news bulletin appeared on the screen.  The local weatherman was shown standing in front of a weather map. "here is a thunderstorm warning for Dallas, Texas.  There are reports of lightning, strong winds and heavy rain.  The storm will hit around 6:00 pm."

Marcus heard thunder in the distance, and glanced out the window. The weatherman was right; a huge storm was on its way. Marcus could see lightning darting out of the ominous storm clouds.  "Should we bring the dog in," asked Marcus. 

"Yeah go ahead," said Megan. Marcus brought the dog in the house, and it immediately rushed in under the coffee table. 

"That's strange, Bandit never acts like that,” said Megan.  "I've never seen him hide from anything."  The dog buried its head under its paws and wouldn't stop squealing over and over again. 

"Now that I think about it; on the way home from school there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It is strange how fast that storm developed."  Marcus remarked.  The phone started to ring; Marcus answered. 

"Hello?"

"Hey honey, I saw the news. Are you guys going to be okay? How is your brother?"

"Yeah Mom we'll be fine. David is fine."

"Alright well you guys call if you need anything okay."

"Okay mom we will. Bye."  Marcus hung up the phone and went into his room to grab a flashlight... just incase the power went out. When he got back into the living room he saw a different news man. 
"This is CNN News anchor Michael Stevenson reporting. We are going to Jack Johnson live in New York Times Square."  A man in a drenched yellow rain coat appeared standing in front of the camera. He began to speak.

"Thanks Michael. Now just a few minutes ago we had one heck of a storm pouring down on us. The storm was pouring down heavy rain with winds of eighty miles an hour, and then it all together stopped. The wind has died down completely." The reporter pointed up toward the sky and the camera followed. There were dark storm clouds hanging in the air. The strangest thing about this storm, Michael, is that the wind was actually blowing towards the storm, instead of away from it. It was like a switch was suddenly flipped, and now there is complete silence in New....."  The reporter was interrupted by the sound of a deafening horn blowing. The reporter was shown covering his ears in pain. Suddenly the Earth shook with a violent force. The camera fell and hit the ground. Car alarms rang out, and people were heard screaming. 

Marcus and his family watched in silence, too dumbfounded to speak. The camera was picked back up by the cameraman who cursed under his breath. He focused back on the reporter who was just recovering. He stood back up, and looked towards the camera.  "It looks like New York has just suffered a huge earthquake ladies and gentlemen."  People now rushed out onto the streets in distress and confusion. Some were panicking; others were too shocked to panic. A person in the background was screaming and pointing.  "Oh my God; what is that?"  Others began to look up in surprise. 

The camera looked back up toward the storm. Suddenly, out of the storm, emerged an enormous machine. It was a dark black that could cover ten football fields. It shadowed over New York City, and sat in the air like a large beast waiting for the right moment to strike. The people were no longer screaming; everyone was looking up in awe. The reporter dropped his microphone.
 
Another horn rang out; this time louder than before. The Earth shook again, but with more force. A building collapsed in the background. Citizens were screaming and running from the enormous beast.  The camera fell, and was trampled by the stampede of people. Marcus looked back at Megan. She was as pale as a ghost as tears slid down her face. Marcus reached in his pocket and pulled out his lucky rabbit's foot. He found it when he was very young, and he used to believe it could protect him when he was scared. He tried to outgrow it, but he couldn't ever bring himself to get rid of it. He was now hoping that it could protect him. 

The video went back to Michael Stevenson at the news studio. The fear in his eyes was apparent.  His voice quivered as he spoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, there have been reports of these same events in every major city in the entire World. All of our technology is being hacked as we speak.  Computers, cell phones, and televisions are all short circuiting."  Even as he spoke the television was beginning to fade out.  "Planes are falling out of the sky. I'm afraid there is nothing more we can do.  God be with us all." 

The television along with the all electricity shut off. Megan pulled out her cell phone. "It's no use everything's off," shouted Marcus. 

"What are we gonna do? It's all over now."  David couldn't understand what was happening, but seeing his brother break down in tears told him something horrible was happening. He buried his face in Megan's arms. 

"Don't panic," she said. "Let's just get in the storm shelter." They rushed to the backyard. The dog refused to get out of the house, so they had to leave him behind. The storm was closing over them now. As Marcus opened the back door, the wind ripped it off its hinges. Lightning was striking all around them, and the rain felt like needles falling down. Marcus glanced up at the monster of a storm. He knew that storm would decide their fate. They got in the shelter and shut the door tight. 

Marcus stared at the floor, praying that this wasn't the end. He hoped his mother was okay. He reached in his pocket for his rabbit's foot and held it tightly. Megan sat and hugged David as tight as she could, while she deeply wept. No one said a word in the storm shelter. The thunder was drowning out any noises they made. The noise of the storm was almost unbearable. 

Then, suddenly it ended. All was calm. A deafening horn rang out causing Marcus to distort his face in pain. The earth shook with a violent force. The rabbit's foot dropped to the floor.