The Cancer is Like a Sun Setting Away Sophia, age 13 McAllen, Texas The first time I came to Texas Children’s I came by airplane. It was my first time on a plane. I was very sick with a tumor that caused a heart problem. Now the tumor is almost gone and my doctor said it went away very fast.
Poetry
Spongebob Squarepants Once upon a time, Spongebob was opening a lid. The lid was to a jar, but when he opened it there was nothing there! So, Spongebob put the lid back on. He opened the lid because he was teaching Patrick how to open a lid. Then he went to bed. While he was sleeping, Spongebob dreamed that Patrick was wearing his square pants. Spongebob whistled a tune. Then he got a rope and Patrick got tied, and Spongebob got cut. Then they hit themselves on the head with a hammer. Of course it hurt, so they stopped. Spongebob stopped being crazy. Then the commercials came on. When the commercials are on, Spongebob and Patrick are playing. And they go to bed. Chase, age 5
Fishing Fishing is relaxing and fun You get to hang out in the sun. You never know what you’ll catch sometimes you catch a batch of fish, which are slimy and scaly and also they’re pretty smelly, but I sure do like to put them in my belly. Isaac, age 14
Mickey Mouse Mess-Ups
One day Mickey and Mini were supposed to go to an opera. But Mickey fell asleep while he was eating potato chips on the couch and it got late. Mini called him and she started yelling at him. First she asked, “Did you fall asleep again?” Mickey said, “No, I’m not asleep. I’m going to be there. Just wait a second.” “You better get here right now!” said Mini. Mickey ran upstairs and got his bowtie on and straightened it in the mirror. But there was a problem. His ears started acting up. His little circle ears were moving everywhere. They detached themselves and were jumping around the room like a kangaroo. So then his ears went out the door and he started running all around 2 - The Splendid Review -Winter 2015
town trying to find them. His ears went into a hockey game and Mickey had to act like he was one of the hockey players. His ears turned into pucks so he had to play hockey to try and catch his own ears. Then he won the game and he got dazzled by the big trophy and forgot all about Mini and the opera. Once Mickey got out of the alley and got his ears, they started hopping everywhere again. Then, Mickey met Goofy at a corner stop, waiting for a bus. Mickey said, “Hey Goofy! I can’t find my ears.” Then Mickey took Goofy’s ears off his head and put them on his own head. Goofy didn’t say anything because he couldn’t hear. Goofy said, “Whaaat? Whaaat?” So Mickey took off Goofy’s ears and gave them back to Goofy, who was still holding his ears and saying “Whaaaat? Whaaaat?” Then Mickey found his ears at a disco party and they were dancing in the middle of the floor. Mickey got them in his hands and he said, “You better not run away from me again!” Mickey had some ear spray in his pocket because they were running away everywhere, and he accidentally sprayed it in his eyes. Ear spray keeps your ears in place. So then, he put his ears in his pocket where they couldn’t move and he put a lock on his pocket so he wouldn’t lose his ears again. Then he went to the opera to meet Mini. Before Mickey went into the Opera and he took his ears out of his pocket and sprayed the ear spray on them so they would stay on his head. When he finally saw Mini, she said, “I thought you wouldn’t make it.” Mickey said, “Oh, come on! You knew I’d make it. What are we watching?” Mini said, “Watch and see.” On the stage Mickey saw a big chicken lady in a Viking outfit and a big Viking hat with red braids. She was singing in chicken language clucks like, “bwaaaaaack, bwack, bwaaaaaaaaack,” and it was really loud and it blew his eardrums. Then he realized that he didn’t actually need his ears, so he took them off. All he saw was a funny chicken lady saying something that he couldn’t hear. The End Jenna, age 9 The Periwinkle Foundation - 3
Mario and Sonic Gathering
Both Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog are my favorite. My brother like likes Tails instead of Sonic. My next one I like after Sonic is called Shadow. His skin is red, black, and white. He’s a hedgehog like Sonic but he has different powers. You know how Sonic is fast? Shadow can’t run that fast, but he teleports instead. I’d rather teleport than run fast. I would teleport to Florida and go to Disney World or to Mexico where my grandpa lives. We play poker together. I play with my dad, my grandpa, my uncle, and sometimes with my brother. I’m older than my brother by two years. Sometimes we fight but then one minute later we’re friends again. Not like ten minutes but after like one second we’re friends again. One time when I was playing poker, my first time, I got all the money from all the people who were playing. My Grandpa had no money left. I’m the one that likes Mario and my brother is the one who likes Luigi. But both of us like Yoshi. We like Yoshi because he has different colors and different powers. You know the Baby Blue Yoshi? When he eats something he starts floating up in the air. There’s also this red pepper that makes Yoshi run super fast. I’ve been thinking about this. Who would win between Flash and Sonic? I love Batman, but I don’t know why they make so many bad movies with so many guns and stuff. I don’t understand why they make movies with so much violence. My brother Nathan likes Robin. Nathan and I have plush dolls with Luigi and Mario. Nathan has the fire Luigi. It’s green with white. I also have a sonic plushy, and we have a ton of Yoshi ones. Yellow, Baby Blue, two green ones and one black one. The two green ones are the small ones. There’s a new game where Mario and Luigi can grab the tiny Yoshis and turn the bad guys into coins by trapping them inside bubbles. There’s this funny thing you can do with Yoshi. In one of the old games you can eat your friends. I did that to my brother. Noel, age 9
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The Ninja Turtles Raphael has sais. Leonardo has swords. Michelangelo has nunchucks. Donatello has a staff. They live in the sewer and their master is Master Splinter. The turtles like pizza and Master Splinter likes swords. He has a staff. Master Splinter teaches the turtles how to fight. They have to do every exercise every day. Krane and the Mutants and the Robots are the badguys. Shredder is the other badguy. The bad guys try to defeat the turtles. Rhino and Warthog say “up and down, up and down.” They say, “Why do we have to go with you? Because we love your company.” Then they say “up and down, up and down.” One day Shredder was in his technodome. He wasn’t doing anything really. He has stuff to defeat the turtles. He has lots of stuff, like guns and stuff. He went in a ride and went all the way up into the city and then Boom! The turtles were out. The turtles tried to defeat Shredder but Shredder got away in a vehicle with a pokey thing on the end. Tristran, age 4
The Big Hunt One day I was hunting for white-tailed deer with my dad in South Texas. We were riding down this dirt road in the ranch. We were in a truck. This big old twelve point came right out of the bushes while we were in the truck. We stopped right there because the deer stopped in the middle of the road. Then my dad got his rifle from the gun rack and sat up on top of the truck where they had this frame built on top for hunting. Everything was really quiet. The deer was just staring in front at another fence because there was a doe on the other side. He slowly picked up the rifle and set it on the frame. BANG! I heard, as my dad shot the deer. We drove with the truck to go get it. Ashley, age 12
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The Magic Fish I never knew this but I have magic fish. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m sure they’re magic. And this is where the story begins. One day when I got home from school I was so sad because I couldn’t go to my class party at the end of the year. We were moving the day before so I never got to say goodbye to any of my friends. So when I got home I stormed up to my room and I was so angry until I opened my door. I saw my fish eating with their fins and acting like humans! I have three fish: Stripes, Bubbles, and Pinky. All three of them were sitting on a big rock in the aquarium and their pellets were set on the rock like it was a table. Pinky had a pellet in front of her, Stripes had a pellet in front of him, and Bubbles had a pellet in front of her. Then they started to talk. I could hear them talk! I saw them and they saw me. They knew I wouldn’t forget about this. And then they said, “We are magic fish. Everything we do when you’re not around is magic, and we can turn into humans.” I sat on my bed, and my fish and I talked all day. We talked about how they became magic. They told me they had always been magic. I told them I felt mad and sad, and excited too, all at the same time. I was sad because I didn’t know my fish could talk; I could have talked to them all my life for company. Secondly, I was mad because they didn’t tell me they were magic. Third, I was excited because it was like starting a new life with my fish. Then my mom said, “Carmen, Dinner’s ready!” “Coming, Mom!” I said. Then, turning to my fish, “Come on. Let’s take you down stairs and we can tell mom and dad that you’re magic.” “Oh no!” said Bubbles. “We can’t do that. You have to keep this a secret,” said Stripes. “Otherwise, we’ll be experimented on and you’ll never see us again,” said Pinky. “So you must not tell anyone we’re magic.” “Nobody,” said Pinky. “Not even your parents or your best friend or your brothers or sisters,” said Bubbles. “Nobody,” repeated Stripes. “But I don’t have any brothers or sisters,” I said. “What if I take you downstairs and don’t tell my mom and dad?”
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“That’s fine,” said Stripes. “We’d like to see the whole house,” said Bubbles. “You’ve kept us in your room the whole time!” said Pinky “Come down for dinner! You’re food’s going to get cold,” my mom shouted. I knew that if I didn’t get down there quick, I’d be in trouble. I ran downstairs without my fish and told my mom I wanted to bring them downstairs with me. “Sweetie, I think that’s a bad idea because we’re having fish and chips for dinner.” “Very funny, mom.” “You never bring your fish down. What’s the occasion?” “Ummmmm…” I started to sweat. “I can’t just bring my fish down to the table without questions?” “Ok, you can bring them down.” I ran back upstairs and told my fish that I can’t lie very well. “I just got lucky, but what if my friends come over? I can’t just tell them I suddenly want to bring my fish everywhere.” Bubbles said, “Remember how we told you we can turn into humans? Why don’t we just turn into humans and you can say you have new friends?” “But what are your names going to be? I can’t just say to my friends, “This is Bubbles, Pinky, and Stripes!” Bubbles said, “My name can be Lucy.” “But I want my name to be Pinky!” said Pinky. Stripes said, “We have to do it Pinky. I’ll choose a pretty name for you. Your name can be … Zoe. I want to be Zach.” … to be continued. Jodie, age 9
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Black Ops 2 There’s 3 different modes: Multiplayer, single player, and zombies. My favorite one is Zombies. Every time you kill a new zombie you get money and you can get a new gun. If I were a zombie hunter in real life, I would go live, maybe in Chicago because then I’d have a better chance of staying away from them. I’d live in the attic and I’d bring steak, broccoli, spinach and maybe French-fries. I’d get all of it from HEB. I’m not really into watching zombie movies even though I like the games. In the game, Multiplayer mode is the hardest because sometimes when I start playing I’m only a rookie and I’ll be up against a champion and you can easily get killed. Out of all the guns my favorite is the ray-gun because it’s a one shot kill. When I play with my cousin and my uncle we usually split up and take one corner each like one of us will be on a stair and one of us on a rooftop and one hiding behind a window that’s broken. We like to just camp out there and just shoot ‘em all. Sometimes though, if there are snipers or if the other players have powerful guns they can find you and take you out. My favorite part about multiplayer is that you can customize your guns so it will be easier to kill your opponents. Jelani, age 8
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My Dream
We went to the beach and I was swimming with the whale. It was black and it was a little whale. I went to the beach with Mimi. I like swimming. My birthday is Sept. 8 and on my birthday I’m going to eat chocolate cake and open up presents. I want to get a poopoo monster book. When I was swimming there were sharks too but they were nice sharks--not scary. There was a monster but he couldn’t talk. He said “Rawr.” I got to go to the beach because there weren’t any more germs. Drew, age 3
Madison and Traveller
Did you know, our two Westies they just play on each other and fight each other. A long time ago when they were babies they were like the same size as rabbits. They like to growl and fight each other. Their names are Madison and Traveller. Madison is bigger because she gets up on the table and eats all our food. She ate all of our food for 101 days. My mom made more, the same day so we still had food to eat. Madison got in trouble and went in time-out. She always goes to time-out. She has time out in her bed. Traveller is a good dog. He’s never gotten in trouble. Not even once. I like both of them though because they are nice. Carson, age 5 The Periwinkle Foundation - 9
Untitled Linda woke up and she brushed her teeth and took a shower. Then she started studying for her favorite subject, which is reading. She was reading a novel about a mystery. She was really interested in the mystery in the book. It was about a boy who lost his family while they were camping on vacation. Two weeks later he found them hiking on a mountain, and in those two weeks he learned how to survive by catching fish and building a shelter because his tent got ruined by a bear. Linda liked this book a lot because she likes to explore in the woods and the rainforest. She lives out in the middle of nowhere next to the woods. She has a parrot who follows her everywhere and it mocks her by repeating everything she says. She’ll say “Stop!” and the parrot will say “Stop,” in his squeaky, rough voice. She still likes him even though he annoys her. His name is Nick. After Linda had finished reading for about 30 minutes she went to the kitchen and made some breakfast. She made blueberry pancakes. She mixed all the ingredients up together and then poured it into circles on the pan. While she was making breakfast her bird came up to her and she him if anything was wrong. He repeated, “Is anything wrong?” She realized that she couldn’t ask him anything else because he would just mock her. Her birthday was coming up in a week and she was excited because she was turning sixteen and she hoped that she’d get a car! She wanted a convertible but she didn’t really care what kind she got. She just wanted to go to places that weren’t in the middle of nowhere. Both her parents walked into the kitchen because they smelled her blueberry pancakes. She made enough for each of them to have one, even though she got two. After giving them pancakes, she asked whether she was going to get a car for her birthday. “No,” said her dad. Linda looked at her mom. “I agree with your dad,” she said. “You’re not getting a car.” Linda stomped her foot and went to go take a walk to enjoy the beautiful summer day. She’d just started walking when she saw something moving in the bushes. As she got closer it got noisier. It sounded like a car stopping. Then she heard a whisper. “Come over here,” it said. Linda was frightened. Then Nick, her parrot, repeated in his loud parrot voice, “Come over here.” Linda got scared and wanted to find out what it was. She picked up a stick and used it to scoot the bush out of the way so she could see. It was a girl that had gotten lost in the woods. She was really dirty and skinny and didn’t look healthy at all. Her hair was messy and she had one shoe missing. Her hands were nasty and her clothes were really disgusting. “Help,” said the girl, in barely a whisper. Linda picked up the girl, who could barely walk with the help of a stick and Linda on one arm, and carried her to her porch. When she got to the porch, she set the
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girl down and went inside and told her mom and dad what had happened. Her mom and dad went outside to the porch and asked the girl where her family was. She didn’t answer because she was so hungry. Her mom went inside and got an apple and an orange and brought them to the girl. She looked happy to get the food and she ate the apple fast like a cow. …to be continued Ariana, age 10
Francis and the Fast Cars If I could get any car for my first car it would be a Koenigsegg. I’d get a blue one, just plain blue with no racing stripes. I like these cars because they’re the fastest cars in the world. I got into cars because the game Need for Speed got me into it. Then I started researching different cars on the internet. Now each time I’d sit down in a chair I reach down and pretend I’m shifting. Then I start making noises like a supercar shifting up. “Vrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhmm! Vrrrrggghhhhhmm, vrrggghhhmm!” In Need for Speed the movie, the driver has a scar on his face. He’s sitting in a Lamborghini and thinking “I have to win this race!” That’s only the preview, though. When I go watch car racing movies I get so into them I forget about everything else that’s going on. When I went to go see Transformers, my cousin kept saying my name and I was just like “Hold on man, it’s a race. Hold on!” Then I ignored him. He got upset with me after we left the movie. He was all quiet. When I look at fast cars, they’re calling my name.“Francis, you’re meant for speed! Me and you are great together!” Francis, age 11
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One Dog / Una Perra The dog’s name is Chickiss Se llama Chickiss. The dog is 3 years old. Tiene tres años. Es muy simpatico porque es perra. It is a very nice dog, and it’s a girl. The dog can’t talk. La perra no puede hablar, pero puede ladrar. “woof woof!” “bow wow” She likes to eat meat. Especially chicken. La perra come carne, especialidad la carne de pollo. La chickiss puede correr rapido! Chickiss can run very fast. Chickiss likes to play a lot. La perra es jugetona. La perra bebe leche. The dog drinks milk. Alondra, age 10 Jose, age 4 Jenesis, age 7
My two dogs My two dogs are Amber and Layla. She likes to likes to really playla. Layla’s also very licky and it is very very sticky. Amber is a little dog. She likes to hide in the fog. Sometimes she lays in bed with a very sleepy head. Sometimes Layla likes to chasey chasey And I think that she’s in a real racey Maybe she’s racing a little frog maybe she’s racing a wild hog. Either way, I like my dogs a lot Just like me they don’t’ like to get a shot. Christian, age 7
Pizza I like pepperonis because they’re spicy. I like lots of cheese on my pizza, and lots of sauce. When I’m eating pizza I like to drink lemonade. Sometimes I talk when my mouth is full of pizza but it is hard to understand. “Mrgh mumph morgph.” Luis, age 7
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When I was on TV I was nervous because there were a bunch of cops. It was here in the hospital and the cops were here riding their bikes all across the country. They were raising awareness for leukemia and blood disorders. They gave me a shirt and a hat. The shirt looks like a guy riding a bike and the hat has a badge on it that says junior police. It was the first time I got to talk with policemen. They were nice and we made funny faces together. I lifted one eyebrow at him and he lifted one eyebrow at me. After they asked me some questions I was on KHOU. I felt like I was famous. My dad and some of my friends saw me. My dad recorded the show so we can watch it later. Ethan, age 7
My First Time at Camp I like going to camp because it’s so much fun. We do different activities like canoeing and arts and crafts. For arts and crafts I got to paint a shirt. It was white and I painted it purple and pink, kind of like tie-die or a swirl design. We got to ride horses. My horse’s name was Antony. Antony was big and white with black spots. One was on the leg. We walked around and didn’t run. Because it was my first time I was a little nervous. “What if he starts running and I fall down?” I thought. The trainer told me to calm down. He told me that Antony was a calm horse so I relaxed also. My favorite part of camp was definitely canoes and arts and crafts. The camp was called Camp Periwinkle and it was about a two or three hour drive. We stayed there for one week and it was my first time at sleepover camp. It was the first time I’d been away from my family for that long, but I didn’t get homesick. I want to go again next year. Jovita, age 11
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My Experience with Cancer I’ve been coming to the hospital now for about three and a half years. I’ve seen so many needles at this point. I’m one of the only ones who doesn’t get sedated for the spinal tap. I love food too much. When you go on sedation you can’t eat past midnight the day before and then you can’t eat the next day in the morning. I remember one time the nurses saw me eating before I got it and they got all scared and they were like “why are you eating!? Now we need to wait.” I reminded them that I didn’t get sedated and then she was relieved, but then the girl who was across the hall saw me eating and she got jealous. She was like “He gets to eat! That’s not fair.” I guess she was hungry. September 30th is my last day on chemo. I’ll still come back every month to check in, but I’m excited about finishing. It went by pretty fast. It seems like not long ago that I was celebrating only one year left and now I have only like a month. The worst part about this experience was the ICU, when I first got to the hospital. I had so many needles, and that was before I got used to them. I hated it. They gave me a catheter too, and I had all these wires and IVs in my arms and on my chest. I had to lay on my back for three days and I couldn’t move. The best part is the nurses and doctors. One of the doctors, Dr. Dryer, my favorite, gave me some Astros tickets. I had seats just behind where the team was and another time I could have stepped onto the dirt. I got to throw the first pitch at one of the games. At fist I was nervous because everyone was watching me but then when I threw the pitch and it hit the glove I calmed down. Everyone cheered for me and it was an exciting moment. Another time the same doctor gave me the opportunity to go do batting practice at MinuteMaid stadium. It was the last day of my sophomore year of high-school, when I was diagnosed. They had it set up so I could do homeschooling if I had to but I wanted to keep going. I had to miss most of the baskeball season but when baseball season came around I asked the coach to drop me from varsity to JV so I could get back in my form and everything. I did pretty good. I wasn’t going to let cancer stop me from living my normal life. When they told me I had leukemia all I thought was “How long do I have left?” I didn’t realize that there is a 95% chance of beating it. Jacob, age 19
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Skate I was about 10 when I started skating. I didn’t really like it so much at first but my friend was really good compared to me and I started doing it. I caught on quick because then I realized that he wasn’t actually that amazing. My friends and I travel all over Houston looking for the best skate parks. The best trick I can do is a 360 flip, but we call it a tre-flip. It’s when the board flips and spins 360 degrees under you and you kind of just stay in the air above it. The worst injury I’ve had was when I fractured my toe, but it was just a hairline fracture. Another time I dislocated my pinky finger and thought it was just jammed but then I looked down and it was in the wrong place. I just made a fist with my hands and then it popped back into place so I never went to a doctor or anything for it. I’ve been really lucky with my ankles though. I’ve fallen a bunch and rolled on them but they’ve never broken. I skated a little bit when I got out of the hospital, just riding around and stuff. I take it easy though. It takes its toll on me so usually after a couple tricks I take a break now. Especially now that my hair fell out and I skate with a beanie I need to be really careful about overheating. We go to this park called Southside that has a big fan in it. It’s supposed to be air-conditioned but it still gets really hot in there. Last time I went I had to stop after a while because I got all sweaty. Falling is something you just need to get used to. You need to learn how to fall so you don’t get hurt. I’m not used to falling in bowls yet so the last time I was at Southside I fell and my board got under me and I slipped and slammed the inside of my knee. That was the worst. I go through boards pretty quickly. I get one about every two months. We skated every day so they wore out pretty quick. My favorite one is the one I have right now. Its called a Real. That’s the brand. I’ve got my trucks and wheels just the way I like them. I change my trucks about once a year and my wheels about twice a year. I like to ride Thunder trucks and Bones wheels. When I got sick I tried not to tell my skating friends. But when I stopped coming to school and hanging out they found out. One of my friends got really upset and took it pretty hard. I wasn’t around but he’d get upset when people talked about it. They came to visit me in the hospital and stuff. They were all supportive.
Christian, age 16
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Funny Animals The Unique Sloth Such a poor innocent creature you are. I like having you around. You make my day just by looking at me all funny looking. Sloth. Sloth. Sloth.
Buzzard Such a notorious gluttonous bird you are. Hopefully one day I don’t shoot you and have you for lunch. Some buzzard and potato gumbo. They’ve already got chicken noodle soup. Why not buzzard soup?
Chimpanzee You are nothing but a human in my eyesight. Just a wild human. You have 98% of our DNA which makes you most likely our long lost cousin. You have enough intellect to survive pretty much anywhere. Well, not anywhere, but in the jungle.
Polar Bear Such a huge and powerful specimen with such intellect to survive anywhere you go. If I see you I know I’m gonna see you with a seal or a wolf or tipping over a garbage dumpster or stomping ice. Which is why you have such a powerful sense of smell. To eat your prey.
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Chicken The delicious chicken. You may eat a lot but please don’t be a stingy hog. You are a very delicious gluttonous bird. You can eat anything. Which is why you’re most likely a scavenger. I like to scare you too. And eat you because you’re just such a delicious stingy hog. You are perhaps one of the most eaten birds in the entire world.
Goat I like goats. I like to play with you and grab your horns and make you mad. You are what I like to call an eatable lawn-mower. A clean eatable lawn-mower. Its such a good thing that you are not a stingy hog like your counterparts.
Great White Shark Now I know indeed you are a very gluttonous fish. Such a stingy hog-monster you are, you like to eat humans whole in cinema. You have an extremely powerful sense of smell, greater than that of the bear. When you’re in the water you smell blood, which is how you catch your prey. Hopefully one day you get to meet your match and you won’t be any more of a notorious stingy gluttonous hog. Miguel, age 17
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Untitled I got to go home for a week, but then I wasn’t feeling well so I had to come back to the hospital. When I went home I just rested: watched TV, played video games, ate. One time my relatives came to the house to visit me and that night, the next day I started to feel bad. Not too bad. We went to see the doctor because the next day was Monday, and Monday I had to come to the clinic for a check up. That day the symptoms were not very bad, until I went home. Then my dad called and they told us to come back and since then I’ve been in here over a week. When I came back to the hospital, all the nurses were wearing party hats for me and they made it a celebration. Of course I’d rather be home but in some ways I prefer to stay here in the hospital because in my house if I start to get sick it is hard for us to go back and forth. Since I’ve been back I’ve been watching a lot of TV. Mostly I like to watch comedies, but usually I just flip through the channels. Rafael, age 19
The Three Little Pigs Once upon a time there were three little pigs. They decided to make their own houses. The first pig made his house with straw. The brother made his house with sticks, and the sister house made it with bricks. Then the big wolf came out. Then the pigs saw the wolf and he said, “come out come out wherever you are! I’m going to eat you and put you in my tummy!” The pigs said “No way in my chim chim tummy.” Then the wolf said “I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down.” Then he blew the house down and then the pig ran away and he went to his brother’s house. Then the wolf said “come out come out wherever you are! I’m going to eat you. I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down.” The pigs said “No way in my chim chim tummy.” Then the wolf did blow the house down because it was made of sticks. Then the two little pigs ran to the brick house. The wolf followed them. Then he said “come out come out wherever you are! I’m going to eat you. I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down.” He tried but the house didn’t blow down because it was made of bricks. Then he did it again and again and again but it didn’t blow down. Then he went up the chimney and he tried to get in but he didn’t know the pigs had a fire. Then he ran away. The End.
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Bugs Once upon a time there was a ladybug. It was red with black polka dots. It was smaller than a beetle but not as small as an ant. The ladybug’s name was Sparkle and her friend’s name was Junebug. I found a ladybug, but I don’t know where. It was in the background somewhere. The end. June, age 5
Batman isn’t an Avenger He doesn’t even show up on the Avenger movie and his real name isn’t Bruce Wayne. His real name is Batman. He’s always Batman. I saw a lego Batman on the lego Batman movie and I saw a human Batman on a tablet on Netflix. I have Batman signs on my shoes and they glow in the dark. I also have the Batman sign on my sleeve but it doesn’t glow in the dark. If I was Batman I would swing like a monkey, like this! Now I want you to add my cranky mommy to the story. How about this! Now I’m swinging the desk on the chair! I think we need to add this to the story too. Wow, that was a close one. Now I’m hiding behind the chair. Calvin, age 4
My Life, an Acrostic Kids always say I’m really special. Everyone appreciates me. One time things weren’t going my way. Nobody knew why. Doesn’t get any worse than getting sick. Really, it can’t be that bad. Even though I’m sick, that doesn’t mean it’s forever. Keondre, age 12
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My dog Maggie My dog Maggie loves to eat She eats everything, even raw meat. Whenever someone comes in the door she jumps on them, right off the floor. Maggie’s fur is white and brown She always likes to run around in the yard, she likes to bark. She doesn’t swim, she’s not a shark. Maggie is my favorite dog. She’s scared of the dark, she’s scared of the fog. Caleb, age 7
My Cake Pop I will show you what color it is. It is pink with white sprinkles. I just took a bite and couldn’t even talk it was so delicious! I was going to explode. But I didn’t. Only my mouth exploded. Let me take a quick run. Then I’ll be back to write the poem. I just ran a lot of laps around that table. Now I’m going to run some more. I put my shirt on backwards! Now I have to change again! Calvin
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Skating I didn’t have anything else to do so I started skating. You feel like you’re free when you’re riding a skateboard. I’ve been trying to get some tricks down but not yet. My skateboard is meant for cruising, riding on hills. You feel like you’re free when you’re riding a skateboard. I used to skate in front of my Grandpa’s house. My skateboard is meant for cruising, riding on hills. I taught my cousins how to ride because they didn’t know. I used to skate in front of my Grandpa’s house. I’d watch YouTube to learn how to do tricks. I taught my cousins how to ride because they didn’t know. One of my cousins got to be really good. I’d watch YouTube to learn how to do tricks. My cousin can do an Ollie, a kick-flip, a back-tail slide. One of my cousins got to be really good. He can do a tre-flip, double-tre-flip, and he knows how to grind. My cousin can do an Ollie, a kick-flip, a back-tail slide. I didn’t have anything else to do so I started skating. He can do a tre-flip, double-tre-flip, and he knows how to grind. I’ve been trying to get some tricks down, but not yet. Luis, age 16
And Now the Little Pigs Once upon a time there was a little piggy living in the house with her mom. And the mom said, “You’re getting too big for the house!” And then she raaaaan to build a different place to live and they took their stuff but the big bad wolf came. The big bad wolf is in this story too. They build the house out of sticks. But the big bad wolf says “I will huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow the house down!” and he did! Then they went to another house and another pig made a brick house made out of bricks. The Big Bad Wolf couldn’t blow down that house. The big bad wolf said “I will huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow the house down!” but this time he couldn’t blow it down. So he went away. The End. Calvin, age 5
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Leukemia Sucks I was diagnosed in Italy. We were going to Florence the weekend before I got diagnosed and for months I had leg pains and we thought they were just growing pains and then while we were at the David in Florence I got really sick to my stomach. It kept getting worse and worse and my mom took me to the doctor on base and I was tested and they said it was nothing, just growing pains. Then eventually my dad took me to the Italian emergency room and they said my calcium was sky high. They made me stay for the night. My mom wasn’t worried because the reputation was that the Italians always make kids stay overnight if anything was wrong. They took my mom to a room and when they brought me into the room my mom was in tears so I was like “Oh crap, what’s wrong with me.” So they started talking and because medical stuff is so confusing I didn’t really understand, but then when I heard the word “cancer” I just asked “Am I close to dying?” and he said, “You could have died if you hadn’t been brought here.” Then they reassured me that treatment is good at this point. Then my dad came in and he was crying also and he never cries, so then I was like “double crap.” My life didn’t really change because of cancer but I had to move and we ended up for a few weeks in Padua and not many people speak English there so I had a lot of trouble communicating. Also, my roommate was four so every time something happened she started crying. That was fun. Tomorrow I’m actually moving to Georgia, at like 3 o’clock in the morning. Just a few weeks ago I was here at TCH as an inpatient because we thought I might have had a fungal infection. So we’ll have to stop every two hours for me to get up and walk around, even though I have nerve damage in my feet and my hands. I’m really going to miss everyone at TCH and I’m a bit nervous about switching hospitals but I’m excited to see my dad. He’s already in Georgia. It will be nice to see all my stuff also. Right now I’m staying at my Grandma’s house and there’s not really that much room for all my things so when we get there I’m looking forward to decorating my room and getting everything set up how I like it. Kaylee, age 11
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Super Mario 2 Super Mario 2 is for DS. Mario and Luigi can shoot fire. Also Luigi 2. At the playroom you can put two players and Mario and Luigi can both throw fire. Mario throws the fire at the big guys who stole the princess. Mario and Luigi are trying to save the princess. My brother Christian rescued my mom who is the princess. Bowser gets bigger and he breaks everything. My brother Christian can get really far in the game. You can have four players, but not five. My brother is big. I tell my daddy he is the princess and he says “I’m not the princess!” When we rescue the princess, Bowser takes her again and again. When we rescue my mommy we get so excited. When you press the bubble you press A to get in the bubble and then I’m like “Christian wait for me!” Alejandro, age 5
Red is my favorite color. Once upon a time there was a little girl named, oh, I don’t know, Juliana. She was walking on a path and she saw the big bad wolf. He had really sharp teeth (like mine says Calvin) and a weird nose and weird ears and weird teeth. And when she was going to grandma the big bad wolf said to Grandma “go in the closet so I can get in the bed,” and when Juliana came down the path she saw the house and she went in and she said, “What big teeth you have, what big ears you have, what a big nose you have! You’re the big bad wolf!” And then the grandma got out and then she got her cookies. And then Juliana and the Grandma ran away. The End. June Bug, age 5
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Why I like Hockey
The first time I ever saw hockey in real life I saw the Aeros here in Houston. I remember the last game they didn’t win against the Flying Lions. I can’t remember their names but the team was white. They were an away team. It was 2 to 3, the blue team won and the Aeros lost because they only got two points. The ice rink was white with black stripes and there was an arrow in the middle. It was cold in there. We also ate some popcorn. Always a good time. I like to watch and I’d like to play. When I grow up I want to be a hockey player. I want to be in the front and score a lot of goals. I play street hockey outside with my dad and sometimes Gramp plays also. My friend Matteo plays too. He’s my next-door neighbor. The first time I went to a hockey game I almost got hit in the head with a puck. We were six rows from the ice and a puck got shot into the air and went over the wall and hit my seat. I was in 15 and my mom was in 16. I was bending down to drink some of my mom’s drink and the puck hit right where my head was! Then I got to keep the puck. Now I keep it in my house. Sometimes at the end of the game they throw a puck into the stands. The second time I went I got to sit right at the bottom behind the goal. Every time a hockey player bumped into the boards I’d blink my eyes. I thought they were gonna hit me but they didn’t. Then the third time I went we went with my neighbors. We ate popcorn again. And we had wonderful mommies. Then we went another time with daddy before the Aeros left Houston. We got those tickets at a school auction, at the school carnival. I don’t know why I like hockey so much. I just do. Holt, age 5
The Legoknight
Once upon a time there was a knight and a princess. And there was a terrible dragon named Dragonbolt. Every day Dragonbolt came to the princess’s castle and tried to break everything and tried to steal all her treasure and everything that she hid. And then the knight came into the dragon’s cave and talked to the dragon and told him, “Stop trying to steal everything I give to the princess!” The dragon said, “I will not do that again.” The End Noah, age 4 24 - The Splendid Review -Winter 2015
I like books
I like to read books and I like homework. My favorite books are about African people. I like these books because I want to see them. I want to see the book because if I see them I will remember them. I am from Africa. I am from the Congo. I came to America because I got sick. I like to think about Africa. I will go home and I will play with my friend. My friend’s name is Maleka. He is twelve years old. I have three sisters and four brothers. My sisters are at school at Bruce here in Houston. Elise is seven, Benjamin is eight, Ongwa and Eto are twins and they’re five. Noah is still a baby. He lives here too. My whole family moved to Houston when I got sick. That was one month ago. I like it here. I don’t want to go to Africa no more. But I want to remember when I look at books. Emmanuel, age 10
The Sleepy Princess
Once upon a time a princess named Aurora (Aurora is my favorite princess) poked her finger on the spinning wheel. She was in a huge forest with a lot of deer and birds and rabbits and squirrels too. But no pigs. There were no pigs in the forest. There were chickens though. She wasn’t making anything. She just poked her finger. But there was a curse on the spinning wheel that made her prick her finger. After that she fell into a deep deep sleep. She slept for one week. While she was sleeping in the forest the animals looked after her. After a week someone found her. It was Maleficent. She took her back to a castle and put her in her own bed. Aurora woke up all by herself because the sleeping spell didn’t last. When Maleficent took Aurora from the forest the animals were sad so they followed her and they were standing there when she woke up. Then she went ice-skating with Elsa, another princess who made the ice-skating pond. Ana went too. The End Riley, age 4
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My dog’s name is Buttercup She’s a chihauah. She’s long and short and has brown fur. She has light green eyes and barks a lot, especially at night. It keeps me awake when I’m trying to sleep. She also likes to run around in the yard. She turns crazy. I go out and play with her and she just starts running around in circles like she’s chasing something invisible. She’s not very good around other dogs. She’ll growl and try to attack them even when the dogs are bigger than her. When we walk her she just turns crazy. She likes being outside more than being inside. We got her in May and she’s still a puppy. Maria, age 14
Untitled I used to be four when you were here last time. My middle name is Aiden and my first name is Cooper. Some people call me Coop but I think that’s really weird. I love Skylanders and I have Swap force now. And Spyros. When I get them onto the TV I put them on a portal and they can pop up to the TV and it shows their name. And you can swap them because they have magnets. Because they’re swap force. Get it? Swap Force. And you know what else makes them cool? Swap Force is the coolest thing in the whole wide world. Theres’ nothing better than that. Pokemon is a little kind of weird. Cooper, age 5
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The Legend of the Ninjas
Once upon a time there were four ninjas: the black ninja, the white ninja, the blue ninja and the green ninja. They fought with skeletons in a secret place in the forest. They were fighting to save the world from the skeletons. The skeletons’ captain was like a huge snake skeleton and his name was Snake Skeleton. He wanted to destroy the ninjas and control everything in the world. The ninjas also had a captain, Sensei Wu. He told them there was a problem in the forest and told them that they had to go take care of the skeletons. The ninjas went to the place in the forest and beat the skeletons and won the battle against Snake Skeleton and they saved the world. The Snake Skeleton disappeared and then he grabbed the Black ninja’s sword and then the team came to help. The green ninja attacked the snake with his sword and he cut the snake’s tail. The snake said “I will come back one time!” He was gone for two hundred years and in that time the forest was sunny and all the animals were happy and the people too. But when the snake came back, everything got dark and the ninjas came back to save the world again and get rid of the snake once and for all. This time, to fight the Snake Skeleton they brought a secret weapon. This time they had four dragons. One of the dragons was blue, one was red, one was black and one was green. The green was the strongest. He was also the biggest and the oldest. The day comes for the ninjas to fight the Snake Skeleton with their dragons. They enter the forest but it is too dark and they can’t see anything. They enter even though they can’t see. A skeleton tries to attack Sensei Wu, but Sensei Wu has a boat floating in the sky and he has a map in the boat that tells him where everyone is. This way, he can fight the skeleton. All four ninjas come to help Sensei Wu and they defeat the Snake with the green ninja’s powerful weapon. Then the Snake was defeated and he never came back. The forest was sunny and stayed that way forever. Fransisco, age 8
Untitled
My favorite color is red. I like brown, pruple, orange, black, red. I don’t like peach. I don’t like peach at all. June Bug, age 4
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Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a shooting game You shoot the missiles at the planes. You can play the game online You can play it anytime. The snow mission is very fun Every time I’ve played I won. My cousins play every day with me We play with each other on different teams. I got the game a year ago Every time is on the flow We sit and play it every day It’s almost the end of May And now I play every night Every day it messes with my sight. Rayvaughn, age 11
Moving Forward
In February I got diagnosed. My family moved to Tyler last year, during my freshman year, even though we’re from Houston. I wanted to move schools anyways. I didn’t mind moving because I was going to hang out with my friends and I still do hang out with them. But I didn’t mind leaving them. That’s mean to say, but it’s true. Anyway I knew we’d still hang out. We came back to Houston almost every other week so when we’d visit I’d come to hang out with them and they’d come to visit me. So when I was diagnosed they all came to visit me. It was nice to have the support. At first I went to Childrens Medical Center in Dallas and I was inpatient so my friends came to visit in the hospital. Then in June I was transferred here to TCH. Now I’m at a whole new school. The teacher comes to my house twice a week for a few hours. She also teaches at school with a class and does key club so she’s very busy. I like her a lot. She’s very positive and she’s very talkative, which I like. I don’t like to talk so much, so its nice to listen to her. I just get all the work pretty much. They said I could go online and use the books that they give me. And if I need help my teacher will try to help me. Jillian, age 15
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Chugging Nail Polish I paint my nails almost every day. I had them purple and then I took that off and then I did this color, pink, yesterday, and then I took that off. And then I read this article that said its not good for your nails to do them every day. This was after I’d painted my nails two times already. My mom told me a story about this time her cousin was trying to pick her up and she grabbed the fan to hang from it and it broke. I started painting my nails when I got diagnosed I don’t know why, because I had nothing else to do. I just let my nails grow out all the time. There are all kinds of designs. I just put lines and dots everywhere. I did a flower once on my thumb and my little sister, Katie, did ninja turtles on her nail. They looked really good. When I was diagnosed they told me I had to stop biting my nails, so I just let them grow out. This is the first time I’ve ever been able to grow my nails out. I always wanted to stop biting my nails but every time I wanted to I’d still do it. But now I had a real big excuse to stop. If you bite your nails the nail polish is going to taste pretty gross, and its like poison. I was watching this show one time and this girl was drinking nail polish. Like she’d chug it. I thought she was pretty crazy. I got tired of the show and thought it was pretty weird. I didn’t finish it. Jillian, age 15
Zenely I was princess and I lived in a castle with a prince. The king gave me a flower and invited me to go to a ball today. And then we danced. Before too long we were together and married. I loved the man of my life. And then the prince broke up with me and we didn’t live happily ever after. Then he said sorry, and gave me the flower again. And then we got married happily ever after. The end. Zaneley, age 5
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I want to tell a story about a choo-choo train. One day there was a choo-choo train and it had a star on it a yellow star. It was red in the front. The wheel was black. I used black to make the wheel. Black does make wheels. The train was going to see Franchesca Boddiscetti. She’s my favorite singer. She sings the song “Strangely Dim.” The train was going to see her at where the magic begins. The choo-choo man drives the train. Chugga-chugga choo-choo! Chugga-chugga choo-choo! There was a rock in the way a big giant rock. The choo-choo man pushed it back but then there was another rock. But then he rolled the rock off the track. He lifted it up and he put it down. And then chugga-chugga choo-choo! And then there were fireworks. They were pink, red. Black smoke was coming from the choo-choo train. And then there was a red train. And then it got frozen because Elsa was frozen. Elsa was trying to do something and then she said “oh no.” I was on the train too. Because I wanted to see Franchesa. When they got there they had a cake. Everybody ate some cake. It was a June Bug cake. Franchesca made a cake too. The End June Bug, age 4
La Giraffa La giraffa esta mi animal favorita. La giraffa esta muy grande. Su cuello esta largo como un palo. Tienen manchas cafes y su cuerpo esta Amarillo. Sus patas son largas. Me gusta la giraffe porque su cuello es larga. Quiero un larga cuello. La cola es corta. Sus orejas son largas y sus ojos son chiquitos y negros. Las girraffas tienen bebes y los bebes tienen cuellos cortos. En este foto, el cuello de una girraffa esta como un arco y una persona esta sentada debajo del cuello. Irma, age 10
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My Favorite Thing about Candy My favorite candy would have to be Starburst. It is unknown and mysterious why I like it but it is good. Maybe it’s the way they manufacture it. Maybe one day there will be an experimental Starburst flavor. Everybody will try it out. If they love it, it will stay. If they don’t, that’s their problem. Maybe one day there will be actually a wild flavor of Starburst that no one can comprehend. A wild and rare flavor. Like say there was a Starburst Donut or something unknown. My favorite flavors are cherry, lemon, and orange. Strawberry is an abomination to me. Strawberry lets me down. It would be awesome though if they had Starburst based on personality. “Wild and Crazy” or “Bland and Unsweet,” or “Bittersweet.” When it comes to candy, I can’t help but be a glutton. I love candy as it helps to soothe the bitter taste in my mouth every now and then. But Starburst is not my only favorite candy. I also love Jolly Ranchers and gummy candy. Lifesavers. I like to chew it all night. It’s just good. I try to eat candy in moderation. When I eat candy I can’t help but to say “ooooooohhhh, good flavor! Favorite flavor.” And last but not least, Mike and Ike. Such a good-tasting candy you are. Once an abomination to me because it made my stomach burn like the top of a burning oven, but not any more. I like all flavors. No flavors in Mike and Ike are an abomination towards me. Unique flavors. Maybe one day I myself might create a super rare flavor. I might call it “The Henry Flavor: Wild and Crazy” just like me. I can’t help but to be a glutton with candy. Miguel, age 17
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Soccer I like to play both forward and defense. I like forward because I want to make goals. I like defense because I like to stop the other team from making goals. Pele is the best soccer player of all time because he scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games. That is a lot of goals and games! If I could play soccer like Pele, I would be famous all over America and I would travel to different places. Melvin, age 10
A story about a little star Once upon a time there was a little star piggy. And the little piggy went to the door. It was a big door made out of bricks. He knock-knock-knocked, and then he saw the big bad wolf. The big bad wolf looked out the window and then he didn’t do anything. The piggy looked in the window, and no piggy! The piggy was on top of the roof, hiding from the big bad wolf. From the roof, the piggy could see the snow far away. It looked like a big white syringe. He could see the water from the waterfall, far away. Right before the waterfall, the water was as white as the snow. The piggy got a rope and he climbed down from the roof. Then he ran to where the fountain was and he got water to drink. When he drank the water, he didn’t turn into anything. He turned into a star. Once he was a star, he could see the big bad wolf inside his house. When he drank the water he turned into an elephant. Then he had a trunk, and he’d swing, swing, swing the trunk, like this. He decided to make a magic potion to turn back into a pig, and then he ran home. The wolf was still at his house and the fox was asleep. They both looked in the window at the same time but they didn’t see each other. The wolf was planning to eat the pig! The pig put his magic potion on his nose, because that’s the way he had to put it on. When he put it on his nose, he fell down and he scraped his nose. The wolf still wanted to eat the pig. The pig did run, but too late. The big bad wolf ate the pig. The end June, age 5
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The Game Portal Once upon a time there was a bat named Batman. The bat liked playing ball. Basketball was his favorite. He liked to play video games also Spider man was his favorite game because he liked jumping from building to building. One day he was playing a video game when the TV went out and it made a big hole on the TV and Batman jumped in it. He teleported to the spiderman game and he looked around and tried to find out what was going on. He was in the game but he felt the same, but he had spider man’s powers, like web-slinging and crawling up on walls. The first thing he did was to save some people. He looked up and saw a building on fire. Batman went to the building and he saw people inside. He went inside and he saved them by grabbing them and swinging them on his web to safety. Two hours later, the real fireman came and spiderman dropped something on the ground and Batman picked it up and it was a remote. The remote was white and the same size as a tv remote. On the remote was an on and off switch. Batman turned it on and a portal came up. He jumped in the portal and it took him back to the real world. In the real world he was still in his room, and the TV was fixed. Batman said, “The game world is better than the real world.� Joshua, age 12
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Megaladon and Liptosaurus and Chase and Marshall Once upon a time, there was an animal called Megaladon! He was a big, big shark and he lived with the dinosaurs. The water was blue, just like Chase’s cruiser and his uniform. And he was the king of the water. There was another shark, he looked like a turtle, like Sandy the Sea Turtle, and Megaladon wanted to eat him because they were enemies. The were enemies because they were different kinds of sharks. There were a lot of enemies. Megaladon could eat a bunch of Fish. The shark that looked like Sandy the Sea Turtle was called Liptosaurus. There was a dinosaur that was drinking water and Liptosaurus got him by the neck and he ate the dinosaur. Megaladon also ate a whale’s fin, and then the whale punched him. Also, Chase looks like a police dog because he has a police uniform. If Chase saw a Megaladon it would jump out of the water. Chase likes to drink water because it’s not bad for a police dog and he has a mouth, just like Marshall. Water is good for firedogs too. The megaladon also has a mouth with a bunch of teeth. I can’t even remember how many teeth he has. Kingston, age 5 Israel, age 8
The Wish and Fast I love horses because it’s exciting to ride them. I feel strong when I am on them. Go! Go! Aiee! I’ve ridden on black horses and on white horses but all of them were big. I love cars also, especially the Chevrolet Camaro because it is nice and because it has good speed. I love going fast, and I love danger, especially when I get to go fast! If I could have a Camaro, I’d want it to be a red one. I would drive it everywhere, and I would drive lots of beautiful girls around town. Mahmood, age 13
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Brooke’s Pets Our pets don’t live inside. Our little dog is named buddy and he has his own special yard and he has a scar on his eye. He was eating our big dog’s food, and the big dog wasn’t happy so he scratched him. Our big dog’s name is Casey Bella. It’s a she. She once had puppies before we got her and she used to be owned by someone else, but the people gave her to us because they got tired of her. She extremely likes my dad. My nickname for my little dog is Macho Nacho because he thinks he’s a big dog. He’s so chunky he can barely even roll over. Both of our dogs are mixed breeds. I know buddy’s breed, but I don’t know Casey Bella’s. Buddy is part chihuaha and part minpin (miniature pincer) and Casey Bella is part Catahoola and Blackmouth Curr. My two cats are brothers and they’re a dark, dark, dark brown, almost black. Sometimes we call them our lions but I think they’re like panthers. We found them when they were young kittens, in an anthill. One of them’s name is prince and one is Houdini. Also, they try to run away from me when I see them and I don’t’ know why they do that. This is how Housdini got his name. We went to check on them when they were kittens and he was outside his cage. We never figured out how he got out. Now I want to tell you the story of how prince got his name. We found him and we weren’t sure if they were boys or girls and dad brought them to the vetrinatrain, and I thought that prince was a girl so I named him princess, but when we discovered he was a boy I renamed him Prince. Also we have chickens and I raised some chicks. We have an incubator. Our chickens aren’t old enough yet to lay eggs, but when they can, we’ll have eggs. Actually my dad is going to sell the two roosters that we have and we’re going to get another rooster and that rooster is going to make our hens lay green eggs. Brooke, age 7
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Tigers
Tigers can run 100 meters in a second, forever. Tigers can scratch anything and eat meat. Probably their favorite meat to eat is human meat. They’re scary in the dark when you can’t see anything but then you can see their shadows and their eyes glowing. That’s creepy. They live in wild. In the wild it’s 100 meters away but they can’t swim here because there’s a big big water and sharks. And gorillas can’t fight tigers unless they’re really strong. And if you try touch tigers’ claws they’ll eat you and scratch you and their claws are really sharp like metal. They can do anything so just make sure you don’t’ touch their tails. When you touch their tails they’ll eat you. They’ll eat your brain. Definitely not cool. Trey, age 5
Sisters
She’s really good at writing poems. She’s really good at sewing. I can’t knit but she can. I can’t cook but she can (I can’t even make a grilled cheese.) She is an amazing speller (don’t even give me that look) At spelling bees people would just give up. They stopped applying. You are really good at math. I cannot deny it. For a second I thought you said you can’t divide it. You fill in my gaps. I fill in the cavities in your teeth In my soul. She has a really good fashion sense. I wear a lot of black. You’re so bubbly and energetic. (I don’t’ know how you do it) You’re so dark and gloomy. (I don’t know how you do it.) But even though we have our differences we still love each other a lot and I don’t’ know what I’d do without her. Michela, age 13 Cristobella, age 15
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My Animals I have thirteen animals. I have Samantha, which is my cat, Roxy the dog, Sunny my bird, Cooper and Harriet, which are my hamsters, the guinnea pig, which is Snickerdoodle, and the seven fish (the last time I counted). Roxy looks sorta like a Dalmatian; she’s part lab I think, but she looks sorta like a Dalmatian because she’s about the size of a big cat and she has tan spots about the size as someone’s fist. Samantha is gray and she has thin black stripes that aren’t very noticeable. She’s about the size of a normal cat, so she’s smaller than Roxy. When you don’t see Roxy for a long time she goes crazy and you’d think she’d be a tazmanian devil because she’s a puppy and she runs around in circles. When she gets too happy she kind of nips and she could jump over the fence if she wanted to and it’s a normal sized fence, not one of the little ones. We’ve taught her tricks though. She sits, shakes, rolls over, and lays down. Emma, age 9
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Barbie and the Secret Door
I like Barbie and the secret door because she turns into a beautiful gown with flowers on it and it sparkles. Then she gives all the magic back to the other people. After that, when they get their tails and wings back, they just sing and then princess Alexa goes out of the door and she goes home. Princess Alexa didn’t have magic so she went to the woods and her book that her grandma gave her was glowing and the book made the door that Princess Alexa had never seen. The door appeared on the rock and it was shining and it had a doorknob that was shaped like a heart. And a butterfly was on it and the door led to a pretty world and her two friends were named Romy and Nora (I think). So when Princess Alexa went into the door the friends didn’t know her because they’d never seen her in the pretty world. First they tried to hit her with bow and arrows and then they became best friends. Then there were little purple and pink, cute, adorable, little animals like bunnies that bounce on their hineys, and Romy and Nora tell Princess Alexa that they had to go up in the tree, and they had to put their feet in the circle and go up in the tree because there were malicious trolls on the ground and Nora put the leaves on the ground so the trolls couldn’t smell her anymore, so they went back home to Maloosha’s castle. When they got home they found a fairy in the world and the youngest one, she was blue, and Maloosha took her wings and got her magic and they had tea and then she found the queen unicorn. They were about to get the queen unicorn but then Nora and Romy went to get the queen Unicorn before Maloosha could get her. But little trolls grabbed their arms and they couldn’t move. Then Princess Alexa lost her wand and the flowers. Then Maloosha started chasing Princess Alexa and she got caught by Maloosha’s wand. Princess Alexa’s magic kept staying with her even though Maloosha was trying to take her magic out of her with her wand. Then Maloosha went to the pretty world with all the fairies and mermaids and bouncing animals and she stole all their magic. Then Princess Alexa went back to the pretty world and she said, “I still have my magic.” So she turned a lily pad into a flying carpet and they flew to Maloosha’s castle. Then Maloosha, who had already taken all the magic from everyone, even the three baby unicorns and the queen unicorn, tried to beat Alexa. But her wand was too heavy and full with magic so it cracked and Alexa got the beautiful gown and she gave all the magic back to the people and Romy and the unicorns, and then Princess Alexa had to do a speech for the horses and people and then they danced and then they lived happily ever after. That’s when she went home was when she was in the castle dancing. Isabella, age 6
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Call of Brother
My favorite video game is Call of Duty. I like all of it, like shooting and hiding from badguys. I play the game at home with my brother. He’s older than me. He’s 12 and I’m 8. I’m better at the game though. I’m better at all video games, but he’s better at football. I still beat him at football video games though. Sometimes we get along well but sometimes we fight. Like sometimes I win at a video game and then he says I cheat. And then he gets mad and we start to fight. I always win the fights too, though, even though he’s bigger than I am. Daylen, age 8
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Bone Marrow Transplant Unit
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Tigers
If I were a tiger I would run around hunting for food. I’d run around the jungle. I don’t know what jungle. I guess sometimes tigers go into trees to hunt. Tigers eat humans sometimes, if they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Birds are probably too fast, and llamas live in the desert, but Tigers can catch squirrels in the jungle. They sneak up on the squirrels in the grass. Tiger families live together in the jungle. If I were a tiger I’d have red and green stripes. I’d be a magic tiger. I would disappear to a different jungle. The jungle would have lots of trees. They’d be the same color as my stripes. Some of the other animals would be red and blue, like the squirrels. I’d disappear when I got really scared, like if I saw a cheetah. I don’t think tigers and cheetahs are friends. I don’t know much about cheetahs but I know they’re a kind of big cat. They live in the jungle and have spots. The cheetahs who live in my jungle are just green. Caanan, age 6
Skylanders Poem T-Rex smashes everything with his fist. He punches the pillow and sometimes missed. Bowser holds his hands like this. He shoots fire with his fists. Crasher has a hammer in his hand. He likes to draw himself with crayons. He is good at making plans. Crasher crashes all the crayons. LiLi, age 10
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Race to the River Once upon a time Goody the teddy bear was in his house in the woods. He was watching Monsters Inc. on TV when someone came to his door and knocked. It was his friend, Chocolate the dog. Chocolate said, “Goody! Do you want to play a game with me?” Goody said, “Of course I do. What kind of game should we play?” Chocolate said, “Let’s play Wii. I want to play Super Mario Brothers.” So they sat down to play the game. Goody got hungry after a little while. He said to his friend, “I want to eat some chocolate.” Chocolate got scared. “You want to eat me?” he asked. “No silly! I mean I want to eat some chocolate cookies. Are you hungry?” Chocolate was hungry, so he said “Yes.” They each ate ten cookies. After that they felt good, and they kept playing Wii for ten more hours. At the end of the ten hours, they got sleepy so they took a nap for ten hours. While they were napping they dreamed about playing the Wii. Then they woke up and guess what they did! They played the Wii for ten more hours. They got sleepy so they took a nap again. They dreamed about playing the Wii. When they woke up they were bored playing Wii so they played with their toys. They played with Buzz Lightyear. Buzz Lightyear said, “I can talk too! Let’s play the Wii.” Then they played the Wii again for three hours. You can play Mario Brothers with 2, 3, or 4 players so they set it to 3 and played. They were all winners. Then they went outside to ride their bicycles. They saw houses when they were riding their bikes. They were big treehouses. Goody said, “Let’s go see the houses!” Buzz said, “Maybe let’s ride the bikes to the river so we can see the river.” Chocolate said, “Yeah! Let’s go to the river so we can go fishing and swimming and see the river … everything!” Goody said “Ok, let’s go to the river. I want to swim and fish. Let’s go to the house first. We can race.” So they decided to race to see who was going to win, Buzz, Chocolate, or Goody. Buzz said, “On your marks, get set, GO!” They raced super fast to see who was going to win. Goody was winning at first but
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then he fell because he was looking at the river. So Buzz got in front after Goody fell. But at the end, Chocolate was so, so, so fast, he won! He was really super fast. Chocolate said “I win! Yes!” While Chocolate was celebrating, Buzz went to make sure Goody was ok. He was fine, but he just had some scratches on his knees. “I’m all right,” said Goody. They all sat down in the house and played the Wii. Then another friend called them and said, “I’m going to come super fast to your house.” The other friend was Spongebob. They all played the Wii together and they went to King Bowser’s castle and then they went to another world. Jose, age 4
Untitled
One day Donald Duck went to the door and said, “knock knock.” Mickey opened the door. “Hi Donald,” he said. “I have another friend inside. Let’s play a game!” “Yeah,” Donald said, “Let’s play Skylander’s Giants on Wii!” Mickey’s other friends inside were the Ninja Turtles. They played Skylander’s Giants. They set the game so three people could play. Donald was Tiger Happy because he’s silly. Mickey was Gill Grunt the fish because he’s a fish. And the Ninja Turtles were Chop Chop and Tum Smash because they’re ninjas. After they played the game, they ate chocolate cookies with milk. They ate super really fast. They ate all the cookies and they drank all the milk. Then they went outside to play with scooters. The scooters were blue, yellow, red, and pink. They had a race around the house. They went so fast around the house that the house broke. “Oh no, we have to fix it!” said the Ninja Turtles! Then they fixed the house. They used tools like hammers and saws and the other side of the hammer. When the house was fixed, they went inside and watched the Ninja Turtles sit down and eat chocolate cookies slowly because they were hungry. The End Jose, age 4
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Untitled One day Mike Kwasowski was watching television. Then someone came to the door and said “Knock Knock!” “Who’s there?” said Mike Kwasowski? “It’s Saldi,” said Saldi. “Ok! Let’s play a game! Let’s play Smash Brothers!” Then they play Smash Brothers and they get tired from playing the game. Then they play with a tablet and watch YouTube videos. They watch ninja turtles. On the video the turtles are fighting the enemy. They’re in the toilet. The ninja turtles beat the enemy and then they have a pizza party. “That was cool!” says Mike Kwasowski. “I wear glasses,” says Saldi. “Also, let’s have a pizza party! We can invite everyone!” “Let’s have the party in the park,” says Mike Kwasowski. “Let’s have the party at our house,” says Saldi. They go to the store and buy pizza and decorations and sodas. They buy Skylander balloons and cake. Then they start making the invitations. The invitations also have Skylanders on them and they are blue and yellow. They say, “Come to my pizza party. Come and join us.” “We need to have games for the party!” says Mike Kawoski. “Let’s play Wii,” says Saldi. “We can play Skylanders!” “Great!” says Mike. “We’ll play soccer also, and Wii sports.” At the party they play soccer and dance and then they eat the cake. It is a chocolate cake with Skylanders on it. After the party they go to sleep because they are really tired. Jose, age 6
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City Gets Destroyed One day the big city got destroyed. There were a zillion cities on the planet in outer space. There were a hundred blasters but the city was too much. Blast Blast Blast and the city keeps growing. The blaster was on the planet Jupiter. Nobody lives on Jupiter because it’s too giant. Somebody has to fly over there. The only way we can get there is to pass other planets, all the other planets except for astroids. It takes 100 hours to find it. Then when they found it it was in the ocean. Then they found it and passed it again. When they passed all the planets they had a blast. Blast Blast Blast. And that is how the city got destroyed. Sai, age 7
Untitled I was thinking a lot about my home. When I got out I was thinking a lot about giving glory to God. I was in the hospital for more than 6 months. When I go home I am with my family, but after a few days of being home I got sick again. Since that time, after I came back to the hospital for about two weeks I haven’t been feeling very well. I had a lot of fever and vomiting and hopefully I can go home in the next few days and enjoy life. My goal now is to become a preacher and to study the bible. When I go home I want to go to seminary school online. I want to help people by sharing my own experience. But I don’t’ want to do it here because there are already so many people in America who do this kind of work. I don’t feel like in Mexico there are as many people who go to hospitals to visit people who are sick like me. Not many people in Mexico do that kind of work. When I was in San Luis, there weren’t that many people like preachers or chaplains who came to see me. But I want to prepare here in America. There are so many people here who come by the hospital to spend time with me and to help me. I want to help other people to grow in ways that are spiritual and in other areas also. When I came back the second time they put a tube down my throat for an endoscopy. This was a new experience for me so I was a little nervous. They put me to sleep but after it I didn’t feel so well. My mouth and my throat were sore. Rafael, age19
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Mario and Luigi go to King Bowser’s Castle
Once upon a time Mario was playing Super Mario Brothers on the Wii. Luigi wasn’t there. It was just Mario and one blue toad and one yellow toad. Four friends went to the house and they put four players on the Wii. Jose, age 4
“Throw it all away!”
Last night I watched an episode of Hoarders. This lady was really really old. I was about to change the channel because the basement was full of junk. The basement had mice, roaches, and tics. This lady had two kids and one of the kids was getting bit by tics. If she didn’t clean up the basement they’d all have to move. There was a lady living under her also, but they didn’t know that she was a hoarder. When the people who lived below us moved, all the roaches moved from their house and came up to our place. So when it was time to cleanup the kitchen, we cleaned up everything. If I was in that situation I’d just say “just throw everything away.” Taylor, age 12
Cactus McCoy
Cactus McCoy is an actor at Flip Line Studios. He does bible movies. He walks in the door and he takes risks. You can find out more online about Cactus McCoy. He loves the bible and his movies are about comics. Cactus McCoy has been on America Ninja Warriors on NBC. He’s taking a quiz. Jude, age 9 46 - The Splendid Review -Winter 2015
Untitled The first time I found out I was sick I was 12. It was March 26, 2007. I noticed because I used to play a lot of sports, like soccer and stuff. I started getting really tired really quickly and one day I started throwing up. My mom took me to a doctor who told me that if anything was wrong they’d tell my parents. Then on the 26th they called my parents and said I needed to come in for some blood tests. They did a lot of tests and they found something in my bone marrow. I felt really bad, I was afraid when they told me it was cancer. I didn’t know anything about cancer before I got sick. My grandmother passed of cancer in 2012. She had a tumor on her leg. After I got sick I started doing homeschool for 6th and 7th grade. Then I went back in 8th. It was kind of weird to go back after two years because a lot of the people I used to know moved schools and they weren’t there anymore. Some moved to a different state. I was in remission from 2010 to Feb. 15th, 2011. That’s when they told me that it had come back. Then I stayed out of school for 10th and 11th grade and went back for senior year. Throughout that time I stayed friends with the same people. They’d come to my house to hang out but I couldn’t go to movies or leave the house much so mostly we’d play video games and board games. If I wanted to leave the house I had to wear a mask but I didn’t like to do that. Senior year was very nice because I was with my friends and I graduated with them. After I graduated I started working at a restaurant as a food runner. The place was called Zeds and it was in Austen. It was a fancy place. I really enjoyed working there with my dad and my brother and if we needed anything they were always there for us. Then on June 26th, 2014 they told me it had come back again. I went to Austen to the Dell Children’s Hospital and then they had me moved here for the Bone Marrow Transplant. At Dell Children’s I was able to walk all over the hospital as much as I wanted to and there were some patios so I could go outside but here I can only stay on this floor. I don’t really like to be in the hospital. I’d rather be outside so I don’t like being confined to this space. When I was at home I’d always go to the mall and stuff. Pedro, age 20
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My Little Pony
Twilight is my favorite My Little Pony because she has a purple and yellow crown and because she’s purple. I have a purple and pink blanket also, and Twilight is on the blanket and she’s also on my tshirt. Now its time to stop and dance! I like to dance to this song. I also like to jump on the bed! Purple is my favorite color. All of Twilight’s friends go on adventures together. They go home. Rainbow Dash and Flutter Shy live in the sky. Fluttershy likes animals. I like animals too. Just dogs. My grandma and grandpa have two dogs. Diva and Cayetana. Cayetana is little and Diva is big. Cayetana is black and white. Twilight becomes a princess and becomes a girl, like me. Sunset Shimmer takes the crown from Twilight. She is red and orange. Twilight went to the mirror and she saw that she had wings. When Twilight looked in the mirror she was a girl but then she grew a horn and wings. Twilight flies up up up with Fluttershy and Rainbowdash. She also has a horn and she does magic. Also Spike is a dragon and he becomes a dog when he looks in the magic mirror. Spike is green and pretty small. He can blow fire but only enough to roast marshmallows. If I was a My Little Pony I would be Twilight. I would do magic. Susana, age 4 48 - The Splendid Review -Winter 2015
Mermaids If I was a mermaid I could swim in the ocean with my friends. My friends would be my cousins and my other friends would be dolphins. I could help them. I could be a doctor. I don’t like crabs though, because they could bite you. I would be the princess of the mermaids. I’d have a castle in the sea. It would have flowers and little shiny stuff and golden stuff too. I’d have friendship bracelets because my friends and my family would be there. And my cousins. They come to my house. If I was a mermaid my cousins would all be mermaids too. It would be fun to swim in the ocean. My tail would slap and splash the water. I don’t have pets at home, but if I was a mermaid I’d try to train dogs to be underwater. There’s going to be a lot of people in the kingdom. I’d say, “gather up, people, gather up. Because we’re having like a party. It’s gonna be a blast off at the castle.” Zaneley, age 5
Math Pantoum I like math because there’s a right answer. I like numbers, how you have to write them down. In 6th grade, Ms. Perez was my teacher. I like math; it doesn’t make me frown. I like numbers, how you have to write them down. In fact, I like numbers more than words. I like math, it doesn’t make me frown. You break the fractions into thirds. Kenan, age 12
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Untitled Why the roadrunner says “meep meep” I don’t know why the roadrunner says “meep meep.” Maybe it’s because it means “you can’t catch me!” Bugs Bunny Bugs bunny is a rabbit. He’s grey and white and he has long ears. He likes to eat carrots. His friend is Daffy Duck. Daffy Duck has black feathers and he talks funny. Susana, age 4
Me Gusto Balloons Blue is my favorite color. Callo is my favorite animal. A rooster. I like roosters because they are orange. My favorite food is soup, and it’s called fideo. It has noodles and tomatoes and it is delicious. When I eat fideos I like to drink orange juice and sometimes agua. I also like platanos porque si! Jorge, age 6
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Thanks! Ascende Charitable Trust Joe B. Foster Family Foundation Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation Houston Junior Woman’s Club Clarence Westbury Foundation
The Spendid Review The Splendid Review is an anthology of poems, short stories and autobiographies written by the talented young writers at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers each week. In collaboration with Writers in the Schools, The Periwinkle Foundation unites professional writers with children and families battling cancer and blood disorders in the outpatient clinic and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to share their stories. Through arts and creative writing programs, The Periwinkle Foundation celebrates self expression and empowerment as a vital part of the healing process. The Periwinkle Foundation develops and provides programs that positively change the lives of children, young adults and families who are challenged by cancer and other life threatening illnesses and are cared for at Texas Children’s Hospital.