Every Midnight, the Food in My Pot Disappears… Until I Did This
<p>Episode 3</p><p><br/></p><p>I stood in the kitchen that night, the paper still in my hands. Whoever wrote it had to be behind the food disappearing from my pot.</p><p><br/></p><p>Instead of fear, anger… I started to cry.</p><p>The note read: “Mummy, I’m hungry, please, I need food.”</p><p><br/></p><p>I began to think… Who could this be? Why call me Mummy? I don’t remember ever having a child.</p><p><br/></p><p>I didn’t know what to do. My hands shook, but then I took a deep breath. A strange boldness came over me, and I shouted:</p><p>“Where are you? Just come out!”</p><p><br/></p><p>Nothing.</p><p>No sound. No one.</p><p><br/></p><p>I left the kitchen… then came back. Still no one. Something in me shifted, I began to cook. I didn’t even know why.</p><p>Then I yelled: “Food is ready! Come and eat!”</p><p><br/></p><p>Silence.</p><p><br/></p><p>I stepped out and waited. Minutes felt like hours.</p><p>Then I heard it.</p><p>A soft crawl, from the kitchen ceiling… then footsteps.</p><p><br/></p><p>My chest pounded. I took a deep breath, then shoved the door open.</p><p><br/></p><p>And I saw her.</p><p><br/></p><p>A young girl, hungry, weak, trembling.</p><p>Her eyes met mine, filled with fear… and something that looked like a silent plea for help.</p><p><br/></p><p>Tears burned my eyes. I wanted to step closer, but fear held me back.</p><p>How did she get into my house?</p><p>Who is she?</p><p>How long has she been here?</p><p><br/></p><p>So many questions, but this time, there was no turning back.</p><p>I was ready to face the truth.</p><p><br/></p><p>As I looked closely, her eyes looked as if she was trying to read my thoughts.</p><p><br/></p><p>I took a deep breath, steadying myself. Then I asked, “Who are you?”</p><p><br/></p><p>No answer.</p><p><br/></p><p>I tried again. “How did you get in here?”</p><p><br/></p><p>Silence.</p><p><br/></p><p>I didn’t know what to do. Part of me wanted to shout for my neighbors, but something told me to stay calm.</p><p><br/></p><p>I stepped forward slowly, though fear gripped me. Softly, I said, “You can talk to me… please, who are you?”</p><p><br/></p><p>That was when she finally opened her mouth and what came out shook me.</p><p><br/></p><p>“Please… don’t send me back.”</p><p><br/></p><p>My heart dropped.</p><p>“I shouldn’t send you back? Back where? What do you mean?”</p><p><br/></p><p>Before I could press further, she darted past me, slipping through the kitchen door.</p><p>I spun around and chased after her</p><p>but by the time I stepped out… she was gone.</p><p><br/></p><p>No footsteps. No sound.</p><p>Just an empty house.</p><p><br/></p><p>I froze. Had I just seen a ghost? Or was this girl real hiding somewhere in my home?</p><p><br/></p><p>Just then, my phone rang. It was my friend.</p><p><br/></p><p>“Hey, how are you doing?"</p><p><br/></p><p>"I'm fine," I replied.</p><p><br/></p><p>"Hope that thing eating your food hasn’t come again.”</p><p><br/></p><p>I didn’t want to tell her what I’ve just seen. I tried to steady my breath. “I’m fine… everything is normal now.”</p><p><br/></p><p>She sounded relieved. “Alright, that’s good. I just wanted to check on you. Goodnight.”</p><p><br/></p><p>“Goodnight,” I whispered, ending the call.</p><p><br/></p><p>But nothing was fine. My body trembled. I knew the girl was still here.</p><p><br/></p><p>I searched the house corner after corner until finally… I found her.</p><p><br/></p><p>She was curled up in a hidden corner.</p><p><br/></p><p>I held her arm. She struggled, crying, “Let me go!”</p><p><br/></p><p>But I held on firmly this time. “I’m not letting you go until you tell me who you are. Or else I’ll raise an alarm right now!”</p><p><br/></p><p>Her eyes widened. “No! Please… nobody must see me.”</p><p><br/></p><p>“Then tell me,” I pressed softly. “Who are you?”</p><p><br/></p><p>She sniffed, tears in her eyes, and whispered:</p><p><br/></p><p>I am the princess of the moonlight… that’s what my mother calls me.”</p><p><br/></p><p>I took a deep breath. “And where is your mother?”</p><p><br/></p><p>She raised her head, then slowly lifted her hand, pointing to something behind me.</p><p><br/></p><p>My chest tightened. My heart pounded as I turned my head very slowly toward the direction she was pointing.</p><p><br/></p><p>To be continued…</p>
At the end of the month, we give out prizes in 3 categories: Best Content, Top Engagers and
Most Engaged Content.
Best Content
Top Engagers
Most Engaged Content
Best Content
We give out cash prizes to 7 people with the best insights in the past month. The 7 winners are picked
by an in-house selection process.
The winners are NOT picked from the leaderboards/rankings, we choose winners based on the quality, originality
and insightfulness of their content.
Top Engagers
For the Top Engagers Track, we award the top 3 people who engage the most with other user's content via
comments.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Engagers" tab on the rankings page.
Most Engaged Content
The Most Engaged Content recognizes users whose content received the most engagement during the month.
We pick the top 3.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Contributors" tab on the rankings page.
Here are a few other things to know for the Best Content track
1
Quality over Quantity — You stand a higher chance of winning by publishing a few really good insights across the entire month,
rather than a lot of low-quality, spammy posts.
2
Share original, authentic, and engaging content that clearly reflects your voice, thoughts, and opinions.
3
Avoid using AI to generate content—use it instead to correct grammar, improve flow, enhance structure, and boost clarity.
4
Explore audio content—high-quality audio insights can significantly boost your chances of standing out.
5
Use eye-catching cover images—if your content doesn't attract attention, it's less likely to be read or engaged with.
6
Share your content in your social circles to build engagement around it.
Contributor Rankings
The Rankings/Leaderboard shows the Top 20 contributors and engagers on TwoCents a monthly and all-time basis
— as well as the most active colleges (users attending/that attended those colleges)
The all-time contributors ranking is based on the Contributor Score, which is a measure of all the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
The monthly contributors ranking tracks performance of a user's insights for the current month. The monthly and all-time scores are calcuated DIFFERENTLY.
This page also shows the top engagers on an all-time & monthly basis.
All-time Contributors
All-time Engagers
Top Monthly Contributors
Top Monthly Engagers
Most Active Colleges
Contributor Score
The all-time ranking is based on users' Contributor Score, which is a measure of all
the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate your contributor score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
Subscriptions received
2
Tips received
3
Comments (excluding replies)
4
Upvotes
5
Views
6
Number of insights published
Engagement Score
The All-time Engagers ranking is based on a user's Engagement Score — a measure of how much a
user engages with other users' content via comments and upvotes.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate the Engagement Score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
A user's comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's upvotes
Monthly Score
The Top Monthly Contributors ranking is a monthly metric indicating how users respond to your posts, not just how many you publish.
We look at three main things:
1
How strong your best post is —
Your highest-scoring post this month carries the most weight. One great post can take you far.
2
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
We also look at the average score of all your posts. If your work keeps getting good reactions, you get a boost.
3
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
Posting more helps — but only a little.
Extra posts give a small bonus that grows slowly, so quality always matters more than quantity.
In simple terms:
A great post beats many ignored posts
Consistently engaging posts beat one lucky hit
Spamming low-engagement posts won't help
Tips, comments, and upvotes from others matter most
This ranking is designed to reward
Thoughtful, high-quality posts
Real engagement from the community
Consistency over time — without punishing you for posting again
The Top Monthly Contributors leaderboard reflects what truly resonates, not just who posts the most.
Top Monthly Engagers
The Top Monthly Engagers ranking tracks the most active engagers on a monthly basis
Here is what we look at
1
A user's monthly comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's monthly upvotes
Most Active Colleges
The Most Active Colleges ranking is a list of the most active contributors on TwoCents, grouped by the
colleges/universities they attend(ed)
Here is what we look at
1
All insights posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels)
2
All comments posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels) —
excluding replies
Below is a list of badges on TwoCents and their designations.
Comments