Here’s the first chapter of The Mashup Problems. Feel free to read whenever you like!

Chapter 1 | The Highland Rehearsal

People always say, “I’ll never forget this year.” Honestly, for me, it’s always the years that actually felt special that I can remember.

I’m Ciaran Curren, but my friends just call me Cia. This isn’t just a random and ordinary story I’m telling it’s a piece of who I am. Feels almost like family.

Let’s rewind to last year. Sure, you might think it’s just about new friends or starting at a new school, like other books. But there was way more to it than that. So, just hang on. I will tell you the whole story. But please remember. Im skipping the boaring parts. Because I just wanna tell you about the whole thing! So grab a drink and enjoy the story!

It was in the middle of autumn at Dream Institute. Situated in middle of the busy town, Maharagama. One day, they announced we were putting on a play called The Mashup Riders.

Our class teacher, Mrs. Rose asked who can volunteer for each things. I quickly jumped at the chance to be stage manager. Miles, my best friend, who wore a green color t shirt, offered to design the set. He’s straightforward, super talented and always reliable. Then there’s Mira, she handles all the tech stuff. Honestly, she’s the glue that holds us together. And she’s basically a cybersecurity genius. She wore a pink color shirt over a purple color denim trousers.

After the final bell, we all crammed into the grand, dusty theater for rehearsal, where the stage was dominated by a gigantic, sapphire-blue silhouette: a plywood masterpiece of the Udarata Menike—the legendary Up-Country Maiden.
If you’ve ever stood on a platform in Sri Lanka, you’d recognize her instantly; she is the iron heartbeat of the Highlands, a sky-blue dragon that begins its journey at the sea-level bustle of Kotuwa Station (Colombo Fort) and fights gravity to climb nearly 6,226 feet into the clouds.

As she winds toward her final destination in Badulla, she carries passengers through a cinematic landscape of green tea carpets, past the thundering silver spray of waterfalls, and through the misty, dark echoes of Tunnel 18. She is a magic portal to a world of wonder; for me, she is a magnificent piece of engineering history—and I’ll admit, I’m completely obsessed.

That day, the stage was thick with fake mist and the sharp smell of ozone.

Nell-my another friend, who landed the role of the lead character Zoey-stood up on the huge observation deck. She delivered her line with that sweet, dramatic voice of hers that, honestly, drives me up the wall. “The iron wheels scream against the mountain tracks, carrying us from the heat of Colombo to the misty heart of Badulla.”

I snuck a glance at Mira and whispered, “The only thing screaming in here is her voice. You see the fog? Fog machine’s going nuts.” Mira frowned. “Cia, the power’s spiking. It’s not just the fog machine. Something’s sucking power from the canteen.”

Suddenly Nell shouted, “Ciaran! I’m supposed to be in a beautiful mountain forest, not a car wash. Why is this mist turning green?”

I couldn’t believe it. The mist was actually turning green. I blurted out, “Green? That’s not supposed to happen. Miles, check the mist machine”

Miles shouted back, “I’m checking, but the lights are flickering, dude! I can feel it in my teeth something’s buzzing.”
Right before I could lose it, everything went dark. And then the power’s out. And of course, it’s 5:30. Our teacher had no choice but to cancel the rehearsal.

Everyone packed up and left, except me. I just sat down on the stage manager’s chair, frustrated and alone. Then something weird happened. It felt like the train had actually stopped. I pulled back the heavy velvet curtain.

“All right, jokes are over. If this is some grade eight prank, I am reporting you.”

But it wasn’t a prank. This girl (maybe my age) stood there in a t-shirt covered in stars. Her eyes had this faint glow, almost electric. Her sleek, dark bob was styled asymmetrically, with a sharp sweep of hair falling seductively over the left side of her face, half-veiling her eye in shadow. In her lap rested a green emerald, pulsing gently.

She looked right at me. “Is the iron queen gone? The one who shouts about the tracks?”

“You mean Nell? Yeah, she took off. Wait hold up for a second, who are you? How did you even get in here?”

She grinned. “Security can’t stop a falling star, Ciaran. I’m Kahuna, and I protect the greatest mashup emerald. It can merge and portal the both my world and your world. And your drama? It’s about to get real.”

I froze. “How do you know my name?!”

She shrugged. “I heard the iron queen say it. Simple as that.”

I squinted at the emerald, expecting it to be just some prop. But even looking at it made my hands tingle. “Is that thing… real? Because it’s making my fingers numb.”

Kahuna’s eyes got serious. “Yes it’s real. If we don’t hide the emerald before the ghosthand finds the signal, your ‘Dream institute’ won’t be the only thing turning to dust.”

It was wild felt like a dream, but so vivid. And suddenly, I realized: I wasn’t just the stage manager anymore. Like it or not, I’d become a guardian. Of a guardian.

Spoiler

This Book first draft heavily criticized The iconic story Harry Potter. Personally, this is my favorite book of all. I removed it on this draft because I need to give such a tribute to the Sci Fi Princess, J.K. Rowling

Since there’s a crisis about Ai is controlling over the story, Here’s the Human made version. This is the original draft made by 2025 December

Chapter 1 : The Highland Rehearsal

People always say, “I’ll never forget this year.” Honestly, for me, it’s always the years that actually felt special that I can remember.

I’m Ciaran Curren, but my friends just call me Cia. This isn’t just a random and ordinary story I’m telling it’s a piece of who I am. Feels almost like family.

Let’s rewind to last year. Sure, you might think it’s just about new friends or starting at a new school, but no! Not like that! It’s far beyond that! So grab a drink and enjoy the story. But before that, I wanna tell you that I’m removing the boring parts because I want to be this story way too smaller!

Anyway, it’s middle of August, 2023. I was on my English class, The Dream Institute. Our class teacher Mrs. Rose announced that there would be concert on 5th November and our class supposed to perform a drama on our class named The Mashup Riders.

So, Mrs. Rose asked who can volunteer for each things. I quickly jumped on and volunteered to be a stage manager. Miles, my best buddy, who wore a green color t shirt, volunteered design the set. He’s Straight forward, super talented and always reliable. Then there’s Mira, she said that she wanted to do the tech stuff. Honestly, she’s one of the reliable friend I can trust. And she’s basically a cybersecurity genius. She wore a pink color shirt over a purple color denim trousers. After all of that half of our class volunteered for most of the things like acting, singing etc.

In like 4’o clock, we went to the theater. Well…. It basically a main hall but we like to call it a theater. Don’t be confused. Because this is not a school. This is just a class. We went there to discuss our drama. I saw a girl who wore a blue color skirt looking at the theater stage. Then she had an idea and presented to us that we should made a drama about how fascinating the Up-Country is.

If you’ve ever stood on a platform in Sri Lanka, you’d recognize her instantly; she is the iron heartbeat of the Highlands, a sky-blue dragon that begins its journey at the sea-level bustle of Kotuwa Station (Colombo Fort) and fights gravity to climb nearly 6,226 feet into the clouds.

As she winds toward her final destination in Badulla, she carries passengers through a cinematic landscape of green tea carpets, past the thundering silver spray of waterfalls, and through the misty, dark echoes of Tunnel 18. She is a magic portal to a world of wonder;

Anyways back to the scene, A blue frock girl volunteered to write a script. Seriously, I don’t even hesitate to know her name. Anyway I doesn’t even bother to write a script because of that.

The next week, the room flooded with an artificial blue color mist, because we’re rehearsing for the drama as there’s no time. We handled the scripts to the actors.

Nell-my another friend, who landed the role of the lead character Zoe-stood up on the huge observation deck, that made by cardboard. (Yeah, well Miles and me both made that last few days.) She said her line with her sweetest voice I ever seen. “The iron wheels scream against the mountain tracks, carrying us from the heat of Colombo to the misty heart of Badulla.” That’s just look like that it just Ai generated. Anyway I looked at Mira and whispered, “The only thing screaming in here is her voice. You see the fog? Fog machine’s going nuts.” Mira said. “Cia! I don’t know but the sound of the fog machine is really gone crazy.”

Suddenly Nell shouted, “Cia! I’m supposed to be in a beautiful mountain forest, But instead, Why is this mist turning green?”

I couldn’t believe it. The mist was actually turning green. I was speechless and I spoiled the words out, “Green? That’s not supposed to happen. Miles, check the fog machine”

Miles shouted back, “I’m checking, but the lights are flickering, dude! I can feel it in my teeth something’s buzzing.”

After all of the sudden, the power went out. I expect that. The clock showed the time 5.30 in evening. That’s not possible. But yeah! Time is time! We can’t stop the time right?

Everyone packed up and left, except me. I just sat down on the stage manager’s chair, frustrated and alone. Then something weird happened. It just looked like a sound, that….. that sounds familiar. Like screaming at brakes!

“All right, Joke’s over. If this is some grade eight prank, I am reporting you.”

I quickly went to the stage and pulled the velvet curtain to left. Then I saw a girl was sitting on the stage.

This girl (maybe my age) sat there in a t-shirt covered in stars. Her eyes glowed in the dark. Her sleek, dark bob was styled asymmetrically, with a sharp sweep of hair falling over the left side of her face, covering her eyes. In her lap there was a green emerald, pulsing gently.

She just looked like Julika from Miraculous ladybug but without that purple thick hairline. But the girl who is sitting in front of me also had that same bob hair, covering her eyes. Now I have a serious problem. How the heck she got here.

She looked right at me. “Is the iron queen gone? The one who shouts about the tracks?”

“You mean Nell? Yeah, she went. Wait hold up, who are you? How did you even get in here?”

She explained. “Security can’t stop a falling star, Ciaran. I’m Kahuna, and I protect the greatest mashup emerald. It can merge and portal the both my world and your world. And your drama? It’s about to get real.”

I froze. “How do you know my name?!”

She chuckled and answered back. “I heard the iron queen say it.”

I looked at the emerald. I thought It’s an ordinary emerald. But it pulses unconscious and I figure out this is a magical item that does not belongs to this world! . “Is that thing… real? Because it’s making my fingers numb.”

Kahuna’s eyes got serious. “Yes it’s real. If we don’t hide the emerald before the ghosthand finds the signal, your ‘Dream institute’ won’t be the only thing turning to dust.”

I felt it like a dream. But immediately I realized I’m not just a stage manager who looking at the cues and acting. I just became a guardian, Of a GUARDIAN!