'Year 1284, John and Paul Diary 26th of June. 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced by a piper, dressed in all kinds of colours, the children were all lost at the place of execution near the hills.'
-The Pied Piper of Hamelin

In the year 1284, the population of rats increased rapidly and infested every area they could survive.

Hamelin suffered the worst.

Rats infested every nook and cranny of the area and brought with them an incurable disease- the Black Death.

Every day, thousands of people died all around the world because of the Black Death. No matter how hard people tried to exterminate the rats, it was all futile.

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{Pied Piper}
Year 1284, John and Paul Diary 26th of June. I seduced 130 children born in Hamelin using my magic flute. I never saw most of the children again.

I, the Pied Piper, had come from a family of rat exterminators. The magical Pipe was a gift handed down generation after generation. We risked our lives for the lives of others. My dear father handed the pipe to me a month before succumbing to the Black Death.

"This pipe was a gift to our ancestors by a magical being for our sacrifices. We exterminated rats day and night, risking our lives. Son, by giving this pipe to you, I am transferring my job to you. Do not-"

Father had whispered those words as he handed me the pipe. It had intricate designs and just by holding it in my hands, I could feel something coursing through my veins. I felt like I could do anything as long as the magical pipe was in my hands. I was mesmirised by the pipe and did not hear the rest of his words.

After Father passed away due to the Black Death, I vowed to exterminate as many rats as I could with that magical pipe.

I started from the north of Germany, heading south. Every village I visited gave me bags of gold to express my gratitude. Soon, I needed to rent a horse-drawn carriage to carry all those gold with me.

Slowly, a seed of greed was planted and it grew. The greed spread through me and soon, my mind was corrupted. All I could think of was becoming rich.

A few months later, I arrived in Hamelin.

When I heard that Hamelin had the most rats, I scurried towards that village. After all, more rats result in more gold! How exuberant I was, images of bags of gold flashed in my mind.

The town seemed desperate as rats could be seen everywhere. No one was in sight- except for dead corspes. It seemed that were were no rat-chatchers in Hamelin. If there were, those rat-catchers were not doing their job right. That meant more gold for me! I made a beeline for the mayor's residence. As if expecting me, the door opened when I had arrived and a chubby man beckoned me inside.

Desperation and worry were etched on his face clearly.

More desperation meant more gold!

"You're a rat catcher?"the mayor inquired.

I nodded.

"Please...I beg you to exterminate all the rats in Hamelin. Everyone is suffering. I will give you ten bags of gold if you exterminate all the rats," the mayor pleaded.

I raised an eyebrow. What was ten bags of gold worth?

As if reading my mind, the mayor elaborated, "Ten bags of gold equals to a thousand guilders."

My eyes lit up with greed upon hearing the mayor's statement.

A thousand guilders?! Oh my, how rich I would be!

I nodded and shook hands with the mayor.

I got to work immediately.

When the sun set and night fell, I held my magic pipe to my mouth. A magical feeling coursed through my veins as I started to play. My fingers danced as a magical melody reverberated through the town of Hamelin.

Within seconds, rats started to congregate around me. Pairs of beady eyes stared at me and goosebumps stated to break out like an infection.

A few minutes later, there were no more rats joining the group of rats around me. It seemed that I had gathered all the rats.

I started to stride towards river Weser, playing my magical pipe and leading the rats. When I approached river Weser, I stood at the edge and continued to play the magical melody. The rats just scurried into river Weser. The rats struggled in the water and drowned within a few moments.

After making sure that all the rats were in the river, I stopped playing my pipe. The magical sounds faded and there was silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, I headed for the mayor's residence. Excitement bubbled in me. My bags of gold were in my reach!

"I have exterminated all the rats," I informed the Mayor.

The mayor nodded. I made a sweep of the surroundings. Where were the bags of gold?

As if reading my mind once again, the mayor explained," I apologise but I am afraid I cannot give you the money. I need to use thw money to develop Hamelin. Perhaps, I can give you fifty guilders instead?"

Shock jolted through my entire being. From a thousand guilders to fifty? Anger boiled in me.

"Why did you promise me a thousand guilders then?" I asked, anger evident in my voice.

"You would not agree if I offered fifty guilders."

Anger struck me like bolts of lighning. How dare that chubby mayor deceive me!

"Fine! I do not need the money!"I yelled and turned around, stomping out of the residence.

How dare that chubby man deceive me! I risled my life to save their village but I received nothing! Those bags of gold had sprouted wings and flew away from my grasp, never returning to me.

They needed to feel the wrath of my anger! An idea popped into my mind. On John and Paul day, I would lure their children away from their town and...and...

Nevermind, I would deal with the children later.

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It was John and Paul day. Time to put my plan into action.

When all the adults had gathered at the church, I stood in the town square and played my magic pipe softly. I was dressed in green to look like a hunter. The soft but seducing tune lured about a hundred and thirty children to me.

I continued to play my magical pipe as I led them ot of town. Glancing back at them, I noticed that there was one child who seemed to be lagging behind.

I needed to take care of that boy. If he lagged behind and informed the adults about my plan, I would be caught! As I played my pipe, I stepped backwards and picked up the lame child. I strode to the front and placed him with another boy, making sure that both were holding hands.

That would solve the problem- for now.

I could not risk anything.

The cogs in my mind spun. Suddenly, an idea popped up.

There was no choice- I had to get rid of him. He had to be killed.

I would do it when the other children were sleeping. My mind was made. It had to be done.

Glancing at the sky, it seemed that the sun would be setting in a few hours. The place I would be holding them captive was a few hours away. If we continued at that pace, we should reach the cave by nightfall.

I was becoming breathless. I stopped playing for a minute. The children snapped out from their trances and confusion was written on their faces.

"Where are we? Where's papa and mama?"one of the children inquired.

Children those days, irritating and too curious for their own good.

Putting on my sweetest smile that was not genuine, I lied, "Oh! Your parents entrusted me to bring all of you out to play!"

I sent countless of prayers heavenwards. Please let those imbeciles believe me!

The children nodded.

I heaved a sigh of relief. Not wanting to risk anything, I placed the pipe to my mouth and started to play once again. Their eyes became glassy- as if their souls had left them- and they followed me like headless chickens.

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Night fell and we had reached the cave. I shepherded all the children into the cave and came up with an excuse to answer their irritating questions. Luckily, they believed me.

Suddenly, I remembered the lame child. Time to get rid of that pesky child.

After making sure that all the children were asleep, I picked the lame child up. I used one hand to cover his mouth while carrying him to river Weser near the cave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Peter}

I heard footsteps. Opening one eye, I caught sight of the adult who was bringing all of us to "play" and have a "camp". You could say that I did not believe him. He seemed suspicious and malicious. He seemed to have some evil plan but I could not put my finger on it.

I did not have any memories about how everyone arrived here. Something fishy was going on. I was sure of it!

He was carrying my friend, Jim.

Why aas he carrying Jim? Jim had an accident so he could not walk properely. Then, that evil man tip-toed out of the cave. I could feel it in my bones. I was sure that that man was up to no good.

I stood up quietly and followed him.

He seemed to be walking to river Weser. Why was he taking Jim to river Weser? Possibilities raced through my mind and one of them stood out.

Could it be...could it be...that the man wanted to throw Jim into river Weser and let him drown?

Could it be? I hoped that that would not happen. Jim was my best friend and he could not die.

The only thing to do was to wait and see.

The man placed Jim onto the riverside. His next action sent shockwaves throughout my entire body.

The man kicked Jim into river Weser!

Anger started to boil in me. How could he kick innocent Jim into river Weser?!

Jim flailed in the water for a while and anguish swept over me. Then, Jim turned limp.

Jim was dead.

The man turned and was heading in my direction. I needed to get back into thr cave! I scurried back and pretended to sleep in the nick of time.

Thoughts continued to swirl in my mind. What if the man decided to kick all of us into the river?

I needed to escape. No! I could not leave the others! I needed to think of a plan!

Whilst thinking of a plan, my eyelids became heavy and I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
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{Pied Piper}

I had finally gotten rid of that pesky lame child! However, I could feel a pair of eyes on me when I was carrying out my secret plan.

Maybe I was paranoid. Maybe keeping the children in my possession was making me lose my sanity. I needed to get rid of the other children. I did not plan to keep them anyway. Maybe I could use the same method on the children.

Yes, I should play my pipe and drown them in river Weser.

I should do it the next day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Peter}

Suddenly, I woke up with a bad premonition. Something sinister was going to happen that day. It felt as though the Grim Reaper was approaching. Maybe I was just traumatised by Jim's death but it was better to be safe than sorry...right?

I opened my eyes and scanned my surroundings. It seemed that the man was not around. Great! I should tell the others about what I had seen the day before. Tapping the shoulders of a few children near me, I quickly filled them in on Jim's death.

"We need to get out of here! Tell the others! Spread the word! But quietly! We will we leaving soon," I whispered and the children got to work tapping the shoulders of others.

It seemed that the only exit was the opening of the cave. I sent countless of prayers heavenwards. Please let us escape!

Moments later, my gut feeling told me that we should leave. I raised my hand and crept out of the cave, making sure that the coast was clear.

Lady luck had to be smiling on me as there was no one. I rushed out with the other children and headed to the town.

Lady luck chose that moment to frown upon me.

The man entered my line of vision and anxiety charged through my veins. Oh no! Quickly, I changed my direction and headed for the forest nearby.

Panting heavily, I glanced back. To my horror, a few children were heading towards town and hand been captured by the man! The man was playing some sort of tune using his pipe. Those children seemed to be controlled by the pipe. Immediately, I covered my ears and made sure that the others did the same.

Hopefully, we would survive.

Hopefully.

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{Pied Piper}

Those pesky little children! They had escaped! I did manage to capture some of them and make them drown in river Weser but most of them were gone! I cursed. A memory flashed in my mind.

If my eyes served me right, those pesky children were heading for the forest near the hills!

I started to chase after them, entering the forest.

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{Peter}

I led all of us into the forest. The forest was full of trees, roots and many other obstacles. Although that would mean that we would have to be more careful, it would slow the man down.

"Peter...I'm...tired...can...we...rest...?"one of the children panted.

I nodded and we took refugee ujder a giant tree that was surrounded by many other trees. The man would have a hard time finding us. Everyone slumped to the ground as we rested.

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Soon, we started running at a slower speed, with another child taking the lead. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what time it was for the leaves of the trees blocked most of the light from the sun's rays

I was placed at the back to look out for the evil and mysterious man. From time to time, I scanned my surroundings. There was no one around.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Suddenly, something- or someone- burst out from the bushes to our left. It was the man! He had an insane and evil glint in his eyes. I yelled and everyone increased their paces. We rushed like mad horses on steriods, heading to nowhere in particular. We jumped over roots that were sticking out like sore thumbs, zig-zagged around trees and tried out best to shake the man off our tail.

However, I could still hear the footsteps of the man. We were slowing down due to fatigue. Panic started to bubble in me. What if we were caught by the man? I pushed the thought out of my mind.

It seemed that everyone had heard those footsteps- we increased our speed once again.

For some reason, the forest was getting brighter.

Were we going to exit the forest? Maybe there was something that could help us hide. We skedaddled towards the light and hid in the first thing we saw. It seemed to be a shack. Nooses hung from the wall and there was a smell that clung onto the whole place.

There were no windows so we could not see if the man would be heading towards us.

The only thing we could do now was to pray.

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{Pied Piper}

Those pesky little children! I almost had them. Almost! I had ended up in some kind of execution area after following the kids. Where were those kids? I glanced around- not a soul was in sight.

Maybe they had ran away- again.

I cursed.

Looming around, there was another entrance to the forest. Maybe they entered the forest.

Suddenly, I caught sight of a boy running from an gulliotone to the forest.

A smug smile materialised on my face.

Those children were in my grasp!

I followed the boy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Peter }

Shock rendered me speechless.

How could the boy run out of the shack??! Why did he risk his life?

All of us stayed quiet but tension hung high in the air.

Everyone was worried.

We waited.

After an hour, the boy had not returned.

Suddenly, it dawned on me.

The boy was trying to create a false trail for the man to follow. He risked his life to save us all.

The boy's sacrifice would not go in vain! I opened the door and glanced around. No one was in sight. Then, I motioned for everyone to follow me.

We crept out of the shack cautiously and tip-toed around all the unknown items.

"Peter, I think this is the old execution grounds,"one of the children informed me.

I nodded. The place did seem like a execution ground.

It was best that we get out of that area- fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A child had caught sight of a glade that seemed to be hidden by two hills. Maybe we could take shelter there.

The child led the way and I planted myself at the fray of the group.

It was my job to protect everyone.

After an hour, we reached the foot of the hill. I moved from side to side, trying to get a glimspe of the glade. I could not see it.

"How did you manage to see the glade? I dont see it," I inquired.

"Oh, you can see a little bit at a distance at a certain angle," the child explained.

Although I was a bit skeptical, there was no other choice. Turning back was not an option.

I nodded and boomed, "Everyone! Let's climb this hill and seek shelter there, alright? We can do it!"

Although the children were dog-tired, the promise of a shelter made them start to climb enthusiastically.
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A few hours later, night fell and we had reached the other side of the hill. Alas, there was a glade that was about half of Hamelin's size. (I learned about Hamelin's size in school) The glade had a lot of trees that would provide shelter from the sun and there was a river nearby.

Most of the children lay down on the grass and seemed to fall asleep immidiately.

The remaining were assigned guard-watch roles to spot for the man.
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The next day, all of the children seemed more energetic. After washing up in the river, the children waited patiently for my instructions.

I was a little nervous but I tried not to show it. "I think we need to explore a little...any volunteers?"I asked.

About five children raised their hands. I nodded and was about to follow them out when someone tapped my shoulder.

It was a girl that looked about twelve. "Peter, I think you need to look after this place in case..." the girl paused for a moment before continuing. "I will go instead."

Her words made sense and I nodded- reluctantly.

As the group of six set out, I had a bad feeling about the six. Hopefully, they would be safe.
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For two days, the six had not returned.

Everyone was worried and anxious. One question was on their minds- even mine.

What if it was that man?

Regret and guilt crashed into me. If they were caught by that man, it would be my fault. If I did not mention about exploring the area, those six children would still be here. Their faces flashed in my mind.

If they were caught, I would have to do something about that.

Maybe, for our survival, we should just stay in here. There were other resourses in the glade.

Turning back and heading to Hamelin was a dangerous and risky option.

For the sake of others, it was best to stay here.

Yes. I had made up my mind.

It was all for our survival.

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'Year 1284, John and Paul Diary 26th of June. 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced by a piper, dressed in all kinds of colours, the children were all lost at the place of execution near the hills.'
-The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Year 1284, John and Paul Diary 26th of June. 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced by a malicous man by his pipe. 100 of us, led by me, survived in a glade between two hills and lived peacefully without the lure of the pipe's melody.